“So?” Stick’s voice cut through the silence. “What is it?”

  All eyes turned to Becket. He leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming against the armrest as if organizing his thoughts.

  “I don’t think word has spread yet,” Becket said, his gaze shifting briefly to Nakamura. “Of your escape, I mean. Most guards probably don’t even know you were imprisoned.”

  Nakamura’s hand drifted to his chin as he mulled over the statement. “Hm… I guess you could be right.”

  Becket pressed on, his tone steady. “If you play it right, Nakamura could pose as someone on an urgent mission, with the rest of you acting as his travel companions. If word hasn’t spread, The Prized Possession could pass as his slave.”

  Stick grimaced. “What about Shadis and me? They’d recognize him after the trial, and my status would make me a dead giveaway.”

  “You’re right,” Becket admitted, “but what if you hid inside a High Council carriage?”

  The air in the room shifted, and Stick narrowed his eyes. Wait a minute…

  “None of the lords in the capital would leave on a Sunday,” Becket continued smoothly. “They’re too entitled for that. The guards wouldn’t know, though. With a Praetorian driving, no one would dare question what’s inside.”

  Stick’s frown faded as the idea clicked. “So we just hide in the carriage? That’s… actually not bad.”

  “That’s a terrible idea,” Nakamura shot back, crossing his arms. “We don’t even know what the guards know. And a carriage like that? Way too flashy. Might as well paint a target on our backs.”

  “You only need to get as far as the tunnel,” Becket argued. “You could reach it before nightfall. Once you’re through to the other side, no one will see you. Trick the guards at the gate, and you’re practically home free. You can disappear into the Goblin Steppes.”

  “Yes, but still…” Nakamura’s brow furrowed in doubt. “How do we even get the carriage?”

  Becket’s faint smile was almost too confident. “Don’t worry. I know where it’s parked—and I can get it here without being seen.”

  Shadis shifted in his seat, his sharp gaze locking on Becket.

  “You’d do that?” Stick asked, eyes widening. “Really?”

  Becket shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “Sure. Besides, if the carriage disappears, there’s no way I’m heading back to the Blitz Estate tomorrow. I’d get to stay in the capital a little longer. That… wouldn’t be so bad.”

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  From the corner of the room, Priscilla chuckled softly. Becket’s eyes flicked toward her, but she gave no indication she’d been listening.

  Nakamura bit his thumbnail, clearly torn. “It’s a lot of ifs.”

  “How else are we supposed to leave?” Stick snapped. “We can’t fight our way out—we have to bluff.”

  “Easy for you to say when all you have to do is hide,” Nakamura retorted.

  Stick faltered, the flush of frustration rising in his cheeks. He looked away, unable to come up with a response.

  Becket stood, his tone firm. “You have to use the tunnel. How else are you going to get through the Black Fog?”

  “The Black Fog?” Stick asked, confused.

  Becket sighed, but there was no impatience in his voice. “It’s a dark fog—you can’t see through it. It separates the Whispering Woods from the northern leveling zones.”

  “Don’t you know anything?” Nakamura muttered under his breath.

  Stick ignored him, forcing himself to focus.

  “The Whispering Woods is where players from Levels 11 to 20 train,” Becket explained, pacing now. “Monsters and quests there match those levels. But past the Black Fog, in the Swamp and the Highlands? That’s endgame territory. Level 40 and up, minimum. You’d be lucky to last five minutes there without dying. The Fog keeps weaker players from wandering in by accident.”

  “Oh.” Stick’s shoulders sagged, a familiar weight of inadequacy settling over him.

  The game’s mechanics always seemed to weigh on him.

  “Remember that wall of trees we passed on our way to Nova Civitas?” Becket asked.

  Stick’s mind jumped back to the image of the Jester tearing through the forest’s defenses. “Yeah…”

  “That’s another one of those barriers, meant to keep Level 1 to 10 players out of the Whispering Woods,” Becket said. “Although… that wall hasn’t really been necessary for a while. At least, not until now.”

  So the Goblin Steppes is where I was supposed to start?

  “I see,” Stick muttered. “But what about the tunnel? Isn’t that a pretty big oversight?”

  “The tunnel wasn’t there when the game started,” Nakamura said with a smirk, pride slipping into his voice. “It’s one of Carnifex’s engineering wonders.”

  “One of Lord Alastair’s engineering wonders,” Shadis corrected, his tone biting.

  “It’s true that NPCs have invented some ingenious machines,” Nakamura admitted, shrugging. “But it was King Ahlgren who turned those schematics into reality.”

  Nakamura shrugged. “Sure, but it took King Ahlgren to actually make it happen. He’s the one who put those schematics to use.”

  “You’re saying Alastair wouldn’t have done the same?” Shadis asked, leaning forward.

  “I’m saying it took a player to get it done,” Nakamura replied, his voice calm but firm. “He had plenty of time before we got here.”

  “Enough!” Stick snapped, cutting off their bickering. His hands clenched into fists. “We don’t have time for this!”

  Shadis fell silent, though his expression showed he wasn’t satisfied. Nakamura looked like he had more to say but held back.

  Still, two questions lingered in the back of Stick’s mind: Was it really just a coincidence that the machines were only built after the players had arrived? And what else was Carnifex capable of shaping in this world? It seemed like some parts of this world just waited for the Players to arrive. Others, however…

  He took a look at Priscilla’s wrinkle-free face. He didn’t finish the thought.

  “So,” Stick asked, forcing himself back to the present. “Are we all agreeing that taking the carriage to the tunnel is the way to go?”

  “With the city on high alert, we might not get another chance,” Nakamura admitted reluctantly.

  “Then it’s settled,” Becket said. He reached for his coat, the faintest edge to his voice now. “If we’re doing this, we move. Now.”

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