Morianne scooped up a handful of soil from the ground and held it beneath her nose, sniffing it lightly.
"The soil here is unbelievably fertile. Outside... you hardly ever see anything like this."
Even the lush greenery was something that, to Morianne, who had always lived in the City of Divine Blessing, existed only in the stories told by her predecessors.
The outside world was utterly desolate. Monsters ran rampant, the land was barren, and humans could barely survive in one ruined city-state after another. That was why Laputa, humanity's last pure land, was so precious. Only nobles possessed the qualifications to go there.
"There seem to be some buildings over there."
Allen pointed toward a stretch of jungle in the distance. Something seemed to be hidden among the shadows of the trees.
Mr. Assath pondered for a moment, then suddenly walked back to the cave entrance and began hammering the edges of the opening with his fists.
Only after the cave entrance had completely collapsed did he clap his hands and say, "Let's go take a look ahead."
"Master, I'll scout the way." Morianne spoke quickly. "I've mostly recovered, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"Be careful." Mr. Assath nodded.
Watching the maid turn into a wisp of shadow and vanish into stealth in an instant, Allen could not help clicking his tongue in amazement. "Count, Miss Morianne never seemed to appear at the castle before?"
"She's appeared now, hasn't she?" Assath replied indifferently. Then he looked at Clili and instructed her, "No matter what happens later, don't leave my line of sight. Understood?"
"O-okay..." Clili nodded.
But she hesitated to speak.
There were actually some things she wanted to ask Boss Assath about Morianne's origins.
However, Allen, the owner of the dungeon, was beside them. Boss Assath seemed