Dash, Shel, Marle, Lilin, and Arvia started helping the bartender, who introduced himself as Sazzan, clean up his bar. They were assisted by some of the miners who weren't working. While they worked, Shel, Marle, and Lilin kept watching Sazzan, who tried to ignore them and focused on cleaning up his establishment. Dash, noticing the tension between the girls and Sazzan, finally approached Sazzan, pretending to work near him.
"Hey, how long have you run a bar down here?" Dash asked.
"Since I ran away from home... maybe about 10 years ago," Sazzan answered.
"I see. You really do seem different from your brother," Dash said.
"Yeah, my brother ran the family business. I didn't want to and chose to run away because I'm not like them. Did you guys kill my brother?" Sazzan asked.
"Sorry, but yes. I won't hide it. To be honest, your brother caused trouble for them, and I helped destroy his business and his headquarters," Dash answered frankly.
"Hmm... so that's it. No wonder they looked furious and almost killed me," Sazzan said with a sigh.
"You're not holding a grudge against us?" Dash asked.
"Why would I? Besides, I don't feel any resentment or loss for my brother or any family members. They mean nothing to me or to the 'children of the underground.' You understand, don't you? Dragon folk never rely on family. The moment they hatch, they're abandoned or sometimes even swallowed by their own parents," Sazzan replied, giving a small smile.
"Didn't the Dragon folk go extinct?" Dash asked.
"Well... I learned from books. Besides, as long as you're around, dragons aren't extinct," Sazzan replied.
"Hmm... I guess that's true," Dash muttered. "That's a really different perspective from being human back on Earth... I guess I need to get used to a lot of new ideas in this world," Dash thought.
After that, they returned to work in silence. The atmosphere in the room was quiet, with only the sounds of their cleanup. Almost everyone was working without talking. While they were deep in work, suddenly,
"Sister?"
A voice came from the aquarium. Arvia turned to see her sister poking her head out of the water and peering over the side of the tank. Arvia put down the wood she was carrying, then walked over to her sister at the aquarium and, "Splash," she jumped into the tank and immediately hugged her younger sister. Dash, Shel, Marle, Lilin, and Sazzan paused their work for a moment and turned to look at the aquarium. After the hug, Arvia held her sister by both shoulders.
"Are you okay, Jewel?" Arvia asked.
"I'm fine, Sis... but why was I sleeping?" Jewel asked, confused.
"Hmm... you were probably tired. We had a long journey," Arvia answered, smiling, while glancing at Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, who were watching her.
Jewel saw Arvia looking at Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, so she turned to look at them too. Then she looked back at Arvia.
"Who are they, Sis?" Jewel asked.
"They are our helpers. We are no longer slaves now," Arvia answered, smiling.
"Really? Does that mean we can go home?" Jewel asked cheerfully.
Hearing Jewel's question, Arvia's face instantly changed and became sad, even though she forced a smile. She looked away for a moment to get her expression back to normal, then she looked back at Jewel with a smile.
"Yes, we're going home, but not to our old house. We're going home to a new house," Arvia said.
"Oh... I see. Okay, Sis, I'll go wherever you go," Jewel replied cheerfully.
Arvia hugged her sister tightly again to hide the tears that were falling. Once she calmed down, Arvia released the hug, put her head out of the water, and looked toward Sazzan.
"Mr. Sazzan, do you know the way to the underground lake where the mermen escaped from slavery?" Arvia asked.
Sazzan paused and thought for a moment, then he went back to work while glancing at the miners helping him. Then he turned to look at Arvia and moved closer to the aquarium. Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin also came closer to the tank.
"Actually, that lake can be reached by going down the chasm in front of us, but... if you want, I can help you through my basement. Just please don't tell anyone," Sazzan whispered.
"Which way is faster?" Marle asked.
"Jumping straight into the chasm is definitely faster, but it's tough to stop yourself, and if you mess up, you could fall right into endless darkness. It's safer to go down to my basement and exit through the door there, but honestly, it's not exactly perfectly safe; there is a slight danger because you have to pass through a giant spider nest," Sazzan answered.
"Hmm... I see," Dash muttered.
"Roughly how long will it take to get down there?" Shel asked.
"Maybe about a day and a half for the round trip, because it's pretty deep down," Sazzan answered.
Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin began to think. Arvia, seeing the four of them considering it seriously, said,
"It's fine. You guys have done enough. Jewel and I will go down by ourselves," Arvia said.
"Didn't you just hear him? The way there is dangerous. So just shut up. Our job is done, and we just need to report in. We have free time, right, Dash?" Lilin asked, turning to look at Dash.
"Hmm... that's right. You don't need to worry," Dash answered, looking at Arvia.
Arvia looked at the faces of Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin in front of her. She could tell that all four genuinely wanted to help her and Jewel. Finally, she smiled at the four of them.
"Thank you," Arvia said.
"You're welcome," Dash replied.
"Alright, wait here for a bit. I'll get a breathing device filled with seawater for the merman folk, and a transparent backpack to carry her in. We can't exactly take the aquarium into the basement, can we?" Sazzan said.
"Thank you, Mr. Sazzan," Arvia replied.
"You're welcome. We're all living creatures; we have to help each other out. Wait here," Sazzan said, then he turned and walked behind his bar, opened a basement door, and went down.
Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, who had been watching Sazzan, immediately looked at each other, as if they couldn't believe the man who was connected to the demon mafia that caused so much trouble was actually kind.
"He's... truly different from his brother," Shel said.
"Hard to believe, considering their faces are exactly the same," Marle added.
"We almost killed him just now, haha," Lilin replied.
"We should thank him properly when we get back," Dash added.
"Even though it's annoying because he looks like someone I hate, I won't forget his kindness," Marle replied.
"Yep, you got that right," Shel added.
After Sazzan returned carrying a device like a helmet, similar to an astronaut's on Earth, and a transparent backpack that could hold water, Arvia immediately filled it with water and put it on Jewel. Once Jewel was secured, Dash took the backpack and carried it on his back because it was quite large, while Shel carried his dimension backpack.
Sazzan led them down to his basement. Once they were down, it turned out the basement was a wine storage room, full of racks of drinks and wine barrels. Sazzan, with Dash's help, pushed one of the large wine barrel racks aside. Behind it, there was a door, and when they stepped out, Dash, Marle, Lilin, Arvia, and Jewel's eyes widened. Behind the door was a settlement inhabited by various races, with makeshift, very simple appearances.
The houses were made of wood attached to the walls of the wide corridor, with curtains serving as doors. Everyone immediately looked over at Sazzan.
"Is this... an underground village?" Dash asked.
"That's right. I built this village to hide slaves who ran away or didn't have anywhere else to go. No one knows about this village except for me," Sazzan answered.
"Wow... you really are a good guy," Shel said.
"I was once a slave myself... that's why I wanted to do something to help them. The reason I didn't want to run the family business is because their business was slavery, which goes against my principles," Sazzan replied, looking towards the village in front of him with a gentle gaze.
Hearing Sazzan's words as he looked at his village, Dash, Shel, Marle, Lilin, and Arvia began to feel a deep respect for him. Dash, who was carrying Jewel on his back, stepped forward. He took Sazzan's hand and shook it. Sazzan was slightly surprised, but then he smiled and returned the handshake.
"Thank you for your help," Dash said.
"No need to thank me. I do all of this for myself," Sazzan replied with a smile. "You just go straight, following the tunnel that spirals down. Be careful on your way," Sazzan added.
"Understood. We'll be going now," Dash said.
Sazzan nodded. Then Dash, carrying the clear backpack with Jewel on his back, Shel, Marle, and Arvia began walking through the village, escorted by Sazzan, who watched their retreating backs.