61 Chapter 61 - First Deployment Part 1 Side Chapter (2/2)

”Do not look my way.Act as if you're talking amongst yourselves.”The old man talked without moving his jaw.”The people of this village have gone crazy.Do not trust them.Do not eat anything they offer you.Once you're done in the mine, leave immediately and take me with you if you can.”

Jasmine didn't know what was going on but decided to follow the old man's advice.The rude villager was returning with a box in his hands.”Here's the seal.Open the box and get this over with.”

The foreman opened up the box and took out a small cylinder and knife.He had to cut a finger in order to get enough blood to cover the head of the seal so that he could mark the request.The first box was to give the mercenaries full access to his mine during the request.The second box marked the success of the request.

After the foreman marked the first box, the rude villager took the seal and knife and placed them back into the box.The man clearly didn't want the foreman to keep hold of it for some reason and that just led the women into believing the foreman's words even more.”The mine is over there behind the wall of junk.If you're going to do your job then go do it already.You, old man, follow me.”

Jasmine had Eliza pull the carriage forward while keeping an eye out for the other villagers.The other villagers were all watching their group from a distance.Perhaps it was due to the foreman's words but Jasmine felt creeped out by their stares.They didn't seem like the kind of stares that you would give a fellow person.

The entrance to the mine itself was wide but unfortunately it was too short for Ahk.”Do you mind staying with the carriage?I don't know what the people might do to it and they're still watching us.”Jasmine was hoping that the people wouldn't try doing something when the rest of their group entered the mine.Ahk was the strongest person there but she also had the least amount of armor protecting her.

Gren bought three magic lights in preparation for the mission that he sent the women on; Jasmine was of course given her own one that was a bit fancier than the others.The carrying size ones were more expensive but they were a necessary purchase.Jasmine took the lead and was looking for any signs of the rock lizards.

”Ah!”Behind Jasmine was a scream.Turning around, she could see that one of the dwarves was holding back a large grey creature.One of the other dwarves rushed forward and flipped the rock lizard that was attacking her friend before the last dwarf struck it on its weak underbelly using her warpick.The rock lizard's high-pitched hiss didn't last long before it died.

”Good job, you three.You've managed to kill the first rock lizard.Still, where did it come from?I didn't see any signs of it.”Jasmine didn't notice any side paths that it could have come from.

”I don't know.It just attacked me from behind.I only heard it when it got close to me.”Judging by the voice, the one that got attacked was Rumi.

”How are we going to clear the mine if we can't even see the targets?”Jasmine was starting to realize why nobody else took the request.”Let's return to the entrance.I want to try something.”

Ahk raised her axe when she saw movement by the entrance but lowered it when she noticed that it was just her partners.”Okay, everybody.Get back behind me.”Jasmine was facing the mine and the other women quickly moved over to where Ahk was.

The breastplate was a little bit in the way but Jasmine could still breathe in enough air to release a massive flame.Rock lizards could be heard hissing for a while and, when the flames subsisted, Jasmine could see their charred remains.”Wow, that's a lot of them.We just walked past all of those without even realizing it.”Rumi was glad that she was only attacked by one of them.

Jasmine noticed that there were patches on the walls and ceiling that weren't as scorched.Those must have been the places that the rock lizards were clinging on to.”I see.It might just be possible to clear the mine after all.We can't use fire down there but we can slowly make our way through the mine attacking any odd bumps along the walls and ceiling.”

Alba was poking the back of one of the dead lizards with her pick.”Will that even work?Their scales are tough and our weapons will break if we keep using them against anything suspicious in there.We can't rely on your flames when we're deep in the mine.”

Eliza had been thinking about something that she found strange.”Why did that one lizard attack Rumi in there?There were so many of them that we walked by and none of them attacked us.That lizard could have attacked anybody but it chose Rumi who was in the middle of all of us.”

”Were you doing something when you got attacked?”Rumi shook her head at Alba's question but then realized something.

”Wait.”She felt around her waist and couldn't find the pouch she had tied to the armor.”My meat is gone.I think it attacked me for my meat.”

The group decided to try going into the mine again but this time they brought a sack from the back of the carriage.It was a boar leg that they cooked on their way to the village.Most of the meat from this specific boar couldn't be eaten due to Ahk cutting the boar in two but the legs were still fine.”If baiting them with meat doesn't work then I'll risk using my flame breath.The living statue doesn't need to breathe so she'll pull me out if I start to suffocate.”They still didn't know the living statue's name.

”I don't like the idea of that but I also don't want to wait here for an entire week waiting for the rock lizards to come out for food.Those villagers don't seem accepting of us.I can't tell if it's just because they hate demihumans but it somehow seems different than usual.I can't be the only one that feels this way.”Alba was used to humans hating her and the other dwarves--especially the miners.

”No fight.No want stay.”Ahk was swinging her axe while seeming frustrated.

”It doesn't look like there's anything to drink here and I'm on my last bottle of wine.”Rumi wouldn't mind staying if she had alcohol but she didn't even have enough to get her drunk for more than a day.

”I can't help but agree with you, Alba.These villagers are shifty.Even now there are some watching us from a distance.”Eliza locked eyes with one of the villagers and they hid behind a rock.”Definitely shifty.”

”At most we'll stay a single night here but I think I'd prefer to stay closer to the mine than the village.”Jasmine was used to children mocking her and the adults avoiding her but she rarely left the city.There was a village that traded with Doga to the east of Adierton but they only made trips there when her brother, Jacob, was still staying at home.She wasn't used to this type of vigilance.

Letta didn't agree with Alba.”The humans that hated us were usually more open about their hatred but we didn't have tough people like Ahk with us back then.I don't think they're acting as weird as you think they are.”

”...”The living statue didn't say anything, obviously.