In the following week, Laing bought a lot of things for exploration in the mine, including but not limited to tents, dry food, candles, and so on.
For this, Laing went to consult some professionals, and the answers they gave made him dumbfounded.
The expert was a devout believer of Gachary, the God of Mines. The method he taught Ryan was that before entering a new mine, he would tie a prayer note of Gachary to the leg of a sparrow. Then, he would put the sparrow in a cage and carry it on his back. If the sparrow died during the excavation, then the miners would think that they were close to a new vein.
Laing thought that this method didn't sound very useful …
'Speaking of which, I've never heard of a god in the mines.'
Laing also spent money to buy mercury bullets and some magic scrolls.
A week passed quickly in the midst of preparation and investigation.
Early January, Marlin Castle, No. 53 Amber Avenue, night fell.
For the dark elf, this was the twentieth day she had been in this house. After a period of recuperation, Olica's body had recovered, but due to the vicious spells of the high elves and the slave contract, the dark elf's soul was still very weak.
What surprised her was that the human really did not seem to have any thoughts about her. In the past twenty days, he had not asked her to do anything, only letting the maid who had been there before train her.
The dark elf was wearing a black-and-white maid outfit, her waist-length black hair tied up simply with a white ribbon. After the weathering and scars on her face were removed, her astonishing beauty was truly displayed in front of everyone in the house. It was a beauty that was a mixture of wildness and arrogance, especially with her high bosom and slender legs under the maid's skirt. This was a maid outfit she had ordered from Queensberry Tailor, matched with white stockings and black short boots.
What made her feel most ironic was that she had been living the best life ever since she was born as a slave of this human. She had never eaten such good food, nor had she ever worn such good clothes. The Dark Elves were always in a state of material shortage and killing each other, all in order to please the Elven God of War and Murder, Kane.
However, perhaps because she had become a prisoner, she could feel that Cain had abandoned her.
It was snowing outside again. Olica held a broom and stood in the house in a daze, looking at the world outside through the glass window.
"Olica? What are you looking at? What's there to see in the snow? " A male voice sounded behind her. The dark elf subconsciously pretended that she was not doing anything and focused on sweeping the floor.
Laing was asking for a snub, but he did not care. He only continued, "You must be wondering why I never did that to you."
The Dark Elf refused to answer. According to Amelia, she almost never spoke.
"That's because you're outside of my plan. I never planned to buy a dark elf maid." Laing did not care if the dark elf heard him or not. because I've always heard that dark elves' skin as black as ink, and stinky, as if they came from the underground … "
"Stupid … human!" Now, Olica could no longer remain calm. The dark elf looked at Laing with disdain and said, "You know nothing about Duruqi."
Laing, seeing this, laughed. "I'm not afraid of you crying or laughing. I'm just afraid you won't cry or laugh."
He knew that Dark Elves were not dark. Most low-level Dark Elves had pale skin due to the lack of sunlight. Only Dark Elves of higher status had the opportunity to come into contact with sunlight. Olica's skin was not dark at all. Overall, she was still very white. Her skin was a light wheat color, very much like the healthy skin color that the Westerners in Leon's previous world promoted.
This meant that Olica's social class wasn't low. She was most likely a Dark Elf noble. But Ryan had already thought about it. If she wasn't a noble, she wouldn't have had the chance to be captured by the High Elves.
The dark elf realized she had lost her cool, so she stopped talking. Laing ignored her. The geno prototype ate lunch with the three maids. He looked at Emilia, who was washing the dishes, and said, "Emilia? Come up here and let the maids do the dishes. "
"Okay." Emilia wiped her hands and followed Laing to the second floor.
Laing opened the door to the study. He sat behind the desk and gestured for Emilia to sit next to him. The little maid blushed, but she still sat next to him and said, "Mister Laing?"
"Starting tomorrow, I will go to the Luigi Chamber of Commerce to explore the mithril mine. I will find out why so many miners have gone crazy. I will leave the family to you." Laing held Emilia's hand as he spoke.
"Okay." Emilia knew about this. The little maid nodded and said, "Mister Laing, you have to be careful."
"Okay." Laing did not say anything else. The girl in front of him was very smart.
Thus, the next morning, Ryan dressed up neatly. Under the envious gaze of the little maid, Miranda, Ryan gave Amelia a big hug and then left the house alone.
Following the path paved with thick stone slabs, along the Temple University area, the residential area, and all the way to the south gate, the president of the Luigi Chamber of Commerce, Hadrian, the paladin Alfred, and the half-elf ranger Astell had already arrived.
"Everyone is here? Let's go. We can talk on the way. " Ryan rode on his tall horse, Pine Cone. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he signaled for them to set off first and talk about other matters along the way.
Hadrian's Mithril mine was quite a distance away from the city center of Marlinburg. Fifteen kilometers might not be much in the Celestial Empire of his previous life, but in this world, it would take about two hours to get there.
Two hours was enough for everything to be explained.
Hadrian was dressed extravagantly as usual, but because he was going out into the wilderness, he had swapped out his gold-plated boots for leather ones. "Mister Leon, this is Mister Weasley. He's one of the directors of my Chamber of Commerce, as well as the person in charge of this mithril mine. Let him introduce you."
"Hello! Mister Laing, I'm Weasley. " A middle-aged man with fiery red hair rode up from behind and began to introduce the situation of the mine. "In June last year, we bought this mithril mine from the Chamber of Commerce of the Gentlemen Alliance. The president of the Gentlemen Alliance, Viscount Adelbert Casanova, sold it to us at a cheap price."
"Since it was so cheap, there must be a reason. Didn't you think about it at that time?" Astell suddenly interrupted. Half-elves were naturally at a disadvantage when facing high elves, but in front of humans, they were automatically half a head taller.
"That's what I wanted to ask too." Laing and Alfred Frey rode together. He was also curious.
"Sigh, this is a trap within a trap," Hadrian said, distressed. "Viscount Casanova told us that there was something wrong with this mithril mine. There were many monsters in it, and he had many other things on hand that required manpower. He didn't have the energy to organize patrols and mine guards, so he sold it to us at a cheap price. I saw that he didn't seem to be lying, and after inspecting it a few times, I felt that there was no problem, so I bought the mine."
Weasley continued, "After the chairman bought the mine, we did organize a large number of patrols and guards, but we didn't find anything. Apart from exterminating a few rats and bats, we didn't find anything else in the mine."
"Seeing that the monsters had been wiped out, we arranged for the miners to start mining the mine. At first, the work went smoothly. In the first two months, other than a miner who was killed by a falling rock due to an error in his operation, there were no more casualties in the mine."
"But this was the beginning of everything. In the next few months, the miners began to have frequent accidents and casualties, and most of these casualties were caused by the miners' carelessness. At the same time, there were constant reactions from the miners. They could hear a low and muddy sound ringing in their ears."
"We reorganized the mercenaries and guards into the mine, but it was the same. Other than a few small animals, nothing else was found." At this point, Weasley also felt helpless. "At first, we thought that there was something wrong with the miners, and they were deliberately slacking off. So, the company changed two batches of miners, but the situation was the same."
At this point, both Laing and Astell became serious. Other than a powerful psychic wizard, there was only a terrifying chaotic creature that could unknowingly cause people to have a mental breakdown.
No Adept would stay in such a deep pit to conduct experiments.
"Then, have you asked a priest to check the corruption? Are there any powerful chaotic creatures? " Alfreid asked. Today, the Paladin had turned into a full-body plate armor, which made many people sympathize with the panting horse he was sitting on.
"Yes, we did. We invited a priest from the Church of Life to check the mine. But the priest told us that the Chaos corruption in the mine is indeed stronger than on the surface. But overall, there shouldn't be any problems." Hadrian said in distress, "So we really can't do anything, so we asked Mister Laing for help."
"Is that so, I understand." Laing also felt that it was very strange. Not a wizard? Not a chaotic one?
Two hours later, the group arrived at their destination.
There was no huge entrance to the mine as they had imagined, only a small house made of stone. Only after opening the house could they see the bottomless mine tunnel below.
It was now the beginning of January, and the weather was still very cold. At this time of the year, even miners would not work in the mine. Now that the mine was closed, there were a few workers in the small house, eating stew and drinking ale around a big iron pot. They were very happy.
Seeing Hadrian come in, the workers immediately stood up in shock. "Sir!"
"You're eating so well?" Hadrian did not care about the workers' behavior. These people were only responsible for guarding the entrance of the mine. Now that the mine was not open, they did not have to be so nervous. "Is there anything new?"
"Nothing! Sir, we have always been near the entrance, and even at night, we take turns to change shifts. Nothing special! " The workers hurriedly said. At the same time, Hadrian and the others noticed that there was still a fully-armed guard on duty when they were eating.
"Is that so?" They discussed for a while and knew that it was useless to say anything more. Laing said that some things could only be found out when they went down.
"I'm not strong enough, Mr Laing. I think I might not be able to accompany you down the mine." Hadrian was very sincere about this. "I will wait for you up there. Weasley will accompany you."
"Alright." Laing knew that this kind of merchant would not risk his life for such a thing. His strength was very weak, and he would definitely not go down with him.
Weasley called for another guard who was familiar with the terrain of the mine to follow them down. The group lit candles and walked deeper into the pitch-black depths of the mine, leaving only Hadrian on the surface. The rich merchant from the southern kingdom watched as Leon and the others disappeared down the pitch-black stairs, his eyes flashing with a shrewd light.
He had never told Laing that after a few months of mining this mithril vein, he had already recovered half of his investment. If Laing failed, then it was fine. At least this legendary champion would owe him a big favour.
If Laing succeeded, then it would be even better. The two of them would have established a stable partnership.
No matter what, he would not lose out.
Some things could not be bought with money, such as the friendship of a human hero and a legendary knight.
… …
An hour later.
"Mr Laing, we have arrived at the first mine." Under the guidance of the guide and Weasley, the group had arrived at the first mine that was being mined. It was already a few hundred meters away from the surface.
This mithril vein had a total of three mines. The first mine was the most stable and also the deepest. Unlike what Laing had imagined, this mithril vein was very wide. There were sharp stalactites at the top of the high rock layer. Cold water dripped from the top of the stalactites, forming huge icicles. It could be said that drops of water turned into ice.
The road for walking was very wide, and the ground was very slippery. In order to facilitate the transportation of the ore, the Luigi Chamber of Commerce had laid tracks in the mine. Clad in full plate armor, Alfred Frey exclaimed, "It's so big!"
The paladin's voice echoed in the dark depths of the mine, startling many creatures in the dark. The sound of flapping wings could be heard from the top of the rock layer. However, due to the darkness, the candles in their hands were not strong enough to see what it was.
Laing frowned. He thought to himself that it would be better if there was a spellcaster in the team. The level-0 cantrip Illuminate could solve this problem. He could not cast spells too far away from his body.
There was also Astaire. The half-elf looked up and immediately found something wrong. "It's a vampire bat! The vampire bat is coming towards us! "
"Prepare for battle!"
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