Running at full speed, the party would make it to the hill in less than half an hour. It wasn’t long before they were there, back on the slope where only half a day before they had engaged in a mortal struggle with Tgurneu.
“Is this it?” Amidst the smell of fresh blood and carrion, Adlet shone the gem into an open hole in the ground.
The monstrous corpses lay everywhere. Hans and Goldof examined them carefully, but there were no live fiends to be seen. There was no sign of any enemies near the hill, either—it seemed it was completely undefended. Was that because Tgurneu was unsuspecting, or because there was no information to be found here, and thus no need to have it guarded?
“I found it. It’s over here.” Rolonia raised her hand. At her feet was the hole Tgurneu had made when it had burst out of the ground. The four gathered around the opening, peering down into it. Even with the light of the gems, they couldn’t see what might await them at the bottom.
“It’s pretty deep,” Adlet commented.
“I can probe the inside.” Rolonia took her whip in hand, extended it, and dropped the end into the hole. They heard it smack around for a bit. “There’s no one inside.”
“I guess I’m going in.” Adlet grabbed on to her whip and slid down into the pit. He landed at the bottom and illuminated his surroundings with the light gem.
The hole was something that might be called a dirt cellar, or maybe just a burrow. The space was about five square meters, bare earth with no decorations on the walls. Wood supports on the ceiling prevented any cave-ins. It was completely plain. In the center of the space was a single crude table and chair, and on top of the table lay a cloth-bound book. Adlet timidly picked it up and gave it a look. “What the heck is this? That fiend reads stuff like this?” he said without thinking. It was a collection of stage plays. Being ignorant of the arts, the boy was not capable of appreciating its value.
He set the book down and looked around. Narrow tunnels extended to the north and south. They were incredibly tight, and as big as Tgurneu was, the fiend would probably have had to hunch down low to get through them. Adlet shone his gem into one of the passageways. It was deep—he couldn’t see the end. “All right, let’s investigate.” Tgurneu had been there just twelve hours earlier—and, most likely, the one who had nullified the Saint’s poison had been there, too. Adlet had to find out who that someone really was. Surprisingly, though, there was nothing else in the cellar, just the book, table, and chair.
Then Hans called down from above. “Should I come down, too?”
“No, it’s okay. You keep watch,” said Adlet. Perhaps the tunnel itself was the trap, and it was rigged to bury him alive. With the other three aboveground, they would be able to save him. He would’ve liked to have had Chamo around with her power to search through the earth.
As Adlet pondered, he went to search the northern tunnel. He went about ten minutes in. The tunnel branched off multiple times, and farther down were even more branches. Adlet didn’t have the slightest idea how far he’d have to go in order to reach the exit.
“I see.”
He understood now that the fiends had been preparing for that surprise attack for quite some time. Tgurneu must have had tunnels dug throughout the hill and moved around between them. Then, once the Six Braves were above with their guard down, he could attack them immediately. That had been the plan.
“So?” Hans called to him, once he’d returned to the original hole.
“There’s way too many passages for us to search all of them. It’d take until morning. How are things outside?”
“All peaceful-like,” said Hans, and then suddenly something huge fell down into the cellar from above. Goldof had crouched his massive frame and nimbly hopped into the hole.
Adlet reflexively dropped into a guard stance, thinking that Goldof was coming to attack him. But the other boy just looked him in the eye, not doing anything. “Wh-what is it?”
“Addy! Are you okay?” Rolonia yelled, peering into the hole.
After a long silence, Goldof spoke. “It’s dangerous…being alone.”
“Oh! He talked!” Rolonia cried from above.
Adlet was also more than a little surprised. “What, you can talk now? Don’t make us all worry like that.”
“…Sorry.” Goldof was still not entirely back to normal, after all. It took him some time to reply. “…I’ve…been…thinking. I still don’t have the answers, but…I think I will soon.”
“Thinking about what? What answers?”
“I’ll tell you…eventually.” Goldof walked off to the other tunnel, the southern one. “I’ll go look. If I…find something…I’ll let you know. Leave it to me,” he said, and he disappeared inside. The dim light of his gem eventually diminished from sight.
Adlet pressed his chest. The stuff this guy does is bad for my heart, he thought.
“What will we do about him, Addy?” Rolonia called down.
“For now, let’s just leave him be,” he answered. Goldof was strong. Even if he did encounter the enemy, he could probably resolve it on his own in all but the most extreme cases. At this point, Adlet just had to focus on solving the puzzle. “Rolonia, Hans, you stay where you are. If something happens to me, come save me,” he said, then he pulled out from under his cloak the bottled substance for inspecting fiend traces. It was the same one he had used within the Phantasmal Barrier. When this solution was sprayed on an object, any part a fiend had touched would change color. Adlet sprayed it on the table, chair, and then floor of the tunnel in turn. He had to hurry. Mora’s technique would not hold forever.
At the
