NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

"I can't trust your words when you're friends with the one who killed my sister. You're also a player in this world, which makes you my enemy," I declared, while staring into Okami's eyes.

"Believe what you want to believe. You're free to do whatever you want, Red," Okami answered. "But I told you before... You're not my enemy, and I'm helping you because…."

"Because?"

Wolf placed the bowl beside me, stood up, and continued his sentence. "Because every time I see you, I see myself walking away from my sister. I didn't kill Clementine or did anything to hurt you. But abandoning you felt like abandoning Himari….. I don't want that to happen," Okami said, and ambled towards the log.

But before he could sit on the wooden board, I called out for his attention and asked, "Aren't you going to feed me with that bowl?"

Okami tilted his head to the side, confused after hearing my words. "I thought you hated me?"

"I do....," I answered. "But I can't eat that with my current hands. I can't lift them, you know?"

Wolf went in my direction and sat in front of me. He lifted the bowl and the utensils, scooped some soup, and fed me with the contents. I, who was fighting a battle against my stomach, couldn't help but take Okami's offer.

The soup tasted like mixed herbs thrown inside, paired with some bird meat and berries on top. It had peppers and salt as the soup's spices. Those spices also made the soup more palatable than I originally thought.

It did not have a foul scene even with these second-rate ingredients. The boiling soup soothed my abdomen, which also rejuvenates my magic core. Since I filled myself with these nutritious meals, my body had finally regained some energy to crawl around. I still couldn't move. But creeping on the ground was still progressing instead of having nothing at all.

I could eat them for days, since I couldn't move my hands and work on the menu. It did not taste that bad…. The soup just lacked flavour.

"How is it? Match kept complaining about the taste, saying that it was funny. That girl even said that it's a bit salty."

"It tastes great. I don't enjoy adding too much salt to my food. Match is just a kid. So she would like some meals that have dozens of species in it."

We continued our conversation for a few minutes and spent our time gazing at the moon. Time flew fast, and Wolf's shift would soon end.

Okami stood up from his seat and cleaned the used plate and utensil from my meal. He went to the campfire, added more dry wood, and went towards Match and Ryoshi. Those two refused to wake up even after Okami called them by their names. But Wolf lost his patience and shook their bodies. Match and Ryoshi both jolted from their sleep, wondering what happened and who woke them up.

"Are we being attacked?! Okami! Is there something I could do!" Ryoshi shouted, while preparing his bow and arrows.

"What's wrong?! Is there a bug crawling on my skin?!" Match cried, while running in circles.

But before he could jump her way back to the make-shift bed, Match looked at me while rubbing her eyes. Match's half-asleep state juggled her brains, forcing her to remember what happened. As soon as she remembered, Match dashed straight towards me and squeezed both of my arms.

"RED! YOU'RE ALIVE! I THOUGHT I WOULD LOSE YOU!" Match exclaimed, while drowning herself with her salty tears. "YOU… YOU….. AFTER BEATING THE KRAKEN, YOU LOST CONSCIOUSNESS... AND AND I THOUGHT YOU'RE GOING TO DIE. YOUR MANA IS AT ZERO, RED! ZERO! I HAD TO POUR MY MANA INTO YOU, BUT I LOST MY MANA AND…."

"Shh…. It's alright, Match. It's alright…. Thank you for doing all of that. I'm alive."

After reuniting with Match, the image of her death at the hands of Clement resurfaced in my hand. It was a scene that sent shivers down my spine, which slowly corrupted my brain. I embraced Match tighter in my arms and prayed that the event would not occur. And if I had the luxury of telling that tale, I would do so with her soon.

As I lifted my head, the environment was not the place I remembered. If I could recall my past happenings, I fought the Kraken and drowned underwater. But all of us did not stay on the boat. The cold ground touched my feet, with the towering trees obstructing my view.

As I turned around, the ship I thought we lost nestled on the ground's edge. Okami must have released the anchor when all of us arrived in this environment…. But the question still lingered inside my mind and remained unanswered.

"Where are we? Why are we inside an island?"

My legs twitched as maracas shook by a beginner as I gazed into Wolf's eyes.

"We're at the border of Wonderland."

With Okami's answer, my mind confirmed that we finally reached our destination. But upon squinting my eyes towards the horizon, the scenery surprised me. It was as if someone cut off the ocean, which showed the incomplete edge.

As I slid my eyes around, the same setting addressed my eyes. There were lumps of clouds congesting in the distance, with birds flying overhead. The island looked like floating from above, touching the sun from the heavens.

"Is Wonderland levit-,"

"Levitating," Okami answered, and finished my sentence. "When Match saved you, our boat went towards a sudden whirlpool attack. But instead of sinking, the whirlpool launched us above, leading to this place. Our systems then warned us we were inside Wonderland."

"You could even look at Alice's castle around a few miles away from here," Okami continued, as he pointed his forefingers at our fore.

Okami told the truth. Upon squinting my eyes, there was a monumental structure resting around a few kilometres away from us. But the towering trees at our fore made it difficult for us to witness the citadel.

"Ryoshi and I didn't like the idea of moving forward without you behind us. But I already scouted our perimeters and found this."

Okami opened his inventory and handed us armed puppets, wielding both staves and bastard swords. Those marionettes also wore magical tunics and enhanced armoured plates, cladded with materials found in Wonderland. The puppet's levels hit around level 40 and above, which would make our journey hectic than those elite soldiers on our way.

"These puppets are all soldiers working for Alice…. Actually, Alice controls them from afar. She also must have sensed us when we arrived at her place. After fighting Alice once, I already knew she prepared something for us before reaching her place," Okami continued his explanation.

"But why isn't Alice attacking us right now? We're exhausted after fighting that Kraken. If Alice planned on killing us, would dirty tricks eliminate our group instantly?" Ryoshi asked, while scratching his head. "If I were a villain, I would have done that already."

As much as I hated Ryoshi, I agreed to his decisions. If I had this power, I would have ended the lives of those who wanted my downfall. I would not spare them even if these intruders wanted a fighting chance.

However, that never happened. Instead of killing us off before even journeying towards the castle, Alice let us live. She sent off a few pawns to scout us. But besides those puppets, Alice never harmed our group.

"I don't know…. Usually, Alice would kill any players or NPCs near Wonderland, including the fishermen striding the ocean. Even this scene feels new for me," Okami confessed, while staring at the castle in the distance. "But even though Alice had yet attacked us, we must be aware of our surroundings. We'd never know when those puppets could attack us. And I believe there are hundreds of them out there lurking around the forest."

"I can sense them behind those trees. But…," Match said, but she gasped at the next second. "Oh, wait… They're gone."

Ryoshi readied himself to fire the bolts wrapped around his fingers. But as soon as Match declared that the anomalies disappeared, Ryoshi lowered his aim. He must have known that firing a random dart at the forest. We still did not know if we're only dealing with puppets, and not other monsters.

"We will wait for now. As soon as we're ready, we need to tread in that forest. Our main goal is to find Alice and…."

"Do we have enough firepower to beat her?" I asked.

Okami always told us how powerful Alice was when he first fought against her. Wolf used his main account when that happened. Now that Okami used her smurf account, I had doubts if we could win this fight.

"I think…. We should win. Because if we don't we lose our lives," Okami replied, while hopping onto his bed. "Good night, everyone. I want to sleep for the time being."