The scene she had just witnessed was indeed remarkable. It would have been difficult to establish a forge of that scale within the tribe, let alone within such a cavern. She could only guess the hardships Senu had endured to achieve this, all the while keeping it a secret from Servia.

‘But why me…’

Enya looked at the man before her with a mix of caution, suspicion, and a slight respect. She couldn’t fathom his intentions.

“What… do you want from me?”

When she asked directly after a moment of thought, Senu chuckled self-deprecatingly, seeing her defensive stance.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of deceiving you or putting you in trouble under my mother’s orders. If that had been my plan, I would have harmed you the day you fell into this cave.”

Senu added in a grave tone.

“After all, there are plenty of ways to do so in this cave.”

At his words, Enya instinctively tensed. That single sentence seemed to erase the good impressions she had of him and leave only unease.

‘…Even those who seem moral and kind can turn on you at any moment.’

Even though he had managed to establish a forge in this desolate leper cave and lead thirty-two patients towards self-sufficiency, it was the same. Trust couldn’t be granted unconditionally to someone she had known for less than a day.

Noticing Enya’s expression, Senu narrowed his eyes.

“You’re wary of me. Understandable, since you probably find it hard to take my word at face value.”

Trying not to show she was struck by his words, Enya made an effort to conceal her reaction. Senu then immediately added.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t fully trust me. I only ask that you listen to the suggestion I’m about to make.”

“A suggestion?”

“Yes.”

Senu said, pausing for a moment before asking.

“Aren’t you curious about what we were making down there?”

She looked at Senu, who sat upright despite his frail and emaciated appearance, not looking as pitiable as one might expect due to his posture.

“Of course, I’m curious.”

When Enya responded honestly, he nodded and quickly signaled to Silanda and Jahan, who stood like pillars behind him.

Enya watched as Silanda, who had been glaring at her with displeasure, begrudgingly began to untie a bundle beside her. It seemed to contain something substantial by its size and weight. Jahan helped Silanda extract an item from the sack and carefully placed it between Enya and Senu.

“This is…”

Enya examined it slowly.

It was something she had never seen before. The object was bulky and dark, with an oddly grotesque shape.

The object, resembling a long quiver, was made of iron. It was heavy and had a leather handle tied around it for carrying on the back. Suddenly, she remembered that when she first woke up in this cave, a few of the leper cave dwellers had similar objects in their arms as if these items were protecting their frail and sickly selves.

“…Is this a weapon?”

She guessed the purpose of the object.

Given its size and bulk, it didn’t seem like something that could be easily swung around like a blunt instrument. She examined the unfamiliar object and then glanced up at Senu. Between the bandages, where his eyes should be, there was no movement in the dark void.

“Jahan, bring that over here.”

“Oohh, Senu, just a second…”

At his command, Jahan hurriedly brought over a jar he had taken out from the depths of the bundle. The jar’s mouth was tightly sealed with beeswax and string before Senu slowly opened the lid and took out its contents.

Enya’s eyes widened at the sight.

“These are… monster ants.”

The insects crawling over his palm were undoubtedly monster ants, common pests throughout the Great Plains known for turning meticulously built huts or storages into ashes with their secretions, potentially causing a major disaster.

She was appalled to see Senu handling the monster ants, which were known for their venomous stings and fire-starting secretions, so nonchalantly with his bandaged hand.

“These ants are raised in the cave.”

“You’re raising monster ants?”

Seeing her astonished expression, Senu might have smiled as the bandage around his mouth moved slightly.

“Since it’s a cave, there’s more than enough soil to feed the monster ants.”

Before Enya could ask anything, he quickly reached into the jar again and scraped something out. The monster ants crawled up and down his arm, and soon, he showed his hand again, now smeared with the ants’ secretions. He scraped off the hard, blackened secretion of the monster ants and offered it to her.

“I wanted to show this to you.”

Enya was baffled.

Was this man playing a joke on her?

She couldn’t see Senu’s expression, but she imagined he might look a bit foolish at that moment. Then, watching the scene, Silanda shook her head in disbelief and pushed his arm away.

“Ugh, you’re so clueless! How is she supposed to understand by just showing her that, you fool!”

Silanda pushed Senu aside with one arm and snatched the secretion from his palm. Then, with practiced movements, she inserted it into the hole of the weapon laid out in front of them.

Her actions were swift.

Before Enya could blink a few times, Silanda was already standing up with the weapon in one arm.

“You! Follow me!”

Silanda sharply called out.

Enya, taken aback by her command, hesitantly got to her feet. Without looking back, Silanda strode off somewhere, with Senu and Jahan holding torches and following her.

Seeing this, she, too, began to move while limping slightly.

Silanda led them to another passage branching off from the large room they were in. After traversing this path for some time, they finally arrived at another spacious area.

‘Just how big is this rabbit hole?’

Enya marveled anew at the size of the cave as she took in the new surroundings. The space was as large as the previous hall, but the torchlight revealed spots blackened by soot. It was clearly not a well-maintained place.

Silanda showed no hesitation here, either.

“Watch closely.”

She threw a glance at Enya, then, with the speed of lightning, positioned the iron-made weapon between her legs. She then pulled something near the handle of the weapon forcefully.

Boom!

With a sound like thunder, the ground shook, and the dirt walls crumbled. At that moment, Enya gasped, stumbling backward. If Jahan hadn’t caught her from behind, she would have fallen to the ground.

“What on earth…!”

Trembling all over and with her ears ringing, Enya cried out. She instinctively crawled away, retreating on all fours.

By the light of the torch Jahan held, the destruction on the opposite side of the wall was visible. The cave wall that Silanda had targeted with the mysterious weapon was utterly demolished, crumbling down. Dirt cascaded down the wall like water, the vibrations reaching even the entrance where they stood.

Never having seen anything like it, her body shook uncontrollably. Jahan gently patted Enya, who was wide-eyed and trembling.

“Everyone’s like that the first time. You’ll get used to it. You might experience some ringing in your ears now and then.”

Senu quickly approached Silanda, who had detached the weapon from her thigh amidst rising smoke.

“Silanda! Are you all right?”

As Senu reached out to check her legs, Silanda pushed him away.

“Don’t make a fuss! Senu, I told you, I love every moment of using this thing. It hurts like hell, feeling like my leg might fly off each time, but it’s thrilling.”

In the midst of swirling dust, with her face smeared with soot, Silanda wiped her mouth indifferently. Glancing at Enya, still sprawled on the ground, she murmured.

“…She’s completely out of it.”

Enya extended her trembling fingers, pointing towards the collapsed wall.

“A, a lightning came out of the weapon. The cave won’t collapse, will it?”

At her description, the three laughed. Senu slightly shook his shoulders.

“It’s not that powerful yet.”

He added solemnly, his voice almost dreamy.

“Of course, there might come a day when it will be.”

Silanda rolled her eyes and shook her head in response to his words.

Enya could hardly believe what she had seen. She flipped her gaze between the calm Senu, Jahan, and Silanda. How could such a device exist? It felt as if lightning and thunder had erupted from the weapon.

The weapon was utterly destroyed after that single explosion. The exit from which something had burst was now collapsed like a crumbled furnace, smoke seeping out. Enya was concerned whether Silanda’s thighs, which had firmly held the device between, were alright.

“It’s still very impractical. All that effort to make it, yet it can only be used once. Its absurd size and volume mean a person can barely carry one.”

Senu looked down at the still glowing, red-hot weapon entrance and muttered bitterly.

Enya stared up at them, mesmerized.

‘…The person who has been hiding such weapons in this cave now has a request for me?’

It was her mistake to expect some clues by coming here. Instead, it felt like she was being dragged deeper into a mystery.

Enya looked up at Senu with wary eyes, and he looked back at her. Between the worn and unraveled bandages, his calm eyes held intentions now utterly inscrutable to her. As the commotion settled and the falling dirt stopped, he spoke evenly.

“Let’s leave this cave together.”

Enya felt her lips quiver slightly as she saw the sharp gleam in his eyes through the darkness.

“I wish to meet the man named Tarhan.”

At the moment Senu mentioned Tarhan’s name, Enya felt all strength drain from her body.

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