Proofread By Thomas F
Orok Uram
I wiped the blood off my Axe and looked around.
"This section seemed bigger than even the first one," I said as I looked around. There are huge crystals everywhere; I could feel the dense power from them.
"It is." Replied Mr. Sands.
"The crystals are purer, with a good percentage of them being Grade V," added Hasid as he appeared beside me.
Whenever we found the monsters, we found the crystals.
Though by far this one seemed the biggest one, bigger than the first one, in which Lord Silver fought.
"Have you sent the message?" I asked Hasid. "Yes, they will be arriving in fifteen," he replied. I nodded and sat down in one of the flat crystals.
My people are looking around for any threat. I don't think there will be, since Mr. Sands had already looked.
Still, I had told my men to remain alert; it didn't hurt to be cautious.
Fifteen minutes passed, and a large group of people came in. These are the people from baronies. They are experts in harvesting monster parts.
Shardmaws are not useful monsters to be tamed; they are too violent and territorial. Due to earth shards across their bodies, they couldn't be ridden without a specialised saddle.
On the other hand, their bodies are pretty useful from skin to bones; everything sells well.
I watched them carefully load the bodies and take them away. I am glad, because the smell is not very good. After they left, Hasid had even used magic to clear out the rest of the smell.
Bless him!
Two and a half hours after the bodies disappeared, a new group appeared.
"General!" I saluted as she strode into the mine. "At ease," she replied. She is not alone; beside her is Lord Hardt and an old, bearded human man.
Mage Aldridge, or rather Chief Aldridge. Head of Education and the academy.
He is another person who always comes whenever we deal with the monsters here.
Hasid told me that there seemed to be more than we are seeing here, or they wouldn't have called here a scholar mage every time we deal with monsters.
If there is, they did not inform us.
…
General Azalia
I watched Mage Aldridge move from wall to wall, casting countless spells while talking with students.
"Do you think we will find something concrete this time?" asked Jon. "I don't know," I replied, shaking my head. It is one of the things that stressed me and made me curious.
We have found a few things that led us to believe this time is far from normal.
Since we found it, we have been slowly digging it up. We increased our effort after we found the second nest, and with it mine.
Lord Hardt had been the happiest man since then and spent considerable resources digging through.
More mines mean more jobs and a bigger economy. The man seemed obsessed with it, but his efforts were giving him headaches as the army had to deal with and arrange security.
"I hope there is something this time," said Lord Hardt.
Since he came, the man had barely been able to keep himself in one place. He had heard the news that he had been dreaming about it day and night.
The fifth of this site is Grade V, and given the size of the section, that is a lot. Seeing this section is bigger than the ones we had found until now.
"Many had regretted those words, Lord Hardt," teased Jon, and joyful expressions on the man's face disappeared instantly.
One of the places one does not wish to find is a dungeon, the nasty ones particularly. They can be painful to deal with, and some could wipe out the cities if not contained.
"Let's hope it's not," he replied.
I hope it is as well; a dangerous dungeon means another powerful thing to deal with, and we already have too many things already, and more will be coming in the future.
It took another hour and a half before Mage Aldridge finished and came toward us.
"So?" asked Lord Hardt as the man stopped in front of us.
He didn't answer Lord Hardt's question. Instead, the man's staff lit up, and a moment later, an energy sphere covered us.
Seeing that, I felt Lord Hardt activate his privacy skill, and Jon added his.
"My theory was right. Someone had laid out a complex enchantment here. That had closed the large route that used to be present here thousands of years ago."
"They have filled so naturally that unless someone is looking at it intentionally, they would not see the signs," replied the man, looking excited.
Immediately making the mood sombre.
"So, it is not a theory anymore?" I asked. "No," he replied, with a big smile.
On the other hand, my mood turned sombre. I was hoping it would be just a theory, but seeing how sure he is, it's no longer one.
"Who could have done this? What could be hiding at the end?" asked Lord Hardt, the most important question that everyone is thinking.
"I have no idea," replied the old man. It made me want to curse, but I controlled my emotions.
"Not even a little?" I asked. It would help if we had even a barest hint. So, we would be better prepared to deal with whatever might come out of it.
The man just stayed silent.
Nobody spoke until we noticed movement at the entrance, and soon an armored man appeared, leading a group of men.
He is an officer from Nakar's army, before we swallowed it.
"General," he greeted.
"Colonel Olin, take charge of the section," I ordered. Colonel Orok and his men did the job of dealing with monsters. Now, it's time for others to take over.
I cannot have elite soldiers guarding the mine.
Olin and his men will be here along with specialised mages, who will scan every inch for danger.
Once we make sure there is no further danger or that we have dealt with all of it, we will reduce the presence and give the green light for mining.
Hardt will want it as soon as possible. Grade IV crystals are profitable, and there are even Grade V crystals.
He will want to start mining them as soon as possible.
An hour passed, and I finished everything and walked out of the section. On the side of the entrance, my beasts were waiting, which I mounted with others.
"Now that we have confirmed it. What do you think Lord Silver would do?" asked Lord Hardt.
The confirmation had changed things. Earlier, we were digging, but the main purpose was to find more crystals than anything else, as this is our most profitable mine.
Also, the one that employs the most people.
But now we know more, and that changes things. We could leave it; whatever it is, it has been silent for a long time and will remain as such as long as we don't disturb it.
But if there is something good, we will be missing out.
"Well, that is for Lord Silver to decide," I replied. My job is to follow orders; I will do it. Besides, I know whatever order comes, it will come with a reason.
…
Damon Hardt
"Well, it's not going to be an easy decision for Lord Silver to make," said Scala, after I had described what we had discovered in the mine.
"Whatever the decision he makes will affect Panar a lot," I replied. I didn't want this result, especially not when things are going well in the city.
All the mines that had been active before the undead came had been opened, with a lot of people working in them.
They were my top priorities, and it had become a necessity after the population increased rapidly in the past few months, reaching eighty thousand.
I believe it won't take more than six months to increase it to a hundred thousand. With the current speed, it's rising.
The city has enough jobs, and I am working hard on housing. Most of the houses in the city have been repaired and occupied. We are working on new housing.
I don't want my city to suffer like Greltheaven and house people in tents.
I will not let that happen in my city.
"Any update on the mine group?" I asked. "The usual," replied Scala, and I sighed.
It had been weeks since those mine specialists left to look at the old mines. There are more mines; we have only opened those that were active before the undead took over the city.
There are mines in the city's jurisdiction that have been active since the empire took over.
Some are even older than that.
Currently, we have more than enough mines to provide employment to a large number of people. The discovery of a new section will help even more, but I am also looking for other mines.
I will not fix them immediately, as it is not feasible given our budget, but I want them assessed.
So, when the need arises, I could start working on them. However, it would take a while, even years. The current mines have enough capacity to handle things, even if the population doubled.
"My father had called, he informed me, that he would be bringing Jolson Rossaliv with him to Inam," informed Scala, bringing me out of my thoughts.
We are going to Inam in a few days to attend the inauguration.
"What are the chances that he will shift here?" I asked. I do not mean Greltheaven, but Panar.
"Dad has said it's pretty good. They have spent a huge amount of money on him, and he failed. He owes them a lot," she replied, and I smiled.
Merchant houses are investing in nobles and financing their armies so that they can retake their territories.
Rossaliv had failed, wasting the large sums House Beldan had invested in him.
"It would be good. We need nobles," I replied. These bastards are irritating, and most of the time, especially those like Ross, but their usefulness couldn't be denied.
Nobles are magnets, even the useless ones; their presence attracts people, useful people.
They also affect the quality of the classes people in the city receive, though mostly depend on the lord of the city; other nobles affect it too.
It is the main reason the quality of classes in the dominion has improved significantly over the past few years.
It is due to Lord Silver, who has a really powerful class. There is also a bunch of other Lv. 40 and nobles. Not to mention Velvet Garden.
It's the main reason is that the whores are getting better classes.
The dominion is developing a reputation for brothels, especially Greltheaven. The classes are the reason, as are the strict standards the brothels have to operate under.
Many brothel owners have complained to me about it.
It is the thing I did not touch.
That is the domain of Velvet Garden. They exert a lot of influence in it, and I would be an idiot if I dared to meddle in their affairs. I stay as far away from their lane as possible.
I know the power they possess in the dominion, and while I am still developing mine.
It's nothing compared to what they have.
It isn't just whores that are getting better classes, but also the service industry, like restaurants. Hospitality, like spas, and merchant classes.
All due to the influence of Velvet Garden.
"The new information has changed things. Will we still be bringing Varina with us?" she asked.
When we came to Greltheaven, we did not bring our children due to the dangers. They remained with the house until half a year ago, when I became Lord of Panar.
I had to leave my business.
I already stepped away from it after becoming Chief of Trade, but Scala was handling it, and that was no longer possible. We had trusted, capable people to handle things, but that was not enough.
So, I brought my oldest.
The main reason is not just the business, but to show my commitment and trust in the dominion.
I was aware of what people were saying behind my back. I did not deserve the position when I didn't trust the Dominion enough to keep my children safe.
He is doing well, learning fast.
Still, two of the youngest were with the house, but we have decided to bring our youngest back with us, not in Greltheaven, but here with us in Panar.
She is fourteen, the only one year below fifteen. She had yet to receive her class.
With her pedigree and the training from the house, she would have gotten a good merchant class, but now that's not enough when the noble class is an option.
We are now considered nobles, which means she is and could get that class.
It would be hard for her to get Lady; we are not hereditary nobles, or in this position for long, or at high enough levels, but even getting a class close to it would be more than enough.
She could advance it to a lady.
Even if she didn't, it would still be a powerful enough class that would give her an immense advantage over others.
"Yes, we have to take the risk, and you know, how that girl is. We already told her we will bring her with us. If we didn't, she would come to us on her own," I replied.
She laughed at that.
"Good. I miss my children!" said Scala. I miss them too. It is the thing I am most looking forward to, more than the legacy.