Half of the mountain collapsed.

Tess jumped up and down among the falling rocks, relying on pure instinct.

The roar in her ears was terrifying, and if she took the wrong step, she would be smashed into a puddle of mud by a boulder, and then buried deep in the gravel and mud, and no one could find it...... She didn't want to die so ugly!

However, she really didn't see much life. The Kitts Mountains are not the green mountains of the south in the middle of summer, and most of the plants that can struggle to grow between the dry stone crevices are prostrate on the ground, no taller than the palm of her hand, and there is no such thing as a large tree that has grown for hundreds of years and has deep roots and leaves that can give her a little shelter at such a time.

The large and small stones on the soles of her feet poured down like a raging river, and she could not stand on her feet at all, and it was already her luck that she did not cut off her ankles with sharp edges.

At first she held the little mongoose in her arms until she realized that it would only make them both die faster.

She threw the mongoose out, and threw it as hard as she could at the rocks that seemed to be standing still in the distance, not caring if she would break the little creature half to death.

She didn't have enough strength. The mongoose jumped halfway through the air and escaped to relative safety, turning around and screaming at her.

By that time she had been sliding down the gravel for a long time, she couldn't hear its sound clearly, and she didn't have the strength to look back, so she gritted her teeth and endured it again and again, and finally burst into tears uncontrollably.

She used to think about dying and dying together, but when she was dying, she thought that as long as he could live, it would be good...... It's so cowardly that she hates it herself.

She cried and fled, sobbing and gnashing her teeth, and even when a boulder fell on her head and could no longer be avoided, she only glared at the stone fiercely.

Even if she died and became a ghost, she would remember the stone that had killed her—— even though she didn't know what it was for.

A huge shadow accompanied by a blast of wind completely obscured her vision.

It suddenly went dark in front of him, but he didn't feel the great pain he imagined. Tess breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably - death didn't seem to be that terrible?

She blinked suspiciously in the darkness, and when she blinked for the third time, her body, which was too heavy to support, collapsed on its own, and the deep and shallow wounds cut by the stones on her body erupted into a long-neglected and intense dissatisfaction almost at the same time, and she screamed in pain.

“...... Tess?"

A familiar voice sounded in the darkness.

“...... Rosa!" Tess struggled to look up, surprised, "Aren't you dead either?!"

She was pretty sure she was alive now—she wasn't going to die and be in pain like this!

"Sounds like you'd like me to die. Rosa's voice was cold, but Tess could hear a hint of a smile hidden in it.

"I'm dying of pain. She snorted, "I can't even move a finger!"

A moment later, a little warm flame lit up. Rosa knelt down beside her and let out a long sigh, "I really shouldn't have borrowed your money when I was a child. ”

She owes her love, and the little girl who took the opportunity to stick to it has become like her family before she knows it, and she can't throw it away.

She handed the torch to Cesyana, carefully examined Tess's wounds, and patted her on the head lightly: "I can't die yet, it hurts." ”

Her precious potion had all been poured into Cesyana's mouth, and she was silently aching a little at this moment—in fact, if she waited a little longer, she could save the vial......

"Where is this?"

Tess, who couldn't die for the time being, narrowed her eyes and looked around, "...... Why does it sound familiar?"

Rosa's chuckle was unclear: "Of course, this is where we desperately tried to escape." ”

Tess was silent for a moment before she cried out in disbelief, "...... Didn't collapse?!"

Half of the mountain had collapsed, but the place where it first began to shake was still in good shape...... Why did she run away so hard and almost die?!......

Tess scolded, full of tricks. Rosa listened with a smile, quickly bandaging the worst wounds on her body, and only when she stopped to breathe did she ask, "What about him?"

She asked Norvi - even though they had been together for a few days, she still didn't know exactly what to call him...... She couldn't be as indistinguishable as Tess from a little mongoose as she was from the gentle-smiling elf she had once had.

"It's still alive. Tess was sure, "Since even I'm not dead...... Who saved us?"

"Guess?" Rosa's voice was laughing, but there was an indescribable heaviness in her voice.

Tess didn't want to guess at all. The name she could think of took her breath away.

"We ...... You're being used, aren't you?" she muttered.

They managed to find the remnants of the legendary hill giants—too well for them to be suspicious at the time, but it wasn't any of them who stopped because of this...... Or what elves do.

The ruins half-hidden in the ground still have a heart-wrenching grandeur that even Tess, who has been to the dwarven mines, will be amazed. But that doesn't stop her from quickly solving all sorts of traps in a destructive way...... The level of elaboration of those traps does not seem at all like that can be set up by a hill giant who is said to have "a problem with his brain".

The bones of the dwarves in the ruins somewhat solved some of their doubts. It is likely that this place was once occupied by dwarves, but it was death that eventually ruled the place.

They removed the piles of dwarven and giant bones, pushed open the stone door that even dragons could enter and exit freely, and lying in the huge stone hall that seemed unpolished, but almost round, was the white skeleton of a brown rock dragon.

The skeleton, which was intact at that time, is now scattered all over the place, like bits and pieces of gold scattered around. The dragon, which had been dead for thousands of years, didn't seem to like any delicate crafts...... Or maybe the dwarves had already looted out, and all that was left was pieces of gold that could be used as weapons to kill people, with no pattern on the rough surface.

But its most precious treasure is embedded in its body, in the middle of its incomparably hard sternum, in the darkness and silence, as if the whole starry sky is hidden in it.

It was the Heart of the Mountains, an artifact that was said to give life and soul to the dwarves and awaken them from the rocks, for which Anduhe, the god of the mountains, gave half his heart and half his blood.

However, the dragon that got it died silently in the dark underground...... Tess couldn't help but wonder if their persistence and hard work were really meaningful.

.