Ren woke to the sound of people chattering. “Where am I?”

  “Ah… You’re awake.” Alfred smiled and extended his arms to Ren. “Let me help you sit. We barely escaped the capital yesterday. Now, you are in a wagon with us.”

  “How did I, how did we make it out alive?” He touched his neck; the stinging sensation of the rope was still there. “I remember hearing the executioner pulling the trapdoor lever.”

  When Ren was finally seated, he saw several men seated next to him. They wore black attire, each with a tribal face mask. “Umm… Hello, who are they?” Ren asked, his mouth wide open.

  Alfred cleared his throat, “Well, Ren, do you still remember when I told you that you would be alive?”

  “Yes.”

  “They went in and rescued us yesterday. You should have seen the faces of the crown prince and the prime minister on the balcony. Satisfying… to see.”

  “Gee… Thanks for saving us back there, guys. I’m Howard Ren, you can call me Ren.”

  The men unveiled their masks.

  The man next to Ren spoke, “I am Bimol, the leader of this group. We are part of the King’s Claws. The king himself created our group to carry out espionage and assassination when instructed. The person next to me is Bujang, Remang, Jinggau, and Reinhart.”

  “So, what happens next?” Ren asked.

  The rest of the men kept mum, looking down. Alfred replied, “We are going to the Eastern Territory. Back to the Yauja tribe reserve.”

  “The…what?” Ren tried to understand.

  “The Yauja tribe reserve,” Alfred answered, “It is a part of Eastern Territory. We will arrive in about two hours.”

  Bimol interrupted, “Lord Merovia is expecting us there. Once we cross the golden bridge, we will be under his protection.”

  Ren was already using both hands to hold his head, “The golden what? Damn, that’s a lot for me to remember.”

  Alfred laughed, “You will have the time to remember all the details when we arrive later. The most pressing matter now is the blockade in front of us.”

  “No shi…- “

  In front of them, wagons and carriages lined up, each inspected thoroughly by fully armed soldiers. Those without proper documentation were dragged from their horses and had their belongings confiscated. They were then pushed into a steel cage on the side of the road for others to see.

  Some tried to return to the capital but were immediately caught and locked up, just as the previous man had been.

  Ren was horrified as he watched the inhuman treatment unfold. “These people are awful.”

  “Yes, they sure are,” Bujang said, “That is how the Thessalonias treated the tribal people like us before the old king. Now, the king is dead, so is our hope in reconciliation.”

  Ren took a deep sigh. He peeked his head outside from the wagon; two soldiers were closing in. They wore blue tunics with leather shoes. One of them was holding a spear, standing guard, while the other served as an inspector, checking the contents of each wagon.

  “They are getting close. Do we have something to show them?” Ren asked.

  “Don’t worry, we forged identification papers for you. It arrived nick on time, right before you arrived in this kingdom.” Alfred replied.

  “Wait, you have been preparing all these even before I came? How do you know?”

  “Once we arrive, the Lord will let you know.”

  Reinhart took a parchment from his sack and handed it to Ren, “Here, your papers. Don’t lose it.” Then he took a shirt and a pair of wool pants and said, “Change your clothes, the ones you are wearing now are too risky.” They will know you instantly.”

  Ren took the clothes and changed his attire as instructed by Reinhart. Just as he put on the clothes, they heard soldiers' footsteps outside.

  One of them flipped the wagon’s canopy when he saw Ren and the other men inside. He commanded, “Papers…”

  Each one of them handed their documents to the soldier, including Ren, who was following their actions.

  After receiving the documents, the soldier went out to read them. The entire King’s Claw grew tense with each minute passing by, hands by their short swords, ready to strike if things went ugly.

  The soldier returned to them and handed the documents to each of them, “Okay, you’re clear. Proceed…”

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  The situation shifted calmer. “Glad that worked out…’ whispered Jinggau, “They are very particular about the documents. Once they found out you don’t have any papers with you during their search, you are basically finished.”

  Ren nodded, “Understood. There are so many things for me to learn here.” He admitted.

  It took them another fifteen minutes to pass through the first blockade.

  Thanks to the blockade and traffic congestion in front of them, it would take longer for Ren and the King’s Claw to reach the golden bridge.

  “I think there’s another blockade right in front of the bridge,” said Alfred, “We'd better stop for the night. Bimol, while we set up the camp, perhaps you can do some recce of the area ahead of us.”

  “I intend to do so.”

  They spotted a flat and wide area by the side of the road and stopped to rest. While Ren and Alfred were setting up the camp, Bimol and the rest of the King’s Claw went out to do reconnaissance of that area.

  As it got darker by the hour, other wagons started to come and set up their own camp by the side of the road, near their location.

  One of the wagons stopped right next to their camp. “Alright, fellas, we make camp here.” The voice from the wagon said.

  Alfred, who was finishing setting up the bonfire, was alarmed by that voice. He pulled Ren to the back of the wagon and made a sign for him to stay quiet.

  Alfred peeped from behind the wagon, “It’s them.” He whispered while closing his eyes.

  “Who are they?”

  “The Hound Dogs. If the former king has the King’s Claw, the crown prince has his own death squad. The Hound Dogs.”

  Ren gasped, “So, they are here to… - “

  “Yes… We should move out quickly.”

  “Wait,” Ren said while holding Alfred’s shoulder, “If we scramble to move out, they will be more suspicious. Remember, there is a blockade ahead of us. If we move out hastily, they can chase us and alarm the soldiers on the other side.”

  Alfred sighed, “You are right. I will calm myself down, but you must not show yourself in front of them. They know your face.”

  “They know your face too,” Ren replied.

  “I know how to handle it better, don’t worry. Just get in the wagon and stay there for the night.”

  A few minutes later, the King’s Claw arrived at the campsite. Alfred told them about the current situation and asked them to be more discreet.

  The first few hours went well without any trouble; each camp did its own business without interrupting the others. However, Ren realized that the next camp was getting rowdy, “It must be the alcohol,” he thought.

  He looked at the roasted chicken in his bowl. It has a little bit of burn, but it was still delicious. “How are ma and pa doing right now? Are they okay? What happens to the world on the other side?” His head hurt thinking about all the questions with no answers in his present circumstances.

  Then, he remembered, “Status.” A game-like interface appeared immediately,

  [STATUS]

  Level 32

  [Health: 68/100]

  [Stamina: 32/100]

  [Strength: 30/100]

  [Agility: 45/100]

  [Intelligence: 100/100]

  [Charisma: 100/100]

  “Close Status,” the interface disappeared. “Interesting, I wonder if I can see their status as well,” Ren repeated the same phrases, only to find his status appeared. That means he can only view his own status in this world. While he was exploring the invisible interface, he heard commotion outside.

  Two men were facing off. On the left was Bujang, while on the right side was a bigger guy, possibly one of the Hound Dogs. Ren facepalmed, “Taking it discreetly, my ass.”

  He climbed down from the wagon and crawled towards Alfred, who was cheering loudly behind the crowd. Both the Hound Dogs and the King’s Claw clapped and cheered on their buddies next to each other, laughing and sharing drinks.

  “Psst… Alfred,” when Alfred turned to him, “What is going on? You said to keep it quiet. But now you are one of the loudest cheerleaders.”

  “Boy, you got it wrong,” Alfred said. Ren noticed the red face; he was already drunk. “I know, I know… I had a little drink and am half drunk. But we must do this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They came to us, offering drinks. We had to accept, you know. Because, if not, they will be hostile towards us. And we don’t wish to have any enemies on our neck before we arrive at our destination.”

  Ren pointed at the two men brawling. “What about these two guys?”

  “Both drunks are just being idiots. It’s our way of life around here. Don’t worry, it’s better this way than if they notice you. Hide in the wagon.” Alfred said.

  “I hope you are right, Alfred,” Ren replied, worried about them accidentally giving off information to the hounds.

  The sound of metal clanging woke Ren up. From the wagon, he saw the bright orange color of flames followed by the sound of men yelling.

  A dark figure with a short sword in his hand emerged, surprised to see Ren. The dark figure climbed up the wagon, raised his sword, and was about to thrust it at him when a dagger struck his neck. The figure dropped immediately, holding his neck, gurgling blood as it squirts all over the floor.

  Bimol climbed into the wagon, pushing the dying man out while yelling for the others to come in. Once in, they immediately sped off towards the bridge.

  Their faces hardened, and each one had weapons in their hands, daggers and short swords. “We have been compromised.”

  Alfred instructed Reinhart, who was acting as the wagoner, “Full speed. We will punch through the roadblock.”

  “Roger that.”

  In an instant, the wagon moved faster and more forcefully across the rugged terrain.

  Soon, the Hound Dogs got on their horses and pursued them while shooting arrows. The rocky and uneven surface became Ren’s allies as most of the hounds’ arrows missed them completely.

  “There, the blockade right in front of us,” Reinhart said, “We’re going in hot, guys. Get ready!”

  The soldiers guarding the blockade were unaware of them until it was too late.

  “Whoa… stop, stop!” The soldiers had to jump to the side to avoid being hit by the speeding wagon, followed by the hounds.

  Reinhart forced the horses to run faster, “Almost there, guys.”

  Suddenly, one of the arrows flew past through the back of the wagon and went straight into Reinhart’s shoulder, injuring him.

  “I’m hit! I’m hit!” he yelled.

  The other King’s Claw members shot back while Ren went to the front and provided medical aid to Reinhart.

  “This cloth is all we have for now. I will wrap it around the arrow; hopefully, it’s enough to stop the bleeding.”

  Merely seconds after they reached the end of the bridge, a barrage of arrows flew directly towards the ground behind them. Stopping the Hounds from continuing their pursuit.

  The leader of the Hounds, Rihard Lee, looked up at the native Yaujas, who were ready to fire another volley of arrows directly at them. “Just wait, you uncivilized pigs. One day, we will clean this land of you vermin.” He pointed towards the opposite side of the bridge, “Fall back. We shall return in the morning.”

  “They pursue us no more,” Bujang reported, “We’re safe now.”

  “At least for now,” Bimol replied, “Let’s go and meet Lord Merovia tonight. Jinggau, switch places with Reinhart.

  “…Ren, welcome to the Eastern Territory.”