Chapter 121

“Yuri Sister, Cobalt is toxic, so please be careful.”

“… Is that so?”

On the morning of the 13th day of spring, one more week has passed since the mining city that was being built in the mountainous area was changed to the construction of Mining Labyrinth City.

As usual, Yuri was in her office at the Yuritania Palace, looking over the reports that came in from various places every day. Just that day, Yuri was informed of this fact by Cuna, the second-in-command of the <Rindou>, who was standing by Yuri’s side as the “love duty”.

Cuna has the class <God Hammer>, which is the highest rank of blacksmiths.

Since Cuna knew more about ores and metals than anyone else in the Yuri Empire, she had asked Cuna to look over the documents for the recent city planning proposal.

“How powerful is toxic?”

“Well… The worst thing you can do is to inhale the dust from the cobalt mining process. This will damage your respiratory system and eventually cause serious damage.”

“… Hmm. Is this something that can be managed with healing magic?”

“That’s no problem. I’m sorry, I overlooked this―――but you are planning to put a [Purification Ward] around the mine. If that’s the case, the dust will be removed immediately, so we may not need to worry too much about it.”

“Yes. That’s good to know.”

If it was too toxic, we would have had to revise the plan itself.

Yuri was relieved to hear that the current plan seemed to be safe for now.

When you think about it, there is no doubt that the proposed plan for the mine should have been discussed at an early stage with Cuna, who has a deep knowledge of minerals.

Yuri now regretted in her heart that she should have acted with a little more thought from the beginning.

“It’s not only the dust but also direct contact with your hands that is bad. It can cause skin irritation. It is not only cobalt that is not good to touch directly, so it might be better to sell gloves for miners at the entrance.”

“I see… Thank you Cuna, that’s very helpful.”

“No, I’m honored to be of service to you, Yuri Sister.”

Cuna says as she stares at Yuri with a straight face.

Kuna is a girl who doesn’t easily show her emotions in her facial expressions, and whether she’s happy or angry, she always keeps a straight face.

However, just like the expression on her face, the tone of her voice that sounds as if it is always calm can have a slight hint of emotion in it. So, if you are very close, you can tell to a certain extent.

Of course―――Yuri can understand Cuna’s emotions without having to check her voice.

Yuri gently put her hand on Cuna’s beautiful blue hair and gently stroked her head.

Cuna didn’t say anything, she just stared straight at Yuri without moving a muscle. But Yuri could tell that Kuna was truly happy about it.

“Yuri Sister, please stop there. If you keep doing that… It makes me want to be spoiled in bed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“… No. It was a pleasure.”

Cuna lifts the teacup and sips it with an expression as if nothing had happened.

I wonder if it is kind of her not to mention that there is no more tea left in the cup.

“Right, Yuri Sister. Could you take a look at this?”

Suddenly, as if remembering something. On Yuri’s office desk, Cuna took out a slightly reddish ore, slightly larger than the palm of her hand.

“… What’s this? It looks like copper ore to me.”

“This is the ore that <Kikyou> captain, Meteora, gave me last night. Copper ore is a little heavier than iron ore, but this ore is much lighter than that, so it’s not copper ore.”

“Hmm. ―――Ahh, that’s true. It’s as light as a pumice stone, isn’t it?”

Yuri was surprised when she held the ore in her hands.

It looks like metal ore, but its weight is so light that it makes you wonder if it’s just a pile of dirt.

I see. It certainly doesn’t look like copper ore.

“It seems to have come from a mine that is currently under construction. Meteora couldn’t tell what kind of ore it was, so she asked me to evaluate it for her.”

“That’s very likely. So what kind of ore was this?”

“It’s a scarlet gold ore.”

“―――!?”

Just as Yuri sipped from her teacup, Yuri suddenly spurted out a little bit of tea.

… It hung it all over Cuna’s face. Yuri hurriedly took a handkerchief from her [Inventory] and wiped her composed face.

“I-I’m sorry, Cuna.”

“No, don’t worry about it, Yuri Sister. If you don’t mind, I’ll be more than happy if you don’t wipe it off. This is what is known as a ‘reward’.”

“Don’t be silly.”

Ignoring Cuna’s words, Yuri wiped the droplets of water clean from her face.

She looked a little disappointed―――And Yuri knows that she was a little disappointed. Yuri had mixed feelings about it.

“This scarlet gold, you mean that scarlet gold, right?”

“Yes, I’m sure it’s the one you’re thinking of, Yuri Sister. It is also used for the throne that is placed in the audience room of this palace.”

“Every time I sit on it, I think that it’s a wasteful use of it…”

“Is that so? I made it, by the way.”

“………”

Yuri almost says the line, “You’re the culprit?”

“Scarlet gold is supposed to be an alloy, right?”

“Yes, Yuri Sister. It’s an alloy made from ‘platinum’, ‘iridium’, ‘cobalt’, ‘meteorite’, ‘mithril’, ‘orichalcum’, and ‘adamantine’. Of course, it can’t be made in an ordinary furnace.”

“I’m sure that’s true…”

Even if you put aside the otherworldly fantasy-like metals. In the first place, when platinum and iridium are included, it’s not something that can be done with an ordinary furnace.

The melting point of platinum is as high as 1768 degrees Celsius, and iridium can reach 2466 degrees Celsius.

However, the iridium that appeared in the game『Atros Online』 was a metal that always emitted a faint phosphorescence, so there is a high possibility that the iridium that Yuri knows is completely different.

“Is it even possible to get an ‘alloy’ from a mine in the first place?”

“It is quite common to find small amounts of each metal. Each metal can contain it in a high percentage. This is the case with so-called ‘natural alloys’.

However, the ratio of each metal in a natural alloy is often not consistent, but the scarlet gold ores I received from Meteora were all completely consistent in the ratio of each metal contained.

It’s not surprising, since the seven metals used to make scarlet gold will never mix unless the proportions are strictly controlled.”

“………”

When Cuna explained, Yuri just closed her mouth.

It is a very difficult alloy to produce, and only a level 200 <God Hammer> can produce it, which means that even in the Yuri Empire, only Cuna can produce it.

That’s how it’s produced naturally… 

What the hell is going on with the mines in the other world?

“How did this happen…?

“……? Are Yuri Sister sure that didn’t do this on purpose?”

“Eh?”

“In the document, I have just read, the “City Building Plan”, it says that the gods Kanayama-Hiko and Kanayama-Hime used the “Hammer of Heavenly Light” and the “Shomakyo Mirror”.

“Yes, and…?

“I can’t say for sure without looking into it. Perhaps because scarlet gold was used in both gods’ bodies, strange things like ‘scarlet gold ore’ were naturally produced in the mines?”

“………!!”

Speaking of which―――sure enough, Firefly said it too.

If you have any mineral resources that you want to increase, you should use something made from that material as your ‘sacred object’ to summon Kanayama-Hiko or Kanayama-Hime.

In other words, the reason why the mines began to produce ‘scarlet gold ore’ is that Yuri used “Hammer of Heavenly Light” and “Shomakyo Mirror” made of scarlet gold・・・as a sacred object.

“That’s good, Yuri Sister. If we can get it in alloy form from the beginning, that means we can get seven different metals if you separate them.”

I’m sure there’s no other mine in the world that can produce mithril, orichalcum, and adamantine at the same time.”

“Aha, ahaha…”

Once Yuri realized that this was all due to her thoughtlessness, she could only grieve.

It might be a good thing for the country to get a very valuable mine.

It was an event that would be deeply etched in Yuri’s mind as one that she would regret very much.