"What?" asked Lena, feeling even more curious because Gideon’s expression looked bitter.
Gideon rolled the letter back up and held it toward the torch fixed on the wall. The fire burned the letter completely until nothing was left, leaving only Gideon and Ashfield knowing what it contained.
He turned, looking closely at Lena. In this case, he couldn’t act on his own. He had to discuss it directly with Luke and Lena. They needed to know, even if Gideon could only tell them verbally.
The burning letter caught Lena and Jacques’ attention until it turned to ash. Gideon excused himself to Jacques, who didn’t object.
He stepped outside and gestured for Lena to follow him. She agreed, still curious about the letter Gideon had received.
"What’s really happening? The way you’re acting scares ," Lena complained.
Gideon stayed silent. He stopped a soldier and told him to go to the village well construction site. His task was to summon Luke to et Gideon.
The soldier nodded and hurried off, his armor clanking as he moved.
Lena grew more suspicious. She grabbed Gideon’s hand, which imdiately caught his attention. He looked into her worried eyes, waiting for her to press him for answers.
"What is it?" Lena asked firmly.
"The three of us will talk about it together."
He led Lena into an empty house prepared for Gideon and his team’s use while staying in Dergon. Lena said nothing. She simply obeyed and waited for what Gideon wanted to tell her.
She sat on the sofa while Gideon, clearly worried, paced back and forth, his head full of the information from the letter. Lena sighed, not knowing what could trouble him this much.
"You’re just exhausting yourself if you don’t tell soon," Lena said, leaning her arm on the chair.
"We’ll wait for Luke."
"Hm."
Not long after, Luke arrived at the house as ordered. He ca alone, his pants stained with dirt from the digging.
The village well project had already reached sixty percent completion. Luke was confident it would be finished in less than three weeks.
"Lena?" Luke asked, surprised to see her inside with Gideon.
"You’re late, Luke."
"I had to explain so things they didn’t understand. It took quite a bit of ti," Luke said.
"Forget about that," Gideon replied.
He stepped forward, closing the wooden door and locking it. He also made sure the windows in the front room were shut, leaving only the torchlight on the walls for illumination.
Lena grew suspicious, while Luke seed confused.
"Tell , are we going to attack Moko?" Lena asked.
"Attack Moko? What do you an? Are we going to war?" Luke asked, shocked.
Gideon stood with his back to them, silent. After a deep breath, he turned and looked at both Lena and Luke with a serious expression.
"A letter ca from the north. Earl Ashfield sent it to ."
"The main point of the letter is that the soldiers of the Luthe Kingdom have managed to create homade firearms," Gideon explained.
"WHAT?!" Lena shouted, jumping to her feet, her eyes wide.
"But how? How did they get that kind of technology?" Lena asked.
Luke was still in shock, unable to believe this was happening. Yet he was also curious about who could have taught them to make homade firearms, especially rifles, adjust the barrels, and make ammunition.
"Could soone have stolen our weapons and sold them to Luthe?" Luke asked.
"That’s impossible! If a soldier stole them, they would have chosen to sell them to Moko," Lena answered.
"Then who? Those people couldn’t possibly read the blueprints."
"The only copies of blueprints given out were for 5.56mm and 9mm bullets to Jack the blacksmith. And those were only bullets," Lena replied.
Gideon stared at them. It didn’t make sense that the weapons or blueprints had been stolen and sold to Luthe. He suspected sothing else, sothing far more likely.
"I suspect we weren’t the only ones who survived," Gideon explained.
"Y-You an Robb and the others are still alive?" Luke asked, more shocked.
"Yes. There’s a chance they also ended up in this world, but in a different place than us. Without supplies, full ammo, weapons, and a chain of command, they must have been desperate."
Lena nodded, understanding what Gideon ant. Their equipnt when they left Hawaii for Villanesia had been standard military gear, at least M4A1 rifles and SIG M17 pistols, with primary and spare mags for both firearms.
"They wouldn’t want to die without trying. Realizing this world is different, becoming nobles would be what they wanted," Lena said.
"So you think they sold their weapons to the Luthe Kingdom to study, in exchange for noble titles?" Luke asked.
"Exactly. That’s what worries ," Gideon answered.
"This is insane! We can’t let them create those weapons. The destruction will be massive, and lives will be lost easily," Luke said firmly.
"We have to go north!" Luke insisted.
"Calm down, Luke. We still have responsibilities here. We can’t just abandon them," Gideon said.
"What Luke said is true, Captain. We can’t prioritize the people of Dergon Village when danger is rising because of our own mbers," Lena replied.
"The longer we wait, the more likely they’ll finish studying the M4A1 and replicate it closely. That would be dangerous," Lena added.
"She’s right. The SIG M17 might be easy, but not the rifles."
Gideon closed his eyes, trying to think of a solution. He was worried for Dergon and its people, but he feared even more that the war in the north would turn into a firearm war.
His hands clenched tightly. He felt torn and knew he had to decide quickly how his team would respond. Luke and Lena kept pressing him, urging Gideon’s team to head north and et Norton.
"What’s it going to be, Captain?" Luke asked.
After a long breath, Gideon slowly opened his eyes. His decision was made. He stepped toward Luke.
"What’s the final stage of the well project?" Gideon asked.
"Wet soil. The water source is beneath. Right now they’re placing stones around the well walls."
"Are you sure you can leave work without your watch?" Gideon asked.
"That’s easy. Lucas can lead them."
Gideon cleared his throat. Then he turned and looked straight at Lena. She answered right away, knowing what he was going to ask.
"The patients are improving. They only need dicine and herbal mixes. The trusted maids who worked for before can handle it," Lena replied.
He smiled. The waste pit issue had also been resolved. As for the river water purification problem, Gideon could handle it later, after the northern matter was finished.
Gideon stepped forward, opened the house door, and walked outside. Lena and Luke exchanged glances, then followed him.
"Bring all the gear we need, including the drone and Lyra’s laptop."
"We’re going to the Capital!"
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