Concealed Traitor

"Ummm… we're lost. I-I don't know where the others are."

A shy, and timid girl walked through a snowy village, decorated in Christmas designs. The buildings resembled Gingerbread houses with a large Christmas tree in the center of the village.

It looked abandoned, as not one soul was in sight. Doors swung open and creaked from the rustling winds, Christmas lights hung from the buildings, unorganized, while ornaments from the tree rolled along the ground, bouncing across the snowy terrain from the cold icy wind.

Florian was terrified, but she wasn't by herself.

Walking next to her was the Primordial Fox, Carmine. They were still small as a Fox, white in fur but striped with red Japanese markings.

"It seems that the portal transported us into different locations, but I'm still confused as to how."

"Hnn? What do you mean, Lady Carmine?"

"Please, don't call me lady. I am not deserving of such names, by all means, refer to me as Red, or Carmine. Either is fine."

"O-Oh… okay, sorry."

"You're forgiven." The Fox stopped in its tracks, sitting in its feline position, "And me being confused, it's quite simple. We were the only ones transported away from each other, but the other players stayed together, working as a team."

"R-Really? Then… maybe the Event hosts made some mistake."

"No, I'm unsure that's the case. This event usually starts passively on the day of Christmas, there is no event host, or staff controlling it. The Snowlands Festival is just part of the game itself."

Florian hugged her arms, shivering in the cold.

"What could be the reason we were separated? Do you have any other idea, Lady Carmine?"

"Please child, I told you to stop calling me that."

"I'm sorry… it just sounds right to call you that from you being a Primordial."

"My title means nothing, Crimson has already proved that to me."

"Right…" She tilted her head down, shyly looking away, "Crimson is cool, I have never seen someone so brave and talented like him before."

"Hmpf." The small fox chuckled, "Yes, he is one of a kind. He's worthy of being called my master! Now then, let us make our way through the village and collect Crests."

"Right."

Crests. They were important in Isekai World Online, as each Crest has different abilities. There were levels to these crests, and their levels were defined by their colors. Yellow crests were the weakest, Blue crests were average, Green crests were strong, while Red crests were the strongest.

With each crest, they granted the user different buffs and passive effects. Some could grant the user resistance to certain Debuffs and spells, while others could increase one's speed. Certain crests could let the player use two different Player Classes such as Adventurer and Knight simultaneously, while others could allow for two different Magic Classes like Necromancy and Defensive Magic.

Wearing these crests on your character through rings, necklaces, etc. will allow you to activate their traits, but if you were to take them off, you would lose their benefits. A player can only wear one crest, though level 100 players can wear two at the same time.

The Snowland Festival was a challenge of who could collect the most Snow Crests (A limited time crest during Christmas) until the timer ended. To do this, one must kill as many mobs as possible, and solve puzzles and other clues around the Snowlands.

Carmine hopped through the abandoned village looking for any clues or treasures that could hold crests inside of them for points, while Florian did the same.

They continued to search far and wide, looking in each house, checking under the massive Christmas tree, and even pulling books from their bookshelves in the library. They couldn't find anything.

Regrouping together, they met in the center of the village.

"Did you find anything, child?"

"N-No mam… nothing in particular, just a couple of raggedy books and whatnot…"

"Hmm. I see. This may be troublesome then."

Florian lifted her brows, "Why's that Lady Carmine?"

"…" The Red Primordial squinted its eyes at the girl before releasing a sigh, "Because, a village usually has at least one hidden treasure, and we checked all the houses together to find nothing."

"What does that mean? Is it some sort of glitch?"

"Could be, or… it could be that we were led into a trap."

"A-A trap?!" Florian jumped in her skin, covering her mouth with her fist, timidly shaking in her boots, "What are we gonna do? I-I can't fight… I can't do anything right. With me… you'll end up in big trouble, Lady Carmine."

The Fox lifted its paw, stuttering in its words, "U-Uhh… p-please child! Do not talk so down on yourself."

"No, it's true, I cannot do anything right, my existence is a nuisance to those around me, and I'll only get you in trouble!" Florian started tearing up, biting her bottom lip which started quivering.

"That isn't true. You're with the Phantom Mutiny out of all people! Do you know what that means? It means that they think of you as their equal and their comrade. You're strong in their eyes, so do not let their beliefs go to waste."

"B-But…" Florian crouched down, covering her head like a frightened child, "I never fought someone in my life… and the sight of blood scares me. I wanna go home!"

"Oh dear…" Carmine sighed to herself before walking through the snow, approaching Florian, "Child, I want you to listen to me." The small white fox sat near her leg, rubbing its head against their shin, "You know what master has told me?"

Florian shook her head back and forth, not answering with words.

"Well… he has told me that not everyone can have the biggest boobs or the fattest ass. Even if you do have the biggest, there will always be someone with an even bigger ass out there."

"…"

Florian went dead silent.

"What my master says is true. No matter how strong you're, there will always be someone stronger out there, that's what he means by those words." The small fox walked in front of Florian, standing up on both hind legs and crossing its arms, "What I'm trying to say is, just because you're weak, doesn't mean you have to remain weak. Florian, was it? You should climb to the top, and break your limits. Do not let them hold you down unless you wish to remain with the smallest ass throughout the hierarchy of butts and boobs."

"Putting it like that sounds odd, but…" Florian lifted her head, wiping a tear away with her finger, "You do have a point, I shouldn't remain at the bottom, should I?"

"No. Doing that will only be feeding into your problems, and you won't change, child."

"I… suppose you're right, Lady Carmine."

"…"

"I will change, and become a better person, for Lucia!"

"Oh? For Lucia? I'm assuming you two are very close."

"Y-Yes." Florian blushed on her cheeks, looking off to the side, "Lucia is the reason that I joined Isekai World Online. Any other reason and I would be at home right now, sticking to my NEET lifestyle."

"Oh, so it's like that." Carmine was suddenly smug, covering their mouth with their paw.

"Wait, n-no, no! It's not like that at all! Don't get the wrong idea, me and Lucia are just friends, that's it! Just friends!" She stood up from the snow and dusted off her skirt, pumping her elbow, "I will push through this Festival and prove my worth for the Phantom Mutiny!"

"Excellent! Excellent!" Carmine jumped up into the air, clapping their paws, "That's the spirit, child, keep moving, keep going! I love to see such motivated faces, it gets me pumped up! Woo-Hoo!"

"Hehehe, you're so goofy, Lady Carmine." Florian giggled as she timidly rubbed her arm, blushing in embarrassment.

"Mwa-ha-haaa! Now all that's left is to find the perpetrator."

Florian hastily glanced at Carmine, "P-Perpetrator?"

"Yes…" Carmine's expression suddenly became sinister, "This was no coincidence, we're currently surrounded by players and mobs."

"Holy cow, seriously? Then what do we do? I-I don't see them anywhere."

Carmine stood next to Florian, baring their fangs.

"They're using some sort of invisibility spell, they've been watching us this whole time. I only noticed them from one of their scents."

"Scents?" Asked the scared Florian.

"Yes. One of them appears to be part of our group!"

"What?? But that's impossible… why would someone from the Phantom Mutiny betray us? It doesn't make any sense!"

"I am unsure, but whoever I smell, I will always remember their scent, even if they're invisible. My nose can only detect those that I have smelled in the past, however… I'm unable to tell who I'm smelling because I lack half of my power. It was sealed away, long ago."

"D-Did this familiar scent just now show up? Or has it always been there?"

"It just now appeared. It's definitely the scent of someone I know, and they have to be part of the Phantom Mutiny because those are the only people I'm aware of, compared to the other countless players in this festival."

"No… that can't be true, who in the Phantom Mutiny is betraying us?"