Utopian Fantasy: "A Fair Game" Vol. 2

Chapter 8: New Settlers' Group Assignment

“Hey, Marco! Hey, Orixa!”

“Oh hey, Arii,” Marco greeted back.

“Hey, Lily!” Orixa also greeted.

“It’s great that you’re also here, Ori. I originally came here to ask Marco about something. But since you’re here, I will also talk to you about something.”

“Really? Is it that important?” Orixa asked.

“Hmm… I don’t know how you’ll take it. But yes - I think it’s important for you. But that will be after I talk to Marco.”

Orixa pouted. “What’s with the suspense?”

“Sorry. Hehe.”

“Alriiiight…”

“So, what is it, Arii?” Marco asked.

“About the role assignment of the new settlers. How is it going?”

“Roles assignment is going smoothly. I assigned them according to their talents and capabilities. I divided them into groups,” Marco answered.

He started explaining,

“Since our camp is expanding, the demand for basic resources is expected to increase. The first group, the Hunting Group, will be responsible for our food supply. As the name suggests, they’ll be the ones who will ‘hunt’ food for us. I chose those players with good Hunting Talents.”

“I also allowed a few mature kids who are willing to join the group; I only allowed those who are in their teenage real-world years. I also specifically reminded them to be extra careful - never leave the adults’ supervision.”

“I originally assigned Virgo to supervise this group, but she’s still sick. And that’s why Orixa is here. I’m asking her to handle the group temporarily.” Marco, then, spoke to Orixa, “So, are you willing to handle this one?”

“It’s not a tough job, so okay!” Orixa answered.

“Thanks, Ori,” Marco replied. “Next is the Group of Specialists. This group consists of players who had significant professions before they came into this world. Most of them are doctors and scientists in the real world. They’ll perform significant professional tasks that will be extremely useful in our camp.”

“Woaahh… I can’t believe that the Gang had these people,” Arii murmured.

“Yep,” Orixa answered. “Can you believe that Auntie Cecilia is also one of them? She was a medical doctor in the real world.”

“Who’s Auntie Cecilia?” Arii asked.

“Bolt’s aunt and Spike’s mother,” Marco answered.

“Oohh…”

“I think that was the reason why Spike didn’t want to leave the Gang. Aize hostaged Auntie Cecilia because they needed her medical expertise for the sick Gang members,” Orixa explained.

“I get it,” Arii responded. “Now that you mentioned Spike. How are the rest of the children? Do you have plans for them?” Arii asked.

“Well… some of the children that we rescued were really young. But for those who are capable, I asked them to be our secondary Helpers. That is if they are only willing to do so. We don’t want to force these kids into labor, it will leave a bad connotation to our group.”

“I understand,” Arii replied. “But can you explain more about these Helpers?”

“Ooh! I want to call them our ‘Little Helpers’! The name sounds cute,” Orixa said.

“You know about it, Ori?”

“Yep! Marco already explained the idea to me. And I think it’s good!”

“Woah… What is it all about?”

Marco explained, “Children assigned as Helpers will be tasked to assist the other vital members in this camp. For example, Dr. Cecilia is stationed to look after the sick players in the Quarantine Facility, and since Spike is her child, I assigned him to be his mother’s helper. The other kids will also be assigned to their respective adult members. Right now, I’m still planning who’s to whom.”

“I understand now,” Arii replied.

“Isn’t it a cute concept?” Orixa’s comment.

“Uh-hm. I wish I also have those Little Helpers too.”

“I can assign you some if you want to,” Marco offered. “I met some kids who love knitting. Maybe they can help you with your tailoring tasks.”

“Really!? That would be great!” Arii’s excited reaction.

“I’ll work on it later. I’ll let you meet them - maybe later.”

“Okay!” Arii replied. “So, what are the other remaining groups?”

As they were conversing, someone came to the scene.

“Hey, Marco! I came here to give you the report you were asking me about!” the man said as he gave a digital note tablet to Marco.

“Thanks, Merm. Can you give me a short summary of this report?” Marco asked.

“Sure! Since we started the camp’s expansion and repair, we have already built 10 new individual Rooms and 5 dorm Rooms for the evacuees. With the help of Raft’s Drones, the Quarantine Facility for the sick players is almost done. All that’s left to construct are the armory, nursery, and the new food hall,” Merm’s report.

“That’s good. Construction and Repair are at a steady pace. I hope everything will be finished before the next Special Event comes.”

“I agree,” Merm replied to Marco. “Well then… If you won’t mind, I will be continuing my rounds.”

“Sure. Thanks again, Merm.”

Merm nodded at Marco. He also nodded at Arii and Orixa before leaving.

“I didn’t know you assigned Mermy to be your… ugh… assistant?” Orixa said.

“Yes. I learned that he was a carpenter in the real world, so I grouped him in the Ground and Maintenance division. They were the ones assigned to monitor the overall status of the facilities in the camp. I still haven’t assigned a supervisor for the group. But if Raft would accept, I’ll ask him to take the job. In the meantime, I’m the one supervising them.”

Marco continued, “The last group will be the Military and Patrol. As you know, in every civilization, there should always be groups that would protect the welfare of the civilians. And if a perceived threat happens, these groups will be the ones responsible for eliminating said threats.”

“So, basically, they are the police and army of our camp?” Arii asked.

“I guess that’s the simplest description for it. I picked the finest fighters from the players who came from the Gang. Under Mario’s supervision, these players will undergo rigorous training to cultivate their strength and improve their combat abilities. I just want to make it clear that these players' vital role is to maintain the overall safety of the camp. They will only engage in offensive battle if - and only if - necessary.”

Orixa suddenly giggled. Marco and Arii looked at her with confusion.

“With Mario - Buddy’s supervision, I think the ‘offensive battle - only if necessary’ will be quite impossible,” Orixa murmured while giggling. “Knowing my Buddy, I’m sure he will find a way to engage in unnecessary combat, and I’m sure he will mask it under the pretense of ‘training’.

Arii also giggled at the thought.

“Well, let’s just see about that,” Marco said. “That’s all of the functioning groups right now. I will establish more in the future as needed.”

“Okaaay! Good job, as always, Marco!” Orixa praised.

Arii agreed. “Hmm… Is there anything else you will do after this, Marco?”

“Nothing much. Maybe I’ll just check how the Military group is doing. Why did you ask?”

“Can I come? I want to visit them too.”

“Sure.”

“Are you going too, Ori?”

After Arii asked her, Orixa suddenly blushed. “Mi - Military Group? Ma - Mario - Buddy is there, right?” she asked with a stuttering voice.

“Uhm, yes? We were just talking about him,” Arii replied.

“What’s gotten into you? Why do you look so anxious all of a sudden?” Marco asked.

“No - Nothing! I have something else to do! You two go to him without me!” Orixa said in a jumpy manner. She awkwardly phased out of the scene.

“What was that?” Marco wondered.

Arii sighed. “I forgot to tell her about CongMin.”

“CongMin?” Marco asked.

Arii explained about CongMin. As she explains the man to Marco, the topic of their conversation leads to Lorelei’s Role Assignment request. As they continued their conversation, they descended from the camp and walked towards the training grounds not far from the camp.

When they arrived at the training grounds, they witnessed a commotion between the players and a very distinct kid.

“I told you! You are not allowed to join us!” Mario yelled at the kid.

“What do we have here, Mario?” Marco asked.

“This boy - Bolt, he said he wants to join us,” Mario replied as they diverted their attention to the protesting kid.

“Why!? What’s the problem!? Why aren’t you letting me join!?” Bolt’s continuous complaint.

“I TOLD YOU ALREADY!! It’s too dangerous!” Mario shouted back.

“Hey, hey, hey. Can we settle this in a more civilized manner?” Marco uttered to ease the situation. “Hey, Bolt. Why do you want to join the group?”

“Who said I want to join the group?” Bolt replied in a snobby way.

“Huh?”

“I just want to join them in their expedition. I heard that they will be battling slimes. I want to avenge my friends from those damn slimes!” Bolt spurted.

“Wait, what Expedition? Why didn’t I know this?” Marco uttered. He looked at Mario, waiting for an explanation.

“Ah - eh… He’s right! We’re going to hunt those slimes! But don’t get me wrong, it’s for our combat training. Hehe,” Mario reasoned out.

Arii giggled. What Orixa said came true.

“No!” Marco replied straight. “Nobody’s hunting nothing. You can spar with one another for your training, but you’re still not allowed to engage in actual combat.”

Mario sighed. The other players in the group also sighed. “Bummer,” they mumbled in synchronicity.

Mario looked at his constituents and announced, “You heard it, guys. I guess we’ll just have to stick to our regular training routines. Everyone, grab your partners. Let’s just continue our spar like we always and REPETITIVELY do.”

“Okaaaay…” the players’ synchronized unenergetic reply.

They then proceed to their regular training. But suddenly,

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!

“What’s happening!?” Bolt uttered.

The sudden beeping noises came from the pendants that Arii, Mario, and Marco were wearing.

“It’s the Emergency Alarm for Papa!” Arii said. “We gave Tommy a device that he can use to notify us if ever something wrong happens to Papa.”

“I don’t know what’s the reason why he used the signal. But we should definitely check them,” Marco urged.

Mario smirked. “Finally, ‘Real Action Time’,” he secretly celebrated.

“I SUMMON THEE!” Arii chanted. The Paputiki magically appeared in the scene. Arii rode the back of the beast. “Mr. Paputiki can only carry two. Who will come with me?”

“You go, Mario. You’re stronger than me combat-wise. You should definitely go first,” Marco said.

Without further ado, Mario also hopped on the Paputiki’s back.

“We’ll follow you. Now, go!”

Arii agreed. The Paputiki climbed to the trees and departed. Marco and the other players also rushed to Tommy’s location.

Not long after, Arii and Mario finally arrived at the scene. There they saw Tommy lying on the ground, unconscious.

Arii quickly descended from the Paputiki and rushed to the senseless child. Mario also descended to check the area.

“Tommy! Tommy! Hey! Are you okay!?” Arii uttered while trying to wake up Tommy by shaking his small body.

“Arii…” Mario mumbled.

“Tommy! Hey! Can you hear me!?”

“Arii! Come over here!” Mario uttered.

Sensing the urgency, Arii gently put back Tommy to the ground and walked toward Mario.

“Wha?... What is it?” Arii mumbled.

Mario pointed his finger at something.

Arii was shocked to see the thing lying on the ground - an amputated arm covered with fresh blood. “Oh my gosh! What happened here!?”

Then, they heard frail noises nearby.

Mario asked Arii to stay behind his back as they sneakily walked toward the source of the noise. After a few steps, they came across a wall of thick bushes. Mario pushed the leaves aside and there; they witnessed Nikko carrying Papa’s bloodied corpse in his arms.

The amputated arm they saw earlier, no doubt, belongs to Papa. Papa’s torso is covered with a bright red hue as blood continues to ooze out from the big wound on his chest.

“Nikko… What have you done?” Mario’s only reaction after finding the horrible sight.