Chapter 288: Act 55 – The King of the Underground (6) (Second Update)
But Xi could tell that the miner’s strength was different from theirs.
As soon as Xi grabbed him, he couldn’t help but scream in terror, “Let go of me… you all should run too! Those things are powerful and invulnerable—”
He had witnessed his companions trying to fight back against these monsters with their pickaxes, and even with all their strength, they had only managed to leave a superficial white mark on the creatures.
And when those monsters retaliated, their claws could easily smash half a person’s body to pieces.
The nightmarish scene was still vivid in his memory.
But before he could finish his sentence, the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.
In his deep brown eyes—Brendel gently swung his sword to the right, cleaving the rock panther, which was about to circle around him and attack them, in half like it was tofu, and then it slammed heavily against the side rock wall, shattering into pieces.
The man was instantly dumbfounded.
“He… he…” He pointed at Brendel, looking at Xi and then at the young man, unable to form a complete sentence.
“What’s all the noise about!” Xi impatiently opened his hand, but looked at Brendel like a girl, secretly admiring how much Lord’s swordsmanship had improved—truly impressive!
At that moment, Brendel’s swordsmanship had indeed improved. He realized this after cleaving that rock panther, which hadn’t even reached black iron level, into pieces. He hesitated slightly and opened his panel, only to find that the suffix behind his military swordsmanship had changed to ‘+2’.
Although he didn’t know where this +2 came from, it had to be related to the town’s Chief of Security, Kuran. After all, he had been knocked unconscious by the falling rocks and missed the system’s notification.
This unexpected gain left Brendel both surprised and delighted. While there were instances in the game where one could attain random boosts by experiencing the swordsmanship of highly skilled NPCs, it was usually akin to completing a similar swordsmanship quest—requiring several conditions to be met.
Moreover, such conditions were often far more stringent than simple quests.
It was like when Brendel grasped his grandfather’s swordsmanship in his dream: it was partly due to Sue’s soul’s elevated understanding of swordsmanship, and partly due to Brendel’s countless connections to his grandfather, topped off with his own transcendence—thus the improvement in swordsmanship seemed natural.
But this time, it felt somewhat strange.
Of course, Brendel didn’t have time to contemplate this issue when another rock panther pounced at him—Brendel instinctively swung his sword to send it flying. But getting tangled up with these insignificant but pesky little creatures was starting to wear on his patience. The young man took a step back and boldly leaped directly into the encircled area.
At that moment, the expression on the miner’s face was not just dazed; he sat down on the ground in disbelief, as he had never known there were such powerful swordsmen in the security team.
The illuminating crystal in Brendel’s hand drew a bright arc in the dark underground tunnel.
The next moment, several rock panthers were simultaneously cleaved in two and flung away—
…
When the earthquake occurred at the silver mine, the news was quickly known in Schafflund town. The edges of the shockwave just grazed the town, and people standing in the streets felt the ground noticeably shaking. The shopkeepers on either side hurriedly held onto their jars and pots to prevent them from shattering on the ground.
Of course, losses were inevitable. For instance, the owners of several pottery shops cursed loudly, but the broader impact was that the news of the earthquake spread quickly throughout the town.
Most of the women, children, and elderly living here had relatives working in the mine, and a sense of panic soon spread.
Rumors quickly circulated throughout the town, reaching the ears of Young Romaine before long.
In fact, the Merchant Miss was initially quite content to stay in her room, trying on a long dress that Brendel had given her—something he had casually picked up in town, resembling a maid outfit. He thought about how he hadn’t given Romaine a gift before, so he purchased it with some ulterior motive.
Of course, although the intent was somewhat dark, Romaine enjoyed it very much.
But if it hadn’t been for the earthquake occurring just when she was trying on the dress and she knocked her head against the corner of the standing mirror, resulting in a swollen bump on her forehead, the incident would have appeared even more perfect.
Romaine was dazed from the impact but was very curious—she quickly covered her forehead and climbed up, rushing outside to ask the two angels what had happened. The two angel gentlemen obviously expressed ignorance, and in the end, it was the innkeeper who provided her with accurate information.
The mine had experienced an earthquake.
Romaine blinked and, after carefully considering what an earthquake really was, immediately became concerned. After a brief moment of thought, she seriously made a decision:
“I want to find Brendel.”
She earnestly told the two angels, “You must come with me.”
“Miss Romaine, the master won’t allow this,” the first angel replied.
“The master’s order was that until he returns, you must stay in this inn and not wander around—” the second angel spoke even more directly.
“Besides, see? We’re fine right now, which means the master is okay,” the first angel advised.
However, Romaine firmly stated, “Brendel is fine now, which is precisely why we need to help him; he might be trapped underground!”
If Brendel knew that Young Romaine would jinx him at this moment, he would have certainly given her a proper lesson, telling this Merchant Miss not to speak carelessly when she knew she had a knack for bad omens.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know, so our Merchant Miss remained lively and spirited.
However, her whimsical thoughts did not gain the approval of the two angels, who shook their heads in unison, believing that the young lady’s ideas were better suited for more meaningful endeavors—like writing fairy tales or something.
With her request denied, and aware that she wasn’t a match for the other party, Young Romaine did not feel discouraged; in fact, she seemed to be entirely unfamiliar with the concept of being discouraged.
Before long, the two diligent angels heard loud shouting from inside the room.
Following their proactive instincts, they dashed into the room, only to find Young Romaine, clad in a purple long dress, rolling around with her head buried in the blanket—like a child being coy and cute.
Sensing that the two had rushed in, she lifted a corner of the blanket to peek outside, puffing her cheeks and saying:
“I want to go to the mine—”
The underlying message in her bright, darting eyes read: Otherwise, I’ll make a scene for you—
The two angels exchanged glances, shrugged, and silently closed the door as they stepped out. After repeating this several times, they gradually learned to ignore the young lady’s quirky behavior.
“The Lord wants us to learn not to be surprised by the unusual; it does seem to make sense,” the first angel said to his companion when he heard the Merchant Miss start rolling on the floor for what must have been the umpteenth time.
“The master is always so insightful; he clearly understands Miss Romaine well,” the second angel nodded.
“The master really likes Miss Romaine,” the two angels ultimately reached a consensus.
But what they didn’t know was that at this moment, the Merchant Miss, who was brimming with odd ideas, was changing her clothes. When she realized that Brendel’s two “insufferable subordinates” had finally stopped being surprised at her antics—ignoring any sounds and wouldn’t come back in—she couldn’t help but smile mischievously like a little fox, and she began to implement her plans methodically.
She changed into a common travel outfit, wearing very fluffy pumpkin pants paired with pointed leather boots, looking rather comical—yet with this Merchant Miss’s graceful demeanor, it somehow complemented her charm, making her appear incredibly endearing.
Then, she stuffed her assorted oddities into a small backpack, grabbed a tied sheet, opened the window, and flipped out.
Just before leaving, she even stuck her tongue out in a playful gesture towards the door.
However, alas—our Merchant Miss had considered everything but overlooked the most crucial aspect—when she clutched the sheet with one hand, cautiously stepping on the flat tiles below with her little boots, trying to slide down to the street behind the inn.
She suddenly realized a problem.
The sheet was not long enough—
Young Romaine swung back and forth in mid-air while holding onto the sheet, a gleam of distress on her smooth forehead. “I… seems like I’m running into a bit of trouble…”
She thought.
…
Old Dwarf Odum was passing through this alley to enjoy his afternoon beer at the “Trout in the Woods” as usual when he looked up and saw such a miraculous scene.
At first, he thought he wasn’t fully awake and rubbed his eyes, then finally confirmed—he really wasn’t mistaken—there was a girl in oversized pumpkin shorts holding onto a sheet, swinging it above her head not far away.
The old dwarf lowered his head and pondered whether there was some kind of festival or celebration happening today. However, he could barely remember if the last festival was the midsummer festival or the harvest festival; it had been so long that his memory failed him. He sighed at how quickly one forgets things as they age, then remembered that the last festival had passed several weeks ago, while the next festival seemed to be a month or two away.
He thought that he must have entered the wrong place.
Or there was something wrong with the way he had entered this alley.
But he quickly realized that was indeed the window at the back side of the “Trout in the Woods,” wasn’t it? With this thought, the old dwarf finally emerged from his daze and looked up at the girl swinging in mid-air, propping his chin on his hand, and asked:
“Young lady, what are you doing?”
“Sorry, old man, the sheet is too short—”
This was Romaine’s first reply.
…
(PS. I will supplement what was missed yesterday tomorrow. On the 19th, I have a relative’s wedding, so the update is uncertain, but if missing, it will be supplemented.)(To be continued; for more, please log in, chapters are more, support the author, support authentic reading!)
