Mine Cleanup (3)
The atmosphere was so stifling it felt like we were suffocating. We arrived at Hilden Village in that state. The village was so deathly quiet that the claim it had once been lively now seemed like a lie. The knight order’s neglect. The disappearance of adventurers. The vanishing of miners. As the situation grew steadily worse, we had arrived leading a group of soldiers. Naturally, everyone seemed to be watching us with eyes full of expectation, hoping we would resolve this mess.
“Everyone! You can rest easy now! Because Angelica of the Gluwin family has arrived! The mine will soon return to normal!”
“R-really?”
“Of course! Just trust me!”
“…….”
Where on earth did that confidence come from? Watching Angelica ride ahead in the carriage, she looked impressive in more ways than one.
“Thank you for coming to Hilden Village. We were truly in desperate need of your help……”
Even the village chief came out to greet us with open arms. Yet beneath it all, I could sense a thick layer of fear and worry clinging to the bottom of everyone’s hearts.
“From what I hear, countless adventurers have gone missing inside the mine.”
“That’s probably one of the reasons the knight order has been neglecting it. Sending half-hearted forces would only stir up more trouble.”
“The knight order seems more cunning than I imagined.”
It was quite different from the image of the knight order I had pictured. Weren’t they supposed to rush to the scene of any crisis and devote themselves to protecting the citizens?
“There are various factors at play, but in the end, the knight order has no choice but to prioritize practical gains and justification.”
“Practical gains and justification?”
“That’s right.”
Melissa, who had once served in the royal knight order, spoke with a bitter expression, as if weighed down by heavy thoughts.
“When the knight order is dispatched all the way to a tiny mining village like this, what exactly do they stand to gain?”
“The safety of the citizens…?”
“If we follow that logic, the northern region of the kingdom is currently suffering massive casualties due to a surge in monsters. Are their lives not important?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“In the end, it’s a structure where the few must be sacrificed for the many. Or there must be some political justification involved.”
“Ugh……”
Wasn’t it only natural to want to help when things got difficult? I clutched my increasingly tangled thoughts and groaned.
“This might be too complicated for Rui.”
“Ugh. My head’s spinning too……”
Selena nodded as if she roughly understood, while Liz looked just as mentally overwhelmed as I was. Maybe the two of us had more in common than I thought?
“Ahaha! In that sense, Lady Angelica is the one who managed to secure both justification and practical benefit at the same time.”
At that moment, Janice, who had been listening, burst into laughter.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, Hilden is a village within Baron Brynne’s territory, which borders the Gluwin family’s lands. By stepping in to save the village in place of the baron—who’s been squeezed and pressured from all sides—she’s properly seized the justification of being a savior. Not only that, she’s laying the groundwork to eventually seize ownership of Hilden itself.”
“……Angelica is?”
I blinked, staring at her. Selena, who was practically glued to my side, nodded with a strange look on her face.
“Go ask her yourself. She’s a noble lady who’s been hiding her claws this whole time. Heh heh.”
“…….”
Janice sounded so certain. I had never once suspected that Angelica might have some hidden agenda. But now that I heard it, it sounded plausible enough to start confusing me.
“Angelica.”
“Yes? What is it, Rui?”
Instead of her luxurious dress, Angelica was now wearing light combat attire. A sword and a command baton hung stylishly at her waist. She looked like she was genuinely determined to save this village. It made it hard for me to bring up the subject.
“Um… after we clear the mine, what are you planning to do?”
“We’ll commend everyone for their contributions and provide support so the mine can return to normal operations.”
“And the reason for that is?”
“Because I’m a noble!”
“…….”
Her eyes sparkled. No, it felt like every part of Angelica was shining with a dazzling light. Perhaps she truly was the ideal noble of this era.
“I almost misunderstood you.”
“Misunderstood what?”
“I thought you were trying to fight the neighboring territory over mining rights or ownership of Hilden.”
“…….”
“Angelica?”
Angelica subtly averted her gaze.
“Ahem. Rui, if we’re setting out tomorrow, you should rest soon. The villagers have prepared a lavish feast for us.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Sigh. Rui, come here.”
“Y-yeah.”
Selena dragged me away as I stood there in a daze from the shock. She gently sat me down beside her and ate her meal in silence.
“Selena?”
“Hm?”
“Why did you join this mine subjugation? You’re already so busy.”
“Haa. Rui, you really are an idiot.”
“??”
I suddenly got called an idiot. When I cautiously reached out with my Gigaam, I could tell Selena was completely, utterly serious. Realizing how stupid my question must have sounded, I felt a little downcast. She glanced at me, let out a small snort of laughter, and placed a piece of meat on my plate.
After that slightly awkward meal, the next day arrived.
“Everyone, attention please!”
Before entering the mine, Angelica gathered the subjugation force and delivered a long speech. I only vaguely remembered bits about “your courage this” and “generous rewards when we return” and “the spirit of knighthood that.”
When the speech ended, Angelica thrust her arm into the air and shouted.
““Waaaaaaaah!””
And with that, the mine subjugation began.
Due to the narrow nature of the mine, not everyone could enter at once.
“Shall we split into two groups?”
“Sounds good.”
“For the personnel distribution, let’s do it this way.”
Thanks to the experienced Melissa, the teams were efficiently organized. The first advance team consisted of me, Janice, Melissa, and Liz. But the moment the roster was announced, complaints erupted from two particular people.
“Why am I being separated from Rui?”
“Why am I not on the advance team?”
The two who looked the most dissatisfied. Melissa calmly began explaining her reasoning.
“First, the advance team will function primarily as scouts. I determined that we would need Ruines-nim’s intuition, Janice’s information, and Liz-nim’s familiarity with the mine’s layout. And the one to guard these three from the front must be—”
Clank!
“—none other than the strongest among us: myself.”
““…….””
Melissa occasionally showed a strong sense of self-assertion in the strangest places. But since it was also true, there was nothing we could say.
“Rui. If anything happens, fall back to the rear immediately.”
“But that’s not…… Y-yeah, got it.”
“You promised.”
The moment I tried to shake my head and say that wasn’t possible, I was overwhelmed by Selena’s icy gaze.
“If that’s the reason, I suppose it can’t be helped. Ellie! Shur!”
“Y-yes! My lady!”
“Yes, my lady.”
“We will serve as the rear support team. If anything happens at the front, join up with us immediately. Understood?”
““Understood.””
Ellie was one of the soldiers who had joined us during the previous monster subjugation. The woman named Shur, who had a somewhat dazed look about her, must be one of Angelica’s private troops. After that, the remaining soldiers were divided into teams of four, and a standby unit was prepared at the entrance in case of emergencies.
With all preparations complete—
“Let’s go!”
I took a deep breath and stepped into the mine.
The inside of the mine was exactly as I had expected. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite a long time. Ever since rumors spread that monsters had appeared in the mines, people had stopped coming here long ago. And it wasn’t just Hilden’s mine—apparently this phenomenon was occurring across multiple mines.
“The world really has become a dangerous place.”
“That is precisely why knights who truly embody knighthood are needed.”
“I-I suppose so?”
We advanced somehow, holding portable lamps. Thanks to my concentrated use of Gigaam, no accidents had occurred so far.
“Just keep going straight ahead from here.”
“Still, I don’t sense any monsters yet. It feels like an ordinary mine.”
Liz spoke with a puzzled tone. Indeed, even when I spread my Gigaam wide, I didn’t feel anything in particular.
“Rui.”
“Haa, haa. Yes?”
“It’s not good to keep your Gigaam spread out like that for too long. It seems to consume quite a bit of stamina.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, that made sense. Because I had been obsessively maintaining my Gigaam from the entrance onward out of fear that something might happen, both physically and mentally I was starting to accumulate quite a bit of fatigue.
“We’re still at the entrance. It’s unlikely anything will happen here.”
“That’s right. The monster sightings were reported starting from the second floor tunnels. The miners supposedly fled in terror.”
“Rui. If you’re tired, s-should I carry you?”
“Haa. I’m not that bad yet.”
After firmly rejecting Liz’s offer, we continued deeper into the mine. The further we went, the harder it became to breathe. The air quality was noticeably growing worse.
And then, the moment we reached the second floor tunnels—
“Melissa.”
“Yes, Rui.”
“Just as I thought.”
Oooooong!
When I spread out my Gigaam a little later, I sensed ominous presences. They seemed to have human shapes, yet they were definitely not human. Above all, they were openly radiating hostility toward us.
The instant those things drew close enough to reach us—
Crunch!
“Uwaaaak!?”
I couldn’t help but leap up in shock. No, these things…!
“They are undead created from the corpses inside the mine. They aren’t particularly dangerous, but please remain cautious.”
Monsters whose entire bodies were made of human bones. While I fell into a panic, Melissa spoke as if she were used to it. On the other hand, Janice looked at me and chuckled.
“Rui? Those are undead-type monsters. Is this your first time seeing them in person?”
“It is, but…!”
Even the aura they gave off sent chills down my spine. They looked less like monsters and more like walking corpses. The fact that I could sense the faint traces of habits and mannerisms they had possessed while alive only made it worse.
“I’ll clean them up for now.”
Melissa spoke calmly, then drew her greatsword far back with both hands. In a single swing—
Whoosh!
The moment Melissa swung her greatsword, the skeleton soldiers in front of us were smashed to pieces.