NOVEL NEXT Chapter 359: Blackridge's Cavern?
"Well, it isn't truly considered trespassing if we have these, right?" Lillian pulled her entry permit from her spatial ring, which caused the Heroine to chuckle.
Once reaching the elevator, Lillian scrutinised its appearance.
Its walls were made of metal-fenced bars, which allowed those inside and outside to see through. And currently, its doors were shut tight with only a keypad used to open it.
Lillian raised her index finger and pushed it towards the keypad, typing in the code.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
After the fifth digit, a soft click rang out. As soon as they entered the elevator, Lillian pressed a button and felt the machine tremble and hum for a second before hovering down.
Millis, standing beside Lillian, slowly turned her eyes towards the girl and asked with a curious look on her face:
"So... How'd ya know the keys?"
Lillian, who was cleaning the dust on her face with water, glanced at the woman for a moment. She should probably think of a proper answer.
Or...
"Beginner's luck, y'know?"
"Damn? Ya really is lucky. I got terrible luck." Millis, having been easily convinced, shook her head, "It takes meh like a dozen or so tries to even get anything cool."
"Oh? Seriously?" Lillian stared at the Heroine, having been convinced that the woman was as lucky as her or even luckier. She was, after all, the Main Character of the game.
Lillian took a hasty step back as she found Millis leaning in towards her. She raised an eyebrow, confused what the Heroine was up to, until...
"Hey, could ya wash my face, as well?"
"Ah... Yeah, sure..."
After the Heroine's face was cleaned, Millis smirked, "Ya backed away as if I was going to do somethin'."
"Not going to lie... I thought you were for a second." Lillian shrugged, "You did grope me the first moment we met."
"Oh, come on! That was months ago." Millis waved her hand, "And look, it was an accident anyway. Ya didn't mind it, right?"
Lillian folded her arms, "I guess... When it's from a girl, not really."
"See~... And I bet ya groped Red-eyes as well when you first met her."
Lillian narrowed her eyes before pausing. Her mind then drifted back to the first time she got inside Marionette's limousine. Her fingers twitched as she remembered the softness.
Millis, seeing a silly smile on Lillian's face, took a step away before shaking her head with a sigh, "Yikes... Looks like I'm the only normal person in this friend group."
After a moment, the elevator shook once. Then twice. Then a third.
Eventually, the stone wall behind the fence door disappeared. They were then met with a large underground cavern spanning several dozen kilometres.
At the sight of this, Lillian shook as the memory of the Catacomb flashed through her mind.
However, relief washed over her as she glanced at the countless machines that produced light around the cavern.
Not only that, but the sight of miners and the sounds of large machinery brought a sense of security to her as well. However, they all seemed to be on break currently.
She then felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. She turned to the side and stared into Millis's eyes, which sparkled at the sight of the cavern.
She then watched as the Heroine held her arm out towards the cavern and declared:
"Welcome to the notorious Blackridge's Cavern, Lil'! The place where a lot of unfound minerals still lay deep within these stones. And it was even ranked top 50 in the world's greatest mining spots."
She then rubbed her fingers together like a money gesture, "And also a place where the Blackridge family got a lot of its moola~"
"It sounds like you did some research, Millis." Lillian smiled slightly, feeling the elevator make it to the bottom.
After exiting, Millis shrugged, smiling back.
"Just a little, ya know? Research is sometimes fun when money is involved, mah friend~"
Lillian rolled her eyes casually. The woman wasn't wrong at all.
As they exited the elevator, two guards—who were dressed in light metal armour and wielded firearms—noticed their presence.
They were currently resting their backs on a metal beam, enjoying their break, when they noticed Lillian and Millis. The two glanced at each other and decided to confront them.
"Are you ladies supposed to be down here?"
Standing in front of the two, they glanced at the girls from top to bottom, noting how they were dressed like miners.
But they couldn't recall who they were, which made them awfully suspicious of the two.
Lillian nodded and summoned an entry permit, "We're just here to do a survey of the miners working in the cavern. Don't need to worry too much about us."
The two guards narrowed their eyes. One of them then asked:
"What's the manager's name?"
"Bernard. Does that satisfy your suspicions, now?"
The two men then glanced at each other before nodding and stepping out of the two ladies' way. One of them then asked:
"Yes, it has. Since you are doing a survey, will you need anything from us then? Or do we not count in the census?"
Lillian thought for a moment before shaking her head, "You do. The question is really about whether or not you had heard anything or seen anything strange."
The guard thought for a moment, but his colleague beside him nodded before pointing towards an empty direction, "We had actually heard loud sounds in that direction. But we had sent some of us to go check it out."
Lillian, taking note of what direction they were pointing in, nodded, "Thank you!"
She then left before pulling Millis along, who glanced between the girl and the guards with a confused look on her face.
"So... What was that?"
"What was what?" Lillian asked, preparing to ask another person the same question.
"That entire thing, why are ya asking that? Was there another reason ya wanted to come down here?"
Lillian paused before looking back at the Heroine. She then thought for a moment.
How should she go about explaining her actions?