As Xin’s recovered from the unexpected fall, the cave’s eerie silence was suddenly pierced by a guttural and nasal voice that reverberated through the chamber.
It was a voice that carried an uncanny resemblance to that of a caveman from ancient tales.
"Who goes there?" the voice bood, resonating off the walls of the cavern and echoing in Xin’s ears.
His attention snapped to the source of the voice, his eyes widening as a figure erged from one of the dimly lit hallways that branched off from the main cavern.
The sight that t his gaze was unlike anything he could have anticipated.
The creature that approached him was short and stout, with a fra that seed rugged and a tad bulky. Its appearance was like the fearso Golems Xin had been crafting just monts ago.
This creature’s most striking feature was its long, untad hair and beard, which flowed like a cascade of fiery orange waves down its back. The hair was bushy, wild, and utterly unkempt.
It reminded him of ITT in the Addams Family.
In its hand, the creature wielded a colossal hamr that seed comically oversized in comparison to its own diminutive stature.
The hamr’s head glead with a tallic sheen, hinting at its formidable weight and potential for destruction.
Xin’s screen flickered with information as he instinctively examined the creature. Above its head floated a question mark, signifying that its identity and nature were shrouded in mystery.
Xin felt a mixture of wariness as he watched the creature draw closer. He summoned his Golems to the front. Good thing that his Golems followed him into the holes.
Xin took back about calling them stupid a while ago. He was grateful that they followed him. They were his life saver now against this unknown entity.
Just as Xin was bracing himself for a potential confrontation, sothing unexpected occurred.
The creature’s form seed to waver for a mont as if affected by so unseen force. And then, to Xin’s astonishnt, the question mark above its head transford into words: "Princess!"
It is a girl?
The creature halted in its tracks, its fiery orange hair swaying as it tilted its head slightly in what seed to be recognition. Its voice, when it spoke again, was surprisingly different from the initial gruff tone.
"Ah, a visitor!" the creature exclaid in a voice that was now much softer and more refined. "Forgive my earlier greeting, dear guest. I was not expecting anyone to venture into these depths."
Xin’s eyes widened a little. The creature was speaking to him, addressing him as a visitor rather than a threat. His Infinite CHA, a special attribute that had always served him well in social interactions, seed to be having an effect even in this strange and mysterious encounter.
"Oh my, where have my manners gone? Allow to introduce myself. I am Princess Hilda. It’s a pleasure to et you, brave adventurer."
". . . L-Lord Schrodinger." Xin was taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. He had braced himself for a hostile encounter, a monstrous entity ready to attack, yet before he stood a being that displayed not only intelligence but also a regal air.
If only she wasn’t covered in hair . . . and a beard.
Princess Hilda’s presence was a blend of bewildernt and fascination. The juxtaposition between her refined speech and her rough appearance, the mismatch between her royal title and the rugged environnt, left Xin montarily at a loss for words.
"Lord Schrodinger, please pardon my appearance. You need not look at so oddly. I’m aware of my current state, but . . . it has been quite so ti since I’ve enjoyed a proper bath," Princess Hilda said, her tone light with laughter as she fidgeted self-consciously.
Xin found himself caught between surprise and intrigue, unsure of where to begin with his questions.
"Are you truly a princess?" The question slipped out before he could filter it, and he winced inwardly.
Princess Hilda, however, responded with amusent rather than offense. "Indeed, you must have taken for a goddess, haven’t you?"
Definitely not!
’You even have a beard,’ Xin nearly blurted out but managed to bite back the words just in ti. Such a comnt would be both impolite and disrespectful.
"Uhm . . . are you trapped in here?" Xin asked instead.
The Princess nodded and began to recount her tale. "Actually, I don’t know how long I’ve been lost here. At first, I was wandering aimlessly until I stumbled upon this mine by chance. Things happened, and I lost my way.
"I have no idea how much ti has passed, but when I finally saw my fellow dwarves roaming the tunnels, I was overjoyed. However, when I approached them to ask for directions, they ran away. So even turned hostile and attacked , leaving no choice but to defend myself."
Yep, she was definitely the monster that the Dwarf had warned him about. Xin was now convinced of that.
"I just wanted to ask them for directions," Princess Hilda continued to explain. "But no one seed to recognize , and instead, they chased with their pickaxes. And then I fell right here, and the rest is history."
Princess Hilda sighed and then bead at Xin. Her blazing eyes twinkled with delight while she tapped a broad finger on her thick lips. "Did you fall in here too, Lord Schrodinger?"
Xin nodded and finally let his guard down as his [Relationship Level] with the Princess reached [Intimate].
"You’ve been trapped here ever since?"
Princess Hilda nodded.
"Is there a way out of here?" Xin asked hopefully, though the chance of that seed slim given that the Princess was still here.
Princess Hilda shook her head. "No. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find an exit from this tunnel. I dug and dug and dug, hoping to find my way out, but it all seed futile."
". . ." Dug? Xin looked around him and saw nurous tunnels branching out from this cavern. With all that digging, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had reached the world’s crust.
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