The underground water trickled and tinkled. In the darkness, a long passage stretched toward an unknown destination. In some places where it had partially collapsed, specks of light even filtered through from above, forming two or three dazzling beams amid the pitch-black surroundings. When Roman tried pushing the piled-up stones aside, they did not budge at all. She could only let out a distorted sigh and say to Chiara beside her, "Looks like this way won't work either."
"That's why I said we should simply follow this secret passage all the way down and meet that guy downstream of the Silver Spring River," Chiara replied. "Your familiar already went to deliver the message, didn't it? If you ask me, it's much safer underground than on the surface right now."
Her scholar's square cap was gone, and she had lost her glasses as well. Without the thick lenses blocking her face, her delicate features showed beneath her curls, making her unexpectedly adorable.
"But it's so dark and cold down here. It reminds me of when Freya and I hid in those caves in Buchi when we were little. I don't like places like that at all," Roman replied. "Besides, I've never seen such a huge dragon before."
"Neither have I," Chiara replied, thoroughly vexed.
For a moment, both of them drooped in low spirits.
They had fallen underground together with the collapsing buildings during the earlier impact. By the time they realized what had happened, they were already in this pitch-black passage.
According to Chiara's analysis, the building where they had been hiding had most likely stood directly above the secret passage constructed by the Inner Court Knights. In other words, they had happened to fall straight into it. This seemed like the only reliable explanation, so Roman had first turned