Chapter 554 - Fourth Episode: Exploration of the Regnentes Mine (2)
According to the Wolf leader, the beastmen's exploration results didn't reveal the existence of the wall.
"From what I heard, even if you slash it with a sword or thrust it with a spear, it won't take a single scratch, and it'll even deflect magic. We tried to see if we could dig it out with earth magic while proceeding, but we don't know. The silver vein itself is something we're not good with, but since Prince Sawelyn took over management, the mining itself is left to the dwarves. Since those dwarves don't know about it, it's unmanageable."
The dwarves should be at the mining sites. Since they must be digging all over, they would know if there was a wall. In other words, it's not in the depths. But, perhaps the place we're searching is fundamentally different.
"The wall must have been made in a much older era."
Recent mining sites are irrelevant.
"An older era? Just when was it?"
The Wolf leader asked. Because of the Vow of Silence, we haven't told the Regnentes side, including the beastmen.
"Um, because of the Vow of Silence, I couldn't say until now. I think it was three thousand years ago."
"Th-three thousand years ago?"
Humans first found a silver mine in Primordia three thousand years ago. Until then, elves had monopolized them in the Northeastern Forest.
"The mine here isn't that old."
That's true. However, the Gnome said it's a place the beastmen can't find. In other words, it's a place the beastmen dislike entering.
"Which means, it's a place that's become a completely abandoned mine."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Yeah, the oldest place, right? The place where they were doing open-pit mining. Now we're digging tunnels, as you can see. In other words, we have to go outside once."
If we go outside, the delinquent prince might say something.
"Is there something like a cave entrance in the open-pit mining ruins?"
He asked after all.
"There was a shrine."
"That's it. Let's go there by ourselves once."
"To that place? There's nothing there."
"I don't care, I'll enter inside with the scouts. Guide us to near there."
"If that's fine with you."
"Good, Harold, Godwynn, come with me."
"Ha!"
The talk was being finalized, but Price-sama called for a wait.
"Those going for the first time won't know the entrance. Please take Jeanne with you. It should be fine if you blindfold her. If necessary, a Vow of Silence."
In the end, I ended up going too.
In addition to the Vow of Silence, I was taken while blindfolded to a place that looked like the site of a landslide. To be precise, there's a slope with a cliff or rather a rock face exposed at the top, but beneath that slope, soil has accumulated and shrubs and grass are growing. It's a mysterious terrain.
"This is the shrine."
What the Wolf leader pointed to was just a stone hut rather than a shrine. There's no entrance or window to enter, just a hole, so the inside is completely visible from the outside. Well, it could be used for shelter from the rain. The floor is also made of stone. However, perhaps it has some meaning, as the stone in the middle is a rectangle with the area of about an altar.
Harold-sama and Godwynn-sama investigated that stone, but both shook their heads. There doesn't seem to be anything like a secret passage.
"How is it, Jeanne? Do you understand anything?"
Harold-sama says so as if he feels sorry for me. No wonder. There's really nothing.
"Um, normally, there's one altar, and if you move that altar, the entrance should appear and you can go inside, but..."
"An altar... about how big is it?"
I explain it's like this and like that.
"Hmm. If there's a hole beneath this middle stone, it's a size that can be entered. Shall we try peeling off the floor stone and digging?"
The Wolf Man is good at earth magic. We decided to dig with the delinquent prince's permission.
We wait for a while. They peel off the floor stone and dig a vertical hole. Soil comes out more and more. Once a certain amount has accumulated, they make it into a block. They repeated such work, but nothing came out. Only blocks of soil were made.
"Isn't it impossible?"
The Wolf leader gave up.
When I peer into the hole, it's quite deep. According to the Wolf Man, who has good night vision, they dug about two stories' worth. Any more than this is surely unreasonable. It might collapse.
Wait? Hold on a second. A landslide occurred, right?
"Um—, is it okay for a moment?"
"What is it, Bishop Jeanne?"
I asked the Wolf Man, but the delinquent prince replied.
"Did a landslide occur here?"
I have no choice but to continue just like that.
"A landslide? This is the site of open-pit mining on a slope."
What about the open-pit mining?
"They were scraping the soil of the slope to scrape off the silver vein. It didn't collapse, they collapsed it."
He's acting as if to say, What are you saying?, but isn't it the same thing? In short, the soil is collapsing. Don't act so high and mighty. Who do you think you are... ah, a prince.
"In other words, that bedrock continues beneath this soil, right?"
"That would naturally be the case. Though there was likely no silver."
"The cave entrance with the wall was likely opened toward the bedrock, right?"
"Hmm..."
He seems to have noticed. Heh heh heh, he's finally in the mood to listen to people's talk. He should have done that from the start. I'll have him be grateful that I am a patient priest.
"As you likely already understand, the mining of this mine is much later than the era when the cave with the wall was dug. In other words, wasn't the cave dug toward the bedrock from the ground before the landslide occurred?"
"In other words, we just have to move all the soil."
"No, that's a lot of work, so if we dig from the hole we just dug to the ground, and then dig from there toward the bedrock, we might find something."
"How can we tell where the original ground is?"
"I think we'll know if we ask the dwarves. I think they'll do it if we give them a barrel of alcohol."
"Hmm, alcohol. Harold, I'll return it later. Procure a barrel."
"Understood."
Harold-sama spread a Simple Teleportation Magic Circle and teleported away.
"Hey, hey, what are you trying to do by digging in a place where the vein is exhausted?"
The dwarf who was digging silver in the mine arrived. As usual, he's noisy.
For some reason everyone looks at me, so it can't be helped. I explain from the beginning.
"I see. And it's directly beneath this shrine."
"Yes. If there's something that serves as a landmark for the entrance, this is the only thing I can find."
"It feels like that. And, you've been digging directly down from here, right? And you want me to distinguish between the original ground and the soil flowed by open-pit mining."
"Yes. If we dig from the original ground toward the bedrock, we might find the entrance."
"Maybe. It should be fine as long as the soil hasn't been washed away by a landslide or something. Alright, I've received the reward in advance, so I'll do it."
He seemed convinced and readily agreed.
Since it would be dangerous if it collapsed, we moved the whole shrine with Clump Stone. When we made a square area by sticking wooden poles into the four corners of the place where the shrine had been, the work began.
"Wolf! Help me!"
Saying so, they began digging inside the wooden poles more and more.
The dwarf digs, and the Wolf leader solidifies.
As expected of a spirit and a beastman. The work proceeds with a flowing coordination. Once they've dug to a certain extent, they line up blocks to make a wall, and dig further inside that. In that way, something like a vertical shaft of a tunnel was completed.
After a while, it became quiet. When I peered in fearfully, a voice flew up.
"Hey—, I'm going to dig a bit more. Get out of the way, it's dangerous!"
When I hurriedly jumped back, soil flew up again.
While the work proceeded underground, the delinquent prince rode on Harold-sama's bowl and flew toward the cliff. He flew around the rock face for a while, but after returning, he also put Godwynn-sama and me on board.
"Look at that."
He points to a corner of the rock face. A part of the rugged rock is scraped flat. The height and width are about the extent of spreading one's hands fully, almost a square. Since there's a rock protrusion just below, it can't be seen from below, and since it's quite high, no one will climb up.
A single mark is carved on that flat part.
"Do you know what this circle mark means?"
The delinquent prince asked. It's easy. ○ is the sun. In other words, it's the mark that should be carved on the altar here. When I look at the shrine, I can see that the line connecting the circle mark and the shrine is almost perpendicular to the bedrock. In other words, the entrance is at the place where the original ground of this bedrock is.
When I showed it to the dwarf and explained, he winked and patted my shoulder.
In the end, that day ended with that. Although, it's because the dwarf started a drink after lunch and the start in the afternoon was delayed, and also because he said he was hungry and finished in about two hours. Since it was a success reward, it ended up being resumed the next day.
"Is it okay to go inside?"
"Yeah, because I've prevented cave-ins with blocks. But only as far as the place surrounded by blocks!"
When the delinquent prince asked, the dwarf replied. After seeing him off as he teleported away, we decided to go inside together.
Since we have Magic Defense Rings, it's possible to use Light with reduced output even if the Wolf leader is there. We all descended on Harold-sama's bowl.
The walls have blocks piled up without gaps. It's no longer different from stone construction. When I lightly tap the wall with my fist, it makes a dry clack-clack sound. That continues to the bottom. There are two places on the way where the blocks protrude and it becomes narrow. It must be supporting it there. According to the Wolf leader, the depth is about three stories.
When we reached the very bottom, a horizontal hole was extending in the direction of the cliff. When I illuminate it with Light, it's become a stone-built passage. When we enter the door-sized entrance, it becomes wide. The width is for two people, and the height is enough for an adult male to stand and walk. Even Edward-sama wouldn't have to stoop. However, we can't walk with spears held upright.
When we walk just like that, after about ten steps, the blocks disappear and it becomes a hole with the ground exposed. From there on, there's a risk of cave-ins. We stopped there.
The horizontal hole was completed around noon the next day. The hole opened in the bedrock was also found safely. At first glance, it's just a cave. The walls and ceiling are also rugged rock faces, and only the ground has had soil piled on it to some extent, making it flat. It doesn't seem to be straight, so we can't see ahead. Until now, no monsters had appeared until the first altar. After seeing off the dwarf who had finished his role and thanking him, we went inside and began the exploration.
The first is the Wolf Man, the second is Godwynn-sama, the third is me, and the fourth is the delinquent prince. The last is Harold-sama. The Wolf Man is wearing a Magic Defense Ring. I released three Fireflies, let one drift above my head, and gave one each to Godwynn-sama and Harold-sama to have them illuminate our feet.
"The altar is ahead of here, right?"
Harold-sama asked.
"If this is the right place, it should be there."
A ○ representing the sun was carved. No mistake.
While we were proceeding just like that, the Wolf leader stopped and raised his hand. Everyone stops all at once.
Godwynn-sama, the second, drew the sword on his back. It's the new silver sword he obtained.
The Wolf leader's right hand moves. It's a hand signal. Even such coordination is already established.
"Something seems to be there. Behind that rock protrusion."
There's a sharp rock protrusion on the right wall. Since it seems to turn right beyond that, I don't know what it's like.
I once extinguish the Fireflies and chant Sense Living in a small voice. There was a monster reaction. I remember this reaction.
"There are centipedes. Four of them. Two beyond the protrusion. There's also one on the ceiling a bit further away."
Centipedes are free no matter how many you defeat.
"Please roll this behind the rock. I'll drive them away by increasing the output. Wolf-san, close your eyes."
I release one Firefly and hand it to Godwynn-sama.
As expected of a scout, Godwynn-sama skillfully rolled it beyond the protrusion. When I increased the output, the sound of rustling moved away.
Why are they here even though the entrance was completely buried? There shouldn't be any food. Centipedes are cannibalistic, but even that should have a limit.
"No, there's another exit somewhere else here."
It's the Wolf leader.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, I can tell by the smell."
It's what a beastman says. There's no doubt.
"What was the structure near the entrance of the places where there were altars until now?"
Harold-sama asked.
"Um, they were connected to churches or shrines."
I think the one we moved was that.
"Which means, when they buried the place we entered with soil, there's a possibility they made another entrance somewhere else. It might be connected to there."
"Then, there's a possibility monsters are wandering around inside."
Harold-sama is asking Godwynn-sama.
"Shall we withdraw once and call for reinforcements?"
"That's right. Let's explore a bit more, and once we've made a base inside, let's return once."
I glance at the delinquent prince. The prince is acting as if he doesn't know. Surely, unless we go back and forth with Teleport, the cautious prince won't be convinced. There's no doubt the conversation between the two was with that in mind.
Since we don't know what will come out, I ended up proceeding with Sense Living on. The lights were lanterns, held by Harold-sama and Godwynn-sama.
Basically, it's a single path. There's no way to get lost. When we proceeded with peace of mind, in less than half an hour, we came to a junction. However, one is clearly a side hole.
The standard would be to split into an exploration group and a standby group. Or, we could consider withdrawing here. The explorations I've participated in until now were mostly like that. However, the delinquent prince's choice was for everyone to explore the side hole.
"Won't we be attacked from behind?"
"Harold is at the very end. Don't worry about every single thing."
Yes, yes. I'm sorry for saying something unnecessary.