Prologue 5 (1/2)

Everything began on this day.

Miners wake up early in the morning. We are woken up at 6am by the bells, and have to gather at the mine entrance to start work by half past 6. I dipped a hardened bread in the same soup as yesterday and stuffed it in my mouth. You can’t really complain about the food because you can’t last the entire day if you don’t eat.

I left the cafeteria with Lark.

If you look up at the ceiling of the cave, you can see the faint blue sky. In this mine, which is cool in the summer and warm in the winter, only the colour of the sky indicates the season.

It was the spring sky today.

「Hey, little brother.」

「What is it?」I answered, while rubbing my sleepy eyes.

「I like your black hair and black eyes.」

「…Where did that come from?」

She has never said something like that before.

My hair and eyes are black. It seems to be a quite unusual feature – which is said to be an evil omen.

Among my siblings, I alone was hated and sold because of this “black”.

But no one in this mine cared about the color of my hair. They were all bright, cheerful, and carefree.

「Agh!」

「L-Lark? What’s wrong?」

「Uuuuh… I’m gonna run to the toilet for a little bit.」

「What?! The assembly is about to start!」

「Cover for me! I’m going!」

Lark ran, holding her stomach.

「What is up with her?」

That was so not like her. Not the part where she went to the toilet, but the part where she complimented my appearance.

I participated in the morning assembly alone. The miners gathered around and listened to the mine chief who was standing on a slightly elevated platform, just as usual as everyday.

There was a plaza in front of the entrance to the mine, where miners gathered in groups of threes and fives. However, today was a little strange. There were more miners than usual.

It was still dark in the early morning, so the miners were holding torches. Spark flew about in the air.

The mine entrance was a huge hole. Even if all of us miners rush at it, it can swallow us calmly. But the further you go, the narrower it becomes, and you could even end up at a raccoon hole.

Well, let’s leave it aside.

Miners were gathered in one place. At the center of it was the mine chief – a fat man who was hiding his baldness with a silk hat – and another man beside him.

「…Who’s that?」

Although he was as fat as the mine chief, his hair was bushy, running smoothly down his back.

He was overpowering everyone in the surroundings with his slant eyes. Even the domineering mine chief… who doesn’t care to remember our faces nor our names (leaving aside the fact that I don’t have a name) was acting timid in front of the man.

「Everyone, listen up! There is an important announcement from Achenbach-sama, who is the owner of this Six Mine and the Duke of Keith Gran Federation! Kneel down!」

The miners started looking at each other. They were asking each other things like, “what should we do?”, “what the hell is a duke?”. However, when one miner knelt, the rest followed suit and I did too. Kneeling on hard ground hurts the kneecap…

For the first time, I learned that this mine belonged to a federation called the Keith Gran Federation. No one told me that. And frankly, the name of the country doesn’t help me to dive into the mine and brave through the raccoon hole where monsters might appear.

「Hmm… This place is damp and uncomfortable as usual.」

「I apologize, Your Excellency.」

It was the duke who complained loudly, and it was the mine chief acting timid as before. It was only natural that a mine is damp. I wonder what he’s apologizing for.

「Oh, it smells bad. The smell rises up even to this platform.」

「I apologize, Your Excellency. I will tell the slaves to clean their bodies properly.」

「Doesn’t matter. I’ll just never come here again.」

We miners simply watched that exchange absentmindedly. I understand that they are saying unpleasant things about us, but I don’t feel anger whatsoever. Is this also because of the contract magic that was cast on us?

「Let’s get this over with. I heard the other day that a 6-star skill orb was unearthed at this mine. I came to inspect it.」

It must be the 6-star skill orb that Lark found.

To think that even a big-wig of this country would show up. I remember Lark saying that it’s worth an entire country, and old man Hinga also said that it cannot be assigned a price.

「Yes, the orb is over here.」