Broken Mine
Neel was the name that suited the chamois with gently curved horns that looked like two halves of an arrow, given in the local dialect of Bergen's territory in the Badfeld Kingdom, near Ion's birthplace. The word meant "horns" or "tentacles."
Standing before the chamois, Ion asked, “Does the name Neel suit you?”
The chamois blinked with straight-line pupils, tilting its head and letting out a cry.
“Meee!”
“I see. It suits you. Neel, this fellow is Lotte. Don’t fight—be friends.”
Ion entered Dvalin’s house, giving Neel and Lotte a moment to warm up to each other.
“Kong!”
“Meee!”
Dvalin stayed three extra days to sort the tasks he had received. During that time, Ion practiced riding Neel around the territory, passing in and out of the gates.
At first it seemed no different from horseback, but the up-and-down sway was distinct. Unlike a horse, Neel wore the reins without a bit, so the sensation of pulling on them was different.
The bit itself was an awkward tool for the horse, reacting sensitively even to a slight tug.
But Neel needed a stronger pull to respond.
If he had not ridden before, it would have been difficult to ride the chamois properly.
The three extra days were fortunate.
After three days, leaving Yetev Estate together with Dvalin.
Dvalin rode Neel as well. His chamois was a little smaller in build.
It was not a matter of youth or breed, but the species itself was different.
Passing through snow roads lightly piled up, heading north, and feeling bored, Dvalin asked, “What does the name Ion mean?”
“It comes from the ancient language meaning ‘eternal.’”
“Eternal, derived from Eyeon.”
“Yes. That’s what I heard.”
Eyeon was also called the name of an ancient god. Ion was the original name, and Ion had branched off from Eyeon.
Dvalin, nodding, continued. “Rise means ‘journey,’ doesn’t it?”
“Correct.”
“Haha, ‘Eternal Journey.’ What a fitting name for a wandering knight!”
“I never thought so, but… you’re right.”
Thinking back, before his regression, he had always felt something lacking.
He had lived thinking loyalty to his lord was the greatest joy, yet something was always unfilled.
Now, as he wandered the world, it felt pleasant.
And he recalled Lina’s witch’s words about continuing to wander.
Perhaps this was Ion’s true destiny after all.
·
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He crossed the river with frost on the ice and entered the mountains.
As Dvalin had said, the mountains had become steep, and the snow made them slippery. It was hard to climb.
If he had brought Yel, he would have dismounted and walked. But Neel, the chamois, simply climbed the tilted path and rough rocks.
When climbing a sloping rock, Ion braced his thighs against Neel’s to keep from sliding and adjusted his weight to match Neel’s movements.
Watching this, Dvalin sighed in admiration.
“Climbing such a difficult path for the first time, and you’re holding up and riding well.”
“It’s difficult. I’m barely clinging on.”
“No. It’s because your center of gravity is steady.”
“Center of gravity?”
“Even a blacksmith like me needs a steady center to use his strength fully. Warriors like you are the same. A firm center lets you handle sudden situations without being shaken. Matching the chamois’s movement requires knowing your own center and maintaining it.”
Recalling when he first learned to wield a sword.
“A knight must never let his center of gravity sway, no matter the situation!”
Ion’s father, Anton, had also emphasized center and balance.
A steady center made it easier to keep the body balanced.
Because Ion had practiced it for so long, it had become a habit he no longer thought about.
But hearing Dvalin’s words, he became conscious again and carefully observed.
He not only watched his own movements but also admired the chamois’s incredible sense of balance.
In truth, the mountain hike was not particularly special.
Yet during the five days of climbing, Ion spent meaningful time thinking about his name and destiny, learning the movements of the chamois Neel.
He arrived at a wide plateau in the middle of the steep mountain.
He saw a sheer cliff at the mountain’s midpoint, and at its end was the entrance to the collapsed mine.
Large rocks had fallen, making it impossible to clear a path and enter.
Ion dismounted from Neel and approached the entrance.
“You mentioned you entered this place twice before. Is there another entrance?”
“Over here.”
Dvalin led him to a small cave hidden behind a tree on the right side of the cliff.
The cave had been used as a lodging, with a door made of branches. Near the entrance was a stable where chamois could be stabled.
Inside the cave was a metal door.
“Mines always have such doors. It’s a shortcut for escape or entry in case of an accident.”
“I see. I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
“Haha, of course you wouldn’t if you’ve never worked in a mine. Let’s lead the chamois in and gather water and hay while we explore the galleries.”
“Yes.”
Near the mine was a pond, but the water could be melted from snow, so he scooped snow into the saddlebags.
He placed the softened part of the branch door and the hay from their supplies near the pond in the saddlebags.
After leading the chamois into the cave, he lit a fire in the stone oven, and warmth spread.
·
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The next morning, after breakfast, he opened the iron door and entered the narrow gallery.
Before they left, Dvalin took something from his bag.
“Wear this on your head.”
“Huh?”
It was a headband.
In front was a small cylindrical piece the size of a candle, made of light iron, with a wick protruding from one end.
“It’s dark inside the cave, so fire is needed. Torches are too inconvenient. Light the wick and you can use both hands freely.”
“So the dwarves did this for mining?”
“No, the flame is too small. When mining ore, you use torches. This one I made for exploring the galleries.”
“Is that so?”
“There’s oil inside. It burns long, but in case it runs out, take this.”
It was an oil container made of iron with a leather stopper, wrapped in leather outside so it wouldn’t break.
It would replenish itself when the oil ran out.
Dvalin made a spark with flint and lit Ion’s oil lamp and his own.
The size and brightness were just like a candle. Unlike the flickering candles that went out with the slightest wind, these were steady, making movement easier.
“For now, I’ll lead the way to the gallery.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The path was a shortcut for emergencies, narrow enough for only one person to walk at a time.
If a giant spider was occupying the mine, it would be hard to fight, so they had to escape quickly.
Dvalin had the same thought and hurried ahead.
After a while, they reached the gallery connected to the cave.
The gallery was wide enough for two handcarts to pass.
Lotte, who had followed quietly, sniffed the smells around the gallery.
“From here on, leave it to you.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Ion stepped forward, and Lotte stood beside him.
Ion consulted the map, while Lotte sensed danger by smell as they walked the gallery.
The straight gallery sloped gently downward. After descending for a long time, they reached four forks.
“There were definitely three forks last time…”
Mumbling behind him, Dvalin turned and examined the holes in the wall.
Ion felt no difference, but Dvalin ran his hand along the wall and pointed to the right.
“The two holes on the right are the old gallery. The two on the left look as if the spider dug them.”
“Can you feel the difference?”
“By touch, yes. This side was dug with pickaxe or shovel. The left two were scratched. The wall of the left hole is much smoother.”
“Understood. Then we’ll take the rightmost path.”
Before entering the right hole, Ion drew his sword, and Dvalin took out the combat hammer he had been carrying on his back.
One end was a square hammer, the other a pointed pickaxe.
It was a weapon that suited a dwarf-born miner who had become a blacksmith.
Ion entered the rightmost hole.
After walking a short distance, he saw a yellow dot on the map flicker and vanish. Lotte also turned back, sniffed something, then tilted its head.
“What’s wrong?”
Hearing Dvalin’s question, he carefully looked at the map, but the yellow dot did not appear again.
“Lotte seemed to have smelled something. But it didn’t seem threatening.”
“It’s an abandoned mine, so there could be small beasts.”
“Yes. That seems likely.”
Ion continued forward.
Another fork appeared, and Dvalin chose one of the holes made by miners and moved there.
Several times the yellow dot appeared but vanished quickly again.
“This must be a small beast.”
Thinking it might be a mole, since it lived deep underground, he stopped because he felt something strange.
At the same time, Lotte stopped, ears perked, staring straight ahead.
“What…?”
“Shh!”
Ion quietly told Dvalin behind him to stay quiet and listened.
“Sssst!”
Something was crawling.
Dvalin heard it and gripped the hammer tightly.
On the map, dozens of yellow dots appeared and changed to red as they got closer.
“Sssst!”
Giant spiders the size of humans crawled forward and backward quickly.
“They’re coming from behind too!”
“Got it!”
Dvalin turned, and Ion shouted while jumping forward.
“Lotte, protect Dvalin!”
Following Ion’s instruction, Lotte stood beside Dvalin.
If they did not clear one side of the enemies coming from front and back, they would be surrounded and unable to move properly.
Ion planned to fight the front enemies first, then help from behind.
“Ssssst!”
The giant spiders approached the wall quickly.
Thinking the light from the oil lamps reflected strangely in their eight eyes, he slashed diagonally with his sword.
“Kkigik!”
The leg of the charging spider was cut, and fluid splashed.
Compared to other insect monsters, the spider’s shell was not especially hard, but its long legs were threatening, it had fangs, and above all, if caught in its web, it was hard to move.
Spiders tried to grab the opponent with eight legs and wrap it in silk, but before that happened, Ion stuck first and cut the spider’s legs.
Forward was the only option.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
From behind, Dvalin dodged the spider’s legs, approached, and slammed the hammer into the body.
Each time he swung, a large hole appeared in the giant spider’s body, and one by one they fell.
“Kongkongkong!”
Lotte helped Dvalin by running beside him and biting the legs of spiders that stretched out toward him.
“He’s doing well!”
Ion, who saw Dvalin and Lotte holding them off well, felt at ease and slashed the giant spiders charging from the front.
“Kkigik!”
No matter how hard, the shell was a protective layer. As Ion’s sword cut, the body split. The spiders, rushing forward, were forced to falter.
The spiders that had charged straight at Ion climbed the ceiling and both walls, trying to leap over him toward Dvalin.
Ion leaped, cutting the back of the passing spider, but not all were stopped.
“Kongkongkong!”
Lotte barked loudly.
“Cough!”
The spiders that had passed Ion and attacked Dvalin’s back were now grabbing him with long legs and extracting silk to wrap him.
Ion turned to run, but the front spiders, which had been stumbling, charged again to block him.
He swung his sword to cut legs, kicked the body and head to fell the charging spiders, but the kick was constantly caught.
Lotte’s barking grew fainter as it receded.
“Kongkongkongkong!”
Ion felt urgency but remembered the center and balance he had thought about all the way here and swung his sword wide.
With a calm mind, strength flowed into the sword. The more strength, the cleaner the spiders were cut, and the spider group fell apart.
When a crack appeared in the group charging at once, the spiders retreated with a flash!
Thinking they would charge again, he waited a moment, but only the sound of retreating footsteps was heard.
“Sssst!”
Ion turned his body.
Dvalin’s oil lamp on his head was extinguished, lying on the ground, and Lotte was barking from afar.
Ion stuffed the lamp into his pocket and ran.
“Kongkongkong!”
He arrived at the fork he had passed.
The remaining red dot on the map had vanished beyond the detection range. Nothing was shown on the map except Lotte.
Lotte, not seeing where it had gone, sniffed the holes.
Even when Ion arrived, Lotte had not found the scent of where Dvalin had been taken, because the spiders that captured him had scattered and dispersed the scent.
If Lotte could not find it, there was no other way.
Ion chose the closest hole.
“This way!”
·
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·
Even after running a long time, neither Dvalin nor the spiders appeared.
Lotte was still not finding it.
Just as he considered turning back and entering another hole, a yellow dot appeared on the map.
He did not know if it was a spider or a small beast, but he ran anyway.
The yellow dot multiplied from one to two, three.
This was not a small beast.
“Krruk!”
The yellow dots were scattering, as if seeing the flame of the oil lamp on Ion’s forehead in the darkness.
“Kongkong!”
This time, Lotte, having clearly smelled, jumped out first.
At the place where the yellow dots had scattered, another fork appeared. Lotte, without hesitation, leaped into the hole.
The yellow dots, which had been scattered, gathered again, as if Lotte had chosen the correct hole.
The yellow dots, thinking Ion and Lotte were chasing, fled, but gradually got caught. The number of yellow dots kept increasing.
“Kongkongkong!”
Lotte leaped greatly and caught something.
“Krruk!”
Ion, chasing immediately, saw under Lotte a small, fuzzy creature that looked like a hairless dog with a height of just under one meter. It was flailing.
“Hah, surrender! I surrender!”
Surrounding it were several small pickaxes and shovels held by similar creatures, unable to approach. Ion recognized them as kobolds.
“Kobold?”