The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 647: This is why youngsters always need supervision

Perhaps due to our enthusiastic conversation the night before, we entered the ruin with higher energy than before.

This ruin was more popular than the other two we visited before. The town where we stayed was actually established because of the ruin. But since it was located in a mountain, the settlement had to be built in the valley not far from the entrance; around an hour of walking.

It was an old ruin with proper history, but that was only one reason for its popularity. What was nice about this ruin was its puzzle-like structure, which changed every now and then. It was said that the scholars were still trying to figure out the pattern behind the change.

This meant that some chambers might still left unchecked. With each change, the beats and golems guarding the ruin also regenerated, and sometimes, mana crystal sprouted out from the activity surrounding the change.

Fascinating, wasn’t it? Very possible for a relic to still be buried somewhere inside that mountain.

The ruin’s layout was interesting. They weren’t joking when saying this place was like a puzzle. Not a maze--a puzzle. The path to the next room might require us to go down two levels, through a winding path, crossing a huge chasm, before climbing up again. And everything changed every forty-nine days--the whole ruin as big as the mountain...plus the area beneath the mountain. We hadn’t even met any other group while we were inside.

No wonder the scholar still couldn’t figure out this place after decades.

Thankfully, we had a trustworthy pathfinder.

Chii!

After going around for hours, the mole ran back to me with a twitching snout, pulling on the edge of my pants while pointing somewhere. "Oh? It seems like Shiny found something."

"Perhaps I should make a metal detector soon," Aina stroked her chin.

"Make one that could detect mana waves too," I suggested lightheartedly, but a protesting chirp assaulted our ears.

[Jade can do that!]

Oh, this cutie.

"Of course, Jade can do that," I held the bird and stroked the green head. "But what if we get separated and Jade is not with them?"

[Oh!] thankfully, the bird understood quickly. That being said, Jade looked at me with concern and chirped weakly while nuzzling my hand. [But Papa won’t replace Jade, right?]

"Silly kid," I squeezed the plump, soft cheeks that were smaller than Shwa’s. "Even if we use the mana detector, would I ever replace my own child?"

[Papa won’t!]

"Yes, I won’t," I squeezed Jade’s cheeks once more for good measure. "Stop thinking about silly things."

[Okay!]

Phew. This was why people said we should think a lot before adding another child.

Anyway, we followed that child toward another complicated path, including crawling through narrow space again. Thankfully, this one didn’t induce claustrophobia much, because the path was still enough for an armored paladin to go through.

Still, it was rather funny seeing someone in full-plated armor bending on all fours, crawling with a shield dragging along the ground behind. We tried to hold it back, but Zarfa started giggling, and then Aina, and I couldn’t hold it in after that. Looking at Ian’s sulking face after we got out of the path only made us laugh even more.

"This is why I don’t want to go this way..." he grumbled quietly.

Pfft--so that was why he looked reluctant. I thought he was feeling awkward because the three of us came from another world.

Chii! Shiny guided us some more toward a pretty spacious room. There were several golems inside the room, but they were nothing like Stan. Just mindless golems programmed to attack whoever stepped inside the room. They weren’t even programmed to talk. Just attack, attack, attack.

So, I didn’t have much qualms about destroying them. Aina requested for me not to damage them too much, however, since she wanted to scavenge their body parts. Well, Alveitya got to have more fun because of that so...why not?

After dispatching the golem as cleanly as I could, Jade swooped around the room and chirped energetically.

[There! There’s something there! Jade can feel it!]

"Yes, yes--good job, baby."

[Hehe]

With Jade’s and Shiny’s cheerful sounds, I approached what looked like a sarcophagus in one of the alcoves. There were several of them, but Jade pointed toward this specific one. As someone who was already buried once, it did not faze me and Zarfa. Funnily enough, Mister Paladin was holding his shield tightly ten steps behind us.

What a funny guy.

I exchanged glances with Zarfa, and after counting to three, we opened the stone lid, hoping for the best. "Oh, too bad," we let out a sigh. I already had an inkling though, since I couldn’t sense the Goddess’s essence. "But it’s not a bad find."

I took out the stuff lying at the bottom of the stone box. It was shaped like a stick, black in color, with a slightly chromatic touch. Pretty heavy, weighed like a sword or a big hammer.

"A shape-shifting weapon," Zarfa muttered. It was something rare and a favorite among the mercenaries. Rather than something fixed like a sword, they let the owner decide what it would take shape as. It wouldn’t change weight, however, so not anyone could wield it. "Hey, Ian--can you use this?"

Naturally, the one among us who could wield it was Ian. Well, I could too, but my spear was as prone to jealousy as my husband, so...

The young paladin, peeking out behind his shield, blinked adorably. "Huh? Me?"

"Yeah--it’s heavy, so the girls can’t use it," I told him, throwing the black stick so he couldn’t have a choice but to catch it.

The shield clanked loudly on the floor as Ian caught the shifting weapon. He stared at it without blinking for a minute and fell into silence for some more. The only sound we could hear was Aina scavenging golem parts while humming with Jade and Shiny in the background.

"Can I...really have it?"

"Yeah, why?"

He bit his lips before asking carefully. "You’re not rather...sell it?"

"Well, you can do it if you want," I shrugged while getting up, smiling at how he asked that while clutching the stick tightly. "None of us need the money."

"Yeah, dude," Zarfa chuckled as she patted her rugged-looking cloak. "Not to boast or anything, but we’re richer than you."

"That’s true, but..."

"That’s not the way to say it, Ceci..."

My sigh was only met with a giggle. Well, it wasn’t wrong, and we truly didn’t need any weapons or money. If anything, Ian needed something other than a shield, so he wouldn’t have to be a passive tanker.

"I think you should wield a mace or something like that," I commented. "You’re strong enough to wield the shield with one hand anyway."

"Just take it as compensation for making fun of you earlier," Zarfa added when Ian still looked reluctant.

Funnily enough, that changed his stance immediately. "Thank you," he nodded.

Again, funny guy. This group was really fun. "Use it well--or sell it well, your choice."

"I’m--I’m not going to sell it!"

"Just sell it once you find a better one," Zarfa scoffed.

"Uhh..."

I laughed and patted his shoulder. "You’re such a pure boy."

"Brother!"

Leaving a trail of laughs behind us, we continued to check the ruin following Shiny for a few more hours. Unfortunately, the mole said it couldn’t find anything good anymore. The other chambers were only filled with traps or beasts, or insignificant things like gold or jewels, so we decided to end the exploration in the evening.

Not finding the bead was too bad, but we were happy nonetheless. Ian got a weapon, and Aina got her golem parts. We exited the ruin with satisfaction and full of energy, unlike usual. Indeed, harvest brought happiness even in the face of exhaustion.

"I think we still have time to go to another one, don’t you think?"

By our initial agreement, we should be returning to the hotel in ten days. It was only the seventh day now, so we could explore one more--or maybe two if we were lucky--before returning with the scroll.

"Yeah; if we leave now, we can arrive by tomorrow," Zarfa nodded. "Just hang in there a bit, Aina."

Sighing long and heavy, Aina made a defeated face while rubbing her waist and butt in advance. "Yea, yea..."

I patted their shoulders and gave them rejuvenation mana. "Here, I’ll heal you a bit."

"Thanks, Boss!"

With the healing incentive and the harvest, we left the area with energized laughter. Filling our stomachs and feeding the horses first, we immediately moved toward our next destination before the surroundings turned completely dark.

In hindsight, we should be more careful. At the very least, we shouldn’t look like a bunch of people who have just found some treasures inside the ruin.

"Haa..."

When the sky darkened and we rode slowly to cross a bridge, I couldn’t help but sigh.

"What is it?" Zarfa whispered curiously.

Looking ahead, I cast a noise-cancelation barrier around the bridge before continuing. "We’re being followed."