Chapter 166
Shaneth hesitated for a moment before saying, “I just… wanted to talk to you for a bit. Can I stay here for a while?”
“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
Shaneth sat in a chair, while Kang Yoon-Soo kept staring out the window in his bed. Shaneth asked, “Why didn’t you eat the pie at dinner? Did you have no appetite today?”
“I had a lot of things on my mind,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“You won’t tell me what’s on your mind even if I ask you, right?” Shaneth continued.
“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
“You’re always like that. You don’t tell me anything,” Shaneth complained.
Kang Yoon-Soo did not reply this time, and only stared silently out the window.
Out of habit, Shaneth rubbed the part of her cheek where the burn mark remained. She asked “You mentioned that we’d be going to the lair of the Dragon of Destruction in the future, right?”
This time, Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “Yeah.”
“The Dragon of Destruction is the most powerful and vicious dragon on the continent. Do you think we’ll be able to survive if we go there? I don’t think so,” Shaneth said seriously. She asked, “Will all of us be safe after this journey of ours ends?”
Kang Yoon-Soo thought for a moment before slowly replying, “All of you will survive.”
“Then what about you?” Shaneth asked.
Kang Yoon-Soo did not reply, falling silent once again. Shaneth’s gaze suddenly turned sharp and she asked seriously, “Will you be able to survive? Please answer me.”
Kang Yoon-Soo continued staring out the window, but eventually replied, “I’ll survive too.” Then, he slowly turned his head to look at Shaneth and added, “I won’t die as long as even one of you stays alive.”
“I’m satisfied with that,” Shaneth said. She stood up from her seat and went over to Kang Yoon-Soo, then hugged him.
Kang Yoon-Soo’s expressionless face slowly started to twitch and his eyes began to tremble as he felt her warmth. His emotions had long since dried up, but the feelings he had thought were lost slowly began to flow again in Shaneth’s embrace. Her voice was a pleasant melody in his ears, and the sound of her heartbeat was a song he hoped would never end.
Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyes continued to tremble. The sound of Shaneth’s breath never failed to make emotions well up in him.
“I told you before, didn’t I? Don’t die. I won’t die either, so please… Don’t die,” Shaneth said.
“Yeah…” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered in response.
Kang Yoon-Soo closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Shaneth’s warmth. He reminisced about the happy times he had had with her, even though those days were long gone. He thought, ‘I have to protect her.’
He embraced her back, gripping her tightly for some time before they eventually separated from each other. Each of them found it difficult to tell what the other person was feeling or thinking when the hug ended.
Shaneth looked out the window and said, “It’s getting pretty late. I’ll be heading back to my room now.”
Kang Yoon-Soo nodded silently.
As Shaneth was about to leave the room, however, she paused for a moment with her hand on the doorknob. She asked, “But… Do you know what day today is?”
Kang Yoon-Soo stared at Shaneth’s back for some time. Of course he knew what day it was. It was…
“A safe day,” he muttered in response.
Shaneth slowly turned around. Kang Yoon-Soo knew she would approach him while he was still sitting on the bed. However, all he wanted to do was to engrave the moment into his memories. His gaze traced Shaneth’s figure as she walked slowly toward him, looking at him with seductive eyes and flushed red cheeks.
Shaneth exuded a seductive fragrance that could entice any man as she climbed onto the bed. Kang Yoon-Soo gazed into her eyes, and they stared at each other for some time.
Which of them initiated the hug? When did their lips meet? Who turned the lamp off?
As the room was cast into darkness, the two only became more aware of each other’s hot, heavy breaths and soft sensation of their skin rubbing against each other.
At the moment when their desire and lust for each other had already reached the peak, Shaneth suddenly pushed Kang Yoon-Soo back, and he fell helplessly onto the bed. Breathing heavily, Shaneth whispered in his ear with a sweet, seductive voice, “That’s right. It’s my safe day.”
Her fragrance smelled sweeter than ever.
***
Dear Diary,
Please be understanding of my poor penmanship. I am currently very flustered, and my cheeks are still burning red hot. I did not manage to get a wink of sleep last night, even though I had my fill of tasty festival food.
Doppelgangers have very good hearing, and can even eavesdrop on even the most soundproof room as long as they focus on their hearing. I began listening in the middle of the night because I was bored, but I heard a conversation from next door, which was Kang Yoon-Soo’s room. I know it is bad to eavesdrop, but I could not help but become curious.
What could a man and woman who love each other do in a room together, I wondered? That was how I ended up eavesdropping on the next room the entire night.
Diary, I realized that everything I thought I knew of love was wrong all this time. Love is not a warm, gentle emotion. In fact, love is actually a hot and rough emotion. I really feel like crying. I never imagined that the love I believed in would be so different from what love really was.
Dear diary, can treating the one you love in such a rough manner really be called love?
“Hmm… Love is normally a wonderful thing, but it’s not good to have a prejudice against it,” a voice called out.
“Kyaaaahk!”?Iris screamed as she punched Henrick, who was standing behind her, in the stomach.
“Euuuuk!”?Henrick groaned in pain and plopped down on the bed.
Iris held her diary tightly to her chest and shouted while blushing, “Henrick! Why were you peeking at my diary?!”
“I wondered what you were writing, because you couldn’t even hear my knock before I came in even though your ears are so sensitive” Henrick replied while rubbing his stomach.
The sunlight shone down into the room through the windows.
Henrick opened the door and looked back at Iris before saying, “It’s already morning. Aren’t you going to have breakfast?”
Iris placed both hands on her waist and asked, “What do you think I’m going to reply to that, Henrick?”
“Of course you’re going to have breakfast,” Henrick replied with a smirk.
“Ahh… That is the wrong answer,” Iris said.
“Then what were you going to say?” Henrick asked.
“I wouldn’t have bothered replying at all, and I would have run straight to the dining hall,” Iris replied.
Henrick laughed at her response, then went downstairs while muttering, “A pretty little lady who only learned of the reality of true love just now has been writing about her own sense of love…”
“Alright, Henrick! I was wrong! Forgive me!” Iris cried as she chased after Henrick down the stairs.
***
Try digging in the ground and see if money will come out of it.
-A miner who worked himself to death
Mining was a very physically taxing profession. It could be argued that that described any profession, but that was especially true of mining. Miners had to dig through rock with their pickaxes with a rhythm more regular than their heartbeats, and they breathed in the fine dust particles that filled mines without an ounce of hesitation. The sweat produced by their toil was enough to fill a river.
However, one group of miners worked harder than any other on the continent. They were the miners of the Kulud Abandoned Mine.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of pickaxes digging into and smashing against rocks reverberated throughout the mine, and the miners dripped sweat while hard at work.
Ramel Suryan rolled into the mine, having been kicked by an ogre.
“Euk!?Damn it! That bastard!” he cursed hoarsely, then stood up and observed his surroundings. It seemed he was still under the effects of a drug, as his vision was still blurry. He shook his head and looked around the mine. Its interior was quite vast, and it was wide enough that he could run around unimpeded.
“So it’s a greenhorn,” remarked a skinny man while staring down at Ramel.
Ramel bit his lip as he snapped back, “I’m Ramel Suryan! I was captured while I was drinking after a hunt at the plains. Where the hell am I?”
“You’re in a mine. Basically, this is a prison and a hell at the same time. You won’t be able to leave this place until the day you die,” the skinny man explained.
“Ha! You would think twice if you knew who I was!” Ramel retorted.
The miners, who were either muscular like Ramel or skinny like the man talking to him, glanced toward Ramel.
Ramel paid them no heed as he shouted, “I don’t know how long you’ve been trapped in here, but I’m certain that all of you have heard of the reputation of the Nameless Mercenary! I always hide my identity as I hate having rumors circulating about me, but I guess I have no choice this time. I’m actually that Nameless Mercenary! I’ve killed over twenty large monsters, and I’ll definitely get out of here! So, cooperate with me!”
The miners started to snicker in response. Ramel grimaced, dumbfounded by their reaction.
The skinny man in front of him laughed along with the other miners before saying, “Look here, greenhorn. You’ve killed over twenty large monsters, you say? The other miners here are all powerful men who have killed at least thirty large monsters.”
“Ha! Who are you trying to fool?” Ramel replied, scoffing at the skinny man before walking toward the entrance of the mine. The entrance was sealed, but he was confident that he could easily smash it.
“Kyaaaak!”?
A strange cry rang out from the door. As soon as they heard it, the miners began to work. Meanwhile, just as Ramel was about to smash the door, a blast of flame engulfed him.
“Ah…Ahk…!”?Ramel cried as he was pushed back. His entire body was charred by the flames, and his flesh was burned down to the bone.
[The Mercenary Set of Requiem has granted you another chance.]
[Your fatal wounds have healed.]
[Your soul, rather than escaping your body, has been pulled back into it.]
“Heok!”?Ramel gasped as he regained consciousness after recovering from death. Cold sweat started to stream down his forehead as he realized that he had almost died just then.
The skinny man clicked his tongue while mining and said, “So you had equipment that could heal your body. You were lucky. You would have died instantly if you incurred the wrath of the watchman.”
“What the hell happened just now…?” Ramel asked, still stupefied by the turn of events.
“Have you heard of Recifer, the Assassin of the Blue Night? That’s me,” the skinny man said.
“Huh? The Assassin of the Blue Night is the infamous assassin who massacred the nobles of the west, right…?” Ramel asked, gulping.
Recifer nodded and replied, “Various kinds of people are enslaved here. Assassins, mercenaries, warriors, swordsmen, imperial guards, and so on. They were all powerful people who made a name for themselves on the continent. However, we’re nothing more than miners now. We have to survive, you see.”
“You would be able to hunt a pack of griffins with these people here, assuming what you say is true. But what kind of insane person would use such powerful people as miners?” Ramel asked in disbelief.
“This abandoned mine isn’t an ordinary mine. The ground and rocks here are a few thousand times harder than normal, but the owner of the mine has no plans to simply let it go. That’s why they’ve been abducting those who have made a name for themselves by killing large monsters,” Recifer replied.
“Who’s the owner of this mine?” Ramel asked.
“Who knows? Still, I’m certain that they’re looking for something specific if they’re willing to abduct and enslave this many people. That also means the owner is very powerful. Why, you may ask? Well, can’t you tell from the fact that we still have all of our equipment with us?” Recifer replied.
It was exactly as he said; everyone was well-equipped despite being enslaved. In fact, there were a few of them who had items that were quite rare on the continent.
Recifer explained, “Our equipment stayed with us, but the flames will burn you to a crisp if you try to escape this place. It’ll be the same if you rest during working hours. A meal worse than dog food is provided twice a day, and the watcher often comes to instruct us where to mine for the day.”
“Who is this watcher, for them to be able to spit out such powerful flames?” Ramel asked.
Recifer whispered, “A phoenix.”
“…” Ramel was speechless.
How was it possible for there to be a mine that enslaved so many of the powerful people on the continent, and employed a phoenix to stand guard over them, at that? Ramel could not imagine what kind of person the owner of the mine was.
Recifer approached Ramel and said, “You have to slowly start working as well, or else you might be burnt to a crisp by the watchman again.”
“Haven’t you thought of joining forces and trying to bring that watchman down? You still have your equipment with you, right? We should be able to with this number of people…!” Ramel exclaimed.
“You seem to have failed to understand the situation, despite being burnt to a crisp just now. It’s not that we haven’t tried to resist against our captors, but the only thing that came out of it was more victims and more work,” Recifer replied.
Ramel, who had been haughty and arrogant just a short while beforehand, was suddenly humbled. He was forced to swallow his pride, asking, “What am I supposed to do here?”
“Hmm…” Recifer pondered for a moment, then looked at the large sword on Ramel’s back. He asked, “You, what’s that sword on your back?”
Ramel tried his best not to sound as if he were bragging as he introduced the sword on his back. “It’s one of the nine treasured swords on the continent. I managed to obtain it after killing Drake Ebselker, who massacred thousands of innocent civilians. It can easily split apart the earth, and I usually use it to kill large golems.”
“It seems you can be in charge of digging with that, then,” Recifer replied.
“…”
Ramel Suryan, once renowned as the Nameless Mercenary in the outside world, was instantly demoted overnight to a miner in charge of shoveling dirt out of the ground.
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