I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

Then Riko looked at Yuhaka with a serious expression and said:

"However, selling the heirloom without permission is a very serious crime! Youyou, you absolutely must not sell those heirlooms to anyone!"

"Okay, Youyou understand."

Seeing Yuhaka's obedient appearance, Riko nodded in satisfaction. Then, Riko pulled open a vine-covered area, revealing human skeletons underneath, which startled her.

"Oooh!"

Rico looked at the human skeleton, which remained in a praying posture, patted her chest in relief, and said:

"Phew... I was startled because I haven't seen him in so long."

Rico, with her hands clasped together, addressed the human skeleton, who remained in a prayer position:

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, may you rest in peace..."

Having recovered, Riko looked in Yuhaka's direction and said:

"Alright, Youyou, where is everyone today... um?

As Riko looked around for Ehaka, she suddenly saw Ehaka grab the skull of the human skeleton that Riko had just discovered in a praying posture and rip it off with a pop.

"Yoyo ya meo ro ah————!"

With Riko's screams, the Abyss returned to its supposed tranquility.

Chapter 41 [Hard, Big Bird]

Located at a depth of 100-200 meters in the first layer of the Abyss, in the area of ​​the [Fossil Group of Tree Dwellings].

Riko, with a ╯﹏╰ expression on her face, carried a large bag of relics on her back as she walked towards Os Town. Riko looked back at Yuhaka, who threw an edible Abyss plant into a dimensional hole next to her with an envious expression.

"That's great! I want something like this that's so easy to store things..."

For cave explorers, neither the terrible Ascension Curse nor the ferocious alien beasts can stop them from searching for relics; the only thing that can stop them is the pitiful capacity of their backpacks.

Riko felt uneasy when she thought about the promise she made with Yuhaka, but when she remembered that Yuhaka was a girl, her depressed mood lessened a bit.

"Rico? You don't need Yuu's help?"

Hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko turned around, looked at the puzzled Yuhaka, waved her hand, and said:

"Well, although I want Youyou's help, I can't. After all, I'm going to become a White Flute Cave Explorer. If I can't even do this little thing right, I won't be able to become a White Flute!"

Although Lily said this, she was thinking this in her heart:

[My backpack is so heavy and I'm exhausted! I'll ask that idiot Nado to help me when we get back!]

With this in mind, Riko walked towards Nado's position on the upper level. At Riko's prompting, Yuhaka also put her Felyne headgear back on. Just as Riko was about to call out to Nado, Yuhaka suddenly covered her mouth, which almost startled Riko.

"Youyou, what are you doing all of a sudden?" (whispering)

Yuhaka gestured for Riko to be quiet and said to her:

"Riko, watch out, there's a really strong guy here... (whispering)"

Upon hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko immediately became vigilant. Although there weren't many dangerous beasts or insects in the upper part of the first level of the Abyss, some monsters from the lower levels would still come to the first level to hunt. Riko would be careful about this, after all, the dangers of the Abyss were not easy to deal with.

Riko and Yuhaka cautiously peeked out from around a corner, and Riko's pupils immediately contracted. Not far from where they were, a monster resembling a giant rock, 14 meters long (larger than a typical 55-seat bus) and over 6 meters tall, was devouring the scattered relics on the ground. Without a doubt, it was the Rock Dragon that Zelus had previously confirmed had traversed between itself and the Piercing Beast.

Wow, that's huge! What kind of monster is that?!

Riko, who was hiding around the corner with Yuhaka, watched the rock dragon eating with a nervous expression. Although Riko knew a lot about the dangerous creatures living in the Abyss, there were nearly 10,000 unnamed monsters in the Abyss. However, the only thing Riko knew was that this rock-like monster was definitely not to be trifled with.

Rico glanced at the relics on the ground that the rock dragon had eaten and felt a pang of regret and heartache, but it was better to slip away quietly as soon as possible.

Just as Riko was about to leave with Yuhaka, Yuhaka tapped Riko's shoulder and pointed near the rock-like monster, whispering:

"Riko...over there...(whispering)"

Riko was slightly taken aback by Yuhaka's reaction, and then looked in the direction Yuhaka was pointing and saw a familiar figure lying near the rock dragon.

"Nado?!"

A shocked Riko stared at her orphanage friends lying there, immediately covering her mouth as she felt a pang of unease. Just as Riko was about to be killed by a giant, rock-like monster...

"Snoring...zzzz"

The sound of Nado snoring and bubbles coming out of his nose while he was lying on the ground immediately gave Riko a look of utter bewilderment. She had just been worried about Nado, but now that idiot was sleeping?! And sleeping deep in the dangerous Abyss?! Did he have a death wish?

Rico was so angry that she wanted to shove Nado right into the monster's mouth. But despite her anger, Nado was still her friend from the orphanage, and Rico couldn't just abandon him and run away.

Riko looked at Yuhaka and said:

"Youyou, when I distract that monster, go and take Nado away."

Yuhaka simply shook her head at Riko's idea, refusing her request and saying to her:

"No, Riko, you're too weak, your legs are too short, you can't run fast..."

With each word Yuhaka uttered, Riko felt as if an arrow had pierced her body, instantly striking her fragile heart. Then, Yuhaka's next words left Riko stunned.

"Hey, Birdie, I'll distract them. Rico, go save them."

As she spoke, Yuhaka ran out and took out a bone boomerang made by Nanachi from the spatial cave, throwing it at the head of the Rock Dragon. With the sound of bone hitting rock, the Rock Dragon was startled by Yuhaka's sudden attack, and the relic it was chewing in its mouth was also startled and fell to the ground in pieces. The Rock Dragon looked at the bone boomerang on the ground with a bewildered expression and then looked in the direction of Yuhaka.

Then Yanlong saw Yuhaka pat his own little bottom and mock Yanlong, turning his little butt around:

"Hard, big bird, look here~"

Yuhaka's provocation immediately enraged Yuhaka. Although the Rock Dragon is a gentle and timid flying dragon, that doesn't mean it's a monster that won't get angry. After all, even an honest person would get angry if someone suddenly threw a stick at them while they were eating.

Attracted by Yuhaka's attention, the Rock Dragon adopted a charging stance, let out a soft roar, and charged towards Yuhaka. With each heavy step of the Rock Dragon, Riko could feel the ground swaying. Yuhaka, however, easily dodged the Rock Dragon's "leisurely" charge by simply jumping to the side.

While Ehaka was distracting the Rock Dragon, Riko quickly came to Nado's side, shook Nado's shoulder, and said to him:

"Nado! Nado! Wake up!"

To Riko's shaking, Nado only made muffled, sleep-talking sounds, showing no sign of waking up. Enraged, Riko raised her hand and slapped Nado hard across the face, shouting at him:

"Wake up! You big idiot!"

Accompanied by a crisp slap, Nado's screams echoed across the first level of the Abyss, before silence returned once more.

Chapter 42 [Riko, the Habitual Victim of Hiding His Belongings]

Boom!

At the location of the Tree-Dwelling Fossil Cluster on the first level of the Abyss, Yhwach is currently attracting the attention of the Rock Dragon.

Yuhaka took out the bone bow and bone arrows that he and Nanachi had made together from his dimensional portal, drew the bow, aimed, and released the arrow at the Rock Dragon!

The arrow broke immediately upon hitting the rock dragon, leaving at most a small scratch on its shell.

When faced with the Rock Dragon rushing towards him, Yuhaka simply used the Fossil Tree as a stepping stone to jump over the Rock Dragon from behind.

Boom!

The Rock Dragon, on the other hand, crashed headfirst into the hard fossil tree, knocking itself unconscious.

"Hey~"

As Yuhaka landed from the sky, he looked at the dizzy Rock Dragon and seemed to have a headache. Judging from its appearance, Yuhaka could tell that this monster was the Rock Dragon that the Meru Cats living in the Misty Swamp had mentioned.

As for why Yuhaka asked Meru Cat about these things... the answer is simple: it's to find monsters, enemies, or rivals to eat.

However, for Yuhaka right now, she doesn't have a good way to deal with this rock dragon. Her fire breath is not very effective against rock dragons that like to live in volcanic areas, and her paralyzing spiky scales cannot pierce the rock dragon's hard rock shell.

Let's just slip away and talk about it later.

Just as Ehaka was about to escape using the Deep Slot Bug Tunnel, Ehaka suddenly saw the Rock Dragon take a deep breath, and Ehaka could see that the Rock Dragon's body temperature seemed to be rising.

Danger! Get out of the way!

Ehaka's sixth sense told her that just as she was escaping using the Deep Slot Worm Tunnel, she suddenly sensed Riko's figure appearing behind her.

The two were positioned exactly on a line.

........................

"Huff... Where did Youyou go?"

Riko wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at the footprints left by the Rock Dragon on the ground, chasing after them. Riko's purpose in catching up with Yuhaka was not only because she was worried about Yuhaka's safety, but also because Riko was familiar with the terrain here.

After all, Rico had been searching for relics in this place for quite some time, and she also knew a lot about the small tunnels that cave explorers had dug in the past.

Then I can lead Yuhaka through those small tunnels to avoid the big monster's attacks, and then Yuhaka and I will be safe.

Soon, Riko spotted Yhaka after rounding a huge, towering fossil tree.

"Youyou—"

Before Riko could finish speaking, Yuhaka suddenly pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. A scorching flame roared past them.

"Eh……?"

As the flames flew overhead, Riko looked puzzled. Then, as she fell to the ground, she looked up behind her and saw a fossilized tree with a large hole melted in it.

The fossil tree has melted!?

Wiri was utterly shocked by the scorching rays spewed by the Rock Dragon. After all, the fossil tree was so hard that even an axe couldn't leave a deep mark on it; it was incredibly hard. If even something like that was melted, what would happen if it hit her and Yuhaka...?

Li didn't even dare to think about it...

"Well……"

"Youyou! Are you alright?!"

Riko looked on nervously as Yuhaka, whose Elf cat headgear had fallen off, slowly got up and said this. Yuhaka swayed as he stood up on Riko's back.

"Youyou, a true man is..."

As he spoke, Yuhaka took off his cloak and threw it aside. Lying on the ground, Riko could see that the cloak Yuhaka was wearing was already on fire. After all, it was a cloak made of materials from a dog dragon and a blue bear beast, and its fire resistance was pitifully low. Basically, it would catch fire as soon as it touched the flames.

"It's unusable..."

Yuhaka glanced at the cloak burning on the ground, feeling a little sorry for it, since it was made for her by Rorota and Rokubei. Slightly annoyed, Yuhaka looked at the shaking-headed Rock Dragon and said:

“YuYu is a little angry… (òwó), Riko, stay as far away as possible.”

Riko, standing behind Yuhka as he prepared to transform, felt a pang of heartache and helplessness as she looked at the charred marks on Yuhka's back. If Yuhka hadn't saved her, he wouldn't have been injured...

Right now, I can't even handle the matter of healing Yuhaka...

Just as Riko was thinking this, she suddenly saw the charred skin on Yuhaka's back peel off layer by layer, and new skin quickly grew back. Soon, Yuhaka's back returned to its original smooth and tender appearance.

Well, now I don't even have a chance to give Yuhaka any medical treatment...