Natasha continued her explanation.
“The exploration golem reacts delicately to mana, but it takes quite a while for this reaction to occur. One hour. We will move the position at intervals and measure.”
“Hmm, okay.”
The range covered by the exploration golem was roughly 50 meters, so it only moved that far.
The search was only about 1 kilometer a day, even though I worked tirelessly. The Zelkatos canyon was 40 kilometers long, which was a staggering speed.
“And many demons are living at the bottom of the valley. We have to subdue them as well, so it will actually take more time.”
During the continuous stream of negative reports, some people were unable to properly manage their facial expressions.
“Hehehe, this is really impossible.”
“Why are you happy, Count Sanchez?”
“Huh! Oh, no, Your Highness!”
Natasha, who had been watching quietly, frowned at Hosen. From the first impression, she had felt that he was the kind of people who would only get in the way rather than help.
Natasha swallowed a sigh and turned her head back to Eve. The Princess, still a young girl, seemed unable to sense Hosen's malice.
She was busy looking at the map.
Natasha pointed to a spot on the map with her index finger to indicate her current location: the eastern start of the canyon.
“It’s a shame that I don’t know the exact location, other than that it’s in the Zelkatos Canyon. I’m so sorry. In bad cases, it can take well over a month.”
“Hmm, let’s proceed step by step. Especially on the day you subdue the demons, don’t overdo it.”
Even when told that she would have to leave the palace for a month, Eve responded calmly. Natasha was impressed by her leisure.
'Are you saying that it's okay to give up all the social seasons that can lay the foundation for power?"
It's a bit sad to justify the exploitation of homunculus, but since that's what the royal family is like, she didn't have any high expectations about that part.
'People can't be perfect.'
But in fact, I knew the exact location where the magic stone was buried.
'From memory, it was around the quarter east point. It takes about 10 to 15 days. Not a bad period.'
I rolled up the map and handed it back to Natasha.
“I will stop by every day to check. I will report any unusual occurrences without fail.”
As I turned my back to the carriage, Hosen waved both his hands urgently.
“I, I will remain here and watch the scene, Your Highness.”
“Do so.”
I gave my consent lightly. Natasha, reluctantly, kept her mouth shut.
Michael came closer.
“I will take you to the mine, Your Highness.”
"No."
I shook my head.
“Contact Sir Velcram. She’ll be heading to the mine.”
Eve thinks of Cadeline, who must be suffering from Alben right now.
A mischievous smile spread across his face.
Lapis, a village adjacent to the Galamut open-air mine.
Contrary to its beautiful name, this place was a barren village created by reclaiming wasteland.
The entire area around the village, the open-air mines, and even the Zelkatos Canyon were devastated.
The reason is that this area was the final battleground with Galamut. The land, contaminated by the dragon's breath and various attack magics, still needed rest.
The village had no special facilities except for a well in the center. The houses were built close together without any order, so the streets were winding and narrow.
As he walked through the village, Alben was busy with his quill pen.
“Hmm, the house is built on a wall without a foundation, with rags and thatch. They put it together. It’s an architectural style that was only seen in farmhouses 200 years ago.”
“You can’t call this architecture. It’s just poverty.”
Cadeline, who was guiding us through the village, responded sharply. It was hard to resist glorifying the harsh environment.
“Well, yeah, yeah.”
Alben was busy writing his report, so he ignored Cadeline's words.
Before they knew it, the two people's footsteps had reached an open space that was too small to be called a plaza.
In the middle of the empty lot was a fairly wide rectangular stone well. Alben looked around and busily wrote something.
“I guess this is the well that provides drinking water. Do over a thousand homunculus rely on this one well?”
“Yes, there are other water sources, but they are quite far away and were destroyed a few years ago. A strong demon has taken hold there and it is inaccessible. It would be great if only that demon could be dealt with.”
“Hmm, the homunculus here are all of the labor type, not combat type, so it will be difficult to subdue them. Anyway, there is only one water source, that’s what I’m saying. It looks like it’s a lot of work just to provide drinking water.”
“Yes. So when it rains, we collect the rainwater and when there is a severe drought, we solve the problem with tree sap. There are always many thirsty people in the village. How important is water for those who do hard labor..."
“Yes, yes. I see. I understand.”
Alben answered dryly and buried his face in the paper. Cadeline looked at him with disgust.
'Don't you have any sympathy? You heartless official!'
A lot of time has passed while exploring the town. Alben and Cadeline's shadows were quite long.
Ding... Ding...
Just then a huge bell rang, signaling the end of the working hours.
“The homunculus will now return to the village. Dinner will also be served.”
“I guess I should take a look at that too.”
Cadeline and Alben went to the village entrance. A long line of returning homunculus came into view.
Alben discovered something peculiar.
“All their hair is white?”
The homunculus that is in charge of labor in the Magic Mine cannot escape the mana circuit restraints.
This was because using magic inside the Magic Light could cause a major accident, like throwing sparks into oil.
It was a well-known fact that if a homunculus's massive magical power was suppressed for a long time, its hair color would change.
The homunculus of the mining camp, who had never been freed from their shackles since birth, had completely lost pigment from their hair.
“They’ve got hair that’s been washed away like an old man’s, so they won’t be able to run away like that. I’ll catch them right away.”
Cadeline looked angry as she watched Alben speak as if he was interested.
“Look at their expression, not their hair color. Can’t you see that they struggle with hard work?”
“Oh, that’s not a blank expression, it’s a look of struggle. I thought that was because homunculus don’t have expressions to begin with.”
“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s talk.”
Cadeline went to the distribution area, looking at Alben like he was a bug. Then she joined in the work of ladle-fulling the porridge boiled in a large cauldron.
“Thank you, Cadeline..."
The homunculus each greeted each other and received the porridge. Contrary to popular prejudice, the relationship between the supervisor and the worker seemed good.
While Cadeline was busy distributing food, Alben was hovering next to him, looking inside the pot.
“It’s a porridge made of rye.”
“Yes. Rye and oatmeal are donated to the royal family every week. They come unthreshed, so we make porridge out of them. Anyway, here, not only is there no threshing machine, there is no oven, and there is no one to bake bread.”
“Hmm, the taste is surprisingly good. What are you chewing on? Is it beans?”
“Yes. It is not food provided by the imperial family, but it is food provided by Baroness Panelo to check the nutritional status of the homunculus. He's worried, so he sends it to us once a month.”
For those who couldn't eat meat, beans were a valuable source of protein. Cadeline's eyes turned slightly red with gratitude toward his friend.
That was when.
“But what about carrying a pot full of porridge to that building? There must be a lot of people there. Do those who don’t do the labor get rations too?”
He was unnecessarily observant. Cadeline turned serious.
“That’s where patients who need to recover can rest. They have to eat well and rest well before they can go back to work.”
“Hmm, okay.”
Alben took out his quill again. And he didn't just use his hand.
He also took notes with his mouth.
“Rye porridge with beans was also distributed to the homunculus who did not do any labor..."
Cadeline felt so angry that she wanted to immediately pull out the whip from her waist.
'This guy is the Princess's confidant! I want to hit that unlucky guy's back ten times!'
At that moment, Alben looked at the whip as if he felt something. It stung.
Alben told her.
“The whip is cool. Are you going to use it to whip those homunculus?”
“Oh, no! It’s just a symbol of the general manager.”
“A symbol?”
“It’s the same reason why the symbol of a maid is a bundle of keys even now that locking magic has become widespread.”
“Aha, so this is a product of the old days.”
Cadeline explained to eliminate Alben's misunderstanding and prejudice.
“Homunculus are indoctrinated with obedience to the imperial family and work diligently. There is no need to use a whip.”
“You don’t whip, do you? Then what does Sir Velcram usually do?”
“We will look into the work and life of the homunculus and the mined magic stones. Manage storage and shipment. If you fail to meet the mining quota for that month, explain the reason and adjust the mining quota for the next month. We negotiate so that the amount can be adjusted to suit the situation.”
Alben stopped writing and looked at Cadeline.
“I heard that the number of homunculus dying has decreased significantly since Sir Velcram took office as the General Manager. Thanks to that, there was a lot of free labor. Thanks to that effort, the mining of magic stones has increased since last year. Even though you were underperforming, I don’t think you were fired from your position as general manager.”
“…...You know it well, right?”
She had not expected such words of recognition to come out of Alben's mouth. Kadelin felt a little bewildered.
At that moment, another field manager approached Cadeline and reported.
“General Manager Cadeline, I heard that Her Highness the 7th Princess is heading towards the Magic Stone Mine.”
“I guess I should go and see.”
Cadeline impulsively handed the ladle over to Alben.
“Make sure to distribute the food well..”
Cadeline left, hoping that this cold official would show even a little bit of service and sympathy.
Galamut open-air magic mine.
During an aerial battle, the giant dragon Galamut died when fell into the lake. So, the Galamut magic light was born, filling the lake, and the magic stone mining was done by digging underground.
The Galamut mine, which is currently in a state of depletion, is a gigantic mine with a diameter of 1 kilometer and a depth of over 500 meters.
It had the appearance of a round hole.
The deeper the hole goes, the narrower it becomes. It is shaped like an inverted cone.
The magic light reminded me of a whirlpool sucking me into hell.
Maybe it was because I saw it against the backdrop of the red-tinged twilight sky.
I said as she shook my shoulders slightly as if I was afraid.
“It feels like I’m watching the end of the world.”
“How romantic. To see the end of the world with the Princess.”
Today, too, my heart leaped slightly because of Michael's surprise attack.
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