NOVEL NEXT Chapter 360: What Direction?
Lillian stared at the Heroine with furrowed brows. How should she go about explaining her sudden decision to hold a "survey"?
Thinking back a little, she had found that Millis was a rather easy person to convince. And seeing that wouldn't change, she felt being honest in this case would be a good decision.
"The news spoke about a monster that had attacked a group of workers. I think that thing may have come here in search of more minerals."
Millis's narrowed her eyes slightly, folding her arms as she fell into a moment of deep thought.
She then broke out of her thoughts and faked a sad expression as she hugged Lillian's side, "Awww...! So ya didn't come with me just to keep meh company!?"
"H-hey! This is serious, Millis!" Lillian hissed, accidentally smacking the side of her helmet against the Heroine's.
Millis pouted before smirking teasingly. The woman then whipped out her phone.
Lillian, feeling the Heroine wrap her arm around her shoulder and pull her closer. Then, she stared at the screen of the woman, finding it to be mirroring their appearance.
She watched as Millis raised her hand into a peace sign, grinning, before taking a picture.
Click.
At the sound of a camera clicking, Lillian raised an eyebrow, watching as Millis slowly pulled away and tapped rapidly at her phone.
Seeing this, Lillian's confusion shifted into curiosity as she wondered what Millis was up to.
Lillian then asked:
"What's with the picture?"
Millis, raising her eyes from her phone, snickered before putting it away. She then waved her hand dismissively and said, "Nothin'! Anyway, ya think the monster is here right?"
Lillian, still curious, decided to ignore the photo taken and answered with:
"Yeah, so it would be nice if you could help—"
"Alright! So, we're just asking if these guys heard or seen anything weird? Bet."
Having been interrupted, Lillan watched as Millis strutted over to a group of miners and began asking the same question she had said to the guards.
Lillian widened her eyes for a second before chuckling.
She couldn't help but find the Heroine's lack of questions to be relieving but also endearing in a way.
Walking to a worker sitting inside an excavator, she began to ask her questions. And this activity lasted until every single person on the site had been asked.
The reason why Lillian was doing this was that the monster usually appears in one of three directions inside the cavern.
And since each direction was equally as plentiful in minerals and ores, it wasn't exactly easy to pinpoint its location beforehand. Well, unless you had something to help you with that.
Lillian glanced to the side and watched as Millis slowly made her way over to her.
"Did they say anything?"
"Nah— Well, yeah, actually." Millis pointed towards the direction the guards had pointed in earlier, which was the path on the far left. "They said somethin' about some weird sounds over yonder."
She then paused for a moment before pointing towards a group of guards, "Those guys over there said that their captain had also gone over to see what was going on."
Lillian slowly nodded, "I see..."
The two then made their way in that direction. And the longer they walked, the fewer people they met on the way. It seemed that the noise over in that direction had frightened them.
And...
Lillian couldn't blame them.
Clack...
Feeling something make contact with her foot, she looked down and found a familiar assault rifle lying on the ground beside her feet.
She gave a low hum of acknowledgement. There was definitely something in this area. Crouching down and raising the firearm with one arm, she scrutinised it.
It was without damage and was quite well taken care of.
After fidgeting around with the gun, she was able to yank out its magazine and found it wasn't filled to the brim.
It had been used.
However, the metal casings of said fired bullets were not to be seen. And so was the owner of the firearm. It was both suspicious and... Eerie.
Getting up from the ground, Lillian held the gun to Millis and asked with a casual smile, "Want this? I don't think anyone is around to see us stealing."
Millis tilted her head at this and took it off Lillian's hands.
The Heroine scrutinised the gun and held it with skilled handling, something that surprised Lillian.
"Have you used a gun before?"
"Hm? Eh... I practised a bit in the simulation pods back in the academy."
Lillian nodded slowly at this before drifting her gaze towards one of the light stands aiming down at them.
She stared at it for a moment before staring at the stone wall behind it, which suddenly—
BOOM!
—Bursted open.
A mole with a metallic carapace broke out from the stone and took down the light stand, causing it to fall and drag down the wires it was connected to.
Lillian and Millis quickly took a step back, dodging the falling pole before quickly noticing several holes made in the earth around them.
As the moles burrowed out of the stone, Lillian couldn't help but recall the scene in the game where the player would be ambushed. Honestly, by herself, she was probably certain she would win, especially with the help of the Beetle.
Lillian quickly summoned her essentials: the cloak, chestplate, and gauntlets. Then, she summoned an imposing, but plain-looking scythe from her spatial ring.
Millis, having summoned a metal chestplate of her own, glanced at the scythe Lillian had and asked:
"That new?"
"Can I answer that after we are safe?"
Millis shrugged at Lillian's response and summoned a black, jagged sword.
Lillian scanned her surroundings, finding the moles to swiftly grow in number. Fortunately, their current location was quite spacious, providing less of an issue.
However, despite her confidence in her strength and in Millis's, she couldn't help but feel an uneasiness about the moles around them.
They felt... Strange?
Shaking her head, she watched as one of them pounced at her with exposed teeth.
Seeing this, Lillian adjusted her hold on the scythe's shaft and spun around—
CLANG!
—Striking the mole's hard exterior.