"Tucker Elder, you've finally arrived! The frequency of encounters with the ill-fated moles in the tunnels has been increasing lately. Several newly dug tunnels collapsed!"
Seeing Tucker, the gnoll chieftain, who was chewing mushrooms in distress, immediately spat out the mushed-up mushrooms from his mouth and ran to him, feeling both fearful and relieved.
"Stop!"
Tucker reached out and pressed his hand against the gnoll chieftain's face, saying coldly, "Your mouth reeks of pickled mushrooms. Stay away from me!"
"Yes, yes!"
The gnoll chieftain quickly backed away, afraid of offending Tucker. Then, with a hint of anticipation on his face, he asked, "Tucker Elder, do you have any clever tricks to deal with these ill-fated moles? Or are you going to take action yourself?"
"Me? I don't have time to bother with mole infestations. That's the job for a worthless leader like you."
When Tucker mentioned "worthless," he poked the gnoll chieftain's chest with his fingers. It seemed harmless, but with those two fingers pressing against his chest, the gnoll chieftain felt as if he had been punched twice. Startled, a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
After the intimidation, Tucker continued, "But you're in luck this time. King Tovagel has been wanting to try out a new method to deal with monsters recently, and he's chosen the tunnel under your jurisdiction."
The gnoll chieftain was immediately overjoyed, but when he noticed Alonso and his companions behind Tucker, his face fell.
Upon leaving the prison, Tucker returned their weapons to them, but their armor was still piled up in the storage room of the Dry Valley Prison. Without armor, dressed in ragged clothes with no protection, and only armed with weapons, the three of them looked particularly awkward.
"What's this? Want me to take them somewhere else?" Tucker's words carried a hint of coldness.
"No! No, please!"
The gnoll chieftain hurried forward to stop him but was stopped by Tucker, who pressed his face and opened his mouth in a grin, saying, "Don't change the place. The ill-fated moles that have recently appeared here are much more dangerous than those in other tunnels. It's most suitable to try out the new method here!"
Although he still didn't trust these three humans, if they could help kill one ill-fated mole for him, that would relieve some of his burden and that of his subordinates! Besides, this was Tucker, the right-hand man of King Tovagel. Which gnoll would dare to offend him?
"Hmph!"
Tucker snorted, grabbed the gnoll chieftain's face, lifted it up, and then threw him out. Then, he looked at the three people beside him and said, "See the tunnel ahead? Go in and find the ill-fated mole group and kill them. Simple, isn't it? Also, let me tell you, this tunnel isn't fully excavated yet, so don't think about escaping. As for the candles for exploration, someone among you seems to emit light, so don't waste them."
As his words fell, Alonso and his companions didn't hesitate and immediately ran towards the tunnel. Along the way, they didn't try to escape, so they didn't witness the strength of this gnoll. However, for some reason, they always felt a sense of danger when they were by his side. Now that they were allowed to leave, they didn't want to linger a moment longer near this guy.
Tucker watched as the three disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel under the yellow light, then muttered to himself, "With so many ill-fated moles appearing together, I'm afraid it's because of that thing. Is the king really not afraid of them dying here?"
Meanwhile, inside the tunnel, the three began to cautiously survey their surroundings.
Alonso led the way, shield in hand, followed closely by Karla, whose body emitted a golden glow, and Braus, who remained vigilant at the rear. Just like the gnolls, ill-fated moles were adept at tunneling, so they could also appear from behind. To ensure Karla's safety, Braus had to be stationed at the rear.
"Alonso, I remember you mentioning that you never got lost in gnoll tunnels before. Now's a good opportunity. Teach me! It'll be good preparation for escaping this underworld in the future."
After spending some time in the cave without encountering anything, Braus couldn't help but ask Alonso.
"I've only learned how to ensure I can find my way back, not how to search for exits. And even if I knew how to find exits, I wouldn't teach you. The two of you might be able to handle those packs of gnolls, but I can't. So, I need to ensure I still have my own value in case I need to escape in the future."
Alonso's response was very natural, without any hesitation.
Having adventured alone for years and led many wilderness expeditions, Alonso had encountered all kinds of people. After experiencing many setbacks, he naturally became more cautious. Although he sympathized with these two and felt they were decent people, they had only known each other for a short time, so he couldn't trust them too much.
Moreover, who could guarantee that when Braus asked about navigating the tunnels, he wasn't preparing to abandon Alonso later?
"Braus isn't like that!"
Karla, who was still hesitant to speak to Alonso, heard him suddenly speak ill of Braus and panickedly defended him.
"It's okay, I was just asking. If Alonso doesn't want to teach, that's fine."
Braus smiled awkwardly, realizing that his question wasn't as simple as Alonso had thought. But hearing Alonso's words, he also realized that Alonso didn't seem to bear any hostility towards him because of his previous inquiry.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a clump of dirt fell onto the ground ahead, causing the ground along the tunnel to tremble, and a rumbling sound came from deep within the passage.
"Judging from this movement, those mole groups are coming for us!"
Alonso rested his sword against his shield and glanced sideways at Braus behind him, saying, "If you can prove you have enough strength to be my teammate, I might consider teaching you some basic survival skills."
After saying this, Alonso's gaze returned to the front, but these words made Braus' eyes light up. From these words, he could tell that Alonso didn't seem to hold any hostility towards him because of his previous inquiry.
"Braus is really strong!"
Karla interjected again, but this time her words were very confident. Having been adventurers together for so long, she had seen Braus' strength with her own eyes, so she naturally had full confidence in him.
"Today, I explored several treasure troves hidden by gnoll elders, but still couldn't find my treasures. So, I had to take away a few treasures that caught my eye from these treasure troves to make up for my lost heart.
And now, I'm tasting some smoked meat that also came from the gnoll elder's treasure trove. Based on the texture, I can basically confirm that this meat comes from the ill-fated moles.
In the underworld, apart from gnolls and earth element creatures, these creatures are the most numerous. Gnoll cuisine mostly consists of these creatures. It's said that these creatures, which stand almost as tall as humans and are particularly bulky, often break into tunnels dug by gnolls. When such behemoths appear in tunnels, nearby gnoll chieftains lead their gnoll brutes to hunt them down. However, killing an ill-fated mole that is bigger than themselves often costs two or three gnoll brutes their lives, which is why meat in the underworld has always been very precious.
However, this also raises a question for me. Gnolls always carry candles to avoid something in the dark. So, without candles, do ill-fated moles, which live in darkness all the time, often encounter those things hidden in the dark?
Hmm, when I go to the gnoll library in a few days to find King Tovagel's treasure location, I'll also check what those creatures in the dark are." —— "Marin's Underground Adventure Diary"