Chapter 155 (1/2)

Huh? Where…? Noah stopped her steps among the crowd of people and looked down at the floor. She could see a planked ground, not a bricked pavement. “Uh?”

It wasn’t until she looked back with a frown that Noah realized what kind of group she was now in. Behind her, she could see a letter clearly engraved on a thick iron column that said ‘Gate 3’.

“All necessary supplies are provided below, so don’t worry! Lucy, put the lever down!”

The ground rattled. Noah, along with Muell, blinked blankly and followed the crowd as they drifted upward.

“Well…?”

And about ten minutes later, they found themselves in work clothes colored blue, wearing helmets with headlights attached. They were dragging their pickaxes along the miners’ herd.

When did I suddenly become a miner… Hey, who wants to tell me why this happened? They trailed after the miners, and a chuckle fell from Noah’s lips. Of course, she had been planning to go down the mine, so there was no need to freak out and go back, but she also found her situation kind of funny.

One floor down from the gate was a supply room with miners’ work clothes and equipment. When Noah had changed into the appropriate clothes, bringing with them tools, the supervisor pushed her to follow the crowd while she carried Muell in her arms.

Should I just think positively? she thought. She had nothing to do at night anyway, and since Muell had said the team would be replaced in six hours, they would be able to return by midnight. Until then, she could take a tour around the mine.

The road to the mine was not as dark and bumpy as she had vaguely imagined. Bright lanterns hung on both sides, and both the floor and walls were covered with thick plywood, making the path easy to walk on.

“Hey, is this the way we go to the workshop?” Noah asked the man who was one step ahead.

“Yes. If you go straight through this road, you’ll see a door leading to the mine wall. Beyond the door, we take the train across each floor.”

“Each floor? Do you happen to know where this team is going?”

“We’re not mine slaves, so no matter how deep we go, we’ll only get to the middle floor. You must be in a hurry to bring your child, so don’t worry too much. We’re going to team up with the miners anyway.”

The crowd was to be divided in pairs comprising the person who searches for the location where Mane Ore was buried with a mana detection tool and the person who unearths the ore by directing a pickaxe. The role of the navigator is to merely hold a detection stick and a lamp, so it is reasonable for ordinary people with no experience to play the role.

Originally, only the mine slaves worked, but now they were mobilizing commoners owing to the lack of manpower.