The sun was about to set, its light gradually fading with each passing moment.
The footpath that had once been visible under the sun's light was now difficult to make out without the aid of artificial light coming from one of the houses.
The small houses lit their little lamps, welcoming the darkness once again, as they became beacons of light against the night.
The old man's house now had its roof completely covered.
In front of it stood a villager, facing the three young men who had just finished their task.
Icam crossed his arms. "You're lying, right?" he replied. "People around here usually like to lie at this hour," he remarked, staring at the villager with not even the slightest hint of a smile.
"What do you mean, people around here like to lie?" the villager shot back. "I'm serious!" he insisted.
Iyas and Alif looked at each other, about to give their opinions.
An old woman hurried toward them, approaching the three young men and the villager. Her face looked anxious, her steps still stiff, yet she forced herself to hurry.
In her hands was a glowing lantern.
From her hurried expression and movements, it was already obvious that she was somehow connected to the disappearance of the child.
The villager and the three young men looked at her.
The villager grew worried and tried to support the old woman with his hands.
The three young men, meanwhile, were like, Whatever.
"What happened, Grandma?" Iyas asked. "Did someone steal your bag again?" he continued.
The old woman slowly turned toward Iyas.
"My grandchild... my grandchild..." she pleaded faintly. She placed the lantern on the ground, then reached out with both hands and grabbed Iyas's arms, shaking them gently.
"Please... save my grandchild..." she begged.
Iyas lowered his head—looking at her. Her pitiful plea touched his heart.
Icam and Alif whispered to each other, trying to figure out what was actually happening. The rest of their conversation was nothing but them mumbling and imitating the sound of whispers.
Iyas nodded repeatedly, his lips stretching into a sincere smile.
He released the old woman's grip, then raised her hand into his own.
He gently held it. "Don't worry, Grandma," Iyas whispered. "Your ancestor's opposite will be just fine," he added.
Iyas released her hand and picked up the lantern from the ground.
Iyas pointed his right index finger at the villager.
"Watch out. This guy might steal the lantern," he said casually.
The villager glared at him—not exactly trying to intimidate him, but there was certainly some indication of it.
"What do you mean by that?"
Icam interrupted, spreading his arms as if asking Iyas to back off.
"That's not what I meant," he replied vaguely. "Why don't you ask the guards for help?" he continued, posing the question.
The villager displayed both sadness and frustration at the same time.
"The guards can't be trusted. They haven't done anything," he replied. "They're just playing cards instead!" he snapped.
"Whoa, I wanna play cards too!" Alif shouted.
Iyas, Icam, the old woman, and the villager all fell silent at Alif's remark.
"Hehehehe," Alif chuckled softly.
Still staring in silence.
"Heheheh," he chuckled even more quietly.
The villager immediately returned to the subject.
"We told them," he explained, "but they just brushed us off!" he snapped.
Alif motioned for Icam to stay back with his hand, then approached the villager and the old woman.
His smile was clearly visible.
"Don't worry, Grandma! I'll save your child!" he shouted enthusiastically.
Alif immediately ran off in some unknown direction, leaving the villager, the old woman, and the duo in front of the old man's house behind.
"Where did he go?" the villager asked, still watching Alif run into the distance.
Icam raised his shoulders, puzzled.
"I have no idea. I thought he was going back to his hometown."
"Speaking of the missing pawn, where did your child go last?" Icam asked.
"Grandchild... my grandchild," the old woman corrected him. "My grandchild went into the forest to the west," she explained, pointing toward the area where her grandchild had last gone.
Conveniently, that was also where Alif had headed.
Icam and Iyas turned their attention toward the direction the old woman was pointing.
"Where? Your grandchild isn't anywhere in sight," Iyas asked.
"Because they're missing!" the villager blurted out.
"You mean her grandchild can't be seen?" Icam asked.
The villager frowned. "They're missing! They've been missing since this morning!" he snapped.
"It's not just Grandma's grandchild who has gone missing..." the old woman added in a faint voice.
Icam and Iyas nodded repeatedly. This was certainly an unusual explanation.
Icam and Iyas looked at each other, realizing that this was an emergency. They nodded.
"Alright, Grandma. We understand."
With the lantern in his left hand, Iyas prepared to leave.
"I'm going!"
Iyas was about to run when—
"WAIT!"
The villager's plea suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
"Why are you slowing me down?" Iyas asked.
"Several people have gathered and are ready to search for Josh and the other children," the villager said. "You should join them too. You don't know this area yet."
"Pawns, huh?" Icam said. "There's something I need to do."
"What for?" the villager asked.
"It's a genius tactic," Icam replied quickly, already running toward the old man's house.
"Alright, then," the villager replied.
"I'll gather with the other villagers. You can catch up later."
The villager walked away, breaking into a light jog toward somewhere nearby. His steps were firm as he left the old woman behind.
"Grandma, are you coming with me?" Iyas asked, briefly pointing his lantern toward her.
"I want to come," she replied.
"Ugh, don't come, Grandma!" Iyas protested, moving the lantern away from her until it was behind his back.
The old woman looked at Iyas, her gaze slow and calm.
"You'll just end up increasing the number of missing people," Iyas scolded her, lowering the lantern until it was level with his hip.
The old woman simply stared blankly at him.
The sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. It was Icam, carrying clothes in both hands, held against his chest.
Iyas carefully examined the pile of fabric.
"Whoa, new clothes."
"No," Icam said. "These are clothes from the old man's wardrobe," he explained.
Icam smiled. "It shouldn't hurt to borrow them a little, right?"
The old woman was still standing there, staring blankly at them.
"Huh? Grandma, you're coming with us?" Icam asked.
"No, you shouldn't. Otherwise, Grandma will only make the number of missing people even bigger," he said mockingly.
"I already told you, Grandma. What did I say again...? There, you said..." Iyas stammered. "You said something, right, Cam?" he asked, confused, as if he had either not heard it or simply forgotten.
The old woman blinked, not knowing how to respond to whatever he had just said. She wasn't offended—just thoroughly confused.
An elderly woman approached the old woman and took both of her hands.
"Grandma, leave it to the men," she said quickly.
The elderly woman led the old woman away by the hands, presumably taking her back to her house.
Icam tilted his head.
"So that villager from earlier was actually an old lady? She changed so fast," he wondered aloud.
"No, probably another grandchild," Iyas replied immediately, equally nonsensically.
"Let's go catch up with Alif and find that grandchild!" Iyas urged, his body already poised to leave, facing in the direction they were headed.
"That grandma isn't going to become a missing person too, right?" Icam asked quietly. "Besides, this is necessary for us to be good leaders," he explained, though his explanation made absolutely no sense.
"Let's go!" Iyas shouted.
The two of them ran off together in search of the missing children.
They kept running, paying no attention to the swinging lanterns that could easily have put out the flames.
They didn't care that the villager had told the trio to gather with everyone else.
More accurately, Iyas had simply forgotten that he had heard any of it.
END
Grandma is missing? Wait, you mean her grandchild is missing? Why haven't they come home yet? What could have caused them to get lost?
Keep following these missing children so they don't end up missing for real!