Chapter 10: You Know You’re Committing a Crime, Right?

“That’s it for today.”

The graduate student sneaked a glance at Meng Linna.

She quickly looked away.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

Meng Linna put away the map.

“That way’s the meeting point.”

At the meeting point, only three people were waiting.

Na Naya was nowhere to be seen.

“Did something happen to Na Naya? Where is she?”

Sensing something was off, Meng Linna stared anxiously at the student who’d been with Na Naya.

“No big deal. We ran into a rare monster on the way. Na Naya said she had to catch it.”

The student shrugged.

“She said it wouldn’t take long. We just need to wait here.”

“No way!”

A bad feeling surged in Meng Linna’s chest.

“This is still a dungeon. Going off alone is dangerous.”

Peggy just smiled.

“You really care about her, huh?”

“She’s a teammate.”

Meng Linna didn’t deny it.

“I’m going to find her.”

“Peggy, can you escort everyone out?”

“We won’t intrude then?”

Peggy nodded.

She led the three students toward the entrance.

The dungeon’s monsters weren’t strong.

Even as a D-rank faith warrior, Meng Linna should be fine, right?

***

According to the student who’d been with Na Naya, they’d surveyed the last mithril vein.

Then a group of Horned Rabbits appeared in a corner.

Horned Rabbits weren’t valuable.

But Meng Linna’s roasted rabbit from last night was delicious.

So Na Naya decided to hunt a few.

After Na Naya promised to share two rabbits, the student happily headed back alone.

Na Naya had cleared the path.

The dungeon wouldn’t spawn more monsters.

The student wasn’t worried about returning solo.

And indeed, Meng Linna encountered no monsters along the way.

“So eager for roasted rabbit?”

“These people…”

Meng Linna muttered under her breath.

Honestly, she hadn’t expected her rabbit to be such a hit.

Maybe she should quit adventuring and open a barbecue stall?

As she daydreamed, a faint tremor came from below.

It was subtle, but Meng Linna was sure.

Someone was using powerful magic underground.

Just catching Horned Rabbits wouldn’t need magic that strong, right?

That bad feeling deepened.

“No time to dawdle!”

With no one around, Meng Linna cast a Speed Boost miracle spell on herself.

She rushed toward the depths.

One corner, two corners…

The closer she got to the sound, the louder the muffled explosions.

They kept going off.

What was happening?

Was Na Naya fighting a tough enemy?

Meng Linna mentally reviewed her spells.

If Na Naya needed support, she could use something like Magic Amplification.

If they couldn’t win, she could cast Speed Boost to help Na Naya escape.

The only problem?

These spells weren’t ones she should know at her current level.

If anyone found out, she’d have no way to explain.

But to get them both out safely, even if it meant facing the Tribunal’s questioning…

Meng Linna gripped her holy seal tightly.

She steeled her resolve.

Then she turned the final corner.

There was Na Naya, mining mithril with the Fire Giant Whip.

Each swing caused a small explosion at the whip’s impact point.

It blasted mithril ore loose.

That was the source of the explosions Meng Linna heard.

“Huff… huff…”

Seeing Na Naya perfectly safe, Meng Linna wanted to speak.

But she could only stand there, panting heavily.

Though she’d been reborn for a while, Meng Linna, still a man at heart, wasn’t used to her female body.

Running so fast to help Na Naya?

Her chest’s two big assets hadn’t been kind.

The intense bouncing was almost too much for her.

Na Naya turned.

Their eyes met.

Silence filled the space between them.

Meng Linna broke it first.

“So, no Horned Rabbits, huh?”

“Just two. I didn’t bother with the rest.”

As if to prove she wasn’t lying, Na Naya kicked two rabbits nearby.

The air grew cold again.

Na Naya moved to keep mining with her whip.

But Meng Linna’s stare made it hard to continue.

“So.”

Meng Linna stepped closer.

“You’re mining mithril?”

It was obvious.

Na Naya didn’t deny it.

She nodded quietly.

“There’s a lot of mithril here…”

Meng Linna stood in front of her.

She stared into Na Naya’s eyes.

“This is illegal mining. You know you’re committing a crime, right?”

“…”

Na Naya fell silent.

She knew stealing resources was wrong.

But being called out so directly by Meng Linna irritated her.

She nodded wordlessly.

Then she bit her thumb with her fang.

“So what? What’re you going to do? Report me?”

Seeing the petite loli bite her finger, Meng Linna zoned out for a moment.

Just a moment.

An annoyed loli was pretty cute too.

“Of course not. But this is wrong. So can you please…”

“Tch.”

Na Naya’s annoyed expression easily intimidated the curvy older sister.

“Thirty percent.”

She pointed her whip at the mithril ore on the ground.

“That’s your hush money.”

“…”

Now Meng Linna was silent.

To say she wasn’t tempted would be a lie.

Even if Na Naya stopped now, the mined ore wasn’t much.

But its purity was high.

It needed almost no refining.

Selling it wouldn’t be an issue.

At market price, it could fetch about a hundred gold coins.

She was broke!

And if she refused?

If she really pissed Na Naya off, what then?

Killing to silence her wasn’t impossible.

The dungeon was conquered, sure.

But it still had dangerous monsters.

A story like “Miss Meng Linna died saving me” would sound totally plausible!

Gulp!

Her swallow echoed loudly.

“But.”

Meng Linna’s remaining rationality scrambled for an excuse.

“Selling raw mithril like this would definitely get traced, right?”

Na Naya’s answer was simple.

“I have a system. Covering tracks like this costs barely any points.”

Haha, no way to refuse.