But Rosé’s interrogation was soon buried in a flickering light that appeared. A fiery glow burst into Rosé’s brown eyes. There were green magic stones, blue magic stones, and even the red magic stones that Dwig mentioned.

All piled up on display.

“Darn it, could there be a bigger cart than this?”

“Move aside! That spot is mine!”

Men rushed forward to claim their spots in front of the magic stones. Some even fought to protect the most expensive spot for the red magic stones.

Dwig, opening his pocket watch to check the time, shouted loudly.

“Three hours later, the boundary will be closed. Mine diligently until then!”

‘This is crazy, how much is all this!’

Rosé and Elion, arriving late, were assigned the least popular yellow magic stones. But is this even it!

Whoa! I’ll pay off my debt! Rosé swung the pickaxe down like a sickly woodpecker. Unfortunately, only dust flew.

Mining magic stones requires delicate techniques. Not only considerable strength but also agility to avoid the magic around the magic stones while striking the pickaxe.

Rosé, who seemed to lack such skills, couldn’t unearth a single piece even after an hour. In contrast, Elion filled the cart with magic stones. Yellow, green, and when did he even find red magic stones?

“With that skill, we could pay off the debt and still have some left over!”

She was trying to ask for his secret, and he gave her a resentful remark. Memories of struggling to repay debts flashed through her mind. Tears welled up.

With such great talent, why?

“Pumong has set a daily limit. No matter how much you mine, you can only earn one phondo a day.”

“No matter how much you mine…?”

Elion shrugged his shoulders and casually added, 

“It’s called 5 to 5, but who knows. Probably, despite reaching the daily limit, you won’t end up making much.”

“Then why are you working so hard?”

At this point, Elion seemed pitiful. He casually replied once again.

“I’m bored. I have nothing else to do for three hours.”

She had known since she was guarding the house abandoned by its master, but really… what a sucker… cough!

“But why are you here, Miss?”

“T-That’s…”

Unable to find the right words, Rosé coughed like she was choking. She couldn’t explain the saintess-like attire without mentioning door-to-door sales.

“Well, cough! It’s to pay off debts, ahem, unavoidable…”

Although she gave a vague answer, it was incredibly close to the truth. Of course, there was also the additional goal of acquiring abilities, but she wanted to keep that hidden for now.

“I see. I apologize for causing trouble.”

Rosé forced a smile towards Elion, who looked dejected. She inherited the debt because she accepted that damned legacy. But if that was the will of the Creator, what could be done?

“It’s nothing. It’s all because of my irresponsible father.”

Better blame it on that Lian Mora guy.

“Yes… that’s right.”

Although Elion’s expression seemed darker, it was probably a misconception. Just by seeing him swing the pickaxe with such vigor.

“Alright, let’s finish up! It’s 10 minutes before closing the boundary!”

As time passed, the abundant magic stones gradually revealed the floor. The cart wheels wobbled as men managed the mined magic stones.

It was an unprecedented amount for a Grade 5 boundary. Even the knights had probably never seen this amount of magic stones.

“It’s closing soon! Everyone get ready to leave!”

The laborers each pulled their carts towards the gate. With the thought of earning a year’s worth of wages in just one day, smiles adorned their faces.

“Let’s have a beer tonight before going in.”

“What beer? Let’s go to Camus and have a bottle of rum!”

Rosé also followed, pulling a cart carrying a single yellow magic stone. She could feel Dwig’s astonished and partly angry gaze down her spine.

Why did you have to drag me along, then…

Thud!

“Huh?”

“W-What… is that!”

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the front row. Rosé raised her head following the noise.

Koong!

With a rumble, rocks fell from the ceiling. A man in front of the door was crushed under a huge boulder before he could escape.

What in the world…? Rosé stared blankly at the rolling magic stones coming towards her.

As the cart exploded, magic stones poured out like a waterfall. Colorful magic stones scattered on the floor turned into a bloodbath.

Blood seeped under her feet. Rosé recoiled in shock.

“Everyone back! Quickly!”

“The ceiling is collapsing!”

People pushed their carts and ran backward. Their clothes bore clear bloodstains.

Rosé also stood against the back wall with the others. A massive rock wedged between walls now became a giant barrier blocking their way.

“W-What… What happened, Dwig!”

“Did the battle mages fail at closing the gate?”

But the person responsible for answering was too busy retching at the sight of the corpse. He was a supervisor sent to oversee workers, not a combatant familiar with boundaries. And especially not with corpses.

Koogwooong!

Eyes that had been focused on Dwig turned towards the source of the sound. The door on the opposite wall had opened. Beyond it lay a dark and deep path.

Among those hesitating, someone picked up a cart. Following suit, everyone began filling their carts with magic stones again.

“W-What are you all doing?”

Dwig, pale from vomiting, finally spoke up. With one person dead and a strange door opened, everyone was only focused on grabbing magic stones before anything else.

Instead, the people just stared at him pitifully as he neither moved back, and just stood still.

“The battle mages must have momentarily lost sight of the Quamad! We just need to follow that path to find another exit!”

Everyone agreed with someone who confidently spoke up. The only ones who didn’t agree were Rosé staring into space and Elion looking at her anxiously—just those two.

“Miss.”

Rosé understood that his delicate call was a question. She replied to Elion with her lips pursed.

“Grade 1.”

When Rosé first entered the boundary, the system window indicated a E-Tier gate. In other words, a Grade 5 boundary in this world. But now that the passage is closed…

〈SYSTEM〉 You entered the gate, ‘The Lamp and the 40 Thieves’.

Grade measurement result: A-Tier

It was a Grade 1 boundary.

Elion, suspecting something, felt around the fallen rocks. His fingers were stained with dark shining powder.

“Someone intentionally suppressed the dark magic.”

The black powder was a trace of black magic stones. It was probably stuck in the ceiling crevice and fell when the ceiling collapsed.

This black magic stone, a Grade 1 magic stone, was also a material that seals off the ‘unclosed boundary’ fortress. It is not only expensive due to its ability to suppress magic, but it is also difficult to obtain unless you are an official from the imperial palace.

Yet there are people who can obtain black magic stones in the market. As far as Elion knew, there were only a few people in Bistiman.

“Um, Elion. What should we do now?”

“First, it seems we need to go as well.”

“We’re going? Is it okay?”

I don’t know why everywhere I go ends up like this.

Rosé tightly held the silver coins she had put in her pocket and stared at Elion with an anxious look. He nodded his head.

“The back is blocked. To find the exit, we need to move forward.”

Rosé reluctantly followed the men with Elion. Oddly enough, luck seemed to be on her side since morning… darn it.

Still, she had to protect the money she made today at all costs. If she couldn’t even keep this money after being skimmed by the priest, today’s business would be in the red.

“Hey, why don’t you try throwing a magic stone once? You never know what you might see.”

“Why are you asking me to use my magic stones? Use your own!”

“You’re at the front! Stop being selfish and throw it!”

Even walking in an orderly manner was momentarily interrupted as people murmured about who would throw the magic stones in the dark path.

Their steps were already delayed due to their large carts, making the narrow path even narrower.

“Darn it! I’ll throw just one! Just one!”

Under the pressure from the people behind, a man reluctantly took out a green magic stone. Although red magic stones of a higher grade were brighter, it was too expensive for him to dare to use them.

Thud!

With just a flick of his thumb, the green magic stone was thrown into the dark cave path. Something appeared.

Growl.

The man’s eyes widened. A sight unseen by Rosé standing in the back.

Resembling a black jackal, it glared at the man who threw the magic stone while breathing heavily through its nose.

“Aaah!”

Again, it was a sound that those at the back couldn’t hear. However, it took only an instant for the skin on the man’s back, thin like parchment, to be torn apart brutally.

His flesh was sliced, and red muscles were exposed. The creature’s mouth was dyed a deep red.

The man screamed and fainted, unable to bear the pain. The creature climbed onto the man’s back, tearing the flesh from his ribs attached to bones like a tart crust.

When even the slightest movement of the man who had been jumping stopped, those who had been staring blankly snapped back to reality and screamed in horror.

“Aaah! Move aside!”

“F*ck, go back! Push the cart!”

But the cart remained motionless. Each one hoped that someone else would give up pushing the cart by exchanging glances with each other.

When mining magic stones at the boundary, it was common for uncaught monsters to show up. At those moments, anyone who abandoned the cart claiming to have saved another’s life would be considered foolish.

“Aaah! Save me!”

“Ugh! Please push back!”

A beast emerged from the darkness, revealing its sharp fangs. Growl! It breathed heavily, kicking its front legs towards the tempting piece of flesh.

Facing off against the beast, Carlson abandoned pushing the cart and climbed over it. But his feet kept sinking into the pile of magic stones.

In his panic to take off his shoes, Carlson was attacked by the beast. Its sharp teeth tore his hand like a piece of meat.

“Aaah!”

His wrist flew off. Seeing his torn veins and white bones, Carlson began to scream like a child.

Now the beast targeted Carlson’s legs. Carlson wobbled forward with his remaining arm dangling from his shoulder.

But in the eyes of the beast, he looked like nothing more than a caterpillar munching on leaves.

“Aaargh!”

As if it was tearing apart a caterpillar’s body in half, his two legs were torn apart messily. Fortunately, Carlson immediately lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was not himself but the relieved expressions of his colleagues.