Chapter 267: ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? (1)

Chapter 267: Below the Mine (1)

“Your Excellency Count is quite good!”

Holgretz joked with a smile. His face tinged with confidence, as he believed a seasoned Dwarf like Schweibeck would have no trouble persuading the young Count.

“May I perhaps watch?”

“You?”

“Yes! I wish to learn by observing my uncle’s conduct.”

“. . .Very well. This could be a good opportunity for you.”

Schweibeck grudgingly consented. In truth, he was rather reluctant to do so.

It was a matter of pride. As a respected uncle, he wished to show his nephew only the most dignified aspects of himself.

However, this was an important matter for the Rimpangel clan, and more importantly, the young Dwarf needed to learn.

‘I will have to do my utmost to convince him.’

Though the Count was a rather peculiar individual, Schweibeck took pride in his own abilities. Given enough time, he was confident in persuading him.

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“No, there seems to be a mistake in the calculations.”

“. . . . . .”

As Johan passed by and made his remark, the Dwarves exchanged glances.

While working in a Feudal Lord’s court, there were times when they would encounter such interference.

Sometimes, it was a lesser noble serving under the Feudal Lord who would make such remarks, and other times, it would be a member of the Feudal Lord’s family. However, the most troublesome of all was when the Feudal Lord himself would intervene.

Naturally, in most cases, the Feudal Lord would be wrong and the Dwarves would be correct, but that was of no consequence.

The most important thing, as far as the Dwarves were concerned, was not to offend their well-paying employer.

“Ahem.”

Bengelong, one of the Dwarf technicians, stepped forward. Known as “The Silver-Tongued” Bengelong, he was renowned among the Dwarves for his smooth and persuasive speech.

Even arrogant Feudal Lords would be swayed by Bengelong’s words. . .

“Your Excellency Count, it is likely that you have misread due to the rather messy handwriting of the Dwarves. Even to us, our script can be quite difficult to decipher. Furthermore, the quality of the paper is rather poor. . .”

“I read it three times to make sure, but the calculations are definitely wrong. Please check it again.”

Bengelong found himself unconsciously reviewing the calculations. Since they were written in Empire characters instead of Oriental numerals, even simple calculations took a considerable amount of time.

“. . .It is incorrect?”

“What? Hey, you. . .”

The Dwarves glared at the Dwarf who had done the calculations, their faces pale.

As humans, mistakes were inevitable. When performing such tasks, the calculations were bound to be complex, so it was only natural for mistakes to occur from time to time. These mistakes would be corrected during the final review process.

However, it was unfortunate that such a mistake had been discovered by the Count as he passed by. Wouldn’t he think that the Dwarves were incompetent?

In truth, it wasn’t the fault of the Dwarf who had made the mistake. It was rather strange that the Count, who had merely glanced at the calculations as he passed by, had noticed the error.

However, the flustered Dwarves were in no mood to consider such things. They glared at the Dwarf who had made the mistake as if they wanted to kill him.

“Oh, this is unfortunate. I was only trying to help. Please don’t be so hard on him.”

Unexpectedly, Johan defended the Dwarf who had made the mistake. The Dwarf’s eyes welled up with tears at the Count’s magnanimity, despite having only met him recently.

The Dwarves, who had just disowned their comrade, realized their mistake.

“No, Your Excellency. We will be more careful.”

“Shall I help you with the calculations?”

“No! We can do it ourselves.”

The Dwarves hurriedly declined. For their employer to sit down and participate in the calculations was not only burdensome, but it was also absolutely unacceptable.

If their employer were to learn the details of their work, the Dwarves’ authority would be weakened. If the employer were to call upon cheaper workers and dismiss the Dwarves, where would they go to seek redress?

“Is that so? That’s a pity.”

Johan glanced at them with a slightly disappointed expression. This was a rare instance where Johan had acted with good intentions, so it was disappointing that the Dwarves had rebuffed him.

Once Johan left, the Dwarves heaved a sigh of relief.

“What an idiot!”

“Hey, you make mistakes too!”

“That’s true, but who makes such a big mistake that even Your Excellency Count notices?!”

“What’s the big deal? You didn’t notice it either!”

“Stop fighting already. Just be more careful in the future. It seems like His Excellency has a keen eye, so pay special attention when doing calculations.”

“But how did he even notice it?”

They had to show the other strengths that the dwarves, who had been called from afar, possessed.

“We’re all set!”

“Good. Have them pack their gear.”

The dwarves were currently camping near the entrance of the discovered mine.

There was only one purpose.

It was to go into the underground mine, explore the inside, and make an estimate.

In some ways, this exploration ability might be even greater than the design skill. Since the dwarves below were being humiliated by the count, the exploration team had no choice but to put more weight on their shoulders.

“Do you really not need any help?”

The soldiers who were standing guard asked as if they were worried. It was well-known among the mercenaries that all sorts of monsters lived under the mine.

“Don’t worry. It’s like everyday life for us. Just like a hunter doesn’t get scared when he goes for a walk in the mountains, dwarves don’t get scared when they go down into the mines.”

“Oh. . .”

The mercenaries were slightly impressed by his heavy and trustworthy figure.

“Why don’t Mackald’s dwarves show that kind of appearance?”

“Those guys are from a warrior clan, not miners.”

“I guess all dwarves are strong underground.”

Receiving the admiring gazes of the mercenaries, the dwarves put on their equipment, grabbed the rope, and began to descend.

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“No. How did you come up with this idea? You’re truly a genius.”

“T-That so? It was nothing special, just a very minor idea. . .”

“No. I’ve never seen a dwarf as outstanding as you.”

“Actually, I thought of something like this as well. It’s a tower that can be used for a siege. This thing is amazing because. . .”

‘Are they baby birds?’

Suetlg, who was sitting near the fireplace, looked at the dwarven engineers with eyes that seemed to want to see all the strange sights.

At first, the guys who were trying to make the Count back down somehow were talking to the Count enthusiastically as if they were under some kind of spell.

They were like baby birds running to their mother bird that had brought them food. The only difference was that they were dwarves with bushy beards.

“I think I know why the Rimpangel clan’s reputation is so high.”

‘You didn’t even know the clan’s name, so what. . .’

While Johan was toying with the naive dwarves, a messenger arrived from outside.

“Your Excellency Count! Something seems to have happened to the dwarves who went down!”

“!”

The other dwarves reacted before Johan. They spoke quickly.

“Is there a problem with the exploration team?”

“Yes, but. . .”

“Don’t worry. It’s probably nothing serious. We’ll send support right away.”

Since the inside of the mine was dangerous, there were frequent cases of problems occurring with the exploration team that went in.

In such cases, they had to solve the problem among themselves as quickly as possible without panicking. It should look like something that could happen at any time, something ordinary. It would be a big deal if they panicked and aroused suspicion from the feudal lord.

“We showed you an unsightly appearance. Your Excellency Count. We’ll resolve it soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Excuse me?”

“From what I heard, none of the dwarves who went down have come back to give information, and the situation inside hasn’t been confirmed. So how are you going to resolve it?”

“Uh. . . that’s. . . that. . .”

Suetlg, who was starting to feel sorry for the dwarves, stood up.

“Come on. Don’t be so hard on them.”

“No, I asked because I was worried. I don’t think it will help solve the problem if you unconditionally say that everything is fine when the situation is not clear. . .”

Most feudal lords didn’t care whether the dwarven engineers died in the mines or not. In some ways, it was infuriating for the dwarves, but it was something that couldn’t be helped since it was a transaction.

However, the dwarves realized.

A feudal lord who showed concern like that was difficult in a different way.

Especially if that feudal lord was someone who could see through any half-hearted lies!