When Frieda opened her eyes, she found herself on a soft bed inside of a rustic-looking cabin. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She was completely disoriented. She had no recollection of getting there, but she did recall being in the plaza when a bomb went off suddenly, and that she was surrounded by a cloud of thick white smoke. She started to wonder how on earth she had made it there.
Freida eventually recalled that a mysterious man came just as she was about to suffocate while she was in the midst of recalling what had happened. This fact occurred to her as she reflected on what had happened. As soon as he got within striking distance, the man knocked her out, and she blacked out.
"Could he have been the one who rescued me then?" Freida told herself. She was confused because she did not know why she had been brought to the cabin. She jumped out of bed immediately, walked over to the portholes in the cabin, and saw that she was, indeed, on board a ship. She stood there for a long time, attempting to survey the area around them, but eventually gave up when she realized that the only thing she could see was the side of the island that was covered with water. They might as well not have been out on the open seas yet, as the ship showed no signs of progress.
There was a sudden shiver of fear that ran through Freida's body. She was worried that whoever brought her there had ulterior motives, and she had no idea what those intentions were. Her vision was so blurry at the time, and the thick white smoke that was present at the time barely obstructed her vision, that she couldn't be sure who it was. It wasn't even someone she recognized.
Freida dashed out of the cabin as quickly as she could, her thoughts racing with the prospect of discovering the identity of the person who had brought her aboard the ship. She was flabbergasted that nobody had bothered to lock the door, let alone forgotten to do so, and she found the total lack of security to be shocking—that was, of course, if she was even a prisoner to begin with. However, she shouldn't feel safe just because the person who took her in didn't lock the door behind them when they left the cabin.
"I have to figure out where I am right now. I need to look for Winona and the others too." She whispered to herself.
Despite the fact that she was in danger, Freida was more worried about Winona and the others. As hard as she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling of worrying about them. Freida was concerned about their well-being due to the numerous explosions and the toxic dark mist that had killed a large number of people in the area surrounding that plaza. Despite the fact that Freida was aware that Winona possessed a skill derived from the bantao encantaciones that could easily protect them, she still felt concerned about their safety.
After being separated at the plaza, the time that she spent with them may have been brief; however, for Freida, it represented more than just a brief period of time spent together. They were kind enough to take her with them on their journey. When she first entered Paradexia, they were kind enough to rescue her from harm and also teach her a thing or two about the realm. Freeda was appreciative because it spared her the trouble of figuring it out on her own.
When Freida left her cabin, however, she saw several men frantically loading barrels through the ship's hatch. The crew members were dispersed across the ship in a disorganized fashion.
The first thing Freida noticed when she learned of this activity was that the barrels in question seemed to be the same as the barrels that had previously been used to conceal illegal weapons and bombs. It turned out that the very same barrels that bore the same sigil had been the source of the explosions and general mayhem that had occurred in the plaza.
Because Freida was present when the event occurred and a witness to it, she felt that she could not simply let it go without investigating it to determine whether or not her assumptions were accurate. As soon as the men left to get more barrels from the port, she quietly slid inside the hatch.
When Freida came down from the hatch, the first thing she did was check the barrels. Some of them were too challenging to open, and because of that, Freida almost gave up on checking them. Until there are two barrels with their lids only slightly ajar between them. Because of this, Frieda was able to open them, and when she did, she found that her assumptions were correct.
Hidden within the barrels were additional illegally acquired weapons and bombs. Freida was able to pick up on the idea that these barrels contained smuggled items because she was aware of the fact that commoners do not have the right to possess or sell lethal weapons. She pretended to be asleep while she listened in on Winona and Hrod's discussion of the smuggling operation that their purported friend Yajel runs. During that time, she overheard Winona and Hrod talking about the operation.
"It would appear that you have finally recovered some of your strength."
Freida was taken aback when she suddenly heard a man's voice coming from behind her. She was completely unaware that anyone would follow her there or that they would catch her in the act. Freida was certain that all of the men had left the hatch before she descended to check it, so the fact that she failed to notice that someone was possibly still present inside the hatch caused her to wonder how it was possible for her to have been so careless.
In addition to this, the man who just now caught her sounded as though he was fully aware of her presence based on the tone he used. As soon as she heard this, Freida had the sudden realization that the man could be the same one who had knocked her out in the plaza and taken her to the ship's cabin.
Freida abruptly turned her body around to see who was behind her, but to her utter disbelief, there was no one lurking behind her. Her body began to tremble and the hairs on her arms and legs stood on end as soon as she processed what she had just witnessed. After that, she started to think that maybe the whole thing was a trick played on her by a ghost.
"What's the matter? Can't see me?"
She was able to pick up on the male voice talking to her again.
In anguish, Freida clenched her teeth and remained silent. This man was making her look like a fool, and there was nothing she could do to get even with him. For some reason, Freida was able to get a sense of familiarity from the tone of the man's voice. It appears as though she had heard this voice before, but she was unable to recall when or where she first heard it. In all likelihood, she recognizes this voice from somewhere.
"What exactly is your problem? Why don't you just show yourself to me?" Freida did, in the end, pose the question.
On the other hand, the male voice just responded to what Freida had just asked with a laugh over it.
"What is so funny about what I just said?!"
Freida was showing signs of becoming even more agitated than she had been. She couldn't stand it when people made fun of her for no apparent reason, especially when it came from someone she didn't even know very well.
At some point, the man was able to stop laughing and gave an abrupt response, saying, "My apologies, I just find it funny that when I asked if you couldn't see me, yet you asked me what's my problem instead."
"You're such a moron! That's not even funny!" The words that came out of Freida's mouth left the man unable to respond for a while.
The man eventually decided to speak again, breaking the momentary lull in conversation that had ensued.
"Oh well, let's stop with the absurd joke already. To tell you the truth, knowing that you have finally regained consciousness makes me feel relieved. If that weren't the case, I'd have to make up to Winona for the fact that these poisoned bombs also ended up killing you by accident."
The moment the man emerged from the murky shadows he had been hiding in, Frieda's mouth dropped open in shock. For the first time, Freida got a good look at him in the bright light, and she recognized him immediately. She couldn't believe that her instincts were right once more because the shady black-market dealer that Winona and Hrod had been warning her about was the one who picked her up from the plaza and brought her aboard the ship.
And all along, it had just been Yajel.