“So, you two want to go to the dungeon?”

“Yep. Though, it was Ritzy’s idea.”

“Yeah. Let’s go!”

Talia had managed to sit up when Gerhart woke up again and was getting ready to leave. Ritzy had already left the bed and was practically hanging on the door handle with his bags slung over his shoulder.

“So, you two, who can’t fight, want to go the dungeon to get provisions, this part I get. But did you forget that we need to fight and clear the dungeon if we want the rewards? Are you planning to make me do the fighting?”

“...”

“No. I’ll summon stuff with my necromancy! Those Red-Nosed Gobbers won’t know what hit them!”

Gerhart sighed.

“It’s Red-Toed Goblins. And it’s a whole village of them. What are you going to do? Throw another bone at them? Turn their hair white? What are you going to do if they’re bald? Or if your bone is too heavy? I don’t know how good you are at necromancy, Rit. But from what I’ve noticed, you aren’t fit for combat just yet. No dungeon.”

Ritzy stomped his foot.

“Yes, dungeon! I can do it. If you compensate me for the mana and Bone Chalk, I’ll prove it to you right now.”

Ritzy shoved his hand inside the bag that didn’t hold his skeleton and took out a finger-thick stick of greyish-white color.

“There’s no need for that, Ritzy! We believe you, right?”

Talia stopped Ritzy before he could throw the chalk on the floor.

“Dungeon?”

Ritzy looked at Gerhart and Talia and waited for an answer.

“Gerhart, we need those healing potions. And it’s our hair turning white or the goblins’.”

Talia’s whispered argument seemed to have affected Gerhart as he closed his eyes in resignation.

“Fine. But I’m keeping the knife. And you have to listen to me, Rit.”

Ritzy looked hesitant at giving the knife he had slipped out of Gerhart’s belt back to Gerhart. But he eventually caved.

“...okay.”

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However, he quickly regained his spirit as he put his bag back on his shoulder and grabbed the bone club before putting his hand on the door handle.

Gerhart had mixed feelings regarding how Ritzy had been so hesitant to hand over the dagger and how he had so easily gotten over it just because they were going to the dungeon. On the one hand, he was happy about Ritzy’s suffering, but on the other, he was a little disappointed that Ritzy had bounced back to being excited so quickly.

However, Gerhart’s felt a sense of satisfaction as the pouring rain washed away Ritzy’s smile as soon as he opened the door.

The door swung open with a powerful gust, and water sprayed down on Ritzy and the opening to the cabin.

“Eeek!”

Gerhart and Talia looked at Ritzy due to his squeal.

“Ahem. I mean. ‘Fuck!’”

Ritzy looked back at Gerhart, who was cooperating with Talia to put her on his back.

“Are you coming soon? I’m getting bored over here. If you don’t hurry up, I might just leave you behind.”

As he said that, Ritzy closed the door and began walking into the jungle.

But it didn’t take long for Gerhart, with Talia wrapped in the blanket, to catch up, and he grabbed Ritzy and turned him in the right direction before leading the way. And after another short while, Ritzy looked up at Gerhart’s back.

Despite Gerhart’s big feet and long legs clearing the brushes and trampling a path for Ritzy to follow, Ritzy still looked at the ground to see where he put his feet. But that had led to Gerhart putting some distance between them.

“Hey! Wait up a little! Slow down!”

In the darkness of late night or early morning, it wouldn’t take much distance for Gerhart and Talia’s silhouette to blur with the shadows of the forest, so Ritzy hurried to catch up while holding on to the straps of his bags.

Since he was carrying Talia, a soaked blanket, a pair of bags, and his bow, Gerhart naturally didn’t mind slowing down, even if he was still worried about potential pursuers.

The trio trudged along through the forest, the sound of raindrops hitting the leaves masking the sound of their passage. The cold and wet rain and the dark night were conditions that made all three of them want to huddle up with a blanket in front of a warm fireplace, especially Talia.

Unlike Ritzy and Gerhart, who managed to keep some of their warmth by moving and carrying the bags and Talia, she was plastered to Gerhart’s back and could only hope that his body heat would offset the warmth she lost due to the soaked blanket. The blood loss only worsened her condition, and she was as pale as a ghost. Her lips and fingertips had already turned slightly blue.

“We’re almost there, Talia.”

Gerhart’s voice could barely be heard through the rain.

“Mmm.”

And Talia’s voice was even weaker. But since her mouth was right next to Gerhart’s ear, he picked it up. He realized how bad Talia’s situation was, and his expression got even grimmer. Unfortunately, it was too dark to make out their surroundings. Gerhart only vaguely knew the location of the dungeon.

Finding the way to the dungeon in the middle of the night with a heavy downpour clouding his sight, Gerhart’s brow was locked in a bundle of creases as he squinted to make sure they were still headed in the right direction.

Although there weren’t any signs put up, there were still traces in the forest that led toward the dungeon. Even if it were a weak one, it would still impact and change its surroundings. And the closer they came, the clearer the signs.

The leaves on the bushes preferring to grow in a certain direction. One side of the berries and fruits being more ripe than the other. Pine cones having dropped to the ground and fallen in the same direction as the leaves. They were all things leading Ritzy, Gerhart, and Talia toward the dungeon, which they had pinned their hopes on.