In the blink of an eye, Fafnir's dragonfire completely filled the cavernous chamber. Jeanne could hear a rhythmic, sizzling crackle echoing from within—resembling meat roasting over an open pit—accompanied by a distinct, savory aroma wafting through the tunnel.
"I wonder if these things are edible when fully cooked," Jeanne muttered, her stomach rumbling slightly at the scent.
Beside her, Skadi—who was busy clearing out the few stray sea beasts that had trickled into the outer corridor—froze for a second, staring at Jeanne in disbelief. She hadn't expected such a question to come out of the Saintess's mouth.
"I don't think you should eat that," Skadi said, recovering her composure. "Who knows what kind of stomach ache you'd get from digesting a beast like that? If you're hungry, I have two ration biscuits in my pack. Do you want one?"
Skadi had never met anyone who looked at sea beasts and contemplated turning them into a meal. What kind of iron nerves did it take to consider eating them right after fighting a whole swarm?
The moment reminded Skadi of her early days as an Abyssal Hunter. She had asked her third squad leader the exact same question back then. She still remembered how her leader had stared at her with wide, bewildered eyes, looking as though she were questioning Skadi's mental sanity.
Looking back, Skadi realized her squad leader had taken extra care of her ever since that day—probably worried the young hunter had a few screws loose.
Jeanne declined the ration biscuits. If she were truly starving, taking a piece of food from Fafnir's stashed snacks was far better than chewing on dry survival rations. She knew for a fact that the young dragon had built a generous private stash.
Up ahead, Fafnir was still pouring her heart into breathing fire, entirely unaware that her precious snack hoard had already been targeted by Jeanne. Who in their right mind would steal food from a dragon, anyway?
The torrent of flames lasted for nearly five full minutes. The fiery stream only ceased when a series of heavy, splintering cracks echoed from the stone walls around them. Sensing the danger, Jeanne scooped up Fafnir, grabbed Skadi's shoulder, and bolted down the passage.
Seconds later, the cavern collapsed. The vast underground vault, thoroughly scorched and structurally compromised by Fafnir's intense heat, finally gave out. Tons of solid rock caved in, burying the entire subterranean hall under a massive blanket of stone.
There was no need to check for survivors. Anything that could survive being crushed under thousands of tons of fallen bedrock possessed luck far beyond mortal comprehension.
In fact, neither Jeanne nor Skadi had time to ponder if any sea beasts had made it through. The collapse of the main cavern was sending structural shocks down the narrow escape tunnel, and the sound of cracking stone was growing alarmingly close.
"Run!" Jeanne and Skadi barked in unison.
Tucking Fafnir firmly under her arm, Jeanne sprinted for the exit with Skadi right at her side.
Just as they burst through the outer doorway, the passage behind them collapsed with a deafening rumble, sealing the subterranean path forever.
"Whew..." Jeanne let out a long breath, leaning against the cold stone wall as the dust settled. She was relieved to finally bid farewell to those foul creatures—fighting them underground was exhausting work.
"Did you really fight things like this all the time back then?" Jeanne asked, looking over at Skadi. Facing such abominations deep beneath the waves sounded like an absolute nightmare.
"Not just these," Skadi replied, shaking her head as old memories surfaced. "There are things in the depths far larger and far worse than what we saw today."
She paused, a faint trace of nostalgia softening her cold expression. "But that's all in the past now."
It was clear she still held a quiet longing for those bygone days with her squad, even though she knew she could never go back.
"Past or not, we should check on our young judge," Skadi said, slinging her heavy sword over her shoulder. "With all the noise we made down here, I hope she didn't run into trouble."
Jeanne nodded and fell into step alongside her.
As they walked through the upper corridors, Jeanne showed zero regard for her maturity, playfully picking at Fafnir's snack bag to swipe a bite of food. Watching the two of them squabble, Skadi couldn't help but feel a rare sense of amusement.
"You meanie! You're picking on a child!" Fafnir pouted, staring up at Jeanne with wide, teary eyes that would make any bystander instantly feel a wave of guilt.
Jeanne, completely immune to the puppy-dog glare, popped a piece of crispy biscuit into her mouth, chewing happily as she spoke.
"Hey, who bought all these snacks for you in the first place, young lady?" Jeanne pinched Fafnir's chubby cheek gently.
The two carried on bickering like a mother teasing her young daughter. Skadi watched them in quiet contentment, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"Are you three alright?"
Before they could reach the main hall, Irene came sprinting down the upper hallway, out of breath and looking disheveled.
"I heard a massive collapse from down below! Did something trigger a self-destruct mechanism?"
The sound of tons of stone caving in had terrified Irene. She had feared the manor was equipped with hidden demolition charges and sprinted straight down to check on them, completely ignoring the fact that if the complex were collapsing, she would have been buried right alongside them.
"We're fine," Skadi explained before the two bickering figures could respond. "We just brought down the tunnel."
Seeing that none of them were injured, Irene let out a massive sigh of relief. If anything had happened to her companions, the weight of guilt would have crushed her.
"You have no idea what was down there," Jeanne said, her tone growing serious. "It was practically turning into a full outpost for those beasts."
"I'll include everything in my official report to the Inquisition," Irene said, rubbing her temples with a tired sigh. "This is unprecedented. We've never seen sea beasts construct subterranean tunnels like this before."
It had been a terrifying encounter. Had Irene come here alone without Jeanne and Skadi, her remains would undoubtedly be resting at the bottom of that dark pit right now. She felt immensely grateful that she had invited Jeanne to join her investigation.
"By the way... how are the villagers?" Skadi asked, remembering the missing locals.
Irene's shoulders slumped, and she lowered her head in silence.
Her solemn silence told them everything they needed to know. Skadi sighed softly, her eyes dimming with quiet regret.
"There was nothing more we could have done," Jeanne said gently, patting Irene on the back. "They refused to trust us. Short of dragging them away in chains, how could we have stopped them?"
Jeanne had tried everything—offering them protection, offering to escort them back to the mobile city, and warning them away from the estate. Yet the locals had harbored deep suspicion toward her and outright hatred toward the Inquisition. They had chosen to trust a complete stranger of a noble and walk right into a fortress that practically reeked of danger.
Irene's heavy reaction made her status as a novice Inquisitor obvious. A veteran Inquisitor would have long grown numb to such tragic foolishness, treating it as just another day on the job.
"Come on," Jeanne said softly. "Let's go up and see how it ended for them."
Even though she already knew the answer, Jeanne wanted to see the final scene with her own eyes. After crossing paths with those stubborn villagers so many times, seeing the conclusion was the least she could do.