Mole rats living underground, bats, and bug monsters with degenerated eyesight constantly threatened the lives of the dwarves.
The surviving miners had killed numerous monsters over time.
With pickaxes, and sometimes shovels.
The dwarves resting in front of the bone crystal tunnel were also veteran warriors.
They belong to a clan of young dwarves called the Tral gang.
“Ugh, I want to go up quickly and have a mug of beer.”
The dwarves said, wiping the dust off their faces with their arms.
Once you go down to the lower level, it takes a week before you can come back up.
“You bastards, it’s only been a few days since we came down and you’re already whining.”
The most senior dwarf among them chided.
His name was Manjin, one of the most skilled miners along with Tral.
The young dwarves looked embarrassed.
“Senior Manjin is really amazing. Our hands are shaking like this.”
If you spend all day breaking rocks with a pickaxe, your arms naturally get strained.
In fact, most of the dwarves’ hands were trembling even when they were still.
Only the senior dwarf Manjin seemed fine.
“That’s because I drank snake liquor recently.”
He said confidently.
“Snake liquor…!”
“Ah, that snake that came out of the oak barrel.”
Although they had heard the snake liquor story several times already, the juniors’ eyes lit up again.
Talk of alcohol always piqued their interest.
Especially when it’s snake liquor with mysterious effects.
“Yes, at first it felt like the sensation in my hands and feet was dulling.”
It seems some snake venom had been mixed into the beer.
Manjin had shown some signs of poisoning, but after a day, the situation actually improved.
“Look.”
Manjin rolled up his sleeve to show off his muscles.
Whether it was the effect of the snake liquor or not, his impressive muscles bulged.
“I used to suffer from wrist tendonitis, but it’s all gone now. I feel so strong and energetic.”
“I’m really envious…”
“Actually, the taste was the best part. I’ve never had such delicious ale in my life.”
The story of the snake liquor drunk by the Tral gang has now spread like a legend.
Many dwarves hoped to meet that snake again.
The dwarves who finished their break returned to the plaza.
Usually, they would stay in the dormitory for miners.
They would roughly wash their bodies with underground water and take their rest for the day.
But today, the plaza seemed a bit more bustling than usual.
A young dwarf following Manjin recognized someone.
“Isn’t that Dunkel?”
People’s gazes turned in that direction.
Though he was wearing a hood, his beardless face stood out.
He had a pickaxe and shovel on his back.
The dwarves frowned deeply.
“Why the hell did Dunkel come down here?”
One young dwarf muttered.
Although Dunkel was much older than him, there was no respect in his tone.
“Don’t tell me he came down to become a miner?”
“Looks like it, seeing how he’s carrying a pickaxe.”
“Crazy bastard. He should have just lived his life tending to pigs. What was he thinking?”
The one who said this spat, as if displeased.
Manjin didn’t rebuke him.
The young dwarves particularly disliked Dunkel.
It’s actually quite funny considering that none of them had ever even spoken to Dunkel, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.
A dwarf with no beard, no hair, and who doesn’t do mining work.
How would a dwarf who prefers vegetables to meat appear to these immature youngsters?
They would consider him weak and pathetic.
Moreover, the fact that the old elders pitied Dunkel and protected him actually had the opposite effect.
“You bastard! You think I’ll let you in just because you want to go down? A guy who’s never even swung a pickaxe once.”
The supervisor here was also one of the dwarves who disliked Dunkel.
The reason onlookers had gathered was obvious.
They were there to watch Dunkel be humiliated.
“How dare you wear a hood… Ack!”
At that moment, the supervisor jerked his hand back in surprise.
A snake had poked its head out of Dunkel’s clothes.
“W-what kind of snake is that!”
“Ah, it’s my friend.”
“You crazy bastard!”
Laughter erupted from nearby.
“Hey, Senior Manjin. That snake…”
“…”
“Could it be the snake you mentioned?”
Manjin nodded with a surprised expression.
The snake they had drunk with was right there.
==
“I knew you were weird, but this…”
The dwarf supervisor glared at Dunkel and me.
Coward, I wasn’t even going to bite you, but you got scared on your own.
I came down to the lower level with Dunkel.
To meet that Blue Beard, we first needed to go down to the deepest core level.
I want to meet Blue Beard!
Saying that doesn’t seem to get us a direct meeting.
I guess it can’t be helped since he’s like a king.
The problem is that we can’t go straight to the core level.
Apparently, only those who are Blue Beard’s direct subordinates or ‘Meisters’, master craftsmen recognized by the dwarves, can approach him.
The old man working with Dunkel wrote us a letter of introduction.
It’s similar to a letter addressed to a Meister who can approach Blue Beard.
Looking at that, it seems that old man is of quite a high status.
I don’t know why he’s tending to pigs on the top level though.
“I don’t like you, Dunkel.”
The supervisor gave Dunkel, who came with a pickaxe, a hostile look.
“A guy who’s been running away from mining work all his life now comes with a pickaxe. And you want to go straight to the core level? Do you think mining work is that easy?”
“I don’t think that.”
Dunkel seemed intimidated but didn’t act subservient.
Well done, Dunkel.
“You’re not capable. You won’t even be able to dig properly.”
The supervisor scoffed at Dunkel’s request to go down as a miner.
“I’ll work hard.”
“Hard work isn’t enough. You shouldn’t be a burden to others.”
“I can do well.”
“Then show me.”
“…Pardon?”
“Try digging this wall.”
The supervisor pointed to his side with his thick thumb.
It was an earthen wall with exposed yellowish-brown sandstone.
“Can’t even use a pickaxe?”
“No, I’ll try.”
Breaking the wall with a pickaxe.
Digging and carrying soil with a shovel.
That was the basics of tunnel excavation.
Dunkel grabbed the pickaxe with a nervous face.
While using a pickaxe might not seem like a big deal, there were many eyes watching.
The miners had their arms crossed, eager to see how Dunkel would perform.
Just as Dunkel grabbed the pickaxe, laughter erupted.
“Look at that posture.”
“A guy who only shoveled dung, what’s he thinking, hahaha.”
The supervisor sneered, seemingly having anticipated this reaction.
“Go ahead!”
Dunkel gritted his teeth.
He swung the pickaxe.
Thud!
It wasn’t impressive, but it wasn’t terribly bad pickaxe work either.
Thud, thud.
But the spectators laughed or sighed, mocking him.
From the start, unless Dunkel showed exceptional skill, it was inevitable that he would be ridiculed.
Just as the supervisor was about to find some fault, a large rock came loose from where Dunkel had swung his pickaxe, and a pile of dirt fell.
Rumble-
The supervisor lowered the hand he had raised.
Dunkel silently continued his pickaxe work.
Thud, rumble.
Rocks and soil fell in heaps wherever he swung his pickaxe.
He hadn’t even used the shovel yet, but a tunnel was forming.
The speed was incredibly fast.
“What…”
Truly skilled dwarf miners can see through rock and soil at a glance.
If you strike the weakest point with a pickaxe, even a solid wall crumbles quickly.
Dunkel’s pickaxe work was exactly like that.
He was digging into the earthen wall in an instant.
A performance that would normally require at least five miners.
Dunkel stopped his pickaxe work.
“…Am I a genius?”
I slapped Dunkel’s cheek with my tail.
“Hiss!”
Get a grip and keep digging!
The spectators’ mouths haven’t dropped open enough yet.
Dunkel resumed his pickaxe work.
I also resumed my magic.
「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Earth lv6.」
「Using Invisible Hand lv11.」
Earth magic crumbled the wall.
The invisible hand rummaged through the rocks.
It looked exactly as if Dunkel’s pickaxe had been possessed by a god.
The dwarf miners’ mouths gradually opened wider at this spectacular performance.