You Are Late
They paired up and started exploring the place, but not long after they came in and went along the cave,
they realized that the path was becoming broader and broader, and everything was becoming clearer
around them.
Vivian noticed that something was wrong, and she asked, “What’s happening, Duncan? Why is the
path becoming smoother all of a sudden?”
A frown appeared on Duncan’s face. He was still thinking about that question, but then he noticed a
familiar scent lingering in the air, and he stopped walking for a moment.
Vivian was holding his hand, and when she realized he had stopped, she came to a halt as well. “What is
it, Duncan? What happened?”
“It’s nothing. Wait right here for me. I’ll take a look over there.” He let her go and went to the spot where
the scent was the heaviest.
She didn’t know what he was trying to do, but she didn’t dare move around in such an unfamiliar area, so
she waited for Duncan to make his return. About five to six worrying minutes later, Duncan finally came
back, much to her relief.
Vivian asked him, “What is it, Duncan? Did you find something over there?”
Duncan answered, “Yes. There’s dried sand over there. There might even be an exit too. Your brother
probably left using that exit. We’d better get going right now.”
“All right then.” Vivian agreed with Duncan.
They trotted quickly along the cave, but this time, they didn’t even make five hundred meters. All of a
sudden, a loud rumble was heard, and the ground started shaking violently.
Vivian was shocked by the sudden development. “What is happening, Duncan? Why is this place
suddenly caving in?”
“I—” Before Duncan could even say anything, the ground they were stepping on suddenly cracked, and
the two of them fell through it.
The moment Vivian fell through, a stab of pain traveled up her head from her right ankle, and everything
turned black around her. Before she blacked out, her last thoughts were, This place is booby-trapped?
Wait, that means Ian’s in trouble.
When she regained consciousness, she realized there was something wet around her lips, and she
drank the sweet liquid even though she didn’t know what it was. Who is it? Is it Duncan?
She finally regained her consciousness, and she opened her eyes, but what she saw first was unending
darkness. “Duncan? Is that you there? Where are we? Do you know what this place is?” she held the
person who was feeding her and quickly barraged him with a lot of questions.
However, the person was keeping quiet. His hands were cold and hard, but Duncan’s were
muscular. Hm? Who is this?
Vivian thought about it for a few seconds, then she suddenly grabbed the person’s finger and reflexively
touched his hand. “Oh my god, Kurt! Why didn’t you show up earlier? I almost died, for god’s sake!”
She started crying like a baby, and she pounced on the person before her. She hugged him and cried in
his embrace, as if she had found someone she could rely on even though that person was two years
younger than she was.
The darkness and the unknown dangers that lurked within tensed Kurt up, but when the girl started
crying right in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to get angry at her. He sighed in resignation, and he
couldn’t bring himself to push her away.
Well, what else can I do but spoil her? Kurt picked her up from the ground and leaped up, then he pulled
them up the stone wall using the vines that hung around them.
Vivian was still in a state of shock. She was busy crying her heart out earlier, so when Kurt came back up
with her in his arms, she was still staring at him dumbly. At that moment, what she thought was, Hey,
how did I get up here so fast anyway?
Kurt ignored her. After they came up, he took her to a brighter place and placed her down, then he
started checking her ankle.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” The moment he touched it, she started shouting in pain, and a look of agony
painted her face.
Kurt stopped touching her ankle immediately. He put her down and stood up to look around them.
Vivian asked, “Where are you going? Don’t leave me here alone.”
Kurt answered, “I will not. I’ll get some sticks to secure your leg in one place. Then I’ll prop you up and
take you with me.”
Vivian protested, “Prop me up? But I don’t want to walk! I want you to give me a piggyback ride! My
ankle’s hurt, and you want me to walk? How could you!”
And the girl started crying again. Even though she had grown, she was still the same little girl whenever
she cried. Her tears would keep streaming down her cheeks.
Kurt could not believe what he was hearing.
That was the difference between him and the boy called Duncan. Before they came into the cave,
Duncan had told Vivian to hold his waist, but she had refused. However, when Kurt said he wouldn’t
even give her a ride on his back, she started crying pitifully.
Kurt’s mood was significantly lifted. He came back and picked her up from the ground instead of carrying
her on his back.
Vivian said, “O-Oh, are you going to hold me like this? But I’m a heavy girl.”
Kurt answered, “It is all right. We should leave this place and find your brother right now.”
Oh, right. I have to find him. Vivian finally snapped out of her delusion, and her face was red with
embarrassment. Even though the road ahead was dark, she still felt at ease. For some reason, she
always felt at ease as long as Kurt was around.
“Oh, Kurt. Did you see Duncan? He fell into this place with me.”
“I did not see him.” The young man who was holding her looked as cold as ice.
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