I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 200: Something Strange...?

Evelina locked herself in the study as soon as we arrived back at the mansion—or in her own words, "Let me work on this for a while, and then the rest of the day will be for ourselves."

That meant I was reluctantly free again.

I really wanted to stay by her side, though, but she firmly insisted on handling the paperwork alone—something about being able to focus better that way.

It definitely made sense, considering our track record.

The two of us in the same room for hours on end? I have a feeling almost nothing productive would get done.

So I guess this was for the best, even if I was very much against it.

[Dark Step]

For now, all I’d done was move the important things I needed from the dorms to this new home. It seemed like the academy would take a while to transport the rest—either that, or they had no plans to at all.

This land-ruling program felt rushed, even though it was planned by the imperial family themselves. Still, it shouldn’t take this long for them to help us settle in.

[Photographic Memory]

But now that I think about it, it really does seem like they’re going to leave us to manage on our own, aside from the occasional visit from professors to drop off academy assignments and projects.

The novel never really described Julius, Lillian, or Marcellus receiving any support. At first, I assumed it was just glossed over, but now I have a feeling it was intentional.

These next few weeks were going to be pretty rough.

"That should be about it."

I moved the last of my things to my side of the master bedroom, and that’s when I remembered.

My dagger launcher.

I really needed to upgrade it, but tuning it to work with [Endless Fang] would defeat its entire purpose. For now, I just had to keep an eye out for other powerful items I could fuse it with.

I couldn’t rely on sheer firepower anymore, after all.

"Maybe I should visit Bree sometime..."

Beep!

[Hey, Cael.]

Evelina called me through the transceiver, her voice thick with annoyance and irritation.

[Can you check the abandoned mining company? I need to know if it’s structurally stable. If something that profitable was abandoned, then surely something’s wrong there.]

"Sure, I can do that."

[Great... oh, right, don’t bring any girls with you this time.]

"I don’t constantly bring girls around, y’know?"

[I beg to differ.]

Beep!

Well, that was definitely code to go solo. And considering the nature of the task, bringing two people would be overkill. Just a simple in-and-out—that’s about it.

The problem was that there wasn’t any available photo I could use to teleport myself there.

Looks like I’m taking the hard way.

***

Twenty minutes. That’s how long it took me to actually find where I was supposed to go. Not only were the citizens unhelpful, but even the ones who tried didn’t know where the abandoned mine was.

The only reason I figured out where to go was because I got lucky while wandering around. I stumbled on an old newspaper company that was somehow still in business, with dusty back issues lying around that mentioned the area.

It seemed like most of the people here had no idea the mine even existed. Given the large refugee population, that actually made sense.

But...

What in the world happened to the original population, then? Did they all just die out?

[Photographic Memory]

Nothing in the novel mentioned it, and none of the other three who were here noticed anything wrong. It also didn’t seem like the corrupt government had anything to do with it...

Something was terribly wrong... and the novel had no answers as to why.

For now, I should focus on the task at hand, then tell Evelina my concerns. With how vast her information network is, she should know something.

[Dark Step]

FWOOSH!

I really don’t know what I expected to be honest...

But... it definitely blew my expectations out of the water...

This mining company...

...wasn’t abandoned.

Not really.

At least, not in the way I expected.

The entrance alone should’ve been enough to tell me that. The massive steel gate was still standing, slightly rusted but intact, half-open like someone had left in a hurry... or expected to come back.

No collapse. No overgrowth swallowing the place whole. No signs of time doing what time usually does.

Instead, it looked... paused, like someone had pressed stop on the entire facility.

"...That’s not normal."

I stepped closer, boots crunching against gravel that hadn’t been disturbed in a long time. The air here was different too; not stale, not fresh—just... still. Too still. No wind, no insects, no sound, and even the usual hum of the city felt cut off, like this place existed just slightly outside of everything else.

"...Creepy."

I pushed the gate open the rest of the way.

CREEEEAK.

Yeah, okay, that part was normal at least.

Inside, the layout was exactly what you’d expect from a large-scale mining operation: tracks running deeper into the site with carts scattered along the rails, equipment still in place. Drills, cranes, and conveyor systems—all powered by those familiar steam pipes and machinery.

Except none of it was running.

Not broken nor dismantled.

Just... off.

I walked past a cart filled with ore, untouched, the rocks inside not even cleared out. A clipboard sat nearby, papers still clipped in place, so I picked it up.

"...Last entry was years ago."

No follow-up, no shutdown notice, no evacuation order—just... nothing, like everyone working here had collectively decided to stop existing.

"...That’s comforting."

I set the clipboard back down and kept walking. The deeper I went, the worse that feeling got. It wasn’t danger, not the kind I was used to, at least. No killing intent, no ambush waiting to happen.

Just straight absence.

Of people. Of life. Of... something.

"...This is way above my pay grade."

I exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of my neck.

"She’s definitely not going to like this."

I reached the main shaft, a massive opening in the earth, reinforced with metal beams and descending platforms that disappeared into darkness. The lift system was still there too, a large cage suspended by thick cables.

I stepped up to it and tapped the metal.

CLANG.

Solid and operational.

"...Don’t tell me."

I glanced down into the pit.

Dark, deep, and suspiciously inviting.

Yeah, no.

There was absolutely something down there, which of course meant I had to check.

"...In and out," I muttered. "Quick look. No getting dragged into some underground horror story."

I stepped into the lift and pulled the lever.

Nothing happened.

"...Of course."

No power. Figures.

I clicked my tongue, looked over the edge again, then shrugged.

"Should be safe enough."

[Dark Step]

FWOOSH! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

I dropped.

Well... "dropped" wasn’t exactly accurate; it was more like blinking downward in controlled bursts, shadows catching me mid-fall as I descended level by level.

Free-falling wasn’t exactly a good idea.

The deeper I went, the colder it got—not natural cold, but the kind that seeped into your bones and told you to turn back.

[Nyx’s Presence Warns You]

"...The hell is wrong with this place?"