Chapter 390: In the depths of the mine [1]

Moments after the attack started.

Clank! Clank—!

Sparks flew in the air as the vassals engaged with the Ramsail soldiers.

“Akh…!”

“hueek!”

I could hear the screams of the soldiers as blood spilled all over. I stared at the scene unblinkingly, capturing everything in my mind as I felt something soft land on my shoulder.

“Done.”

It was Owl-Mighty.

I briefly glanced its way before looking away.

…Things would’ve been a little bit more complicated had it not been for Owl-Mighty. I hadn’t revealed Owl-Mighty to the world just yet, but I was slowly starting to.

The same was true for Pebble.

It was just not time yet.

“….”

Feeling a certain gaze I turned my head to see Leon look at Owl-Mighty with a scowl.

‘Ah, right…’

I suddenly recalled his first reaction when I told him about Owl-Mighty. It was about the same reaction I normally would get whenever I told him a joke.

….It was worth it.

“….”

Evelyn also noticed Owl-Mighty and while she seemed intrigued, the fight that was currently happening not so far from us was taking a major part of her attention.

All of a sudden, Leon turned his head to face the back, his eyes squinting.

“….There’s people approaching from the back.”

“I know.”

I squinted my eyes in an attempt to see behind the foliage, but it was no use. I couldn’t see a thing. Thankfully, the captain had left several soldiers behind in order to deal with them.

Everything was going according to the family Head’s plan and I started to relax a little.

Clank—!

A large spark gathered my attention once more.

Turning my head to look, I saw that the situation was starting to turn in our favor. The miners had finally joined the fight.

‘Looks like it’ll be over soon.’

I could see the vassals slowly corner the Viscount’s soldiers towards the mine.

Clank, clank—

The heavy sound of the metal clashing reverberated and as I stared at the mine that stood behind them, my expression froze.

“…Uh?”

Three small figures appeared by the entrance.

‘What in the…’

I couldn’t clearly see them since they appeared a little obscured, but turning my head to look at Leon and Evelyn who were engrossed in the fight, I realized that I was the only one that could see them.

‘Why do they feel so familiar…?’

Pressing the ground, I tried to stand up.

Rustle~

However, Leon stopped me right before I could.

“Where are you going?”

“….I need to check something out.”

“What? Can’t you do it later…?”

“….”

I shifted my attention towards the entrance of the mine once more. The three small figures that stood there were now entering the mine.

Seeing this my heart raced.

“No, I can’t…”

“Wait—”

Before Leon could finish his sentence, I dashed towards the mine.

Clank, clank!

Sparks flew all around me as the soldiers fought. With the aid of [Veil of Deceit], I was able to move past everyone as I rushed towards the mine.

Unknowingly, the closer I came to the mine, the more muffled the sound of the fight grew.

Before long, all noise ceased and I stood before the mine.

“This…”

I looked around me.

The soldiers were gone and what replaced them were bulky miners who moved several carts filled with rocks.

‘What the…’

I was confused at first, but realization soon dawned on me. Hastily, I looked down to my arm where the four-leaf clover was.

It was then that I understood.

“The third leaf…”

It had worked.

“Go…! You two hide and I will find you! Hurry up!”

A voice reached my ears as I turned to face the mine. There I could see the frames that I had been chasing after. They no longer were obscured and I could see them clearly.

It was Leon, Evelyn, and…

‘Julien.’

This right here appeared to be the memory Leon had been talking about.

“Did you not hear me?! Go!”

Holding onto a stick, Julien threatened to beat both Evelyn and Leon who had no choice but to run into the mine.

Staring at them, I noticed a few abnormalities with Leon.

He staggered with each step he took while his eyes had glaring black circles beneath. He looked sleep-deprived.

‘The more I learn about how Leon had been treated the more I realized just how patient he’s been…’

I started to feel bad for him.

“I’ll count to one hundred so make sure you hide well. ”

Julien then turned to face the wall where he threw the stick to the side. Scratching the side of his neck he counted to twenty before entering deep into the mine.

“…..”

I stood in silence as he walked deeper into the cave before following him from behind.

At the same time I did, I cast an illusion over my body to hide myself well.

This…

…I was sure I’d be able to find what I wanted in this manner.

“Where did they go?”

The mine was quite big. Julien was calm at first, however, after several minutes passed and he saw no signs of Leon and Evelyn, he started to grow restless.

“….Where did those two bastards go?”

He scratched the side of his neck.

“Did they leave?”

Julien turned his head to look behind before shaking his head.

“No, that can’t be… I would’ve noticed them if they left. If so…?”

An idea seemed to occur to him as he looked around and headed deeper into the mine.

Clank, clank—

The heavy clink of pickaxes striking the cave walls echoed as Julien walked past several miners. They gave him only a brief glance before returning to their labor.

They didn’t appear surprised by his appearance which told me they were used to his appearance.

Clank, clank—

…Julien seemed to know the way as he headed deeper and deeper into the mines.

It wasn’t long before he came across a fork road.

“Those bastards…”

He looked around before heading towards the leftmost one.

‘Wait…’

I was surprised to his choice.

The left side was obstructed by planks of wood, barring entry. However, through several narrow gaps, Julien managed to squeeze through and step onto the path, his vision immediately swallowed by darkness.

I had to use my ‘Concept’ in order to enter and follow from behind.

However, I had a hard time following Julien as my vision was obscured by darkness.

Tak, tak, tak—

I could only rely on the sound of his footsteps to guide me as he walked ahead.

‘Where exactly is he going?’

This place seemed abandoned. Though my vision was limited, I could make out faint traces of structures scattered around.

….It had clearly been developed before but somehow abandoned.

‘Hmm.’

I picked up the pace while keeping my steps light and following Julien closely behind.

Eventually, the footsteps stopped and so did I.

It was still dark so I couldn’t see properly, but that wasn’t for long.

Swoosh!

All of a sudden the surroundings lit up.

“….”

Holding onto a torch, Julien’s features appeared clear to me once more.

His face was grim as he looked around.

“Where are you? Come out before I get to you…”

The torchlight illuminated just enough for me to get a clearer view of our surroundings. We were in a small enclosure cluttered with old tools and equipment, left abandoned and gathering dust.

That was probably where Julien took the torch.

“I know one of you fuckers is here. Get out before I make you come out…!”

Julien’s words seemed laced with poison as his eyes aggressively scanned the surroundings, shifting the torch around while tossing some of the equipment away.

“…!”

As he did so, I was surprised to see that among the equipment scattered there was some dynamite.

‘That doesn’t look very safe…’

“Where are you!?”

Julien grew progressively frustrated with each passing second. He searched every nook and cranny of the place to no avail.

Leon and Evelyn were nowhere near in sight.

…At least, on the surface.

I had already scanned the place.

Somewhere close, I could feel a faint presence.

“Quit messing around! Come out before I make you!?”

Julien’s eyes grew increasingly intense with each passing second, to the point that I was taken aback. What unsettled me most was the brief flicker of insanity that crossed his gaze.

‘Wait, what is he…?’

All of a sudden, my heart paused as he turned his attention towards the dynamite.

“….!”

I couldn’t help but feel a change in my expression as Julien walked towards the nearby dynamite.

“I’ll count to ten. If you don’t come out soon I’ll blow this entire place up.”

He brought the torch near the dynamite.

“One…”

Julien started to count.

‘Has he completely lost it?’

For a moment, I almost showed myself. However, with my last bit of clarity was able to stop myself from doing so.

‘Right, I can’t interfere…’

I needed to see how this played out. Surely he wasn’t going to go through with it.

“Two…”

Julien’s countdown continued.

And yet…

The figure hiding within the space didn’t move.

‘What is going on? Why aren’t they moving…?’

I felt something amiss with the situation but chose to remain put Surely they were going to come out soon, right?

“Three…”

“Four, five, six, seven…”

Or so I thought.

By the time the count reached seven, I knew that something was wrong.

I cast my gaze in the direction of where I felt the presence and moved in its direction.

“Eight..”

Julien brought the torch closer to the dynamite.

…I felt my heart press against my throat as I hurried my steps and reached the presence. It was in one of the boxes where the tools were. Ducking down, I opened the lid to see a figure breathing in silence.

He was completely passed out.

“….!”

My expression changed the moment I saw the figure.

It was none other than Leon, and he seemed to be sleeping.

“Nine…”

‘Shit!’

I quickly turned my head just in time to see Julien throw the torch onto the dynamite. To my shock, his entire body began to shift, taking on a darkish hue before he sprinted forward.

“Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!”

“….?”

Taken aback by the sudden transformation, I wasn’t able to react in time and the torch directly came into contact with the dynamite.

It took no longer than a second for the dynamite to active.

“Shit.”

A curse slipped out my mouth as I realized what was happening and I hurriedly shifted my attention towards the sleeping Leon. Without a second thought, I closed my eyes and six orbs appeared.

I immediately reached for the pink orb.

‘Crack…!’

As I did so, changes swept through my body, with everything growing stiff and rigid.

I never had the time to properly use this orb.

This was the first time I used it, and it was a great way to test it as the dynamite detonated shortly after.

Boooom—

A terrifying explosion resounded shortly after.

Everything shook and the surroundings started to crumble.

Rumble! Rumble—

“Uh!?”

Finally, Leon was startled awake. But it was too late for him as the ceiling started to collapse on itself.

“….!”

His expression shifted rapidly in response to the situation, but it was too late; a large rock came crashing down toward him.

Rumble!

And then another…

Rumble!

And then another…

Everything collapsed on itself, burying everything within it.

Me included.