Chapter 128 - Late-night talks
[Quest completed: Cleared Zuverian Ruins]
{Skill points awarded: 5}
Scarlett squeezed out of a narrow slit ahead of her, exiting from inside the cave wall she had been in to the natural quarry where her party had originally started. It had turned dark now, with a quiet air hanging over the space and the nearby forest as the stars shone down on them from above. She looked around and brought out her enchanted glasses to see better. It seemed they were close to the top of the quarry.
They had just spent several hours clearing the Zuverian ruins until they ended up at the intended entrance to the place. A fact that had spared them the trouble of having to retread their path and swim back out. She was thankful for that much.
The other members of her group climbed out of the opening behind her, and soon, they were all gathered outside. Adalicia was the last to exit, and Scarlett studied her for a moment.
It didn’t seem like the wizard was quite as used to all this exploring and moving around as the rest of them. Traversing the dungeon—as well as the trek there—had taken its toll on her. It probably hadn’t helped that Adalicia had moved back and forth all the time, inspecting almost every part of the ruins and taking extensive notes for later perusal.
That wasn’t to say the rest of them had been idle. In addition to dealing with all the enemies and traps that were present, they’d been gathering as many things as they could. At the rate Scarlett’s party was gaining experience with this kind of thing, they could probably be considered professional tomb raiders by now.
Like in Abelard’s Doll Mansion, they had eventually reached the limit of the [Bag of Juham]’s and the [Pouch of Holding]’s storage capacity, but fortunately, that was only towards the end. The only things they didn’t bring with them were minor baubles that Adalicia said weren’t too valuable and the items that were too large or literally nailed down, like the Tabernacle.
Whatever was left would be left to the mage towers. In this case, that probably only meant Elystead Tower, though Scarlett would be selling some of her own loot to the other towers as well. But for now, they were done here. There wasn’t much else to see in this area, and it was late, so next, they would be returning to the city.
Later that night, Scarlett was sitting in a small private lounge inside the inn they were staying at in Faybarrow. Her hands held a thin pile of documents given to her by Evelyne. She’d delayed reading through them up till now. It wasn’t anything too important—just another report on current business dealings and other fief affairs Scarlett wasn’t too familiar with—but it was something to while away her time with, at least.
Recently, she had gotten into the habit of going to sleep a lot later than usual. She wasn’t entirely sure why. Perhaps it was related to how busy she’d been lately, or maybe she accidentally reversed her sleep-wake cycle at some point without noticing it. Stress could also be a reason, though she didn’t feel stressed. Simply…bogged down, at times.