The Forgotten Grave and a Secret Passage

Initially, Phini had never imagined there would be an ambush awaiting her and Renard. Yet, after he had called her out, she was forced into a battle with a squat, dwarfish assassin. While the dwarf was not particularly formidable, their strength seemed to hover around that of a Second-Class Disaster Purger.

However, the strenuous exertion caused Phini’s newly-healed wound to reopen. Still, the minor pain had little impact on her. These small aches remained well within her threshold of endurance, and she refused to utter any sound of discomfort.

“I don’t know either,” Angela replied to Phini’s unspoken question about the broken fence. “When I woke up today, I noticed several spots that looked as if something had crashed through them.”

“Crashed through?”

“Yes, perhaps the ghosts did it?” Angela offered her conjecture. After all, those specters did possess an urge to smash things, and rumors occasionally circulated about places ravaged by the ghouls. However, despite their destructive tendencies, the ghouls were highly wary of anything tainted with the ash from Ash Mountain. Consequently, even if the fence was damaged, none of them had dared to trespass inside.

“Perhaps,” Phini conceded.

Upon hearing Angela’s words, Phini already knew the probable reason for the fence’s destruction. It was likely a consequence of her battle the previous night. Yet, even with this knowledge, she had no intention of revealing it. Keeping silent about the matter was for the best. If the truth were to come out, it would undoubtedly escalate into an uncontrollable predicament. Her only concern was whether Renard’s body would be discovered.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who broke it. The important thing is to fix it. Oh, Phini, are you hungry?” Angela waved her hand dismissively. It wasn’t irreparable; if it broke, it could simply be replaced. Noticing that she had roused Phini from a deep sleep, she glanced up at the sky before asking her a question.

“Now that you mention it, I do feel a little famished.”

“There’s still some food in the kitchen. If you don’t mind, you can grab that to tide yourself over for now.”

“Mm.”

Without further hesitation, Phini nodded and turned, heading into the kitchen. Once inside, she quickly located several flatbreads. Though their appearance was far from appetizing, this did not diminish her appetite. As always, Phini rarely refused anything edible. Even the most unpalatable food, as long as it was safe to consume, would be swallowed without a single complaint. She had experienced poverty firsthand and understood profoundly that food must never be wasted.

Biting down heartily, it took little time for her to devour three of the flatbreads, achieving a sense of fullness. After carefully storing the remaining food, she returned to the courtyard.

Ah-Da and Ah-Xiao were diligently re-nailing the fence, suggesting the wood had already been processed.

“Do you need any help?” Feeling that she bore some responsibility for the damage, Phini approached Angela and casually offered her assistance.

“With Ah-Da and Ah-Xiao here, there’s no need. But if you have some free time, perhaps you could help me fetch some vegetables from Aunt Cafino?”

Upon hearing Phini’s offer, Angela rested a finger on her chin as she pondered. While help with the fence wasn’t required, Angela suddenly recalled another task Phini could assist with. She had to stay home to supervise the repairs, making it impossible for her to leave. Remembering an appointment she had, she made the request.

“Understood. Leave it to me.”

Nodding at Angela, Phini gave her a reassuring look before quickly exiting the yard and heading toward Aunt Cafino’s house. Phini had a general idea of where the woman lived; after all, the village was small, and a few turns would surely lead her there.

As she wandered, almost unconsciously, Phini found herself passing by Renard’s dilapidated dwelling. Recognizing where she was, she instinctively averted her gaze.

However, the house, even more ruined than it had been last night, came into her view. In Phini’s memory, the hut hadn’t been this utterly broken just a few hours ago. Now, it resembled an ancient ruin, as if it had endured a thousand years of frost and wind, striking her as even more unsettling.

“Miss Phini, what are you looking at?”

Just as Phini was lost in thought, a deep, gruff voice emanated from nearby. Startled, she snapped back to reality and looked in the direction of the voice. She soon saw a middle-aged man observing her with curiosity. Phini had a faint impression of this man; being in a small village meant constantly encountering familiar faces.

“That house, over there,” she replied, pointing toward Renard’s former residence.

“That place? Hasn’t that place been abandoned for ages?”

Following her gaze, the middle-aged man uttered words that surprised even Phini. She clearly heard him mention that ‘this place has been abandoned for a long time’! If this hut had truly been abandoned for so long, then were her memories of Renard an illusion? Renard had only just died! It made no sense to describe his home as ‘abandoned for so long’!

“Isn’t that Renard’s house?” Filled with a myriad of questions, Phini instinctively followed up.

“Renard? Who is that?” At Phini’s question, the middle-aged man scratched his head, looking bewildered, and countered with a question of his own.

“Never mind. I must have remembered incorrectly.”

Seeing that the man seemed to have no memory of Renard, Phini immediately fell silent. She was no fool; pressing the issue would likely yield no useful clues. Clearly, some rule or force was at play in this place, causing the villagers to automatically overlook—or forget—certain deceased individuals.

“Is that so? You shouldn’t linger here too long. This place is quite sinister. I’m heading home now,” the middle-aged man said, warning Phini before he left.

“Yes, I understand,” she replied politely.

Once the man was gone, Phini couldn’t resist turning back to gaze at the house again. Out of curiosity, she ignored the man’s admonition and stepped inside the ‘ruin’.

Upon entering, she discovered that all the furniture and the skeleton she remembered were gone. No, not simply gone; they had all turned to dust, weathered away overnight.

Remarkable. Realizing this, Phini let out a wry chuckle. It seemed no one would ever erect a tombstone for Renard.

Perhaps out of a pang of conscience, Phini walked to the spot where she remembered leaving his body last night. She looked down at the dusty ground. Then, she picked up a broken wooden plank and forcefully plunged it into the earth. Afterward, she drew Narthemia and carved two words onto the plank: Rest in Peace.

Phini didn’t know how to write Renard’s name. After all, she had once been illiterate; without a certain man’s tutelage, she likely wouldn’t even know how to write these two words.

Remembering Renard’s dying wish to tell her the secret, and knowing that no one in the village remembered him, Phini reluctantly decided to erect this makeshift grave.

“I hope you have a… no, I think you shouldn’t have an afterlife,” Phini had initially intended to offer a prayer, but something came to mind, and her nascent blessing abruptly twisted into a curse. It seemed she didn’t wish for him to be reborn into this cruel world.

After paying her respects, Phini turned to leave. However, just as she was about to depart, a rumble like something collapsing echoed through the air.

Attracted by the sound, Phini instinctively turned her head. What greeted her eyes was a section of the floor inside Renard’s house that had caved in. The collapsed floor was not unusual; what was strange was the appearance of a stone staircase in the sunken area—a staircase leading down into the darkness!

The sight of the stairs immediately made Phini forget Angela’s request entirely.

‘I can’t believe this guy was hiding a secret passage!’