Chapter 207 - Dinnertime for Gawain’s Family (1/2)

After returning to the real world, both Gawain and Amber looked rather grim.

Sir Byron who had waited for a good while approached them at the first moment. “Lord, are you alright?”

“I saw the uncanny workmanship of nature.” Gawain let out a breath, slowly getting rid of the discomfort in his heart from confronting the big void. At the same time, he shook his head helplessly. “I hope that was the uncanny workmanship of nature.”

Sir Byron wore a puzzled look; even with his experience as a wily old fox, he couldn’t deduce what exactly Gawain had seen in the shadow realm. But he cleverly did not pursue further —— since Gawain did not actively share about it, it meant that the information could not be made public at the current stage. There were also many ordinary soldiers present, so he decided not to inquire too much.

After calming his emotions, Gawain looked towards Byron. “Other than this new area, are there any more explorations to be reported?”

“Yes, our progress has been smooth-sailing recently. There were many discoveries.” Sir Byron nodded and immediately began to give a simple report of the information that he had accumulated at present. “Where we are at should be the lowest level of the ruin. If no more ramps or staircases appear, then this hall should be the ‘base’ portion of the entire facility. At this point, the entire ruin can be roughly divided into three levels — top, middle, and bottom. The middle level is connected to the entrance hall that we found at the very start. Spacious rooms, structures of the corridors that are perfectly straight and symmetrical, this should be the main area of activity for the personnel back then. The upper level leads to the summit and front of the Dark Range. There are many hidden air vents and probably exits in emergency passageways. However, the majority of the exits have been blocked off due to weathering and collapse of the mountain. They cannot be cleared up for now. Meanwhile, the bottom level is where we’re currently at. It is the smallest of the three areas but has the most complicated structure. There are lots of rooms piled with abandoned equipment and mezzanines with unknown uses, and also this hall that we found. These three areas depend on the ‘big ramp’ located in the center of the facility, as well as shafts and narrow stairs scattered at various spots, to be connected. In addition, there are also some uneven storeys within every area. I’ve sketched out the structural plan of the storeys in detail.”

Sir Byron paused for a moment before going on, “We plan to explore the southern and eastern parts of the middle level next. We found extra connecting passageways in these two places. There was junk piled up in them, but the passageways showed no signs of collapse. When the manpower is in place, we would be clearing up the obstacles and carrying out further exploration. I suspect that the undiscovered area in this ancient ruin is still very big.”

Gawain frowned after comparatively outlining the diagram of this ruin and the overall shape of the Dark Range in his mind. He said slowly, “Southern area… If the entire middle level is a symmetrical structure, then the southern area might lead towards the southern foot of the Dark Range. You must be especially cautious in that exploration. Once you find that buildings have passed through the mountain, immediately seal up the passageway and come forth to report it. You must not casually enter the Black Forest at the southern side of the range. As for the east…”

Amber utilized her limited knowledge of the continent’s geography at the side and suddenly blurted out, “It can’t be leading towards the Typhon Empire?”

Sir Byron was startled at once. “Is that possible?”

“Nothing is impossible.” Gawain was rather indifferent about this. “The region where we are located is in the southeastern corner of Anzu, and the Dark Range extends all the way into the Typhon borders. Supposing this ancient facility had really been built by digging out the mountain range… then it is also possible that its tail end enters the Typhon borders. After all, during the Meteoric Era a thousand years ago… there wasn’t anything like the borders of Anzu and Typhon.”

At this point, he looked at Sir Byron’s eyes, his expression especially serious. “If that really turns out to be the case, you’ve got to be even more careful, understand?”

Sir Byron was, to some extent, also a Knight —— even if he’d had a midlife career change, he also had some general knowledge about military affairs. He immediately realized what it meant if there was really a passageway in this ruin that could lead into Typhon. Thus, he stood up straight at once. “Yes! I understand!”

After he was done settling proper business, Gawain decided to return to the territory first. But before he left, he patted Sir Byron’s shoulder and reminded, “Your exploration work in the mountains is very important, but the vacation that you ought to have should still be taken. After wrapping up here this time, go home and get a few more days of rest.”

Sir Byron chuckled. “Actually, I’m still alright. Back when I was a mercenary, I dug through all sorts of ruins all day long. Sometimes, when we got inside the crypt, spending half a month inside was also…”

“But you didn’t have a daughter back when you were a mercenary.” Gawain glanced at him. “Pea really misses you.”

Byron’s chuckling expression instantly stiffened, taking its place was some awkwardness. “Oh… oh… then I’ll go back and spend more time with her.”

Gawain and Amber returned to the feudal lord residence. After being busy the whole day, the sun was already setting by the time they arrived home. It was close to dinnertime.

At present, other than two temporarily recruited servants, Betty was the only maidservant at the feudal lord’s residence. The young lady was responsible for everyone’s meals and the chores. Gawain’s family, counting the freeloading Amber and newly moved-in sea demon Tiel, was only five people. Though Gawain was a man of simple style, with simple food every day, together with the servants’ food and daily chores, this was no longer a small burden.

Looking at the young lady running around the dining room like a blast of wind, setting out the plates, distributing the bread, Gawain could not help but go forward to help, with Amber in tow. He helped to set the plates while asking Betty, “Can you manage the work every day?”

“I can!” The maidservant answered in a clear and sharp voice while carrying the big bottle containing wine. “Ah, Lord, don’t set the plates yourself!”