“Miss Theodore, could you… be a bit gentler?”
Lutherch looked at the large crater Theodore had smashed into the ground with her hammer once again, his face full of helplessness.
To catch it, several large holes had already been pounded into this patch of grass.
Besides, one could just use their hands to catch it; there was no need for a hammer…
Sighing in his heart, Lutherch truly regretted bringing this little ancestor back.
‘Persuasion doesn’t work, and I can’t exactly hit her. Leaving aside the fact that Theodore likely holds a high status within the Dwarf Tribe, in terms of pure strength alone, I might not even be able to beat her! I’m just an old bag of bones now…’
“Sigh…”
Stopping Theodore for a moment, Lutherch hurried to grab the spider and carefully handed it to her.
“Careful, you’ll pinch it to death very easily…” Lutherch didn’t forget to add.
When Theodore saw the little spider Lutherch handed over, her eyes immediately lit up.
She instantly tossed the large stone hammer aside and carefully cupped the tiny spider in her hands.
“Fuzzy… so cute!”
Theodore kept poking the little spider with her leather-gloved finger, her eyes filled with joy and curiosity.
In the underground where the Dwarf Tribe lived, there were mostly massive Ore-species Demon Spiders, the kind that wouldn’t break even after being hammered for ages.
They were destructive and ferocious.
Especially after the arrival of The Strange calamities, those Ore-species spiders became even more bloodthirsty and brutal, gaining various eerie abilities.
They had nearly driven the Dwarf Tribe to extinction several times.
Although many Dwarf Tribe clans still existed today, it could be said that this was the first time she had seen such a small and nearly harmless spider.
In fact, this tiny, harmless spider—it was truly too adorable!
Holding it in her hands, and knowing how fragile the little spider was, Theodore became exceptionally cautious.
“Can I take one back to raise?”
As she spoke, Theodore looked at Lutherch expectantly, her voice full of longing and hope.
“This…”
Lutherch fell silent for a moment.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but rather that these little spiders had only appeared after the Lightforce had enveloped the area.
The environment within the Black Mist might be completely unsuitable for its survival.
In a worst-case scenario, it might even cause the spider to undergo a strange mutation.
“Is it not allowed…”
Theodore blinked.
Seeing Lutherch hesitate for so long, the light in her eyes immediately dimmed.
‘That’s true… This belongs to someone else, not me. I can’t just take it back.’
Thinking of this, Theodore’s expression became somewhat despondent.
“Miss Theodore, it’s not that I don’t want you to take it back. It’s just… it probably won’t be able to survive in the Black Mist,” Lutherch ultimately explained.
“But aren’t they all spiders? The spiders on our side can survive, so why can’t this one?”
Theodore was born after the arrival of the calamities and had grown up in the Black Mist since she was a child.
She had never seen or truly understood the environment of the Outsider world with her own eyes.
No matter how it was explained, it was difficult for her to grasp.
Looking at Theodore’s confused expression, Lutherch’s mouth twitched.
‘It really is hard to explain.’
After thinking for a moment, Lutherch tried a different approach.
“This little spider is very weak, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“The spiders on your side are big and strong, right?”
“But I feel like they’re still quite fragile…”
Hearing this, Lutherch nearly choked on his own saliva.
Suppressing the urge to facepalm, he continued, “But those big spiders are much stronger than this little one, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“So, the things those big spiders can eat, this little spider can’t. The big spiders can protect themselves, but the little spider can’t. Do you understand?”
“But we can raise it! We can give it food and protect it!”
Seeing how persistent Theodore was, Lutherch felt helpless and decided to be more direct.
“It cannot survive in the Black Mist.”
Theodore understood now.
She looked at the Church outpost enveloped in light, her eyes full of an unspeakable envy.
She had only been here for a short while, but she already didn’t want to go back to that dark, oppressive underground.
But… she didn’t belong here.
She couldn’t stay forever.
“Master, the goat milk has been heated.”
Mosen walked over carrying a cup of steaming goat milk, his eyes cautiously scanning Lutherch.
After waking up, he realized he had a gap in his memory for a period of time, but it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened afterward.
He was still feeling a bit guilty even now.
“Mm. Go and prepare two more sealed portions of goat milk.”
Seeing that his master still had no intention of blaming him, Mosen breathed a quiet sigh of relief and hurriedly left to comply.
The Mage Tower was still under construction, but the surrounding area had already been cordoned off with a wall.
The reason Lutherch felt both pained and helpless was that the large craters Theodore had smashed were located right within the perimeter of the Mage Tower.
‘This is all money!’
The goats he had worked so hard to raise couldn’t all be squandered on repairing the grass.
After thinking it over, Lutherch could only slight Mosen—letting this Archmage repair these large craters was a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but it was easy and fast.
It would also serve to temper the arrogance that had gradually grown in him over the years.
“Goat milk!”
Theodore’s original despondent mood vanished the moment she saw the goat milk, and she even dropped the little spider in her hand directly onto the ground.
Her eyes were full of urgency, and she couldn’t wait to drink it.
However, her movements remained exceptionally careful and incredibly slow as she took the goat milk, as if she were holding some precious holy relic.
It took her a full three minutes to move the cup from her hand to her lips, even though the distance was short.
She opened her small mouth slightly, and even her breaths were gentle, for fear that the goat milk might spill out.
The warm, white liquid entered her mouth and flowed slowly down her throat into her stomach.
A satisfied smile immediately appeared on Theodore’s face.
This was simply the most wonderful thing in the world!
Perhaps to Theodore, or even to the entire Dwarf Tribe, goat milk itself wasn’t particularly delicious; it even had a bit of a gamey smell.
But they happened to love this delicate texture and that hint of a unique flavor.
Alcohol was like hot blood and adventure—while goat milk was their nostalgia for the world before the Black Mist arrived.
The alcohol they had stored wasn’t much, but if it were used to trade for goat milk, those who loved alcohol as much as their own lives would still choose to trade without hesitation.
Watching Theodore hold the cup and take small sips while making *gulping* sounds, the frown on Lutherch’s face gradually relaxed, and he let out a soft sigh.
At least this little ancestor wouldn’t cause any more trouble for the time being.
If things continued like this, his old bones really wouldn’t be able to hold up.
Without the support of magic, the speed of his body’s aging was much faster than he had anticipated.