Arknightcraft Modpack

He couldn’t get any useful information out of Alina.

Even though Alina was the person who had spent the most time with Talulah, she still had no idea what kind of life Talulah had experienced before.

The only thing she knew was that Talulah had been taken in by those two elderly individuals and that, when she first appeared, she was injured—seemingly showing signs of having been in a fight.

As for anything else, like showing signs of a second personality or talking to herself, Alina had never seen such behavior.

If anything, Steven himself, with his occasional bouts of insanity, exhibited such traits more often.

Talulah, while stubborn, had never shown such behavior.

This left Steven somewhat puzzled.

In the end, he could only attribute it to the possibility that the so-called “Black Snake Consciousness” inside her had not yet awakened.

He also didn’t mention anything about the Black Snake in Talulah to Alina.

As far as he was concerned, if that thing was just some kind of Status Ailment, he wouldn’t even bother looking at it.

After all, one bucket of milk would probably be enough to cleanse it completely.

Whether or not that would have any effect on Talulah’s memories was not something Steven cared about.

But that was a matter for when Talulah returned.

Right now, Steven had something else to do—heading to his “zero-cost shopping” site.

Compared to the road leading to the mobile city, the path to the mine was far more difficult to traverse.

Steven twisted and turned through the snowy plains for what felt like half a day.

No wonder Alina wanted him to bring her along—this route was easy to get lost in.

If it weren’t for his minimap, he might have actually lost his way.

And Steven was well aware that the reason this path was so difficult wasn’t because the villagers deliberately wanted to make his life harder.

It seemed more like they didn’t want the people from the mine to be able to find them.

The reason for this was fairly easy to guess.

According to Alina, the death rate in the mine was consistently high.

If people kept dying, where would they find new miners?

That was something worth thinking about.

Furthermore, why was that village only filled with the elderly, weak, and sickly? Where had all the strong men gone?

That, too, was an interesting question.

Steven figured that if he really wanted to find the answers, he would have to enter the mine himself.

Since he had left in a hurry, Steven hadn’t even changed his clothes.

He simply put away his straw hat and [Yamato].

After all, he was just here to mine—what was the point of dressing so mysteriously?

Before long, following the route he had mapped out, Steven arrived at the location Alina had mentioned.

Fortunately, judging by the black smoke rising from behind the barbed-wire fence, the mine didn’t seem to be abandoned.

Walking at a leisurely pace, Steven reached the mine’s entrance, where the first thing he saw was a group of well-equipped guards.

Their gear appeared even more advanced than what he had seen in the mobile city.

Clearly, in the eyes of those in power in Ursus, the economy and energy were far more important than the so-called citizens.

However, this time, Steven had no intention of sneaking in.

With so many people around, his outfit clearly didn’t make him look like a miner.

As for getting into a conflict with the mine’s guards, he had even less interest in that.

He had no deep-seated grudges against them, and he was only here to mine.

Fighting them would be quite rude, wouldn’t it?

So, after thinking for two minutes, Steven decisively made a decision.

Since he wanted to mine and the other side clearly needed laborers, why make things so complicated? Wasn’t this a perfect exchange of needs?

Without hesitation, Steven stopped concealing himself and confidently strode toward the heavily guarded entrance of the mine.

“Stop! Who goes there?”

The guards on duty immediately spotted Steven and shouted to stop him, quickly calling for reinforcements.

“Captain, don’t shoot! It’s me!”

Steven’s response was completely out of context, leaving the guards momentarily baffled.

However, after quickly subduing him and pressing their weapons to his neck, they realized that he didn’t seem like someone trying to invade the mine.

Rather, he looked more like a regular person with some mental issues.

After all, they could tell at a glance that he showed no signs of Oripathy infection, and after searching him, they didn’t find any weapons or anything remotely threatening.

Simply put, he was no different from the villagers they usually captured from nearby settlements. The only difference was that this guy seemed unusually cheerful.

“What are you here for?”

Initially suspecting he might be affiliated with the Guerrilla Fighters, the guards lowered their vigilance after ruling out the possibility of him being infected.

He’s just an unarmed Liberi, without even a trace of Originium Arts—wasn’t he just a piece of clay in their hands?

“Reporting, sir! I’m here to mine. My family is too poor—we can’t even afford food anymore. At least if I work here, I can still get something to eat.”

Steven casually made up a reason, assuming these guys wouldn’t overthink it.

Judging by the contempt in their eyes, it was clear they didn’t take him seriously at all.

Which was great.

He was indeed just here to get a job, so there was no reason for them to reject him, right?

What Steven didn’t expect, however, was that his words ended up being very convincing to the guards.

After all, what he said was entirely in line with the current situation in the surrounding villages.

In the harsh winter, countless desperate villagers, with no other options, sold themselves to the mine in exchange for a single meal.

Sure, this meant they were very likely to contract Oripathy, but at least they wouldn’t starve to death immediately.

Given the choice between dying eventually and dying right now, most people would choose the former.

“You think it’s that easy, kid? No work, no food. Whether you get to eat depends on how much you can work, understand?”

The lead guard patted Steven on the shoulder.

This kid wasn’t exactly a burly, muscular man, but at least he felt solid enough when touched.

That was good enough.

After all, this kid wasn’t wrong—this mine always needed more workers.

Without bothering to ask him many questions or even register him, the guards simply confirmed once again that he wasn’t carrying anything dangerous.

Then, they directly escorted him into the mine.

After passing through an area heavily guarded by soldiers, the guard leading Steven soon brought him to a dimly lit mine tunnel.

Casually grabbing a pickaxe from a pile of tools, the guard shoved it into Steven’s hands and pointed toward the tunnel, where the sound of mining echoed.

“That’s your workplace. The older workers inside will tell you what to do. Just follow them for meals and rest. Now, get down there.”

The guard, not bothering to hide his disdain for the mine and miners like Steven, shouted at him harshly.

“Why are you yelling so loud? It’s not like I’m refusing to go.”

Steven muttered as he obediently walked down into the mine.

So this was how newcomers were treated? Did miners in this world really have no rights at all?

Muttering under his breath, he didn’t hesitate and continued deeper into the tunnel.

The guard simply memorized the number of this mine shaft before returning to his post.

All he needed to do now was update the roster to reflect one more worker.

Whether Steven actually worked properly or not wasn’t his concern.

If a mine shaft didn’t meet its quota, everyone in it would go hungry.

If the kid didn’t behave, there were plenty of others who would make sure he did.

As Steven walked further inside, he took in his surroundings.

The tunnel was about two meters high, and he advanced cautiously.

The pickaxe in his hand looked like it had been through countless battles.

Steven felt like he could break it with just a little too much force.

Dim oil lamps cast an orange glow throughout the tunnel.

Though warm in color, the light felt cold and lifeless in this environment.

Fortunately, after just a few steps, he spotted a hunched-over middle-aged man digging at an exposed ore vein.

“You are new here?”

The man stopped his work the moment he saw Steven and the pickaxe in his hand.
After a brief pause, he motioned for Steven to come over.

“Follow me.”

Steven scratched his head.

If it was about mining, he was practically a veteran with centuries of experience.

Did he really need someone to teach him?

But since this guy was an experienced worker, Steven was still willing to listen.

Maybe there was something useful to learn.

After all, he was already inside—there was no way he wouldn’t get the chance to mine.

As they walked deeper into the tunnel, the middle-aged man began explaining things to Steven.

“Now that you’re in, work hard. Don’t think about slacking off. If the mine’s output doesn’t meet the quota, none of us get to eat. You’ll learn that lesson soon enough.”

“You’ll have to haul the mined ore and rocks out yourself. Keep an eye on the oil lamps—if they start to go out, it means you need to head back and get more fuel.”

“And most importantly, if you want to stay alive, don’t dig too deep. If you hit Originium, be extra careful not to get cut. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”