Chapter 166 - Disappointment

Riska and Feller retired to their rooms, but Suzanna insisted on staying with Anfey. The two entered the underground tunnels following a few dwarves. The main entrance to the tunnels was slanted and facing upwards, and took a sharp turn downwards after about thirty feet. Anfey thought it might have been built this way to prevent flooding and keep excess rain from pooling in the tunnels. There could be other reasons that Anfey did not know. The dwarves and the gnomes obviously knew better than he did.

Anfey had been to the tunnels a dozen times before, but every time he was down there he felt very uncomfortable. The dwarves clearly did not care to waterproof the tunnel, which was extremely humid. There was obviously no electricity, and the dwarves could not afford to buy ever-burning lamps. They used as a kind of phosphorus light that runs on magic potions. The lights glowed an eerie faint green. The light stretched people’s shadows and cast strange shadows on their faces. Living in a place like this was surely uncomfortable.

After two hundred feet, the tunnel opened up and became more spacious. Countless dwarves were busy at work, the sound of tools hitting the soil rang out. There were dwarves working on expanding the cave nearby. Anfey wanted the work to be done by dawn, but it seemed like the dwarves could finish before that. He was shocked by the efficiency of the dwarves.

After another two hundred feet, they came to a large hall. The hall had no decorations and looked like a large beehive. The walls were dotted with holes. This was where the tunnels in the town’s houses led. In the past, Anfey did not think much of this place. Now, after his conversation with Christian, Anfey found himself looking at the place differently. This cavern wasn’t a byproduct of population expansion. It was part of the larger plan and was meant to be built.

If it had been built for protection, it should be hard to navigate, so it could confuse the enemies. If the tunnels were so hard to navigate that even its residents could get lost, it would be a death trap for enemies unfamiliar with it. Concentrating all the entrances meant that it would be easier to control and regulate. The builders not only wanted to protect the residents, they wanted to control them as well.

Beyond the great hall was a large stone door that blocked the way. The door was bright and glowed with a strange green light, though it was unclear whether the glow came from the door itself or from the eerie lights. Feller had already told Anfey about the door. It was very strong, at least a few tons. Even if they destroyed the tunnels, the door would still be standing.

The dwarf in front of them walked to the left side of the door and pulled on a piece of metal chain. Anfey heard the faint sound of bells from above, and the door began to rise slowly. The dwarf walked in without waiting for the humans. The door was open, but the humans had to crouch to enter. This was a major obstacle in expanding the tunnels. Unless they completely destroyed the door, they needed to dig a trench under the door for the horses and the carriages.

After the door, there were more holes in the ground. Some slanted upwards, others pointed downwards. Some had large openings, while others had tiny openings. This was the most dangerous thing in the tunnels. Only two openings led to the real tunnels. The others were all fake. In some of the fake tunnels were openings that led to the real tunnels. All the fake tunnels were cramped, only enough for one man to climb through. This was something used to confuse the town’s enemies. They could come out and attack their enemies and retreat quickly. Even if the enemies could find the fake tunnels, they couldn’t do much. Even a swordsmaster couldn’t do much if he was stuck in a tunnel. The fake tunnels were filled with traps as well, helping the dwarves defeat their enemies fast.

Anfey didn't know what to do with it, either. In the end, he had to use a very despicable way to find the right tunnels. He released the children, telling them that they could go home. He had Christian mark the children, and waited for the children to find each other. That was how they were able to find the two usable tunnels. The remaining residents were forced to move around in the different caverns, and were forced to surrender.

They entered a side tunnel, and it was even more dank than the large cavern. There were hundreds of smaller tunnels branching off to the side. A long line of magic lanterns appeared on the side. This was what Christian left as markers. Seeing the lanterns meant that they were on the right path.

A small underground city appeared before Anfey and Suzanna. The city consisted of two major paths that crossed at the middle of the city. Next to the roads were neat lines of houses. Where the roads crossed was a small square. A stone slab laid on the ground, and under the stone slab was the city’s supplies. To show this was a city, the dwarves and gnomes had the walls of the cavern very high. It was just enough for a human to stand up straight.

"Didn’t Katuru tell you to make the walls taller?" Anfey asked quietly. Unless the dwarf was trying to provoke him, he was always gentler with the dwarves. One could not establish respect with shouts and accusations.

"No," one of the dwarves replied.

"Wouldn’t it be hard for them to move around down here?"

"Doesn’t make that big of a difference whether they walk on two legs or four," Suzanna said.

"I’ve never seen one walking on four legs, though."

Suzanna shrugged.

"It’s probably because of their dignity. They had to prove that they are not like the wild wolves."

Suzanna giggled. Anfey did not intend to make fun of the werewolves, and intended his words as a joke. However, the dwarves took it differently. After Moramatch fell under the control of Alibaba mercenary, the discrimination towards the dwarves ceased. The dwarves and gnomes’ lives improved greatly, as well. They had time to drink ale and eat chicken after work everyday, and they had wages. These things had been unthinkable in the past. Therefore, they laughed at Anfey’s words instead of getting angry.

"My lord, Lord Christian is already down there." A dwarf lifted the stone slab and told Anfey.

"He just went down there like that?" Anfey frowned. He knew the danger of carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide had a distinct smell to it. Carbon dioxide was scentless. When the buildup in the air exceeded ten percent, it could cause loss of consciousness. If it exceeded twenty percent, it could cause paralysis and death in seconds.

"Yes."

"Christian!" Anfey hurried to the cave and called out.

"Down here!" Christian called back.

Anfey spotted a segment of thin rope swaying by the mouth of the cave. He realized that although dwarves might not know exactly how much carbon dioxide would lead to death, they knew the importance of keeping the air flowing.

Anfey jumped into the cave and glanced around. The cave was very unorganized. The food bags were pushed aside, exposing another cave’s entrance. There were lights flickering down there. Sante was sitting on the food bags. He looked at Anfey and grinned. Next to Sante were two bonded werewolves. They seemed like they were still conscious, and were struggling.

"Did they cause any troubles?"

"No. I told them that I had to talk to them, and they fell for it. Christian and I knocked them out easily," Sante said, grinning.

"Good." Anfey nodded.

"You're going to be disappointed, Anfey," Christian said. He appeared through the cave, floating. He left the lantern down in the cave, and looked like a ghost in the eerie green light. "I looked through everything. Nothing worth our time."

"Really?" Anfey walked to the cave and peered down. "These are things those werewolves treasure. There has to be something more valuable."

"What did you expect? Like last time?" Christian smiled and shook his head. "Go look for yourself."