Rei and I ran in the dark tunnel, far away from the hall behind us.
No matter how far she ran, perhaps it was only a short distance, she felt that her footsteps did not leave that place, and Julius seemed to be right behind her.
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't fight at all, she wouldn't have left, and she wouldn't have wanted to. But as Julius said, she was really useless there. If it was for scouting or reconnaissance, her petite body and experience in exploring the sewers would make her a lot more useful. If it was during normal times, that would indeed be the case.
But now it was different. They were in an unfamiliar environment, very familiar with this place, and there were Black Robes chasing after them. These Black Robes made Rei feel fear from the bottom of her heart, making her feel a lot slower.
She did not know what was going on. Maybe it was because of some strange magic, or maybe she was really scared … These things had already happened, and it was useless for her to think about it, because she could not solve it.
It was as if she was running now, and could only leave Julius behind.
She ran and thought, but no matter how hard she thought, she could not think of how she could help Julius.
She believed in Julius' ability, but she did not blindly believe that Julius could easily deal with two people who looked like mages. Even when she left, Julius seemed to have the situation under control, which was why she could leave safely.
Julius, please, don't die here … Rei could only pray in her heart, hoping that Julius would appear behind her safe and sound.
She did not want to see Julius die protecting her. He could have escaped, but he risked his life for her, a person he had known for less than a year, and stayed there to confront those dangerous Black Robes.
If only she could grow up and have power … Rei had always wanted to grow up, but she had never hated her weakness as much as she did now.
The pain from the wound on her face made her forget the tiredness of her feet. She ran without stopping, passing through another hall.
This hall was no different from the previous one. There was also a hole in the ceiling, but Rei was not in the mood to care about it. This was not the final stop, just a place that was not worth paying attention to.
Furthermore, the hall was so empty that there was nothing in it. There was nothing to pay attention to.
But when she was about to leave the hall, she heard a sound from above.
The ceiling was rumbling, and Rei, who was experienced in collapsing from above, immediately became alert. She looked up and pricked up her ears. She did not want to be too nervous and ignore the surroundings, or be crushed to death by the collapsing ceiling. If that happened, Julius's life would be meaningless.
The ceiling did not seem to be collapsing, but the sound of something flowing from inside made her feel deeply uneasy.
After listening for a while, Rei found that it was the sound of flowing liquid. That was why the movement on the ceiling was so loud.
Rei didn't know what was going on. The movement above her head wasn't small at all. No matter how she looked at it, it didn't seem like something that could make her feel at ease. She was worried that if she continued to run forward, the ceiling would suddenly fall down. But now, it was too difficult for her to find a safe path.
A thought flashed through her mind. Was this place completely finished? She did not think that rats like herself and Julius coming here would cause such a big chain reaction. If she had to say, the two Black Robes were more suspicious.
While Rei was thinking and did not know what to do next, a loud noise came from the hole.
Boom! It sounded like a heavy object had been moved away.
Then, Rei saw water pouring down from the hole.
The water that flowed down from the cave entrance was not a small stream. Instead, it was a water column that was as thick as the entire cave entrance.
A large amount of water flowed down from the hole and fell on the floor of the hall. The water splashed and splashed, drenching Rei's body.
She covered her eyes and looked at the hole through the gaps between her fingers. She saw that water was still flowing down from the hole, as if the bottom of a jar had been poked, and the water was flowing out from the hole.
But if it was just a jar, there would not be so much water.
The water kept flowing down, and soon the water on the floor submerged her shoes, soaking her feet in the water.
She was worried that this place would be flooded. If it was only this place where water fell from the ceiling, then the floor would not be covered so quickly. She seemed to hear the sound of water from other places, which meant that what happened here was not a special case. It was happening in other places too.
She didn't want to stay here, but when she heard the rumbling sound of water coming from the passage behind her, she thought that if she ran out now, she might be swept away by the current and then washed to another place. The worst case scenario would be that she would be washed back to Black Robe, and then there would be no more luck to speak of.
She wondered if this was the doing of the Black Robes, but they made such an exaggerated noise. Was it just to deal with her and Julius?
They should not be so stupid.
Fortunately for Rei, the falling water began to decrease, from the initial column of water to a thin stream, until there was no more water falling.
But before the water stopped flowing, something fell from the hole and landed in front of Rei.
It was not water, but a heavy object. It did not look big, but when it fell to the ground, it created a splash.
When the thing fell to the ground, it let out a cry. It sounded like it was in pain, which made Rei feel the wound on her head tremble.
The sound was that of a woman, not much older than Rei.
When the thing stood up, Rei finally got a clear look at what it was.
It was a girl not much taller than her. Judging from her appearance, she was definitely much older than a child, but compared to other adults, she was completely a young girl.
The girl was soaked, and her cloak clung to her body. Water droplets kept dripping from the cloak, falling into the water, creating small ripples.