Chapter 78: She Let Out a Huff
A huge roar echoed through the entire valley, and broken stones from above began to fall with loud cracking sounds.
Peiya used wind magic to blow away the falling rocks while her mind raced, trying to deal with this sudden situation.
Had the Ice Bear King discovered them?
She recalled what she had just seen.
Those eyes were truly terrifying, like the cruel tyrants described in books, able to kill from afar with just a single glance.
“Be careful, Miss Peiya. This cave… might not hold much longer.”
“What?”
Before Peiya could fully understand what Elise said, the ground beneath her feet shook violently, like a roller coaster going off its tracks.
Her body was thrown forward uncontrollably.
At that critical moment, Elise stepped on a rock and leaped forward. From the pile of falling stones, she accurately grabbed Peiya’s hand and pulled her into her arms.
She used her back to block the incoming rocks, while her other hand moved like lightning, her sword cutting down every falling stone.
The rocks that were about to hit Peiya’s head were instantly shattered into dust, leaving only a cloud of fine debris in the air.
“Are you okay?”
Elise sheathed her sword smoothly. In her arms, Peiya sneezed, her eyes wide like a frightened kitten. Fine dust clung to her long eyelashes.
She unconsciously shrank back, her soft body pressed tightly against Elise. Her slender fingers gripped Elise’s clothes, unwilling to let go.
It wasn’t that she was scared of the cave-in, Peiya had handled many dangerous situations before. The real problem was…
Before she could react, Elise had already picked her up in a princess carry. That alone would’ve been fine, but… why was Elise’s hand still holding her butt?
And squeezing it so tightly!
“I’m fine… but can you move your hand first?”
Elise looked down at Peiya in her arms. She looked quite charming, though her expression seemed a bit uncomfortable—no, more like embarrassed.
For a moment, Elise froze. Through the fabric, she could feel the warmth in her hand, and her fingers seemed to touch something soft and bouncy.
She even squeezed a little more.
A soft sound escaped Peiya, and their eyes met, Peiya glaring fiercely at her.
Elise quickly realized what she was holding. She immediately put Peiya down, coughed lightly, and said,
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Peiya, who already had some frustration, completely exploded after hearing that.
“Haaah—”
That was definitely on purpose.
But at such a dangerous moment, Elise managing to catch her was already impressive. Getting angry over this would be like blaming someone for being rough while saving you from drowning.
Peiya covered her butt and tried her best to keep a calm expression. “Don’t touch me like that again. That was an exception. Thanks for saving me~”
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Elise’s waist.
“One thing is one thing. This is an extra reward for saving me. Only this time, don’t expect it again.”
Her tone carried a slight warning, just in case Elise tried anything like that again without permission.
Even a tiger’s tail shouldn’t be touched. And now that she had changed like this, she could at least be considered a “tigress,” right?
How could she just let someone touch her like that so easily?
What Peiya didn’t know was that this contrast actually made Elise feel amused.
It was like wanting something more when you couldn’t have it.
The more someone teased you, the more you wanted to push them down and deal with them properly.
Like a ball in water, you push it down, it pops back up. Push it too much, and eventually you just smash the whole container.
Elise quietly put her hands behind her back and stepped forward.
A fresh, gentle fragrance from Peiya reached her nose. Without thinking, Elise placed her hand lightly on Peiya’s head.
“Alright, I accept this reward.”
Peiya let go and held her chin. Now wasn’t the time to focus on that. She forced herself to calm down, though her thoughts were still messy.
She didn’t exactly dislike Elise’s behavior. Before, her adventures were always alone, quietly calculating things. It was honestly quite boring.
But now, things were different.
She had a companion.
Someone who talked with her… not someone who touched her butt… yeah, someone who kept her company.
Peiya couldn’t help but let out a soft snort as she looked around at the crystals.
The mine was dark and damp. Crystals of different sizes were embedded in the walls, giving off a strange glow under the weak light.
The air was filled with a mix of sulfur and minerals, making people frown without realizing it. Broken stones and snapped wooden beams were scattered everywhere, and from time to time, small rocks fell from above, making unsettling rustling sounds.
Peiya guessed that they had fallen to the bottom of the mine.
There were many broken crystals around them, but right now, she didn’t care whether they released poison or not. The most important thing was how to get out.
Also… what happened to the bear eyes they saw earlier?
“Do you still remember those bear eyes?”
Elise nodded. “Yes, I saw them clearly too. But they suddenly disappeared. I checked just now, there’s no sign of any monsters nearby.”
“That’s strange… how could that happen? Wait, let me check the information.”
Peiya took out the materials Guild Leader Maya had given her and looked through them carefully.
“Do you have a teleportation crystal with you?”
“Yes.”
Elise took out a transparent crystal. At the top, there were golden patterns, magic runes carved by a mage.
Making something like this required a huge amount of mental strength.
Even just holding it, Peiya could feel the strong magic inside. It had been a while since she last used one, so her movements were a bit clumsy. But after some effort, she managed to activate it.
A strong flow of magic came out of the crystal. Normally, it would have taken them out of this place and returned them to where they were a few minutes ago.
However, the light-blue glow only rippled around their bodies for a moment, like waves crashing into rocks, and then shattered into white fragments.
“It didn’t work?”
Peiya picked up the broken crystal from the ground. It no longer had any magic left. It was completely useless now.
“Looks like it failed, just like in the records…” Elise held her chin and started thinking.
“Don’t worry yet. I’ll try the tracking potion.”
Peiya took out a tracking potion from her bag. Compared to the teleport crystal, this was much easier to use. She poured it onto the ground.
Soon, a faint green mist appeared on the floor… spinning in circles.
“Why is it just going in circles?”
“Why can’t it?” Elise asked curiously, tilting her head.
“Normally, if we fell down and wanted to return to where we were before, the light should move up or down. If it’s spinning in place, it means we never moved at all. What just happened… was an illusion!”
Peiya suddenly covered her butt as she realized something.
“That means the bear eyes and the cave collapse just now were probably illusions too… so you touched me for nothing!”
After reaching this conclusion, Peiya felt terrible. This ability was way too tricky.
If everything before was just an illusion… then what kind of space were they actually in right now?
Elise tilted her head, her long eyelashes fluttering, looking completely harmless. She grabbed Peiya’s hand and leaned closer.
“If you feel like you lost out, I can let you touch me too. How about that?”
Peiya imagined the scene for a moment and shook her head quickly, her cheeks turning red.
“What are you even saying? Be serious. What do you think about this illusion?”
Elise stopped smiling. Her expression turned serious as she tapped her chin, thinking.
Her green eyes scanned the surroundings carefully.
“I don’t think everything is an illusion. At least the cave collapse was real, I felt it. Those rocks really fell from above. My sword skills are special… it’s hard to explain, but you just need to know they’re not easy to fool. What might actually be an illusion are the crystals above us. Do you remember how mineral pollution works?”
Peiya nodded seriously. “Yes. When minerals become active, broken crystals are more likely to release the toxins stored inside because their structure is damaged. So… are you saying the crystals above us are just illusions, and the real ones have already been broken?”
If that was true, then they had probably already been exposed to a lot of mineral poison.
Elise nodded. “Yes. You could say we’re already surrounded… or maybe we’ve already been affected by an illusion. The amount should be quite high.”
“But…” Peiya looked at herself. “I don’t feel anything at all. Before, I saw people from small countries who mined these minerals, they looked half-dead. But I don’t feel like that. Could we be wrong?”
“It’s not a mistake. There are many ways pollution can affect someone. What’s certain is that if we stay here, things will only get worse. Didn’t you just get the Judgment Cross? Try putting holy light into it. Maybe it can purify this polluted place.”