Chapter 80 | Transmigrated Into a Poor Girl, Armed Myself With Heavy Armor

Weismar Fief, undeveloped area, edge of the excavation site.

Rosie was resting in her tent.

The tarp of the tent had been soaked by rain and dried by the sun, rustling loudly whenever the wind blew.

She lay on a wooden board wearing her plate armor, her helmet serving as a pillow on top of her pack.

It had already been seven days since she arrived here.

She could distinguish every sound in the camp even with her eyes closed.

There was the creaking friction of the winches turning, the sound of workers dumping dirt from the hoist baskets, and the low shouts of mercenaries gambling at their tent entrances.

The door curtain of Kaluk's spacious tent was always drawn, with few people entering or leaving, but the sound of ravens flapping their wings could be heard several times a day.

She watched the sky outside through a slit in the tent.

Another raven flew in from the east. It folded its wings and landed on a wooden perch outside Kaluk's tent.

Someone removed the letter tube from its leg, fed it some food and water, and a moment later tied a new letter to its leg before letting it fly.

The raven flapped its wings a few times and quickly disappeared beneath the clouds.

Rosie closed her eyes again.

Kaluk hadn't told her where those ravens were flying.

She hadn't asked either; even if she did, she would likely only get a perfunctory answer.

She took care of her own meals.

She would either rummage through her pack for a piece of jerky hard enough to be a stone, or take Carrot into the mountains to hunt some small animals for a change of pace.

Kaluk had invited her to dine in the camp, but she didn't go. After all, accepting favors made it hard to refuse requests later, and besides, she didn't trust them.

Her living quarters were the same.

Instead of sleeping in the row of tents arranged by Kaluk, she had built a simple shelter out of branches and a tarp under a tree at the edge of the camp.

The wind could blow in, and rain would occasionally drift through, but the view was wide, keeping the entire excavation site right under her nose.

During the first two days, some of Kaluk's mercenaries had come looking for trouble.

They claimed it was a friendly sparring match, but they really just wanted to test the weight of this “advisor.”

Rosie agreed without hesitation. If someone wanted to get beaten up, she wasn't about to deny them the opportunity.

The first to step up was a bald man about six feet tall. His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, asking her to “enlighten” him with a face full of smiles.

Rosie nodded, then kicked him right between his legs.

The bald man knelt on the ground, clutching his crotch, curled into a ball as a sound somewhere between a whimper and a shriek escaped his throat.

He ended up lying in his tent for three days, and when he finally walked, his legs were still squeezed tightly together.

The second guy learned his lesson and came up wearing armor with a groin guard.

Rosie took one look at it, then punched him square in the chest.

The mercenary flew back several meters, hit the ground, rolled a couple of times, and took ages to crawl back up.

From then on, everyone in the camp gave her a wide berth, terrified that she might be in a bad mood and decide to give them a kick.

In the days that followed, she spent her free time lying in her tent, occasionally practicing her fist techniques or throwing darts.

She was too lazy to practice her swordsmanship anymore. After reaching Level 4, gaining experience through solo practice was extremely slow; it might not even increase by a single point in several days.

It was better to rest and look for opportunities to slash actual enemies.

Just then, a rough shout echoed from afar.

“Mr. Kaluk! We've dug it up!”

The loud voice cut across the clearing of the excavation site and barged into Rosie's ears.

She snapped her eyes open and sat up, her plate armor clanking with a series of metallic scrapes.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, casting a faint, shimmering light on the dust rising from the excavation site.

Several workers threw down their tools and gathered around the edge of the pit, peering down as a low buzz of discussion arose.

Rosie strode across the clearing and walked up to Kaluk's tent.

The mercenary guarding the entrance reached out an arm to block her.

“Apologies, but Lord Kaluk is busy right now.”

The tone was polite, but the hand remained in place.

Rosie stopped and glanced at the mercenary through her visor.

The mercenary's hand froze slightly in midair. He hadn't forgotten how that bald guy had tossed and turned on his straw pallet, howling in pain.

“Step aside,” Rosie said.

“Mr. Kaluk, Miss Rosie is here...”

Pressed by her gaze, the mercenary could only shout toward the inside.

“Let her in.”

The mercenary lowered his hand and stepped aside.

Rosie lifted the door curtain and ducked into the tent.

A folding table stood right in the center, with a map and several blueprints spread across it, next to a clay cup.

Kaluk sat behind the table. Seeing Rosie, he smiled and stood up:

“Miss Rosie, you've come at the perfect time. This is the professional I mentioned before, Master Ginli from the Explorers Association. Under his guidance, we've excavated a fairly intact ancient structure down below. I was just about to go down and see for myself.”

Rosie followed his gaze to one side of the tent.

A dwarf sat on a low stool in the corner, a stack of rough blueprints spread before him, holding a charcoal pencil and drawing something.

Hearing Kaluk mention his name, he looked up, his thick beard almost covering his entire face.

This dwarf rarely appeared on the surface, spending most of his time at the underground excavation site.

In her week at the excavation site, Rosie had only seen him twice. Both times were just brief glimpses from a distance before the dwarf headed back underground.

“Hello, Master Ginli,” Rosie said.

The dwarf sized Rosie up, his gaze lingering on her plate armor for a few seconds before he nodded.

“Hello there, strong young lady.”

“May I accompany you?” Rosie asked.

“Of course,” Kaluk replied quickly.

“Just don't touch anything randomly,” Ginli added.

Rosie smiled. “No problem.”

“Alright, follow me!”

The dwarf set down his blueprints and turned to walk out of the tent. His gait was a bit strange, moving with a slight stiffness, almost as if his arms and legs on the same side moved together.

Kaluk hurriedly followed, while Rosie brought up the rear.

The three of them crossed the excavation clearing and reached the pit entrance.

The hoist basket was resting on the surface. Ginli stepped into the basket, causing it to wobble with a sharp creak.

Kaluk stepped in after him, his hands tightly gripping the wooden frame of the basket.

Rosie was about to step in, but the dwarf stopped her.

“You're too heavy. Take the second basket down.”

Rosie nodded.

“Lower!” Ginli shouted.

The winch began to turn, and the rope went taut, emitting a grating creak.

Only when the second hoist basket arrived did Rosie step inside.

The basket began to sink slowly. The light above grew smaller and smaller, until it was nothing but a small, bright circular opening.

The bottom of the basket bumped against the ground, bouncing slightly before settling.

Stepping out of the basket, the sight before her made her pause.

This was a massive underground space.

The rock walls had been artificially carved, their surfaces retaining neat chisel marks. Several large torches illuminated the underground space.

In the center of the space, a familiar stone platform came into view.

Rosie's gaze fell upon the stone platform.

The grayish-white platform was considerably larger than the one in Norman, and there were some slight differences, but it was highly likely the same type of teleportation platform.

But she said nothing, quietly following the dwarf toward the stone platform.

“To avoid causing any damage, all the workers have returned to the surface.”

Ginli walked up in three quick steps. He stroked his beard, his tone filled with excitement:

“Based on my years of archaeological experience, this should be an altar used for major rituals in ancient times. Look at this craftsmanship, and this strange material. Without hundreds of craftsmen polishing it day and night, it would be impossible to make it so smooth.”

He pointed to a ring of symbols carved along the edge of the platform.

“I am currently deciphering the characters on it to see if I can find any useful information.”

Kaluk stood a bit further back, his eyes fixed on the platform as he asked, “Have any ancient relics been found?”

The dwarf shook his head. “Not yet.”

A flash of disappointment crossed Kaluk's face.

Ginli quickly added, “Since it's a place for rituals, there will definitely be relics. Besides, there might be more ruins and structures nearby. It's only a matter of time before we find something.”

Kaluk's spirits lifted. “Then I will leave it to you, Master. Today's supplies will be delivered soon, including your favorite strong liquor.”

“Ahahaha! That's wonderful!”

The dwarf's eyes lit up, and his beard even curled upward.

“Tonight, this old man must drink to his heart's content!”

Kaluk smiled, about to say more, but Ginli had already turned to the front of the platform and squatted down. His fingers moved slowly along the lines of the stone carvings, stroking them as he muttered:

“As long as we can unlock the meaning of these characters, there might be important clues. It's just that ancient scripts aren't my specialty, so deciphering them will take quite some time.

This inscription wraps around the entire platform, and its structure is extremely neat. Generally speaking, it would record ritual procedures, prayers, or perhaps the builder and the era.