A week had passed since Lux had holed himself up in the Figaro Garden and he was still conducting his business with the Ants.

Although the Adventurer’s Guild had announced that going to the Figaro Gardens was forbidden, some stubborn Dwarves would still secretly go there to kill monsters and collect herbs and other ingredients.

Due to the decrease of people visiting the place, the Dwarves didn’t have much competition in herb collecting, monster killing, and foraging.

This made them bolder, so most of them decided to go deeper inside the garden, which was a big mistake on their part.

“Run!”

A party of Dwarves had ventured too deep in their exploration, and came in contact with one of the mosquito swarms that were active in the area.

The buzzing sounds of the mosquitoes’ wings became louder as they closed their gap between the Dwarves who were rich in blood.

While they were running away, the healer of the party suddenly tripped on one of the roots of the plants that was on his way.

“Help!” the healer cried out, but his party members only gave him a side-long glance before running away.

“Nooooo! Stay away!” The healer screamed as the mosquitoes pierced his body with their bloodsuckers.

His blood curdling screams spread across the garden, which scared those who heard it increase the pace of their running._-.

The ranger of the party, a girl with long brown hair, had been enduring the sudden pain in her ankle as she ran with all of her might, but she had finally reached her limit.

She fell face first on the ground as tears streamed down her eyes. The Dwarf girl knew what fate awaited her, but there was nothing else she could do.

“No, I don’t want to die!” the girl shouted. “Mama! Save me, Mama!”

It was at that moment when her body was grabbed by something, making her scream with all of her might. Her screaming only lasted for only a brief moment, before it disappeared completely.

‘Sh*t! We shouldn’t have come!’ the Leader of the party cursed internally. ‘We should have only stayed on the outskirts. I have been too greedy!’

No matter how much he cursed himself, it was already too late. Another scream echoed in the garden which made the Leader subconsciously shudder. He had asked his teammates to spread out in order to increase their chances of survival.

However, the screams he just heard sounded close to his location. It only meant one thing and that was that the Monster Swarm was hot on his trail.

Using everything he had, the Dwarf ran as fast as he could like there was no tomorrow. Even though he could already feel a stinging pain in his chest, he ignored it and only ran as fast as he could. This allowed him to widen the gap between him and the Mosquito Swarm.

A few hours later, he would come to discover that he was one of the only three survivors of his party of six.

—–

The Dwarf girl, who had sprained her ankle earlier, hung limply in Diablo’s arm.

He had discovered her crying when he was exploring the area where the mosquitoes were currently active. Naturally, Lux ordered Diablo to save her, as well as one of her companions that was nearby.

After running for a few minutes, Diablo saw the Skeleton Warrior carrying an unconscious Dwarf boy in his arms.

The two immediately headed to one of the Ant Holes that were scattered around the Figaro Gardens to hide from the Mosquito Swarm that was still hunting the members of the Dwarf party.

Although they wanted to save more Dwarves, there were only two of them, and the things they could do were limited.

After running in the underground tunnel for half an hour, the two Undead Finally arrived at a wide cavern where Lux was waiting for them.

Unlike the unconscious Dwarf boy, the ranger was awake and saw everything that had transpired.

After arriving at the cavern, Diablo handed the ranger to Lux, while the Skeleton Warrior laid the unconscious boy to the ground.

“Are you alright?” Lux asked.

The ranger nodded. “Just a sprain, but I’m mostly alright. Thank you for saving me.”

“You’re welcome,” Lux replied as he gently laid her on the ground to tend to her injuries.

The Half-Elf deftly removed the ranger’s boots from her feet, before taking out a healing potion from his storage ring. He poured half of the bottle’s contents on the swelling ankle before checking the other Dwarf’s condition.

The Dwarf girl watched Lux tend to her companion and felt gratitude welling up in her heart. Deep inside, she felt relieved that she was able to survive this incident. If Diablo hadn’t come to her rescue, she might have already turned into a dried husk right about now, and would never see her mother ever again.

After delivering the two Dwarf children, Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior once again left the Ant Nest. They would look for the girl’s other party members and bring them here to see if they could still be saved.

Even if they were dead, Lux ordered them to bring their corpses back inside the Ant Nest, so that he could return them to Leaf Village. Later, they could be taken back home to Solais, to be given a proper burial.

A few hours passed, before Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior returned.

The ranger girl turned pale after seeing the remains of her companions, who were bereft of blood.

She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

Lux watched this scene with a sigh. The Figaro Gardens was currently an off-limit zone, and this Dwarf party thought that they were strong and smart enough to survive it.

Unfortunately, they thought too highly of themselves, which led to this tragic ending.

Half an hour later, the unconscious boy awoke from his slumber. What followed next was a screaming fit after he saw what remained of his companions. It took a while for Lux to calm the panicking Dwarf. Fortunately, in the end, he regained his composure.

“Stay here for the time being,” Lux said to the two surviving Dwarves before placing the remains of their companions inside his Black Coffin.

The coffin could store dead and dying humanoid creatures inside them, but Lux couldn’t use its main ability because he hadn’t met the necessary requirements.

Also, he didn’t want to do it as well. If he were to turn the Dwarves into Undead, he was sure that every Dwarf in Leaf Village would hate him, even if his intentions were good. Since that was the case, the least he could do was bring their bodies back to the village and let their friends return them to Solais to get buried.

“A swarm is currently active near the exit of the Garden,” Lux said to the two Dwarves after receiving Diablo’s report. “We will return to the village once they decide to return to their nest.”

The two dwarves could only nod their heads as they sat and hugged their legs while staring at the small fire that Lux had made to cook some barbecue skewers made from horned rabbit meat.

“Thank you for saving me,” the Dwarf boy said after a while. “My name is Glenn, thirteen years old. I am a third son of a viscount in the Dwarven Empire of Evarith. I will do my best to repay your kindness in the future.”

The Dwarf girl raised her head as she stared at Lux with an embarrassed expression on her face. She had completely forgotten to introduce herself to the Half-Elf after he had saved her.

“My name is Megan. Fourteen years old.” Megan bowed her head. “I’m only of commoner birth, but I thank you for saving me. I can’t give you a reward because my family is poor, but if there’s any way I can repay you, just ask. I will do my best to return the favor.”

Lux nodded as he also introduced himself to the two Dwarves who were looking at him with grateful expressions on their faces.

“Lux,” Lux said. “I don’t need any repayment. I just did what needed to be done. I’m sure that if you were in my shoes, both of you would have done the same.”

Glen and Megan lowered their heads. They felt ashamed because back then, they only thought about saving themselves, and didn’t care if their comrades were going to die or not. After all, they were just a temporary party that was made out of necessity.

Lux didn’t know what the two Dwarves were thinking as he took two skewers from the fire pit and gave them to the two of them to eat.

“Eat first,” Lux stated. “Both of you will need your strength when we leave this place.”

The two dwarves thanked Lux for his generosity and ate the barbecue in silence.

The Half-Elf was about to give them more when his sensitive ears picked up a buzzing sound coming from one of the tunnels leading to their cavern.

Seeing the look of concern on Lux’s face, the two Dwarves frowned. They couldn’t hear what the red-headed teenager was hearing, so they were not aware that the Mosquitoes had discovered one of the hidden entrances that led into the colony.

“Both of you stay here,” Lux said as he ran towards one of the tunnels to help the Ants resist the invaders.

Right now, he and the Ants were allies, so it was only natural for him to extend his help during their time of need.

Glenn and Megan glanced at each other before nodding their heads at the same time. They stood up and ran after their savior. Although they didn’t know what had caused Lux to have that anxious look on his face, they were sure that it was not something good.