Chapter 80- Ten Hours

***July 14th, 965 A.F.***

***Dwarven Capital***

***Ajax McGuire***

[Time]!

8:05pm

I cast a minor spell to tell the time and a small screen popped up to show me what time it is. I didn’t think that I would have any use for this spell, let alone aid in my survival. Everything is laid back since I am living in the medieval ages. You could be late for two hours, and no one would bat an eye. I waved to dispel the blue window while the three soldiers didn’t give up on trying to open the door with the remaining handle.

When I was in deep thought to plan for my next course of action, Geordie started to shiver. Before long, his knees gave out and knelt on the ground. He crawled towards the corner of the room, and when he got there, he cowered and covered his ears, just like how I found him in the secret room. Immediately knew something was happening. Geordie must have heard something from far away. I almost forgot that I have a living radar on my side. I have to fully utilize Geordie’s ability if I want to survive the night. I console Geordie a bit by patting on his head before asking.

“What’s wrong, Geordie? Did you hear something?”

“The fighting sounds! The metal clashing and the screams! Just like at my house! It’s happening again!”

It looks like the sound of people fighting triggered some sort of PTSD attack. Even though Geordie looks fine, the death of his family must have left him with some mental scars. The three soldier turn when they heard Geordie’s cry and huddling in the corner of the room.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“My cousin have great hearing since he is blind. He says that he here someone fighting and he is terrified.

“”“ What? Fighting?!”””

At first, the soldier had a moment of doubt before believing before taking us seriously. The combat noise was finally loud enough for everyone to hear and it was apparent that we weren’t lying. Just as they were trained, the three soldiers took out their short sword. The three of them stood in a defensive position between the two children in the room and the direction of the fight.

The clashing of metal soon turned into thumping of footsteps, heading our way. Before long, the owners of the footsteps appeared. A squadron turned around the corner and advanced towards us. In the front were two men, each holding a large shield. In the Middle were two spearmen with their long spears protruding from the gaps of the two shields. And finally in the rear completing their formation, were three magicians with their wands and staff glowing with different colors at the tips. Since all of them were a different race they reek with the stench of a traveler. One of the casters in the rear commanded us.

“Disarm yourself and no harm will come to you.”

“Do you know what you are doing? Us dwarves won’t take this lying down!”

The caster who gave us the ultimatum released lightning from his wand, zapping the leg of Steven who was the one that spoke up. He yelled in pain and dropped to the ground, breaking their formation.

“I won’t repeat myself.”

Seeing that they were completely out of choice, the other two soldiers dropped their weapon and rose their hand to surrender while the last one was still rolling on the ground writhing in pain. If this weren't a life or death situation, I would have laughed at Steven’s expense. I used to be a soldier just like you, until I took a lightning bolt to the knee.

***Dwarven Capital***

***Arun***

[Time]!

8:10pm

Ten minutes have gone by since the start of the event. If everything is on schedule out guild members should have secured all the points of interest. I have planned over the week for this event. After studying all the clues that the GM left on the forum, I have concluded that key to winning is hunkering down at the best defensive spot available. Unfortunately for the NPC, that means our guild have to take over the city wall for a while. I messaged the rest of the guild over the system.

“Status Report.”

“Point A Secured.”

“Point B Secured.”

“Watchtower secured.”

“Point C?”

“Point C is secured, though there is a minor problem that may need your attention. You should head over here.”

“I’ll be right over. Everyone else, keep up the good work and keep me updated.”

It doesn’t sound like it’s emergency, but it seems like there is a glitch in our plans. I frowned a bit as I head over to Point C to take care of the situation. When I reached there, I saw that the soldiers are properly tied up and their mouth stuffed. The corridors leading to the other exit were properly blocked up with earthen magic, and there doesn’t seem to be anything trying to break through the choke point. Nothing appears to be outside of our plan.

“Guild Master Arun.”

“I am here now. What’s the problem.”

“I wasn’t joking when we said we had a minor problem.”

“G.O.D. Damn. It. Are you kidding me?”

"Was that supposed be a pun?"

"NOT THE TIME!"

Jord points to the corner on the other side of the room. There was two children, one sobbing in the corner in hysteria, the other standing in front and protecting the other child, defiantly looking at us. I paced back and forth in the corridor, trying to decide what to do.

“Have you guys told anyone else yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Get the vice guild master here ASAP.”

“Roger.”

“And keep this from everyone else for now.”

I was left in the room with a bunch of bounded and gagged soldiers and the children. Even though it’s not a crime to mistreat NPC children in a game, it is frowned upon. I have even heard stories that the adoption agency refused a couple’s application because one of them didn’t save an NPC child when given a chance.

Though it might be an unfounded rumor, I can’t risk something like that happening to any of our guild members. If I don’t handle this carefully, this hot potato might become a bomb and explode in my face. I slowly walked towards the children and lowered myself to meet with the red haired child at eye level with a smile so that I don’t appear as frightening.

“Hello there.”

We both stayed silent and stared at each other. His gaze feels like I am watching not a child, but a young lion cub, readying his claws at his first prey. It was fierce enough to give me a slight chill. It doesn’t feel like he is letting down his guard any time soon. I tried to communicate with him again.

“Is she your girlfriend? Is she alright? Is she hurt?”

“HE. He is my cousin.”

The atmosphere froze once again as silent falls between us. I tried to break the ice again.

“What a brave child you are, protecting your cousin. My name is Arun. What’s your name?”

“My mother said I shouldn’t talk with strangers.”

“Well you know my name, so I am not a stranger anymore right?”

“You don’t know mine, so you are a stranger.”

“I wouldn’t know if you don’t tell.”

“I can’t say if you don’t know.”

“You!”

I caught myself before my anger overtook me. Dealing with children was never my forte. I was saved from the awkwardness when the Vice Guild Master came running in.

“Hey Arun, you looking for… oh hell no. No. No. NO. NO!”

“I see that you understand the gravity of the situation.”

“No one knows right? Can’t we just get rid of them before anyone notice? We can just kick them out of the stronghold and agree we didn’t see anything, right?”

“Not an option. The GMs notified everyone that by joining this event, we have agreed that everything during this event may become public without our consent. What would happen if we become the last survivor? Everyone would definitely scrutinize everything that we do. In fact, you might be in trouble just because you said that.”

“Damn it.”

“I might be able to pull some strings to cover that small slip up of yours, but starting from now, watch your mouth. Now, any constructive suggestions?”

“Shouldn’t we tell our guild members?”

“Not until we have a clear course of action.”

“One step at a time? We will need someone from our guild to babysit them and keep them safe.”

“Thalia should be up for it? She’s a proud mother of two.”

“Really? Damn, her husband sure is lucky. I wish I married her.”

“Stay on topic, Voron.”

“Right, right. Got to keep our eyes on the prize. We will be short a healer at Point B if Thalia has to babysit them. Maybe get a DPSer instead?”

“No, we have to get the best person available just to be safe. Swap a DPSer out with Tarron for an extra dodge tank and give everyone at point B extra potion for healing.”

“We should swap the whole team to point A. That way, we won’t risk getting cut off in the middle since they have a higher chance to fall.”

“Good point. We should pay more attention to them and tell them to retreat earlier than the others. Anything else?”

"Not that I can think of off the top of my head.”

“Notify the rest of the guild of the change in plans."