Chapter 207 — Dinner Time at Gao Yang's House

After returning to the present world, both Gao Yang and Amber looked a little pale.

Sir Byron, who had been waiting outside for a long while, came over at once: "My lord, are you all right?"

"I witnessed nature's uncanny craftsmanship," Gao Yang exhaled, slowly easing out the psychological discomfort brought on by facing that vast hollow head-on, and shook his head helplessly. "Let's hope it really was nature's craftsmanship."

Sir Byron was utterly baffled. Even with all his old-hand experience, he could not deduce what exactly Gao Yang had seen in the Shadow Realm—but he was clever enough not to ask. Since Gao Yang had not volunteered anything, that meant the news could not be made public at this stage; there were still many ordinary soldiers on site. He decided not to pry further.

Once he had steadied his feelings, Gao Yang looked at Byron: "Apart from this new area, do you have more survey reports?"

"Yes. We've made good progress lately and found a great deal," Sir Byron nodded and at once began a brief report of the intelligence he had gathered so far. "The place we're standing in now should be the very lowest level of this ruin complex. If no more ramps or staircases turn up, then this hall ought to be the 'base' section of the whole facility. So far the ruin can be divided roughly into upper, middle, and lower tiers. The middle tier connects to the entrance hall we first discovered—the rooms are spacious, the corridors straight and symmetrical, so it was probably the main area of activity for personnel back then. The upper tier leads to the ridgeline at the summit of the Dark Mountains; that area has many hidden ventilation shafts and entrances that must be emergency passages, though most of them have already caved in and blocked up from the weathering of the mountain, and we can't clear them out for the time being. The lower tier is where we are now—the smallest of the three areas, yet the most complex in structure, with a great many rooms packed with discarded equipment, mezzanines of unknown purpose, and this hall we discovered. The three areas are linked by the 'Great Ramp' at the center of the facility and by shafts and narrow staircases scattered throughout. In addition, within each area there are floors at various elevations; I've already carefully drawn up structural diagrams of the floors."

Sir Byron paused, then went on: "For the next stage we plan to explore the southern and eastern parts of the middle tier. We've found extra connecting passages in both places—the passages are cluttered with debris, but show no signs of collapse themselves. Once we have the manpower in place, we'll clear the obstructions and push the exploration further. I suspect there's still a great deal of this ancient ruin left undiscovered."

Gao Yang furrowed his brow, sketching in his mind a comparison between the overall layout of the ruin and the Dark Mountains, and said slowly: "The southern area... if the entire middle tier is a symmetrical structure, then the south may lead to the southern foothills of the Dark Mountains. You must be especially careful in that process. The moment you find that the structure has passed through the mountain body, seal the passage at once and come report to me. On no account are you to enter the Black Forest south of the mountains at will. As for the east..."

Amber, drawing on her rather limited store of continental geography, suddenly blurted out: "It wouldn't happen to lead into the Typhon Empire, would it?"

Sir Byron was startled at once: "Is that possible?"

"Nothing's impossible," Gao Yang said, quite unruffled. "The area we're in is itself in the southeastern corner of Ansu, and the Dark Mountains run all the way into Typhon territory. If this ancient facility really was built by hollowing out the mountain... then it's entirely possible that its far end reaches into Typhon. After all, in the Spark Era a thousand years ago... there was no such thing as a border between Ansu and Typhon."

At this he looked Sir Byron in the eye, his expression unusually grave: "If that's really the case, then you must be all the more careful. Understand?"

Sir Byron was, after all, a knight—even a latecomer to the profession had some military common sense—and he grasped at once what it would mean if this mountain ruin really did contain a passage leading into Typhon. He snapped upright: "Yes! I understand!"

After the business was settled, Gao Yang decided to return to the domain first, but before leaving he clapped Sir Byron on the shoulder and reminded him: "Your survey work in the mountains is important, but you still need to take the leave you're owed. Once this round of work is done, go home and rest for a few days."

Sir Byron chuckled: "I'm actually fine. Back when I was a mercenary I was forever crawling through all sorts of ruins and wreckage—sometimes I'd be holed up in some underground palace for half a month at a stretch..."

"But you didn't have a daughter back when you were a mercenary," Gao Yang glanced at him. "Pea misses you."

Byron's grin froze at once, replaced by a touch of awkwardness: "Oh... oh... then I'll go back and spend more time with her."

Gao Yang and Amber returned to the lord's manor, and after a whole day of bustle, by the time they got home the sun was setting and it was nearly dinnertime.

At present the manor had, apart from two servants hired on temporarily, only Betty as a maid. The little girl was responsible for everyone's meals and part of the odd jobs. Even though Gao Yang's household numbered only five—counting Amber, who came to mooch meals, and the siren Tyr, who had recently moved in—and Gao Yang himself lived simply, with plain fare every day, once the servants' food and the daily chores were added in, it was no small burden.

Watching the little girl dash about the dining room like a gust of wind, setting out plates and doling out bread, Gao Yang could not help pulling Amber over to help. As he set out plates he remarked to Betty: "Can you keep up with all this every day?"

"I can keep up!" the little maid answered crisply, lugging a large bottle of wine. "Ah, my lord, don't set the plates yourself!"

"Idle hands are wasted hands," said Gao Yang. He had never been comfortable with the sort of life where one sat down at the table and a row of servants stood behind one's back paying their respects; in fact, even a single person standing there solely to wait on him at meals made him feel indigestion coming on. So he was always trying to change that custom—though so far it seemed to have had no effect at all. Seeing the little maid on the verge of tears as he snatched the plate-setting from her, he had no choice but to put down the plate in his hand. "If you can't keep up, just tell me. This house is much bigger than the old tent, and it's only natural to be short-handed looking after it."

Gao Yang had no intention of installing dozens or even hundreds of servants in his mansion the way the mainstream nobles of this era did, nor of being so extravagant and decadent as to assign two people to every post, even for tending flowers or keeping dogs. But he admitted that such a large house needed more hands to look after it; necessary posts should be staffed with the necessary people. Betty was a diligent girl, but she had no three heads and six arms, and it was hardly fitting to pile all the heavy housework on her alone.

Betty had not thought that far. She had originally been only a low-ranking maid helping out in the kitchen, and it had never crossed her mind what would happen if she were the only maid left at the lord's side. Hearing Gao Yang's words now, she just stood there blankly, nodding away, with no idea what the nodding meant.