After saying that to you, she turned her gaze to Liyami, but Liyami didn’t have any particular opinion. She simply looked at Larian—after all, it was up to her to decide whether they could go or not.
“Are you going too? Are you alright in your current condition? Do you want to rest a bit more?”
Larian didn’t ask why Colin wanted to go as well, she just checked on Colin’s state. Once Colin assured her he was fine, Larian agreed to let him join them.
As for why Colin wanted to go, the main reason was that he wanted to find out if there was any way in that room for Liyami to return to normal. And the secondary reason was… he simply couldn’t stand staying where he was any longer.
At first, the fellow Paladins—now all turned into beautiful girls—were taking care of him. But after a while, things got a bit strange, and they even started to get handsy with him. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable, so he made up a random excuse to get away.
And it was while wandering aimlessly that he overheard Larian and Liyami’s conversation, giving him a legitimate reason to escape from the claws of those beautiful girl Paladins.
Oh, and there was another reason. He was worried that if he stayed beside those beautiful girl Paladin companions any longer, his relationship with Liyami might get worse and worse. He didn’t even know why he felt that way himself, but that’s just how it was.
Following Larian, Liyami and Colin slipped through a narrow gap and successfully entered the buried room.
Looking at the scene inside, with most of it buried in rubble, Liyami doubted if there really was any way in here to turn her back.
But since she was already here, she figured she might as well look around first—maybe she’d find something.
Liyami started searching ahead of them, while Larian went to check on the Paladins who were clearing the rubble. Colin glanced around and ultimately chose to search with Liyami. Given his current state, he couldn’t help Master even if he wanted to.
Seeing Colin follow her, Liyami didn’t say anything and began searching together with him.
But after searching for a long time, Liyami began to despair.
“We’ve been looking for so long, and forget about any ancient documents, there isn’t even a place to sit down! I get it now, what kind of ‘room’ is this supposed to be? This is clearly just a pile of rocks! Nothing but rocks, not a single other thing here!”
Liyami complained angrily, and Colin softly comforted her, “Don’t give up so easily. Do you remember what Elinor said? Since the ‘Holy Light’ guided us here, there has to be something important here. That much is for sure!”
Upon hearing that, Liyami was speechless.
“Holy Light,” “Holy Light,” every day it’s just this! Does the “Holy Light” never make a mistake? Is its guidance always right? I only see rocks here, nothing else! Maybe this so-called “Holy Light” is actually just a stone collector and brought us here to find the stone it thinks is the most special!
Of course, Liyami could only think this to herself. She didn’t dare say it in front of Colin, afraid he’d get angry and chop her up into pieces, then feed her to the dogs.
After searching for a long, long time, so long that Liyami was about to give up, she suddenly spotted a strange stone.
No way… could it be that the “Holy Light” really brought them here to find a special stone?
With that thought, Liyami picked up the odd stone. It was indeed a bit unusual in shape—a very regular round form, and it even had some strange patterns on it—but other than that, it was nothing special. No matter how she looked at it, it was just a rare-looking stone.
But Liyami didn’t think so. Ever since she saw the stone, she’d had a weird feeling in her heart. And when she picked it up, that feeling spiked to an intense level, making it impossible for her to ignore.
What’s going on? Why do I feel… so close to this stone?
It’s as if it’s a part of me, making me want to pick it up, and even… stuff it into my own body?!
Liyami was startled by her sudden urge, and quickly threw the strange stone away. The commotion caught Colin’s attention, and he came over to ask, “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”
“Haha, huh? No, nothing, I didn’t find anything, just… I tripped over a stone! Yeah, I just tripped over a stone! It’s nothing, really!”
Hearing Liyami say that, Colin had no choice but to walk away, only half believing her.
After Colin left, Liyami picked up the odd stone again.
Staring at the stone that felt so close, Liyami had a guess. Could this be the “Iqu Serpent Seed” the President mentioned?
As for why she thought that, it was because she’d ended up like this due to the magic in the “Iqu Serpent” labyrinth, and before, she’d also felt an eerily familiar sensation toward the Blooming Stone Beads found in the labyrinth—very similar to now.
This gave Liyami reason to suspect that this strange stone might be the “Iqu Serpent Seed” the President had spoken of.
Whatever the case, Liyami decided to take the stone back to show the President. Even if she was mistaken, just the fact that she felt such a bizarre connection with the stone was enough to prove it wasn’t ordinary. Maybe she could even redeem herself with this.
Thinking this, Liyami looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then secretly hid the strange stone on her person, wrapping it in shadow so it wouldn’t fall out or be discovered.
After all this, Liyami was about to continue pretending to search to cover up her actions, when Captain Larian’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Hey! Colin! Liyami! You two, come over here for a moment!”
Hearing Captain Larian’s voice, Colin and Liyami both immediately put down what they were doing and quickly walked to Larian’s side.
Colin looked around warily and asked, “Is something up, Master?”
Liyami was a bit nervous too, not just about any new developments, but also about what she’d do if Larian had just noticed her little stunt.
While the two of them were looking a bit tense, Captain Larian—looking like a petite, beautiful girl—smiled slightly, stepped aside, and revealed what was behind her.
When Liyami and Colin saw what was there, they were first shocked, and then grew excited.
It was a whole pile—a few dozen at least—of Blooming Stone Beads! With these, they could finally return to the surface, and go back to the camp!