Ramos woke up from a restless sleep, for the morning air was cold and wet, piercing his pale white skin. He rubbed his shoulders to warm up while looking outside to check the situation.

The wilderness was spread as wide as his eyes can see, making Ramos felt so uneasy. There was no warmth from the fireplace, not even the maid who brought breakfast to his chamber. Something that had never crossed his mind before. Gray clouds covered the sky, blocking the hot ray of the sun. Ramos rubbed his face as he let out a long breath. There was nothing he can do other than accept the situation and keep trying to survive.

Meanwhile, Gladys was still asleep. The traces of dried tears were faintly visible on her thin cheeks. Ramos tapped his sister’s shoulder to wake her up.

“We have no more food supply. Let’s go hunting,” said Ramos.

Gladys blinked, stretched, and yawned for a while. “Ugh… is it morning already?” she asked. The gray clouds reducing the intensity of the sunlight made the girl feel it was still dark.

“Yeah, just cloudy,” said Ramos. He then took a pointy wooden stick Eric prepared before leaving the island. Gladys wiped her face and got up to follow her brother outside. Eric had advised the two to stay together whenever they went out looking for food, so they could help each other in case of misfortune.

They then walked hand in hand into the forest, which was still wet with the morning dew. After several days of eating only fruit, vegetables, insects, and tubers, now they hope to get some meat as a source of protein. After walking for a while, Gladys saw some goats behind the bushes.

“Look over there,” she said.

Ramos saw what his sister pointed out and smile faintly. The goats looked like an easy catch.

“Wait here. I’ll catch one of them.” Ramos then walked quietly while gripping his pointed wooden stick. Step by step, he moved closer to his prey.

Unfortunately, Ramos fell into a trap hole covered in branches. Since he focused on the prey too much, he forgot to pay attention to his steps. In a blink of an eye, the goats ran away.

“Oh, no!” Gladys was shocked to see her brother fall. She rushed to the pit to check Borin’s condition.

Ramos groaned in pain as he clutched his leg. It was sprained and bleeding from the twigs scratch.

“Oh, my! What should I do?” asked Gladys frantically while looking down at the bottom of the hole.

“You stupid! Go find vines or roots that are long enough to pull me out!”

“O-okay.” Although her heart was pounding, Gladys had no choice. He rushed to find any vines around.

Luckily, there was a tree with long vines dangling close to where Ramos was trapped. Without thinking, Gladys took a stone that has a sharp edge and cut it. She then dragged it to the hole.

“Hold on tight!” Gladys threw the long vine. Ramos wrapped the vine in his hand and tried to climb up. After a few steps, the vine snapped and threw Ramos back to the ground.

Ramos groaned again. “CHOOSE A STRONG ONE!! YOU STUPID!” He cursed harshly at his little sister.

“S-sorry….” Gladys hurried off again in search of something stronger. A vine she found broke off when she tried to tug it on.

Couldn’t find what she looked for, Gladys rushed over to the other vines. But, when she clasped her hands, she felt a terrible pain. It turned out that there were small thorns along the vine. Gladys grimaced. Tears welled up in her eyes from the pain. She had to struggle again, looking for another vine with her blistered palm.

After trying hard, Gladys found one that was strong enough. She hurriedly dragged it back into the trap hole and threw it down.

“Catch this!” said Gladys. With her hands wounded, Gladys had to hold on to the vine. Her brother then used it to climb up.

Their struggle finally paid off. With great difficulty, Ramos could get out of the hole.

“Why you took so long!” Instead of thanking his sister, Ramos complained, making Gladys sit on the ground while wiping her tears.

“Shut up! I’ll get you some water to wash your wound.” Ramos spoke harshly. His prestige was irritated since he had to ask for help from a girl he considered a crybaby. It was difficult for the boy to change his temper. Though Arden had been guiding him for several weeks, his true nature returned during a precarious situation.

Ramos went to find a water source. However, before he could walk far, his steps stopped. A dark-skinned and shirtless person appeared in front of him. He was holding a piece of bamboo that had a sharp end.

Ramos thought of fighting back. However, his intention faded as two more people appeared—also with their weapons drawn. He looked at his sister and found two other people there, surrounding Gladys, who was so helpless.

“Stand up!” The strangers grabbed Gladys roughly and tied her hands. The same rope was also used to tie Ramos. They then took the two away.

Meanwhile, Peter, Anna, and Borin, who were exploring the surroundings, were surprised to hear a commotion. They walked closer while sneaking to see what was going on.

To see Gladys treated rudely, Anna felt miserable. “We have to help Miss Gladys.” She begged Peter and Borin.

However, seeing the dark-skinned people were stout, Peter and Borin were hesitant. “How can we beat them?” squeaked Borin in fright. He obviously preferred to stay in hiding.

“But what about Miss Gladys? She must be very frightened.” Anna sounded desperate. She knew that their strength was incomparable to those five burly people.

“Just send them some spell,” Peter said spontaneously, to which Anna replied with a sharp glance. Realizing that he had just blurted out, Peter closed his mouth with his hands.

Meanwhile, Borin looked at the two in turn, confused by their reaction.

“Err… I mean, if only we could enchant them.” Peter tried to correct his saying.

“Hurry! They’re moving away!” Anna then followed the people taking Ramos and Gladys. Peter and Borin walked behind.

After going through the forest, they finally arrived at a village. Anna and her friends couldn’t get any closer because it was an open field. There was no place to hide over there.

From a distance, they could only watch the strangers put Ramos and Gladys in a wooden cage and hang it on a tree. An old man came out from one hut and chatted with the five people. No conversation they could hear from that far.

“We have to get closer to them.” Anna stood up from her hiding place to head to the village. However, before she could take a step, she felt like something had pricked her in the neck. Reflexively, she touched the part that now feels itchy. Something like a needle had stuck there.

“What’s this?” Anna looked confused. But before she could get an explanation, her head felt dizzy and her consciousness decreased. Not long after, she fell to the ground—unconscious.

“Anna… Anna….” Peter was astonished and patted Anna’s cheek, trying to wake her up. However, his efforts were in vain. Not long after, the same thing happened to Borin. He fell unconscious shortly after a small needle was stuck in his neck.

Peter got suspicious and looked around to see who fired the needle. He found a girl standing some distance behind him, holding a kind of bamboo stick in her mouth, similar to a blow dart.

“Hey who are you?!” shouted Peter. But it was too late. A needle had been fired and shot into his neck.

Oh no. Peter could only scream in his heart. Like his two friends, a moment later, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

***

Meanwhile, Eric and Berinon struggled to row the lifeboats westward. The longer they were at sea, the greater the risk of death. Luckily, after some days, they finally arrived at a fishermen’s village on Notre Island. The atmosphere there was quite crowded. Many boats were moored while anglers seemed busy unloading their catch. “Scallops, oysters, squid, shrimp!!” several people shouted to offer their wares.

Eric and Berinon ate and rested for a while. Then they went around to find a ship that could be used to save Ramos and Gladys.

“Can you sail east?” Eric asked one sailor.

“You mean east over there?” said the sailor while pointing to the east.

“Of course. You think there’s another east?” Berinon said impatiently.

“Then my answer is no. I heard there’s a lot of coral over there.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be a coward,” said Berinon.

“Please, our young master is stranded there,” begged Eric.

The sailor was silent for a moment before finally replying curtly, “How many do you have?”

Eric took out five silver coins and two gold coins from his pocket. “I have only this.” All the supplies he had brought had sunk along with the wreckage of the ship.

The sailor covered his mouth to suppress laughter. “That’s all? Even if you have a chest of gold, I still don’t want to go east. Many ships have sunk because they hit the rocks around there.” The sailor refused Eric’s gift and then looked at Berinon. “Aren’t you also a ship captain? I think I’ve seen you sailing.”

“Yes, my ship sank there too,” said Berinon.

That answer suddenly made the foreign sailor laugh out loud. “A captain who lost his ship wants to use someone else’s, so he had the same fate as his? How stupid!”

Unable to accept being ridiculed, Berinon became emotional and charged forward to punch the sailor’s face. Luckily, Eric still managed to stop him. Berinon shouted in anger while Eric was trying hard to pull him away from there.

“This won’t work!” said Berinon as he downed a glass of wine. They were now sitting in a tavern. Eric purposely invited his companion there to cool his head.

“Yes, it seems so.” The knight could not disagree. He had met several sailors, all of whom refused to lend their ships at any cost. “Looks like we’ll have to go to Kingsford to find Mr. Gideon. He can certainly help.” Eric expressed his opinion. The city of Kingsford was located northeast of Notre Island.

“But Kingsford is a long way from here,” said Berinon as he thought the journey could make the help come late. He wasn’t sure that Ramos and Gladys could survive that long on an island that was so wild.

“But we have no choice,” said Eric with a deep breath. The two of them went silent while taking a sip of wine from their glasses. When they were lost in their own thoughts, Suddenly, a voice called out to Berinon. A short, skinny man seemed to walk over with a smile.

“Ogier?” Berinon stood up and greeted the man who turned out to be his old friend. They then chatted for a while.

“Who is he?” asked Ogier while looking at Eric.

“He is Eric, a knight from Portos,” said Berinon. He then sat back down and invited Ogier to join them. “So, now you are running a tavern?”

“Yeah. After leaving the world of shipping, I started this tavern and inn business.” Ogier turned out to be the owner of the place. “How about you?”

Berinon shook his head and replied. “Bad luck. I lost my ship.” He then told the misfortune that befell him. Ogier looked sympathetic but couldn’t do anything about it.

“Sorry, I can’t help. I don’t have a ship either. It’s been a long time since I was your crew member.” Ogier—who used to work as Berinon’s subordinate—was now more successful with his life as a tavern and inn entrepreneur.

“I can only offer you free drinks and lodging tonight. Or if you prefer, work with me and use your salary to buy another ship.” Ogier patted Berinon on the shoulder. “I need your help to keep my tavern safe. These days, thieves often come to take my money.”

“Think about it tonight.” The little man then left to take care of other things.

That night, both of them rested at the Ogier Inn. Although it was almost midnight, Berinon had not yet fallen asleep. He was still thinking about the offer from Ogier. Now he has nothing left. Going to Kingsford with Eric also seemed too dangerous. Despite being able to fight, his ability to wield weapons was not comparable to a knight.

“So you want to stay here?” Eric seemed to understand Berinon’s thoughts from his blank stare.

“Yeah, I think so,” said Berinon in a deep voice.

Eric was silent for a while then answered, “Okay then…. I can understand.” His voice was calm. “From the start, I realized that all of this is my responsibility. I am the one who has sworn allegiance to the Fernier family. While you are just a sailor who gets rewarded for your shipping services. I am very grateful. Because of you, I can still live until now.”

“Thanks for understanding, my friend,” said Berinon.

The next morning, Eric woke up and found Berinon was not there. Not too concerned, the knight prepared everything he would bring on the journey.

When everything was ready, he went out of the inn. Just then, Berinon appeared with Ogier. They brought a brown horse.

“This is for you. I hope it can help you get to Kingsford sooner,” Berinon said as he handed the horse to Eric. “Ogier bought it earlier.”

“And you’ll pay for it by working for a month,” said Ogier. While Berinon could only smile wryly.

“Take this with you for your trip too,” said Ogier as he handed Eric a bag of gold.

“Thank you very much, friend. I will repay this after my mission is successful.” Eric shook Berinon’s and Ogier’s hands tightly. The knight then rode his horse towards the capital.