Chapter 119: Chapter 118: The Curse of the Boot (Second update upon release, please subscribe!)
The atmosphere of great joy persisted as Gro instructed his subordinates, “Go find some boxes, pack up these ores, and bring them back.”
“Yes.” The guard responded and went to do as told.
Richard looked toward Old Marlon and said, “Thank you for your effort.”
Old Marlon’s eyes flashed strangely for a moment before he quickly put on a nervous look and hurriedly said, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. It is my honor to be of help to Lord Richard.”
Before Richard could speak, Gro had already turned to the mine owner Oreke, pointing at Old Marlon and said, “This man has done well, helping Lord Richard. Reward him with 10 Gold Coins as a penalty for your earlier rudeness.”
“Let’s go.” Richard saw that the guard had already packed the relatively small cobalt ores into boxes and spoke without further ado.
“Okay.” Gro, knowing that Richard’s time was precious and wanting to settle matters within a day, waved his hand and immediately led the guards to mount their horses and rushed out of the mine, departing like the wind.
Inside the mine, Oreke looked in the direction where Gro and his men had left, his expression slightly twisted, hesitating whether or not to follow Gro’s earlier order.
At that moment, Old Marlon directly approached him, his eyes twinkling as he said, “Mine owner, don’t forget my 10 Gold Coins. It was the Prince himself who said it.”
“What if I don’t give them to you?” Oreke narrowed his eyes menacingly as he looked at Old Marlon. While the 10 Gold Coins pained him a little, he could afford it. However, Old Marlon’s attitude greatly displeased him, and he felt the urge to teach him a lesson and remind him who really owned this mine.
Who knew that Old Marlon wouldn’t fall for it and scoffed, “You don’t have to give them to me if you don’t want to. I’ll find a chance to tell Prince Gelo. By then, when the Prince learns you’ve deceived him, it certainly won’t be as simple as a few Gold Coins.”
“You!” Oreke glared and thought before coldly saying, “What can you do with these 10 Gold Coins? Do you still want to keep working here, aren’t you afraid…”
“What are you saying?” Old Marlon interjected, “With 10 Gold Coins plus all the money I’ve saved from years of hard work, it’ll be a significant amount. Why would I want to keep working here? Of course, I’m leaving. Hurry up, give me the Gold Coins. I’m in a rush.”
“I…” Oreke was completely at a loss for words.
Oreke stood in the mine, watching Old Marlon leave with a small bundle in a carefree manner, feeling very irritated. Meanwhile, a bunch of miners watched Old Marlon depart, talking amongst themselves.
“I didn’t think Old Marlon would leave; I thought he’d continue working.”
“I thought the same, considering he had been here for so many years, even before I arrived. Just up and leaving without any sentimental attachments.”
“Yes, he was here before I arrived too, even taught me how to mine directly.”
“Old Marlon taught me too, he had been here long before me.”
“It seems he had been working here since the last mine owner’s time.”
“I heard he’s been here since the mine first opened.”
“Hmm?” Oreke was taken aback and turned to look at the miners discussing, feeling something was off. “Old Marlon has been here since the mine opened? How many years would that be!”
“Uh, this…” All the miners suddenly became unclear as well.
Oreke then realized that Old Marlon seemed mysterious. Although just an ordinary miner, not a single person clearly knew how many years he had worked in the mine, how old he was, where he came from, or why he came here to work as a miner.
“This…” Oreke blinked, somewhat curious but then thought again and quickly dismissed thoughts of Old Marlon.
No matter how mysterious, what could it change? He was still just a miner. Gone is gone, as long as there were others to do the work.
“It’s a pity about those ten Gold Coins. Should I send some supervisors to chase after and retrieve them? Never mind, it’s better not to invite trouble. Let’s just endure it, have the remaining miners work harder. It won’t take long to earn them back.”
Thinking this, Oreke turned his head toward the miners and shouted, “Don’t just stand there staring, get to work! Quickly! Remember, with Old Marlon gone, we are short-staffed, but the amount of ore mined per day must not decrease. So, starting today, each of you will work an extra half hour until we recruit new miners!”
The miners were visibly dissatisfied, but a cold look from Oreke made them shrink back collectively. Grumbling, they headed toward the mine walls and earnestly began their tasks, and soon the ‘ding ding dang dang’ sound of mining resumed.
“Ding ding dang dang,” the crisp sounds echoed in a corner of the plain.
On the ground, several white stones were arranged into a strange pattern, and in the middle lay a worn black boot. Old Marlon, with a serious expression, bent over the boot, his hand clutching a bunch of Gold Coins of various designs, his eyes fixed on the boot intently.
Old Marlon’s palm tilted, the Gold Coins immediately flowed toward the boot, emitting a ‘ding ding dang dang’ sound, clearly, the boot now held quite a few coins.
“Ding ding dang dang, ding ding dang dang…”
The sound continued unabated as Old Marlon kept pulling Gold Coins from his small bag and scattering them down, appearing inexhaustible, and the boot seemed bottomless—no matter how many coins he threw in, it never filled.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, an hour…
A full hour passed, and Old Marlon continued throwing Gold Coins into the boot. His face now broke into a sweat, his expression extremely tense.
At this moment, the boot was still far from full, but a faint golden glow shone through, giving Old Marlon a glimpse of hope.
“Ding ding dang dang, ding ding dang dang…” Old Marlon once again scattered a handful of coins, and finally, according to his anticipation, some coins emerged from the mouth of the boot.
“Whew, it’s almost successful, finally going to lift this damn Curse!” Old Marlon’s expression slightly twisted as he reached into his bag again, pulling out the newly acquired ten Gold Coins, his breathing heavy as he scattered them one by one into the boot.
“Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!”
With each coin that fell, Old Marlon’s body shook, and his pupils uncontrollably contracted.
When the seventh coin fell, Old Marlon’s hands trembled, his pupils had shrunk to two tiny dots, and the boot’s mouth was now full of coins, looking like they would spill out any moment.
Old Marlon took a deep breath, and with a release of his hand, the eighth coin fell, emitting a crisp sound. Then, the inside of the boot seemed to be stimulated by something, suddenly emitting a shriek like a madwoman.
As the shrieking sounded, visibly, the boot vibrated violently; all the coins, as if swallowed by some beast, were sucked into the inside of the boot in an instant, vanishing completely. Soon after, the boot rapidly deflated and with a ‘puff,’ a burst of fire ignited, the Flames blood-red.
The blood-red light reflected on Old Marlon’s face, his face, hands, limbs, torso, his entire body rapidly transformed.
In the sound of “click click click,” Old Marlon changed from old age to a younger appearance, finally resembling a man in his thirties.
Looking at his hands, now free from their chrysalis, feeling his skin, now restored to suppleness, Old Marlon closed his eyes, somewhat intoxicated by everything.
Half a moment later, his eyes opened, revealing a somewhat sharp gaze, and he muttered to himself, “Heh, the one who cursed me so maliciously, setting so many harsh conditions, trapping me in this barren place, intending for me to live painfully like a pauper forever, earning Gold Coins without relief.
But… too bad! They underestimated my perseverance, my nature, my ability! They should have just killed me outright to be safe, but now that I’ve escaped the Curse, they’d better beware of my vengeance!
Although, over the years, my level has dropped a lot, my combat effectiveness severely weakened, but give me time to recover, and I will show them my terror.”
Old Marlon, or rather, Mallen straightened up, looking into the distance with a deliberate tone, “White Stone Tower, wait, I will soon make you account for this!”
Having said that, Mallen’s body twisted and, like blue smoke, vanished into the air.
At the spot, the boot, amidst the blood-red Flames, slowly burned down to ashes, which the wind blew away cleanly, as if it had never existed.