Lin Qingyue stared at the Elf Queen's ambiguous, half-smiling face, and the alarms in her mind instantly blared at maximum volume.
'No way. I got caught for this too?'
'All I did was set off a firework! It was just a tiny bit louder than planned and happened to trigger an avalanche. Are they really going to hold me responsible for that?'
'And what's with Her Majesty's comment about a "more spectacular performance"? She's making me sound like some street performer.'
She forced a dry laugh, trying to bluff her way through. "Her Majesty jests. We were just... ah, engaging in a friendly exchange with the local inhabitants. The exchange just got a little... intense."
"Friendly exchange?"
Ilanier's gaze shifted from Lin Qingyue to the valley, now completely flattened by the avalanche.
Even her wise eyes, which had witnessed countless storms, clearly reflected a flicker of shock.
Then, her gaze returned to Lin Qingyue, and the smile in her eyes—a blend of starlight and wine-red—deepened.
"Your methods of 'exchange' are always so... unconventional."
This time, even Lin Xiyue caught the deeper meaning in the Queen's words.
She leaned close to her sister's ear and whispered, "Sis, I think Her Majesty knows you did it."
"Duh, of course I know," Lin Qingyue rolled her eyes inwardly. 'Who else could cause such a huge commotion besides me?'
'Might as well come clean. Confession gets you leniency; resistance gets you severity.'
'Besides, the people are saved, the monsters are cleared, and I've leveled up. At worst, Her Majesty will just give me a verbal scolding. What else can she do to me?'
With that thought, Lin Qingyue puffed out her chest shamelessly, adopting a defiant "Yeah, I did it. What are you gonna do about it?" stance.
"Ahem, Your Majesty's perception is truly sharp."
She cleared her throat and explained with a straight face, "The main issue was that the Troll Chieftain's hide was incredibly thick. Normal attacks were like scraping off dead skin. I figured I needed a high-powered Skill to effectively break through its defense."
"I just didn't expect the snow mountains here to be so unstable. The avalanche was a complete accident. Purely accidental."
She delivered this explanation with such righteous conviction that Su Wan and Xia Lian, standing beside her, were left dumbfounded.
Su Wan silently roasted her in her mind: 'Calling a natural disaster an 'accident' and brushing it off so casually... Qingyue, your shamelessness might be even thicker than that Troll Chieftain's defense.'
Xia Lian, on the other hand, was blushing furiously.
She felt the gazes of all the surrounding Elves converging on them—a mixture of awe, curiosity, and shock. The intense scrutiny made her wish she could dive into the nearest snowdrift and disappear.
Aeldara silently glanced at Lin Qingyue, then at the Queen, saying nothing.
But her gaze clearly conveyed: 'See, Your Majesty? I told you she was interesting.'
Ilanier could no longer suppress the smile playing on her lips. A soft chuckle escaped her throat as she gently shook her head, dropping the topic and turning to more serious matters.
"That is not why I came."
The Queen's voice returned to its usual gentle and composed tone. "Aeldara's messenger met us just outside Morningwind Harbor."
"Then why are you here?" Aeldara asked, also confused.
"Ever since you mentioned the 'Dungeon Core,' I instructed the Royal Mage Council to intensify their monitoring of abnormal energy fluctuations across the continent," the Queen explained, her gaze once again fixed on the depths of the valley buried by the avalanche.
"Especially fluctuations that could distort the fabric of space."
"Just half a day ago, the Mage Council detected an extremely intense and unusual spatial ripple originating from the Northern Territory. Its strength far surpassed any natural phenomenon we have ever recorded."
The Queen's expression grew more solemn.
"I feared the Undead Race was conducting some vile ritual related to world fusion, so I immediately mobilized the Royal Guard and came to investigate personally."
Lin Qingyue's heart skipped a beat.
'Spatial fluctuations? Half a day ago?'
'Isn't that exactly when we arrived at Frost Path and clashed with the Undead vanguard?'
'Could it be... the Dungeon Core is nearby? And our battle activated it?'
A startling new possibility exploded in her mind.
"Your Majesty, what about now?" she couldn't help but ask. "Has the spatial fluctuation disappeared?"
"No." The Queen slowly shook her head, her eyes growing deep and sharp. "It hasn't disappeared."
"On the contrary, just moments ago, after that earth-shattering explosion and avalanche, the fluctuation wasn't concealed. Instead, it became clearer... and more stable."
The Queen's gaze finally settled on Lin Qingyue, her tone tinged with amusement.
"It's as if... you 'blasted' something out from beneath the thick snow and rock."
At these words, Lin Qingyue and her three companions froze.
"I... I blasted it out?" Lin Qingyue pointed at her own nose, her face a mask of disbelief.
'After all that chaos, my bombardment didn't just earn me EXP—it also blasted out the main quest objective?'
'Can things really be this good?'
'Is the Lucky Clover's passive skill really this effective? I absolutely love Klee!'
Lin Xiyue's jaw dropped. She glanced at her sister, then at the distant Avalanche Ruins, feeling like her brain couldn't keep up.
Su Wan's breath hitched as she instantly grasped the crucial point.
"So, the Dungeon Core is beneath that avalanche zone?"
"There's a very high probability," the Queen nodded in agreement.
This conclusion made everyone's heart race.
The "Dungeon Core" they had painstakingly searched for now had a clear clue and location!
"What are we waiting for? Let's go dig it out now!"
Lin Xiyue's spirits soared. She grabbed her shield and longsword, ready to charge back.
"Stop."
Aeldara clamped a hand on her shoulder, her voice icy. "In your current state, do you plan on becoming fertilizer for the Snow Mountain?"
Aeldara's words finally made Lin Xiyue realize her entire body felt like it was falling apart.
Just moments ago, she had tanked the Troll Chieftain's final blow. While she wasn't severely injured, her stamina was completely depleted.
It wasn't just her. Lin Qingyue, Su Wan, Xia Lian, Aeldara, and her knights were all at the end of their ropes after a series of brutal battles and a desperate escape.
Even the Royal Guard, who had rushed here under the Queen's command, were exhausted from their forced march.
"Aeldara is right," the Queen declared with unquestionable authority. "All troops, listen! We will make camp here and rest for the night."
"Baroque," she commanded, "you are in charge of setting up the perimeter and camp. Tonight, I want nothing to disturb our warriors' rest."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the stern Elven general immediately acknowledged, beginning to methodically direct the troops to set up camp.
The Elves were incredibly efficient.
Within half an hour, a temporary encampment of magically glowing, sturdy tents rose from the empty snowfield.
Lin Qingyue and her three companions were assigned to a luxurious tent near the Queen's main pavilion.
The tent's interior was spacious, its floor covered with thick animal hide rugs. In one corner, a smokeless magical flame burned, filling the space with a spring-like warmth that felt like a different world compared to the icy snowscape outside.
The moment she stepped inside, Lin Xiyue could no longer hold herself up. She threw herself onto the soft rug, unwilling to move even an inch.
"I'm dead tired... I feel like my bones are about to fall apart."
Xia Lian and Su Wan also found spots to sit, silently recovering their stamina.
Although Lin Qingyue's [Moonlight's Embrace] continuously restored her mana and stamina, the mental exhaustion was real. The period she spent transformed as Klee had kept her mind in a state of high alert; now that she could finally relax, her head felt heavy and groggy.
"Sis, I'm hungry," Lin Xiyue whined weakly, rolling over on the rug.
"If you're hungry, grab some rations from your Storage Space," Lin Qingyue replied lazily, her eyes still closed.
"Rations taste bad. I want meat, something hot," Lin Xiyue wheedled.
Worn down by her sister's pestering, Lin Qingyue had no choice but to open her eyes and sigh helplessly. "Alright, alright, you win. Let me rest for a bit, and I'll cook for you."
She glanced at Su Wan and Xia Lian. "What about you two? What would you like to eat?"
Su Wan thought for a moment before answering hesitantly, "Anything is fine. I'm not picky."
Xia Lian whispered, "I'll eat whatever Sister Qingyue makes."
Right, so everyone's just waiting for me to feed them.
Am I the captain, or the team's den mother and chef?
Lin Qingyue complained furiously in her head, but her body had already started planning the menu.