?


    Thwack~ Thwack~ Thwack~


    The sound of pickaxes echoed through the air as the ves continued mining Magic Stones.


    "How long have we been mining here?"


    "You''re new, aren''t you? Understandably, you don''t know the time. Once you get used to it, you''ll know it''s almost time to return to the camp."


    Conversations between senior and new ve continued.


    Unlike the neers who liked toin, the senior ves were more serious when it came to mining.


    Their seriousness stemmed not only from avoiding the wrath of the guarding soldiers.


    Most of them had heard a rumor.


    There was a rumor flying around that if they worked hard enough to build muscr bodies, they would be able to leave this ce sooner.


    Of course, they didn''t know they would be put up for auction.


    However, they weren''t foolish enough to think they would be released just like that.


    Nevertheless, they still thought it would be better to leave the life of mining in the Mine Dungeon as soon as possible.


    At the very least, they thought they might bebor ves in a trading house.


    When a senior ve whispered all the information from that rumor into the ear of a new ve, the new ve immediately became more enthusiastic about mining.


    "By the way, do you know what happens to someone brought in as porters?"


    "I don''t know. As long as I''ve been here, I''ve never seen any members of the Mine Dungeon raid take ves as porters."


    They suddenly changed the subject of their conversation.


    Their faces instantly turned mournful.


    As they let out a sigh, indicating their pity but resigned to Mesties'' fate, they heard the soldiers shouting.


    "It''s time to return to your respective tents in the ve district of the Nest of very."


    The soldiers were ordering everyone to return to the camp.


    Their work hours were over.


    They hung their pickaxes back on their shoulders.


    Slowly, they began to gather.


    A sense of relief illuminated the faces of the ves, brightening the entire ce.


    However, they suddenly heard a strange sound.


    The sound didn''te from the supervising soldiers.


    Initially, the sound was faint,ing from deep within the Mine Dungeon.


    But gradually, it grew louder and clearer.


    At first, they heard echoing footsteps, followed by heavy,bored breathing.


    At first, they thought it was the sound of a monster. Many ves suddenly tensed their bodies. Some even identally threw their pickaxes withical movements.


    The supervising soldiers quickly coordinated among themselves to prepare for the monsters. They were visibly nervous.


    Understandably, they hadn''t fought monsters in a very long time. There had hardly been any cases where monsters emerged from the Mine Dungeon during their tenure at the Nest of very.


    Fortunately, their worst-case scenario imaginations didn''t be a reality.


    "Help!"


    Everyone immediately tensed their gaze as they heard someone cry for help.


    But they couldn''t see the person yet.


    "Has anyone been mining farther than this spot?"


    "No. I''m sure this is the deepest mining spot that has been established."


    "If that''s the case..."


    There was only one answer. The person who had ventured deeper into the Mine Dungeon was an adventuring party and the ve they brought along as a porter.


    And it was true.


    Not long after, their curiosity was answered when they saw the person.


    As predicted, the person who had cried for help with a broken voice earlier was the ve brought in as a porter.


    "Help! We need assistance. The situation is dire."


    ***


    "Help! We need assistance. The situation is dire."


    I kept repeating those words as if I were in a desperate situation.


    I made sure to follow each word that came out of my mouth with gasping breaths, adding urgency to each word.


    And finally, I appeared before the ves who initially seemed to be returning to the camp.


    There were also vignt guard soldiers. However, they immediately looked puzzled when they saw me.


    Perhaps they were surprised because I not only appeared disheveled and exhausted but also because they saw me carrying Sharon in my arms.


    Yes, I was currently carrying Sharon in a princess-style hold.


    Sharon closed her eyes as if she were unconscious. However, there were asional twitches in her eyelids, indicating that she was only pretending to be unconscious.


    "Please remain silent. We will be discovered if you keep twitching," I whispered softly in her ear.


    As if tickled by my voice, her body also twitched.


    I became worried about her acting abilities. Did I make a mistake by involving her in the scenario I had devised?


    Earlier, I had asked ude about how they would trigger the dungeon explosion. It turned out they would use a magic item to attract golems from various ces to gather in one location.


    Their n was to show the gathering of golems to the soldiers and ves in this mining area and then im that a dungeon explosion had urred. However, once the ves and soldiers had returned to the Nest of very, they would disperse the gathered golems.


    The magic item they were using was a type of alchemy stone called vored Stones. It was a stone specially made to make golems crave it.


    With that stone, they could attract many golems to the desired location, like a shepherd leading their livestock.


    They nned to attract just enough golems, without actually causing a dungeon explosion. But my n was the opposite.


    So, I instructed ude and Raiz to spread the vored Stones everywhere.


    Fortunately, ude brought a lot of vored Stones, so it would be enough to distribute them in the Mine Dungeon. The vored Stones were given by the boss of the Nest of very. Perhaps the boss was worried that the given vored Stones would be ineffective or something? That''s why they gave ude more vored Stones than necessary.


    While ude and Raiz were spreading the vored Stones, I ran here while carrying Sharon. I told Sharon to pretend to be unconscious for the sake of realism.


    But I had indeed run as fast as I could to make my body sweat. That''s why I didn''t act when I leaned the upper part of my arm against the wall.


    When the soldiers saw me leaning against the wall, they ran towards me.


    "What happened?"


    "Haa... Haa... It''s an emergency. The monsters inside are gathering and starting to rampage. We noticed their movements were not normal. That''s at least my brief exnation."


    The soldiers'' eyes suddenly widened. Their hands gripping rusty weapons began to tremble.


    As their eyes met, they already concluded that a disaster was imminent.


    Seeing them all silent, I could assume that they believed everything I said. I mean, they would never think that a ve like me would dare to lie, especially since I was still wearing shackles on my legs.


    From the beginning, I didn''t want to remove the shackles on my legs because I intended to deceive these soldiers.


    "We don''t have time. I can''t give you aplete report because it would waste too much time."


    "E-Excuse me, but where are the other members of the adventurer party that went inside with you, apart from the woman you''re carrying?"


    Of course, it wouldn''t be easy to convince them.


    "I have been given orders by the members of the adventurer party tasked with exterminating the monsters inside to meet Lord Rafferty Billington immediately. They are currently trying to buy time."


    It would actually be difficult for them to believe that I was given such a task.


    They might wonder why I wasn''t sacrificed to buy time. It''s amon secret among everyone that the weak are under the dominion of the strong. Looking at it from that perspective, it should have been ude or Raiz carrying Sharon, not me, because it''s the easiest task.


    But why would they think that way? They couldn''t do anything even if they were suspicious.


    As I saw them puzzled like frogs, I wanted to shout at them. But...


    "W-What he said is... the truth!"


    Sharon suddenly opened her eyes after hearing our conversation. She said that everything I said was true. Of course, she said it with a stuttering tone, as if she were in pain.


    Not stopping there, she also angrily questioned how long they would hold us here.


    For some reason, she looked really angry. Her face even turned red.


    "Alright. We will escort you to meet him."


    Some soldiers led me.


    Then the remaining soldiers immediately urged everyone to hurry back to the Nest of very.


    As we started walking, Sharon suddenly muttered, "How long do I have to be in this embarrassing position?!"


    I wondered if she wanted me to put her down or not. But strangely, she held onto my arm tightly and hid her face in my chest.


    There was a soldier who tried to take my ce in carrying Sharon, but I refused. It didn''t matter if Sharon wanted to walk on her own, but I still needed her to be close to me, so I couldn''t let someone else carry her.


    Oddly enough, Sharon tightened her grip on my arm after that.