There was a small figure who caught my attention and I panicked. It was Amber, who was clinging tightly to my shoulder.
'Is this by any chance...'
Normally, Michael would have just left the place, holding me in his arms.
However, the ground, which had been subject to strong gravity for hundreds of years, was now very weak.
Crunch! Crunch!
The ground began to crumble. It was only a matter of seconds before our feet were empty.
"OMG."
I took a deep breath. Losing my support base, I felt my body sink back into me.
It was because there was a strong gravity. If things continued like this, the two of us would be sucked into an underground abyss.
“Your Highness the Princess!”
"Commander!"
The cries of the Knights of Punishment are already ringing in my head.
It was heard from far above. We were already falling at an abnormal speed.
Shhhh!
The sharp sound of the wind rang in my ears. A creepy sensation of falling came over my whole body.
Michael immediately cast a levitation spell.
There is a limit to the buoyancy that physical wings can create, but the buoyancy created by magic is
It can increase in proportion to the magic power. And Michael had mana left over.
Soon we began to slow down and then stopped completely.
“Michael, look over there. There’s a cave.”
Now that there was ground to stand on again, the weakened gravity returned to effect.
My body, which had been heavy and burdensome as if carrying a load, became comfortable again.
“Your Highness! Can you hear me, Your Highness? Please answer!”
“Your Highness! Commander! Are you alright?!”
A cry of sorrow was heard from a distant land. I decided to deliver the news first.
“Her Highness the Princess is safe! She will be up soon, so please wait!”
It was around the time when the Knights Templar who had heard the news began to feel relieved.
Michael realized that he was left empty and hurried to find me.
In the meantime, I had entered the cave and was illuminating the wall with my magic lantern.
“Your Highness, no, Eve. It’s dangerous to go too deep. You never know when you might collapse because of gravity.”
As I said, the cave is not an ordinary rock.
It was made of a black, shiny ore. Michael tried to name the black gems that immediately came to mind.
“Is it obsidian?”
“Well, it’s opaque like obsidian, but it doesn’t have the same shiny feel as glass.”
“Then is it some kind of low-quality obsidian?”
In addition to the stamina sausage, the magic shellac, and the purple fir, it is also used as a specialty.
I was delighted at the thought of discovering a resource, but I was concerned that it would be a low-priced product that would not even cover distribution costs.
“Please lend me a night ray. I’ll take a sample and ask Count Luciard tomorrow.”
Since neither of us knew much about minerals, we decided to seek help from an expert.
But for some reason, the black mineral was not fragmented by the night ray. Michael opened his mouth with a slightly empty tone.
“In this land, not only trees but even stones make fun of good swords.”
“That’s right. The World Tree and this stone, how come they don’t even work on swords made of black gold and mithril?”
As we live, there are many cases where words spoken without much thought lead to enlightenment.
At that moment, Michael's mind was also filled with rain.
A similar thought seemed to have occurred to him.
“Eve, is this mineral..."
“I think maybe that’s right..."
Michael immediately raised his arm holding the Night Ray to its full height and struck without mercy.
I hit the wall. Only the recoil went up my arm, but the cave wall was intact.
The physical strength of the metal is honest. This clearly proves the identity of the mineral.
“Oh my God. This is black gold.”
Black gold, commonly known as 'adamantite', was considered one of the three rare metals along with orichalcum and mithril.
Because of its great strength and mana capacity, it is used as a material for famous swords or magical alchemy engineering.
The demand was great. Its monetary value was comparable to that of rechargeable magic stones.
“You’ve discovered a tremendous treasure.”
“Yeah. I don’t know for sure, but if I had just this one thing, I could become one of the richest men in the empire.”
“What are you going to do about this?”
“I have to hide it for now.”
The land beyond the gray wall is currently abandoned, without a proper name, let alone an owner.
It was an unexplored area. If the existence of the black gold mine is revealed now, the imperial family will take over the land of the dragon.
They will designate it as a royal decree and attempt to absorb the black gold mine into the national treasury.
I will achieve great things and gain Desmond II's favor, but this is not what I wanted.
The black gold mine is different from the magic mine. The magic mine is used to expand the financial capacity of the imperial family.
The imperial monopoly on price control was beneficial to the empire as a whole.
However, taking away resources while neglecting Dandelion is not right.
Isn't this an act that is too unscrupulous for the royal family?
It might have been a case of seeing things through one's eyes, but I was steadfast.
Precious resources should be used to develop the region's economy and improve the quality of life of its residents.
It was then that Michael muttered softly, lost in his own thoughts.
“Is it a dowry..."
“Huh? What did you say?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The conversation ended there. I reached out to Michael.
“Everyone must be worried. Let’s go back quickly.”
But in reality, it was to save physical strength.
If you leave a crack, Brigitte will tour the granite quarry and find a black gold mine.
To take action, we sneak out of Dandelion at night and seek out the quarry.
“It feels like we’re having a secret meeting just the two of us.”
“Yeah. Are you excited?”
Under the warm moonlight, the lovers exchanged playful smiles.
We decided to go on a date after we finished work.
“The black gold mine is exposed in the middle of a cliff, so it’s not feasible to just collapse it and hide the entrance.”
“It would be better to fill in the crack itself and hide it.”
“Yeah. For safety’s sake, we need to get rid of these big cracks. The problem is how to fill them.”
“It would be difficult to find dirt or gravel to cover it with, so what if we melted the ground with powerful fire magic and then hardened it?”
“Wow, then there won’t be a trace left.
“Let’s do that.”
The idea of melting rocks into lava was discussed and decided quite easily.
Michael instructed me to use levitation magic to escape to the upper reaches of the sky, as the ground would boil over from the intense heat, which would be dangerous.
“Take care, Michael.”
“It’s okay since I have the Aegis and the Warmth Magic Stone you gave me.”
“Then I’ll be watching from above.”
I drew on my mana and ascended into the sky.
The butterfly golem, who loves to flap its wings in a futile attempt to keep itself alive, has been hunkered down for a while now. Something is not right.
'Is this by any chance...'
I, who had thought of the possibility, returned to the group.
I cast a spell. It was a real-life gardening book I had written for siblings Stephania and Derek.
It was a reversal of magic.
The response was immediate. The members of the Punishment Knights were amazed at how much lighter their bodies had become.
“It is much more comfortable, Your Highness.”
“How did you do it?”
I explained kindly.
“I relieved the gravity on your bodies.”
“Gravity?”
“It seems that the gravity of the area has become stronger due to the power of the sealing stone. When binding existing things, the basic rule is to apply strong gravity to prevent them from flying.”
"Aha..."
At that time, Amber gave a crucial hint to solve the problem.
It flew up from my shoulder as if it was a God, but then it fell down as if it was diving down.
I safely caught the falling Amber with both palms, fluttering like a flower petal.
Flap flap...
Amber flapped her wings slowly while lying on my palm. It meant that she was okay.
In fact, it was absurd for an individual to nullify the sealing stone in the first place. Even the current level of relaxation is enormous.
I then continued to encounter falling rocks.
I also explained about the stone mountain that was being lifted.
“The deeper you go into the center of the seal, the stronger the gravity becomes. The constant erosion is also clearly due to gravity.”
“It’s dangerous, so you’d better not approach.”
“Yeah. If we go any deeper, it might activate a sleep spell. Let’s go back.”
But life usually doesn't go as planned.
Ddudduk
The ground under my group began to vibrate.
"Hmm?"
"What?"
The rumbling of the ground was only a brief prelude. The real thing happened the next moment.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Suddenly, cracks appeared in the ground and began to split. At the center of it all was my group.
"Your Highness!"
Michael quickly flew towards me. Anyone else would know and dodge, but not I, with my hopeless reflexes and motor skills.
I cast a spell. It was a real-life gardening book I had written for siblings Stephania and Derek.
It was a reversal of magic.
The response was immediate. The members of the Punishment Knights were amazed at how much lighter their bodies had become.
“It is much more comfortable, Your Highness.”
“How did you do it?”
I explained kindly.
“I relieved the gravity on your bodies.”
“Gravity?”
“It seems that the gravity of the area has become stronger due to the power of the sealing stone. When binding existing things, the basic rule is to apply strong gravity to prevent them from flying.”
"Aha..."
At that time, Amber gave a crucial hint to solve the problem.
It flew up from my shoulder as if it was a God, but then it fell down as if it was diving down.
I safely caught the falling Amber with both palms, fluttering like a flower petal.
“Sorry. My gravity-altering spell is based on standing on the ground, and it's beyond me to apply it to the air.”
Amber flapped her wings slowly while lying on my palm. It meant that she was okay.
In fact, it was absurd for an individual to nullify the sealing stone in the first place. Even the current level of relaxation is enormous.
I then continued to encounter falling rocks.
I also explained about the stone mountain that was being lifted.
“The deeper you go into the center of the seal, the stronger the gravity becomes. The constant erosion is also clearly due to gravity.”
“It’s dangerous, so you’d better not approach.”
“Yeah. If we go any deeper, it might activate a sleep spell. Let’s go back.”
But life usually doesn't go as planned.
Ddudduk
The ground under my group began to vibrate.
"Hmm?"
"What?"
The rumbling of the ground was only a brief prelude. The real thing happened the next moment.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Suddenly, cracks appeared in the ground and began to split. At the center of it all was my group.
"Your Highness!"
Michael quickly flew towards me. Anyone else would know and dodge, but not I, with my hopeless reflexes and motor skills.
Normally, Michael would have just left the place, holding me in his arms.
However, the ground, which had been subject to strong gravity for hundreds of years, was now very weak.
Crunch! Crunch!
The ground began to crumble. It was only a matter of seconds before our feet were empty.
"OMG."
I took a deep breath. Losing my support base, I felt my body sink back into me.
It was because there was a strong gravity. If things continued like this, the two of us would be sucked into an underground abyss.
“Your Highness the Princess!”
"Commander!"
The cries of the Knights of Punishment are already ringing in my head.
It was heard from far above. We were already falling at an abnormal speed.
Shhhh!
The sharp sound of the wind rang in my ears. A creepy sensation of falling came over my whole body.
Michael immediately cast a levitation spell.
There is a limit to the buoyancy that physical wings can create, but the buoyancy created by magic is
It can increase in proportion to the magic power. And Michael had mana left over.
Soon we began to slow down and then stopped completely.
It was when I lifted my head from Michael's arms with a sigh of relief. There was something in my vision that caught my eye.
Even so, I needed a place to step back and catch my breath, and bam.
My body, which had been heavy and burdensome as if carrying a load, became comfortable again.
“Your Highness! Can you hear me, Your Highness? Please answer!”
“Your Highness! Commander! Are you alright?!”
A cry of sorrow was heard from a distant land. I decided to deliver the news first.
“Her Highness the Princess is safe! She will be up soon, so please wait!”
It was around the time when the Knights Templar who had heard the news began to feel relieved.
Michael realized that he was left empty and hurried to find me.
In the meantime, I had entered the cave and was illuminating the wall with my magic lantern.
“Your Highness, no, Eve. It’s dangerous to go too deep. You never know when you might collapse because of gravity.”
“Yeah, wait a minute, these are cave walls.”
It was made of a black, shiny ore. Michael tried to name the black gems that immediately came to mind.
“Is it obsidian?”
“Well, it’s opaque like obsidian, but it doesn’t have the same shiny feel as glass.”
“Then is it some kind of low-quality obsidian?”
“Oh, no, we can't, we need minerals that make money.”
I was delighted at the thought of discovering a resource, but I was concerned that it would be a low-priced product that would not even cover distribution costs.
“Please lend me a night ray. I’ll take a sample and ask Count Luciard tomorrow.”
Since neither of us knew much about minerals, we decided to seek help from an expert.
But for some reason, the black mineral was not fragmented by the night ray. Michael opened his mouth with a slightly empty tone.
“In this land, not only trees but even stones make fun of good swords.”
“That’s right. The World Tree and this stone, how come they don’t even work on swords made of black gold and mithril?”
As we live, there are many cases where words spoken without much thought lead to enlightenment.
At that moment, Michael's mind was also filled with rain.
A similar thought seemed to have occurred to him.
“Eve, is this mineral..."
“I think maybe that’s right..."
Michael immediately raised his arm holding the Night Ray to its full height and struck without mercy.
I hit the wall. Only the recoil went up my arm, but the cave wall was intact.
The physical strength of the metal is honest. This clearly proves the identity of the mineral.
“Oh my God. This is black gold.”
Black gold, commonly known as 'adamantite', was considered one of the three rare metals along with orichalcum and mithril.
Because of its great strength and mana capacity, it is used as a material for famous swords or magical alchemy engineering.
The demand was great. Its monetary value was comparable to that of rechargeable magic stones.
“You’ve discovered a tremendous treasure.”
“Yeah. I don’t know for sure, but if I had just this one thing, I could become one of the richest men in the empire.”
“What are you going to do about this?”
“I have to hide it for now.”
The land beyond the gray wall is currently abandoned, without a proper name, let alone an owner.
It was an unexplored area. If the existence of the black gold mine is revealed now, the imperial family will take over the land of the dragon.
They will designate it as a royal decree and attempt to absorb the black gold mine into the national treasury.
I will achieve great things and gain Desmond II's favor, but this is not what I wanted.
The black gold mine is different from the magic mine. The magic mine is used to expand the financial capacity of the imperial family.
The imperial monopoly on price control was beneficial to the empire as a whole.
However, taking away resources while neglecting Dandelion is not right.
Isn't this an act that is too unscrupulous for the royal family?
It might have been a case of seeing things through one's eyes, but I was steadfast.
“After the Demon Dragon is slain, the Black Gold Mine will be given to the lord who was granted the land.”
It was then that Michael muttered softly, lost in his own thoughts.
“Is it a dowry..."
“Huh? What did you say?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
The conversation ended there. I reached out to Michael.
“Everyone must be worried. Let’s go back quickly.”
With no harvest to brag about, I continued my search. By afternoon, I was lucky enough to find a sealstone nearby.
It wasn't a broken sealstone, but it would serve as a baseline for finding others in the future.
I returned to Dandelion early with the group. The idea was that tomorrow the gate would open and we would join Brigitte and Derek, and from then on we would proceed with the search in earnest.
If you leave a crack, Brigitte will tour the granite quarry and find a black gold mine.
Leaving the crack open risked Brigitte exploring the granite quarry and discovering a black gold mine. I couldn't see a valuable resource that could be used to develop the local economy becoming a source of money for my half-sister's visa.
“It feels like we’re having a secret meeting just the two of us.”
“Yeah. Are you excited?”
Under the warm moonlight, the lovers exchanged playful smiles.
We decided to go on a date after we finished work.
“The black gold mine is exposed in the middle of a cliff, so it’s not feasible to just collapse it and hide the entrance.”
“It would be better to fill in the crack itself and hide it.”
“Yeah. For safety’s sake, we need to get rid of these big cracks. The problem is how to fill them.”
“It would be difficult to find dirt or gravel to cover it with, so what if we melted the ground with powerful fire magic and then hardened it?”
“Wow, then there won’t be a trace left.
“Let’s do that.”
The idea of melting rocks into lava was discussed and decided quite easily.
Michael instructed me to use levitation magic to escape to the upper reaches of the sky, as the ground would boil over from the intense heat, which would be dangerous.
“Take care, Michael.”
“It’s okay since I have the Aegis and the Warmth Magic Stone you gave me.”
I felt proud of my newfound wealth. After all, equipment is everything. It's perfect to have good skills and good equipment.
I drew on my mana and ascended into the sky.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment