"Hey, hey, wake up!"
Arthur opened his eyes as a voice that sounded like a child shook his body. Arthur groaned as he woke up, his head hurting. Passing out twice in one day — let us pray that he would win the lottery when he came back from this trip, or else he vowed to never go on a ship again.
"What happened?" Arthur muttered. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the face of a very young boy, maybe only 7 or 8 years old. His hair was jet black, and his eyes were bright red. Looking at his face and the clothes he was wearing, it seemed that he was from ChenLu, a country in the far west.
"You haven't woken up since earlier, I thought you were dead or something," said the boy whose tone had a really weird accent while crouching beside Arthur who was still dazed.
Arthur then looked around the room. He was no longer in the restaurant, but in a room with lots of tables and slot machines — there was no mistake, this was a casino. Meanwhile, near the door, a group of adults were seen gathered and talking about something. They looked panicked — really panicked.
"Something must have happened, otherwise we wouldn't have suddenly woken up and cooped up here!" shouted a young man who was seen banging on the door.
"Hey, calm down, you're going to break the door!" exclaimed an old man while trying to hold the young man's hand.
"Like hell I care! Someone locked us in here, old man!"
Arthur who already felt like throwing up thought that it would be better for his mental health if he ignored the debate. He got up and tidied herself up, making sure nothing was missing. And thankfully, the Virion's green pendant that he wore under his clothes was still there.
Arthur observed his surroundings, and his attention was immediately drawn to someone sitting away from the crowd — a blind little girl he knew, along with his servant who always followed her everywhere. They looked very calm, in contrast to everyone there.
"Del —" Arthur was about to call out to the girl, but the words that came out of his mouth were stopped when the boy who had woken him earlier pulled the hem of his jacket hard.
"Wait a minute!"
"What's the matter?" Arthur replied angrily.
"Say thank you first! You've been woken up too!" Arthur gritted his teeth in annoyance. The little boy was only a few inches shorter than him, but in the eyes of Arthur Rolyn, he only saw him as a child.
"Well, thank you very much, now let me go!" Arthur threw the child's hand away. "I have to find out what really happened."
"We're stuck here. No one knows why. Now the adults are looking for a way to get out," the little boy gave a summary of what happened while Arthur was asleep. "They said maybe someone brought us all here because all of us were unconscious — or did you actually awake before?"
"No, I also lost my consciousness at the restaurant after eating the beef soup — that's right! The beef soup earlier, could it be —" there was a possibility that something had entered the soup. 'But I'm not the only one who had beef stew, as far as I know, Mr Quill also ordered the same beef stew as mine —' Arthur thought.
"Hey —!" the boy in front of him suddenly called out, causing everything he was thinking about to disperse in an instant. "You've been spacing all the time,"
"Yeah, sorry. I have things to think about," Arthur said, scratching his head that didn't itch.
"Like finding out who exactly locked us here?" suddenly the boy said. "Looks like something happened, there's no way we all wake up here for no reason," he added. Arthur was silent. This kid was definitely sharper than he looked. "Oi, don't just stay quiet! I need someone to talk to, you know! Everyone here ignores me because I'm just a kid!"
"Well, naturally. This isn't the time to be playing around," Arthur said curtly. "But what they're doing there is just wasting time. Panic will only drain their energy, especially for something that's impossible to do," he added, glancing at the crowd of adults who still hadn't stopped arguing from ten minutes ago.
"Wait another five minutes and they will tire themselves," said a voice. Della was approaching the two with Selena a step behind her like usual.
"Della," Arthur called her. "So you were brought here too, huh," he glanced at her, but his attention then turned to Della's loyal servant, Selena. Why was she here too? If whoever was behind all of this aiming to lock them all up, wouldn't it be better if he separated the two people so that Della who was only a blind girl would be powerless? Moreover, all of them were not shackled or restricted in their movements.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing —"
"Ehh — um — uh — so what are we going to do?? I'm bored!!" suddenly the little boy shouted. "Let's find the key to the door first! After all, the adults there are useless, right?"
He sounded very optimistic. "Do you know where the key is?" asked Arthur.
"If I had known it I would have opened the door from the start!"
"That's true."
Arthur thought hard. This room was a luxurious room about three times the size of the head of faculty's office. Gathered in front of the door were an old man, a teenage boy who was nearing adulthood, and a mature woman. At the far end of the room in front of the slot machine was a man who looked confused. Not far from the man, there was a woman in a long coat who looked like she was thinking. Meanwhile, not far from Arthur and the other children, there was a man in a bartender outfit sitting on a billiard table. And lastly, sitting on the couch that was near the room's potted plant, was an old granny who wasn't bothered at all by the commotion there.
Out of all those people, who could help them find a way to open the door?
"Wait a minute —" Arthur muttered as he took another look at the figure of the old woman who was sitting quietly. There was no mistake, Arthur knew her. He immediately ran in small steps to approach the old woman.
"Pro — Professor Anderson?" Arthur called out. From up close, he could more clearly see the woman's appearance. She was probably in her seventies. The old woman was wearing a blue dress that looked like it had been worn decades ago. The dress was slightly covered by a long coat, naturally, as the weather was quite cold at this time. She does not use much jewelry, only a shiny purple gemstone which she wore as a brooch. The brooch itself had a similar design to the pendant worn by Arthur, the only difference being the type of gemstone they used.
"Hmm?"
"Please apologise me for intruding your time — you are Professor Elvira Anderson, correct, ma'am?" Arthur asked in a-matter-of-fact manner.
"You seem quite scrupulous, boy," said Professor Anderson.
Arthur shook his head. He knew who this person was from the dozens of books he had read in the library. After all, who wouldn't know her? The medicine she invented a decade ago had saved the entire world. When the war in the east was raging at that time, many plagues spread because of the large number of casualties. And from there, came a terrible disease that could kill anyone instantly. The disease originated from the corpses of the victims, and if it infected someone, that person would die in a matter of days. The people called the disease as Molysmenis. And Elvira Anderson who was the leading scientist from Virion then found a cure for the disease, becoming one of the most influential figures in the warring era.
"My name is Arthur Rolyn," Arthur introduced himself as he showed her his locket. "You should know what this means."
"I see, do you want to ask me for an advice or something else?"
"No, I just wanted to say hello. It's better than listening to those people fight," Arthur replied.
"Heh, they are doing useless things. Perhaps if they stop fighting and use their scattered brains, there will be a way to open the door," said Anderson curtly.
"The way to open the door?"
"That's right, you should be able to find it too right? A Virion graduate like you — or perhaps it's just a decoration —?" Arthur who heard those words immediately turned red. Truly, how could he got provoked so easily like that?
"Of course not."
"Then prove it."
Arthur walked away from that place. How could he open a locked door? He had heard about how a paper pin could open a door but did anyone here have paper pins? Wait a minute — screwdriver! If he opened the hinges with a screwdriver he should be able to open the door. Well, the problem was where can he get one?
If there was no screwdriver, there were plenty of other things he can use to remove the door hinge bolts. But those 'other things' are sadly absent in the place called casino. Like for example, a knife — they could open it easily if they had a knife, but what madman brought a knife on board?
"Oi, glasses!"
"Gaahh!" Arthur was surprised when the little boy who had woken him up startled him. "What's wrong?".
"You're the one I should be asking! You're just standing there blankly since earlier," said the boy. Arthur felt like exploding when he heard that stupid excuse for the umpteenth time. Was that really his business? The little boy then suddenly said again. "What are you thinking so deeply about?"
"How to open the door," Arthur replied nonchalantly.
"Oh, you still haven't found a way?"
"No, I know how. I just don't have the tools," Arthur muttered. He looked at the little boy, "Do you have a screwdriver or a small knife?" Arthur asked half-heartedly, not expecting the boy to answer in anything other than a 'no'.
"Knife? Yes, I have one, of course," If Arthur was drinking right now, he might spit out everything inside his mouth right away. Why was an 8 year old child carrying a knife? Not only that, the knife looked like a penknife — the kind that street children usually carried with them to pickpocket or rob people who were unlucky.
"Ah, yes — that's it —," Arthur said while swallowing hard. He then took the knife before walking over to the people who seemed to have stopped fighting.
"Sir, can you try to unscrew the door hinge with this knife?" Arthur asked the old man who had the biggest body there, to the point that Arthur's height could only reach his stomach. He was probably slightly taller than Gilbert who was over six feet tall.
"Opening the door? With a knife? Oooooh, that's genius!!" said the old man in a very heavy and loud voice. "Where is it? Give it to me." Arthur handed over the knife and let the old man work. Even though he looked very old, he wasn't acting like one at all as he still looked quite fit and healthy.
A few minutes later, they were finally able to open the door — albeit at the cost of the door detaching from the wall. But at least it was better than just breaking it, in case they had to fix the door again they didn't have to pay for anything.
"Make way!" shouted the young man who had been fighting in front of the door before a second after the exit opened for them while pushing Arthur away. He ran outside, looking in a hurry.
"What the —!" Arthur muttered in annoyance.
"We'd better follow him," said the woman beside Arthur.
"Right, there's something wrong with this ship. We should go back to the restaurant and check the situation there," the old man added.
Arthur who could only follow the instructions joined them to check the restaurant. Only a few people were left in the casino, namely Della, the servant Selena, the woman in the long coat, and Professor Anderson. The little boy insisted on joining even though he was forbidden to, so did Arthur.
The casino was on the same floor as the Restaurant, as a fellow venue dedicated to the entertainment of passengers. But the journey there somehow felt very long, even though they were all running.
"Something's strange, why isn't there anyone? Staffs — guests —" said the old man in concern. Arthur also noticed that the whole thing felt strange. The ship was too quiet.
"That's the guy from earlier," said the man in bartender's outfit, pointing at the man who had made a scene at the front door. The man was seen just standing at the door of the restaurant while transfixed. He didn't move at all from his position. "Hey, you! What's the matter?" asked the bartender man as he approaching him.
"That — that —"
Arthur felt like vomiting upon arriving at the restaurant's door. The mature woman who was arguing with the two people just now shouted in fright. The little boy beside him twitched his eyes as he made a disgusted face. It wasn't a surprise, because what they saw was something completely unbelievable — something that could only appear in one's nightmare.
Ocean of blood and corpses were stretched in front of them. Men, women, children, all were indistinguishable as their bodies were lying on the floor in a condition even more brutal than that of murder victims — as if a serial killer had just stepped in and killed the people inside.
"For Luna's sake —" Arthur muttered as he wiped his dripping cold sweat. "I should not have get onto this cursed ship from the start!"