Chapter 799 - Destiny at the Intersection (V)
In the end, Rhode ‘rescued’ Nell and even though she was displeased, she knew that she shouldn’t enrage him. Rhode surely wouldn’t let her off easily because no matter what, she caused trouble in his territory and deserved to be punished. But his punishment for her was rather different from what others imagined. He didn’t lock her up in the cell. Instead, he gave a command which others couldn’t understand—make her in charge of lookout duties on the fortress platform for a week!
This punishment appeared ridiculous to others, but Nell’s reactions baffled them. After hearing Rhode’s decision, she became as pale as a sheet of paper. Even though she had a healthy-looking and fair skin tone, it looked as though the blood flowing inside her had instantly froze into ice.
She couldn’t be blamed because most underground creatures were afraid of a common thing.
Height.
However, the fear of heights of the underground creatures was unlike that of humans. They weren’t afraid of overlooking the scenery beneath them. Instead, they were fearful of lifting their heads and looking at the sky. The Dwarves were an extreme representative. One of the rumored reasons why Dwarves seldom headed outdoors was because they preferred living within the mountain range and disliked adventures. There was no doubt that Dwarves hated the outdoors, but it was untrue that they disliked adventures and the main reason was… they were afraid of the sky.
There was once a King Dwarf whose famous sayings spread widely in the underground world.
“The moment after I stepped out of the cave and onto the land, I swore with my beard that I’ve never been this frightened. When I looked up at that damn sky, my knees trembled. If my legs weren’t tied up with chains and boulders, perhaps I would have escaped this boundless land!”
No one on the surface understood such a reaction. However, all the underground creatures including the Dark Elves held the same sentiments. Not only that, but apart from ‘fear of heights’, there was also something else that hurt them. They had lived in the dark underground for years and evolved a strong night vision. They could see clearly in a dark environment without the need of the sun. As a result, it was radiance that the Dark Elves were most afraid of and it was the same for the Dark Elves living in the Country of Darkness where the radiance of the night sky wasn’t as glaring as the morning sun, so they could tolerate it. On the other hand, in the Light Mainland… It was an entirely different matter.
Nell was no exception. She basically hid herself in the shadow or underground training grounds during the day, which was why not only did Rhode put her on lookout duty on the tower, but also make her work an entire day… Nell felt so desperate that she wished she could die on the spot.
“Since we can’t find her, we’ll just treat it as if she’s gone.”
Erin didn’t capture Christie as hostage, destroy the fortress, or murder anyone, so Rhode heaved a sigh of relief and became rather curious about her. In the game, his understanding of Erin was only that of what ordinary players knew about her. He couldn’t figure out whether Erin passed by his fortress while on her way to the Golden City or held other motives. Judging from her actions, the latter possibility was more probable. After all, the mountain ranges couldn’t stop that formidable strength of hers. As long as she concealed her identity, she could enter the Munn Kingdom without anyone’s detection and didn’t need to show herself in the Land of Atonement.
“But we need to inform Lydia about this. Remember, don’t let anyone else know about this. Inform only Lydia.”
If the Munn Kingdom was aware that the princess of the Country of Darkness had entered their country, perhaps chaos would break out immediately.
The problem regarding Erin had ended. Although Rhode was still dubious, he wasn’t that concerned since she was no longer in his territory. However, this proved that his method was wrong. No matter what, there were a limited number of figures who could avoid the detection of the Holy Maiden Statue, Canary, and Mini Bubble Gum… This unfortunate case was just an exception.
Apart from this surprising piece of news, everything else in the Land of Atonement was going on smoothly. On the other hand, Marlene brought a piece of good news for Rhode—the Battle Mage Group finally arrived at the fortress. Back then, he valued their abilities, which was also what the Land of Atonement was lacking the most. They appeared at the right time as it would replenish his insufficient manpower. But the problem was that…
“They’re not doing as well as you think, Rhode.”
Marlene poured cold water over him.