Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Dwarven Mine
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“Ah, Corporal Kudo.”
“I was calling for you from outside, but it seems you didn't hear me.”
“Yes, something like that. I was a bit busy.”
“Ah, I thought Private Carlyle was ignoring us on purpose.”
“Th-That's not it.”
“May I sit?”
Kudo grinned as he squeezed into the carriage.
*Thump, thump!*
The carriage jolted twice intermittently, a clear sign that Marder and Wilson had also climbed aboard.
Being in the middle of the city, the carriage had no choice but to move slowly. This was only possible because Kudo's group, members of the reconnaissance team, had excellent stamina and running speed.
“Those crazy bastards! That's a Sigmund family carriage!”
“Are they completely insane?”
The burly men stopped their pursuit upon realizing the carriage Kudo's group had boarded belonged to the Sigmund family.
Where were they, after all?
It was no exaggeration to say that no one in the heart of Decaron would dare to stop a Sigmund family carriage, let alone climb onto it.
Unless they were also a Sigmund.
And the city guard knights, responsible for maintaining peace in Decaron, were no exception.
“St-Stop!”
“*Neigh!*”
The knights, who had been urgently dispatched after a report of a brawl, also spotted the Sigmund family carriage and turned their horses around.
“Everyone, freeze! Stop right there!”
“Aargh!”
Thanks to that, only the burly men who had been brawling with Kudo's group ended up being chased by the city guard.
“What on earth happened?”
“We just got into a little argument. Haha.”
“An argument…?”
“It seems some of them were bereaved family members of fallen soldiers. They started picking a fight, asking if we were happy to be the only ones who made it back alive.”
“Ah?”
“It's a common occurrence. Those who have lost family sometimes lose their reason.”
Kudo shrugged as if it were nothing.
“It happens all the time.”
Maranello agreed with a bitter smile.
“Honestly.”
Carlyle shook his head, as if fed up with life in the North where there was never a peaceful day.
This wasn't the only reason Northerners got into brawls.
Soldiers on leave getting drunk and causing trouble was a daily occurrence.
Constantly exposed to the fear of death and stress, it was very common for them to lose control and go wild after just a little alcohol.
That's why brawls between soldiers and civilians, or even between soldiers themselves, frequently broke out in the taverns of the North.
And it wasn't just the soldiers.
Even the ordinary citizens of the domain had such a belligerent nature that fistfights were extremely common in the North.
The culture was such that people generally didn't interfere in fights that broke out among them, so as long as they paid for any property damage and a small fine, the city guard wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
“So, Private Carlyle, where are you headed?”
“To get some fresh air.”
“Pardon…?”
Kudo had the same reaction as Maranello.
“It hasn't been long since you got your leave. Are you already missing Kuberin?”
“Not a chance.”
“Then…?”
“Let's just say I felt suffocated at home.”
“Is this one of those rich young master's problems?”
“Yes, something like that.”
“You must have been quite suffocated. Haha.”
Kudo laughed.
“But… aren't you getting off?”
“Huh?”
“Don't tell me you're coming with us?”
“Is that not allowed?”
Kudo put on a disappointed expression.
“It's not that it's not allowed. We're really just going to get some air.”
“Can we really come with you?”
“You can't go back anyway because of the city guard. You'll have to lie low in your quarters for a few days.”
“How perceptive of you. Heh heh.”
“…”
“Well then, we'll be in your care.”
Kudo settled into a seat in the carriage, crossing his legs and getting comfortable.
“You're quite brazen.”
“You praise me too highly.”
Kudo replied to Maranello's comment with a wide grin.
*‘What is this?’*
Carlyle tilted his head, sensing a strange, uncomfortable current flowing between Kudo and Maranello.
It had been like this before, but he had a strong feeling that the two knew each other.
“Do you two know each other?”
“How could we?”
“Not at all.”
Maranello and Kudo answered Carlyle's question at almost the same time.
And that was even more suspicious.
*‘Is it just my imagination, or are they gritting their teeth and pretending not to know each other?’*
Carlyle narrowed his eyes, glaring at Maranello and Kudo in turn, before soon giving up and turning his gaze out the window.
*‘Whatever.’*
It wasn't really his business, so Carlyle completely lost interest.
“So, where exactly are we going?”
“For now, we're heading toward the Merel Mountains.”
“Isn't that a place with nothing much to see?”
Kudo said, looking puzzled.
The Merel Mountains were a highland region southeast of Decaron. Even for the North, they were extremely barren and desolate, mostly composed of rock, making them an unlikely destination for a trip to get fresh air.
“There might be something to see.”
Carlyle replied, glancing at Evangeline.
* * *
Just as Kudo had worried, the Merel Mountains had nothing to offer in terms of scenery.
Being a highland region, it was just high, desolate, barren, and dry. Even from a distance, all one could see were tall, rocky mountains.
“Is there really anything to see here?”
“Well, there are a few things worth seeing.”
Carlyle answered Wilson's question.
“Are you looking for something? If so, just say the word. I'll help.”
Marder said with a grin.
Hugin was perched on his shoulder, so his offer of help likely meant aerial reconnaissance.
“I appreciate the offer, but there's no need for that.”
“Oh?”
“This friend here will take care of everything.”
Carlyle pointed to Evangeline.
“M-Me?”
Evangeline was flustered.
Carlyle had asked for her time, so she had followed him without asking any questions, but she had no idea what he wanted her to do.
“Yeah, your role is the most important.”
“What role are you referring to…?”
“I'll tell you later. First, we need to get out of the carriage and switch to something else. If this thing rolls off a cliff, we'll all be taking a nice little plunge to our deaths together.”
It was a sound judgment.
The path was too narrow for a carriage, making the journey precarious as it was.
So Carlyle's group left the carriage in a nearby village and switched to a new mode of transportation.
And that new mode of transportation was none other than donkeys.
“*Hee-haw! Haw!*”
Donkeys, though small, were strong and had great endurance, making them livestock often used in mountainous regions.
Carlyle's party rode the donkeys deep into the Merel Mountains.
When night fell, they pitched tents and built a fire to spend the night.
The next morning.
“Ask the earth spirit for me. Ask where the minerals are buried in this mountain range, and what else is here.”
“What?”
“Just ask. It'll tell you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
As Carlyle nodded, not only Evangeline but also Maranello was startled.
“Young Master, what do you mean by that? Is it possible to find mineral veins by having an earth spirit do it?”
“You didn't know that either, Maranello?”
“This is the first I'm hearing of it.”
“Please, do some studying. Don't just train your swordsmanship.”
“…”
Maranello cursed Carlyle with his eyes.
Who was he, a man who had avoided books his entire life, to lecture someone else about studying?
“Where on earth did you get such information?”
“It's all in the old books. Earth spirit mages are valuable for more than just war.”
“…?”
“Humans live on the land. And not just humans. The foundation of all living things is the earth. Isn't war ultimately just a fight for territory?”
“In a way, I suppose that's true.”
“If you can communicate well with earth spirits, you can do a great many things. It wasn't for nothing that the royal family pressured us to hand over Evangeline. They were so openly displeased because she has that much value.”
“Hah…”
“You heard me, right?”
Carlyle turned to look at Evangeline.
“It's not difficult for you, so just relax and ask the earth spirit.”
“Yes, Young Master. I'll try.”
Evangeline summoned an earth spirit.
*Rumble!*
Presently, a giant that looked to be about three meters tall appeared.
A Titan.
It was an intermediate earth spirit.
“■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■?”
Evangeline asked the Titan in the spirit language.
*Nod.* The Titan nodded its head, scanned the mountain range, and then pointed a finger toward a specific area.
“Write it down.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Evangeline circled the places the Titan pointed to on a map and jotted down short memos next to them.
Soon, after the Titan had fulfilled its role and disappeared, Evangeline handed the map to Carlyle.
“Two magic coal mines and one gold mine?”
“Yes.”
Maranello, who had been listening from the side, had his eyes widen.
“Y-You mean there's a gold mine?!”
Not just Maranello, but Kudo's group also looked quite stunned.
“A gold mine?!”
“There's gold buried there?”
“This is insane.”
The value of gold was extremely high in this world, too, practically serving as currency, so their surprise was only natural.
But Carlyle had little interest in gold.
Gold wasn't the important thing.
*‘If we have enough magic coal, the Winter of the End will be nothing.’*
[Magic Coal] was of lower quality than the lowest-grade magic stones, having virtually no value as a magic stone itself.
But it was still a magic stone, and when ignited, its energy efficiency was incomparable to other fuels.
Compared to coal of the same size, its thermal efficiency was nearly five times better, it produced no smoke, and it was easy to mine. If they just mobilized some combat engineers, securing a stockpile for several years in just a few months would be a simple task.
*‘If I sell off all the magic stones we have and replace our fuel with magic coal, we could make a huge profit.’*
This was an investment only the royal family could make.
Buy low, sell high.
It was the most basic principle of investment, but in the case of magic stones, a resource of high strategic value, they couldn't be bought and sold carelessly.
Profiting from the magic stone trade was a method only possible for those, like the royal family, who held certain information.
However, if they had a large supply of magic coal, they could sell the magic stones used for heating or use them for other purposes.
Especially in the North, famous for its harsh winters, magic coal would be utilized as an extremely valuable resource.
The gold mine was a matter that could be developed slowly.
“What's this place?”
Carlyle pointed to a part of the map marked 'Mine'.
“It's a dwarven mine, she says.”
“Dwarven… as in, dwarves?”
“Yes.”
“There were dwarves in the North?”
Carlyle looked back at Maranello.
“I've heard that dwarves were occasionally seen hundreds of years ago, but officially, there are none.”
“So it's an abandoned mine?”
“That's highly likely.”
“Why did it point this one out?”
Carlyle asked Evangeline.
“It says there are a lot of resources buried there, including highest-grade magic stones.”
“Even though it's an abandoned mine?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Carlyle thought for a moment.
*‘An abandoned dwarven mine that still has a lot of resources left… that means there must be some reason for it.’*
Dwarves were a race of excellent blacksmiths and miners, artists, and brilliant alchemists and mages.
On top of that, they were incredibly strong and were a warrior race skilled in combat.
Such dwarves would never abandon a perfectly good mine.
“This means it's dangerous somehow…”
“Why don't we investigate it?”
Maranello suggested to Carlyle.
“Should we?”
“This old man will protect you.”
“Alright, then.”
Carlyle nodded.
“Let's investigate the dwarven mine.”
With Maranello to protect him, it was a decision he could make without fear.