As for the Shrine's interior during this bout of words, whilst Migu and Energy had only barely just woken up and began moving through the third floor for the first time, Elegy and Hats were already making their way back up the stairs to the second floor.

"In the end, we couldn't find Migu at all..." Hats slumped forward.

"Yeah, it sucks, but what can you do." Elegy in turn only shrugged, "We've got Sab and Sheep scanning the area up at the surface, so let's hope they caught sight of them at least."

Though they had just accomplished something incredible, what with the literal extinction of the bat roaches and all, they didn't feel all too thrilled. In fact, now that they couldn't even bring Vastoria back due to their destruction of the bed, this entire mission felt somewhat wasted in general.

"Sab..." Hats frowned once he remembered, "The last time we saw him, he tried to run away."

"I'm sure Sheep knocked some sense into him." Elegy reassured him, "Such a serious guy wouldn't let a cheap escape attempt like that slide."

"You really think so?"

"Sigh, I hope so..."

Again, that word was the only lifeline to their sanity. No matter what corner they turned, "hope" was all they could do. They have to hope Migu is alive, to hope Sab didn't abandon them, to hope Sheep brought him back safe... When they look at their entire journey like that, it really did feel like they haven't actually accomplished anything at all.

"What do we do if Migu...?" Hats mustered up the courage to ask.

"What? You think we're not gonna find her?"

"I'm sure we will... eventually." He twiddled his thumbs, "But in what state? What if Energy already, y'know...?"

"If that's the case, then we'll take care of her like we did with Vastoria." Elegy glared back strongly, "Her mansion has ample space to keep the injured and wounded out of harm's way."

This answer wasn't exactly what Hats had wanted to hear out of him, so he kept the questions going.

"But we don't have a means to treat them."

"Not right now." Elegy corrected him, "But Heaven is Vast. Vaster than the Vast World below. We'll definitely find an alternative."

"But how can you be sure? We've already reached the end of Heaven's residential area."

"Once again, you're seeing things from an A-B perspective." Elegy shook his head, "We explored the areas around our homes, then skipped to the edge of Heaven. Heck, you and I both traveled by foot and saw just how much we've been missing out on, haha!"

The hardy laugh was contagious, bringing a similar smile to Hats' face as well. Indeed, they weren't yet out of options. Much of this world was yet to be explored, and just because they haven't been everywhere doesn't mean they've only been to the places that matter. Surely, given enough time and perseverance, they would find something or somebody that would aid them in healing Vastoria.

"Oh, watch your step." Elegy suddenly stopped Hats with his hand, "Second floor, remember? Traps are everywhere."

"Ugh, how could I forget?" Hats groaned, "You made me go through the entire floor alone, section by section."

"So now you're more prepared." Elegy smirked back at him as he walked in front, "Isn't that good?"

Though Hats may have gotten more alert from his earlier experiences, Elegy had in that moment failed to notice the pressure plate he had stepped on. He screamed like a little girl, yelping and jumping back into Hats' huge arm, only to sigh in relief once he realized it wasn't the foot-snapping kind.

"Ha-ha... Sorry about that."

"Please be more careful." Hats dropped his head down before pausing, "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Sounds like mining."

"No, not that!" Hats turned around to spot a giant boulder slowly picking up speed behind them, "Dammit, since when was there a boulder here!?"

Picking Elegy up under his arm, Hats then proceeded to haul ass through the trap-infested dungeon. As they were moving up the Shrine and not the other way around, he didn't have to be nearly as careful about the traps, as they were all one-sidedly installed. Regardless, in spite of his speed, the boulder was still closing the distance between them hastily.

"We'll never make it to the staircase at this rate!" Hats fretted.

"Huh? That hole wasn't there before..." Elegy noticed it from a distance, "Hop inside!"

"Eh?! But what if there are spikes inside!?"

"If you don't wanna risk it, at least toss me inside while you jump over."

Fearing having to go on alone more than the possibility of this hole being dangerous, Hats steeled his resolve and dove inside the hole with Elegy still under his arm. A mere second later, the boulder passed right over them.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Phew, that was close..." Hats breathed a sigh of relief, "Thankfully it wasn't too deep."

"Yeah, and the landing was soft too." Elegy got up, "Thanks for breaking the fall."

"Huh?" Hats cocked his head back, "I didn't-?"

"Get the hell off us!" Sab shrieked from beneath them, prompting the two to finally notice them.

"Whoa, you didn't leave after all!" Elegy helped Sab up before giving him a brotherly hug, "You guys dug this hole or something? How did Sheep enter the barrier safel-?"

Only then did Elegy finally stop to glance at the person he thought was Sheep. Hats awkwardly and bashfully helped her get up, only to quickly hide away behind his two already familiar friends.

"Wot?" Nerys hissed at them, "Not gunna' apologize fer' landin' on me, arr' ye'? Pathetic men oll 'raund!"

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***

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"You two, this is Nerys Edris." Sab finally introduced her, "As for why I left all of a sudden like that, it was because I saw her spying on us."

"So you didn't actually leave us?" Hats smiled.

"Hold on, so you went to catch her, I get that." Elegy interrupted, "So why is she here with you now?"

"Coz' Ah've got this 'ere thingamajig!" She pulled the pickaxe out of the ground, "We yuus'dit ta' skip this donjin' jus' loike dat!"

"I see." Elegy nodded, "So where's your parrot?"

"Oi'm not a bloody poirrate!"

Jokes aside, this was incredible news for Hats and Elegy. In fact, you could very accurately say that Sab going after her back then just saved these two's lives, so they were nothing but thankful. Apart from that, it also meant they had gotten a new team member, and one who had quite the fascinating tool they could make use of.

"Nerys, welcome aboard!" Elegy was all smiles as he put his hand out, "No pun intended."

"Oi'm a seafarra', dammit..." She begrudgingly returned the handshake, "N' euwe? Wot's got ye' knickers toight?"

Hats was still shy around new people, especially ones with such an overpowering personality as Nerys'. In the end, he couldn't even utter a name, so Elegy had to fill her in.

"This kid here's called Hats." He made him put his hand out, "Don't be too harsh on him. He may look like this, but mentally he's no less than a tyke."

"...Yer' yong?" Nerys raised her Eyebrow at him, stealing the occasional glance at his golden and missing appendages, "Euwe muss' loike ta' tussle."

"U-Uhm, no, this is just..." Hats tried to think of an answer, his extended hand still shaking, waiting for her to reciprocate and move on.

"Nerys, let him-" Sab went to stop her, but she suddenly lunged at the boy.

"Euuuuuuwe poo' widdle boy!"

"H-Huh!?"

She hugged him with all the strength she had in her. Squeezing tighter and tighter as she refused to let go, she kept showering him with praise and consolation.

"Woddey' maed ya' do, laddie!? C'mon, tell ye' big sis n' Oi'll taek caer avit!"

"N-Nerys?" Sab looked on, mouth agape.

"Is she like this with everyone?" Elegy turned to him, equally as perplexed.

"No, she's usually a whiny brat once you crack down that tough shell of hers..."

"Ah, so a tsundere character."

"Exactly like a tsundere."

As the two bonded over a strangely familiar word to them both, they couldn't help but chuckle at the boy who was getting his soul coddled out of him. This girl Nerys, despite having such a difficult personality, is apparently really good with kids.

"It hurrts me so ta' see a yong sool loike euwe go thru' so much!" She teetered from side to side, still tightly grappling onto Hats, "Dun' worry, whenevah ye' need comfert, jus' ask for ye' big sis Nerys' magical hugs!"

"W-Wahhh~, t-thank you...?" Hats looked confused, but the grin going from ear to ear gave away his true thoughts all too well.

"Ahem." Elegy finally put a stop to all these charades to get down to business, "I imagine Sheep is waiting up there, then?"

"Yeah, he couldn't come with." Sab nodded back.

"We went to the bottom floor and couldn't find Migu nor Energy." Hats added, "Did you guys spot anyone?"

They weren't expecting much with this question, but it was still quite a gut-punch to see both Nerys and Sab looking down dejectedly.

"But hey, if you guys were on the fourth floor, why didn't you get the bed?" Sab realized, "The entire reason we're digging this hole is to reach it, after all."

"The bed's gone." Elegy admitted, "It got destroyed while we were fighting the Queen of the bat roaches."

"What?"

"They won't be multiplying anymore, so we don't have to worry about the third floor anymore." Hats looked at them, "Maybe there's still a chance there's another bed on the fourth floor?"

"You guys... let the bed get destroyed?" Sab grit his teeth, "What'll we do about Vastoria and Sheep now!?"

Sensing he was about to blow a fuse, Nerys tried to calm him down.

"Oi, 'oldit."

"Don't gimme that!" Sab ignored her, "What the hell are we even doing here anymore, then!? Digging this damned hole... For what!? Vastoria's dead now, Hats is missing an arm, Sheep is all kinds of fucked up...!"

"Mind ye' tong!"

"Mind your fucking business!" He shot back, "Elegy, we're facing an uphill battle, so how the hell could you let yourself mess this up!?"

"...I-"

"Migu's probably dead as well." Sab sighed.

"We don't know that."

"Oh, and who does?!" He retorted, "Huh!? Energy?! 'Cause the way I see it, we're fresh out of ideas now that you did this!"

A stern smack to the face finally shut him up.

"Zip it!" Nerys demanded, "Ye' be whoinin', but wot's that gon' do fer' ya', ey!?"

"..."

"The man's sed da' floor below's saef." She added, "We keep diggin'. We'll go ta' the damned fort floor n' check fer' moor beds. If we dun' foindem, we keep diggin'."

"Huh? What's that gonna accomplish?" Hats tilted his head.

"Who knows?" Elegy smiled, recognizing Nerys' sense of adventure, "But since these two have already started the hole, it's only natural we follow it through until the end, right?"

"Aye, ye' gets it!" Nerys dapped him up, "Seafarin', groundfarin', saem thing once ye' taek out tha' nitty-gritty!"

"We might not find anything." Sab crossed his arms.

"Or, we might find a hidden fifth floor." Elegy refuted, "We might even find an alternative way to heal Vastoria and the others, or maybe something even better."

Despite this speech, Sab still wasn't all that convinced yet.

"Pssh, what's better than that?" He asked smugly.

Briefly glancing at Nerys before nodding in unison, she and Elegy already knew what the other was gonna say in response to that. The answer was obvious to those who took the time to think about it.

"What else?" They both replied, "The Vast World!"