From the ranges of open caverns extending in the front, Chyuuichi led down a path that to him, made the most sense at the time. Slowly recalling past events led him to realise and loudly exclaim that one of the entrances below leads to a set of rails and two minecarts, once used by Mirillians to get from Soban to the depths of Mount Aria.

Atomu already suggested that they're pretty far in, and this would only force them to backtrack to Mirillis, yet, Chyuuichi wasn't planning on using the tracks. He noted that when Mirillians build or dig out something, they don't leave their work unfinished, and find a way to dig through or around the hardest of materials. They'd finish the corridors first, then lay the tracks, to be precise, meaning, even if there wasn't a connection from here to there, they simply had a straight path to follow.

At first, the Paladian was unsure about his plan, proposing other possibilities such as getting to a higher story to ensure safety. The Mirillian wouldn't listen to any of their words though, he was confident in his plans, and after a while, they reached the openings of the mines.

"Wait." Chyuuichi stopped, shushing everyone, although they hadn't said anything. "Wow... Don't tell me!"

Bancho waved Axel's sword around, creating a small fire, which travelled through the open room, showing two minecarts standing on two tracks separated from each other by a wall later on. Chyuuichi ran forward into the darkness.

"Don't leave us behind!" Atomu raised his voice, quite fearful.

"It's okay! They built it! They built the tracks!" Chyuuichi waved, sticking his head out. "Get in the minecarts, and we'll be there in no time, aha!" he clenched his fist, happily.

"Won't this split into two different paths?" Bancho pointed.

"Nuh-uh!" Chyuuichi quickly jumped in, sticking his head out. "We always lay two tracks down, to have twice the efficiency they already had. On the way to certain places in the underground, there are lots and lots of rare materials to dig through, and there's no chance we're leaving them behind! Two people dig, then they put it in the other minecart, and the same thing happens on the other side. Materials come in clusters extending the way these mines are built!"

"Wuh..." Atomu breathed out, tired.

"Come on, come on!" Chyuuichi jumped up excitedly.

"You better not lie," Atomu muttered, sitting in the other cart, and Bancho joined in at the back, carefully looking around, with a slight smile, appreciating the things he still hadn't experienced.

"Don't worry about a thing!" Chyuuichi swung his fist forward, excitedly. Zuimu crawled into the back, waiting. "You can trust me with caves!"

Atomu silently recalled the moment Chyuuichi almost drowned in shallow cave water. "Yeah."

The four sat in their respective minecarts, without doing anything.

"I forgot to pull the lever," Chyuuichi muttered. "Zuimu. Could you, uh." he signalled with his hand, looking at her. She tilted her head, confused. "Press the switch and get back in the cart!"

"Mmh mmhm mhm mm mm?!" she exclaimed.

"You're faster than me!" Chyuuichi hopped up a little, while Zuimu, with a very loud and pronounced sigh, stepped out, running to the lever and pulling it without much force. A mechanism below clicked, sticking out two sharp ends from below and propelling the minecarts forward, albeit a bit slowly. Zuimu quickly jumped in, and Atomu gave Chyuuichi one final death stare before a wall separated the two carts.

Atomu breathed out, as they rode into the darkness. He put his hand on the edge, and Bancho shook the sword around, like a lamp. The fire went through its tip, illuminating its translucent insides. "Oh, my. I never expected it to be this dark in here."

"Well, there's no sun in those caves."

"O-Obviously," Atomu muttered. "But I couldn't imagine myself digging through tons and tons of stone, surrounded by complete and utter gloom." he laid his head down. "It'd be impossible."

"Mirillians have different eyes than other races. I'm sure you've noticed that already." Bancho commented.

"Y-Yeah. Chyuuichi's eyes are a lot bigger than mine."

"I once had a Mirillian friend who unfortunately passed away a while back. We rarely met, though he'd always talk all about the things he saw while mining around Mirillis or through the connecting caves. He talked about lush, open caverns, with leaves hanging from the ceiling and vines extending from one side to the other. He mentioned all the materials he gathered on his way. Once, even, he gave me a mercury stone, which by itself is one of the rarer crystals to find crystal."

"That's nice." Atomu smiled, turning around. The two awkwardly sat together, with legs in strange places, but they didn't address it. "He's a lot like Chyuuichi, then."

"Yes. I wanted to mention that too." Bancho nodded. "Unlike that guy, though, Chyuuichi still has his entire life to explore and expand, but I say he might be well on his way. I know that all of us got tired of his stories, but at the same time, they were quite fascinating, weren't they?"

"N-No, I don't think they were boring. I think I like the fact that he's passionate." Atomu looked down. "Just maybe it'd be better to say things when we're not walking from one danger to the other."

"I have to agree here." Bancho nodded. "Nothing has happened until now, though."

"Well..." Atomu gulped. "Except for that demon, you told us about."

"Right. Better to blow on the cold." Bancho gazed up. "Somewhere in my mind, I still hear its distant footsteps."

Atomu made a strange expression, and then stared forwards, into the darkness. The cart went left, and then forward again, sometimes speeding up on a hill that led down, or slowing when it had to go back up.

"Did you really, um..." Atomu struggled to keep up the conversation. "Walk, all the way from Malikan?"

"I didn't use my two feet for the longest time, Atomu." Bancho chuckled. "A trusty horse is waiting somewhere there for me. I'm sure she'll come back, sooner or later. She always does." Bancho nodded.

"I can't help but feel a little awful that we're dragging you along because of o-our... m-my. My mistakes." Atomu corrected himself. "Your legs might not work as well as ours, and-"

"Are you calling me old?"

"N-No, no! Not what I meant!" Atomu waved his hands around. "You're just... perhaps wiser than us. Oh, my. I still can't believe I'm in one cart with someone like you. It's baffling!" he exclaimed. "I almost forgot. I'm so sorry, Mr Bancho."

"I liked what Chyuuichi said. I think it's better if we respect each other as friends, Atomu."

"It's Paladian etiquette to be nice and proper. I'd get a beating if I said something bad to my seniors in Prope Portam." Atomu shook his head.

"We're not in Prope Poram, Atomu. Not even in Lignoria." Bancho smiled. "We're far from the surface and from any rules that concern one. It's just the two of us, in one minecart, and I'd say this might be a very unlikely pairing."

Atomu slowly nodded, blinking.

"You notice lots of things, don't you? Small details don't go over your head, even if you don't address them."

"S-Seriously?" Atomu asked. "Walking through Mount Aria I thought that everything we've seen were just numbered caves. Not really, then?"

"No, I'm not talking about places. I meant people. You see things that others don't, and you go the extra mile to make sure things are safe for those you care about."

"Really?"

"I don't know you for as long as the others, but it sticks out like a sore thumb," Bancho smirked. "Even if you want to be angry at your friend for doing something irrational or scary, you can't."

"I can be angry. I sometimes do get angry."

"Let me guess, you apologize right after and then walk around that person making sure they don't get back at you for something?"

"Ah!" Atomu raised a finger. "Huh."

"There's one word I'd use to call that." Bancho stopped. "Humanity. Very, very humane."

Atomu ground his teeth, glancing to the side. Bancho looked at him without a word added, and the Paladian quickly realised what all of this had been alluding to.

He put his hands on his horns. "Ah, aah!" he yelled out in fear. "N-No!" he trembled a bit.

"How often do you forget?"

"No, never! I conceal them all the time so I usually think that nothing slips out. I completely f-forgot." his voice broke down. "P-Please don't kill me."

Bancho put Axel's sword further away from Atomu. "I wouldn't dare to lay a finger on you. I don't want to fight enemies who won't strike back, but you're not an enemy, my dear Paladian."

Atomu moved carefully, sliding back into the minecart. "Do you t-trust me?"

Bancho sighed, putting the sword down. "People always say, and always have said, that there isn't such a thing as a good demon. Ones I've trusted wanted to kill me, but I never got close enough to feel their ill thoughts sinking into my brain as if some sort of skull controlled my actions." he pointed to his head. "...and until now, I feel like I never wanted to believe that notion, even in the slightest."

"Bancho" Axel said, putting his hands together. "I still trust your wisdom."

"I trust yours as well," Bancho muttered. "Just because we're different, doesn't mean we must fight or quarrel."

"There are humans out there capable of much worse than a demon like you. Seeing the human in your eyes, pumping through despite everything that happened is a sight to behold."

"Th-Thank you." Atomu sighed. "I was worried, the whole time. What would be your reaction if I revealed myself?"

"Normal people won't see through as easily, Atomu." Bancho shook his head. "Be careful, for your own sake."

"I am," Atomu replied. "You can c-count on that."

"Do your other friends know?"

"Mhm. Chyuuichi took it well, surprisingly."

"He trusts you." Bancho beamed, and a small smile appeared on Atomu's face. The Morian stuck his hand out, lifting Atomu's chin. "There, much better."

Tears that visited Atomu's face, out of pure anxiety, disappeared almost instantly.

The cart passed by something, and soon, the wall that separated the two disappeared.

"Hi!" Chyuuichi waved, resting on the side of the cart, while Zuimu slept on the inside. "The wall is gone!"

"How far are we, Chyuuichi?" Bancho asked.

"Well, we're certainly speeding up, eh?" he said. "Can you feel the rumble below?"

"Ooh," Atomu said. "Can you slow this down?"

"What? Oh, Atomu!" Chyuuichi signalled with his hand. "Do you want to get there sooner or later?"

"Later, if it means we avoid danger!"

Zuimu woke up, sitting and squinting her eyes.

"We're going down!" Chyuuichi informed, as the carts took a sudden bend, and sped up out of the blue, splitting into two different roads.

Atomu screamed out, and his echoes bounced around the caves, while Chyuuichi yelled in excitement. Zuimu held on, unfazed, and Bancho squinted his eyes.

The carts kept going up and down, left and right through different openings. They passed a cavern with rectangular stones and pillars, with water going through the middle and below the tracks, separating the two paths.

They went through a place full of hanging stalactites, forcing them to put their heads down and avoid obstacles, then under big, mossy arches, into narrow caves and large, round and spinning corridors, slowly changing into a triangular shape.

Then, the carts slowed down, and Atomu kept screaming. Bancho quickly served him a fake punch, and the Paladian went quiet. The four, now once again close to each other, observed.

A stunning, massive light brown cave with carved stairs and natural pillars slowly revealed itself, leading upwards toward a very dim, yet natural light coming from the shining yellow crystals above. Some were small and contained, while others, much like water, spread to the ground and froze. A large river could be heard behind the walls but was unreachable otherwise.

"Oh, m-my," Atomu muttered, gulping. "Huh?"

"Quite the sight, eh?" Chyuuichi asked.

"I already thought what we saw after that gate was quite the thing to remember..." Atomu smiled.

"Heh," Chyuuichi continued. "I haven't been here myself, only heard stories and tales, but, WOW!" he clenched his fist. "DOESN'T IT LOOK NICE?!" he cried out.

"Yes, it does." Bancho nodded.

The carts came to a halt, reaching the end of the current line, and the four of them quickly stepped out, walking around and appreciating the majestic views. Chyuuichi mobed towards the edge, looking down at the pool of dark water below, which moved vastly, following the hidden rivers.

In many tales of Errarion, it was said that if you were to reach one of the said streams, following it down through its dark dangers, you'd encounter a witch, waiting for you there with a prize. Bancho recalled that story, thinking back to Axel telling the same tale while sitting in the church of Hakh-Nivena. He clenched Julai in his hands and made sure that Saxyo was still on his back.

He turned around to the others. "Where to now, Chyuuichi?" he looked here and there, but couldn't spot him. Atomu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Chyuuichi?" Atomu called out as well.

"Chmmhmi!" Zuimu put both of her hands around her mouth.

"Where is he?" Bancho stepped closer to the others, still wary. "Chyuuichi?!"

The Mirillian stared from above, with a gloved hand covering his mouth. He slowly gazed up, seeing the wolf mask that Leopold wore, with his bright white eyes staring back at him.