Arthur watched over the rebuilding efforts, keeping his face neutral as he tried to hide his raging thoughts. Of course, this didn’t work entirely, as people seemed to be able to sense when he was in a bad mood, and right now was no different.

They had become complacent with James there to alert them to the incoming monster attacks. They had become overconfident, thinking they could just send teams into the woods with only building equipment. And when he said “they” he really meant “he” had become complacent. Because he was the leader. It was his job to consider these things.

It had been a large attack, probably a consequence of not having one for four days. The walls were in shambles; the sheer number of goblins streaming out of the trees had made them more willing to climb the barriers despite them being full of thorns. They had even managed to enter the clearing proper!

Arthur eyed a nearby goblin corpse, sneering at it in disgust. The monsters were clearly just put there by the Tutorial to whittle them down. He hated it. He loved being in charge, he couldn’t deny that, but why did it have to be under these circumstances?

Construction on the group homes had halted, at least for the day, the efforts being redirected to the walls. They couldn’t afford to leave themselves undefended overnight in case an attack came then. They’d probably have to sleep all huddled up in a group. To be fair, he’d probably sleep in the infirmary with Christian, perks of leadership and all that, but the situation wasn’t ideal. He wondered how many people working out there had realized this fact. From the lack of overwhelming grumblings, he gathered not many.

And where was James when they needed her? Frolicking around, training, something she really didn’t even need to do. After all, she had some of the strongest men in the group guarding her. Why would she need to train? Her value was elsewhere. And now they couldn’t find her, or Louis, the one guard that stayed behind to guard her while Jean Louis attempted to alert them.

He didn’t even have enough people, or confidence, to send some people out to look for her. He needed people cleaning up here. He needed the walls repaired now. He needed to have the proper count of the casualties. He spared a glance to the burning funeral pyres, their smoke signifying the mood of the clearing. She’d come back, where else would she go?

He couldn’t deny that he didn’t particularly like her though and that a small part of him was glad she wasn’t here. She was just weird, awkward. He still felt like she was holding back, and in turn felt he couldn’t really trust her. A small voice at the back of his head piped up that he only disliked her because she wasn’t particularly impressed by him. That small bit of self-conscious telling him that she had seen through it all and was not dazzled like everyone else.

But didn’t she understand his position? He understood she had social anxiety, but gods, it couldn’t be that bad. And even if it was, so what? The group needed her. His job as the leader was to weigh out the consequences on his directives. On the one he had a slightly disheveled James and a safe camp. On the other he had a comfortable James, sucking away at hard-earned resources, and a camp in danger. It was clear which option he had to choose. James wasn’t his priority. The group was.

Feeling that his face was frowning, he smoothed it out again and went to grab some food for him and Christian. Heading over to the eating area, he filled up two plates with some fresh goblin meat and went to the infirmary to find the good doctor. Somebody opened the door for him, and he nodded in thanks as he went in and set one plate down on Christian’s desk. Leaning against it, he left Christian’s own stool empty. After sitting on it that one time with James he realized he must have looked positively silly. Which wasn’t an image the people in the clearing needed to have of their leader. Christian indicated that he’d come in a second and continued talking to a patient.

At least Christian understood the pains of leadership. People looked to him as the doctor to tell them they were going to be alright. Of course, neither of them could really say that. But he was dealing admirably with the pressure.

“Did James come back yet?” Christian said in way of greeting, wiping his hands before sitting down on his stool and grabbing a the fork and knife eagerly. Arthur shook his head, pursing his lips in annoyance. He couldn’t imagine that anything had happened to her. Jean Paul and Louis had reported no goblin interest in her the whole time that they had guarded her.

“How’s it going in here?”

“We’re bursting at the seams. A lot of people went down,” a beat of silence passed, the two feeling the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

“At least we’re set for food. Goblin meat is on the menu again.” It had never gone off the menu. They’d need to start foraging for food soon, another thing he didn’t know how to do. People couldn’t eat goblin meat exclusively. He hoped somebody else in the group had some knowledge about plants, but he didn’t let his hopes get too high. They’d only come crashing down when nobody volunteered.

A practiced call sounded though the clearing and made itself into the infirmary. Swiftly setting his meal down and exiting out the door, Arthur went to see what lone figure stumbled upon the clearing. A ragged looking Louis was limping in, quickly getting help from a few of the people when they recognized him. Going out to meet them, Arthur gestured that he would replace them. Leading him back to the infirmary, he said in a low voice.

“Report.” He was supposed to be with James. He was supposed to return with her. She was his guarantee for getting the group through the Tutorial. She was supposed to come back. She was supposed to be protected!

“Sir, James is alive.” A deep gasp of a breath, “but she left. I couldn’t stop her Sir.”

“What-” it came out as a shout and he got himself back under control, “what does that even mean? The girl is weak. There’s no way she’d survive out there. What were you even doing?”

Louis began summarizing what happened over the past two hours. How James had alerted too late for them to come back to camp. How they had made the decision to send Jean Paul back to camp to try and still get ahead of the attack. How he had tried to defend her but had quickly gotten overwhelmed. How he woke up later with her sitting beside him, having set his broken leg and watching over him. How she told him she got a Class and gave him the requirements for it. And then how she left him once she verified he would be fine.

He continued to explain how, when he finally had enough health and stamina points, he had gotten up only to see how many goblins had truly surrounded them. How he had stared at the sight in shock, not believing they both left that situation alive. And then how he staggered back to the clearing to report.

By the end of his recounting, he was set on a cot in the infirmary with Christian fussing over him. Arthur just watched him. He was really saying the truth, at least how he believed it occurred. Something had happened, and of course James was at the center of it. He should have known. And he had. Why else would she have guards?

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