Fayette felt a shudder go through her as she heard the [Journalist's] words. Classes, and that wink? Does he know—?

The [Journalist] saw Fayette’s eyes light up with interest and nodded at her. He bent down, reaching a hand inside the bag by his seat. “Just a moment—just for you miss—” He took his hand out, holding a book. “—A gift.”

Fayette hesitated a moment, looked at Marie, but the [Lady] nodded. She approached the gangly man, then took the book in hand. It was a thin thing, more pamphlet than book. Fayette ran her fingers along the pages, just a dozen or so of them, then looked at the cover. It had no pictures, just a simple text over blue fabric—Friend of the People.

Fayette gave the [Journalist] a small bow. “Thank you—I’ll be sure to read it.”

Paul smiled amiably. “Make sure to tell me what you think of it later.”

Fayette nodded, then walked back behind Marie, pocketing the book inside her [Apron of Holding]. She would read it later. Pierre’s gaze lingered on her for a second, before returning to his playing cards.

Romaine coughed loudly, looking annoyed. The [Chief Miner] was not amused. “Enough of your games Paul. I appreciate you, but important matters are at hand.” He sighed. “What were we even talking about?”

“About [Lord] Marcel’s odd behavior,” Marie supplied. “Do you have any clues? Any other odd habits from him?”

The grizzled [Miner] thought for a moment. “Not much. It had just been just the usual word from the [Supervisors]—hurry up, dig there, new shaft here, and so on.”

“Do you get the sense that the [Lord] is looking for something?” Olivia asked, taking a sip from her—Fayette blinked for a moment. The [Doctor] had somehow gotten a tankard of ale and was happily drinking from it. The [Maid] hesitated for a moment, then set teacups in front of Mireille and Marie and started pouring some ice-cold tea into them.

Marie nodded thanks at her, but Mireille did not, pointedly ignoring her. Still the silent treatment? Fayette grimaced, then noticed that Paul was gesturing at her. She glanced over, and the [Journalist] silently mouthed the words ‘if you would?’ at her.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked over, gave him a cup, and poured some tea in. The [Journalist] lifted his cup up and nodded at her, smiling as he took a sip. Fayette shook her head, returned to Marie’s back, then focused back on the conversation.

Romaine was still speaking. “—perhaps there is some indication, but we can’t really be sure. The [Prospectors] tend to have these things mapped out, then the instructions come to us. It’s not really any different from normal.”

Marie set her cup down, frowning. “Well, thanks for the insight. Now—onto this matter of the rigged explosives and the [Strike]… I’ll try and get things handled, and once they are… Be sure to remove the explosives. We all want things back to normal, right? Having this mine explode on us would be very unfortunate.

The [Chief Miner] huffed. “It’s our livelihood too, we don’t want it gone either. But what’s to say we won’t be kicked out once we do that? Uprisings like ours don’t tend to be looked on kindly afterward.”

Paul smiled especially wide at that but didn’t comment—the [Journalist] just kept drinking his tea quietly. He finished the cup and gestured for a refill. Fayette ignored him.

Marie was thinking. “We can negotiate on that more later… For now, I can only provide my guarantee that I’ll see your places secure.”

“Do you have the authority to grant that sort of guarantee? Forgive me, but I don’t really know you.”

Marie froze for a moment, then hesitantly spoke. “That—I can only promise I’ll do my best. If things work out, hopefully…”

The [Lady] sighed, then stood up. “We’ll discuss that later. For now…” She looked at Fayette for a moment, biting her lip. “…I’m thinking we do a little hunt.”

“A hunt?” The [Chief Miner] asked.

“Yes, a hunt. Marcel seems to insist that these monstrous spiders don’t exist. I’d like to prove him wrong—” She paused, looking over everyone at the table. “—maybe by throwing one into his bed. Or something else of the sort.”

Everyone at the table smiled at that. Paul started laughing, and Mireille and Olivia got up, stretching and checking their equipment.

“You all up for it?” Marie asked, looking over the party.

“I think we can manage to nab one spider—fiery or not.” Olivia said, spinning a syringe in her hand. “Sedatives should do the trick.”

Mireille nodded too, eager to get going. Fayette felt more hesitant. She picked up the cups of tea from the table, and felt a bit of relief when she saw that Mireille’s was empty too. She looked at Marie, then finally nodded. “We can do this.”

The blond woman turned to the gruff [Chief Miner]. “Could we have a guide point us towards the nearest spider problem? And maybe some advice on dealing with them. I won’t say no to backup either.”

The man ground his knuckles on the table, thinking. “Sorry, but we’re on [Strike]. Can’t exactly be fighting now, can we… as for guides—”

“Sir!” A younger voice spoke out.

The leader turned, looking at the [Miner] who had approached the table. He was younger, maybe about the same age as Mireille, or a bit less. A youth with more pimples on his face than clear skin. “What is it, Felix?”

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The boy saluted. “Sir, I was keeping watch on the further mines earlier, and I saw some flashes of fire behind a corner. Might have to deal with it anyways.”

Romaine nodded “Fine, you can go along and guide them. But no joining the fight! You’re too low-level for it, still.”

“Excuse me, sir—” A gravelly voice spoke out. Fayette looked over, and saw Henri; the short [Miner’s] expression was much friendlier than before. He stretched out his suspenders, and let them slap down onto his skin. “—but if it’s to stuff some spiders down that [Lordling’s] breaches, I don’t care about no [Strike]—I’ll do that on my free time.”

He stepped forward, winking at Marie. “Let’s give the bugger a good scare.”

Romaine sighed, but nodded. “Do as you will, but make sure no one gets hurt. I don’t want any accidents from this. Especially while transporting the monster!”

“Relax—we’re professionals,” Fayette said, patting her broom. She looked over her party, feeling relieved. With a more experienced [Miner] at their side, they should have this handled.

—

They took a moment to get their gear ready and maintained, then gathered at one of the many entrances to the mess hall. Many of the [Miners] were watching them go, toasting at their tables. The young Felix was bouncing with nervous energy, while Fayette was thinking over her options carefully.

1 Skill point in reserve, my gear is in good condition, and I’ve got all our supplies. Maybe I should… She stepped to the side and held her hand out toward Marie, who responded with a confused look. “The boon skill of yours,” Fayette said. “I’ll be the frontline, right? Best be ready.”

Marie blinked for a moment, frozen solid, then nodded like a puppet. “Oh, right. Of course. A good move that.” She leaned forward and quickly gave the hand a peck, then turned away, muttering the skill under her breath. “[Boon of the Stone Bastion].”

Fayette felt saw a mark settle on her hand and touched the spot, thinking. She hefted out her broom, trying out her lantern in one arm, broom in the other grip. It didn’t feel quite right; like there was some issue with her MMA, but it would be better than risking darkness. No point stretching this. Boon won’t last forever.

“Well, let’s head out.” She said, after making sure that her party were all looking ready too.

“Lead the way laddie,” Henri said, clapping the young man on the back.

The youth nodded, held his lantern up higher, then started guiding the group forward, stepping into a dark tunnel. It was narrower than the one they had come in, and now they only had their own lanterns for light.

They marched in silence for a while, gradually falling deeper into the labyrinthine network, changing passages here and there. Fayette had a hard time tracking their travel, time and distance had a way of bending underground. Just how far are we?

Then suddenly Henri stopped, confused. He stared at the young Felix for a long second, then spoke. “Lad, that can’t be the way. Where are you leading us?”

The youth jumped, looking at the older [Miner] nervously, then stammered. “W-what do you mean? I’m sure it’s this way, I was just here this morning—I should have a marking up ahead. We just need to go forward a bit.”

Henri frowned, shaking his head. “I’ve worked here longer than you’ve been living lad, and I know damn well this leads to a dead end.” He nodded to the side, towards a branching path. “Are you sure you don’t mean this way? I know that's where they were a few days past.”

The youth stared at them all for a long moment, the darkness hiding his eyes. Eventually, he nodded. “…Okay. Maybe it was that way. We can check. That should work.”

“Right, good lad. Lead the way then, try to remember.” Henri said, gesturing at a side passage.

They started moving forward again, and Fayette checked over her broom, making sure the metal ends were secure. She felt nervous—bouncy. Felix was still leading them, now more animated, glancing behind occasionally. Next was Fayette, followed by Mireille, Olivia, Marie, then lastly, Henri.

Fayette took another look at the walls around them. The tunnel was opening up, and they were now walking in a… cavern? It seemed natural. Still a bit tight and narrow, and the walls felt less secure without the wood implanted in them. I guess spiders would be in caverns.

Suddenly, the boy stopped, and Fayette felt her heart jump.

Felix turned around, looking nervous. “Sir, this can’t be the right way, we’re going to end up more and more south like this, but I’m sure it was in the eastern caverns. I know what I saw!”

Fayette turned, saw the old [Miners] face, then her heart skipped. His expression had changed completely. He was lagging behind the group, a good 20 feet behind Marie. His eyes had filled with tears, and his lines of age seemed deeper. Henri's voice was a whisper as he looked the young Felix in the face.

“Lad…”

Then he turned, flicked a switch on the wall, and started running in the opposite direction. Fayette felt her [Dangersense] flare, and she ran her eyes around them, looking over every detail in an instant.

The segment of cavern bulged out ahead and behind, but they were in a bottleneck, then she looked down. Something had been implanted there... and something removed. Wooden supports, taken out? Something in its place? And she saw a receding fuse, spreading on the side of the wall.

“No!” she shouted, and shoved Mireille back, as far as she could, giving the girl a running start. The others were backing away, but Fayette jumped forward, at the wall, whacking the fuse with her broom. She hit it, saw the spark fade at her swat, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she heard the sound. Sizzling.

She looked to the left and saw that a point the fuse had passed was smoking, with growing intensity. She only had a second to jump away, ducking her hands and face down, taking cover inside her [Maid Armor].

[Skill up: Maid Armor has reached rank 3!]

Then the world exploded around her.

First it was one explosion, then soon followed by more. She felt rock shards hitting her all over, jabbing, but not penetrating her boon-boosted [Maid Armour]. She had a brief glimpse of the young man being shredded into pieces by shrapnel, and a view of her friends, mostly out of the explosion, rocks falling all around them. Marie's hands were aglow with veins of green.

Fayette briefly locked eyes with Mireille, who was shouting, but the [Maid] couldn’t hear anything right now. Sorry.

Then the floor crumbled under her, and she was falling.

Down, down, down, so down.

Fayette saw nothing in the dark, only felt the impacts as she smacked against the wall, scratched herself on sharp edges, rebounded off edges, and rolled down, still moving ever down. Just how far down does this go?

But the boon held, keeping up under the barrage of hits, and she kept tumbling down.

Then she finally smacked to a stop, the final remnants of the [Boon of the Stone Bastion] fading, a spray of small rock shards falling on her head. Huh… So the boon's not about the amount, did it count as continuous, or the timing…

She dizzily got back up, battered, bruised, a total mess, but whole. Her outfit was in rags and her skin was marred with bruises. She saw only complete darkness around her, her lantern smashed. But her hearing was slowly returning. Did the boon protect that too?

She took an unsteady step, then leaned against the wall, her vision swaying. Her hands were wet with blood, but it was mostly just surface scrapes. The sound. She could hear. The rocks were still shifting up above, and little pieces were falling all over—she covered her head. And was that… flowing water? And…

Her eyes opened wide as she finally recognized that last sound, but she saw nothing. Still, it was all around her.

Little and large legs, scuttling about, ever closer. Skittering.