I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

"And what does the phrase 'waiting at the bottom of Naraku' mean? Is my mother waiting for me at the bottom of the Abyss?"

With this mindset, Rico returned to the Belchero Orphanage where she lived.

………………the next day………………

In an open area outside Os Town, Regu, eating Riko's Riko Bomb (a super-sized rice ball), looked at Riko with a surprised expression and said:

"Really?! Rico! Did your mother ever find me?"

Rico nodded, grabbed the rice ball in her hand, and said to Regu:

"Yes, because the pictures look very similar, and besides Regu, Yuu also has records written down by her mother."

Hearing Riko call her name, Yuhaka, who was engrossed in eating her rice ball, stood up with her cat ears perked up and looked at Riko with an "OwO?" expression.

Riko looked at Yuhaka with a serious expression and said:

"Youyou, did you see someone with beautiful blonde hair like me on the sixth floor?"

Regarding Riko's question, Yuhaka thought for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"No."

Riko was momentarily stunned by Yuhaka's answer. She blinked and her lips twitched as she replied:

"Um... Yu-Yu-chan, could you... think about it again?"

Yuhaka thought for a second, shook his head, and said to Riko:

No, I saw her, blonde.

Upon hearing Yuhaka's answer, Riko stared blankly at Yuhaka, who was giving her an "OwO" look. Riko was quite confused by Yuhaka's answer because there was a drawing that looked somewhat like Yuhaka in her mother's diary.

"Could it be that the person Mom met wasn't Youyou?"

With these doubts in mind, Riko looked at Yuhaka and tentatively said:

"Yohaka-chan?"

Immediately, Yuhaka, wagging its big tail, looked at Riko with an "OwO" expression and said:

"Nani, Riko?"

At this moment, Riko's expression was like, "Look! You still say you're not Yuu!" But in the end, Riko still sighed. Riko guessed that Yuuhaka had forgotten that she had once met her mother.

After all, his mother went to the Abyss when he was two years old, and ten years have passed now. His mother might have met Yhaka a few years ago, when Yhaka might have been only 7 to 9 years old.

That said, did Youyou already know how to cook at that time?

Rico felt that asking this question was pointless.

"Oh right! I almost forgot about this!"

Suddenly remembering something, Riko pulled a small piece of paper from her clothes and placed it in front of Eug and Reig. Reig and Eug looked at the seemingly small piece of paper on the picnic blanket. After a few seconds, they looked at Riko and said:

"What...is written on this note?" (←An illiterate person who has lost their memory.)

"I don't understand." (←Although there is a system translation, the system doesn't translate text; it's illiterate.)

Hearing their answers and seeing their puzzled expressions, Rico bumped her head on the picnic blanket. So it turns out you can't read!

Riko then explained to Yuhaka and Regu what it meant.

Regu crossed her arms and looked at Riko, saying:

"So, Riko's mother is waiting for you at the lowest level of the Abyss?"

Hearing Reig's words, Riko hesitated for a moment, then played with her twin tails and said:

"To be honest... I'm a little unsure, but I hope it's my mom waiting for me down there..."

Then Riko looked at Yuhaka and said:

"Youyou, do you have a way to quickly dig a tunnel to the seventh floor?"

Riko had witnessed Yhaka's digging speed firsthand. During a fourth-level event, Riko saw Yhaka dig a hole from one side and quickly travel to a place dozens of meters away.

This digging speed is simply astonishing. If it's up to Yhaka, they could probably reach the seventh level of the Abyss very quickly. Plus, the tunnel Yhaka is digging can avoid the upward load, so they'll definitely be able to rescue their mother!

"No."

To Riko's question, Yuhaka gave a negative answer, and before Riko could react, Yuhaka offered his explanation.

"There are hard rocks below, we can't dig them out."

Ehka had already tried to burrow to the lower level, but unfortunately, due to geological reasons, she couldn't continue digging. Although Ehka's Deep Trench Worm Tunnel skill is very convenient, it also has limitations. The first is related to Ehka herself: as long as Ehka can dig into an object, she can excavate a Deep Trench Worm Tunnel.

In other words, if the object that Eyhaka can't dig out is something as hard as the "thick armor of a large spaceship," then Eyhaka simply can't dig it out, unless Eyhaka evolves claws that can easily tear through metal.

The second problem is that Yhaka cannot dig remotely. It's like if two floating continents are not connected, Yhaka cannot dig from one floating continent to another.

Upon hearing Yuhaka's reply, Riko sighed with a look of utter despair and said:

"That's true... If we could use some kind of cheat to reach a place where only the White Flute can go, then the Abyss wouldn't be called the last unexplored place in the world..."

Chapter 48 [Riko is sneaking away...]

"Huh? Riko, are you planning to go down to the seventh level of the Abyss?!"

Regu looked at Riko with a surprised expression and said this. Regu had read about how dangerous the Abyss was in some books that Riko had brought. In addition to dangerous creatures, all kinds of diseases, insects and dangerous terrain were more and more terrible.

Rico nodded firmly and said:

"Yes, I want to go down and find my mother. After all, she wrote something like 'waiting at the bottom of Naraku' in her letter."

In response to Riko's words, Regu, who was standing nearby, scratched her head and said:

"Isn't that very dangerous? And is Riko planning to go down by herself?"

Rico nodded and said:

"Yes, through the tunnel dug by Youyou-chan, I can quickly reach the fourth level, and then I can bypass the surveillance base on the second level and head straight for the bottom of the Abyss!"

Suddenly, Yuhaka said to Riko:

"Nanaqi said that there are extremely dangerous guys on the fifth floor."

Hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko nodded and said:

"Ah, I already know about that giant scorpion with seven tails..."

Yuhaka shook his head and said to Riko:

"No, Scorpion, it's White Flute."

Upon hearing this news, Riko covered her mouth in surprise and looked at Yuhaka, saying:

"White flutes on the fifth floor too?!"

Yuhaka nodded and said to Riko:

"Yes, Nanachi said that the White Whistle is very strong, and also very bad! Very dangerous!"

Upon learning that a White Flute was stationed on the fifth floor, Riko turned her head away with an uncertain expression and said to Yuhaka and the others:

"Well... we can just avoid that white flute then..."

Although Riko said that, Yuhaka interrupted her, saying:

"White Flute, guard the only entrance, the entrance to the sixth floor."

Hearing Yuhaka's words, Riko fell silent. Then, Riko looked up at Yuhaka and said:

Even so, I will go.

"Riko, I want to go with you too, all the way to the bottom of the abyss."

Riko looked at Regu, who had just said she wanted to go with her, with a surprised expression. Regu looked at her mechanical arm and said:

"After all, I climbed up from the bottom of the abyss to the first level. Even without regaining my memories, I still have this strong body. I can protect Riko on her way to the bottom of the abyss. And if Riko's mother is there, she must know my identity. I'm doing this for Riko's sake, and also for my own."

Regu looked at Riko with a determined expression and said:

"Even if Riko stops me, I will go down alone."

After Regu finished speaking, Riko, who was standing nearby, hugged Regu with tears streaming down her face and said:

"Regu~~~~~! Thank you so much!"

Then Riko stood up, wiped away her snot and tears, and said to Regu and Yuhaka:

"I'll go pack my things first. Let's meet up at Nanachi's place tonight and think of a solution!"

After saying that, Riko ran quickly towards the orphanage like a schoolchild leaving school.

Regu, looking embarrassed, watched Riko leave and sighed, saying:

"It's really worrying..."

Meanwhile, Yuhaka, standing to the side, looked around warily with a blank expression. Regu, noticing Yuhaka's expression, asked:

"Youyou? What's wrong?"

"Hmm, just now, I think I saw something."

In a deserted, dark corner, a figure was leaving his previous position and was now heading towards the Belchero Orphanage.

...Riko is organizing her equipment...

At four in the morning, in a secluded corner of Ostown, Riko, wearing a hood, peeked out, looked around, nodded, and said:

"No one on the left, no one on the right, great! Let's move out."

Riko, carrying a large backpack, walked furtively toward the meeting point with Yuhaka and the others. On the street, Riko suddenly saw a figure wearing a cloak and hood just like her appear in front of her.

"Well……"

Two men, almost half-dead, appearing on the street late at night inevitably aroused suspicion that they were up to no good.

Faced with this situation, Rico swallowed hard, lowered her head, and walked forward, ignoring the person. The cloaked figure, who resembled a mysterious person, also walked towards Rico's back.

Just as the two were passing each other, Riko suddenly seemed to be pushed, startled and scrambling to regain her balance. After standing still, Riko breathed a sigh of relief and looked behind her with a slightly angry expression, only to find that there was no one behind her.

"Alas----!"

Startled, Rico let out a scream and ran away in terror.

In a secluded corner, the mysterious person who had just put on the hood took it off, revealing a familiar face to Riko—Captain Gileo from the orphanage.