A known traitor

As the words left Morris' mouth, the blue screen flickered back into vision:

[Congratulations, Ethan Cross! You have been appointed as a Village Chief.]

[Starting rewards have been sent to inventory.]

Before Ethan could process the strings of words, another message flashed in bold red letters.

[WARNING: Treachery detected!]

[Generating starting mission...]

[Mission: Fish out the traitor.]

[Objective : Your predecessor was poisoned by one of the villager elders under Lord Bolton's orders, unmask the traitor before he escapes by midnight]

[Reward: +100 Wood, +100 Stone, +10 EXP]

[Bonus Reward: Appraisal - Allows the user to see information of people and things around him.]

[Punishment: If the traitor escapes, Lord Bolton learns of your survival ahead of schedule and sends an assassin.]

As he read through the prompt, Ethan sucked a cold breath at the introduction of appraisal.

Reading the last part, he frowned. 'Looks like the game world regressed to the start of the game. Speaking of traitors, I already have a suspect in mind.'

His eyes darted across the room lit by rays of sunlight coming in through the window, before settling on the man with a scar on his face. 'Gareth, you fucking snake.'

In the real world he had failed to find the traitor before he escaped. And a week later Gareth returned with a small mercenary squad and the assassin sent by Bolton to kill him.

He had only managed to scrape by after using his hard earned money to top-up in-game currency. Which in turn triggered his heart attack.

The memory made his fist clench and his eyes burn with revenge, but he forced himself to relax, a rueful smile forming on his lips.

Standing up, Ethan bowed slightly towards the elders in the room. "Thank you for your trust, I promise I won't let you down."

As his eyes darted between the elders, a new line of thought emerged in his mind. 'Could it be someone else this time? Did my arrival alter events? Either way I'll first confirm my suspicions.'

Staring at Ethan with a fatherly gaze, Morris smiled. "It's alright Ethan. We believe you can do a good enough job like your father did, either way we're all here with you."

The others seated in the room, nodded in unison except for Gareth, the gash running across his eyes folded up in disdain.

Ethan's eyes narrowed at Gareth's behaviour. 'Strike one, Gareth.'

Turning to the girl standing behind him, Ethan said, "Walk with me Anna." before heading out of the hall.

As they stepped outside, Anna tip-toed, her height stopping two heads shorter than his, her blue eyes shimmering like she had just ran into a world shaking discovery.

"You're slowly recovering your memory aren't you?"

Glancing back at her, Ethan's lips formed a slight smirk. "What gave it away?"

Crossing her arms, Anna returned the smirk with an expression that screamed 'You're not the only one smart here mister.'

"I didn't tell you my name after you asked me where you were and who you were."

Chuckling, Ethan continued walking forward.

Truth was he still had zero recollection of his predecessors memory. But he had memories about almost everything in the village.

Anna's voice came from behind him, "Hey wait up." Followed by hurried footsteps.

The villagers stared at him as he walked by some of them greeting him, Ethan nodded acknowledging their greetings.

After a round of exchanging pleasantries with the overly enthusiastic villagers he turned to Anna. "Go to the house and get all the coins you can."

Acknowledging Ethan's request with a nod, Ethan walked through the dirt path her back shrinking as she moved.

Turning around sharply, Ethan approached Gareth's house, ensuring he wasn't being seen by anybody, he slipping in to the house.

Inside smoke wafted out from a crudely made fireplace, the ember on the firewood inside it glowing slightly.

He walked towards the bed peering underneath it he saw a box, drawing it out he opened it, inside the box was a single silver coin gleaming behind several bronze coins.

Ethan's eyes narrowed at the discovery. 'Silver? Strike two Gareth.'

From the little he knew about Vaeloria's economy, being in possession of silver coins or as they called it 'Solis' was unheard of for most villagers.

Villagers mostly dealt with copper coins or 'Coul'

Pocketing the coin, Ethan smirked, "Thanks for your generous donation Gareth."

Sliding the box back, he stood up. After minutes of searching through all the nooks and crannies of the room, he found nothing. Nothing to expose Gareth.

He exhaled sharply, frustration creeping in. Taking one final glance of the room he prepared to leave.

Any longer and Gareth could come back and catch him inside his house.

Glancing across the room, his brows creased in thought. 'I survived it before anyway, I'm sure I can do it again.'

Shaking his head, Ethan sighed and made his way toward the door. 'Maybe I'm just overthinking things. Maybe the coin's just a lucky windfall.'

A few steps before to the door, he froze mid-step. His boot had caught on something, a tiny ridge in the floorboards.

Crouching down, Ethan's heart pounded as he ran his fingers over the wood. Pausing over a portion of the wood with a slight give, that was unnoticeable due to the dim lighting of the room, he smiled.

Looking up at the ceiling, he shook his fist. 'Curse you medieval rooms and poor lighting.'

Glancing back down, he gently pulled open the ridge, creaking softly, it revealed a tiny hidden compartment, with a vial containing a colourless liquid.

Ethan's smile widened even further, as he muttered, "Bingo."

Retrieving the vial, he sealed back the compartment and slipped out of the house.

With his heart now at ease, he headed for his house.

As he got to the door, Anna walked out carrying three jute pouches with a wry smile. Handing them to Ethan, she said, "This is all the money I could find in the house."

Taking the pouches off her hand, Ethan said, "Thanks Anna. Gather the villagers tell them I'd like to address them."

"Alright."

Dropping the words, she skipped from house to house informing them of Ethan's summons.

Ethan shook the pouches as if weighing them, the coins inside clinked against each other like wind chimes.

Muttering, "This would do." He walked towards the meeting hall.

The moment he walked into the hall, his gaze moved to Gareth. 'Enjoy your moment of peace snake, soon I'll smoke you out of your burrow.'

Placing the pouches on the table, he turned to the brown haired elder who served as the village's finance head, "Elder Ludwig, I want to have a look at the villages financial report. Can that be arranged?"

Ludwig nodded with a smile, like he had been waiting for Ethan to ask the entire day. "Certainly, I'll have someone bring it to your cabinet before the evening."

"Thanks."

Staring at the rest of the elders, Ethan continued, "I rallied the villagers together I'd like to address them, you all don't mind being there do you?"

Gareth sneered, shaking his head in subtle disappointment, he stood up. 'Already abusing his authority.'

"Of course not." Helen the stout female elder responded.

Morris also stood up, "Lead the way Chief."

Ethan walked out the door, followed by the elders. Staring at the villagers gathered before staring at him, his heart skipped a beat.

'I forgot how much I hate public speaking.'

Ethan cleared his throat loudly to attract the crowds attention, the murmurs died down.

Glancing across the villagers, he suppressed the stage fright enveloping him, closing his eyes briefly.

He opened them again, much more confident. "My fellow villagers, our elder council has appointed me as your new village chief."

The murmurs returned, exhaling Ethan continued, "And it is a badge I plan to wear with honour, just like my father did and his father before him."

"But with a traitor in our midst it becomes a hindrance to my job and creed."

The atmosphere turned tense as the villagers began murmuring, glancing subtly to the left he noticed Gareth shift slightly.

Returning his gaze to the villagers, Ethan continued, "What do we do to traitors?

Anna's excited voice drifted in from the back of the crowd. "We burn them!" All the villagers glanced wearily at her. The ones close to her shuffled away awkwardly.

Ethan smiled, his voice gaining an up tone as he asked again, "What do we do to traitors?"

Anna's reply came swiftly again. "We burn them." Accompanied by murmurs from the villagers.

Ethan's voice rose a few more pitches. "What do we do to traitors?"

A handful of villagers joined Anna, a murmur of overlapped uncertainty. "We burn them!"

Ethan shouted once more. "What do we do to traitors."

The rest of the villagers joined the chorus. "We burn them!"

"What do we do to traitors?"

"We burn them!"

At first, Gareth's expression was unreadable, but as the chant grew louder, his fingers twitched at his sides, exhaling he forced a smile on his face.

Smiling widely, Ethan already imagined Gareth sweating nervously.

Clearing his throat, Morris asked, "Do you have evidence on the said traitor."

Turning to face the elders behind him, Ethan's gaze rested on Gareth, as his face slowly creased into a smile. "Yes, I do."

Pulling out the silver coin from his pocket, he raised it into the air. "Exhibit A."