CHAPTER 15.

I Joined the Magic Stone Mining Team

* * *

Rosé’s mining business was heading towards the final week of the contract period.

The money she had collected so far was 768 sillas. She sold an average of eighty products each day and made a profit.

“Miners, have a good night shift today!”

Like a scene from a comic for young people, Rosé waved her hand and got on the carriage with a smile. The miners, overwhelmed by the overflow of her virility, grinned widely like melting cheese.

Feeling a bit hazy after taking in some cum, Rosé clicked her tongue and closed the carriage door.

‘I’ve pretty much been through all the mining sites… Where should I go tomorrow?’

Leaning against the window, Rosé pondered while scanning the visited mining sites. Then, she noticed unfamiliar people and peered outside.

‘Oh, that place looks unfamiliar.’

It was a small mine. The area was bustling with people. They were holding pickaxes, but they didn’t look like miners.

Perhaps sensing Rosé’s curiosity, the coachman casually spoke.

“It seems a Grade 5 boundary appeared, and they were caught today. They’re mining for magic stone before it closes.”

“Magic stone mining? How does it work?”

Giving Rosé a look as if to say, ‘You don’t know that either?’, the coachman continued.

“They stun the Quamad to maintain the magic and then mine the magic stone. Many young men eagerly support this because it’s quite lucrative.”

“More than mining?”

“Yes, it’s incomparably more profitable.”

The coachman’s explanation continued. According to imperial regulations, boundaries of Grade 3 or higher fall under imperial jurisdiction, but from Grade 4 onwards, they are entrusted to private guilds.

The goal is to entice guilds to protect the village and use magic stones as a means of earning money.

Thanks to this, even imperial citizens outside Monchen could feel secure, and guilds could legally earn substantial profits.

“Excluding the Blue Knights, the place with the most boundaries closed would be Pumong.”

The coachman asked if Rosé knew that Pumong was actually of Bistiman origin, subtly proud of it.

Of course. Not long ago, their leader kidnapped and threatened me.

“If you plan to do business tomorrow, go there. They seem to have a significant amount of magic stones and have even hired mercenaries.”

After that, the coachman continued to boast about Pumong Guild’s remarkable achievements.

Due to the delayed arrival of the Blue Knights, Pumong Guild members closed off Grade 2 boundaries among themselves and even assisted in demon extermination near the ‘unclosed boundaries’.

Rosé listened attentively while rummaging through her belongings. How many more should I put in? I need at least a hundred more than now.

‘I’ll probably have to pay an extra 10 sillas for magic stone mines.’

I’ve decided. Let’s sell at 30 times the cost tomorrow. The thought of profiting by exploiting Pumong Guild members made Rosé’s lips curl up as if she were about to burst into laughter.

* * *

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Palmer, who was vigorously wielding his pickaxe, wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at his companion.

This young man who swung his pickaxe five times with one swing, was renowned in the area for his ‘magic stone mining’. The reason ‘magic stone’ was attached to a miner’s brilliance was due to his mad mining skills.

Even with three eyes, it would be challenging to find magic stones, but the magic stone miner effortlessly dug up multiple magic stones with each swing of his pickaxe. It was truly a remarkable skill.

“Hey, what’s your secret?”

Taken aback by Palmer’s sudden question, the magic stone miner stopped swinging his pickaxe. But only for a short time. He didn’t respond and focused on mining magic stones again.

Ignored outright, Palmer just shrugged his shoulders. Whatever. Just having the magic stone miner around guaranteed an early finish and guaranteed pay for the day’s work.

Contract laborers who were not official guild members shared profits on a per-mining team basis. Therefore, the magic stone mined by the magic stone miner today would be evenly distributed among Mining Team 3.

“Hey, stop there! Switch!”

Damn it, I could have mined ten more. Palmer threw down his pickaxe in frustration. Glancing at the cart pulled by the magic stone miner, he saw that it was fully loaded. He was truly an impressive fellow.

As he was about to leave the mining site, a contract supervisor grabbed the magic stone miner’s shoulder. Like Palmer, he seemed impressed by the magic stone miner’s cart.

“Magic stone Miner! You always surprise me!”

The contract supervisor jovially patted the magic stone miner’s sweaty shoulder. However, the magic stone miner just nodded deeply and kept his head down.

“The young man is humble! You have somewhere to go with me!”

Leaving others behind, the contract supervisor took the magic stone miner somewhere.

About ten laborers were gathered under a tent. They were all well-built men working hard with their pickaxes.

In contrast to these slightly lean men, the magic stone miner had a dignified air among the sun-tanned men. Nevertheless, he excelled in mining magic stones among them.

“Hmm… We’re still short by nine.”

The contract supervisor squinted his eyes and stroked his chin while surveying the surroundings. The magic stone miner, drawn by the cold air, also looked around with his head raised.

Then, at that moment, the magic stone miner’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. The contract supervisor, who happened to be looking at the same spot, also raised his gaze in astonishment.

“A saintess…?”

Indeed, the person they were both looking at was Rosé, who had been actively trading since early dawn in this place. The magic stone miner groaned as if he had a headache and rubbed his forehead.

“I buy expensively and sell cheaply! Come on, 10 sillas at a 10% discount! I’ll take it for only 9 sillas!”

Her voice had become completely like that of a merchant. She even said buying expensively and selling cheaply—wasn’t that what Priest Ormite used to say?

“Hello! Take a look at that handsome gentleman over there too!”

“Me, me?”

The contract supervisor, pointing at himself, asked Rosé with lips trembling like a goldfish.

Rosé replied with a deadly wink, which she had practiced over a hundred times at home.

“Of course. If not a gentleman, then who else?”

“Hehehe….”

The contract supervisor, already halfway in love, laughed foolishly like a man.

The magic stone miner let out a deeper sigh.

“Miss….”

That’s right. The magic stone miner’s hidden identity was none other than Elion of the Blue Rock.

He treated Rosé to the bread he kneaded himself and the jam he made before going to work, and was her diligent caregiver as well.

The contract supervisor scratched his head and walked towards Rosé, enchanted. He was already fiddling with nine silver coins in his pocket.

“Rick, what are you doing! Still haven’t gathered enough people?”

At that moment, a Pumong guild member named Dwig approached the contract supervisor. The contract supervisor quickly hid his hand with the silver coins behind his back and said,

“No, I’ve collected them all! Sir Dwig! Please have a look!”

The contract supervisor quickly counted the number of men who had gathered around Rosé’s bundle. Eight men. And one saintess. In total, there were nine people, so thirty-nine people were exactly filled.

Dwig looked with suspicion at the eight men and one woman he claimed to have recruited. Even if the eight men were for hire, this woman was… 

“Did the thirty-nine people really mine more magic stones today?”

“Yes, absolutely!”

The contract supervisor widened his eyes to hide his nervousness.

Dwig was one of the officials in charge of reviewing membership applications for the Pumong guild. He had to score well somehow to enter even the lowest ranks of Pumong.

“Well, fine. Looks like we have forty people now.”

After exhaling deeply from his pipe, Dwig gestured to the laborers.

Rosé, suddenly singled out, hastily wrapped up her bundle. She was thinking of doing business elsewhere…

“Hey, come with us too.”

Me? Rosé pointed at her face in surprise, and Dwig nodded as if it were obvious and puffed on his pipe.

Could he be trying to report her as an illegal street vendor? Nervously, Rosé’s arm pressed closely against her side due to tension.

Even if she had to lower the price, she needed to sell quickly. The thought of the ten items she hadn’t sold yet weighed on her mind.

‘I’ve been too greedy.’

If she had sold them for just five sillas each, she would have already sold them all and gone home. Internally blaming herself, Rosé walked along with Dwig for a while, and a strange darkness loomed over her forehead.

Wait, this place…

A boundary. To be precise, it was a safety zone controlled by magic stones for magical purposes. Within the safety zone, laborers could mine magic stones and freely carry them outside.

However, once they left the safety zone to mine magic stones, the laborers would be trapped by the boundary without any movement until combatants shut down the boundary.

Dwig stopped at the last path of the safety zone. It was an area where mining teams had not yet come to inspect due to no magic stone being found.

What he was looking at was a large door. Written on the stone-like door were the words ‘The door will open with the voices of forty people.’

“This is the door that the general director discovered an hour ago. At first, we didn’t even know it was a door. The magical measurement results showed that it contains red magic stones.”

Red magic stones were highly priced, as they could be used not only for constructing safety zones but also for making various weapons and shields. They were usually found within the boundaries of Grade 4 or higher.

However, there were cases where they were found in lower boundaries as well. Just like today.

“I heard that the thirty-nine people here mined the most magic stone today. I’ll give them special treatment. The magic stone mined from this room will be split evenly among us in a 5:5 ratio.”

As soon as Dwig finished speaking, the men raised their pickaxes and cheered loudly.

Startled by them, Rosé took a step back and accidentally stepped on someone’s foot.

Apologizing and turning around to look at the person, she saw a very familiar face she had seen this morning. Just then, before Rosé could curse and yell,

“Miss.”

Elion held her hand to calm her down. Finally, the door, filled with the voices of forty people, began to open with a heavy creaking noise.

“It seems like everyone agrees.”

Whether she said it or not, Rosé interrogated him, mouthing, “What are you doing here, Elion!” She only knew him as a miner. She didn’t know he was mining magic stones.