Watching Merlin disappear into the distance.
Yol looked down at her exposed, fair lower abdomen, her earlobes unknowingly growing warm.
Half-kneeling on the straw, she reached out and rubbed Lami's head. Her gentle voice broke the silence:
"You must be very hungry! Your Merlin-niichan brought you some food."
Lami nodded obediently, looking at Yol with timid hesitation in her eyes:
"Are my mom, dad, and brother dead like those people outside?"
Yol froze. Sorrow appeared in her eyes, but her expression remained exceptionally gentle:
"Mom and Dad entrusted you to Merlin. They will watch over you from heaven forever.
"Law is very smart. Although the situation is unclear, you must believe that you will see each other again in the future."
Lami lowered her head, then looked up with wide, red-rimmed eyes, asking with a tone of forced strength:
"Sister, I want to know why this place became like this?"
Yol fell silent. She didn't want the little girl to know such cruel truths right now. She could only say:
"I'll tell you when you grow up, okay? What Lami needs to do now is grow up healthy and strong. When you're older, you'll understand."
Seeing the sadness in Yol's eyes, Lami fell silent. After a few seconds, she squeezed out a smile to please her:
"I'll listen to you, Sister. Lami will be very good from now on. Don't leave me behind, okay? Lami only has you guys now."
Bitterness flashed in Yol's eyes. They had witnessed hellish scenes along the way. Lami had unknowingly grown up, her obedience heartbreaking.
Yol pulled her into her arms and nodded heavily. "Mmh, I will raise you properly."
Lami hugged Yol's neck, but her tears couldn't stop flowing.
---
Walking lightly through the tunnel, Merlin counted his steps silently. The path plunged into darkness from time to time.
His pupils dilated and constricted, adjusting to the changing light.
Familiarizing himself with the environment in the dark, after fifteen minutes, Merlin reached the end of the tunnel.
His path was blocked by a stone wall. However, at the bottom of the wall, there was a distinctly different section—a circular stone block, one meter in diameter, with a chain attached to its center.
Thought appeared in Merlin's eyes. He placed both hands on the stone block and pushed. As he exerted force, the one-meter diameter stone moved outward.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Merlin continued to push.
After pushing it out about a meter, Merlin noticed light shining in from the outside.
With most of his body now inside the stone opening, Merlin listened vigilantly for movement outside. After more than ten seconds of silence from the other side, he continued pushing. Not long after, Merlin crawled out of the stone hole.
He arrived outside the opening.
Piles of straw, sweet potatoes, and potatoes were scattered everywhere. It looked like a cellar.
The space was quite spacious.
Squatting halfway, Merlin looked around, then looked up. In the corner to his right was a wooden ladder leading up to a bluestone cover.
Quickly, Merlin climbed the ladder and slowly moved the stone cover. A hole large enough for him to exit appeared.
Merlin climbed up, only to find himself inside a hollow haystack.
Poking his head out from the straw, under the cover of night, Merlin soon realized this was a ranch.
Connecting this to the fact that Mela seemed to own a livestock business... but then thinking of this secret tunnel, "It seems he had some unknown secrets too!"
But that was none of his business.
He replaced the bluestone cover behind him and covered it with straw. Merlin crawled out of the haystack.
Blocking the gap behind him with fodder, he looked around.
He discovered that this was a dairy farm located in the north of Flevance, near the mountain border and the coast.
However, right now, the ranch was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke, and dead dairy cows were strewn everywhere outside.
His gaze shifting, Merlin quickly reached the edge of the ranch and vaulted over the two-meter-high wall to the outside.
It was an apple orchard. Merlin moved quickly through the trees and then lay prone on the inner side of a high, gentle slope.
He stared at the border line, separated by an iron fence three hundred meters away.
Under the moonlight.
About thirty meters beyond the border line.
Merlin saw bonfires burning every hundred meters or so.
Soldiers in hazmat suits, armed with guns, were patrolling there.
Further back were rising mountains and dense forests. On the other side of these mountains lay the neighboring Kingdom of Fulton, known for its livestock industry.
It was also one of the neighboring countries besieging and slaughtering Flevance.
Thought appeared in Merlin's eyes.
After observing for a while, he silently retreated and began to scout along the border line.
City outskirts, the junction of the plains, the harbor side—patrol soldiers were everywhere.
Two hours later, panting slightly, Merlin stood on the edge of a five-story building near the harbor, thinking:
"These are the only escape routes. The plains junction and the harbor are a no-go; running from there would make us live targets."
"Then it has to be the mountains. But there are soldiers guarding there too.
"So, I can only pull a 'feint in the east, strike in the west'—create a diversion.
"Create chaos elsewhere to draw them away, creating a window of opportunity to take the girls and escape."
Merlin was glad he came military family ; the strategic thinking passed down by his ancestors in the Thirty-Six Stratagems truly stood the test of time.
A while later, Merlin took out a three-man cleanup squad in the city, taking their three rifles and two hundred rounds of ammunition.
And seven grenades.
Now totaling fourteen grenades.
Then, Merlin acquired some fishing line and rope from a fishing tackle shop, and found and bundled a quilt and some dry food from a hotel.
He then retraced his steps.
Not long after, around 1:00 AM, Merlin returned to Viscount Mela's villa, keeping his movements hidden.
Spreading the quilt over the flattened straw, Merlin explained his escape plan to Yol.
After listening, Yol didn't hesitate. She looked at Merlin seriously and said, "Then I'll go with you. We can look out for each other."
A trace of imperceptible hatred flashed in the kind nun's eyes.
Merlin pondered, then asked her:
"I remember you know how to use a gun?"
Yol looked at the three rifles and the small pile of bullets nearby, hesitating:
"I know how to use them, but my aim isn't very good."
Merlin nodded. "Okay, starting tomorrow, you come with me."
Hearing this, Yol sighed in relief. She didn't want to be useless baggage, leaving everything to Merlin as a matter of course.
She was the adult, after all. Besides, she wasn't comfortable letting Merlin do such dangerous things alone.
She knew clearly that with Merlin's current abilities, if he were alone, he could easily leave this place.
But he didn't abandon the two of them. She was extremely grateful to him, which made it even more impossible to let him face the danger alone.
And if they went together, they could watch each other's backs.
If some unstoppable problem arose, she could stay behind to cover his retreat.
At this moment, Lami asked nervously, "Merlin-niichan, what about Lami?"
Merlin looked at the little girl, hesitating slightly, but then rubbed her head:
"Then you come too!
"But when the time comes, you must stick close to Yol and not cause trouble."
Lami nodded seriously, a stubborn glint in her eyes. "I'll be obedient."
Yol opened her mouth but closed it again. Leaving Lami here alone wouldn't make her feel at ease either!
Merlin looked at Yol:
"Spread the quilt and go to sleep with Lami. I'm going to bury some grenades. I'll be back in a bit."
Saying this, he took two grenades and the fishing line and walked into the tunnel.
Lami stared fixedly at Merlin's retreating back, then whispered, "Merlin-niichan is so reliable.
"Much more reliable than my brother."
Yol covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
A moment later, Merlin arrived at a spot twenty meters from the end of the tunnel.
On the walls on both sides of the tunnel, twenty centimeters from the ground, he dug out two small holes with his dagger. He wrapped fishing line around the safety levers of the grenades.
He pulled the pins out partially.
He buried the two grenades in the small holes to fix them in place, then tied fishing line to the pins, stretching a taut, transparent, sturdy line across the tunnel.
It was a simple tripwire booby trap.
Thanks to the war movies from his past life.
As long as someone passed by and triggered the fishing line, the pins would be pulled. BOOM! The grenades would explode, collapsing the tunnel and alerting him.
After all, Merlin couldn't guarantee that no one would discover this secret passage.
After doing all this, Merlin extinguished the oil lamps nearby.
He returned to the cave at the other end. Lami was already asleep, but Yol was still awake, sitting on the flattened quilt.
Merlin asked, "Not sleeping yet?"
Yol whispered back, "I'll keep watch!"
Merlin shook his head. "Sleep. I'm a very light sleeper; any movement around will wake me up.
"No need to keep watch. Rest well and save your energy!"
Seeing Merlin's seriousness, Yol nodded obediently, then pointed to the quilt beside her. "Then you sleep here!"
Merlin nodded. He was already exhausted. He lay down on the quilt, covered himself with one of his clothes, and used his backpack as a pillow.
Before long, Merlin entered a light sleep.
Yol lay on her side next to Merlin. In the dim light of the oil lamp, watching Merlin's profile, her heavy eyelids closed unknowingly.
Accompanied by the sporadic sounds of gunfire and explosions outside.
In the cave, on the quilt.
A man and two females breathed slowly and rhythmically.