Marie's ears and brow perked up when she heard that.
"Where and how did you find it?" Krys asked with curiosity.
Gilbert whispered with excitement.
"We were exploring the forests when we accidentally discovered an area that is not in any maps."
"There was a large population of horned rabbits there, we suspect it is some kind of nest."
"When we ventured in deeper, we found a strange old door. We didn't go in further. The spot is marked in our map."
Krys nodded his head.
"It seems dangerous. Are you sure you don't want to report this? You might earn a lot for just the information."
Gilbert shook his head.
"I don't think there is anything to worry about. Those rabbits stay away from dangerous locations. We might get treasures beyond our imaginations."
"Also, Basil is a history nerd. He wants to explore it firsthand. We are just inviting you for extra safety."
"So we will be bodyguards." Krys asked with puzzlement. "I'm sure you know stronger people."
"Do you think any of these idiots will be interested?" Gilbert asked with a tint of disappointment.
I looked around and saw the faces of these happy animals. They didn't care about anything other cheap wine and cheap company.
Even if they go inside the ruin, they will just loot everything without concern for preserving history.
They will later gamble everything and lose it as they suck at the only activity they enjoy the most.
Krys looked at me. "Your call." His eyes reflected my face with trust.
I thought for a moment. The secret ruins are very interesting. If it isn't dangerous, I would love to go there.
Furthermore, I have Krys with me. I trust my teacher and his strength.
"Let's do it." I whispered.
"Okay. Let's discuss the details back at our place."
xxx
(On Monday, 3 days after the ruins exploration plan.)
Krys and Marie followed the brothers into a deep part of the forest.
Krys had tied his long hair in a ponytail like usual. Marie had her hair in a bun on top of her head. She held it together with a needle carved from a horned-rabbit's ribs.
They climbed a particular tall rock that they had once seen on a run before.
As they walked further, the numbers of horned-rabbits increased as well. They encountered a lot of young rabbits they had rarely seen before.
Gilbert looked around the fauna, sometimes he would glance at his map.
Then his eyes lit up as he pointed towards a dead tree. A symbol was carved into it. It was not easily noticeable to two of the party members.
After getting closer to it, Gilbert scanned the ground for something. Basil was a directionally challenged man and didn't try to help his brother.
Gilbert soon located a hole. When the party all stared at the small hole, a small black furred animal poked out its head.
It immediately ran back inside when faced with the party of four people. Krys noticed the soil near that place being a little strange. It triggered an unknown sense of dread in him.
Gilbert and Basil removed the top layer of soil near the hole. In a few moments, a door appeared in the party's sight. It was made of wood and stone and had beautiful and mysterious engravings on its edges.
Gilbert looked up to Marie and Krys from a squatted position, "Check this out."
"Isn't it beautiful?" Basil said, eyes sparkling. "I can't wait to see what's down there."
The excitement spread over to Marie. She was so enthralled that she failed to notice her partner's expression.
With pure strength, Gilbert pulled open the door. The door was quite beaten and its hinges creaked loudly. When the other three to the side looked in, they found stairs leading underground. The path was narrow and dark.
They couldn't see the end of it as their vision was blocked by dust and cobwebs.
Marie tried taking a step forward to examine it closely when Krys held her hand and pulled her back.
She looked at his face, he had a very complicated expression.
"What's wrong?" she asked in puzzlement. She thought Krys was scared of that staircase.
They remained in that position for two seconds while Krys stared at the path. Basil broke the tension, "Strange coming from me but… this is not a good time to flirt."
Krys recovered from his daze and apologised to the three.
Basil got closer to Krys and asked him without mocking, "Are you afraid of confined spaces, or maybe darkness or spiders?"
Krys shook his head. "I'm fine. Just had bad thoughts."
Basil patted Krys's shoulder, "If you need to calm down, we can rush back to the surface whenever."
Krys thought to himself for a moment, "Let me be in the front. If anything happens then I am physically the best here."
Gilbert retorted jokingly, "I lost once in arm wrestling and you get strange ideas."
It was unanimously agreed to keep Krys at the back of the group, allowing him to bolt back to the surface if he needed to. He wasn't happy with this arrangement but nobody listened to him.