"What's your name." Sab demanded an answer out of her.

"Not tellin' ye' squat!" She turned her head away.

"I see." He got up close to her golden side's ear, whispering gently, "Tell me~, what is your name~?"

"Gah! Stop that!" She flinched, "Me ears is sensitive, ye' know that!?"

Despite this, the mysterious and suspicious seraphim refused to return an answer.

"Don't you worry your dear little head~" Sab kept going, gently caressing her golden hand as Sheep guiltily kept her from running, "We have plenty of questions to ask you~"

"Dude, even I don't consent to this..." Sheep grimaced.

"I-I... still won't bow tah ye'...!" She shivered with each uttered word, "Oi've nothin' ta' hide!"

"Then~" Sab got punched away by Sheep, "Ack!"

"Sorry for that. I'll take it from here." Sheep continued, "Then, could you at least tell us what you were doing at the Shrine? Were you actually spying on us?"

The incredibly uncomfortable scene had to be cut short for everyone's sanity but Sab's, and the lady very much appreciated that at least one of her captors had some common sense.

"O' course not, a'yuu mental?" She retorted, "I came ta' gemme sum' booty!"

"Oh great Heavens!" Sab covered his ass, "Not my booty!"

"Ignore him." Sheep rolled his Eyes, "Look, so long as you're not here to attack us, we don't mind letting you go."

"Har har! Noice jib, mate!" She cackled wildly, "But Oi kno' a backstab in tha' makin' when Oi see wun!"

Her accent was abhorrent and barely understandable, leading the two men to assume she came from a vastly different era than them. That, or her worldly profession wasn't all that legal...

"Perchance, were you a pirate in your past life?" Sheep suggested the idea.

"Oi ain' no stinkin' poirritt!" She hissed, "Even without me memries, Oi know tharr was nevar a mooment in me seafarin' loife where Ah'd consider moiself wun!"

In other words, she was a sea voyager—maybe even a captain—but she vehemently denied being a pirate. For these two, the difference was negligible, but for her it was night and day. Two sides of the same coin, however it was blasphemous for her to consider these sides one and the same.

"S'can ye' lemme go, now?"

"O-Oh, sure..." Sheep obliged, "Then, we'll be leaving now."

"Yeah, see ya'!" Sab waved.

Alas, she grabbed both of them before they could fly away in time, prompting them to stay grounded for just a little while longer.

"An' jus' where'dya' think yuu're goin'?" She smirked, "Ye' scarred me knickers wet with that chase, ye' did! Oi musta' ran halfway ta' me hoome jus' now, so y'owe me a ride back!"

"That's... not how it works." Sab declined almost immediately, leaving the two in the dust.

"..."

"...So?" She stared at the remaining seraphim, "This wing ain't worth scrap fer' flyin'. Y'ain't gon' leeve a lady ta' walk tha resta' the way, arr' ya'? C'mon, Oi'm loight 'sa fetha!"

"...Sigh, get on."

At first he didn't want to. In fact even now he's hesitant, but the hole she had made in the barrier was too incredible of a discovery to pass up. She most definitely used that golden pickaxe to tunnel through it, but many questions remained—where'd she get it from? Who exactly was she, and was she sent by the Gods or not? What even is her name? He had to be extra careful, so he decided to carry her from above, like he did Hats.

"Aghh, Oi' dispoise heights!" She dangled her legs as they took off together, "Tha' seas' mighty foiner fer' me!"

"Then you should've just walked." Sheep groaned, "By the way, now that we're on friendlier terms, you could at least provide a name."

"Yuu first, matey!"

"Oh yeah, maybe we should've done that earlier..." He felt stupid, "I'm Sheep. Weird name I know, but-"

"Mutton!" She yelled, rocking the seraphim after her reaction, "The man's name be Mutton! Bahahaha!"

Her laughs were haughty and annoying, though Sheep was a patient and tolerant man. In the end, she was somehow the one left offended after her attempt at riling him up failed miserably.

"Yer' noo fun." She pouted.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled, "Now, I've given you my name, so it's time you give me yours."

"Hmph..." She proudly exclaimed, "Nerys Edris be tha' naem! Oi' gave it to meself afta' cus' me las' name got poofed!"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

For a while now, he had wondered if she would follow the naming trend of using one's past life's initials, and it appeared to be the case. From N to Nerys, and E to Edris, he was most impressed by the unique sound it gave off when pronounced.

"A surprisingly cute name!" His Eyebrows raised in astonishment.

"Woddya' meen kyuute?!" She scowled, "Tha' naem aloon' wuud stroik feer n' malice in tha' heart'sa seilers n' poirates aloik!"

"Maybe for your period, but all I can imagine when I hear a name like that is a mermaid princess." He shrugged, "Though that doesn't mean I consider its owner the same..."

"Gasp! Euuuwe scurvy-deservin' twit!" She uttered, "Oi'll shav' this 'ere pick op yer' ass f'that!"

"So you wanna be called cute after all?"

"No!"

It was at this very moment where Sheep truly regretted bringing her along. Women were so very tiring for him, and despite being in Heaven, so far he's only had to deal with the annoying ones. Vastoria could possibly be considered an exception, but even her naivety and airheadedness would sometimes lead him into all sorts of trouble. Thus, he decided to stop replying to this girl's words as she thrashed around below him, demanding attention with each shout and cuss.

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***

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"Sheep." Sab had a dark smile on his face.

"Yes, Sab?"

"What's she doing here?"

"Oi'm 'ere ta' steel ye' booty!" She triumphantly puffed her chest out.

"...She's here to steal our booty." Sheep merely repeated her words in a deadpanned tone.

"I thought we agreed she wasn't gonna get her way, Sheep." He had to take a long exhale to process this.

"That pickaxe of hers is powerful." Sheep explained, "She could be just what we need to reach the bed without me even entering the Shrine."

Suddenly, both Sab and Nerys were all ears.

"Bed? Wot bed?" She inquired.

"Reach the bottom...?" Sab wondered, "What are you insinuating, Sheep?"

"I'm saying if she could break through the ice barrier, then possibly, she could even break the Shrine bricks." He replied, "If this is indeed the case, we could try and dig through from the outside and directly into the final floor."

"Is that where me booty is!?" Nerys excitedly jumped in place.

"Shut up!" Sab yelled, "Sheep, this is insane. Need I remind you what happened the last time you brought in a stranger to the party? Hell, you were there and I wasn't!"

Sab was cautious, whereas Sheep chose to trust Nerys. This trust wasn't exactly unfounded, however. Unlike the terrifying powerhouse that is Energy, Nerys only had her pickaxe with her, not to mention no matter where she was—inside or outside the barrier—she always had an equal area of vulnerability. She couldn't fly, and the men were at an advantage due to her female Heavenly physique being generally weaker than their own.

"In that case, we can just steal the pick away from her." Sheep shrugged, "But I believe we can keep her around until she decides to cause too much trouble."

"Euuwe dolts arrn't capable a' takin' Nerys Edris daun, Oi tell ye'!"

"Huh, surprisingly cute name." Sab offhandedly commented.

"S'not kyuute, dammit!"

"Nerys, if you promise not to double cross us and help us dig down to the bottom of the Shrine, we'll let you walk free with anything you want."

"Barring the bed or beds we find there!" Sab made sure to point out, "Those are ours."

"Wot is it with thoos beds, even?" She found calling dibs on such an item odd, "They got sumthin' special about them or wot?"

"Nnnnope." Sheep lied, "They're just regular beds."

"Arr' they comfy?"

"As comfy as any other bed out there."

"Can Oi' at leest jomp onnit wonce?"

Again, the word "cute" popped into both men's heads, but they quickly dismissed it when remembering exactly who they were talking about. Though Nerys was mostly a rough seafarer of a woman, it appears even she had some semblance of female charm to her. Regardless, neither wanted to even associate with her too much, let alone get swooned by her. In the end, Nerys was allowed to jump on the beds once they reached the fourth floor, but only for 5 minutes.

"Then, wot're we waitin' fer'!?" She excitedly grabbed both of their wrists, yanking them towards the barrier.

"H-Hey, hold on a second, Nerys!" Sheep panicked, "Let me go this instant!"

"Shit...!" Sab realized the issue with this arrangement, so he immediately took them both to the skies, "Phew. Close one."

"Wot now!?" She fussed, dangling between the two.

Sheep was still very much operating on the brink of death. Had she taken him inside the Shrine through the little tunnel she carved out, he would've dropped dead from the suspended injuries immediately. Luckily, Sab was there to force her to stop before anything bad could happen.

"From here on out, you listen when we tell you to." Sab chewed her out, "You and I will enter the barrier without him, and you'll test the pickaxe out to see if it works on Shrine bricks."

"And why shud Oi' listen ta' that?"

"Because we'll be digging from outside the barrier." Sheep added, "No other option will work."

Their refusal to answer her question made her slightly peeved, but she knew better than to anger the people leading her to treasure. Her pout quickly morphed into a sweet smile as they made their way back down to the ground.

"Oight! Will do, chaps!"

"What the hell is that?" Sab stared horrified at her sudden emotional change, "Scary..."

"Iss' me charmin' feis!" She frowned as the two walked to the Shrine's entrance, "Ta' getcha' ta' truss me moor!"

"Are you really supposed to admit to doing that?"

"Gah! Oi fibbed!"

Bashfully, she covered her mouth before it could let slip any more of her inner thoughts. Once more, the gap between her outer and inner personalities was notably poignant, but Sab decided not to comment on it for now in favor of letting her do her job.

"Then, go on." He cleared his throat, "Try and swing the pick with all your might, and if the dungeon brick breaks, we know this plan will work."

"Y'dun' hafta' boss me around, man!" She strongly nudged him, "Haha! Wotch this, matey! Oi've dun' me fair sharr a' treasure digs, so this should be easier than crackin' a cracker!"

Despite getting everybody's hopes up after such a prideful boast, the lass ended up not only failing to break the brick, but also hit her face with the blunt side of the pick. Thankfully, it hit the golden half of her face, mitigating the damage yet causing a painfully ear piercing scratching sound to come off it.

"...T-T'is be unbreakable." She announced, hiding away a pair of blushing cheeks.

"My ass!" He snatched the pick away from her, "Give it here. Hup!"

One swing, two swings, three swings and it was done. The brick was quite sturdy despite seemingly being made of stone, but he did eventually manage to break it.

"Woooow!" She praised him, "Uu're incredible, lad! A reel strongman!"

"Huh? Ehe, I know, I know." He admittedly got a bit excited after such earnest praise from a girl.

"Fer' a guy loik yew, diggin' down the entoir' wey's gon' be a cinch!"

"Yeah, it will!" He was all smiles as they made their way back to Sheep, "It will be a cinch!"

He hadn't realized it yet, but it seems he was just tricked by Nerys' sweet reactions and cunning charm into doing all of her mining work for her. Sheep didn't want to say anything, because, well, he didn't wanna do it either.