The panic amongst the group slowly subsided with Deka’s efforts. She talked her group into calming down and thinking critically about the situation rather than merely panicking. The last thing she wanted was for her team to turn completely useless out of fear.
Perhaps that was what the monster wished for, a broken, spiritless prays who can’t defend themselves. It didn’t want a feisty meal that could resist.
Meanwhile, Arthur stood near the edge, searching with his eyes through the river for anything suspicious. But, it all proved to be useless as the first layer of the water hid everything beneath, mocking Arthur’s inability to see beyond the surface.
“Tsk, this won’t work.” He muttered as he turned around. “It won’t appear even if I keep looking. This river is just blocking everything.”
The boy had no idea how it was possible but the clear water worked in a magical way to keep things eerily calm. Like a trap that you don’t know when it’s going to activate.
At that moment, Deka approached him with a dark look on her face. Exhaustion was clear in her eyes and she looked quite stressed. As much as she was keeping everyone’s spirit uplifted, she herself was struggling with keeping that optimism after all these hits.
“I calmed them down a little. But, they won’t be able to hold on for long. We need to find a way out of this loop quickly.” She said in a whisper to Arthur.
“Yeah, I can see that.” Arthur sighed inwardly. ‘For a group of seasoned warriors, they really are losing it very quickly. This must’ve been a new experience for them. Luckily, I have been through such situations before so it isn’t that terrifying or I would be a part of that squad, just crying and praying.’
“Did you find anything?” Deka cut off his thoughts with a simple question.
“No. The river is as calm as ever. Whatever is doing all of this to us, it’s definitely hiding somewhere where we can’t see.”
“Do you think it’s really the same monster?” She asked.
“Hmm, I think it’s very likely. The only monster we have met so far is that one and its ability is very much close to our current situation.” Arthur nodded his head. ‘It could be that we can’t see it or it could be that it’s simply too far away to see it. In both cases, it’s going to be very tricky to break this loop.’
“So… What do you think we should do?”
Then came the most obvious question, their next course of action. Discovering the cause of their problem didn’t mean that the solution became any more obvious. The lack of information made it even harder to figure out the right way of getting out of this loop.
“I… I need to think.” Arthur muttered. “I don’t know what to do yet.”
“…” Deka looked at him silently with a complicated expression before she exhaled a small breath and nodded her head. “I will try to find any more clues and tell you. Let’s work together to find a way out.”
“Sure.”
With that, Deka turned around and walked away from Arthur. Meanwhile, the boy moved back to his spot and sat down, feeling even more exhausted than before.
‘What’s the most obvious way to break a loop? Is it perhaps going the other way? No, we can’t do that, the wind is too strong and it’s leading us down the river, we won’t be able to force our way back. Hmm, perhaps it’s best if we truly just continue on foot. Again, that could also lead us to an even worse situation with the Yetis out there.’
There were many possibilities and each one had its downsides. Arthur didn’t want to take huge risks, especially with this entire group following him. They were as fragile as a bunch of insects so any threat could end their lives. If it was only him, then he would’ve been able to deal with it.
‘Having people under your leadership is really annoying… How did Isla do that for so long?’ Arthur wondered. ‘She’s truly impressive.’
Just remembering that made Arthur smile softly without even realizing it. But, he quickly snapped out of it and focused on the problem at hand.
“Maybe we should try to stop after all. It’s really the only plausible choic-“
At that moment, Arthur heard the door to the storage room open widely with a bang as Sergi walked out, strolling in an odd manner.
“*Hick* I’m here… bastards! *Hick*” He said in a lazy tone as he swayed left and right like a drunkard.
“Sergi? Are you drunk?” One mercenary asked with a confused look on his face.
“I’m not *Hick* drunk, ya ugly bastard! *Hick* Where the hell are we?!”
Sergi’s face was completely red and his eyes were barely open. A very strong smell of alcohol reeked out of his body which proved their suspicion.
‘He got drunk.’
“Sigh, I told you not to drink any alcohol, Sergi!” Deka approached him and grabbed his shoulder, yanking him back a few steps. “It’s not time to be drinking! Go drink some water and wake the hell up!”
“Shut up *hick*, woman! I do not need you tell me anything! *Hick*” Sergi fell to the ground before he slowly stood up again with a lot of struggle. He looked barely able to keep his balance even when left alone.
“H-How many bottles did he drink?”
“I don’t know. But, he definitely chugged a few.”
“Dammit, he never stops causing trouble.”
Arthur watched the scene with an amused look on his face. ‘As much as I hate this guy, he is surely a very amusing fellow. The stupid type of amusing.’ He laughed to himself. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire
“Hm?” At that moment, Sergi’s eyes moved up as if he noticed something and when Arthur’s silhouette appeared in his vision, his expression changed again. “Hey you! Up there!! *Hick* I know you! Get down here!” He yelled threateningly as he unleashed some of his aura.
‘Here we go again.’ Arthur rolled his eyes as he looked away. ‘I really don’t want to play with him now. I need to figure out how I can get us out of here.’
“I SAID GET DOWN HERE!!! *Hick*” The man yelled again.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!