章節 63: 63
After Arthur left the adventurer's guild, he did not head to the coal mine directly. Instead he made a detour at the city centre and went down the merchant street. The young man stopped at one of the shops recommended to him by his adventurer mate to do some shopping.
As the saying goes, no one plan to fail but a majority of people fail to plan. It had been quite some time since Arthur refreshed his inventory so he thought to do so before starting yet another adventure.
The place was surprisingly more crowded than Arthur expected. He overheard one of the couple conversing with each other and he understood why.
"You have already finished the stock of potions you bought yesterday?" One of them gasped.
The other replied as he looked through the items that were on sale. "I didn't mean to but the opponent I had in the entry battle for the tournament is much tougher than expected. Thankfully, the entry test allows the usage of potions in combat or else I would have lost already."
"Hey, do you mind borrowing me some money? I need to get some more stock but I ran out of coins already..."
Arthur did not follow the rest and wandered off to a more quiet corner. 'The tournament is still ongoing so no wonder the place is packed.'
Arthur happened to stop before the shelf that sold thrown and hidden weapons. The young man stopped to peruse the selection. He saw the hidden weapon seal that Frankie used in the battle earlier. However, the young man frowned when he saw the price it was going for.
He surreptitiously looked down into his coin pouch. After some mental calculation, he sighed and moved to another part of the shelf. 'Look like Frankie has thrown in some hefty investment.'
In the end, Arthur settled for the fire explosive seal that helped him win the battle against Sean. He did consider the kunai and shuriken but it was not like Arthur knew how to use them. Furthermore, using his vocal materialization, he would be able to shape them right out from his voice. Wouldn't that be a lot more convenient?
Arthur picked up the seals and finished his purchase with other common adventuring items like health potions. He paid and left.
He made his way to the quest destination. The trek to the coal mine took longer than usual due to the tournament as well. The city was a lot more crowded than usual.
Eventually, as Arthur moved away from the city centre where the coliseum was close to, the crowd slowly petered out until there was not much people left on the road. The few people on the road Arthur noticed were wearing mining gears.
Like Arthur, they were probably going to start their day's work. The road to the mine winded through the mountain and after Arthur climbed over a crest in the road, he finally reached his destination.
The place was already a hive of activity when he arrived. Men and women of large build were walking in and out of the cave that was carved into the mountain carrying black lumps of ore either with their bare hands or in trolley.
Their faces and outfit were black from the coal dust. They dumped the coals on a heap right next to the mine's entrance and a few children of schooling age gathered the ores and packed them into burlap bags.
Arthur walked towards the miners and a few of them turned to observe the young man with a raised brow. Arthur did not look like one of them from the way he was dressed. He was too clean and puny to be a trained miner... or he could be there to ask for a job. Either way, no matter the case, he would need to talk to the foreman.
Therefore, when Arthur wondered close and before he could even say anything, one of the miners called out deeper into the mine, "Foreman Ian, there's someone here for you!"
Arthur was surprised. 'How did he know I'm here for the foreman.' Arthur looked down at his body, inspecting whether there was a sign on him that stated his purpose for being there. There was none.
Before Arthur could figure out the real reason why, a man of about 30 walked out from the mouth of the mine. He was wearing a helmet, a brown windbreaker and a white tank-top underneath, as well as a pair of cargo pants that looked like it was made from some kind of animal hide. From the way he was dressed, it looked like he was ready for a rough tumble.
The man looked Arthur up and down before extending his hand at the young man, adding, "You must be from the adventurer's guild. Nice to meet you, I'm the foreman at this mine. You can call me Brother Ian. Are you here to answer the quest that I've recently posted with the guild?"
Arthur took the man's proffered hand. Ian had a firm hand shake. "Yes, I am from the guild. My name is Arthur, what is this thing that you need the adventurer's guild's help with? I'll be happy to be of service."
Ian nodded and smiled. "Wonderful, I hope you are not averse to a little bit spelunking because the problem that we're facing is quite underground."
Ian turned to walk back into the cave. He stopped half-way and shouted at one of the closer miners, "Go and get our guest some safety gear." The miner moved to oblige.
Ian handed Arthur the helmet that was similar in style to the one on his head and a pair of thick jacket. "Do you mind putting them on? It's the mine's safety protocol."
After Arthur put them on, Ian waved for the young man to follow. "Alright, stick close to me and watch your step. I hope you'll be able to resolve this problem that we've stumbled across."
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