Tome of Blood

  Chapter 170-20-Is there a dragon in the mine?

   Problems with Castel Silver Mine?

  Charlotte's heart moved slightly.

  The silver mine is the pocketbook of the earldom, and the precious mithril is almost priceless.

  Although in recent years the income from commerce and trade has taken an increasing proportion in Castel, but before the mithril mines are exhausted, the majority of the income of the territory is still silver mines, especially mithril mines.

  The time when the associated mithril veins of the Castel family dried up coincided with the time when the old hag sent all the nobles around her away. After Charlotte knew about it, she felt something was wrong. Now it seems... Maybe there is something tricky in it.

  Through this thought, Charlotte cheered up almost instantly, and asked with a serious expression:

"What's the problem?"

   "My lord Charlotte, there is a possibility that some kind of terrifying monster is hidden under the Castel Mine!"

   Luf said in a deep voice.

"monster?"

  Charlotte froze.

  She frowned and said:

   "Be more careful."

  Luf nodded, thinking and recalling:

   "It all starts when we just arrived in Castelland..."

   "About 20 days ago, people from our Blood Wolf tribe came to the Castel Territory and headed straight to the famous Castel Silver Mine."

"I selected a few strong tribesmen to work in the mine as hired miners. After working for about a week, I won the trust of the mine supervisor nobles. I was able to go deeper into the silver mine to work, and the salary was raised all of a sudden. It's quadrupled."

   "However, after going deep into the mine, I discovered a few strange phenomena."

"Strange phenomenon?"

  Charlotte was instantly aroused curiosity.

  Luf nodded:

   "Yes, a strange phenomenon."

   "For example, the silver mine is obviously the most efficient one, but there are very few strong miners like me and my clansman. Most of the miners...with all due respect, look relatively thin."

"It is also because of this that my clansmen and I will soon be favored by the mine supervisor. But this is very strange. We have already seen the main vein of the silver mine inside. Even if the associated mithril mine is exhausted, the silver mine will not There is no depletion, I do not believe that the mine cannot even attract strong miners..."

"Not only that, after joining the ranks of miners, I noticed that those old miners looked at us very strangely, so I had a heart, invited an old miner to drink a few times in the tavern, and asked I have my own doubts."

"At first, he was reluctant to say it, but after drinking my wine a few times, he couldn't help persuading me to leave and stop working in the mine, and after I kept asking him, he finally told the truth about the mine. secret…"

   "Castel Silver Mine...There are monsters in it! Those miners who are strong will eventually be eaten by monsters!"

   Monsters that eat miners?

  Charlotte's frown deepened.

   "As for the mine, is there anything to say about this?"

   she asked.

   "I also asked insincerely, and the mine completely denied this matter, saying it was just a rumor among the miners..."

   "But among the miners, this is an open secret. Not only will the strong miners who went deep into the mine disappear, it is said that some people have heard terrifying beasts and abnormal noises coming from the depths of the mine..."

   "It is said that the beast's cry is deep and heavy, just like the legendary dragon's chant!"

   "Because of this, there are even more astonishing remarks among the miners, that is, in the deepest part of the mine, there lives a giant dragon that feeds on ore veins and miners!"

  Lu Fu looked solemn and spoke surprisingly.

  Giant dragon?

  Charlotte was completely stunned.

  She felt more and more outrageous. She just felt that there was something wrong with the depletion of mithril veins. Why did she investigate and investigate and found a dragon?

   "You mean... the Mithril veins were also eaten up by this... suspected dragon monster?"

   Charlotte asked.

   This time, Lu Fu shook his head:

   "No, I haven't seen the Mithril mine. The Mithril mine has been sealed. The reason given by the mine is that the mine is exhausted and there is a risk of landslides, so it is forbidden to approach."

"However, I asked the old miners, and they told me that there must be secrets hidden in the Mithril mine. In the past, a miner sneaked in while everyone was away, and wanted to get some **** from the Mithril mine... "

   "You know, mithril is precious, even the **** is priceless, but the man escaped not long after entering, and went crazy after escaping..."

   "Later... he disappeared, and the mine never mentioned it again. As for the miners... no one dared to approach the sealed silver vein."

"However, the old miner has a guess that the monster is hidden in the mithril vein. He said that he heard a legend in his early years. It is said that there is a kind of dragon who likes to live in the crypt and uses various precious metals as Food…"

   "He said that such a dragon might be hidden deep in Castel's mine!"

  Luf's answer made Charlotte both surprised and puzzled.

   Surprisingly, she could hear rumors of dragons in her own territory.

Charlotte, who has read all kinds of fantasy novels in her previous life, is no stranger to the legendary existence of giant dragons. In various novels, the protagonist and dragon often have an indissoluble bond. The dragon acts as a companion or a mount.

After crossing, Charlotte also curiously searched for relevant information, knowing that there are giant dragons in the world of Myria, and their strength is extremely powerful. After they become adults, they at least have the strength of the blazing sun. Some old guys even dare to fight against the legendary Challenging.

   It’s just that giant dragons live in inaccessible places. In the civilized world, there are mostly legends. Occasionally, there are rumors of mercenaries slaying dragons. In fact, the ones slaughtered are only sub-dragons with a certain bloodline of giant dragons.

   But Charlotte is also puzzled.

   What she doubted was that if there was a giant dragon feeding on mithril under the Castel mine, as Luf said, then the mine would definitely not suppress the news.

   On the contrary, they will make a big publicity and recruit mercenaries to come to slaughter the dragon, so as not to cause more damage to the mine.

   But the fact is that the nobles who supervised the mine just announced that the mine was exhausted and the mine was closed.

   What is even more surprising is that even the other nobles of Castel have no objection to this.

   If there is, it has been a year since Charlotte and the territory reconnected, and someone must have tipped off the news.

   After all, even if she has no prestige, she is still the earl of the territory, the lord of the territory, and the nominal owner of the Castel silver mine. She can be wooed and sought support.

Charlotte even asked Baron Angus, the taciturn social terror knight who had been with her two days ago, about the mithril mine, and the other party replied that the mithril mine was indeed exhausted, and his son Even went to see it in person as a member of the noble delegation.

   Unless Angus is lying to her.

   But she really didn't want to believe that the only loyalist noble who came to pick her up and even personally escorted her to Beigang was also a rebellious boy...

  Or... Angus' son is lying to him?

  Intuition told Charlotte that there are secrets in the Castel Silver Mine, especially the Mithril Mine. There may be a big secret!

   "What do you think?"

   After thinking for a while, Charlotte looked at Sebastian and Nice.

  One of these two is an elf with a long lifespan, and the other is an extraordinary creature with a mysterious origin. She must know more things than her. Perhaps something can be deduced from Luf's investigation.

   "A dragon that feeds on mineral veins... I have indeed heard of such a dragon, but I also know that a dragon that feeds on precious metals will never eat meat."

   Sebastian thought for a while and said.

  Charlotte looked at Nice again.

  Nice put down the oily cat's paw stretching towards the dinner plate, barely swallowed the food in his bulging cheeks, and then muttered:

   "I'm just curious about one thing. If the Castel Silver Mine really has a dragon, even if it's just a rumor, the group of mercenaries from the East Unite Blackland will swarm here."

   "There have been a lot of guys who want to slay dragons and become famous since ancient times, and the queues can go from the New Moon Kingdom to Koria!"

  Luf nodded:

   "Indeed, I heard from some miners that there was indeed a period of time when rumors were raging and a mercenary group came to take the initiative, but... there was no follow-up after that."

   "No follow-up? What does that mean?"

   Charlotte asked.

  Luf replied:

"It means that there is no follow-up in the literal sense. There is no follow-up news about the dragon slaying, and there is no news about the mercenary group involved. There are rumors that the mercenary group found that there was no dragon and left, and some people said... those The men of the Mercenary Corps, like the other strong miners, also disappeared."

  After listening to Luf's words, Charlotte fell into deep thought.

   Obviously, there is a big problem under the Castel silver mine, and it is not an ordinary big problem.

  A mercenary group that is confident in pursuing the Dragon Slayer will not be inferior in strength. Such a mercenary group has no follow-up silently, which is intriguing.

   "I understand the matter, Your Excellency Luf, you have worked hard this time. For safety, please stay away from the mining area for now with your clansmen."

   Charlotte said.

  Luf moved slightly in his heart:

   "Master Charlotte, are you here in person, do you want to investigate this matter yourself?"

  Charlotte did not hide, but nodded:

   "I do think so."

  Luf hesitated for a moment, and said sincerely:

   "My lord Charlotte, although only a strong miner is missing, it is too dangerous after all..."

   "Hey, Luf, don't worry, it may be dangerous for others, but for the master... dangerous? It doesn't exist."

   Sebastian smiled confidently.

  Even Niss, who was chirping and cooking, nodded, as if he didn't care about Charlotte's safety at all.

  Looking at the indifferent expressions of several people, Lu Fu really couldn't help but want to persuade him a few more words, but before he could say anything, his heart suddenly moved, and he looked at Sebas' wrist.

  He found that at some point in time, the curse of the ghost face on the wrist had shrunk to almost invisible, and it seemed to have been completely suppressed.

  Luf suddenly had some guesses in his mind.

   Could it be... Sebas-sama has recovered his strength?

   "Don't look at me, it's not that my strength has recovered, but don't worry, if there is no safety problem, even if there is, it can only be Nice."

   As if seeing through Luf's thoughts at a glance, Sebas smiled.

  Nice stared instantly:

"What me? Look! If there is anything, I will definitely be the first to escape successfully if there are many ways to escape! In this regard, I am like someone who was chased and killed by the blazing sun all the way, and finally had to rely on The master's anti-killing trash is much stronger!"

  Nice proudly showed off his ability to escape, and by the way, sprinkled a handful of salt in Sebas's wound.

   Sebastian: …

   "Really? Will a guy who is good at running become a servant who chases the carriage every day to lose weight?"

   He sneered.

"you!"

  The fried eggs on Nice’s paws will lose their fragrance in an instant, and the cats will explode.

  A cat and a dog, soon bickered again.

  Charlotte ignored the two guys who were arguing again, looked at the stunned Luf, and said with a smile:

   "Your Excellency Luf, do you have any questions?"

  Lu Fu was stunned for a moment, and replied:

   "If Sebas-sama has confidence, it should be fine."

   However, after he finished speaking, his expression was a little hesitant.

  Charlotte's heart moved slightly:

   "Is there anything else you want to say?"

  Luf sighed:

   "To tell you the truth, there are indeed some things. In fact...my clan and I don't plan to leave the mine for the time being."

   "Not going to leave? Why?"

  Charlotte frowned, a little curious.

These werewolves are all her believers. Although they don't know that they are her believers, and they can't provide Charlotte with any help at the level of the gods, Charlotte doesn't want to look at her who is so pitiful. Just like this, a few believer seedlings died young.

  Luf scratched his head embarrassedly:

   "The main reason is... the income from the mine is good, and we like it very much. Not only that, but I have also become friends with many miners. If I leave like this, I feel sorry for them."

   "If possible, I hope to wait until all the dust settles before leaving, and I also hope that those miners can be safe."

   "Don't worry, as long as you don't go deep into the mine outside and be careful, it's still very safe, and...if possible, I would like to go down with you to have a look. I am already familiar with the mine and can help you guide the way."

   Luf said.

  Although Charlotte didn't really want the other party to take risks, but seeing the werewolf's persistent expression, she could only sigh slightly and said:

"I see."

  …

  After chatting with Luf, Charlotte decided to go to the mine to find out.

   Of course, she will not be alone, but will bring Sebastian and Nice.

   Not only that, but she also had to do some camouflage, so she couldn't swagger in.

   After Luf finished his meal, he left first, and at the same time agreed with Charlotte on the time and place to meet.

  Not picky, just tonight, sooner rather than later, and the night is dark and windy and it is easy to hide.

  It is also good for Charlotte, after all, she is the strongest at night.

   Walking out of the Metasequoia Hotel, Sebastian sends Luf away.

   After walking a few steps side by side, Sebastian suddenly said:

   "During the meal just now, the last words you said to the master...isn't the real reason why you insist on staying in the mine?"

  Lu Fu was stunned, and scratched his head honestly:

   "Master Sebastian, what are you talking about, I don't quite understand what you mean."

   Sebastian didn't answer, but looked at him meaningfully.

   Stared at by those scarlet eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts, Lu Fu barely persisted for more than ten seconds, but finally lost.

  He gave a long sigh and said:

   "As expected, Master Sebastian, nothing can be hidden from your eyes."

   "Yes, I did hide some things, some things... I don't want Lord Charlotte to know."

   Sebastian's expression suddenly turned cold:

   "Lu Fu, do you know what you are talking about? You are hiding something from the master?"

   "Don't forget, who saved your life, eight years ago, it was me, one year ago, it was Lord Charlotte, and Lord Charlotte...is also my master!"

  Lu Fu's expression suddenly became a little complicated:

   "Of course I know, Lord Sebastian, a werewolf will never forget your kindness, your kindness, Lord Charlotte's kindness, I will remember it forever."

"But... there are some things, we werewolves can't go against our own heart, I will not betray you, and I will not betray Lord Charlotte, but we are not the same as Lord Charlotte after all, and many things cannot be fully discussed ..."

   Sebastian was stunned by Luf, and he looked confused for an instant:

   "Wait...not all the way? What are you talking about? You and the master?"

  Luf sighed softly:

"That's right, although we arrived in Castel a month earlier than you, we still heard some rumors from Boulder that Lord Charlotte's coming-of-age ceremony even showed a god, and she is God Lord Hara Your family, the saint who walks on the earth..."

  "The citizens of Castel are saying that she came to Castel to spread the faith of the Holy Royal Court."

   "But you know, we believe in the great true ancestor of blood, and the Holy Royal Court... used to be one of the driving forces that led to the decline of descendants of blood."

   "I did hide something, because I met a lot of fellow Asians in the mining area. Some of them were slaves, some were hired workers. Their life was not good, and they even suffered discrimination from all sides."

   "The demihuman's power comes from the blood totem. After regaining the approval of my lord, I can feel that my stagnant strength is steadily improving."

   "I think...they do too."

"They used to be part of us...but now, they are lost in their faith. I hope to bring them hope and faith in our Lord. I hope to contribute myself to the recovering Lord. part of the strength."

   "You told me how to get the response from the true ancestor, which means that you are at least not standing on the opposite side of our lord, so... I will tell you all this."

   "But Lord Charlotte...she is the saint of the Holy Royal Court!"

  Lu Fu let out a long sigh, with a complicated expression on his face.

   Sebastian: …

  He didn't know what to say for a while.

  However, looking at the painful expression of the werewolf Luf entangled between faith and kindness, he couldn't help but said after all:

   "Is there a possibility...Master, I, and you, we are all the same way?"

  Luf was stunned for a moment:

"What?"

  (end of this chapter)