In the woods 1

"Alright, I presume all have arrived," a councilman said loudly. 

"There's one carriage yet to arrive, sir," Ana informed him. 

"Yet to arrive? Why is it late in the first place?" He said sternly as if she was blameworthy for the delay and glared at her, making her nervous.

Soon the sound of a carriage distracted the councilman. Evelyn hopped out and noticed the annoyed face of a man, in confusion. She glanced around wondering whom he was furious at. 

The second task was held in the forest. There were four more councilmen present and one of them being the man whom she had seen in the forest the other day, investigating the body. She wondered if they were here to check the safety of candidates during the task.

"Line up quickly, you four slackers," the councilman said in a strict manner, placing his hands on the waist indicating how annoyed he was at them. 

"Calm down, Saerus. Don't terrify them before they join the council," another councilman said calmly, who appeared to be in an equal position with Saemus. 

"Well, we don't need cowards in the council anyway Condrad." Evelyn heard him say as she stood in the line. Condrad sighed at his words. 

Taking a deep breath Condrad began with the instructions, "You all are well aware of the task I presume. You need to find the imposter before the task ends. The task will be ending tomorrow in the morning. You are requested to assemble back here only at that time. Results will be given at the same time and again, the council will hold no responsibility for whatever happens during the task as you are all well aware that it's a matter of survival of the fittest." 

"Five groups will enter from five different directions into the forest. Each group will follow a councilman who will only show you the direction and he will exit the forest after that, leaving you all on your own," Council Saemus explained. 

Each group followed a councilman assigned to them, disappearing into the forest. Evelyn's group was following Reeve Dederick, the same councilman whom she had recognised earlier. 

"Are there any wild animals residing here, sir? If I may ask you," Felix enquired. 

"Maybe, maybe not. We are not allowed to give any information to the candidates during the task," he replied, without turning back. 

The way he was walking, felt like he was exhausted. Dark circles, underneath his eyes, depicted the sleepless nights he was undergoing. Evelyn sighed mentally thinking about the workload a councilman suffers. 

After some time of wandering in the forest, Reeve stopped in his tracks. He turned around and said, "Well then, good luck to you all."

"At least give us some tips before going, sir," Gilbert requested. 

The councilman glanced around and looked at him to reply, "Just be careful, that's all I can say." With that, he went back in the direction they had turned.

"Be careful? Is that even a tip?" Gilbert snorted. 

He walked ahead and turned around to face everyone. Looking at his serious face, it felt like he was going to announce something important. 

"I suggest we should nominate a team leader whose orders should be followed at any condition. I would like to be one and if anyone else interested can raise their hands," he said, clearing his throat, glancing at everyone. 

Evelyn hoped this won't ignite any fight among the teammates as there was a bigger fish to fry instead of resolving the quarrels among them. She felt mentally drained thinking about the quarrel between her two heads in the firm, which exhausted her brain until the problem was resolved. 

Nobody replied to him nor raised their hand. "Alright then, I take it that you all want me to be the leader and I accept it. And from now you all will be obeying my orders," he said in pride, setting his hairs back. 

"Anyone has made any plans to find out about the imposter?" Felix asked, coming to the main point of being here in the forest. 

"Nah, why even trouble yourself in finding him? Just wander around and observe what other teams do," Gilbert replied. 

"Yeah, I agree with him. We will observe the people," Derek said. The time span in which he replied, clearly displayed he didn't bother to think and would agree to whatever the person told him to do. 

Felix sighed and looked at Evelyn. "Do you want to give your opinion, Miss?" 

"Umm, well I suggest we first find where other teams are and later we can split keeping an eye on every group," she replied, politely. 

Felix gave it some thought and nodded in agreement. Soon they all began wandering in the forest searching for the other teams.

The forest was highly dense and dark. It would have been hard to tell the time if Evelyn had not kept a track of it mentally. She was observing the shadows and guessed the time. It wasn't accurate but was helpful enough for now. The only thing that bothered her was about the night. 

According to her, four hours had passed since they had entered the forest, which meant four hours of continuous walking. Sweat formed on her forehead due to heat. 

"Let's take a break and continue in a while. It's not advised to drain energy before we even begin with the task," Felix suggested.

"Eh? This early? You all need to have core strength like me. At this rate, we will never complete the task," Gilbert said, trying to be reasonable but instead sounding opposite to it. There was a sense of arrogance in his words which Evelyn noted. 

"Alright then, if you want to go. You can go. We won't force you, self-proclaimed team leader," Felix said mockingly. 

"Yeah yeah, let me go ahead. You all better be quick and catch up with me soon." With that, he left, going deeper into the forest alone, humming a song. 

"What an idiot," Felix commented looking at the back of Gilbert. 

Evelyn smiled forcefully. She saw Felix sit down and lean on the tree, while Derek stood there in utter confusion not knowing what to do as usual. 

Taking a seat on the surface tree roots, she thought about the imposter. For a moment she wondered if someone in her group was one. 

"I wonder." She heard Felix speak, getting her attention towards him.  

"If there was no imposter at all," he added after a pause.  

"This can happen?" She looked at him in bewilderment. "I mean why would the council do something that might generate trust issues between the candidate. Moreover, there won't be anything to do as a task in the end," she reasoned. 

"Ah indeed. I agree with what you say but I yeah, the council can do that. It's crazy as they say," Felix chuckled. 

Evelyn smiled at his words. Among the three of her teammates, she found Felix to be sensible and trustworthy. She heard footsteps approaching in their direction. 

"Team leader is coming back to his team I guess. Let's move before he starts weeping," Felix said.

As they stood up, they saw Gilbert's sweaty, pale face and wide eyes as if he encountered a ghost on his way back here.  

"There is a dead body"