Episode 1292. Fabian and Crea in the Perdom Mine
thought they had been tricked by the guards of Adria Kingdom.
I was told to take the middle road, but there were four roads, so I had no choice but to do so.
As the two huffed and puffed, Luna Mylus approached the fourth road on the right.
“I don’t think the guard lied. This fourth road has only recently been created. The guards of the Adria Kingdom may not have known about the new road.”
Fabian looked back and forth between the fourth road and the saintess with surprised eyes.
He couldn’t figure out what the saintess was looking at and saying such things.
“Is that true?”
Looking at Fabian with a dubious face, Luna Mylus pointed to the boundary stones on the left and right sides of the road and said,
“The stones on the floor are covered in dust and look old, but the boundary stones are clean. There is no weathering, not even a trace of moss. The border stone color is also slightly different. If you compare it with the boundary stones of other roads, you will be able to find out.”
At that word, people took a close look at the boundary stones of all the roads.
Indeed, as the saintess said, only the boundary stone on the rightmost road was different.
There was no doubt that a fourth road had recently been made.
Excluding the newly opened fourth road, the path to go became clear.
Tynelock and Fabian took the lead again.
Second, the road in the center was narrow unlike before.
Of course, even so, it was wider than a normal mountain road.
There were still paving stones on the floor.
It must mean that the mine is working hard to manage the mountain road.
After climbing the mountain path for about an hour, the guard post appeared again.
A flag was hung at the guard post indicating their affiliation.
Tynlock and Fabian stopped and waited for the group to gather.
Seeing the flag hanging on the guard post, Crea said.
“It’s the pattern of the Shade royal family.”
Elio and his party, who had passed through the Shade Kingdom, looked at the guard post with new eyes.
An exclamation escaped from Fabian’s mouth.
“Yah! All the places that are easy to develop are occupied by the southern kingdoms, right? At this level, even if the empire started to develop mines in earnest, I don’t think it would be able to catch up, so why did you increase the work?”
Then Clara answered.
“Isn’t it because you don’t know which mine the artifacts from the Age of Magic will come from? Right now, you’re more interested in excavating artifacts from the Magic Age than mining mana stones.”
“Isn’t it a bit too greedy to monopolize the artifacts from the Dark Ages in the Southern Kingdom?”
Fabian, a native of the Northern Kingdom, did not like the behavior of the Southern Kingdom.
“But in fact, we have to admit that the development of Mount Petra was done by the southern kingdoms. Of course, it’s to mine mana stones… But in the process, I made a lot of sacrifices. That’s why the emperor didn’t want to put a spoon on it.”
Still, from the southern kingdom, Crea defended the southern kingdom.
It must have been uncomfortable seeing unidentified strangers hesitating in front of the guard post.
The guards came out of the post and approached Elio’s group.
One of them, who seemed to be the leader, spoke high-handedly.
“This is a mining area managed by the Shade Kingdom. Submit your Abyss entry permit and tell me what brought you here.”
As before, Crea held out her hand to Fabian.
“Brother’s permit.”
Fabian was annoyed by the guard’s behavior, but held back and handed over the permit.
Crea struggled to get a permit with a bright face and handed it over to the guards.
“We are going to the Valley of Skulls.”
Since she did not know the physiology of the Abyss, she replied openly.
There was also such a thing because there was no problem when passing through the mines of the Adria Kingdom.
If she had a lot of experience in the Abyss, she would have targeted a suitable mine area near the peak of Mount Petra.
The lower part of the mountain, which is easy to access, is being developed by the Southern Kingdom, but the upper part of the mountain is under the jurisdiction of the Mercenary Guild.
But Skull Valley is different.
It is a gateway to unexplored lands, so even the southern kingdoms are reluctant to go there.
However, it became a problem that eight people who were poorly armed would go there.
The head of the security team sneered at me without even checking the permit.
“her! You’re going to go to the Valley of Skulls with just that many? I guess that was an excuse and you climbed the mountain for a different purpose?”
“Any other purpose?”
“Why do eight people go to the Valley of Skulls? Surely you’re not doing this to enter an unexplored land without a magic gun, right?”
The head of the guard looked at the woman with a laughable expression.
Very, very rarely, there are times when a small number of people go to unexplored lands.
But in that case, they were armed with ten magic guns.
It was crazy to think that eight people like them would go to an unexplored land with basic weapons.
It was only then that Crea realized that the guards reacted sensitively to the Valley of Skulls.
But now that I’ve said it, I can’t go around other places.
“that’s right. We are going to the frontier.”
“…”
The head of the guard hesitated at the unexpected answer.
I tried to refute that it was nonsense, but the woman’s expression is quite serious for that?
It’s not like that though.
When the head guard was about to open his mouth, Crea pointed to the permit.
The head of security first opened the permit to find out what kind of people they were.
‘Count Omar of Larva? Count Elio Lagoa? Baron Fabian Cloud? Baron Howard Solon?’
Upon seeing the title of count, the head of the guard’s face hardened.
Knights and would-be knights fear great nobles.
This is because in order to receive the title of count, one must at least become a sword expert.
The head of the guard, who looked at the name and title once more, squinted.
Some of the names written before the title are not unfamiliar to me.
‘Count of Larva Omar, Count of Elio Lagoa, Count of Fabian Cloud…’ The
head of the guard, who was pondering over the familiar name, raised his head.
“Ho, by any chance… are you knights from the north?”
As the Shade Kingdom faces the border with the Principality of Topla, it is quick and sensitive to news from the Empire.
Thanks to this, unlike the guards of Adria Kingdom, he immediately recognized Elio’s identity.
“is it so. Count Omar, Count Lagoa, and Baron Cloud are from the North. why? Is there any problem?”
Then the head of the guard gave back the permit and bowed his head.
“doesn’t exist. I hope you have a comfortable trip.”
The head of the guard, who was thinking about what to add after ‘comfortable’, hurriedly concluded with ‘travel’.
It’s because the group of Grand Masters who saved the North couldn’t have come to mine in the mines.
Elio’s party passed the guard post and continued to climb up.
About 30 minutes later, another guard post came out.
Fortunately, the guard post didn’t ask for a permit.
I checked at the beginning of the Shade Kingdom management area, so it seemed like they were just letting me go.
Luna Mylus, who was quietly climbing the mountain path, suddenly spoke.
“I think a steel golem was excavated in the mines of the Shade Kingdom.”
“Really?”
“The interval between the posts is shorter than that of the Kingdom of Adria, and even the guards at the outer posts on the mountain roads have magic guns.”
“Ah…”
A belated exclamation escaped from Elio’s mouth.
Come to think of it, the guards at the post just past were armed with magic guns.
No matter how copied the magic gun is, it is too much armament for a distant post.
Indeed, as she said, after about 30 minutes of climbing, the guard post came out again.
The guards there also carried replica magic guns on their shoulders.
The strange gazes of the guards did not separate from Luna Mylus and Crea.
Some even made dirty jokes and giggled.
It all happened because they didn’t know the identity of Elio’s party.
Since this happened not once or twice, Elio and the others didn’t care.
After passing the third checkpoint, the road widened and a wide plain appeared.
Seeing that the bottom was a deep ocher color, it seemed that the mountain had not been cut for a while.
At the end of it was a cave similar in size to the mines of the Adria Kingdom.
However, all the letters engraved on the rocks above the cave were ‘Perdom’.
The mine looked like a village with dozens of wooden buildings built on flat ground.
This was also different from the mines of the Adria Kingdom.
A high wooden fence stood in the way between the mining town and the mountain road leading up.
Of course, there is a guard post built on top of the wooden fence.
Fabian, who was lightly looking around the Ferdom Mine, stuck out his tongue.
“wow! The mines of the kingdom of Adria are incomparable? I think there are over a hundred guards.”
Baron Howard Solon quickly added a word.
“Even all of them are armed with magic guns. The atmosphere is bloody.”
“Even if it was a replica magic gun, the production cost would have been quite high. Did you make a lot of money without knowing the Empire or the Northern Kingdom?”
“Even if the mana stone mine continues to work, the income will be enormous.”
The northern knight, Fabian, and the imperial knight, Baron Howard Solon, were quite surprised by the rich finances of the southern kingdom.
“I thought the southern kingdoms were only trying to stop the empire from advancing into the Abyss because of the steel golem… but that doesn’t seem to be the only thing.”
“Iknow, right. The income from manastone mines appears to be much higher than the Empire predicted. That’s why you must have copied so many magic guns, right?”
Fabian, who had been spouting exclamations of exclamation, spoke to Count Larva Omar.
“Sir Omar, there was a reason why the southern kingdoms did not actively seek help from the northern kingdoms. Isn’t the northern kingdom a beggar compared to the southern kingdom? See it. In the southern kingdoms, dogs and cattle all carry magic guns.”
Count Omar of Larva also did not hide his surprise.
“Because it’s happening inside the Great Forest, the Northern Kingdom was too indifferent. I didn’t even think that the southern kingdom would be armed to this extent.”
Even though it is said that it is a clone, if it is a huge number of magic guns and steel golems, it is worth going to war with the empire.
Fabian said in an indignant tone.
“I only felt sorry for the knights and soldiers of the Northern Kingdom who died protecting the ice wall. Half of them would have survived if the southern kingdoms had provided magic guns.”
This time, Crea too – not defending the southern kingdom – kept her mouth shut.
It was because, if no one else knew, Fabian had the right to say that.
At that time, Elio opened his mouth with a sullen face.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did the northern kingdom entrust the southern kingdom with a magic gun? The southern kingdom also shed blood to develop the Abyss. Do you know what that magic gun fell from the sky? It’s all the southern kingdom’s hard work. I have nothing to blame anyone for not helping me.”
“Still… I get angry when I think of the men who died in Hirhera.”
“Tsk tsk! He only knows one, but he doesn’t know the other. If the Magic Gun had been supported at that time, the Northern Kingdom would be fighting the Imperial Army now, right? There must be far more soldiers who died in the war against the Empire than those who died in Hirhera.”
“It can’t be. Isn’t Lord Lagoa in the North? If Lord Lagoa comes forward, the Imperial Army will be at least one knife…”
“Don’t get me wrong, Fabian. Why do you think I would kill the Imperials? Have you already forgotten the purpose of my coming to this world?”
In front of Elio’s determined gaze, Fabian turned his head quietly. I took advantage of the atmosphere and secretly scooped it, but as expected, the seeds were not eaten.