Help Us

Winifred sat near the window in the carriage with Elise. After the carriage started moving, Winifred's eyes caught sight of the other people sitting in the carriage. There were five people in total, including Winifred and Elise. Winifred looked at the three people sitting in front of her.

In the middle sat a young girl who seemed to wield two daggers strapped to her wrists. Her companion on the right was a young boy wearing chest armor over his clothes, along with hand and leg armor. He was slim, not very muscular, and had a long sword strapped to his back. On her left was another boy, shorter in height, with pointy ears—he was an elf. He didn't have any armor or weapons. All three of them looked sad, staring downward as though they had lost something important.

Winifred observed them with curiosity, noticing how they didn't seem to pay any attention to her.

"Look here, Winifred," Elise said, gazing out the window.

"Oh… what is it?" Winifred asked, turning her head towards the window.

Because the carriage was mostly covered, only the back and the two side windows were open. To see outside, one had to look through the windows or the open back of the carriage.

Looking out the window, Winifred saw the road ahead. The carriage was approaching an entry gate where a small crowd was waiting to enter the city. Soldiers were stationed there, carrying weapons and checking the people entering.

"That's the East Gate of the Eastern City," Elise said while looking outside.

"The city has three gates. The East and West Gates are the main ones, and then there's the North Gate."

"Oh… okay," Winifred replied.

"If you get lost, just come back to the nearest gate or return to the East Gate, okay?" Elise instructed.

"Okay," Winifred answered nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm just thinking about the worst-case scenario. The shopping district can get crowded, so be careful, okay?" Elise said, looking at Winifred.

"Okay," Winifred replied again.

"Is she new here?" the girl sitting in the middle asked.

"Yes, she came from Raya City. She's my student," Elise replied.

"You've come a long way, girl. Take care of yourself, okay?" the girl said with a sad smile.

"Oh… okay. Thanks," Winifred replied, a bit shocked.

"Is everything okay? You guys don't look well," Elise asked, noticing the sadness on the girl's face and her companions.

"Oh, yeah, everything is fine," the girl replied with a weak smile.

"No, everything is not fine. Why are you lying, Luna?" the boy on her right said.

The girl sitting in the middle was named Luna.

"Tell me, maybe I can help you," Elise offered.

"Why bother? We didn't ask for your help. It's none of your business, so please stop talking to us!" the boy said angrily, leaning forward towards Elise.

Seeing the boy yelling at Elise, Winifred began to feel frustrated. Without realizing it, she clenched her fists and glared at him. She was about to say something, but suddenly—

"Stop it, Ray. I'm the one who started talking to them. It's not their fault," Luna said, pulling Ray back.

On Luna's left, the elf boy bent his knees, folded his arms over them, and buried his face. He looked scared, with a mix of fear and sadness on his face.

"Yeah, it's not their fault. It's my fault. It's all my fault, isn't it? So why aren't you two saying anything to me? Please, say something! Damn it, it's my fault!" Ray shouted, his voice breaking as he started crying.

Ray turned towards the elf boy, who was still hiding his face.

"Luke, say something! Please, say something!" Ray pleaded.

As Ray kept asking, Luke became even more afraid, trembling as he remembered what had happened. Tears began to stream down his face. Seeing Luke cry, both Ray and Luna couldn't hold back their emotions and started crying too.

"Crying…"

Seeing them all cry, Winifred looked at Elise with a mix of fear and sadness in her eyes.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"Ma'am, if they're bothering you, I can drop them off here," the man driving the carriage said loudly enough for everyone inside to hear.

"No, it's fine. They've just lost something very important. Please continue. We have no problem with them," Elise replied calmly.

"Okay, as you wish," the man said, and the carriage started moving again.

"Luna, right? I know I might not be able to help, but if you can share what happened, I might be able to offer some kind of help," Elise said, looking at Luna.

"There's a small army of goblins near the South Crystal Dungeon. They trapped us when we came back. Inside the dungeon, they attacked us from all sides and forced us to drop our weapons," Luna explained.

Elise was shocked to hear that a group of goblins had forced them to surrender. Winifred listened carefully, her face showing both sadness and fear.

"Luke, stop! You know…" Ray yelled at Luke, trying to make him stop sharing more.

"I will not!" Luke said, sitting up straight and glaring at Ray with wide, angry eyes.

"You know that even if we do what they say, they'll still kill us if we go back there! We're a four-person party, and they've captured our leader. There was a demon, and all the goblins followed his command. That demon said if we want our leader back, we have to bring them what they asked for. If we don't—and if we tell anyone or ask for help—our leader will become goblin food. Ah… they even cut off one of his arms as a warning!"

Ray understood Luke's point.

"Yeah, I know, but what else can we do? He said we can't tell anyone," Ray muttered.

"We have to! Luke is right, and you know it too. It's a clear trap. If we do what they demand and go back there, they'll kill all of us and him too," Luna said firmly.

Understanding Luke and Luna's reasoning, Ray sank to his knees and placed his hands on the floor in front of Elise.

"Please help us. Please forgive me for what I said earlier. I'll do anything you ask. Just please help us. You said you could help, right? Please!"

Tears streamed down Luna and Luke's faces. Shocked to see Ray begging for help, they also knelt, placing their hands on the floor in front of Elise.

"Please help us. Please!" they pleaded.