Chapter 712 The Place Beneath Their Feet

Everybody sat inside the house, but nobody looked comfortable. The rain outside had grown steadier, tapping against the windows and roof while the room remained unusually quiet. Voss sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers interlocked as he stared at the floor, his mind racing through everything that had happened. Mira sat beside him, still visibly shaken by the confrontation, while Irina remained standing near the center of the room. Her arms were folded across her chest, and her expression was focused.

She had already accepted one thing.

They had twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four hours to find Liam before Eldric carried out his threat.

Irina slowly looked between Voss and Mira.

"We have twenty-four hours to find Liam."

The words immediately brought the weight of the situation back into the room.

Voss nodded slowly.

Mira swallowed.

Irina then turned toward her.

"And I need you to help me."

Mira immediately nodded.

"Of course."

There was no hesitation in her voice.

At this point, Mira would have done almost anything for Irina. The woman standing in front of her had walked into the darkness she had been trapped in for years and pulled her out without asking for anything in return. She had given her food, clean clothes, sunlight, safety, and something Mira had almost forgotten existed.

Hope.

If Irina needed her help now, Mira would give it.

Irina stepped closer.

"I need you to remember everything."

Mira frowned slightly.

"Everything?"

"Everything," Irina repeated. "I want you to give me everything you have. Every little detail. Every strange thing Eldric ever did. Every place he went. Anything he said that seemed unusual. Anything you saw but didn’t understand at the time."

Her eyes sharpened.

"Eldric must have left some kind of clue. Come on, there has to be something."

Mira lowered her head and began thinking.

She closed her eyes.

For 12 years, she had spent most of her time trying to forget.

Trying not to remember the darkness.

Trying not to remember the chains.

Trying not to remember Eldric.

But now, the very memories she had tried to bury might be the only thing capable of helping them find Liam.

Voss suddenly looked toward Mira.

"Wait."

Mira opened her eyes.

Voss leaned forward.

"Did Eldric ever go out with digging equipment?"

Irina immediately turned toward him.

Mira looked confused.

Voss continued, "I’m talking about shovels, picks, digging tools, anything like that. Did he ever take equipment somewhere and disappear for a long time?"

Both Irina and Mira stared at him.

"Why?" Irina asked.

Voss stood and walked toward the window.

He stared through the glass at the village outside, watching the rain wash over the rooftops.

"Because I’ve searched this place for years."

His voice became quieter.

"For the past seven years, I’ve searched everywhere."

Mira listened carefully.

Voss turned around.

"I’ve searched the houses. The abandoned buildings. The fields. The forest. The mountain. Every place I could reach without being detected."

He paused.

"Every single corner of this village."

Irina slowly narrowed her eyes.

"And you found nothing?"

"Nothing."

Voss shook his head.

"Not even a hint of the treasure Eldric was supposedly searching for."

He looked toward the ground.

"That’s why I eventually started believing there wasn’t anything here."

Irina slowly rubbed her chin.

"Then what you’re saying is that wherever we’re looking for..."

She paused.

"...it’s underground."

Voss nodded.

"It has to be."

The room fell silent again.

Irina’s eyes drifted toward the floor.

Beneath them.

The thought seemed obvious now.

They had spent so much time searching the visible world that perhaps they had completely ignored the possibility that the answer was directly beneath their feet.

The dome.

The treasure.

The place where Eldric had lost his cultivation.

The location where he had spent fifteen years searching.

If it had been somewhere on the surface, Voss would probably have found it.

But underground?

That was different.

Mira suddenly shifted in her seat.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Actually..."

Both Irina and Voss looked at her.

Mira hesitated.

"Now that you mention it..."

She looked down as she searched through her memories.

"There was something I always found strange."

Irina immediately moved closer.

"What?"

Mira took a breath.

"Ever since he married me, Eldric would sometimes take digging equipment."

Voss’s eyes sharpened.

"Digging equipment?"

Mira nodded.

"Yes. Picks. Shovels. Sometimes other tools I didn’t recognize."

Her expression became thoughtful.

"He would take them and leave."

"Where would he go?" Irina asked.

"I don’t know."

Mira shook her head.

"He never told me."

Voss stepped closer.

"How long would he be gone?"

Mira thought for a moment.

"Sometimes until night."

Voss’s eyes widened.

"Every time?"

"No."

Mira shook her head.

"Not every time. But it happened often enough that I noticed it."

Irina’s mind immediately began connecting the pieces.

Eldric had been searching for something for fifteen years.

Voss had searched the entire village above ground.

Mira remembered Eldric regularly taking digging equipment and disappearing for hours.

Irina looked toward Voss.

"Did you ever see him return with anything?"

Voss thought about it.

"No."

Mira shook her head as well.

"He never brought anything back."

Irina’s eyes narrowed.

"Then where was he going?"

Mira’s expression became troubled.

"I don’t know."

She paused.

"But I did ask him once."

Voss immediately turned toward her.

"You asked him?"

Mira nodded.

"Twice, actually."

Irina stepped closer.

"And what did he say?"

Mira’s fingers tightened together.

"He told me he was building a bunker."

Voss froze.

Irina’s eyes widened slightly.

"A bunker?"

Mira nodded.

"He said he was building a shelter for the town."

Her voice became softer as she remembered the conversation.

"He told me that if there was ever another emergency, something like the battle fifteen years ago, everyone in the village would need somewhere safe to hide."

Voss stared at her.

"He said that?"

"Yes."

Mira nodded.

"He told me it was for everyone. He said that the village needed somewhere underground where people could hide if something happened again."

Irina’s expression slowly changed.

She looked at Voss.

Voss was already staring back at her.

Neither needed to say anything.

The pieces were falling into place.

A bunker.

Digging equipment.

Hours spent away from the village.

A secret location underground.

A place Eldric had apparently been working on for years.

And now Liam was missing.

Voss suddenly stood up so quickly that the chair scraped loudly against the floor.

"This is it!"

Mira jumped slightly.

Irina’s eyes snapped toward him.

Voss’s breathing quickened as realization struck him.

"Whatever he was building..."

He looked at Irina.

"That must be where he’s keeping Liam."

The room went completely silent.

Irina’s eyes became cold.

If Eldric had really spent years building an underground shelter, then there was only one question left.

Where was it?

And this time, they were not going to waste another minute looking in the wrong place.