Chapter 629 – 629. Sinkhole (1)
“… Why are you here?”
Looking at the corpses of white bones with no flesh remaining, Erin murmured softly.
These were the adventurers who exchanged vulgar jokes about Eun-hyeon at the adventurer’s guild in the Tyrnis region.
She saw corpses that could not identify a person’s appearance, and it was because of the equipment they were wearing that Erin was able to recognize who these corpses were.
Although severely damaged, the equipment they were wearing remained in Erin’s memory.
“Perhaps that’s when I left the guild and went straight to this place.”
Eunhyeon guessed why their bodies were here.
It wasn’t too hard to guess why they came here.
“They must have coveted the equipment of the disappeared adventurers.”
As close to 30 adventurers were treated as missing, the news was cut off, so if they died, it is natural that they would be greedy for equipment that has lost its owner.
There were probably two bottles of the highest quality potion that Eunhyeon had given him, so he would have thought that at least his life would have been saved if he used the potion and ran away in the worst situation.
“… Stupid guys. There’s no way things could be solved that easily.”
Erin let out a sigh of relief.
It was because Eun-hyeon’s guess was too futile and complacent.
Even if she was lucky enough to find the corpses of the adventurers and pick up expensive equipment that was fairly intact, she knew what could be here and could have thought of such a complacency.
Erin was well aware that there were still many dangerous things in her world that she could not control.
Even she would be like that, but now, if she was an adventurer of the same rank who had just taken off her newcomer’s label, she would have already died just by facing higher level monsters.
The complacency and arrogance of her judgment, thinking that she would be all right, that she could survive, was so foolish.
“That’s what an adventurer’s job is.”
Most adventurers die because of this complacency and carelessness.
Adventurers grow up by being lucky enough to survive in this complacency and carelessness, and by overcoming the traumatic experience and taking it as a lesson.
Currently, most of the adventurers of the silver and gold ranks have built up their skills step by step while building a career with these experiences for as short as 5 years and as long as 10 years.
It was a very common death that can only be described as stupid and unlucky.
“… That’s right.”
Erin nodded her head heavily at Eunhyun’s brief explanation.
Whatever choice you make and what you do, it’s the adventurer’s own responsibility.
Erinn’s feelings for them are closer to lamentation for those who make foolish judgments than sympathy and pity for the helpless.
“Stupid guys…”
Erin stared at the corpses of the adventurers with a complicated expression.
He wanted to be punished for having had a fight with them, slandering Eun-hyeon and talking behind his back, but that didn’t mean he wanted their death.
Then he glanced over to the huge pit.
The sinkhole filled with endless darkness fills the heart with an unpleasant feeling.
“What are you going to do? Hyuna?”
Erin asked Eunhyeon for her opinion, who, like her, was staring closely into the huge black pit.
“…”
Eunhyun did not immediately answer Erin’s question.
Through her senses, she was exploring the inside of the sinkhole with a serious face.
‘I don’t think there is anything… However, this could not have happened naturally… No.’
It is true that sinkholes are a rare phenomenon, but they are not impossible to occur naturally.
Even if there was a possibility that it could be seen as a huge pit that was just really big, as long as the corpses of the adventurers were all over the place, Lee Eun-hyeon couldn’t take this situation lightly.
Even Eun-hyeon couldn’t figure out what was sitting under this sinkhole.
One thing you can be sure of is that there will be something that simply wipes out over 30 adventurers.
In that conviction, the same part as Eun-hyeon’s intuition, which she had heard over many oblique lines in her long experience, also played a part.
“… Let’s wait for Riod and the Knights.”
It is unreasonable to enter there alone.
It was because no matter how much she and Erin were descendants of God’s apostles and divine beasts, they were convinced of the level of danger that was different from general dungeon raids.
He wouldn’t know if he was alone, but Eun-hyeon didn’t want to take Erin there.
“Erin, if I ask you to wait here…”
“I hate you!”
Erin rejected Eunhyun before she finished talking.
Seeing Erin’s reaction as she frowned and expressed her dislike with her face and body, Eunhyun smiled bitterly at her.
Just as Eun-hyeon couldn’t take Erin into that sinkhole, Erin also didn’t want to send her Eun-hyeon there defenseless.
While she is delighted with her adamant attitude that she cannot send herself to that dangerous place, she is deeply bitter that she cannot choose that option.
It is a natural duty as an apostle of God to go down there under any circumstances.
However, the reason why he hesitates to make that choice is because he prioritizes his duty as the head of a family, not as an apostle of God.
Eunhyun has changed.
[How are you?]
After reading Eunhyeon’s heart, Belldandi expressed her joy and gently caressed his cheek.
[I respect the child’s thoughts. Don’t hesitate.]
“… All right.”
Perhaps because Belldandy’s permission was also dropped, Eun-hyeon smiled bitterly and decided not to take responsibility for it any longer.
Eunhyeon and Erin started camping about 2km away from the sinkhole.
It was quite embarrassing to camp in a place where there were corpses of dead white bones, and there is no doubt that the unknown giant sinkhole discovered by Erinn’s sense of smell was the cause of the disappearance of more than 30 adventurers.
You never know what might come out of that sinkhole, and no stupid fool camps nearby.
However, it was natural to be vigilant, so it was not possible to set up a campsite that far away.
“Install this.”
After finishing setting up the campsite, Eunhyeon handed over dozens of artifacts in the shape of her stakes to Erin.
It was an artifact of an alarm device that sensed the vibration of the ground shaking the ground and made a loud sound when it exceeded a certain level of threshold.
The size of the giant sinkhole was larger than expected, so dozens of alarm device artifacts were required to be installed at regular intervals along the diameter of the sinkhole.
“Huh.”
Eunhyeon and Erin installed an alarm like that, so that if something crawled up from inside the sinkhole, they would immediately notice it.
Erinn’s senses are more sensitive than normal people’s, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to detect abnormal changes.
The two waited at the camp, waiting for Riod and the Knights of Artia to come.
◆ ◆ ◆
About two days passed, and the Knights of Riod and Artia arrived.
Erin spotted the marching procession in the distance and raised her hand.
“Hello. Mr. Riod. And the Templars!”
As soon as they got close to her, Erin bowed her head and greeted her brightly, and her knights burst into laughter.
Despite the fact that we are in the middle of a march towards a dangerous oblique line from now on, seeing such a bright and lively image, somewhere in our nervous mind, is relieved and we find stability.
“Hmm.”
“Oh, how are you, Miss? Long time no see?”
The senior knights, who were quite familiar with each other, received Erin’s greetings and even continued a friendly conversation.
Riod, who had been in regular contact with Eunhyeon through a crystal ball for communication, nodded her head slightly when he saw Erin, who had come to meet him.
Erin glanced behind him, examining the composition of the marching force.
The number of knights alone exceeded about 200, and there were 30 others.
Of these, only 5 priests were supported by the Temple of Vesta in the Tyrnis region branch.
It must have been that he had heard the notoriety about the place he was planning to attack from his nervous, shrunken appearance.
‘There seems to be no middle-ranking priest.’
It was a pity that there were no experienced priests included, but the fact that the temple side supported the priests this time was a good thing.
Perhaps it was because of Riod, who was acquainted with Anies, who had great influence in the Temple of Vesta.
Excluding the priests and porters, there were less than 20 adventurers who responded to this support.
Adventurers’ reactions vary.
Even after supporting himself, he was lost in doubt as to whether he could survive, and he had an anxious face or was very nervous.
It was only natural that even the gold rank adventurers, the highest rank among adventurers, would be nervous since they had come to a place where news had been cut off.
“Where is he?”
While looking at the composition of the raiding party, Erin put her thoughts aside and answered Rio de’s question.
“Ah, Hyun-i is preparing at the entrance right now. She will guide you right now.”
“I will.”
The Knights of Artia and the expeditionary forces were given a break of about 10 minutes.
“Erin. Did anything special happen?”
“Something special… There was none.”
Among the resting knights, it was Eira who came closer to Erin and asked.
In an instant, Erin’s mind recalled the skeletal remains of her and her adventurers, but Erin shook her head and denied it.
It was a miserable ending made by the complacent judgment of a fellow adventurer who lacked experience and sense of crisis, but it was very common among adventurers, so it was a bitter ending itself.
It was a story that did not need to be told to Ayra.
“… I see.”
Ayra sensed something had happened from Erin’s expression on her face, but seeing Erin’s unwillingness to say anything, she didn’t ask anymore.
“Rather than that, was her sister okay with participating in this expedition? She is that… Miss Theresia…”
To Erin’s question that Rio Dowaeira was away at the same time leaving Theresia, who had just given birth to her youngest daughter and entered postpartum care in less than a month, Eira replied with a wry smile.
“Because her mother asked for it. It’s okay, so please come back safely with her father.”
Eira couldn’t refuse Theresia’s earnest request.
Fortunately for her, theresa’s recovery process was very fast, perhaps because she was receiving luxurious care with the medicine given to her by Eunhyun and Eleanor’s blessing.
Otherwise, Eyra would not have chosen to participate in this expedition and help Riod.
“Okay.”
After finishing the story, after another 20 minutes of marching, Rio de and his knights arrived at the encampment where Eun-hyeon was.
“Oh, are you here?”
“Hmm.”
The priests and adventurers of Tyrnis, who did not know much about Eun-hyeon, chased after him, slightly embarrassed.
It was because his attitude of calling the sword of Pernias, who was called the best knight in the kingdom, without hesitation seemed like a long-standing friend.
And the attitude of the Knights of Artia, who took it for granted, made those who did not know the details even more embarrassed.
However, there was no time to relieve such doubts and bewilderment.
After a short break, Rio de and his knights marched again and quickly arrived at the camp under the guidance of Eun Hyeon.
Right after seeing the huge sinkhole under Eunhyeon’s guidance, Rio de and his expedition members all stiffened their faces and were nervous.
“… Could it be down here?”
“I think so.”
“I want to take a break and go down in 10 minutes and start exploring. Is it possible?”
“Of course. I have already finished the preparations.”
Since Eun-hyeon knew Riod’s personality, from the moment he heard the news that he had departed from Tyrnis after supplying and resting, he had finished all preparations to enter the sinkhole.
At Eunhyeon’s story that he could go inside right now, Riod nodded his head slightly.
“Let it go.”
