The Fat God System

Hugh and Serena were both silent as they walked in the wide plains of the outskirts of the Cheroque kingdom. They were silently thinking about what happened to them back then.

Hugh looked at his pinky finger and saw a red ring tattooed on it. It was the physical evidence that what happened was real.

Serena was also speechless as she looked forward. She did not think that her fate would have been predestined by some kind of god.

"There must be some kind of way to change it, right?" Hugh asked.

"Yeah, there must be," Serena answered.

Hugh and Serena were just starting to be friends. Being told that they are destined for each other was a sensitive topic.

Currently, they did not feel anything for each other except for a platonic relationship. Now that they already know what happens if they got together, they had more distance because of it.

*clack* *clack*

From the distance, they suddenly heard the sounds of hooves beating in the ground. There seemed to be a lot of horses as Hugh and Serena get the ground shake.

Hugh and Serena looked at each other and they decided to hide.

They hurried towards a large boulder to the side to hide from the incoming parade of horses. They held their breaths as they waited for the army to come.

"Hut…hut….hut…"

Hugh and Serena took a peek from the boulder and saw many soldiers marching towards the Cheroque kingdom. The number must have been in the hundreds.

They all wore similar uniforms and armor that had a design of a mighty dragon.

After the hundreds of soldiers were knights who rode on horses. They all had a large lance by their side as their main weapon.

The knights also numbered in the hundreds as they all marched together under one banner. They seemed to be very mighty foes.

In the middle of the parade was a carriage held together by dark oak wood and carried by mighty-looking horses.

Hugh and Serena guessed that this was the commander in chief of this army that was marching.

Then, the window of the carriage opened and a man with scars on his face peeked out and looked around. Hugh and Serena quickly hid back away from sight.

If they had continued to look, the commander would have seen them. It was a close call, and they both did not dare to look again.

After they heard the carriage leave, Hugh and Serena both heaved a sigh of relief. They had no chance against an army of fully armored men.

Even though they were strong, they could be easily overcome with numbers.

When they peeked back out, they saw fewer and fewer soldiers marching. Hugh and Serena waited until the last soldier had passed them.

"Who do you think they are?" Serena asked.

Hugh rubbed his chin as he was in deep thought. "They may be the ones that are chasing Mia."

Serena nodded her head. It was a valid guess and she was sure that it's as correct. Not to mention that the army had the emblem of the Cheroque kingdom and the same from the direction of the town.

"We should follow them!" Serena said.

Hugh also agreed. If they could somehow sneak into their ranks and try to spy on them, then they could have an advantage against these armies.

"How are we going to do that?" Hugh asked as they all looked towards two soldiers falling behind the platoon.

Hugh and Serena both nodded at each other as they sneaked behind the platoon. They both chose the ones that we're falling behind in the march.

*DUG* *DUG*

The platoon leader heard something, so he looked back. However, he did not see anything wrong. Then, he focused his sight on the front.

Hugh and Serena sighed as they both held up the unconscious bodies of the soldiers.

After the line of sight was gone, they both sneaked out of the platoon and removed the armor and uniform away from the soldiers.

Once they had donned themselves with the armor, they look indistinguishable from the other soldiers. With this, they could finally sneak into the ranks.

"You two!" the platoon leader shouted.

Hugh and Serena both froze. Was their disguise quickly found out? Do they have to escape right away?

"March faster! Do you not know how to march?!" the platoon leader reprimanded them.

Hugh and Serena both heaved a sigh of relief. They both could finally March knowing that they are thought of as normal soldiers.

However, the hard part was not over. They were currently at the belly of the beast, the heart of the monster. One wrong move and they could be surrounded by enemies.

They had to be careful and not their identities leak.

Hugh and Serena marched with the army until nighttime. They could see the outline of the Cheroque kingdom, which meant that they could soon set foot in it.

"Rest for now. We only have a day's walk left till we reach the kingdom!" the platoon leader shouted.

Then, most of their platoon relaxed and set their tents. Hugh and Serena were clueless on what to do, so they just followed the majority

Then, the soldiers started a camper fire where they warmed their bodies and relaxed. Some of them burned heIt food to make it warm, and some just went straight to sleep.

"Huh, you have very pretty eyes, cadet," a soldier said as he looked at the helmet worn by Serena.

Serena moved her head away from the Soldier. Hugh quickly tried to distract the situation.

"Why did we even go to that town?" Hugh asked suddenly.

Then, the whole platoon went silent. Hugh was alarmed. His identity was now at risk since it looked like he had said something wrong.

"Hey," the soldier whispered. "You shouldn't talk about that so loud."

The soldier pointed toward the platoon leader's tent. It seemed that something bad would happen if the platoon leader heard what Hugh said.

"You can't criticize them," the soldier said. "You are just a cadet, so maybe they'll forgive you."

Hugh went silent as he looked at the platoon leader's tent. It seemed like something was going on with the upper ranks of the army.

"We are also clueless," the soldier commented. "Only the platoon leaders know."

Hugh frowned. It looked like he would have to find out more information only from the platoon leaders. If he pressured the soldiers for information, it would lead to nowhere.

The problem was the platoon leader. He was at the upper ranks of the army, and he held a lot of sway and power. One wrong move and he could order for Hugh to be executed.

He had to decide whether it was worth it to risk for the information.

Then, Hugh felt a tap on his shoulder. When he looked at who it was, it was Serena.

"What is it?" Hugh asked.

However, Serena did not speak. Hugh looked around the scene and did not see anyone listening to them.

"You can whisper," Hugh said.

However, Serena did not speak as if she was embarrassed to speak.

Then, Serena pointed towards the tents that were set up by the soldiers. Most of them had small tents and big tents, but there was never a tent for only one person.

Serena would have to sleep with the other soldiers. That was very risky to do, so it was a problem that he had to solve.

"We have to sleep together," Serena whispered to Hugh's ears.

Hugh was immediately taken aback by Serena's words. His ears burned red and he flinched away from her. He was flustered, to say the least.

"What are you saying?! Didn't you see what would happen if we do that?" Hugh said with an embarrassed face.

Serena frowned as she looked at Hugh's strange reaction. At first, she did not know what got Hugh so worked up.

Then, she also realized what Hugh had misinterpreted. Then, her cheeks blushed as she got flustered as well.

"You idiot!" Serena said as she punched Hugh's arms. "I meant we should stay in the same tent!"

Once the misunderstanding was solved, Hugh felt more secure. He had thought that the red string of fate had done something to Serena.

"Fine, but don't try anything," Hugh said as he covered his body.

Serena had her jaws dropped as she saw Hugh acting all embarrassed. She was the one who was supposed to say those things, but Hugh dared to say that.

"Like I would do anything to you!" Serena said as she kicked Hugh's butt.

Once they were inside the tent, they were squished in together. There was an uncomfortable silence between them.

"Move," Serena said as she tried to punch Hugh away.

However, there was barely any room left. Hugh was already forced to squeeze in his body, so Serena was asking for something impossible.

"You move! I can't breathe anymore!" Hugh said.