The three locals fell silent. They stopped their work without putting down their tools. Frozen in place, they stared blankly and were too afraid to move.
Thunk!
Lidya nudged Micah.
"Ah, Forgive me... If my words earlier offended you! I am sorry!" (Micah)
"Please, forgive Micah once again." (She clapped her hands into one)!" (Lidya)
Thud!
Doris jumped down from the roof. He faces both of them without sign of dejected.
"No need, what he said was true. Sooner or later, that man will come..."
"What will happen then?" Rudi approached.
"There are two possibilities. Either I will be appointed as the new village chief, or..."
Although he didn't fully say what happen to the second possibility, from the way Doris's expression formed, the trio already knew what would happen.
"... He will turn us into his puppets." (He looked at them with disgust).
Something terrible would happen when that person arrived. There was still a chance for the first possibility to occur, but considering the nature of the Viscount, they all doubted it would be that simple.
The most likely outcome would be Doris becoming the new village chief and them being forced to work under viscount authority as a village that takes place near the nation's border. That meant they would have to comply with whatever the Viscount wanted. Doris's main fear was not about the border but rather the arrival of soldiers. Doris had a wife and a younger sister, and if he were alone, he wouldn't be able to protect them from the soldiers' lustful desires.
Upon hearing Doris's statement, both Sherry and Floria became slightly frightened. They looked at the ground without a solution and could only resign themselves to their fate. In this world, everything the lords said was absolute and unquestionable. They would become fugitives forever if they object.
The trio who heard this could only lower their heads as well. They felt sorry because this married couple's fate seemed unavoidable.
"If that happens, Lidya will automatically be involved, right?" Micah added.
Doris widened his eyes, but he could only nod because it would indeed happen.
"In that case, why don't you try to fight for your own freedom?"
Both Doris, Sherry and even Rudy and Lidya were once again shocked by Micah's irrational statement.
"Are you insane?! Fighting for our freedom means going against the Kingdom of Hamud and the Kingdom of Akbar at the same time! Not to mention, there are only six of us here!" Doris yelled so loudly that his throat suddenly got hurt.
"Micah, please, just this once..." Lidya looked at Micah with a weary expression.
Instead of feeling guilty, Micah stood confidently, hands on his hips, and looked at all of them with a condescending gaze.
"We can do it. If we can't, then it means we're already dead."
"Hey!" (Sherry)
"Don't you want a village where you can live in peace? That means you have to stand on your own!"
"Without help from the kingdom, it's like trying to open a business without any money, you know?!"
"The kingdom will help you" (His eyes looked cunning), "and that's for sure."
Although his words sounded ambiguous, by how this boy's way of thinking, the three of them knew what was going on in his mind.
"Are you trying to force them?!" Rudi spoke up, which meant Micah had crossed the line. "Think twice about your actions!"
"We're not forcing anyone, and to make sure, I don't even think once." His smile became even more cunning. He lifted his hands slightly and looked at each of them one by one. "Let's make them become our puppets before they make us their puppets. How about that?"
What Micah suggests may be very effective, but with the power of the kingdom being so powerful, and the fact that there are only six of them, it increases the impossibility of it all. Furthermore, what Micah says is nothing more than a delusion for every low-status person in this world. If it were possible, they would have done it long ago.
"That's insane!" (Lydia)
"I could accept your previous insanity, but now? That's too insane!" (Doris)
"I'm sick of your insanity!" (Sherry)
Many disagreed with his plan. It's understandable, as they are the rational ones.
However, something surprising happened.
"I agree with the plan..." Rudi flatly affirmed the plan.
Both Doris and Lydia turned to Rudi in an instant. They could only stare in disbelief and remain silent upon hearing Rudi's words.
"Rudi? Is your head hit something(looking disgusted)?"
"One crazy person is enough here!" (Doris)
Rudi didn't feel offended by their remarks. It was normal for him.
"Doris, weren't you the one who came up with the plan to reclaim this village? We can use your genius for something similar to this. With that, I'm sure it will be very helpful." (Rudi)
"Even so, I'm not convinced that my strategy can defeat them while only 5 of us that can fight! Even if we win, the viscount will send more troops to march here!"
What Doris meant was that one victory might not necessarily make them surrender. It would take several battles. They at least have to take some rebellion and claim the capital city to achieve that.
"Let me explain one thing, you only need to do it once, in this village. After that, let us take care of the rest!"
Doris and Lydia were puzzled by the plan made by Micah, especially Lydia. Somehow she was also dragged into a bigger problem.
"Why me too?!"
"Lidya, we can't just wait until help comes from our world. We have to walk on our own, with our own feet, and we will get out of here, no matter what happens!"
Waiting won't give any results. Taking action and embracing madness may be something they can do to gather information about returning to their world.
"You're trying to do it yourselves, isn't that too dangerous?! You have to fight against the counts, the ministers, marshals, and even the Viscount! I'm sure it's impossible for you to do that, moreover your status will become very tainted afterward!" Sherry expressed her concerns.
Sherry's words reminded Doris of something. He immediately tried to use Sense Satusus on the three of them, and the result was...
"Doris?"
Sherry noticed Doris' unusual behavior. His eyes showed extreme astonishment.
"Impossible! Are you truly unaffected by the 'status' of this world?!"
The three of them looked at Doris and were confused by his words.
"What?" (Micah)
"All your statuses and levels remain unchanged. It still shows level one with a low status marked as 'commoners,' in your personal information."
Usually, after doing something crazy shit like that, most people would level up consecutively and their status would increase to 'Bandit Slayer,' but that didn't apply to the three of them. They remained the same as when they first met.
"Is it because you're not from this world that you're unaffected?" Doris pondered intensely about this abnormality. "Or...?!"
One possibility could be inferred, but...
"Are you the 'chosen ones'? I'm not sure about that because, according to the title, there should only be one person like that. So, what three of you really are?"
The abnormality surrounding the three of them made Doris increasingly doubtful about all their plans. They might be able to make it to the capital, but with statuses and levels that never changed, the civilian would still look low on the trio.
"Forget about the analysis about us! You need to quickly decide whether you join us and help our insane plan or become their loyal puppets."
Micah interrupted all the analysis and made Doris focus on what they were currently up against. At this moment, the man was forced to make a difficult decision.
He took a deep breath and looked at Rudi instead of Micah. He held the dark-skinned man's shoulders with full of trust.
"I will help, as long as Rudi is the one who takes the lead (looking low at Micah)."
Micah raised both of his hands and then lowered them. He was slightly disappointed but still agreed to the condition.
"Fine, I will move under Rudi's command!"
With that, the three of them prepared to fight against the government and embark on their insane quest for freedom.
"Boss, make sure you don't get us killed, okay?" Micah said to Rudi before returning to his work.
Following him, the others start resuming their work to rebuild the ruined village.