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Chapter 102 The Way Out
Chapter 102 The Way Out (Seeking First Subscription!)
Maeve pinched her nose with one hand and the other.
I walked carefully through the cave.
In the sweltering summer heat, the poorly ventilated underground tunnels allowed the stench of the corpses to ferment to its extreme.
"How many kobolds have you hunted here?"
She pinched her nose, her voice muffled.
"More than twenty, including two leaders."
Gru grinned at her and said the rest of the sentence, "There are four more adventurers."
"What?!"
Maeve was startled and yelled, even instinctively letting go of the hand that was pinching her nose.
"vomit!"
The stench filled her nostrils, making her nauseous. The thought that the smell might come from a human corpse...
"vomit!!!"
Wilder patted her on the shoulder and comforted her, "Don't worry, we're not bad people. We killed them when they were about to kill us. The moment they were controlled by greed and arrogance, they were no different from monsters."
"oh----"
Maeve nodded.
Wilder spoke quite sincerely, but she didn't believe him at all.
Not long ago, he had also used this sincere expression to deceive Cyrion, saying that the person who stabbed him with a dagger was a kobold.
Mom was right after all.
Men are all liars!
She was indeed shocked and fearful about killing four adventurers, but only for a moment.
For some reason, the new adventure team she joined made her feel inexplicably at ease.
Whether it's Gru and Lyle, who love to bicker;
Cyrion still had a serious and righteous look on his face;
Or perhaps the unpredictable Joffrey and the earnestly nonsensical Wilder.
In the battle they had just fought, they hadn't retreated an inch.
While everyone else was bewitched by the kobold priest, Wilder never considered escaping; he only thought about how to turn the tide of the battle.
Therefore, Maeve would not worry that they would plot against her just because they killed four adventurers.
On the contrary, she believed that if something unexpected happened, they would kill the other four adventurers in order to rescue her.
They're a great team.
As she thought about it, she pinched her nose back with both of her little hands.
The team redistributed the luggage that had been hidden in the cave and the newly brought-back luggage.
Cyrion and Gru carried the two heaviest loads, followed by Wilde and Maeve, while Joffrey and Lyle, who needed to scout ahead, carried the relatively lightest loads.
Adventurers are not divided by gender; except when they need to use the restroom, they do almost the same work.
Maeve didn't hesitate and simply carried the huge suitcase on her back.
But some things can't be accomplished by willpower alone. The luggage was just too heavy, and the delicate Maeve didn't even have the strength to put it on her shoulder.
-
"Let me help you," Wilder said, leaning closer.
"Thank you."
Maeve looked at the equally heavy luggage on his shoulders and felt somewhat embarrassed.
If he helps himself, the burden on his shoulders will increase, and the mage's physical condition has never been good, which would be too much trouble for him.
Unexpectedly, Wilder didn't seem to have any intention of helping her with the weight. Instead, he pulled out his staff, paused for two seconds, and then slammed it down on her luggage with a "bang".
The enormous luggage visibly began to shrink until it was half its original size.
"Besides the smaller size, the weight has also become one-eighth of what it used to be," he explained.
"Thanks!"
Maeve tried it and indeed easily hoisted the luggage onto her shoulder.
"Don't mention it. As long as you can carry it, that's good. The weight will come back to normal in a bit. Just hang in there."
"Change back?" Maeve was taken aback.
"Yes, the [Shrinking Spell] only lasts for one minute. Once the time is up, the luggage will return to its original size and weight."
Wilder continued, "You'd better count to sixty to yourself, or you might suddenly be overwhelmed."
"what?"
Maeve immediately began a countdown in her mind.
Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight —
wrong!
I was delayed by a few seconds.
Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight————
Ah!
It would have been better if you hadn't helped me at all!
Maeve, with a mournful face, a heavy heart, and light luggage on her back, awaited the judgment of true quality.
The group walked to the central hall of the underground lair.
After resting for a while in this relatively spacious area, we will then enter a narrow tunnel.
As planned, Lyle and Joffrey went first.
Gru followed closely behind, with Wilde and Maeve in the middle and Cyrion bringing up the rear.
The return journey, seemingly an easy triumphant return, was actually more dangerous than the campaign itself.
Including the weapons they took from the Danube City quartet, their total assets exceeded three hundred gold coins.
After resting properly, Joffrey and Lyle entered the tunnel one after the other.
According to the plan, Gru would wait half an hour before setting off, giving the two advancers enough time to scout.
"Seriously, what's there to be afraid of in broad daylight?"
Gru started again, "And this is in a cave! Can kobolds really come back to life?"
He couldn't wait any longer, so he shoved his luggage into the tunnel and crawled inside.
"Shh!"
Joffrey's face suddenly appeared in front of him.
Gru was taken aback: "Why are you still here? Weren't you gone for a while already?"
"Let's go back first!"
Joffrey pushed his luggage, squeezing Gru back from the tunnel entrance, and he followed him out.
Lyle followed closely behind, also returning through the tunnel with his luggage.
"What's going on?"
Cyrion sensed something was wrong and came closer.
"There were footsteps on the other side of the tunnel, and it sounded like at least ten people," Joffrey said.
"Really?" Gru pressed his ear close to the tunnel. "I can't hear anything at all?"
"The tunnel is very long, and I can only hear faint sounds; you definitely can't hear them," Joffrey explained.
Are you sure?
Cyrion's voice turned serious. "Human or monster?"
"We can confirm there were footsteps, but as for what they were—"
Joefri paused. "I think it was human. The footsteps sounded more like leather boots, very stiff leather boots."
"This is bad—"
Cyrion's face darkened completely.
"This is on the outskirts of the forest. If it's a monster, it's at most a difficult level, and we can still put up a fight."
He swallowed hard and looked at the rest of the team. "But if they're adventurers, it's six against ten of us, and we don't know their strength—"
"But what if the other party doesn't mean any harm?"
"Maybe it can even help us carry some of the luggage," Gru said naively.
"Don't forget, there are four adventurers' corpses lying in the room inside."
Cyrion glanced at him sideways. "The bodies have marks from our swords and axes, and their weapons are still in our bags!"
Gru fell silent.
Cyrion is right.
If the intruders are villains, they will steal the team's belongings, and a battle is inevitable.
If not, the team could very well be identified as the murderers, especially since the victims were adventurers from Danube City.
Any encounter with this group will lead to trouble.
"What should we do? There's only one way out!" Gru exclaimed anxiously.
Wilder remained silent.
His gaze shifted backward, sweeping over the three tunnel entrances on the rock wall.
The first passage leads to a storage room, where the corpses of four adventurers from Danube City are displayed.
The third room led to the kobold leader's room, which was filled with the stench of kobold corpses.
And the second one—
They never intended to get involved.
It leads to the heart of the forest.
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