Griffith checked the surroundings and confirmed that there were no signs of danger. He stretched out his hand, pressed the buckle around Sonia's waist, and began to untie her safety rope. The girl hesitated for a moment, then stood on tiptoes and put her hands on the trainee knight's shoulders so that he could reach out and unbuckle the sling behind her.
The faint fragrance penetrated Griffith's mind, as refreshing as the green grass and gardens in early spring. The girl's delicate hands were on her shoulders, and they were even more intimate than at the dance.
Beside them, Galadia jingled for a while without untying the rope, waiting for Griffith to come to help with a lonely look.
Griffith hurried over to help her. There is a subtle embarrassment in the air...
He looked at Galadia, his heart beating like a marching drum, and his hands reaching for the lock behind her back were a little nervous. I heard that some girls will ask a fatal question when faced with this situation, so that no matter how you answer it, you won't be able to answer it right.
Galadia put her right hand in front of her chest and was startled by the sound of her heartbeat. Seeing the nervous and uneasy eyes, she turned her head slightly and gently pressed the hand on her waist.
"It's good even if you don't win the laurel crown," she said softly, "I heard that the knights in the finals are very powerful. It's not worth hurting yourself."
"I'm not bad either." Griffith said hurriedly.
After hearing this, the elf girl shook her head: "Those beautiful shells, magnificent ceremonies, and grand reasons can sometimes make people happy, but there is no need to turn them into shackles and shackles."
Seeing that the would-be knight didn't understand for a moment, she tapped her silver breastplate with her slender fingers: "Griffith, in my eyes, you are the little sergeant who stood up for strange villagers. I want to The trainee knight wondering what to eat for dinner, the scoundrel reluctant to buy an extra serving of honey.
"It's you first, and then the little knight who appears in my story, isn't it?"
…
The ground of the ruins is not rugged. As an ancient altar and settlement, the road has been cleared long ago. After descending from the cave entrance, there is a semi-permanent camp a few miles away, leading to different roads. One after another, expedition teams have arranged ready-made lighting positions, pits for collecting samples, and even detailed itinerary records left behind.
"Some people say that Belomon is the name of a great ancient god," said a locally hired guide. "After his fall, the animals and plants in the ruins fell into madness and chaos until the elves' purification team arrived. After many years With continued work, the dangers and contamination here have been lifted.”
The ventilation of this underground ruins seems to be good, and the flames of oil lamps and torches even sway with the wind blowing from nowhere. Not long after the expedition team advanced, they discovered that the interior of the ruins was surprisingly open. The moss and rocks intertwined with silver, blue and scarlet shimmered like stars floating in the sky. The silent underground is not completely dark. Layers of roads and caves are looming in the distance, extending into the depths of the ruins.
It's like a lost city that has been enchanted.
"Is this an underground canyon?" Sonia stared at the dim light and the outline of the cliff for a while, and could barely distinguish the twists and turns of the terrain. "There are obvious signs of erosion on the rock wall."
"Yes, it has been discovered that there is an underground river under our feet," Galadia said, flipping through the map. "Due to the large area of the ruins, the purification team that came here has never been able to complete all the exploration. However, it has not yet been completed. The explored part is deep where we won’t go and is out of the way.”
"Professor Bell and his team from Pasha University entered here before us, two weeks ahead of us." Sonia looked through the camp records and marked the time and arrangement of their group's arrival there, "This I know a professor who often comes to my house as a guest and receives support from my mother. They are a regular long-term investigation team, and we should not encounter them. "
The expedition team moved on. Along the way, you can see carefully marked signs on both sides of the road. If you raise your hand in areas that require lighting, you will find that grooves have been dug into the rocks to insert torches or shackles for hanging oil lamps have been installed.
After everyone walked in silence for a while, Galadia suddenly said: "My people's purification team usually consists of five members, assisted by dozens of indigenous people. In a ruin of this size, the members of the purification team will Spread out and one of them will definitely stay in the main camp.
"The camp is on a rock platform a few days away. The director is the extraordinary wizard Besarius of Sequence 6. He is a senior archaeologist and powerful wizard. He has been hosting Belomon recently. Regarding the purification and protection of the ruins, we can consult him for some academic opinions later, which will definitely be helpful to the report.
"According to Canaan's statement, if Besarius is not in the main camp, then Sif, a member of the purification team, and Cretan, a native, will be stationed."
…
Every time they walked along a section of the road, Sonia and the others would stop to collect some rock samples and put them into small bags, and then copy the murals and sculptures on the walls to record the investigation process and use it as material for writing reports.
Sonia collected a lot of samples. She classified them into different bags and put them away. As she sorted them, she whispered: "For testing, for collection, for publicity..."
The three girls did this very seriously, making Griffith and Lana, who were on guard, feel like unlearned and bad students.
"We are bad students to begin with." Lana looked for a long time but couldn't figure out the clue. In his eyes, every stone looked the same. "When the time comes, we can just copy their reports."
"That's right," Griffiths agreed deeply. "Come over and combine their reports. The score may be higher than theirs."
The expedition didn’t go very far that evening. The guides and helpers set up camp on a spacious platform and began to prepare for rest.
A faint light like the Milky Way flickers on the dome of the cave. It is the light of crystals, minerals and fungi in the gaps, calm and dreamy.
There seemed to be a voice in the deep ruins calling them to discover the secrets here, but if they listened carefully, it seemed like emotionless tides and strong winds.
Although it is difficult to distinguish between day and night in the dark underground, the experienced guides still planned the departure time for the next day.
As the expedition team went east along the corridor-like tunnel cave, the interior of the ruins became more and more open, and it even felt like it was extending towards the foot of the hills and mountains at the edge of the swamp.
Just like last night, Sonia stopped her team after walking a certain distance to take another sample of the rock wall here.
The summer survey at Homemon Watts does not require students to make great geographical and historical discoveries, but focuses on the research and analytical methods of occult and archaeological knowledge. Even if you just sample and study fossil specimens and rock formations along the way, as long as you are diligent and talented enough, you can still get good scores.
At this time, a group of moving figures appeared in the tunnel. Griffith and Lana were immediately on guard. They drew their weapons and shouted to the approaching figure: "Who is it? Explain your identity."
The team approaching from the darkness was obviously startled. They didn't expect to encounter heavily armed soldiers here, and they announced their identities in a panic.
They claimed to be sent by Professor Bell from the Archeology Department of Pasha University. Professor Bell is conducting inspection work on other routes. However, a major discovery changed his plan, and he had to arrange for people to leave first.
"Professor Bell?" Sonia suddenly remembered something. She came to the front of the team and said, "I am Sonia de Lamore, the daughter of Countess Elena de Lamore. Is there anything about Professor Bell?" Do you need to give something to the Countess?”
Amid the surprised gazes of the group, Sonia turned her head and explained: "Professor Bell's expedition is funded by my mother. If there are any major discoveries, specimens and reports will be sent to her as soon as possible. His expedition team is here If we conduct long-term excavations in relatively remote locations of the ruins, we would not encounter them originally.”
"Oh——!" Galadia and Fiona were overjoyed, "That is to say..."
According to Sonia, the countess was also a curious occult scholar, and the professor's explorations were financed by her. The professor probably doesn't know Sonia and the others' itinerary, but if they want to send supplies and reports, they will definitely pass by here and head to the exit.
Sure enough, the materials sent by the professor included various samples and a notebook. After proving her identity and showing off Griffith and Lana in rugged clothing, Sonia cut off the notebook and prepared to read it herself!
Since it was not far from the exit, the hired workers who transported specimens and minerals left quickly, and carrier pigeons were sent there to contact cargo ships to pick them up.
Sonia opened the records left behind and found that it was a record and atlas about excavation and fossil research.
"To the beautiful and wise occultist, Countess Hélène de La Mole,
“What an amazing discovery, what an amazing discovery!
"We found the most important findings in rock fragments and faults. The clear stripes and wavy marks prove that the huge creatures that left such marks are ancient existences, and their existence can be traced back to the distant past.
"Fossils from different faults show that these Archaean creatures have undergone multiple evolutions and continuously adapted to new environments such as floods, droughts, and high temperatures. Newer fossils have degraded again, so it is conceivable that their living environment has stabilized."
"We carried out several successful blasts with the help of the power of the spell, opening the way to the secrets hidden underground; through a four-foot-wide hole that could accommodate an adult man, we entered a hidden limestone passage—— This is a cave formed by the corrosion and hollowing out of underground water veins in ancient times, before Tulan Swamp was formed.
"This hollowed-out rock formation is more than ten meters high and extends far in all directions, beyond the limit of our human exploration. There is fresh air flowing in the cave, which shows that it is connected to a huge underground tunnel. System, we have planned the investigation work and left it to be arranged in the future.
"There are many stalactites of staggering sizes growing here, many of which have been connected up and down to form stone pillars. We found a large number of shells and bones deposited on the floor of the cave. Not only were they not washed away by the floods, they even blocked many passages. , which brings great convenience to our excavation work.
“We were pleasantly surprised to find that these skeletons were all remains from ancient forests before the First Age, from distant antiquity or even mythological times—the fossils mixed in the skeletons had clearly visible characteristics of cycads, palms, and primitive angiosperms.
"The skeletons we found include known molluscs and crustacean shells, ancient fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The categories are very complete, and we even found species that are not collected by the Beyeland Museum. Call it everything.
"As we have discussed before, there have been many different creatures in this world. Although most of them have died out, they are still older than the dragon.
"You have always responded with the highest enthusiasm and generous financial support to the investigation of the Bellomont ruins. We report our work to you with great excitement. The entire expedition team rushed to enter the passage in the crypt. The damp , darkness cannot conceal the fact that this place is about to become a glorious temple of mysticism. We will open a new door here, reaching the distant ancient times that we cannot yet glimpse the full picture.
"Yours sincerely, Gnorrison Bell."
