Vigilant Heart

There are a lot of dwarves here, so I used my strongest power right away. 💝😎 ✋👽

The Gale Force spread outwards from me, slowing even the most resilient dwarves.

With her broken sword in hand, Riven slaughtered them like ants.

"Leave a few who can talk," I quickly reminded her, afraid she might kill them all in a fit of rage.

"I know."

Before long, only a dozen or so dwarves remained surrounding us. Some others, seeing the situation was not good, fled, and I believe they will never dare to return.

The remaining dwarves were terrified and begged for mercy again, their attitude changing faster than turning the pages of a book.

I didn't know anyone else, so I asked Guna, "Can you answer my question now?"

"Okay, but I have one condition: you have to let me go in a bit."

I must say, Guna is the most daring of all these dwarves; he still dares to negotiate with me at a time like this.

But letting him go wouldn't hurt. "Okay, I promise you."

Hearing me say that, the remaining talking ones all moved closer to me:

"My Lord God, please ask me, and I will tell you everything I know."

"Alright, then you can make up for Guna, and I'll release you all in a bit."

Seeing that they were still alive, these dwarves were "overwhelmed with gratitude," but I knew they were definitely cursing me in their hearts.

"First of all, where did you obtain the Gemstone Academy's magic circle?"

"We found it in a secret room here while we were cleaning." After saying that, they pointed in the direction of the secret room.

"My second question is, where did you obtain the Nullstone?"

"Also in the secret chamber, at first we didn't know the use of this stone, but later we discovered that it could neutralize the power of gemstones, and we guessed that it could resist Magic Demon."

"You're quite clever. Third question: why are you hunting us down?"

"This..." The dwarf hesitated, seemingly lost in thought.

"Speak quickly!" Riven brandished her sword, frightening them into begging for mercy again.

"No, no, it's not that we don't want to tell you, it's that we're afraid you won't believe us. Actually, it wasn't that I wanted to kill you, it was just a coincidence..."

Before the dwarf could finish speaking, several beams of magic shot out and pierced their heads—the work of the Lost People.

"Are you all alright? These damn things!" Morman said.

"The few survivors we managed to keep alive, you've all killed them."

"What's the point of keeping these scourges around!"

"Never mind, it's useless now."

I felt a bit helpless. From the dwarf's dying words, it seemed that someone was plotting against us, but now they were all dead, and the truth would never be known.

As for those who escaped, they probably hid deep in the mountains and never dared to come out again.

Morman found it strange. "You seem disappointed. Is something important? We should know what they know, so why don't you ask me?"

"I want to ask them why they're hunting us down, based on your earlier conversation with them."

"Uh, I really don't know that. I was also puzzled at the time. It's understandable that they hate us, but why would they harbor hatred towards you two who are newcomers?"

"Forget it, if someone wants to get back at us, they'll definitely make a move. So we won't stay here any longer, lest we implicate you."

"We're not afraid! You saved our lives, why would we be afraid of danger again? Why don't you stay the night before you leave? The night is still long."

I agreed to Morman, not because I wanted to rest, but because I was very interested in the secret room the dwarf had mentioned.

I asked Morman if he knew where the secret room was, and he was surprised, saying he had never heard of such a place.

Following the direction the dwarf pointed out, we searched together and, after careful investigation, finally found a hidden door in a room.

Morman's magic wasn't very offensive, but he was very good at practical things. He casually wove a lantern and led the way inside.

We were disappointed when we went inside, because it was just a small room with nothing but a table and a shelf.

There were several empty bottles on the shelf, with some medicine residue on the bottle walls, indicating that they had been there for a long time.

There were a few gems and pages on the table; it was unclear whether there were originally few things here or if the dwarves had taken them.

These pages describe several magic arrays, one of which was used by the dwarves to deal with the Lost People.

Morman was very excited when he saw these pages:

"This contains such powerful magic! Luckily, the dwarves don't know how to use it, or we'd probably be dead by now."

After saying that, he prepared to hand me the pages, but I didn't like studying magic.

"Since the magic recorded above is so powerful, you can keep it. I have no use for it."

"Thank you so much! Once my people and I have thoroughly studied the magic on it, we'll no longer be afraid of any future dangers!"

In conclusion, this escape room experience was of no help to me, and I didn't get the answers I was looking for.

Surely such a large fortress must have more than just this many secrets?

However, for those who love magic, the pages of the book might be a rare treasure.

The night is half over; the other half remains.

Morman naturally assumed that Riven and I were a couple, so he only arranged a room for us.

Lying in bed, we reminisced about the day's events, and when the topic turned to the dwarves, I suddenly thought of their Queen.

Her name was Stori, I think. She seemed to move very slowly. How did she suddenly disappear?

When the topic of the secret chamber came up, Riven suddenly lowered her voice. "Don't you think the Lost People are strange?"

"That's strange? Aside from its weakness in strength, I don't see anything else odd. What did you discover?"

"Their timing in killing the dwarves was too perfect; it happened precisely at the crucial moment of our interrogation."

"They're so far away, they probably couldn't hear what we were saying. It's just out of hatred."

"But the secret room is also strange. How come they didn't notice it after living here for so long?"

"Such a large fortress only housed about thirty people; the rest of the area was filled with dwarves. It's not surprising that such a well-hidden little house wasn't discovered."

"When we went in, I noticed that there were not only small footprints on the ground, but also quite a few large footprints. I don't think dwarfs have such big feet."

"Hmm? I hadn't noticed that. You're being too cautious these days, always suspicious of strangers."

"Not just strangers, I don't trust anyone but you. Oh, Fiora is trustworthy too, after all, she's someone you once liked."

Hmm... maybe I still like it now!

"I won't allow it!"

I teased Riven on purpose, but she took it very seriously, so I pinched her nose:

"Alright, anyway, it's always good to be careful when we're out and about, but we'll be leaving after tonight, so get some rest."