With a terrified face and in a state of shock, she began to beg for her life. Michael was about to kill her, but she said at that moment,

"Please listen, I have informations that might be useful to you. Read it, it's in the bag, then decide."

Michael freed Alfred and Lala, then asked Alfred to open the bag, take out the papers, and bring them to him. Alfred opened the bag while Michael kept an eye on her.

"If it's a trap, I'll cut off your head."

"No, no, honestly," she replied.

"Michael, I found the papers, here they are," Alfred said.

Michael took the papers and began to examine them. The warrior then spoke,

"These papers contain information in the form of maps and routes for all areas in this exam, as well as in the Golden Kingdom and its surroundings. In short, they are very detailed maps that could be sold at very high prices. Additionally, there is information about the strongest warriors in this tournament, including the one called the Moon Wolf and also the leader 'V,' the White Knight."

Michael became interested when she mentioned the White Knight's name and asked,

"How did you get such information, and the same goes for the maps?"

The warrior replied that she worked with people specialized in investigation, whose work might be considered illegal. They are professionals in gathering information and also designing building maps, which are prepared on demand, especially for thieves who want detailed maps of the buildings they plan to rob.

Michael looked closely at the papers, and after finishing, he decided to release her. He then told her privately to ask the people she worked with to design a map for a specific building.

She told him it was a difficult task, especially for such places, and it might take two months. Michael told her he would wait and warned her against breaking the agreement because he would find her wherever she went. He was a professional assassin and could do that.

She assured him she wouldn't and would tell the gang members that the request was from a client who didn't want to reveal his identity. She then withdrew and left the place.

Michael spoke to Alfred and Lala, "Let's move, we're late now."

"Okay, thanks for saving us. We didn't notice the danger and thought you were reckless in going the other way," Alfred said.

After some time of moving and fighting the tree monsters that appeared throughout the forest, with Alfred and Lala using their thunder and ice powers, they had made good progress so far. Now, the three of them stopped to rest.

"Don't let your guard down, keep watching," Michael said.

While they were sitting, Alfred pulled out a golden dagger and began cleaning it and looking at it. Lala spoke, "It's a beautiful dagger, where did you get it?"

Alfred smiled sadly and said, "This thing is the last memory of my teacher who trained and raised me."

Lala, thinking her question had upset Alfred, said, "I'm sorry if my question bothered you."

Alfred replied, "No, it's okay. In fact, I can tell you what happened. It's what made me come to this competition in the first place."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I and my teacher Fenwick used to work as usual in trading goods and valuable items via ships, trading between different kingdoms. One day, while we were heading to the northern kingdoms by sea, the weather was stormy in the middle of the journey. My teacher told us to adjust the sails as he had experience as a captain too. After ten minutes of the storm, he spoke to me and said, 'The winds of this storm are unnatural, as if they are not real.' 'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Sir, sir,' one of the crew members on the ship started shouting and came rushing, 'It's a pirate ship moving quickly towards us.' My teacher then said, 'Are the sails red and black?' 'We haven't confirmed yet,' the crew member replied. Then the lookout from above shouted, 'Damn, it's the Aka pirates.' My teacher said, 'Damn, I knew it from the storm.'

The pirate ship approached, and the captain of pirates and his assistant appeared, raising her hand, which showed a magical aura. It was the ability to control the weather. The pirate captain spoke, 'Hello everyone, unfortunately for you, we will take all the goods, but the good news is that we will leave you alive if you don't resist.'

But the merchants didn't want that, considering it a blow to their dignity. They told the teacher that the pirates wouldn't take anything except over their dead bodies, and the teacher agreed. The captain of pirates mocked them and ordered his assistant to get rid of them. She struck the ship with a thunderbolt, setting it on fire, and the pirates and sailors engaged in a fierce battle that led to the death of all the merchants."

Alfred took a deep breath and continued,

"At one point, the pirate captain stabbed my teacher and knocked him down, but he used magical sand and threw it at the cursed pirate, distracting him for a moment. He then took me and threw me into the sea from the other side of the ship after tying my hands to a piece of wood. The last thing he said to me was, 'Hold on tight and try to move north.'

I started crying at that moment, but he smiled and told me, 'Did you forget what I told you? Cowards and crybabies don't work on my ship.' That was the first thing he said to me when he found me working at a port as a child and asked him for a job. That's why I really wanted to become stronger and, why not, reach the level of a golden knight to eliminate the criminals in this world."

Michael spoke while arranging his equipment and reading the papers he had obtained, "Aka pirates ?, you don't know anything about this world.

" Alfred asked, "What do you mean?" but Michael didn't answer and continued reading his papers.

At that moment, Lala was standing still, seemingly lost in thought after hearing the story. She finally spoke, "Did the pirates wear red hats?"

Alfred thought for a moment and then said, "As far as I remember, yes. How did you know that?"

Lala began speaking with some sadness, "Those villains are the same ones who attacked my village three years ago and killed everyone in it, including my family. I even remember that when they came, the weather turned into terrifying storms and thunder that destroyed the place, and then they stole everything."

"I'm sorry," Alfred said.

"It's okay. We will become stronger knights and end the era of these villains and their kind forever," Lala replied.

Michael then stood up, hid his papers, and said, "Good and fighting evil, you really don't know how this world works."

Lala spoke angrily, "You repeated the same thing again, what are you saying?" Michael didn't answer and just started moving in the next direction.

Lala asked, "What's wrong with him, why doesn't he answer?"

Alfred replied, "dont be too harsh on him. We don't know what hell he's been through. Let's move now."

The team then continued moving towards the next area of the forest.