Chapter 289: Act 56 – The Underground King (7) (First Update)
Odum exerted considerable effort to retrieve the young girl who was dangling in midair. Although this short, stocky old dwarf wore a stern expression, and his thick brows were furrowed into a tight knot, he continuously grumbled about how bold she was and how she completely disregarded danger, causing him, an elderly man, significant trouble.
However, in the end, the old dwarf managed to blurt out from beneath his beard, “Young one, you’re not hurt, are you?”
“Ah!”
Once she was back on solid ground, Little Romain patted her small chest with relief and joyfully exclaimed, “That was truly thrilling—!”
Yet, her face didn’t convey the slightest hint of fear; instead, her small cheeks were flushed with excitement.
Odum shot her a glance, thinking to himself that she indeed understood this was a thrilling moment. But the next comment caught him off guard; the Merchant Miss enthusiastically chimed in, “It’s really interesting!”
Upon hearing this, the old dwarf’s expression grew serious, and he earnestly lectured, “Young girl, thinking like that isn’t good; it’s too dangerous! If I hadn’t come over, you would have gotten hurt, wouldn’t you?”
“But you came over, Elder,” Romain replied naturally.
Odum scratched his head, thinking that this reasoning might not hold up. So he gently guided her, “That was a situation that could have happened, but it didn’t, did it? Besides, young lady, what you did caused this old man a lot of trouble. Not to mention it delayed my drinking time—”
“Aunt says that frequent drinking is not good for your health!” the Merchant Miss interjected without hesitation.
The old dwarf suddenly felt a bit of a headache; how could this young girl’s way of thinking be so different from normal people? He began to question whether it was a wise decision to rescue her from overhead—perhaps he should have pretended not to have seen anything and just gone to drink his own ale.
No, perhaps he shouldn’t have even looked up in the first place.
Feeling a bit regretful, Odum waved his hand, “We’re not discussing that right now; furthermore, a dwarf who doesn’t drink isn’t a proper dwarf! Young one, your aunt…” The old dwarf paused, unsure if it was right to speak ill of someone behind their back, especially when it was a woman.
“Anyway, one thing is one thing; you see, a normal person wouldn’t go swinging their sheets in the back alley behind an inn, would they?” the old dwarf instructed softly, although he subconsciously felt there was something off about his statement.
However, after pondering carefully, he couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was, so he shook his head and discarded the strange thought, feeling that the pleasant drinking time he had been looking forward to was slipping further away.
This was because the young girl started chattering again.
Yet Odum didn’t realize he had been led into the young girl’s way of thinking, and the Merchant Miss was about to use her rich experience to dominate the old dwarf.
Romain thought for a moment, nodded, “That’s true,” but then furrowed her beautiful little brow, “But Romain was also forced into it; I’m worried about going to the mine!”
The old dwarf was taken aback.
“What are you going to the mine for?” he asked. “Women aren’t allowed in the mines.”
“Because the person Romain likes is in the mine, and there was an earthquake; Romain is very worried,” the Merchant Miss looked at the dwarf and suddenly blinked, “Oh right! Elder, can you take Romain to the mine?”
“Don’t you know the way?” Odum widened his small eyes in surprise.
“It seems like I don’t,” she appeared completely unaware that this was a serious issue.
It was evident that once again, this young lady had made the mistake of acting before considering her plans. Before preparing to do this, she had long forgotten her childhood mishaps.
There’s a saying that one shouldn’t make the same mistake twice in a lifetime, but our Merchant Miss clearly had the ability to stumble through various versions of the same mistake.
But this time, Odum couldn’t help but laugh—no, it was more correct to say the old dwarf was doubling over in laughter. He laughed so hard that he nearly fell over, all while muttering, “How interesting, how interesting! This is the first time I’ve heard of such a reckless action plan; even the most reckless mountain dwarf wouldn’t do this, young girl! Even the clumsy orcs must plan thoroughly before a hunt!”
Romain enthusiastically agreed, “Because orcs have a saying that goes, ‘Uim Auss Nemont!’” She stammered as she recited, “That means a clever hunter isn’t necessarily smart!”
“That’s just the cunning of beasts,” the old dwarf immediately shook his head, “No, no, no! That’s not what I meant. I mean, the two things are completely unrelated! We’re talking about how one shouldn’t be too reckless, and that has nothing to do with whether orcs are clever—” However, he stroked his beard and then suddenly furrowed his brow, “Wait a minute, what did you just say about an earthquake in the mine?”
“Yes.”
“How come I didn’t know about this?”
Little Romain looked at him with big, curious eyes.
The old dwarf quickly realized he had asked a foolish question, but if the earthquake had happened an hour ago, he realized he had been napping at that time.
In fact, Odum should have been in the mine now, but he had missed the entrance time due to drinking last time—this was not the first time. However, the old dwarf had once helped the mine’s clerk solve a personal little problem, thus earning the trust of the young nobleman; whether he was going to work in the mine didn’t really concern the latter.
Having one more person or one less wasn’t a big deal for the mine.
Therefore, Odum simply didn’t bother to go and preferred to relax at the “Trout in the Woods” enjoying some drinks, which was more aligned with his aspirations as a dwarf.
However, the young girl’s words had piqued Odum’s interest. The old dwarf had always known a secret buried beneath that silver mine, and ever since he learned about it, he had come here waiting for an opportunity.
But to his great disappointment, since the workers of Schafflund had drilled through to the Great Beehive more than a decade ago, causing that disaster, the mine’s tunnels had not extended downward, and the secrets hidden beneath Graham’s mountain rock layers could only stay silent.
Although the old dwarf had once, more than once, hinted to Ockins about reopening the fifth level for mining, it had been shelved due to safety concerns; the young clerk wasn’t worried about the workers’ safety—he merely didn’t want to cause trouble for himself.
However, with the passage of time, after several years in Schafflund, Odum had grown increasingly disheartened.
But at this moment, a glimmer of motivation stirred in his heart.
The old dwarf muttered to himself as he glanced at the young girl, “Alright, I’ll take you to the mine, but let me make this clear—”
“I understand!” Little Romain replied abruptly, without a shred of hesitation.
“But I haven’t finished speaking!”
“Hmm! But no matter what you say, Elder, I’ll respond that way! So it doesn’t matter if it’s earlier or later!”
“You’re quite frank…” The old dwarf sighed, “But it’s somewhat endearing.”
Seeing Romain reminded Odum of the energetic little girls from his hometown, having grown up among the Golden Dwarves—their homeland may not be as exciting and varied as that of humans, nor did they possess superior brewing skills—but in his eyes, their little girls had much more vitality than human girls.
However, this little girl before him was eye-catching, and though he found it a headache, it was also extremely agreeable.
Of course, it was agreeable, but the old dwarf instinctively recognized that if this Merchant Miss was allowed to act freely, she would most likely create a whole heap of trouble for him.
Therefore, as he walked, he said, “In any case, setting rules is very important, young girl. Do you understand?”
Little Romain respectfully nodded but immediately had a new question, “But isn’t it said that women can’t go into the mines?”
“Don’t interrupt, young girl!” Odum frowned. He obviously couldn’t just take Romain in openly; in fact, he couldn’t even enter the mine at this point, but that was fine—he had prepared for this plan for a long time, and some prior arrangements could now come into play.
He had dug a secret tunnel around the mine’s perimeter that led inside, and as the mine’s overseer, he wouldn’t be suspected if encountered by others.
As for the little girl, it would just require some makeup.
“Yes,” the Merchant Miss kept pace while asking, “But Elder, are mountain dwarves all reckless? You’re a mountain dwarf too, right?”
“I’m certainly not a mountain dwarf; those reckless fellows have nothing to do with me; I am…” The short and stocky dwarf suddenly stopped and cleared his throat heavily.
“Don’t interrupt!”
“Oh!”
……
The underground battle had reached a conclusion; when the last rock beast was reduced to rubble, Brendel found some miners’ bodies in the mine shaft. After verifying with the man—these were indeed the remains of his former companions.
The miner that Brendel had awakened, having witnessed the young man’s prowess, was determined to follow them relentlessly. Even when Brendel suggested he lay low in the relatively safer third layer of the mine to await rescue, the miner shook his head in refusal after some consideration.
He felt that, in comparison, sticking with these two seemed far safer.
……
(PS: Forgive me and comfort me, the ambition for four updates has been dashed. I’ve only managed to complete two updates by now.) (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)
