A few kilometers away from the temporary camp.
“Let's rest here,” Rosie said, stopping in her tracks.
“Whew... Whew... I'm exhausted...”
The dwarf panted, plopping down onto the ground and leaning against a half-buried, grayish-white stone slab.
Rosie climbed onto a raised mound of ruins and scanned her surroundings.
The light from the crystals on the ceiling was growing sparser. The surrounding ruins were no longer as dense as they had been near the camp, leaving only low, crumbling walls.
She estimated their direction and jumped down from the ruins.
“Why did we run? If we joined forces, we could have directly taken down that self-righteous Count and that unreliable mage...” the dwarf wheezed.
“Could you beat Anna?” Rosie asked.
“Uh... If she didn't use magic, I could flatten her with one hand,” the dwarf said after a brief hesitation.
Rosie rolled her eyes beneath her helmet. If the Count and his men didn't fight back, she could have killed everyone too.
What absolute nonsense.
Was a mage going to play a boxing match with him without using magic?
“Did you see how the Baron was injured?” Rosie asked.
The dwarf shook his head. “I only saw him fall.”
“I didn't see how he got hit either, but I'm certain the Count was the one who did it,” Rosie said with conviction.
“As the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.' We don't even know what tricks the Count has up his sleeve. Anna is on his side, and even that thick-browed John is the Count's man. A strategic retreat was the most sensible choice...” she continued.
In truth, the main reason Rosie had fled so decisively was Anna and the Count.
In contrast, she didn't care much about the seemingly numerous knights and soldiers, or even the traitor John.
That woman Anna had always held back; there was no telling how many trump cards she still had hidden. For instance, that blue barrier had never been used before. Moreover, she knew the Silence spell, which had directly interrupted Rosie's attempt to treat the Baron with Holy Light.
And then there was Count Morris. For such a grand noble to wear robes instead of armor in the dangerous underground world, combined with his unpredictable killing methods, made it highly likely that he was also a magic-user.
Furthermore, there was a large number of the Count's men on the scene. Once they got bogged down in a fight, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
If there had been any hope of saving the Baron, she would have rescued him.
But since the Baron was dead, she wasn't going to throw her own life away for him.
“Where do we go now?” The dwarf finally caught his breath. “The exit is definitely guarded by the Count's men.”
“I have no intention of leaving just yet,” Rosie said.
The dwarf was taken aback. “Then what do you want to do?”
Rosie looked into the distance. “Didn't they go to all this trouble just to get whatever is in the ruins? We'll grab it first and leave them with nothing but disappointment.”
“Ha! That's a great idea, count me in!” the dwarf shouted. “But do you know where it is?”
Rosie reached up and tapped her helmet. “Although the map was left at the camp, most of it is already in my head.”
“We should currently be at the edge of the ruins' northern district. The central district is the core of the ruins, so we'll head straight there.”
The dwarf's brow furrowed. “But doesn't that woman Anna know about it too? She didn't just look at the map; it's probably in her hands by now.”
Rosie smiled. “So what? I never told her where I was going. The central district is even larger than the northern district, so let her search slowly.”
The dwarf nodded. “Alright, I'll follow your lead.”
He caught his breath, then couldn't help but ask, “Why did they do this? This underground world is even larger than the Kingdom of Deros.”
“Because human greed is endless,” Rosie said calmly.
The dwarf thought about it. “Hearing that from you feels a bit strange.”
Rosie didn't deny it. “Because I am also greedy. Greed makes people blind, but it also drives them forward.”
The dwarf fell silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, “Baron Weiss is dead. Why don't I sense any sadness from you?”
Rosie's voice remained flat. “Sadness cannot bring the dead back to life. Besides, why should I be sad? He didn't die because of me.
The Baron wanted to pioneer the underground world so his own territory, which held the only entrance, could seize the opportunity to grow strong. So, he also died because of his own greed...”
The dwarf was at a loss for words.
He shook his head. “I really don't understand how you humans think.”
“Sometimes I don't understand my own thoughts either.” Rosie took a step forward. “Let's go.”
The dwarf said no more and followed her.
Shrouded in the sparse light of the crystals, the two figures wound their way through the grayish-white ruins.
There was no distinction between day and night in the underground world.
Places illuminated by crystals were day, and places without them were night.
After Rosie and the dwarf left the northern district, the first problem they encountered was the light.
The crystals on the ceiling became increasingly scarce, shrouding the entire space in a gloomy, grey twilight, like the period just after dusk before total darkness sets in.
The dwarf fared slightly better, as he possessed darkvision.
Rosie was not so fortunate; she couldn't see clearly past a few meters.
Furthermore, they had fled in such a hurry that they hadn't brought anything with them.
No torches, no tools, and no food.
“We should find something to eat first,” Rosie muttered.
Having run several kilometers and then walked for so long, she had expended a lot of energy.
“I'm a bit hungry too.” The dwarf patted his stomach. “This place is so big, there's bound to be food. Let's keep walking and look around.”
The two continued forward through the gloom.
The dwarf's darkvision was a massive help; he walked ahead as a scout.
Rosie followed behind him, keeping an eye on their immediate surroundings.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a patch of flickering shadows appeared ahead, casting irregular silhouettes in the gloom.
Rosie stopped warily, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Just as she was trying to discern what it was, the dwarf's voice rang out:
“Ha, a grove! There's bound to be food inside!”
Rosie: “Are you sure?”
The dwarf took a step to head over but suddenly froze.
A rustling sound drifted over from the direction of the grove.
Rosie heard it too. “What's that sound?”
The dwarf squinted and watched closely for a moment, then said, “Scorpions. Giant scorpions, five of them!”
“Five?”
Rosie stared toward the dark shadows.
In the gloom, she couldn't see much, but the approaching silhouettes were now faintly recognizable.
Curved pincers, high-arching tails.
“Great, we have food!” Rosie's voice rang out.
The dwarf blanked for a moment, then grinned. “Looks like you've acquired my talents as well.”
With that, he raised his axe and charged toward the nearest scorpion.
Rosie also drew her meteoric iron sword and ran toward another scorpion.
As she closed the distance, she got a clear look at them.
They were nearly half the height of a person, their entire bodies covered in a layer of black carapace.
A pair of large pincers flailed, their open edges lined with serrated ridges, and their tails were raised high.
The dwarf roared and swung his axe downward.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
The axe blade struck the scorpion's cephalothorax carapace, producing a crisp, metallic screech.
The scorpion was forced back several paces by the immense impact, but not a single crack appeared on its carapace.
The shock numbed the dwarf's hand. He cursed, “How is this shell so hard!”
Instead of choosing a head-on collision, Rosie suddenly exerted force through her feet.
Charge.
Her figure flashed. Before the scorpion could react, she had already repositioned to its rear flank.
The sharp blade of her meteoric iron sword sliced through the base of the scorpion's tail. The venomous tail severed instantly, dropping to the ground and bouncing twice.
The scorpion's body began to twitch violently.
Rosie stepped forward, thrusting her sword deep into the scorpion's body through the severed tail joint. With a violent twist, the blade instantly shredded its central nervous system, and the scorpion collapsed to the ground, dead.
Whoosh!
A scorpion tail sliced through the air, lunging from the side.
Rosie sidestepped. The tail swept past just inches from her helmet, a pungent, fishy stench wafting through the breathing holes.
She swung her sword in a backhand strike, severing the stinger. The scorpion convulsed violently.
Taking advantage of the opening, Rosie circled to its side, plunged her sword into its abdomen, and destroyed its nervous system, killing it outright.
She dealt with the remaining two in the exact same manner, dispatching them with ease.
By the time she had finished off all four of her scorpions, the dwarf had finally managed to bludgeon his target into a stupor using sheer brute force.
Only then did he flip it over and bury his axe into its underbelly, ending its life.
“This thing's shell is so hard! It's tougher than a steel shield!”
The dwarf panted heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Rosie looked at the four scorpion carcasses on her side, then at the single one on the dwarf's.
After a brief thought, she decided against declaring her victory, saving the dwarf some face.
“Now we have scorpions and trees. We've got food!”
The dwarf ran over to a nearby, relatively slender tree. He swung his axe a few times, chopping down a pile of branches, gathered some dry moss from the surroundings, and quickly built a campfire.
He pulled a flint from his pocket, struck it against his axe with a sharp clink, and sparks showered down onto the dry moss. Soon, a small flame leapt to life.
A moment later, a warm glow of firelight cut through the gloomy world.
On the other side, Rosie flipped a scorpion over, hollowed out its innards, and placed its entire back shell onto the fire.
Before long, an aroma similar to grilled shrimp filled the air.
Rosie drew two daggers she used as throwing knives and tossed one to the dwarf.
“Catch. Help yourself.”
The dwarf caught the dagger, squatted on the other side of the shell, and eagerly carved off a piece of meat, stuffing it into his mouth.
“Mmm! Delicious! It's tender and chewy!”
Rosie flipped up her visor, sliced off a piece of scorpion meat, and popped it into her mouth.
The texture was similar to grilled shrimp, but it was chewier and juicier, with a mild, savory flavor.
The dwarf then produced a waterskin from who-knows-where, took a swig, and handed it to Rosie.
“Where did you get that?” Rosie asked, surprised.
“A dwarf never goes without his brew,” he said matter-of-factly.
So it was alcohol. Rosie had assumed it was water.
She was about to shake her head when the dwarf added, “I watered it down a bit. You can drink it like water...”
Rosie took the waterskin. The opening still carried a faint scent of ale.
She took a small sip. It tasted as bland as water—no, it was water...
“Tastes good,” Rosie said, returning the skin to him.
The dwarf chuckled.
The two continued to feast heartily.
The tall and short duo ate three scorpions in one sitting before finally stopping.
The dwarf carved the meat from the remaining two scorpions piece by piece, spreading them over the shells to dry and turn into jerky.
Then he cut some twigs and wove a small basket to store the dried meat.
Meanwhile, Rosie cleanly sliced the back shell off one of the scorpions, stripped some tough, pliable bark, and wrapped it tightly around the edges and back of the shell.
She then gave the edges a quick sanding.
A crude but sturdy shield took shape under her hands.
When rested on the ground, it resembled an oval tower shield.
She swung it around, tested its weight, nodded in satisfaction, and slung it onto her back.
The dwarf looked curiously at the shell on her back. “What are you going to do with that thing?”
Rosie: “Use it as a shield. Didn't you say it was harder than steel? Besides, it can also double as a pot.”
The dwarf nodded, thinking Rosie was quite resourceful.
Afterward, the two set off once more.
They hadn't walked far before a light appeared ahead.
A single torch cast a moving halo of light in the gloom, accompanied by several blurry figures walking in their direction.
The dwarf squinted and relaxed. “It's people from the expedition.”
There were four people in total, wearing mismatched leather armor with shortswords and axes hanging from their waists.
When they spotted Rosie and the dwarf, they froze for a second before quickly walking over.
The torchlight flickered across their faces, revealing weary expressions.
The bearded mercenary leading them stepped forward. He glanced at the dwarf, then at Rosie and the scorpion shell shield on her back, before speaking:
“Miss Rosie, Master Ginli, do you have any food?”
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