Volume 18 Chapter 8 Iron Mine Investigation, Part 3️⃣
The next day, Al, Jasper (the second son), Ozbert (first son's squire), and Neville (the retainer) headed out for a route survey as instructed by Nelson (Al's father).
Their goal was to secure a path where people could walk, even in areas without a clear trail. Along the way, they had to chop down a few trees and secure some ropes. Even though Al could fly, the 4 of them were still sweating and working hard.
"We're almost at the top. Once we get there, we should be able to see the iron mine."
"Oh, finally! But it took quite a while. If we didn't have some idea of the route and know that Alfred would take us back, we wouldn't have made it this far."
Jasper said thoughtfully. The sun was already past its peak. Since they had set out early in the morning, it had taken them about 6 hours to get this far.
They needed to be mindful of time and energy to ensure they could return before dark. The work to get here had been pretty tough.
"Yeah, flying is... well, it's a bit much, but..."
Ozbert seemed to shiver a little as he recalled his experience of flying.
"However, it was lucky that we didn't encounter any magic beasts or Barbarians along the way."
Everyone nodded at Neville's words. Of course, compared to the route south from the border city of Lester, the danger was much lower, but it was still fortunate that they hadn't run into any at all.
"Look, that should be the place where the iron mine is."
Finally reaching a spot with a good view, Al pointed to a mountain that had been heavily eroded.
"Oh, I can definitely see the ground has been dug up, and there's reddish-brown soil in stripes. Are there Barbarians down there?"
Jasper and the others squinted to see better. The mining area was about a kilometer away. They could see some movement, but Al couldn't make out any details.
"Sensory Boost'──Zoom In
"Hold on a sec."
Al enhanced his vision to search for the hut where he spotted the Lamia from the sky yesterday.
"Found it... but... huh?"
Yesterday, just like before, he could see a small hut from here. And next to it, there were ten big barrels lined up that weren't there yesterday.
"Those barrels weren't here yesterday, right..."
"Hmm, wait a sec... no, over there, they were half-buried in the ground and covered with cloth, so it might have been hard to see from above."
Cloth? Now that he thinks about it, there might have been freshly cut branches and rags next to the tent. That's probably why he didn't notice them.
But ten barrels... there were also ten similar barrels in the village where the orcs were. Is this just a coincidence...?
"Did you see something?"
"Yeah, I'm going to use a spell to see a bit further, so just go with it."
'Sensory Boost'──Enhanced Touch
Al cast the spell on the 3 of them one by one. They all started looking around, scanning the area as if searching for something. Al seemed to finally figure out the location of the hut after explaining some landmarks.
"Yeah, there's definitely a hut. And there are goblins around too... This is the first time I'm seeing them from a calm distance, but they're still creepy. Oh, look, the Barbarians that Al said were Lamia are coming out of the hut."
"They're coming out. They have blue skin, the upper body of a human, and the lower body of a snake. They're pretty big. This one looks tough. It might swipe at us with its tail."
Looking at the Lamia, Neville tilted his head a bit while crossing his arms. Al wonders what he's thinking about how to take them down.
"Is that the barrel Sir Alfred was talking about? It has a white line around the opening. That's the kind often used for storing wheat or oats."
Ozbert seemed to have heard Al's earlier mumble and shared that info. So, it really is a barrel commonly used for handling grains.
"For now, the path seems to end around here, right? There's still about a kilometer to go, but if we go any further, they might notice us over there."
When Al said that, Jasper and the other 2 nodded. There are unknown Barbarians like the Lamia, and they're a bit far from the village.
It was agreed that it would be better to avoid the danger of being found rather than trying to take them down. However, Al was secretly curious about the barrel.
If it was filled with grain like the one in the village of the orcs, the goblins here would soon multiply again. And who brought that barrel here?
Could someone be trying to use the Barbarians?
"Mr. Ozbert, what will we do once the map is ready? Big Brother Gustave is out on a job, right?"
"Yes. Sir Gustave is not expected back from his mission for about a month. In the meantime, I would like to have a preliminary meeting with the subordinates of His Excellency Baron Marlow based on what we've investigated, but I plan to arrange that once we return to the capital. Either way, since Sir Gustave is not here, it's not an urgent matter."
"Then, can I stay in Channing Village for 2 or 3 days? I have something I'm curious about."
Isn't it nice for Ozbert to relax in the village too?
"What are you curious about, Alfred?"
Al smiled and shook his head at Jasper, who looked worried.
"It's about that barrel. I think someone might be feeding the goblins. Actually, there were orcs spotted east of here, around the north side of Milton City. And in the Barbarian settlement where that orc was, there were ten barrels just like the one here. The settlement was taken down about 2 weeks ago, so it hasn't been that long. It's concerning."
"Feeding the Barbarians? Who would do something so stupid?"
Ozbert shook his head. Of course, it was hard to believe anyone would do that.
But there was a case where a magician, possibly Lord Veil, who served the Marquis Prentis family that staged a coup in the Tempest Kingdom, handed a button-shaped magic bag to a goblin mage and did something similar.
That said, since Lord Veil's story involves the assistant device, he can't just talk about it carelessly. Right now, Al can't think of who would do something like this and for what purpose, but there might be someone trying to do it again.
"Yeah, well, it's just a maybe, so it won't be for long. I have to go back to the capital too. But I was thinking of keeping an eye on things from a distance for a little while."
"Got it. But please, don't do anything dangerous, okay?"
Jasper reluctantly agreed to Al's explanation, but he emphasized the need for safety.
"Yeah, I understand. For now, let's head back. I'll come again tomorrow by myself."
Saying that, Al pulled out 3 'Carriers' (flying chairs). Seeing that, Ozbert turned pale and kept swallowing hard.
"Come on, do your best to get on. No making noise, okay? We don't want to get spotted by the Barbarians."
"So this is Alfred's flying chair. I wonder if Mary and Neville were okay with it? But yeah, it does feel a bit scary knowing it floats like this."
Saying that, Jasper sat on the floating chair.
"Wow, this feels interesting. It's different from a horse. If it's this soft, my butt won't hurt."
Jasper looked excited. Ozbert had a tense expression, sat down, and gripped the armrests tightly. Watching the two, Neville sat down lightly, showing no particular feelings.
Al used the 'Magic Power Control' spell to attach safety bars to the chair, then used the 'Fly' spell to lift off into the air.
"Oh, it feels so fluffy and nice!"
Jasper said cheerfully. He seemed completely fine. However, Ozbert was desperately holding back a scream. Neville remained unchanged.
"Alright, we're heading home!"
Al took off with the 3 of them, each reacting differently, and started flying towards Channing Village.
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