174-158 Preparation for exploration (1)

An abandoned mine?

Yeah. Deep in the northwest woods.

Stop!

After returning from the forest, we were going to ask Diora about the abandoned mine after exchanging the magic stone, but the moment she mentioned the location, Diora interrupted Haruka with a rather strong tone.

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think it's a good idea.

"Gentlemen, over here for a moment.

We were taken to another room by a rather stiff-faced Diora.

It is said that this room is used for requests that are not to be heard, but this was our first time to use it.

There was a table with about ten chairs around it, and it was dimly lit with no windows.

Ms. Diora turned on the light and sat down on a chair at the back of the room and invited us to sit down.

Please have a seat.

"Oh, is it really a problem?

Yes, it's a little bit.

Diora smiled at my words as if she was slightly troubled.

It's an open secret among the old-timers of this town, but it's a bit of an ugly story for the nobility. ......

Diora told me that the cave was definitely an abandoned mine.

The problem, however, was how it came to be so.

Normally, the owner of a mine is the lord who governs the land, but he is required to report the amount of metal mined and the amount of ore mined to the government.

Failure to do so is severely punished in terms of taxes and restrictions on exports to other countries, but the Viscounts, the lords of this region, hid the mine.

However, as long as it was hidden, they could not dispatch workers on a large scale.

So what to do?

The alternative was to use criminals.

They sent criminals to do the mining.

In the beginning, they were able to get by with that, but in the field of mining, and in a situation where they couldn't even get proper engineers, the rate of wear and tear was high, and they gradually ran out of manpower.

As a result, people began to treat minor crimes, or even crimes that could not be called crimes, as serious crimes in order to secure manpower.

Fortunately, however, this did not last long.

The lord and his son, who had gone to inspect the mine, did not return.

Since the project was conducted in secrecy, only a few people knew where they had gone missing, and those who did kept their mouths shut because of the circumstances, but after they had been missing for more than a month, an investigation team from the government arrived and exposed the truth.

But the extraordinary crackdown on crime came to an end, and the younger brother of the lord who had become an official in the capital took over as viscount.

...... So you're saying that the mine is the abandoned mine we found?

That's the most likely scenario. Were there any undead?

Yes, there were.

The reason why that place is not currently being developed as a mine is because it is a stain that the Viscount family would like to forget, there are undead in the area, and the amount of mining is not expected to be that high.

On the other hand, if the reserves were large, the amount of manpower required and the amount of shipments would be too large to be deceptive, and the profits would be greatly increased.

But it's gone that far. ....... The amount of demons has increased and it has become inaccessible. ......

Are you sure it's a bad idea to go in there?

No, it's an uncontrolled area, so there's no problem. Even if Haruka and the others dig without permission, they won't be able to complain. But I think it would be better if they didn't, because digging is dangerous.

That's true, if amateurs get their hands on it, there's a chance it will collapse. By the way, what can be mined there?

Rumor has it that it's mithril.

"Mithril?

Diora's words echoed in our voices.

We leaned forward, but Diora stepped back a little and smiled at us.

You've got a good appetite. You can't blame him for wanting to be an adventurer.

I've already got the steel weapon.

I'd love to have a mithril weapon.

I don't think there are many adventurers in this town who have steel weapons. But that's just a rumor. At least, I don't think there's enough to make an industry out of it.　If they could be harvested in such quantities, the government would have been forced to develop them.

Mithril weapons - or, more accurately, weapons made of alloys containing mithril - are so powerful that they can affect a country's power if they are not used properly.

Because it is such a metal, if a promising mine is found, the government will force the lord of the land to develop it, even if it means lending money.

If you think about it, it's easy to see why the abandoned mine is so important.

So I don't think there's much of an advantage to going in there, do you want to go to ......?

Diora asked me, and we looked at each other.

It's not a bandit's hideout, so you can't expect to find any hidden treasures.

We can't easily mine for ore like in the game, and even if we do, we can't expect to find much of it.

If there are any undead left, you can get magic stones, but their value is not that high, and you can't sell weapons that are drop items.

--What's the point of going into an abandoned mine if it's so dangerous?

I don't recommend it, but if you do, I have a request for you. ......

With that, Diora left the room and returned with a request form.

This way, please.

The request form on the table was browned and quite old.

We all looked at it together.

"Recovering a family heirloom sword?

"Yes. The Viscount I mentioned earlier, Viscount Nenus, has a family sword that has gone missing. It is thought to have been in the possession of the head of the family who went missing in the mines, but for various reasons it has not yet been recovered.

Didn't the Viscount go missing a long time ago?

Yes. It's been several decades. ......

I see. I thought it was a very old request form.

Doesn't the current Viscount himself go to collect them?　He's got a private army, doesn't he?

The current Viscount is the nephew of the Viscount who caused the problem, but both of his predecessors were decent people. ......

It was fortunate that the Viscount's brother, who was working in the capital, was very good and had come to the capital half-heartedly, so it was clear that he was not involved in any wrongdoing.

However, what the former Viscount had done was, if done improperly, a crime of treason.

The former Viscount's actions would be considered treason, and even though he was missing, he would be penalized somewhat, and such a house would not be expected to receive support from other houses, or those with some kind of agenda.

In addition, there is an unusual crackdown on the people, and the territory is in shambles.

In such a situation, there was no room to recover the heirloom sword.

It seems that the plan was to recover the heirloom sword after the territory had been rebuilt to some extent, but by that time another problem had arisen. ......

The other problem was that the demons in the area where they had been cutting down the trees had become stronger, making it more difficult to obtain the trees.

The abandoned mine is located in a deeper place than the area where the wood was cut down, and it is difficult to reach with a weak arm.

Even if he wanted to use his private army to retrieve the wood, unfortunately, the skills of the private army held by the viscount who caused the problem were limited.

Rather, if he was skilled enough to retrieve the sword from the abandoned mine, he would have prioritized making it possible to cut down the famous tree, so the former Viscount, who was a decent nobleman, focused his efforts on that.

As a result, even now that he has been replaced, he has yet to recover the heirlooms.

"It would be possible if we hired skilled adventurers, but the Viscount is the type who would rather develop the territory if he can afford it.

He's a good man, isn't he?

Yes, he is. He's probably a good lord for his people. He's a good lord for his people, though he's a bit underestimated by the other nobles.

So, is this reward worth the effort?

The reward written on the request form is 300 gold coins.

It's an unbelievable reward among the requests you can get from this guild, but it seems a bit low for a reward for entering an abandoned mine and collecting it.

A sword owned by Toya would cost more than 300 gold pieces.

Since it's a family heirloom, it must be valuable in its own right, and considering the danger, the benefit is small.

"Yes. Therefore, you can accept our request if you can collect it. If you think about the possibility of not being able to find it, .......

Diora's words were slurred, and she smiled wryly.

Normally, this type of request would require a thorough search, and if you still can't find it, you don't have to pay a penalty, but it's difficult to search every inch of an abandoned mine, and considering the request fee, it's not worth it at all.

Considering the fact that it had been sitting in salt for decades, it would take a lot of luck to actually find it.

"If it's as light as that, can I try it?

I'm up for it. It's cool in an abandoned mine.

...... I see.

It's going to get hotter and hotter as summer approaches, and it's going to be tougher to work in the forest.

Considering this, it might not be a bad choice to kill the undead in the cool of an abandoned mine, even if it means making a little less money.

If you say so, there's no reason to oppose it.

I agreed with Toya, and Natsuki and the others didn't say anything against it either.

I understand. If I'm lucky, I'll try to find it.

Thank you very much.　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll be able to do it.

It doesn't look good for the Adventurer's Guild to be stuck with unfulfilled requests for decades.

This request was left unanswered because the fee was lower than a reasonable price, but if the request is more than a reasonable price, the guild may send an adventurer to handle it.

I see, so it's cheaper. More than fair price. We're good adventurers for accepting such a request, aren't we? --"By the way, Diora-san, can you help me with something like this?

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

It's the one with the crest on it that has been decided to be kept dead.

I'm afraid to say that at this time. ....... This sword is ...... the emblem of the Viscount Nenus family.

I've been having trouble dealing with it, but I was wondering if the baronial family could purchase it for me?

Yes, it's made of ...... white iron, so the sword itself is still very usable. It will be difficult to get a high price for it, but you might be able to get a store price for a weapon of this level.

Can I ask you to negotiate the store price ......?　To be honest, it's hard to even sell them to the average arms dealer.

For the store price of a white iron sword, you can expect to get about 40 to 50 gold coins.

The three swords I picked up this time would be worth 150 gold coins. That's not bad money.

I'm sure it is. It could be a source of trouble. All right, sir. Leave it to me. In return, I'd like you to collect the sword, if you can, okay?

Got it. It depends on how big the abandoned mine is, but I'll try my best for a while.

The benefits are at least as great as the simple benefits, but it's a request from Diora, who has been a great help to me.

I think we should do our best.

Of course, only to the extent that our safety can be ensured.