The once vibrant aquifer, a lifeline for the village, had been siphoned away, leaving behind a desolate landscape.
The silence that settled over the dry land seemed to echo the suppressed cries of a realm struggling against oppression.
"Let's go." Nori stood to her feet. "There's nothing left to see here."
She then guided Ren and the others back to the village and into her house.
Approaching Nori's house, the small dwelling stood out among the carved rocks and sands, revealing a quaint and cozy atmosphere.
Nori opened the door, and as they stepped inside, they found a surprisingly neat space adorned with simple decorations.
It seemed that despite the challenges in the Netherworld, Nori had managed to maintain a warm and inviting home.
"Make yourself fortable. The others are probably cooking the meat you gave us right about now," Nori said and went over to a large stone at the corner.
"I hope they don't eat all of them," Lorelai said, and the others nodded in agreement until she added, "They should leave something for us too."
"That's what you're worrying about?!" the others reacted with incredulity.
Lorelai stared at the others with a frown on her face. "What else could it be?"
Elena sighed. "And I thought that you were concerned about their meals in the future if they eat all the meat now."
Lorelai shrugged. "I don't really care if they finish it all and go hungry in the future, as long as I get my share."
Elena shook her head slightly. "You're impossible. It's not like you didn't have any food stored in your inventory."
Lorelai grinned, her teeth sparkling like diamonds. "I don't. I'm the type to travel light and get food in the forest or towns."
Elena sighed. "I should have known. And if you store food in your storage ring, you wouldn't feel their weight," she stated like Lorelai was an idiot.
"Storing food is a waste of time. There are other important stuff to pack than food."
"Like?" Ren asked, crossing his arms.
"Items and equipment."
"So you fill your inventory with items?" Evie questioned.
Lorelai nodded. "That's right. There are some materials too and souvenirs from all the people that I have saved. Ahahaha!"
Ren got the feeling that most of the Princess's inventory was filled with junk.
Ren released a wry breath. "At least we know where to get some items if we need one."
"What's that?" Evie changed the topic and asked about the weird-looking rock. It was the same height as Nori with a rocky basin at the bottom.
It looked like a mini waterfall if there was water on it. Fungi, shrooms, and moss adorned its rocky exterior.
"This is the Hydration Rock that I was talking about," Nori said and got some mugs. She touched the weird symbol on top of the rock, and water flowed out from it. It was so minuscule that it would take five minutes or more to fill the cup.
"Whoa. It really dispenses some water," Elena said with surprise. "Though I thought it would be bigger."
"There are bigger sizes, but they are expensive," Nori explained. "This is one of the two remaining ones left in the village."
"You have one?" Evie asked. "Are you like important here?"
Nori shook her head. "No. It's given to me because I'm the only one left who could scavenge outside. Others my age had left, while the rest who stayed here are either old or too young to go outside."
"I see . . ." It must be some sort of pensation for her efforts to bring back anything to eat. "The other one, I assume, is in the elder's house?" Evie asked.
Nori nodded.
"But why do you need those? Don't you have faucets here?" Lorelai chimed in.
The others gave her the stare.
"Only the richer towns have faucets ing from the Water mines and dowsers. Buildings called 'water dowsers' can be attached to actual 'water mines': In there, the stone is extracted and treated, and the water is collected on one side, with sand expelled on the other.
"They can also be bined with aqueducts that are dug while veins of hydrated rock are explored. Thus, additional water is brought to cities rich enough to afford it if they're too far from deposits."
"Sounds plicated," Lorelai mented.
"It's like a water tank in short," Nori said in simple surface dweller words.
"Oh. Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
The group's chatter was disturbed by a knock on the door.
"That must be Morgrimm." Nori hopped to the door and opened it, revealing Morgrimm on the other side.
"I hope you're fortable in our village, even if we don't offer much," he said as soon as he entered.
"I've already offered them water," Nori said proudly.
The water she was talking about was the small mug in Ren's hand that wasn't even half full.
Ren wasn't sure what to do with it exactly. Were they going to share it amongst themselves?
"You idiot!" Morgrimm whacked Nori's head and shouted, "How can you offer them only water? Go and bring them some meat. Some of it are probably cooked by now."
Nori held her injured head with tears in her eyes. "Y-yes. Right away!"
When Nori rushed outside, Morgrimm apologized to Ren and the others. "I'm sorry about that child. She doesn't have visitors much, so she doesn't know how to take care of them."
Ren placed the mug on the table and got down to business. "It's fine. We're not thirsty or hungry. We've only e here to ask you something and then we will leave."
Morgrimm rubbed the length of his white beard and uttered, "You did mention that there's something you wanted to ask me?"
"You're the elder of the village, so I presume that you know a lot," Ren started.
"Ohohoho." One eye opened from Morgrimm's sagging skin. "Not to brag, but . . . I was already born even before Obsidian X became the king of the Netherworld."
The other's mouth fell.
"Just how old are you?!"
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