Chapter 172: Are you from Castell?

"Enough! If you want to join us in the inner mines to find the legendary dragon, then talk to me when you can lift a mining cart!" The old werewolf, Logan, glared fiercely at Noah.

"I can lift it!"

The young werewolf, full of defiance, approached the mining cart, rolled up his sleeves, and squatted down.

However, he was too small. He couldn't even grasp one side of the cart, let alone lift it. Despite using all his strength, his face turned red from exertion, but the cart didn't budge.

In fact, he strained so hard that he stumbled and fell backward with a thud, sitting down on the ground. This elicited laughter from the other miners who had arrived earlier in the cave.

"Hahaha... Noah, try again when you're older!"

"Save your strength. With that small frame, even when you grow up, you might still not be able to lift it..."

"Oh my, Noah, you just can't do it, really..."

"Alright, give Noah a break. He still needs to find a wife!"

"Hahaha..."

The miners laughed heartily until old Logan gave them a fierce look, and they quickly fell silent.

"Hmph, stubborn kid!"

Logan smirked and stopped arguing with the young werewolf, leading the group deeper into the mine.

Noah sat by the mining cart, sulking by himself.

Charlotte and Sebastian exchanged a glance and nodded subtly.

Receiving the cue, Sebastian stepped forward, approaching the young werewolf with a smile.

"Noah, have you seen the dragon in the mines?"

Mentioning the dragon perked up the young werewolf immediately.

However, before he could answer, the surrounding miners burst into laughter.

"Haha, him? Seeing a dragon in the mines? If he had really seen a dragon, he wouldn't have come back alive!"

"Hey, hey, hey... not necessarily. Didn't Noah say that the dragon in the mines... oh, wait, the monster... doesn't eat people?"

"Really? Then where did the missing miners go?"

"Who knows, maybe they were kept by the monster in the deep mines to continue digging!"

"Hahaha! Shouldn't they be paid then? Dragons are very wealthy; they should pay more than the Castell family, right?"

The miners chattered away, clearly not believing the monster in the deep mines was really a dragon.

While they joked about the monster, they would lower their voices when mentioning it, indicating a deep-seated fear of the legend.

Charlotte noticed that while there were rumors of a dragon in the mines, not all the miners believed it. However, the young werewolf seemed to believe firmly.

Besides him, old werewolf Logan seemed to believe there was a dragon in the mines, as suggested by the information he had previously shared with Luff. But unlike Noah, who thought the dragon didn't eat people, Logan seemed to believe it was dangerous.

Clearly, both Noah and Logan knew or had seen something.

Noah glared angrily at the jeering miners, which only made them laugh harder.

That was until Sebastian, under Charlotte's signal, smiled and released a bit of his aura, silencing the miners instantly. They turned away and resumed their work quietly.

"An...an extraordinary..."

One miner widened his eyes, almost speaking out, but was quickly silenced by his companion.

"Shut up, keep your head down and keep digging!"

At that, almost all the miners lowered their heads, focusing on their work.

Having worked in Castell Silver Mine for years, they were used to seeing the occasional audacious extraordinary, but even the lowest level Ascendants were beyond their challenge.

Avoiding trouble was the best survival strategy for these bottom-tier non-human miners.

Furthermore, the pressure of being near such a mysterious extraordinary made them instinctively move away, soon distancing themselves. Some even tried to take Noah with them, but after seeing Sebastian in their way, they silently retreated with lowered heads.

Soon, only Charlotte and her group were left in that part of the mine.

"An extraordinary? Are you an extraordinary?"

Noah's eyes widened.

But he quickly became wary.

"You... you didn't come here to mine! You tricked Grandpa Logan!"

With that, the young werewolf stood up, ready to chase after Logan and the others, but Luff stopped him quickly.

"Noah, calm down. We are not bad people."

"Uncle Luff..."

Noah stared at Luff, eyes full of confusion and suspicion.

"Are you with them? Are you deceiving us too?"

Luff sighed.

"Noah, although I brought them here, I genuinely want to be friends with everyone in the mines. You must have seen my clansmen; we sincerely plan to settle in Castell."

"Then... him..."

Noah glanced warily at Sebastian.

Luff hesitated and then said.

"He is my benefactor and friend. He means no harm."

Luff's words didn't completely erase the young werewolf's doubts. He remained on guard, looking at Charlotte and the others.

"Who exactly are you? Mercenaries? Bounty hunters? What are your intentions?"

Charlotte gave Sebastian another look, and Sebastian understood immediately.

He took a step forward, gave a slight bow to Noah, and elegantly said.

"Noah, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Barce, an extraordinary hired by the Castell family to investigate the disappearance of miners in the silver mines."

"The Castell family? Wait... Do you mean the legendary Castell family? The owners of the mining workshop?! The incredibly wealthy nobility?!"

Noah's eyes widened.

But quickly, he frowned again, still filled with suspicion.

"How can I believe what you say? The Castel family has never inquired about the disappearance of miners. Why are they suddenly sending investigators now?"

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"Moreover, if you truly are extraordinary from the Castell family, why would you sneak in secretly?"

"Of course, because we don't trust the noble overseers of the Castell Mining Workshop. As for why we suddenly came to investigate, you might have heard—it is naturally due to the orders of the recently returned Count of the family."

Sebastian replied confidently.

Hearing Sebastian's words, the young wolf-boy's eyes widened even more. For a young child, Sebastian's answer was overwhelmingly shocking.

"The Count... do you mean the legendary Holy Court's saintess, the daughter of the God Lord Harald?"

Charlotte: ...?

How did the rumors get so twisted?

Sebastian couldn't help but glance at Charlotte, then smiled at Noah.

"The Count is indeed holy, but the talk about the Holy Court's saint is just a rumor."

Noah then looked at Luff, who nodded and said in a deep voice.

"Noah, I swear by the great Blood Totem that he is indeed from the Castell family, sent by the Count of Castell."

Noah fell silent. Perhaps older, more experienced subhumans would be much more cautious and harder to trust, but for a young wolf-boy, this conversation was enough to convince him somewhat.

"I know that the overseer nobles of the mining workshop possess something like a Black Eagle emblem, which is supposedly a symbol of the Castell family and each is a magical artifact of great value..."

"If you truly are from the Castell family, do you have such a token?"

He continued to probe, though his tone had softened considerably.

The Black Eagle emblem? The Castell family’s magical equipment?

Sebastian's thoughts stirred. He looked at Charlotte, who smiled slightly and pulled out a handful of Black Eagle emblems from her bosom.

"Is this what you mean?"

Seeing the handful of emblems in the girl’s hand, Noah's eyes widened further.

"A... token! It's really the overseer's token!"

"But... why so many? Did you steal them from Castell's warehouse?"

"No, wait... Resa, are you also an investigator hired by the Castell family?"

Charlotte smiled slightly.

"Yes, I am also here to investigate the truth of the mines. I have a good relationship with the Count of Castell, and she gave these to me. If you can assist us, I can even give you one."

Noah: ...

"Who knows if they are real or fake."

He muttered, swallowing hard while looking at the shiny emblems. But by now, he was more than half convinced. After all, an extraordinary wouldn’t need to deceive a weak wolf-boy like him. If they truly wanted information, they had many ways to make him talk.

"Come with me. There are too many eyes here. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Noah said, looking around.

Charlotte and the others followed Noah to a corner of the cave, where Noah leaned against the wall and sat down.

"I can tell you everything I know, but... I have a condition."

Sebastian smiled.

"Please, go ahead."

Noah's expression became firm.

"If you plan to enter the mines to find the dragon, you must take me with you."

Sebastian didn’t agree immediately but instead asked.

"Why are you so obsessed with the dragon rumored to be in the mines?"

Noah was silent for a moment, then said.

"Because I want to ask it how my brother went mad. Where did my brother go? I want to know what my brother did. I don't believe he would be so bold as to steal Mithril slag..."

"Your brother?"

Charlotte's heart stirred.

"Yes, my brother used to be a miner here, but... he's been missing. He was accused of stealing Mithril slag and punished by the workshop, causing all the demi-human miners to be whipped, which ruined his reputation among the clan."

The young wolf-boy's ears drooped as he pursed his lips.

Stealing Mithril slag? Charlotte recalled what Luff had said about the old wolf's story of missing miners. She hadn't expected the protagonist to be Noah's brother. She sighed.

"My condolences..."

"No, it's okay, I've already come to terms with it. I just... want to know what happened to him. I know my brother’s character; he was always upright. I don’t believe he would steal. Maybe only the dragon can tell me the truth, and that’s why I started working in the mines."

"Have you really seen the dragon in the mines?"

Sebastian asked with interest.

But Noah shook his head.

"No, I haven't seen it."

He continued.

"But my brother did. Not only that... my brother and it were friends. My brother often told me their stories. They met in the mines and became friends there. He didn’t tell anyone about it, fearing mercenaries would come after the dragon. For years, my brother was the most famous miner, always extracting large amounts of Mithril, all thanks to the dragon."

So there really was a dragon in the mine?

Charlotte couldn’t help but exchange a glance with Sebastian, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes. A dragon that could befriend humanoids and lived in the depths of a Mithril mine... could it be a gold dragon?

Before coming, Charlotte had indirectly learned that if any dragon in Myria loved precious metals, it would be the gold dragon. Kind and metallic dragons were indeed likely to become friends with humanoids.

"So, the Mithril vein of Castell was really being devoured by a dragon?"

Sebastian asked. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Charlotte perked up her ears too.

However, Noah frowned.

"Mithril vein? No... despite all the rumors, my brother said the dragon ate meat, not ore. He used to secretly bring food to it. The Mithril issue has little to do with the dragon."

"Eats meat?"

Charlotte was taken aback. Gold dragons... don’t usually eat meat.

"Yes."

Noah nodded.

"My brother said it was a black dragon, a real black dragon!"