I check Map while walking. It’s been almost fifty minutes since we entered the passage, and I assume we’re past the defensive wall. And yet, the passage is still going.
I’m not picking up anything on Presence Detection or Magic Energy Detection, but we found three more places where the passage was blocked after that one.
I thought this at first too, but there’s no way this is natural. Someone buried it so no one could get through.
I’m wondering how long it’s been buried, but I can’t tell. Maybe it was recently buried, maybe a long time ago.
Also, there should be a forest to the north of Avid. I think we’ve walked far enough to reach it… I think as we reach a dead end.
“…Is this dirt?”
“It is, but different from before.”
I say to Argo while looking at it.
None of the other dead ends we found were completely filled. There were small gaps.
This one on the other hand is a wall of dirt without a single gap.
I try to remove it with magic, and dirt falls from somewhere.
Falls?
I try to move it again, and more dirt falls on the space I open.
Is this where we go up? I look back at Argo, and it looks like he’s thinking the same thing.
“Can you do something about the dirt?”
“I can if I stash it in the Item Box…”
I whisper to Argo.
He already knows about it, but I’m hesitant to say it in front of the soldiers.
Maybe I’m just too cautious.
“What if I insist it’s the item bag?”
“Can you make it so the dirt flows into the item bag?”
I can with the Item Box, but I don’t know about the item bag.
“I think I can. But I don’t know.”
We keep whispering, and…
“Can you move the dirt? If you can’t, we have to go back…”
I hear.
He wants me to do it if I can. After all, it’d be hard to look for the exit based on a vague position.
Even if this is connected to the surface, it doesn’t mean we’ll immediately be outside. There could be horizontal passages along the way.
“Yes. Sora, use this item bag. I haven’t used it, so it should fit the dirt.”
He says while handing me a bag.
Will that work? I wonder, but I do as she says.
A soldier asks why he has that, but since he’s an A rank adventurer, it might make sense for him to have a couple of spares.
Well, I’ll just leave it up to Argo to come up with excuses if necessary.
I take the item bag in one hand, and touch the dirt with the other.
I make magic energy flow, and it starts to get sucked in. Right into the Item Box.
After ten minutes, I’m still not done. Dirt is still falling.
But it’s starting to slow down, and after five more minutes, it stops.
“Stairs!?”
We see a spiral staircase.
“We’ll take point here.”
Says a soldier, most likely feeling something.
These stairs are narrow enough to only fit one person at a time.
I’m using See Through as I walk behind them, but I don’t see any traps.
Once we reach the top, we find ourselves in a narrow space.
There’s a hole where we can pass if we crouch, and it leads to a big room.
I say big, but it’s about four meters squared.
I look back, and see we came out through the fireplace.
I see chairs and tables made of wood. There’s firewood too, but is it just being stored here? There’s no chimney.
This place is very dusty too, showing that it hasn’t been used in a long time. And that’s why I can see footprints on the floor, pointed towards the door.
We follow them out of the room, and while we see two other rooms, the footprints go straight down the hall.
“Aren’t these footprints too small to be from an adult?”
“They do look small… But a bit too big to be a kid too.”
I hear the soldiers say while they walk in front of us.
Once we reach the door where they end, the soldiers turn around, and unsheathe their weapons.
We also grab ours just in case.
“I’m opening it.”
I nod, and the soldier slowly opens the door.
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