CH 27

Chapter 27 – Underground Tunnel, Steadily Digging, Making Progress

AN: A story about a soft and fluffy underground slaves.

「I got a rock here. Bring a mokko.」

TN: A mokko is a basket-like thing for carrying purposes especially soil/rock.

「Aiyo!」

「Shh, be quiet, it’s nighttime. There are houses up there.」

We are digging a tunnel.

I don’t know what it is for but it’s for master.

We’re underground but it's as bright as outside because the walls are filled with glow-in-the-dark items made by master and air is coming out from mysterious tubes so it’s safe.

As I was piling stones on the mokko, timber for support was brought in from the entrance.

This timber will be placed between the ground and the ceiling to reinforce this tunnel.

Our hole is luxuriously supported by this timber. The ceiling is high and we don’t need to fear that it will collapse.

I heard that master regularly hardens them with magic.

In mines, hundreds of people die every year from cave-ins.

I’m glad that I wasn’t sold to the mines.

「Ah, there’s water.」

「Ah, not again. Fill it up, fill it up. We’re going to change direction. Call Chicken-san right away.」

Water came out at the far end of the mine.

Ah, yeah, there’s a strong smell of moisture coming from the soil we’re digging.

I don’t know why but when you’re digging underground, sometimes, water comes out or there are even giant rocks.

Since we have to avoid those things, this tunnel gradually becomes a mess.

I’m told that we should eventually reach a certain place but at this rate, will we really be able to reach it?

According to Chicken-san, we haven’t even reached the outer edge of the city yet.

「That direction is north.」

While we were putting the timber for reinforcement that had been brought in, Opika, a goatkin with the blessing of the bird god, arrived with Chicken-san, the supervisor of this project.

The three of them, including the surveyor, discussed and redraw the map.

I thought that the blessing of the bird god, which only tells you the direction, is useless outside the sea but I guess it is useful on land as well.

Educated people can make useless abilities useful.

「Everyone, take a break for now.」

It seems like Chicken-san ordered us to take a break.

Jirin-chan, a cowkin, who’s in charge of the site, said so so we all walked toward the resting place.

We walk through the endless holes while chatting in low voices.

「Progress is different when Rage is with us.」

「As expected of a master digger.」

「Eh, it’s not like that.」

I seem to have the blessing of the dog god and thanks to that, I dig holes faster which made everyone call me master digger.

I’m embarrassed to be called a master digger though.

I can’t even beat Pickles-san in digging holes but it makes me happy.

I was sold because of my bad leg but I guess even I have a place where I could be of use.

In the digging job, snacks are served.

This is not to be underestimated.

Sometimes, they are prototypes made by master and they are food that has never been made into products.

There are a lot of things like that but even so, it’s hard to find something that’s not delicious.

「I don’t dislike this latest dish.」

「Me too.」

「Even if you eat it as it is, it is crispy and tasty.」

I put the dried noodles that have been on our ration lately into a bowl and poured hot water that was brought down from the ground.

The chicken fat melts and it smells good.

After waiting for a while, I drain the hot water.

Then, I pour the sauce from another pot over it and it’s ready to eat.

You don’t even have to boil the noodles to make them soft.

It’s like magic.

Maybe it really is. Master is a mage after all.

「I heard that master said it was a failure but it’s more fragrant and tasty than normal pepperoncino.」

「I think so too. The noodles have a little bit of flavor so even the hot water can be used as soup.」

「I heard that they should have sold these too but they were rejected because hot water alone doesn’t make it tastier.」

「I see.」

「What a waste.」

「I don’t know what the big guys are thinking.」

「I know right.」

As we were eating our pepperoncino, a girl working at the coffee shop came down from the ground.

It’s already night time so she’s not wearing that cute uniform and is in her everyday clothes but the way her hair is shining and her nails were polished are completely different.

Even in her everyday clothes, those ladies from the coffee shop are recognizable at a glance.

They are objects of my admiration.

They are even given with some kind of water that cleanses the skin. I wonder if we can become like them if we do the same.

They also smell sweet but I can’t tell what smell is that.

「Thanks for your hard work. Here are some leftovers from the shop for you to eat.」

「Oh, sweet bread.」

「Yay」

「Today is our lucky day.」

If you work underground, sometimes, you’ll receive sweets leftover from the shop.

The sweets of the store are very expensive so they are rarely leftovers. You’ll only get some if you’re lucky.

Chew chew, today’s sweet bread also came with tea.

There’s still no sign of people coming from the back.

After eating this, I think it’s okay to take a nap.

「We’ve kept you waiting. We decided on where to dig now. It will be diverted a little so I can only ask you to work harder.」

After eating, we slept and it looked like Chicken-san woke us up.

Jirin-chan let out a big yawn as she carried a shovel on her shoulder.

「Alright, let’s do it again.」

「Right.」

「The sweetbreads were delicious and today is certainly a good day.」

「Fuwaaaa, sleepy」

The tunnel-digging job has fixed hours so we still get paid even if the progress is slow.

Of course, if you slack off, you’ll be removed from the job so there’s no one who pulls out their hands. However, when we hit a rock or water, it will take time to decide which direction to dig again so you can relax as much as you can.

We get snacks and we even get leftover sweets, so it’s a good job.

I hope this job will last for a little longer.

I don’t know what we are digging for though.

AN: They are doing it in secret so the path is too squishy to use trolleys or anything for transport.

The underground empire is not a brainiac paradise either since it needed an army of experts for putting ventilation pipes, and training surveyors.