1124 Chapter 1124 Journey through the Darklands
As Marcus' feet touched down on the ground, he looked around inquisitively.
Sadly, there was nothing of note to see. After descending around half kilometer from the crevice that opened up on the surface, he found himself in an ordinary looking tunnel.
'I guess I shouldn't suspect some hidden civilization to be right by the entrance. If that was the case, someone from above would have discovered it long ago.'
Until he had reason to believe otherwise, Marcus was planning on enjoying his foray into the Mirrion's underworld. He had read a few stories about people that had supposedly been down here and returned back to the surface, and all of them described it as if it was practically an alien planet.
Of course, for Marcus, Mirrion itself was already an alien world.
"This feels a bit mundane for a place called the Darklands." Marcus commented.
"We're still on the boundary between the surface and the world below. Don't worry, before too long you'll notice a difference."
Relia seemed almost excited to show them the place where she lived. It seemed that her earlier discontent had already vanished now that they had begun their decent.
For a couple of hours, they simply walked through a maze of tunnels. Relia seemed to know where she was going as even when there were several different forks in the path, she never hesitated on which direction to go.
During this time, Marcus caught up with Quillon and Lyra. Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"You wouldn't believe how much paperwork I had to go through each day just to make time for this trip. Managing an entire duchy is exhausting. Especially with Tralenstein's looming merger with Borealia. When this is all over, why don't you come back and help me. With your intelligence stat, you should pick things up pretty quickly. And since you don't need to sleep you can work twenty-four seven."
Marcus chuckled at Lyra's offer that sounded like an offer from an extremely exploitative company.
While he did not mind helping her out actually, he could only imagine an existence of being chained to a desk and working paperwork endless as some sort of hell.
"What about you, Quillon? Have you gotten up to anything interesting since we last met.?" Marcus asked, shifting the topic of discussion.
"Yes, I went and visited my master. He made it especially difficult to find him this time. And when we finally met, he challenged me to a duel. It was truly exciting, though I did lose in the end. Still, my performance was good enough for him to acknowledge my abilities. No longer am I just his disciple, I can now proudly call myself a master of the Sword Savant Style."
Marcus, Lyra, and Quillon took Relia's words to heart. Certainly, there could be major differences between nations that existed on Mirrion's surface, but likely nothing compared to what it would be like down here.
Once around thirty hours had gone by since they started, Relia slowed to a stop and began looking around intently.
'I don't sense anything threatening. She must be observing the surroundings for landmarks to compare with what she remembers.' Marcus surmised.
And Relia not long after he had this thought confirmed his suspicions.
"We're getting close to our first destination. We'll be stopping by a relatively safe settlement to rest and gather some information." Relia explained.
She then looked towards Marcus and Quillon, and she made an expression like she just remembered something important.
"Ah, that's right, you should probably take on your female form." Relia said, addressing Marcus. "The people inhabiting the area ahead are part of a matriarchal society. Only women are born to their species, so they see most men as lesser and enslave them. It's best to avoid what trouble we can.
Accepting Relia's explanation, Marcus seamlessly transformed into Irene. While he was certainly partial to his original body, at this point, it did not really matter what appearance he took.
"I can also take on the guise of a of different types of beasts or monsters if that ever become relevant." Marcus said, informing Relia of one of his unique powers.
She did not outright deny the possibility that it might be advantage as some point for Marcus to take on an inhuman form, but she did not comment on it either. Such a situation coming about would be quite rare.
"Okay, Marcus solved his masculinity problem. But what about Quillon? Are we supposed to dress him up in drag?" Lyra said with a snicker.
The man in question did not look particularly enthusiastic about this suggestion. But what Relia proposed honestly might have been worse.
"No, he'd be sniffed out pretty quickly and trying to hide his identity would cause a whole host of problems once we are found out. If it's only one man, we can probably get away with him wearing this."
From out of her item box, Relia pulled out a thick metal collar that had a long chain attached to it.
She then handed it to Lyra and directed her to put it around Quillon's neck. Much to his distress.