Ch.24Chapter 24 – The Mine (1)

The day had come to go to the mines with Haven’s party.

I woke up Seraphina, told her we’d be away from the inn for an extended period, then grabbed our luggage and headed to the guild.

We were meeting Haven’s party at the guild, and Haven had also arranged for me to store my belongings under his name as a courtesy.

“I didn’t know there would be villages at every stop along the way.”

“Well, with people frequently coming and going from the royal palace, I suppose folks just naturally gathered to benefit from that traffic.”

Haven remarked casually.

For three days, we alternated between resting in villages and traveling.

A cave became visible in the distance.

“That must be the mine.”

Haven shook his head at my comment.

“No, that’s just a tunnel-like passage we need to go through first.”

“You didn’t look at the map properly, did you, Kay?”

After Seraphina’s correction, I checked the map again.

I had misread it slightly.

“My helmet must be obstructing my view a bit.”

Thankfully, I was wearing a helmet.

After passing through the tunnel, we saw a small village with several armored soldiers and adventurers.

“This will be our base camp for the time being.”

Haven said.

In the distance, I could see fairly large buildings scattered about, possibly where the miners rested.

Upon closer inspection, one of them had been converted into a temporary guild with dispatched guild staff.

There were soldiers there too, apparently sent to protect the guild employees and maintain control over the adventurers.

The rest appeared to be temporary lodgings for adventurers who had accepted extermination requests.

Haven spoke up.

“For large-scale exterminations like this, the guild sends people to manage the adventurers and compile reports on the extermination records.”

“So we don’t get paid immediately?”

“Right. Though you can keep any materials the guild hasn’t specifically requested. Even with requested materials, you might be able to keep some depending on negotiations.”

I decided to follow Haven’s suggestion to unpack and prepare first.

After all, Haven was currently the leader, so it made sense to follow his instructions.

While Seraphina and Ravi headed to the lodgings for female adventurers, I went with Haven and the other two party members to different accommodations.

Rooms had been assigned from the start, one room per two people, so we just needed to sort out who would stay with whom.

Shortly after, the group reconvened.

“What’s the plan now?”

When I asked, Ravi answered.

“How about we just take a light look around today to get familiar with the place, then rest?”

“That was my thinking too. I doubt Kay or Miss Seraphina have fought in mines before.”

Haven responded to Ravi’s suggestion.

“Shall we go right away then?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, seeing no reason to refuse.

There was no one at the mine entrance.

This was actually expected, as the monsters that had been at the entrance had already been exterminated, and everyone had moved deeper inside.

Even after going quite far in, we didn’t see any people or monsters.

“This must be a truly massive mine.”

“Well, it’s supposedly the third largest in the Mikea Kingdom.”

Haven remarked.

“Still, be careful—they can suddenly dig through the ground and appear.”

“Yes.”

Haven cautioned, holding a hammer and shield in his hands while a sword hung at his waist.

Haven’s shield looked thicker and heavier than before, and Ravi seemed to have borrowed Haven’s previous shield, as she was carrying the same one he had used before.

The other party members also appeared to be equipped with thicker armor than before.

This was likely in response to the predominantly tough and heavy monsters we would face.

“By the way, what kind of mine was this originally?”

“I’ve heard it primarily produces iron and silver. Gems occasionally too, I think? And while not common, silver containing magical energy is found with fairly high frequency.”

Seraphina nodded at Haven’s explanation.

“So it’s essentially a rare metal mine.”

“That’s right. That’s why it’s managed by the royal palace.”

While listening to Haven’s explanation, I suddenly thought of something.

“What if we happen to find rare ore or something like that here?”

Everyone started answering at once.

“Obviously you put it in your pocket and pretend you didn’t find anything.”

“Since you brought it up, should we decide how to split it?”

“How about we hide it well, sell it in the capital, and then divide it equally?”

“Um, if it’s ore with magical energy, I could use some for alchemy…”

I felt relieved seeing my party members immediately revealing their greed.

‘I’ll just secretly put it in my pocket.’

At least I clearly understood the “finders keepers” principle.

Shortly after having these frivolous thoughts, the ground trembled slightly.

‘An earthquake?’

At first, I tensed up thinking it might be, but that wasn’t it.

The vibration was too small to be an earthquake.

And the vibration was gradually approaching us.

“Wait.”

I stopped the group.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think something’s coming.”

At my words, Haven immediately raised his weapon, assumed a combat stance, and issued directions.

“Ian and Rachet, go to Miss Seraphina’s side. Ravi and Kay, stay with me.”

“I don’t feel anything…”

Seraphina said.

However, thinking it might be something, she began preparing by raising her staff.

-Kugugugugugu

The trembling of the ground grew stronger, proving I wasn’t mistaken.

Now the others seemed to feel it too, as Seraphina remarked with admiration.

“Kay, you really have sharp senses.”

“Enough chitchat!”

Haven shouted.

“It’s here.”

Breaking through the floor, a large turtle appeared.

Its entire body was made of rock, and its eyes glowed red.

While turtles typically give off a somewhat silly and cute impression, this one was quite large and had none of those qualities.

“It’s a Rock Turtle.”

Haven said, extending his shield and preparing for battle.

Taking a quick assessment of the turtle, whose shell looked impervious to blades, I charged forward with my mace.

“Kuooooooh!”

I swung my mace, dodging the turtle as it tried to bite me.

-THWACK!

A dull sound.

Rock dust trickled from the turtle’s face.

Then, as if seeking revenge, it began charging at me.

“This one’s pretty tough, huh?”

I thought it would be satisfying to hit it.

Without realizing it, I smiled as I charged forward with my mace.

“Kay, you practically demolished that Rock Turtle.”

“We decided to bring him along after seeing him behead a troll with a single slash.”

“So, I have to carry this, right?”

Haven shook his head as we looked at the Rock Turtle, which had died with its head caved in.

“You don’t need to carry the whole thing. Just take the head.”

“Just the head?”

“That’s the proof of extermination. You only need to submit that.”

I looked at the Rock Turtle again.

Its head was half-collapsed with various fluids leaking out.

“Should I have crushed it more neatly?”

It did look rather unsightly.

Haven laughed incredulously at my comment and drew a dagger.

A moment later, he held up the dripping head of the Rock Turtle and said:

“Miss Seraphina, sorry, but could you take care of this?”

“Oh, yes. Give it here.”

Without showing any disgust, Seraphina took it and packed it into her backpack.

She casually placed it in a pouch prepared specifically for this mission.

Despite all the fluids dripping from it, she really had a strong stomach.

“I apologize.”

“For what?”

I was speaking to Seraphina, who was wiping her blood-covered hands after putting the head in the pouch.

However, she didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

“Oh, could I possibly take a piece of the shell?”

“For alchemy materials, right?”

And according to Eve, good ore was occasionally attached to these shells.

With Haven’s permission, Seraphina and I pried off the shell.

There was nothing visibly shiny on it at first glance.

Just stone.

“This is too big for my backpack, so I’ll have to tie it with rope and carry it.”

Soon, Seraphina took out a thin, long rope from her pocket, tied it to the shell, and strapped it to her back.

“Looks like we have another turtle.”

Seeing Seraphina with the shell covering her pouch, I had a sudden urge to push her over, though I suppressed it.

No, actually, I really did want to push her over once.

“It’s surprisingly reassuring. Would you like to try wearing it too, Kay?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Don’t be like that.”

As Seraphina approached with a smile, I politely declined.

Somehow, I felt that if I wore that thing, someone would push me over, so I quickly dodged.

We continued downward, killing monsters we encountered and harvesting materials.

The main creatures we faced were Rock Turtles, some snails carrying rocks on their backs, and goblin-like monsters.

Since none posed a real threat, we easily killed them and collected proof of extermination. After progressing a fair distance, Haven suggested we head back.

“This should be enough to get familiar with the place. Let’s rest and start in earnest tomorrow.”

It seemed he had no intention of pushing too hard on the first day.

As we headed back, Haven spoke up.

“It would be troublesome if we went deeper and encountered a Centipede.”

“Ah, that’s a poisonous monster. I guess it’s been spotted?”

“Information about a sighting came in just before we departed.”

Poison, huh.

I wasn’t sure what kind of monster it was, but it sounded like a hassle to deal with.

Haven nodded, confirming it would indeed be troublesome.

“While our party could probably handle it, it’s a formidable creature recommended for C-rank or B-rank parties and above, so we should be cautious.”

“Oh, so should we try to hunt it?”

When Ravi playfully suggested this, Haven shook his head.

“Let’s leave such formidable creatures to the investigation team.”

I vaguely remembered hearing about the investigation team when I was previously invited.

“So if the investigation team is dispatched, does that mean the cause isn’t clear?”

“In this case, yes. The cause is truly uncertain.”

Haven thought for a moment before continuing.

“This place is directly managed by the royal palace, so occasionally kobolds or goblins would sneak in only to get beaten by the miners. Since the royal palace manages it, soldiers are frequently dispatched too.”

“So there’s no reason for such a large outbreak?”

“Exactly. A major extermination like this is very rare in a well-managed area, unlike in remote regions.”

Haven added after saying this:

“But determining the cause isn’t our job, so we don’t need to worry too much about it. Cause identification is the investigation team’s responsibility.”

“Our job is simply to deal with the monsters.”

“That’s right. It’s essentially a separate request from ours, so as long as we don’t excessively block their path, they won’t interfere with the other monsters.”

Haven added that those people don’t get paid extra for killing these monsters anyway.

By the time we finished talking, we had almost reached the entrance.

“Now let’s go to the temporary guild to settle up, and then rest for today. Let’s take it slow and not get greedy.”

“What do you think about going deeper for a chance at striking it rich, leader?”

When Haven’s party member asked, Haven laughed and replied:

“Ian, if you were a mage or a priest, I might have considered it.”

His party member just shrugged at Haven’s response.

“We were lucky today, but during a major extermination, monsters aren’t the only thing to be cautious about.”

Haven explained.

I could roughly guess what he meant.

“I assume there are colleagues who turn into bandits.”

“Correct.”

Haven clapped exaggeratedly in affirmation.

It made sense if you thought about it.

“If they attack, leave the body, the monsters will take care of it—it’s the perfect environment for killing someone and running away.”

Haven said quietly.

Just then, a group of adventurers passed by the entrance.

“……”

They glanced at us from a distance but continued on their way.

Haven didn’t even turn his head toward those adventurers as he continued speaking.

“You never know when or where you might be ambushed, so be wary of other groups too.”

“And fights over territory can escalate into conflicts, so let’s be on guard when we meet other groups.”

Seeing how strongly he cautioned us, I wondered if Haven’s party had experienced trouble before.

Judging by the way Haven was vigorously shaking his head as if recalling something unpleasant, it seemed they had indeed suffered at least once.

“Well, that’s enough scary talk for now. Let’s rest and have some drinks today.”

Haven suggested.

Everyone turned to leave, clearly intent on taking a proper break today.

‘What’s that?’

I had the feeling someone was watching us.