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Chapter 183 - Next Announcement

After Kim and Jonas left, Elmo felt a little out of place. Not only was Elin on the other side of all the other people at the table, but he couldn't even hear what she was saying to Samantha.

In addition, he couldn't think of any place he could join in on any of the conversation around him, so he was left by himself in a sea of other people. Left to founder or float as best he could.

Not that he planned on staying there long. At least not like that. He merely planned on staying long enough to get something to eat before trying to find a place to sleep.

Part of him wanted to wait until they were at the king's palace, so he'd be able to know precisely where he'd be staying. Although, he wasn't sure when that would be. If it the king didn't head over there soon enough, Elmo knew he'd need to find a place to nap on his own.

Before he'd run into the king, he'd have not worried about it in the first place, but the king had informed him about how he'd like all of those who'd helped keep him and his son safe to join him at his palace when he returned there later. Not that he'd said exactly when 'later' was.

When he'd had his fill, he stood up, trying not to draw attention to himself, mostly so he wouldn't feel like he stuck out. Not that anyone seemed to take notice of him. They merely continued on with the conversations.

Even though he'd not really wanted to have been noticed as he left, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed about it. Not that he let that hold him back. He was sure that if he waited for someone to notice him, it would probably make him more depressed at how long it would likely take. Even though he was sure his negative feelings were more likely stemming from how tired he was.

While he thought about taking a nap, he couldn't help but wonder if he chose to take a nap close to the place where everyone would likely be leaving by, then he probably would get woken up if they left before he woke up from a nap.

Although, if he did get left behind, he was sure that he wouldn't be unable to find his way to the palace. At which point, he was sure that the king would let whoever was guarding the front of it to let him in once he was able to get word to the king somehow.

In all, he wasn't sure how things like that worked. Or how long it might take in the first place. Only that it was the best he could think of.

So, he walked over to where the front gate was and settled in under a tree that was sitting a little off to the side of the cobbled road that the carriages traveled on. There he settled in and was out like a light shortly after.

+++

What woke Elmo up wasn't anyone leaving or entering the property. Instead, it was the announcer. As Elmo opened his eyes, as he listened to what the announcer said, he couldn't help but notice that the afternoon light was starting to fade into the twilight of the evening.

"Good evening contestants! I'm sure all of you have been waiting to see what the next challenge is. Well, we'll start off with that first before getting into some of the other details of the day. So, what the challenge is, is to defeat, and slay, the fire dragon. This is a rare type of dragon that can decimate entire kingdoms during the fight with it. Not just when it chooses to rampage through the countryside.

"In addition to that, we have a few completed challenges to award. First, is Frank Winchester, Stanley Clinton, Harold Carson, and Thomas Walker have defeated a Ruby Eagle. They're certainly working hard.

"The next one is for Murdock Moore and Tina McGee. They defeated the crystal dire wolf pack. Not only that, but they did it in a manner that was almost like they were trying to not complete a challenge. Plus, they did it in less than an hour. As such, they will be awarded two challenge completions, and that decision was determined by the challenge committee. So, we know that it's not going to come back to bite us in the end.

"For all the others, we hope that you enjoyed your time of relaxation. We'll be sure to let you know what might happen for tomorrow once that comes. So, we'll leave you off with a reminded to try not to die at night. We'd prefer to show your deaths during other times, rather than where we can only show highlights of what happened. Thank you for your cooperation with that!"

As Elmo stretched his body, to get rid of the lethargy left from his nap, he couldn't help but shake his head as he head the 'reminder' the announcer gave. Of course they were going to try and survive the night. They didn't want to die either. Only, they were also going to try and survive in the daytime too.

While the viewers, or whatever they were, preferred seeing their deaths in detail, Elmo wasn't worried about that. He was more worried with keeping himself and those in his group alive. What happened to others wasn't as big of a concern of his, although he was sure that they didn't want to die either.

Yet, as he thought about Murdock and Tina having received a challenge completion notice, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself, as he remembered how they really weren't interested in having completed challenges before. Plus, given the fact that they were given an extra completion from the manner in which they'd completed that secret challenge, Elmo would love to see their faces right then, as he was sure they weren't very happy, to say the least, about this news.

As Elmo stretched and got up, he couldn't help but be surprised at how much better he felt. While he'd slept a lot longer than he had expected, he was at least happy that he didn't feel like a dead weight. Useful only to add weight to something and make it go slower.

Looking around, he had a feeling the king hadn't left yet, but Elmo was sure that he had to be at least getting ready to leave. However, as he started to get up, the gate opened, and a carriage came in, followed by armed men riding horses.

Elmo was willing to let them go by before he made his way over to the building, but he couldn't say what it was that made the armed men to take note of him. All he knew was that two of them had dismounted and flanked him, their swords drawn, one of which had been placed at his neck.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of the men demanded.

Elmo wasn't sure how to respond at first. He hadn't expected this sort of reaction. So, it took his mind a minute to reboot and think properly.

"I, uh, I came here with Lady Elin for the party last night," he started but was cut off by the other man.

"If that's the case then there would be no need for you to be here."

Elmo couldn't help but sigh. "If you don't want me to answer, you can ask the king," Elmo said, not wanting to play their game. "I'm pretty sure he should still be here."

"And what do you think we'll do? Just take your word for it?" the first man demanded of him.

"Well, you can tie me up to prevent me from escaping if you're really worried about that," Elmo retorted. Honestly, he didn't care if he was tied up. While he might have gotten plenty of rest over his nap, he couldn't say his patience was extensive. Or at least not for this sort of thing.

"Okay," the second man said as he put his sword away. "I'll tie you up. If anything you said isn't true, then we'll just throw you in the dungeon until you start talking more honestly."

Elmo couldn't help but roll his eyes at what the man said. Either this man was full of himself, or he wasn't really that good at listening. Or maybe he was just trying to sound more impressive than he was, Elmo thought a moment later as the man started to bind Elmo's hands behind his back.

Regardless of the reason, Elmo wasn't scared. He knew that even if the worst case happened and they ended up throwing him in the dungeon, the others in his group would notice his absence, eventually, and when word reached the king about it, then he'd get released. All he had to do was be patient.

This would merely be a small hiccup in the experiences he had in this world. Though, it might not be that pleasant, at least it shouldn't last that long.

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