"Luna, look, people have finally come to our camp! They are from Mierre-Park, right?" Her youngest sister pointed to people who controlled a horse-drawn wagon, which walked closer to them. That horse-drawn wagon was pulled with two big horses. One person sit on the chair that usually place to drive a wagon. And the other two people sit on the wagon with their several goods.
"Wow, have they met our boss on the way between Mierre-Park and this camp? They should meet them because only one way to go to Mierre-Park." Elric asked and stood up beside Rhea. He observed that merchants who are still on the wagon.
Rhea held Luna's hand, but Luna's mind wandered to other things. Luna thought she had ever met that man, the man who sat and drove horses. But she forgot when she met him and what situation that made Luna feel like deja vu.
Her friends were still on the river after they finished the last activities before the sky was dusk. This was a routine exercise before dusk, and Luna knew if Darren who initiated this activity. But only Luna and Elric, who sat in their camp and needed to welcome them all.
For Luna, they were not her guests, didn't like merchants because Luna was familiar with them. If they arrived before dusk, they would meet Darren, Evan, and two of her sisters.
"Elric, stay alert," she said to him, the one and only adult except her. "Never drink anything, eat anything, or the worst was sleep near them."
Luna reminded Elric because only Elric who person, could talk with her now. All of her friends were too far, and Luna was sure as hell that she never had time to talk with everyone in this camp. Luna would look suspicious if she were forced to talk and made her be the first person would be killed.
"Rhea, can you help me? Please, call the other uncles in the forest. Say, if we had guests." Rhea nodded before she went to the forest, leaving Luna and Elric. Elric must be aware if she is worried about something. He looked at her, his gaze asking her why she couldn't calm down. "They were killer, help me to welcome them."
Luna's whisper made Elric pause for a moment before he cleared his throat. Elric stood a little closer, whispering to Luna in front of him.
"How did you know they were killers?" There was no way Luna was going to be honest if she was a killer, just like the man known as Tom.
Luna remembered that she had met Tom once when they had to work together to kill someone. But, she couldn't speak the truth in front of Elric.
"I have ever seen him kill someone." She whispered before Luna saw them get down from the wagon.
"Hi! A few days ago, I ever heard about the camp before Oron Mountains. This camp, right?" Elric walked closer to the man whom Luna knew was Tom. Luna observed two men who stood up behind Tom. They didn't look like merchants. Luna assumed they were bandits.
"Yap! This is our camp area. But, if you are interested in resting in our place, we can be your option rather than sleeping in the forest." It was hard for Luna to be friendly with a new person like Elric. Darren was also a typical person like Elric, the difference was that Darren often upset her for no reason before she knew Darren's real life.
"Today I saw some people heading towards Mierre-Park by carriage. Are those your friends?" Tom asked.
"Yes, today they were going to Mierre-Park to sell all of our bows," Elric said.
Tom looked so dashing, a typical man who was good at martial arts. That was a fact; Luna knew how Tom was despite only working together for a few days.
As Luna recalled, he was King Finn's right-hand man in charge of cleaning what was dirty for the king. The dirt in question was of various kinds. Not only items like evidence of corruption, but he also cleaned up everyone who tried to get in his way.
The other two, Luna never saw. Both of them tied up their long hair for disguise. Although Luna knew very well that they were a group of bandits who lived along the road to Narima Beach and Mierre-Park.
The three of them were dressed like normal merchants. Most merchants will sell in their best clothes at the market. Then, they would wear normal clothes for traveling. Looking at their current appearance, no one would have guessed that they were a group of bandits who used to inhabit this region.
Several of his friends who had washed their bodies now came out of the forest with Rhea walking in front. Her younger sister seemed to be leading Kael and Cal to the camp with their bright smiles.
Unfortunately, if only they knew that the people who stopped by were murderers. Luna was sure that smile wouldn't come so easily. Luna didn't know what the motive for their arrival this time was, but they were King Finn's emissaries who were curious about something here.
Rhea approached Luna, who was immediately greeted with a hug from the eldest daughter of the Everglow family. Luna chose to stay and protect Rhea. She had recovered and would be more than capable if she had to fight Tom today.
"Did you come with the merchants from Narima Beach?!" Cal half-shouted, making Luna turn to observe the others who were approaching them. There was a wagon pulled by two horses carrying goods. The horses were pulling about five people coming from the direction of Narima Beach.
They weren't ordinary merchants—they were just bandits in disguise.
****
"Rhea," Luna whispered as all of their friends were busy drinking the alcohol brought by the merchants. She gently stroked Rhea's hair, tucking the front strands behind her younger sister's ear. It was already night, and the campfire was burning — a sign that they had finished dinner and were getting ready to sleep. "Later at midnight, let's get ready to leave this place."
"Why? Are you not comfortable staying here?" Rhea asked softly, whispering as well.
"It's not that. I just know they're not good people." Luna gestured toward the group chatting in front of the fire. "We need to go home. Mia and Thalia are there."
"Uncle Darren and Uncle Evan?" Luna nodded. "In that case, how about we ask them to come with us?"
"They won't be killed. Just us," Luna whispered softly, hoping the bandits wouldn't hear them. Out of all their guests, Luna had counted a total of seven bandits who had come to their camp. It was clear they planned to surround Luna and her friends by sending that many.
"How are we going to leave?" Rhea whispered again.
"By horse, we'll go to Mierre-Park, to our home," Luna said as she gently caressed her little sister's cheek. She smiled, trying to calm Rhea, who wasn't as composed as usual. "Or how about this — since you can already ride a horse, you'll go to the house first. After that, I'll follow once I manage to free one of the murderers' horses. How's that?"
"I don't know the way," Rhea said with a pout. "Besides, I don't want to go if I have to pass through the forest in the middle of the night, Luna."
[Your newest mission: kill all bandits]
Sasa's voice appeared, and it was the sign that she had to complete the mission. She had to succeed because she didn't want to leave Rhea alone in this place. Especially since Mia and Thalia had gone to Mierre-Park, leaving Rhea with no one else but her.
The sound of conversation and laughter slowly faded. The silence was now filled only by the croaking of frogs and the hum of insects in the night. The voices of her drunken, chatting friends were gone. Only a few hushed conversations remained — and Luna was sure they weren't from her friends.
Luna turned to see that all of her friends had lost consciousness. Except for the merchants, they were still awake and not drunk. They must have mixed the wine with sleeping drugs that they usually used.
"Luna, they're coming," Rhea said.
Realizing that all the bandits were now watching Luna and Rhea, who had grown alert, the men stood up from around the campfire. One of them stepped forward — Tom — approaching Luna, who was standing protectively in front of Rhea.
"Hello, Luna. Do you still remember me?" Tom drew closer. There was no way Luna would suddenly forget Tom.