Chapter 220 – Prepare for Trouble, and Make it Double

Chapter 220 – Prepare for Trouble, and Make it Double

Sirgia pockets the token and pats it daintily like something precious. It might not be worth much on the market, but it’s pretty much invaluable for us especially when we have no idea if we will be able to achieve anything with its help after so many decades have passed since its creation. It’s honestly a gamble, but a gamble we are going to take and hope for the best confidently.

Afterwards, we spend some more time digging through everything we can find inside the main office. Sirigia stashes all the evidence into her spatial storages shortly after we take a quick peek at the materials and items. The more the better in this case. She might be able to recognize some words or symbols or meanings of a bunch of things thanks to her origins, but we are still fairly out of the loop regarding ancient matters.

Meanwhile, Ianthe simply watches us complete this chore and gives us all the tips she can. It’s certainly helpful to have someone who has lived in this place for a long time by your side. She might not have been privy to all the information, but they haven’t stopped her and the ladies from watching everything inside these reinforced walls attentively.

And with the obvious capabilities of the Oread girls, the walls in this place literally have ears.

It takes us maybe about an hour to shuffle through most of the potential evidence we can find here. By the end of it, the room becomes rather empty, only the furniture and sporadic decorations remain here and there. It’s almost like we have readied it for renovations. Well, perhaps these will happen sooner than later if we breathe some life into this dead fortress once more. I can’t have my trusted and reliable subordinates operate from a barely breathable cellar with how much dust is lying everywhere.

With this task completed, we regroup in front of the office.

“Anything else, Master?” Ianthe asks as we close the doors behind ourselves.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Is there something of importance that you haven’t shown us yet?” I ask her back, stroking my chin ponderingly.

“Of major importance, no. This facility is full of chambers and rooms of various sizes that serve different purposes. But, I don’t think you must visit all of them.” She shakes her head. “In my honest opinion, there isn’t a reason to delay your journey any longer, Master. The heart of the mountain is beating once more. As we have discussed, it will continue doing so for a relatively long time without our further input. Not infinitely, though. It would be good to find someone to settle down here whenever possible.”

“I’m sure we will be able to do something about this after we arrive at my home.” Sirgia nods to herself. “These tunnels and settlements could be of great use to us and our allies so this should take priority. Master’s influence will spread much further and much faster with a path into the world beyond the Human lands.”

Rolling my eyes lightly, I softly bonk her on the head from above. “The priority is your reconciliation with the Forgegraver family. Or anything else that relates to you, love. First, we deal with all of that, then we can put some thought into the other matters. You won’t weasel your way out of it this time. This journey is for you. Remember that.”

She blushes a tiny bit and sends me a timid smile. Seeing the look on her face, I lower myself to place a sweet kiss on the top of her hair. As I get back up, she doesn’t protest about the condition I have set. I don’t think she would be willing to argue over it, but I’m also not stupid enough to believe that she won’t try her best to somehow merge all the threads so that they form the most beneficial mix for me.

Not much I can do about that, unfortunately.

Or fortunately, depending on the perspective.

“There’s just one thing that saddens me a little, though,” Sirgia adds after a moment, letting out a gentle sigh.

“Is there anything that displeases or bothers you?” Ianthe peers at her attentively. “Just say a word and we will do whatever we can to rectify that issue.”

“Oh, no, it’s not your fault or anything.” My petite lover giggles sheepishly. “We were just hoping to find more of Diana’s kin inside the mountain passages since she lost her family some time ago. But, this particular route has been sealed so tight they wouldn’t have had a way to sneak inside and claim a territory. Perhaps we will take a peek into a few cave formations on the other side of the mountain range.”

“I see.” The Den Mother hums. “Then there’s one more place we might want to check.”

The fair lady examines our furry friend inquisitively, clearly figuring something out.

“Care to tell us more?” I raise a curious brow at her.

“The mines,” she replies. “Where the crystals come from. The shafts run deep and wide, passing through many biomes. Different habitats produce gems of various power levels. A few of the environments should be adequate for her kind to manifest. I don’t remember seeing any, but I have a feeling that they do exist in one of those ecosystems. Although...”

“It would definitely take a while to explore all of them,” I finish for her. “Thanks for the information. We can always delve in on our way back. It’s not like they are going to suddenly disappear if they truly live somewhere down there. The mines will need to be scouted and checked before this place goes full steam ahead anyway.”

As I share my views on the topic with my gorgeous companions, the fluffy snout of our proud wolf prods my side. Looking at Diana, I meet her enchanting eyes. A flash of understanding passes between us as we silently regard each other.

“You want us to leave that to you?” I say more to myself than everyone else as the meaning of her intentions somehow reaches me.

Diana gives my hand a delicate lick, which I easily recognize as an agreement.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind, and I would certainly be happy to let you chase after some friends, but...” I turn to Sirgia.

“It’s okay, Master. We can walk for a little bit. The jungle is going to be extremely lush and tough to navigate anyway.” My smart wife picks up on my own intentions right away too.

“What about the luggage?” I question her. “Most can be stored in our rings, yeah, but the suitcase? That won’t work, right?”

“I can carry it on my back. There’s a harness I prepared just for that scenario,” she admits.

“Because of course, you did.” I snicker softly. “And no, I’ll be the one carrying it. You are my guide. And a frontline fighter too. Leave its protection to me.”

“Okay.” Sirgia smiles at me adorably. “But I’ll take it from you whenever you get tired, Master.”

“I won’t.” I snort. “Unless someone makes me tired along the way.”

Her pretty cheeks colour with a rosy tinge as she timidly looks away, not denying the plans for that in the near future. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Alright. Let’s get to those mines. I can feel how eager Diana is to dive into the unknown.” I chuckle to myself and Ianthe uses her ability to move us once more.

We spend a short moment surrounded by liquid stone and soon reappear in a spacious industrial hall with a massive ramp descending into the darkness. Multiple tracks follow it down and we can spot the carts meant to haul the crystals all around. They don’t appear to be simple like in the movies or books. From what I can tell, they too are part-artefact and might even be self-propelled. Or at least enchanted to support the haulers’ work.

But, investigating these can wait.

As Diana joins us from the shadows, I ruffle through her magnificent fur. “Go and get them, girl. Don’t rush it. Take as much time as you need. And don’t forget to ask for help if you ever need it. If things go south, escape. We can always try another time, but we can’t find another you, got it?”

“Yes, please, be careful out there,” Sirgia joins in with a tender hug, her small arms trying their best to wrap themselves around Diana’s thick neck. “We love you. Come back to us.”

Diana releases a quiet whine which has to be a kind reassurance and we let go of our recently gained friend. She takes a few steps away and turns around for one last look. A second later, she is sprinting into the darkness, disappearing from our sight.

“She’ll be fine.” I wrap an arm around Sirgia’s shoulders. “She’s a big and strong girl. Plus, I bet she’s learned quite a few new tricks under your tutelage, even if she won’t have the saddle with her.”

“I know.” My tiny Dwarf wipes away traces of tears from her sparkling eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t come up with a replacement method of transport, Master.”

“Not your fault.” I shake my head. “Besides, it will be nice to have a romantic walk through the tropical forest together.”

“Perhaps, but why don’t you just do this, Master?” Ianthe tilts her head at us.

We glance her way and she makes a show of lowering her stance a bit before pushing herself off the ground.

No, that’s wrong.

She doesn’t push herself off the ground. She pushes the ground.

We watch as the ancient Oread pretty much surfs atop of rolling stone which should not be behaving like this with its solid state. The dazzling woman zooms around like it’s her second nature, which might be true for her. Finished with the presentation, she hops off the rocky bulge in front of us.

“Impressive, but I’m not that skilled and knowledgeable in Earth Magic. Unless I borrow it from one of my mates, I guess,” I explain. “This might be tempting, but I think I would prefer to save the uses of that ability for more critical situations.”

“You misunderstood, Master.” Ianthe giggles amusedly. “You are now our Den Master. Our power is yours as it comes from you. All we can do, you can mimic too.”

“Really?” I chuckle lightly. “We’ve stumbled on the lost civilization this easily? Well, I guess they weren’t lost that way.”

Sirgia giggles too and points at her gadget. “This compass sometimes catches on mana hotspots, which this place might as well be. It’s not that surprising it led us here. Though, I hope we haven’t gone off the course too much. I’ll need to recalibrate it in the morning.”

“It’s alright. At least it found us a nice spot to hide in.” I ruffle through her hair lovingly. “Now, time to look for—”

*THUMP*

A distant quake makes the ground and the greenery tremble, interrupting me.

More follow at a leisurely pace, clearly closing in on our position.

Birds take off into the sky and a bunch of wild animals escape to the sides.

The two of us centre our gazes on the direction the thudding comes from.

A short while later, a gigantic beak peeks past the obscured structure... alongside the rest of the big, round, fluffy creature wearing white feathers.

“The hell? It’s a massive cock?” I blink at the towering entity.

It is, in fact, a humongous chicken, beating us in height at least three times. The godly fowl tilts its head at us as it examines the small individuals standing in front of it. We are tiny enough to fit inside its beak in entirety, swallowed within one single peck.

“What’s next? Is your Cyclops or Ogre farmer going to show up to catch its escaped poult—”

“Buh-kok!”

“—aight, you are not so domesticated it seems!”

I hastily dodge to the side as the beast tries to stab me with its sharp conical weapon. The two of us jump in opposite ways to try and confuse our sudden opponent.

“I think we disturbed its nest, Master,” my wise mate notes.

“And I don’t think we know the right words to explain this misunderstanding,” I reply. “Let’s book it in case he has friends or family that would want in on the snack.”

Before she can reply, I’m already by her side, picking the petite Dwarf onto my shoulder. With a flick of my wrist, I push myself forward and a lump of earth and grass propels us away from the monstrous cock. We hear it cluck angrily behind our back and give chase.

The entire area shakes with each of its heavy steps. Surprisingly, it’s unusually quick for something its size and diameter. Its bulky body bends trees and breaks thinner flora as it tramples everything on its path of carnage, its intentions locked solely on the hunt.

Additionally, surfing through this maze of a jungle is proving to be a challenge, slowing us down more than I would like it to. Not much can be done about that, though. Dodging and weaving is all. The environment clearly plays favourites in this encounter. Even though it should be rather angry at the chicken ruining its peace.

The quakes get closer and closer again no matter where I bring us. Since I can’t go any faster, our only option is to beat the cock. We should have gotten far enough from its turf. Even if any of its friends were alerted by the commotion, it should have given us enough time to deal with our current predicament before they arrived.

But, just as I’m about to turn around and prepare for an ambush, Sirgia points to the side. “Master, look!”

I follow her finger and spot a flash of blue between the leaves. Our thoughts aligned, I take us in its direction, and after just a few seconds, we emerge in front of a serene lake or an oasis in the middle of this tropical forest.

Without further ado, I make a lunge off the grassy bump and land on the clear surface. Stone pillars rise from the depths right before my feet touch the water. To any possible spectators, it might look like I’m running on the water, but the two of us know better. In any case, we hastily move away from the shore far enough for the bottom of the lake to be deep enough not to be visible anymore.

This should do it.

Our opponent shows up a moment later. It barely stops itself before barreling straight into the sparkling water, flapping its cute but deadly wings to lose speed. Taking a few steps back, it locks its vicious eyes on us and I swear it squints in annoyance. As we have hoped, it either can’t swim very well or it doesn’t want to get wet chasing after a bug or two.

“That’s right. Move along, friend. We’ll spare you today since we have no quarry—”

A loud whooshing cuts me off as the villainous roster cranes its neck and breathes literal fire at us. A swirling inferno of golden flames surges at us like a powerful flamethrower. Before the heat reaches us, it crashes into an invisible wall, pushed to the sides. I can see Sirgia holding a shield-shaped medallion in her small hand, protecting us from the attack.

And granny always said, beware of chicken!

“Okay. It’s decided. Today’s dinner is going to be chicken nuggets!” I drop my lover onto the stone platform.

Then, I lunge for the audacious chicken with the artefact hilt morphing itself into a greatsword.

Sure, I could have easily dodged that breath even if Sirgia didn’t bring out the protection charm, but no one walks away unscathed after attempting to harm my beloved.

Especially not when they have to be tasty when roasted and spiced up.

It prepares for an attack when I get back in its range, but intent on duking our differences out with the buff chick, I evade it easily. Gravel shoots everywhere as it pecks the ground, creating a big hole just from impact. I better avoid receiving any affectionate pecks from this guy.

With its fluffy side wide open, I swing my sword horizontally, aiming to disarm it, or in this case, diswing it. To my surprise, the blade doesn’t go as far into the feathers as I expect it to, creating just a shallow wound, which still bleeds properly as my opponent squawks in indignation. We might want to collect these, then. Sirgia could make good use of their high durability.

But, even with that, the chicken is not really my opponent. It might know a trick or two and be tougher than most, but the moment my Voidal Bondage locks its ass up in a purple harness, it can do nothing more than glare at me viciously. Before it brings out some kind of an ace in the sleeve or spits fire at me again, I jump high and behead the beast cleanly.

I just hope it doesn’t share Hydra’s properties and two more will grow out of the cut.

That doesn’t happen, and while the roster thrashes around in its bindings for a few moments, it then hangs off them limply, finally catching up on its state of existence, or the lack of it. As I lower it to the ground gently, Sirgia hops from pillar to pillar and reaches the shore, trotting to my side.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to drag it into the suitcase so I hope you can cook us something good with it outside too.” I flash my petite lover a charming grin.

She blushes prettily and pokes a finger at the monster’s feathers. “We can always try to gamble on the spatial storages. If we put only the chicken into the ring, the chances of it coming out inside the mansion should be almost certain, excluding the chances of things going awry.”

“Well, if you are willing to risk it.” I shrug and pat her head. “Before that, let me just clean myself off its bloo—”

“Master!”

I notice the hidden presence just as late as she does and something coils around my ankle, hoisting me up into the air less than a second later. Turned upside down, I dangle off what looks like a vine coiled around my leg, just at the perfect level of a magnificent pair of tender and perky breasts of a green shade, topped with pronounced emerald nipples.

Reluctantly, my eyes drag themselves down, or up since my perspective is shifted, and spot a gorgeous face of a quite alluring girl with bright pink hair, the rest of her skin being just as green as her titties, her eyes glowing pure rosy hue too. Looking the other way and valiantly ignoring the inviting sight of her lady secrets faintly dripping some kind of crystal-clear nectar, I realise she’s standing in a pool of caramel honey while holding me above what resembles the cup of a tulip.

Trouble.

I’ve definitely been caught by an Alraune.

Just then, she rotates me to face the other way, and I find another female there, standing in the same cup, an almost perfect copy of the first one, save for the colour of her hair, which is pretty blue, making it clear that she was the one to cause the motion as her cyan eyes roam over my body.

Double trouble.

That’s actually a Liliraune.

Uh, oh.