章 26: Strange Cave
Titus and his scouts were on their way to the ambush site while Carmelo and Rinat were busy with their tasks.
Chris' orders were the same as they were for the previous battle: They could not allow any of the Kunalls to flee.
If the fortress east of the scout camp got any news of human resistance, it would spell death for Brine City. Reinforcements would be sent to investigate, and traces of their new city would likely be found. The Kunalls would undoubtedly make an example of them in order to ensure no one had the same idea ever again.
At the same time, raiding and destroying the scout camp would be easier with every Kunall eliminated.
Each scout party took roughly a month to patrol the northern part of the human territory. And a new one leaves camp every week. This means that, including this one, three more scout parties will leave before the first eliminated scout party is expected to return to camp. Four patrols in total, meaning eighty Kunalls less! This was their chance!
Chris assured them that by then, they would be ready to annihilate the rest of the scout camp. Even if it had more than a hundred scouts left.
Titus decided to prepare a repeat of the previous battle, but this time they would increase the numbers of traps. After all, they had fewer hunters this time, and they couldn't take any chances. The extra preparation time and traps should compensate for the fewer archers.
"Everyone, stop!" Shouted Titus. He checked out the surroundings. On his left was a tall cliff, that no one could climb, not even the Kunalls. On his right was a hill cutting off the path to the nearby river.
[The slope is good enough to slow down the Kunalls.] Thought Titus. [But it's not high enough to discourage them from charging.]
[There is only one way to flee. We can have our riders wait in ambush just in case.]
Titus had twenty riders on top of his 100 hunters, as insurance. The riders were selected amongst Cid's men as people that know how to ride. Some had training as knights but most only knew how to ride a horse and not how to fight on horseback. This was why they were the last resort and only meant to chase stragglers. After all, fighting in a melee on horses was very dangerous against Kunalls, and they couldn't afford lose men and the horses they were riding.
"This is the place. Let's start!" Ordered Titus as he unmounted his horse.
"Yes, boss!"
***** *****
Somewhere south of Molten valley, near the mountain chains.
Carl was currently leading a small group of prospectors. Their job was to find resources for the development of Brine City. For now, this mostly meant three things; limestone, copper, and iron.
Anything else was a welcome extra, but those three were the big ones. Those could most likely be found west of here, near the Dwarven Mountains, but it was a little far to be practical, and it could result in unwanted tension with the dwarves. Therefore, the much closer southern mountains were selected.
Another reason for that choice was that the southern mountains had a few, now extinct, volcanoes. Copper, iron and a lot of these minerals had a magmatic origin and could be found in igneous rocks.
Carl turned to one of the prospectors "Is this a good place to start?"
"As good as any place around here. There is no way to tell until we explore the surroundings." Answered the prospector.
"Alright, let's spread out. Group up with three guards and come back here in three hours. And make sure to avoid danger!" Ordered Carl.
Prospecting for copper and iron was not hard, and if they had more time, they could test the soil for copper and iron, but a visual check would have to do now.
Six groups went their own ways. The prospectors' escorts were mostly the same people that followed Carl when he first came to the Valley to find a good habitable spot for Brine City. It was northwest of here that he met Jane and her group as they were attacked by skeletons.
"Oh? Are you thinking about Jane?" Teased one of the scouts, this was one of Carl's buddies who had been following him for a while now.
"Huh? What are you saying John?" Carl played innocent.
"I just figured you'd be disappointed we were not sent farther west of here."
"N-not really." Carl coughed and turned to the prospector to change subjects. "So even if we scrape the copper and iron on the surface, there is more underneath?"
"Right. If we see the minerals on the surface its usually because they were pushed to the surface, especially in the case of areas like this, where there was a lot of volcanic activity. So if you follow the underground trail, you'll find more ore." Explained the prospector as he kept checking the surroundings."Back then, our alchemists made a few chemicals to test if the earth had copper and iron, but we have none of those right now."
"Isn't that bad?" Worried Carl.
"Well... We'll probably miss a few good underground spots. But a visual check should be good enough for now. Ah! See right there. Copper!" He pointed to blue and green-ish rocks. "That color is copper, if you see anything reddish, that's most likely iron."
"Got it." Said Carl seriously. "Now, did you hear that? Stop thinking weird things and keep an eye out!" He said to the scout.
"Huhu. Will do."
The search was very fruitful and even Carl managed to spot a few deposits with his untrained eyes. This was definitely the right place for iron and copper mines. They encountered a few beasts and skeletons along the way, but nothing they couldn't handle.
The time to go back came very fast, and luckily the meeting spot wasn't very far as they had not traveled in a straight line.
John dispatched another wandering skeleton on the way, as he did he started to get worried.
"Hey Carl, don't you find something is weird?" He asked.
"What's weird?" Wondered Carl.
"Counting this skeleton, how many does that make in less than three hours?" Asked John. "I mean... The wolves and beasts are no surprise, there are some everywhere. But when was the last time we found so many skeletons?"
"You are right. And we found those skeletons west of here last time too." Carl frowned. "Are you thinking this is not a coincidence, and they are originating from somewhere around?"
"Maybe. I don't know about you, but before that, I encountered maybe two or three undead in my whole life, and all of a sudden we find one every half hour..."
"Strange indeed... Let's hurry to the meeting point first and see if everyone is alright." Ordered Carl.
Luckily everyone was uninjured. As they suspected, every group fought skeletons while prospecting. However, one group had some more worrisome news. They found a strange cave from which came weird noises. And every so often a skeleton or two would leave.
Carl took a few scouts and went to check it out. They hid in the bushed on all fours as they checked the entrance out. Only their heads peeked out of the leaves. And as promised awful sounds could be heard escaping from the darkness.
"Uwah..." He grimaced. "What's that weird noise?"
"I hope there is not a monster inside..." Said one of the scouts.
"Or worse what if it's a necromancer?" Said another.
*Gulp* A necromancer would certainly be bad news for anyone. This word alone was enough to spread worry on everyone's face.
"Anyone wants to check it out for us? John?" Joked Carl to try and ease the tension.
"Nah, I'm good."
There were no offers.
"So... What do we do?" Asked John.
"What can we do?" Answered Carl seriously. "We already have a task, and we have civilians with us. And we are not equipped for this kind of job. Let's go back and report our finding first."
Everyone nodded, and left in a hurry still on all fours.
クリエイターの想い 
Pastare
Pastare Editor: LtBeefy
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Next chapter in an hour or so!
We are getting close to chapter 30 after which the releases will slow down, as announced previously.
After that we work on praise and votes xD.
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