Vol.1 Ch.38 Made it to the Surface.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Look, it''s the prince!" Yelled one of the Knights. "His Highness Prince Quinus! We have been looking for you everywhere!"


    The other knights gathered around the prince and they bowed their heads after dealing with thest of the goblins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Prince Quinus! We feared the worst, my Lord!" The captain of the knights said to the prince while bowing his head.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"When were you all dispatched here?" Quinus asked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"We left about a week ago, my Lord. When word got out about the goblin ambush outside of the vige of Kishin." The captain replied.


    Quinus closed his eyes and sighed while recalling the battle that took ce. He remembered being surrounded by a group of goblins at the time, and how they swarmed their positions. If he had known that it would turn out like this, he would have used his enchanted sword''s ability to burn them all.


    <span ss="aiText">"<span ss="editText">Alright, send word for them... I want to bury<span ss="aiText"> my fallen men.<span ss="editText"> They deserve<span ss="aiText"> a proper burial<span ss="editText">," Quinus said with a thoughtful<span ss="aiText"> expression.


    "Yes, Your Highness," The captain replied with a bow and just as he was about to leave was when he noticed not only a Wolfkin but a Dark Elf wasing out of the Labyrinth as well.


    H<span ss="editText">e <span ss="userText">had a concerned look on his face before he spoke, "Y-Your Highness? Do we need to be<span ss="aiText"> worried<span ss="editText"> about her<span ss="aiText">?"


    <span ss="aiText">The captain <span ss="editText">looked at the stunning<span ss="aiText"> woman, who was <span ss="editText">standing next to Quinus.


    <span ss="editText">"No... She''s saved all of us multiple times. She''s my girl- Ahem... She''s our friend,<span ss="aiText">" Quinus said, as he nearly slipped <span ss="editText">that he wanted Rya to be<span ss="aiText"> his girlfriend.<span ss="editText"> He didn''t want to push her<span ss="aiText"> away after everything that had happened between them.


    <span ss="aiText">Rya raised her eyebrow while looking at the Prince with a confused expression.


    ''Your girl?<span ss="editText">... H-He must be tired or something.'' Rya <span ss="editText">just shook it off and<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> focused on the task at hand.


    <span ss="aiText">The captain looked back at his fellow knights, then he turned around and bowed once again.


    <span ss="aiText">"Understood, Your Highness... <span ss="editText">If she''s earned your trust then she has<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> mine as well."


    "Alright, let''s head to the site and take care of our fallen brothers," Quinus said with a deep sigh.


    With everything squared away, the group headed over to the site where Quinus and his fallen knights got attacked by the goblins earlier in their quest to destroy the Dungeon Core in the ''Tomb of the Horde''.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It took them about an hour to get there.


    "It feels way more peaceful in the forest than it did a couple of days ago. I can''t believe this ce used to be filled with goblins," Percy said out loud.


    "Aye, I bet you''re right, Percy. This ce feels like it has a calming effect now... I''m d ourrades didn''t die in vain," Sir George said with a bright smile, but his eyes had a hint of sadness in them.


    "Well, we wouldn''t have gotten the chance to enjoy this peace without, Lady Rya. I don''t know how I''m going to repay her," Quinus said as he looked at Rya, who was hanging back with Dalia.


    "Well, the Goddess must be smiling upon us. How else would we have run into someone as special as her," Percy said with a grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Quinus shakes his head.


    "Well, I''m not sure about that, Percy. We were the only ones to survive," Quinus says with a grim look on his face.


    "Aye, the seventeen others would be proud to know their Lord hase up victorious. Their sacrifice will be remembered," Sir George said with a solemn tone while putting his hand on Quinus''s shoulder.


    "Well, I hope they can find happiness in their next life," Quinus said with a touch of mncholy.


    "Hmm... I don''t know if we will be reborn, my Lord. But if they do, I''m sure they will." George said with a nod.


    Quinus stared at George like he wanted to respond but he held his tongue.


    "My Lord, we''reing up to the clearing where the ambush happened," One of the knights announced to the party.


    "Thank you, Sir Menns," Quinus said with a nod.


    They had reached the area where they had fought and in the goblins.


    <span style="font-weight:400">***


    Once they came into the wide clearing. They were able to see bodies scattered about from the ambush. Most of them were the bodies of the goblins but seventeen knightsy next to each other in the middle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"This is tragic. It feels like yesterday when we left Kishin with all of them by our side," Quinus said with a heavy sigh.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"That it does, my Prince," Sir George said with a saddened voice.


    "Let''s bury them before they can get turned into the undead. It would be a great disrespect to their memory," Quinus said as he walked forward towards his fallenrades.


    "Right away, my Lord. You lot, let''s dig up a proper grave for these good men." Sir George said to the group of knights, and they began digging.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Yes, my Lord," They all said in unison.


    <span style="font-weight:400">‘I shouldn’t let them do all the work.’ Rya thought as she watched.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"If you like I can bury them, Quin," Rya said with a kind smile.


    "I appreciate the offer, Rya. They were my men, my responsibility…. We would rather do this ourselves. This is our duty after all," Quinus said with a nod.


    <span ss="editText">Rya wanted to help but she understood<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> what he meant and stepped back.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Very well then," Rya gave a nod to Quin while she stepped aside and watched them bury the dead.


    <span style="font-weight:400">***


    <span ss="editText">It took an hour before they buried the fallen. After giving them a<span ss="aiText"> proper burial. They all stood in front of their graves with their heads bowed and hands together in a praying position.


    <span ss="aiText">"May you find happiness in your next life, my Brothers<span ss="editText">,<span ss="aiText">" Quinus said out loud while he was in prayer.


    <span ss="userText">"May the Goddess guide<span ss="aiText"> you in <span ss="editText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">the after<span ss="aiText">life<span ss="editText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">,<span ss="aiText">" Sir George said with a heavy heart.


    Everyone else repeated what the two said as they were also in prayer.<span ss="editText"> After they were finished they made their way through the forest until they arrived on the outskirts of the vige of Kishin. It had taken them quite some time to get<span ss="aiText"> to the vige from the clearing<span ss="editText"> and it was almost sundown<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText">.


    The town looked like something out of the Medieval ages. There were cobblestone streets with little houses and shops alongside them. The buildings were built from wood and stone while others were made of brick. The vige has a 10-foot wall that surrounds the perimeter with guards patrolling around. Many green bodies were lying around the wall from all the goblins that died trying to invade the vige. Even with all the dead monsters lying about, everything was calm and quiet, except for the sounds of nature.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well, I don''t know why I was expecting anything else?" Rya said to herself.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Hmm? What were you expecting, Alpha?" Dalia asked, looking over at Rya.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, nothing. I''m just trying to get used to living in a... Ah? a human settlement." Rya said with a chuckle. ''Almost let it slip that I wasn''t from the Tertius.'' Rya thought to herself.


    <span ss="editText">"Yeah, I agree. I''m not used to these unnatural things they live in. How are you supposed to move when you make something that big!?" Dalia asked while she scoffed at what she thought was<span ss="aiText"><span ss="retryDeletionText"><span ss="undoDeletionText"> the stupidity of the human race.


    <span style="font-weight:400">''Good! Dalia doesn''t suspect anything. Hehehe.'' Rya thought to herself with a giggle.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well, humans like stability. So, they tend to stay in one ce, mostly," Rya says to Dalia.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Oh really? That makes sense, I suppose. But I''m not sure I like it," Dalia said with a nod.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Well let''s give it a try?" Rya nodded back as they followed the group towards the gate.