The dwarves walked through the mine tunnel.
The leader of ‘Manjin’s team’ was naturally Manjin, and including the young dwarves he led, there were four in total.
Now with Dunkel added and a snake included, they were six.
Five dwarves and one snake walked through the tunnel to mine Bonemind Stone.
After walking for a while, Manjin let out a sigh.
“Haah… Dunkel.”
Dunkel, who was walking behind Manjin, raised his head.
“I know you like hoods, but if you don’t want your head cracked, wear this.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Dunkel received the spare safety helmet from Manjin with an awkward expression.
As he took off his hood, a shiny bald head was revealed.
The other dwarves snickered at the sight.
Dunkel’s appearance was that striking among dwarves.
Dunkel’s face turned red.
“Have you ever been in a Bonemind Stone tunnel before?”
“No.”
“Ever encountered Blood Moles?”
“Twice.”
Blood Moles are monsters that occasionally appear in mine tunnels.
True to their name, they burrow through the ground and extremely dislike light.
A single one isn’t very dangerous, but they become a threat when they swarm.
Accidentally disturbing a Blood Mole nest during mining was a nightmare for all miners.
“They especially like Bonemind Stone. If Blood Moles appear, use your oil lamp to shine light on them.”
All miners carried oil lamps on their belts.
Dunkel nervously fiddled with his lamp.
The young dwarves chuckled at the sight.
They whispered quietly from behind.
‘What’s the relationship between Brother Manjin and Dunkel?’
‘Seems like they knew each other before.’
It did seem that way.
Manjin was an admirable man they deeply respected.
His brown beard braided into two strands was cool, and though he could be a bit showy, his open personality was respectable.
But he seemed to know that ‘inadequate’ Dunkel.
Was there a reason why people usually avoided talking to Dunkel?
Right now, Dunkel had an eager expression.
But once the mining starts in earnest, he’ll surely make a pitiful face when faced with the unexpectedly hard work.
‘I wonder when that expression will crumble.’
‘I bet three hours.’
‘Then I’ll say two hours.’
All the young men thought so.
Manjin, who had stopped in place, examined the wall and even tasted the soil with his tongue.
“Let’s dig in this direction, the vein seems to extend downwards.”
And so began the most arduous task of tunnel excavation.
Everyone thought Dunkel would drop out soon.
Being good at swinging a pickaxe and having stamina were completely different matters.
But an unexpected result came about.
‘He’s holding up better than expected?’
Dunkel didn’t show any signs of struggling even once.
Even while sweating profusely, he continued shoveling.
After a while, Manjin declared a break.
“Let’s rest for a bit, eat, and then continue.”
Only then did Dunkel put down his shovel.
His grip was slightly torn and bleeding.
Seeing that, he clearly wasn’t used to mining work.
Dunkel tightly wrapped his hand with a bandage.
The expressions of the young dwarves who watched this changed a bit.
‘He’s not as lazy as we’ve heard.’
There was a rumor that Dunkel didn’t do mining work because he was lazy.
However, the Dunkel they actually met didn’t seem lazy, at least.
But soon, the young dwarves frowned again.
“Ugh.”
“What are you eating?”
Dunkel was rubbing some unknown plant leaves and something in a wooden bowl.
“Ah, salad…”
“Salad?”
“Do you want some?”
“No thanks.”
What salad, he says.
Does he think he’s an elf?
Dunkel smiled awkwardly and munched on that green strange food.
In contrast, Dunkel’s companion was different.
The snake stuck right next to Manjin.
“Right, you need to eat too.”
When Dunkel offered to share his salad, it ran away with a look of disgust.
“Will ham do?”
“Saak!”
The snake gulped down the ham Manjin gave in one bite.
It seemed to swallow without chewing, impressively fast.
Feeding animals gives a strange pleasure.
The other dwarves also came over and offered ham one after another.
The snake didn’t refuse and kept eating.
Though much smaller in size, it seemed to have eaten almost as much as one dwarf.
Despite using more food than expected, the dwarves were happy.
“Hahaha.”
“This little guy is cute, isn’t it?”
They had been wary at first since it was a monster, even if it was Manjin’s friend, but not anymore.
The dwarves thought:
Since the Bonemind Stone tunnel is dangerous, we should protect this little snake.
==
They may have shaggy beards, but they’re more innocent and kind than I expected.
I got to eat ham too, so I should protect them.
That’s what I thought.
Before the break ended, I took out the Chimera Seedling’s pot from my subspace.
The dwarves showed interest.
“Is that a flowerpot?”
“It’s a sprout. How did it sprout underground?”
Isn’t our Chimera Seedling cute?
I originally planned to leave it in Dunkel’s underground garden, but ended up bringing it along since we came underground together.
Just in case bats came in and broke the pot.
Oh no, the soil is already dry.
The Chimera Seedling had quite the appetite.
It quickly absorbed water when given, and even absorbed magic stones rapidly.
For something that ate so well, it wasn’t growing very fast and still only had two cotyledons.
‘Why is it dancing so much today?’
The Chimera Seedling swayed slightly as if dancing, or rather, it is alive.
Anyway, it usually danced a little.
When I bring my tail close, it brings its cotyledons near as if asking for a hug, but today it was dancing even when left alone.
“Hmm… left or right…”
Manjin, who had finished eating, was contemplating the direction.
He was looking for a vein likely to contain a lot of Bonemind Stone.
Finding a vein was half dependent on luck, even for skilled miners.
They would dig into a suspicious-looking wall, and if no vein appeared, they’d go further in and try again.
“Oh my. What’s this now?”
“The sprout is dancing.”
The young dwarves showed interest in the Chimera Seedling’s dance.
I smiled and was about to put it away when.
“Is there something over there?”
One of the dwarves muttered.
What does he mean? I looked at the Chimera Seedling.
‘Oh.’
The Chimera Seedling was pointing at one side of the wall.
When I brought it closer to the wall, it became even clearer.
As if something was hidden beyond the wall, it was shaking its cotyledons vigorously.
“Could there be a Bonemind Stone vein over there?”
“Is it trying to tell us something? Haha.”
The dwarves said, laughing.
Maybe, could it really be?
These dwarves don’t know, but the Chimera Seedling is an amazing creature that came from the World Tree.
I raised my tail to point at the pickaxe and the wall.
“What? You want us to dig?”
“What’s going on?”
Even Manjin approached.
“It says to dig the wall?”
Manjin made a strange expression after hearing the young dwarves.
“Go ahead, give it a try.”
“Well, alright.”
It couldn’t hurt to try.
Who knows what might happen?
As the soil falls away, a high-purity mana crystal vein might be revealed.
The dwarf swung his pickaxe with secret anticipation.
Thunk.
The feeling at the tip was strange.
“Huh?”
And blood spurted out from where the pickaxe had struck.
“Kieeeeeek!”
A mole monster spurting blood from its hole jumped out.
“B-blood mole!”
Screams erupted.
