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“Okay. So what now?”

We arrived on the 1st location indicated on the map. However, upon arriving, I discovered that there was nothing special present. In fact, there wasn’t even any obvious weakness present. Rapping the jet black wall, I discovered that there was not a single difference in the sound produced from any other wall.

The so-called weakness was basically absent!

“I don’t know.” faced against this, Weir shook her head, causing her to appear as though she was at her wit’s end.

Since the construction could not be damaged even by a 9th rank Explosion Magic, wanting to blast this wall apart wouldn’t be as simple as pasting the Explosive Scroll onto the wall or shoving it in a corner. The most effective method would be to stuff the scroll into the interior portion of the wall. Only by doing so would it be able to affect the interior construction of the wall.

However, without talking about shoving into the interior of the wall, there wasn’t even a single mouse hole present on this metal wall! Do I really need to use my Sacred Artifact to dig a hole out?

Yes…it would indeed be extremely simple to do so if I use my Sacred Artifact. However, Eleanor had clearly thought out of her plan since long ago. If she had even factored my appearance as well as my Sacred Artifact, it would truly be extremely frightening.

Just when I was considering the need of my Sacred Artifact, Weir suddenly pulled the corner of my blouse before pointing towards a location that was slightly lighter in color than the rest:

“There’s a hole there.”

A hole? I bent over to take a closer look, only to discover there is indeed a hole approximately two fingers wide on the wall. The surroundings of the hole are slightly lighter in color than the other areas, and it looks like there was something that had been stuffed there. However, that thing doesn’t seem to be too strong. It might have been completely destroyed or blasted away by the heat waves from the Explosion Magic, revealing the small hole hidden behind it.

Taking out a scroll, I discovered that it fits just right. Furthermore, its depth was sufficient to fit the entirety of the scroll.

“I should praise Eleanor to be able to do such a thing in this tightly guarded auction house.”

From the smooth surfaces of the hole, it clearly has been dug up using some kind of sharp tool. Looks like Eleanor has been preparing to execute this plan for a very long time.

“Of course, big sis Eleanor’s very awesome,” Weir replied in happiness, an expression that I’m seeing for the first time ever.

I feel that she seems a lot happier when Eleanor gets praised instead of herself. Looks like their relationship is really deep.

“Can you give me a brief introduction to Eleanor as a person?” On our way to the next destination, I took this opportunity to try to get a better understanding of this smart collaborator of mine.

“Of course!” Upon hearing that it was about Eleanor, Weir immediately responded with gusto. Compared to the earlier stuttering, words started to pour out of her mouth like a continuous fountain.

“It was when I just got captured and was feeling extremely frightened. At that moment, she consoled me just like how a big sister would. That person was big sis Eleanor. Just like a big sis, she is very kind to everyone. Therefore, basically all of the slaves adore her. Furthermore, she’s also very awesome! It was big sister Eleanor that stuck her head out for us when those guards bullied us.”

“Stuck her head out?”
“Yes…she’ll spit saliva into those people’s drinking water, as well as secretly stealing their meal cards away so they wouldn’t have any food to eat.”
“You guys are able to do such things? Aren’t all slaves supposed to be locked behind bars?”
“Nope. For the sake of ensuring the quality of the slaves, the auction house would generally not give trouble to those people who listen to them, so long as we don’t rebel against them, which would lead to extremely miserable outcomes.”

“However…” A burst of laughter escaped from Weir’s mouth. “Big sis Eleanor isn’t afraid of them. In fact, she’s able to quickly estimate the night time patrolling order and timings of the auction house, and use this information to mess with them.”

Perhaps noticing that I’m not clear about what she meant, Weir continued her explanation:
“She’ll write [We’ll take away a slave tomorrow] on a piece of paper and place it quietly at the door of the auction house master before sneakily sending a slave to go around the guards to sleep at the main gate for the whole night.”¹

“Did those people really believe what she wrote?”

“Yes. Day after that, the face of that hateful auction housemaster had turned as ugly as a wrinkled old melon as he brought his guards to make multiple rounds around the auction house. His exhausted expression after returning every single time would really make people crack up in laughter.”

“Speaking of which… that was the happiest moment I’ve experienced since being locked up here. However…”

All of a sudden, a depressed look appeared on Weir’s face, then the glow in her eyes started to dim: “Four years ago, big sis Eleanor was suddenly locked up with the reason being that there were no buyers interested to bid on her for too long of a time. After that, I did not see her again until now.”

“Not only that, but a few of our compatriots were also mysteriously sold off out of the blue, despite there clearly being no auctions held, or any buyers present. During that period, our prison cell became very empty…”

“Sorry for letting you recall those past hurtful events.”

“No problem.” Weir shook her head and regained the smile on her face: “Therefore I was extremely happy when I was able to see big sis Eleanor again.”

“So that’s what happened.” I drew Weir into a light embrace, “Let us work hard and save your big sis Eleanor and your other slave compatriots out of here.”

“……” Weir hesitated for 2 seconds before replying: “Okay.”

……
……

Without the interference of those guards, we were quickly able to finish placing the required scrolls for the 1st level. Using this as a reference, we might be able to complete this task within 3 hours, however…

“Are you sure this is the only way up?”

I said as I pointed towards the jet black staircase, praying for Weir to count me wrong. However, Weir proceeded to nod her head with resolution.

“Ah…this will be troublesome.” I could not help but to clutch my head in pain.

How good would it be if there’s another passageway to use! If there’s only one passageway, there’s a possibility of our enemies sealing up the exit completely, lying in wait for us to jump right into their jaws.

“I was thinking why no one has been coming down from there for such a long time. Looks like they’re all waiting up there…”

Exactly how did those fellows know that we’ll definitely head up there?

“That…what should we do?”
“What else?” I quietly grit my teeth: “We’ll just have to rush straight up! At worst I’ll just toss another Explosive Scroll.”
“Hold tight.” Grabbing hold of Weir’s soft hand, I proceeded to take out a scroll.
“Let’s go!” with a low roar, I rushed forward with Weir.

The staircase is in a stereotypical zig-zag shape. Only by rushing past the corner will one be able to see the situation above. As we rushed up, I could not help but think about those people rubbing their hands together as they waited for us.

Just as I placed my feet on the staircase, I heard an extremely soft voice ringing out. The voice had an extremely respectful tone to it, just like how a subordinate would use when reporting to their higher-ups.

From the looks of it, they’ve already discovered us. Nevertheless, there was nothing else we could do.

Shaking these thoughts out from my head, I mentally prepared myself as I rushed forward.

As we rounded the tight corner, we discovered that there was no net or formation waiting for us. Instead, it was just a black-clothed middle-aged gruff-looking uncle half-kneeling before a Spectrum Stone, which is projecting the image of a red-clothed old man.

Both the gruff-looking uncle and the red-clothed old man were shocked to see me and Weir suddenly appearing before them. Nevertheless, it was impossible for me to pull my brakes now.

Therefore…the only thing left was a glorious collision…

However, just at the instant of the collision, there wasn’t even an ounce of fear within me. Because…in a straight out collision…

This princess has never lost before…

1. The silva revels in the owner taking the bait.