According to Adel, the situation was like this: He had gone outside the castle to recruit another ally for Snow White but miserably failed and got kidnapped by Gretel, barely managing to escape alone. However, since recruiting us could be a big strategy, he decided to try bringing us along.
We were a bit suspicious since he lied to us, but seeing his pitiful state, we decided to meet the hunter and also Snow White. Upon hearing this, Adel rejoiced and kept bowing.
“Thank you so much!! I knew I could count on you!”
“Counted on us for what exactly?”
“Hmm~ Nonetheless, that annoying nausea. The hunter’s talk about seeing a rabbit shouldn’t have been a lie.”
Elise laughed brightly and grabbed Adel’s head, lifting it up. Adel winced in pain as if his head would split and urgently cried out.
“Of course! Owowow! It’s absolutely not a lie! That guy said he saw it directly!”
“Alright.”
When Elise let go, Adel fell on his b*tt. Though tears welled up at the corners of his eyes, he was still smiling broadly.
Thus, we headed towards the castle entrance. Hiding in the bushes near the entrance, we watched travelers being inspected.
“Halt!”
The castle gate was guarded by armed sentries, clearly determined not to let any suspicious outsiders enter.
I whispered to Adel.
“Is that guard a vampire too?”
“Hmm, there’s probably a chance.”
[What does that even mean?]
“It means he doesn’t know, duh, karurlek. How reliable is that?”
“C-Cough…”
Adel awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Anyway, currently both Princess and we are wanted, and it’s hard for outsiders to enter, so we can’t go straight in. Follow me. I know a secret passage.”
“Hmm~ Really?”
Elise looked skeptically at Adel.
“Oh come on, it’s true. Please believe me!”
Following Adel’s lead, we went to the back of the thick castle wall, surprisingly entering without much trouble. Adeptly searching under the towering wall, Adel called out.
“Found it!”
He happily pointed to the secret passage.
“Hmm? Is this the secret passage?”
“Yes! I dug it myself! Those stupid guards don’t check here!”
Boastfully laughing, Adel stood before us as we gave him an exasperated look. There was a small hole beneath the castle wall. And Adel, being a dwarf with a small stature, had dug it to fit his size.
Meaning, it was ridiculously tiny.
“Haha, follow me!”
[How are we supposed to get through that?!]
Ariel grabbed Adel’s collar and shouted. Adel, looking confused, demonstrated.
“Haha, Princess must not be used to it. Just do it like this.”
He wiggled his hips and crawled into the hole.
“How’s that? Easy, right?”
I smacked my forehead. Elise grinned and kicked Adel’s b*tt.
“Start repairs immediately.”
After Adel, holding his sore bottom, finished the repairs, we managed to squeeze through. Still narrow and uncomfortable, but okay. During this, Adel cheekily suggested going last behind Ariel and Elise, almost breaking a pot.
“Hoooa!”
Passing through the narrow and dark hole, it felt like our breathing space opened up. Being on the outskirts of the castle, the atmosphere was much gloomier and more depressing. Adel rummaged through a pile of trash nearby and pulled out four tattered cloaks, handing them to us.
They smelled so bad it nearly paralyzed our sense of smell.
“Ew, what’s this?”
“We can’t walk in like this or we’ll stand out. Come on, everyone put one on and follow me.”
“This smell is terrible.”
[It’s Adel’s smell.]
Having no choice, we wore the tattered cloaks and headed towards Snow White’s hideout. With every step, the horrifying stench made us gag.
“Still, the street scenery is intense.”
I spoke as quietly as possible. Everyone around seemed like they had lost their minds, walking blankly along the road. Some sat on the ground crying, others worked with vacant stares. Strangely, there wasn’t a single beggar or vagrant in sight, which isn’t normal for such an outer area.
“They’re all having their bl**d sucked dry by Count Vivid. Ugh.”
Adel pulled us into an alleyway because of the guards patrolling with fiery eyes. They were stopping people, shouting, and even searching homes.
“Is he here!”
“If you’re hiding anyone, you’ll be executed immediately!”
Elise tilted her head and asked.
“Did we get exposed?”
“No. They’re looking for victims. Count Vivid likes young human bl**d, so he kidnaps and raises children from each village, but it seems the numbers aren’t enough, so he ordered the guards to bring more kids.”
Likes young children’s bl**d, huh. That’s why there were no kids on the streets, only adults.
“Where’s Snow White?”
Huh? We all had question marks above our heads, including Adel.
“Adel, did Snow White get compromised?”
“A-Are you kidding? We’ve been preparing to strike Count Vivid very secretly, so there’s no way we’ve been exposed!”
[Then why are they looking for Snow White?]
Elise smiled faintly and said.
“Guess we’ve been found out.”
After wandering through the dim, labyrinth-like alleys, we arrived under the bridge connecting the castle outskirts to the main hall. Here, a small stream flowed, but it was so dirty that dead fish floated in what was essentially sewage water.
Adel carefully checked the surroundings then tapped a seemingly empty wall four times.
Then a voice came from inside.
“Snow.”
“White.”
This is the password. After some murmuring from inside, the wall creaked open. It was actually a door disguised as a wall. I couldn’t help but marvel.
“Adel!”
Dark shadows burst out and hugged Adel, rubbing their beards against him.
“You’re finally back! Why did you take so long?”
“We were really worried!”
Dwarves. Six dwarves who looked almost 80% identical to Adel popped out.
“Hahaha! Sorry for worrying you. I’ve been through a lot.”
“Adel…”
Behind the dwarves, a soft voice could be heard. Hmm? The voice was there, but the person wasn’t visible. No, upon closer inspection, there was a delicate tomboyish girl peeking out with just her face showing. She stared at us cautiously, even fearfully.
Is she Snow White? Even just seeing her face, her snow-white skin was unmistakable. She shone like a star amidst the dim lighting.
“Princess!”
Adel immediately rose and knelt down.
“I’m truly sorry for being late!”
“Uh, it’s fine… B-but who are they…?”
Her voice is so tiny.
“These are the excellent heroes who agreed to join our cause! Recruited personally by me!”
Not quite heroes, and it was more like we caught him and he begged us. Still, seeing their expressions, something about them made us feel sympathetic, so we stayed quiet.
“Yo, Heroes!”
At the word “heroes,” Snow White’s pupils widened.
“Haha, never mind that. Let’s go inside and talk first. I have much to say.”
We entered the dark hideout of Snow White. Surprisingly spacious inside, but the prison-like gloomy atmosphere couldn’t be shaken off. Rats and bugs swarmed around, and all the furniture looked broken or damaged, with several bags of rotten potatoes lying around.
We sat at the table and continued talking.
“Amazing! You brought heroes! All we’ve done so far is fail!”
“Hahahaha! In fact, I tried assassinating Count Vivid but failed!”
Shocked by the dwarves’ words, Adel’s mouth dropped wide open.
“W-What?! An assassination?! Why would you act so rashly?! No wonder the guards were looking for the princess!”
“Haha, the hunter said now’s the perfect time since the mad queen has dispatched troops for war, leaving the guards lax.”
“Even so! Do you realize how few we are to attempt an assassination?!”
Adel smacked his forehead.
Ariel looked at the dwarves and Snow White then whispered to me.
[These guys seem a bit off somewhere.]
I chuckled awkwardly and nodded.
