"Is everyone here? Then let's set off. Whatever needs to be discussed can be done on the road." Mr. Laine sat atop his tall steed, Pinecone, and seeing that everyone had arrived, he signaled to start the journey, saying that other matters could wait until later.
The secret silver vein of Hadrian's is some distance from the city center of Marinburg, 15 kilometers, which might not be much in the Celestial Dynasty of his previous life, but in this world, it took about two hours to reach.
Two hours was enough to explain everything.
Today, Hadrian was still dressed in very luxurious attire, only swapping his gilded boots for leather ones because of their excursion into the wild: "Mr. Laine, this is Mr. Weasley, he is a director of my commerce association and the person responsible for this secret silver vein. Let him explain the situation to you."
"Hello! Mr. Laine, I'm Weasley." A middle-aged man with fiery red hair rode up from behind and began to explain the situation of the mine: "Last June, we purchased this secret silver vein from the Gentleman's Alliance Commerce Association. Viscount Adelbert Casanova, the president of the Gentleman's Alliance Commerce Association, sold this vein to us at a cheap price."
"Since it's so cheap, there must be a reason. Didn't you think it over seriously at that time?" Estelle abruptly interjected. A half-elf naturally holds a weaker position compared to a high elf, but he automatically stands half a head taller in the presence of humans.
"That's what I want to ask too." Laine, walking alongside Alfred, also felt curious.
"Ah, it's a trick within a trick." Hadrian said worriedly: "Viscount Casanova told us that there was a problem with this secret silver vein, with quite a few demons residing within it. And at that time, he had many other matters on hand needing manpower, without the energy to organize patrols or mine guards. So he sold the vein to us cheaply. He didn't seem to be lying, and after several inspections, everything seemed fine, so I bought the vein."
Weasley then picked up the thread of conversation: "After the president bought the vein, we did organize a large number of patrols and guards, but found nothing besides a few mice and bats, nothing else was discovered within the vein."
"Seeing that the demons had already been purged, we arranged for miners to begin extracting the vein. At first, everything went smoothly. For the first two months, apart from a miner's operational mistake resulting in death by falling rocks, there were no other casualties in the mine."
"But that was just the beginning. Over the following months, accidents and deaths started occurring frequently among the miners. Most of these casualties resulted from careless operations by the miners. Simultaneously, many miners reported hearing a kind of low and murky sound echoing by their ears."
"We reorganized mercenaries and guards to enter the mine, but it was the same old story; apart from some small animals, nothing was found." At this point, even Weasley felt helpless: "Initially, we thought the miners were deliberately slacking off, so the commerce association replaced two batches of miners successively, but the situation remained the same."
At this point, both Laine and Estelle turned serious. Aside from a powerful mind element wizard, only a terrifying chaos creature could drive people to mental collapse without them realizing it.
No wizard would stay in such a deep mine to conduct experiments.
"So, did you invite any priests to check for corruption? Is there a powerful chaos creature lingering?" Alfred asked, today's paladin once more clad in full plate armor, making many people feel sympathetic towards the panting horse beneath him.
"We did invite one. We invited a priest from the Life Church to inspect the mine, but the priest told us that while the chaos corruption in the mine was indeed stronger than on the surface, generally speaking, it wasn't a big problem." Hadrian said with distress: "So we are at our wits' end, which is why we've asked Mr. Laine for help."
"I see. I understand." Laine also found it peculiar. Not a wizard? Not chaos?
Two hours later, the group arrived at their destination. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NoveIＦire.net
There wasn't the imagined massive mine entrance, just a small stone-built house. Only after entering the house could the group see the deep and bottomless mine tunnel below.
It was early January now, and the weather remained very cold. Even miners wouldn't work underground during this season. The mine was currently shut down, and inside the small house, a few workers from the commerce association were gathered around a large iron pot, eating stew and drinking beer, enjoying themselves.
Upon seeing President Hadrian enter, the workers stood up in fright: "President!"
"Eating so well, huh?" Hadrian didn't mind the workers' actions as they were only tasked with guarding the mine entrance. Since no work was going on in the mine, they didn't need to be too nervous: "Any new developments?"
"No! President, we've been staying near the entrance the entire time, and even at night we take turns on duty, yet we've felt nothing unusual!" The workers replied hastily, while Hadrian's group noticed that even while eating, one fully armed guard remained on post.
"Is that so?" The group discussed among themselves, realizing it was futile to continue the conversation. Laine suggested that some things could only be discovered by going down to take a look.
"I'm not strong enough, Mr. Laine. I may not be able to accompany you down the mine." Hadrian was quite sincere about this: "I will wait for you above, Weasley will go down with you."
"Alright." Laine knew that a big merchant like him wouldn't risk his life for such matters. His strength was indeed lacking, so not accompanying them down the mine was expected.
Weasley called upon another guard familiar with the mine's layout to accompany them down. With candles lit, the group ventured into the dark depths of the mine, leaving Hadrian on the surface. The Southern Realm's wealthy merchant watched Laine and his party disappear into the dark staircase, his eyes gleaming.
He never told Laine that after a few months of mining, he had already recouped half of his costs. If Laine failed, it didn't matter, at least this legendary powerhouse would owe him a big favor.
If Laine succeeded, all the better, for the two had already established a stable cooperative relationship.
He wouldn't lose in any scenario.
Some things are hard to buy with money, such as the friendship of a human hero, a legendary knight.
"Mr. Laine, we have arrived at Mine No.1." Led by the guide and Weasley, the group reached Mine No.1, which was currently being exploited, a few hundred meters below the surface.
This secret silver vein had a total of three mines, with Mine No.1 being the most stable and the deepest. Contrary to Laine's expectations, the vein was very spacious. Stalactites hung from the high rock ceiling, and cold water dripped from their tips, forming huge ice columns below, drops turning to ice.
The paths were wide and the ground was slippery, to facilitate the transport of ore, and the Luigi Commerce Association had laid tracks in the mine. Clad in full plate armor, Alfred exclaimed: "It's huge!"
The paladin's voice echoed in the dark and deep mine, stirring many creatures within the darkness into flight. The sound of wings flapping was heard from the rock ceiling, but in the darkness, the weak candle light couldn't reveal what they were.
Laine frowned, wishing he had a caster in the team, as a Level 0 Trick Light Technique would solve this problem. The spell he simulated through his spiritual energy couldn't move far from his body.
Fortunately, Estelle was there. The half-elf immediately noticed something amiss upon looking up: "Vampire bats! Vampire bats are coming at us!"
"Prepare for battle!"