Episode 98. assurance
The vitality of the Monne coal mine was half dead.
First of all, the chaos in the territory on a summer’s day was largely due to the miners putting down their pickaxes. By the time I came down to the village to protect my family and find food, it was already winter.
Work was easier in the winter than in the summer, but due to Gula’s rationing, the warehouses were full, so there was no reason to return.
‘The profits from coal are not that big, and the more you mine, the less resources you will have, so you can keep it and use it when the time is right.’
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
Perhaps because it was night, the carriage ran rough. The hawk sitting quietly next to Ian lifted its head and tilted its head. She looks like she doesn’t know why she has to ride this.
“sorry. But I can’t follow you and I can’t communicate with you. “I’ll go to the coal mine and send you there.”
It was clear that if I flew from the mansion first, I would miss it without being able to chase after it. The pocket watch already showed one hour since departure. I think it’s time to arrive… … .
Squeak.
“Ian. From here the road is so rough that the wheels are dangerous. “You have to walk up.”
“is it? “I understand.”
As Ian’s carriage stopped, the soldiers following him also stopped and got off their horses. While everyone was preparing their lanterns, Ian sent his warrior falcon flying into the sky.
“Come on, let’s hurry. “You just have to follow the hawk.”
“Go into the forest! Follow me!”
“Gather around the lantern and walk!”
I don’t know what all the fuss is about on a moonlit night. Fortunately, there were no clouds in the sky, so it was not completely pitch black. Ian rode up the road that existed only in form with his soldiers.
“Is that a coal mine over there?”
“That’s right. “I think we’re all there.”
“Oh, there!”
Hwii profit!
Inyoung, who was standing at the entrance to the coal mine, stretched out her hand and whistled. Then the hawk that was swimming in the sky landed lightly and spread her wings.
“Ian. “Are you here?”
“What about Beric?”
Ian looked around and found Beric first. There were no other warriors in sight. I wondered if it was an urgent situation, but the expression on the warrior’s face that came out to meet him was nothing more or less than ‘absurd’.
“They’re hitting hard from the inside, but… … .”
“Hit me? what? “An article?”
“I don’t know either. “You’ll know when you see it.”
As soon as I entered the entrance, I could feel the air quality drastically changing. Ian covered his lower body with his sleeve and followed the warrior.
“Have you ever been here? “It’s my first time.”
“I only heard about it from reports, but this is my first time going inside.”
I was surprised that the tunnel was wider than I expected. The ceiling seems to have been well drilled and high compared to mines of similar size. There seemed to be no problem with workers coming and going.
“But why are you doing that inside? It would be dangerous if even heat was applied. “Looking at Beric’s fierce spirit, I’m worried that the ceiling of the coal mine might collapse.”
The warrior laughed heartily at Ian’s playful question. As the sound of laughter echoed through the coal mine, the soldiers who followed breathed a sigh of relief. This is because entering a coal mine at night was quite a scary thing. I was relieved that at least I wouldn’t have to die.
As the cold winter wind reached a point where it was completely imperceptible, the warrior pointed to one side with his finger.
“Here we go.”
The entrance is narrow enough to be called a hole. Perhaps it was a crack created when the wall collapsed, but it did not appear to be a normal passage.
Quang! bang!
Cheaeng!
“haha… … .”
“Berrick. Stop and come out. “I’ll try it.”
“Oh really! “What is this?”
“Come out and see? “It seems like you have more energy to put in and take out.”
A voice came from inside. It was a conversation between a warrior accompanying Beric.
The light is so dim that it almost seems like it will go out. They probably got all the way here with just an emergency lantern.
“Berrick.”
“ah! “Ian!”
Cheaeng!
Beric was hitting something with his sword. When the soldier holding the lantern next to him tried to walk ahead, Ian grabbed his arm and pulled him.
“Ian?”
“Give the lantern to me and the warrior, then you guys go back and guard the entrance to the mine.”
If you go a little further, isn’t there Beric? Just in case, it was right to send the soldiers back. Even if the situation arises, it won’t be of much help.
“yes? Ah, I understand.”
Judging from his voice, it didn’t seem like a dangerous situation, but it was true that the command was sudden. However, the air was not very good and the smell was pungent, so the soldiers did not want to leave quickly.
“Hey, let’s go back out from the back!”
“get out? really?”
“It’s an order! “Hurry up, move!”
The soldiers went back the way they came, and Ian went deeper with the warrior.
Thump thump.
Ian felt his heart racing. It was not a physical reaction due to tension, but a kind of external stimulation felt from strong magical energy.
‘Nonsense. Why is this energy here… … .’
Cheaeng! visor!
“Ah-oh! Siiva!”
“The sword will break. Beric.”
“oh? “Ian!”
What Beric was swinging his sword at was something purple that glowed translucently. Judging from the bubbles inside, it appears to be liquid, but the sword couldn’t make a single scratch on it.
“Ian. “What is this?”
“You think I know everything.”
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“So, you don’t know?”
“know.”
Did you say it was Pulu? The lower body of the leader of the Three Knights of Merelov was half-eaten inside. Since there were no stab wounds, it was clear that the cause of death was the strange ‘ore’.
“It looks like a type of magic stone.”
Does Beric not feel the energy of magic? Ian lifted the lantern and looked at his complexion, but he couldn’t tell whether his reddish cheeks were because he was swinging a sword or not.
“Magic stone?”
“Isn’t there a brooch you used at Bratz some time ago? Similarly, it refers to ore that has special abilities in response to magical power.”
“But this is not a rock. “There are air bubbles inside.”
“Not everything is what you see. “You’ll have to cut it open to see the details, but it’s definitely a magic stone.”
There are many types of magic stones. Starting with the sealing stone that sealed Emperor Ian’s power, something that allows voice recording or location tracking, something that creates an extra space to act as a backpack, something that expands the wavelength of magical power by carrying it, etc. Just as the end of magic was unknown, the same was true for magic stones.
“How did the knight end up like that?”
Ian motioned for them to stop and step back. He must have struck his magic stone until the sword’s edge fell off. Beric answered, wiping off his sweat.
“I came here while chasing, well. The hawk is definitely good at finding its prey. “The trail broke off in the middle, so I wondered if he had hidden here, and of course he did.”
“Were you still alive when you found it?”
“huh. “At first I thought he was going to faint, but he died quickly.”
“You don’t even know how you got caught.”
“If you look down there, there are traces of something spilling. “It probably was liquid, but hardened due to some stimulus.”
As Beric crouched down and muttered, Ian grabbed him by the back of his neck. And he lightly squeezed the honey chestnuts and woke them up.
Sigh!
“Ahh!”
“Don’t pretend to be sick. “What would have happened if everyone had been eaten like that guy without any fear?”
“no way. “Is it that hard?”
“It could suddenly melt and hit you, or it could keep coming out somewhere. Tsk tsk. Anyway… … .”
When Ian glanced around, the warriors awkwardly avoided eye contact. I don’t know how their personalities are so similar.
Simple and fearless!
“You will report to Nersarn.”
“Ah, Ian. We definitely wanted to go back. Beric, how can it be that that guy gets stuck and doesn’t even move?”
Beric rubbed his forehead and frowned.
“But, if that’s a magic stone, it’s very expensive, right?”
“You can’t put a price on it.”
“If it keeps coming out, this place will be a big hit?”
“We need to investigate… … .”
Ian’s reply became blurred. The help of the Ministry of Magic was essential to investigate the extent and probability of the magic stone being buried.
In other words, only the Ministry of Magic can guess where the magic stone is buried.
“Ian?”
Ian felt as if he had been punched in the back of the head as he looked at the magic stone with the knight’s body embedded in it.
“… okay. no wonder.”
“what? “What’s wrong?”
“Go back to the mansion right away. Close the mine. “Don’t let anyone in, just hammer a nail into the entrance.”
“What about the body?”
“I can’t do it now. “I’ll just go back.”
Ian turned around as if telling him to hurry, and Beric, who was crouching down, looked at Ian and the knight’s body in turn, looking confused. But he soon blazed the path for Ian with his warriors.
“Are you suddenly scared of me?”
“Isn’t one of Prince Gale’s key figures the Minister of Magic, Wesley? Somehow, somehow! “I thought they were focusing on this one among the many changes, but somehow!”
Crack, crackle!
It was clear they knew.
No, they targeted the Bratz territory because they saw some possibility, if not certainty. Since I guessed that there was a magic stone buried nearby, I couldn’t have missed it.
‘So it all makes sense.’
There were no conditions so perfect for them. The military force that had been building up due to the barbarians on the border, the intervention of the imperial palace for peace, and Derga’s tax evasion. Plus, there is a magic stone buried nearby!
I could understand why he went to such great lengths to save Molin. Since the value of Bratz was so great, Moline, who was in charge of it, was also a horse that could not be lost.
“Go back to the mansion! “Shut this place down immediately, and some of you should stay behind and report the matter to the miners nearby.”
Ian shouted as he left the tunnel. Away from the village, there was a temporary settlement not far away where only miners lived.
The guards, who had been talking in groups of threes and threes, were startled and returned to their places.
“yes. All right!”
“I know it’s difficult because it’s dark, but please go quickly.”
“Oh, yes. Come on, get on.”
The quiet forest suddenly became noisy. The lantern light that had been gathered together scattered here and there, and Ian touched his forehead as his thoughts became more complicated. Beric, who was sitting across from him, looked back at him secretly.
“Did you hit it like that?”
“what?”
“The one that was cut with a knife.”
“… done. But didn’t you feel the magical power? “I was immediately impressed when I walked in.”
“huh? no. “I was fine.”
Even though he was a magic swordsman, he was essentially a warrior anyway. Besides, there were still some immature parts, so I think that might be the case.
Sigh.
I ran as far as I came and arrived at the mansion again. Hannah, who had not been sleeping, greeted Ian, took her jacket and asked.
“Are you going to the bathroom? “Romandro is still in the office, but he continued to sleep after eating soup.”
“no. “I’m going underground.”
“Underground?”
It was indeed a step I had taken for a long time. Ian took the basement stairs without hesitation, and soon stood in front of the prison at the end of the hallway.
“Open.”
Sweet.
A prison with no windows and always lit by a lantern. Mac and D’Gor, who were sleeping, suddenly woke up at the sudden appearance of popularity. Molly was sitting on the sofa reading a book.
“W-what’s going on?”
Confusion spread across Mac’s face. The reason they were left alive until now was because Ian couldn’t make a decision. About what to do with Moline and the group.
“Sir Molin. “A letter has arrived from the imperial palace.”
“Don’t touch the teacher!” this guy!”
“It was about Lord Molin’s disposition.”
Ian stared at him and lied. The old man’s whitish eyes seemed to glow particularly gray.
“okay. “What did you say?”
“He told me to get organized because I have to go up to the center soon.”
Molly calmly touched the book. She seemed to be thinking about something. As for how to know a person’s inner thoughts, Ian was somehow able to read his facial expression.
‘No way.’
That attitude that says I can’t believe it.
Ian was sure.
Moline knows the identity of the magic stone.
fantasy,
