Chapter 23: Trouble at the mines

Just like earlier, they continued to attract attention wherever they went in town, especially with Vulcan's size, but he wasn't the only one. As they approached the adventurers guild of Krestfall, they saw more adventurer parties, some with large fighters carrying shields. The day was drawing to a close, and many parties were returning from quests to turn in their items for payment.

In the guild section of town, an open courtyard with many large buildings awaited them. The adventurers guild here was far larger than the one in Roriksten, standing about six stories tall and made of superior materials. Vulcan glimpsed some strange symbols on the walls that hummed with energy from time to time.

"Those are protection runes, very costly. You'll only see them in towns as large as this one or in the capitals of kingdoms," Jess explained.

"How costly are we talking about? If they're that expensive, it must be a rare profession," Vulcan guessed.

Jess nodded, "It's a side branch for magi-craftsmen. They're Runesmiths, and as far as I know, fewer than fifty exist. Their identities are hidden by the royals and guilds. I knew an old friend who got a rune weapon of rare rank, and it cost him about 100 platinum coins." Vulcan did the mental math – if 1,000 gold coins made 1 platinum coin, that was quite the price. He didn't inquire further, feeling they had already wasted enough time standing in the open.

As expected, the whole building buzzed with activity when they entered. Most adventurers were lined up against the counters, and the quest board was almost picked clean. When they left Roriksten, they had one low iron level quest remaining to do for their promotion, so Vulcan walked up to the quests. The only one left was a rescue quest for some miners who had gone missing and had not returned. The pay was 25 silvers, considerably low for a rescue mission, a quest like this usually paid a minimum of 75 silvers for an iron rank party to take it. Whoever requested the quest probably didn't have much faith in the miners' survival. Nevertheless, it worked for his team. They only wanted the promotion and weren't that in need of coin.

He turned to Jess, "You up for some late-night search and rescue?" he asked as he handed her the quest paper. She skimmed the contents, her face growing more serious as she read. "Cheap sons of bitches, let's go," she said, heading to a counter that had just opened up. The receptionist, looking exhausted, only sighed as she watched them approach. However, her expression changed when she saw Jess.

"Jess? Is that really you?" she exclaimed, her voice tinged with a mix of happiness and shock.

"Hey, Mary, it's been a while. I know you're tired, but my team is in a hurry. We can catch up later," Jess said hurriedly, passing the quest paper along with her badge. Mary glanced behind her to see Vulcan and the sentries. "Alright, glad to see you again. Let's talk in the morning, okay?" Mary stamped the quest for approval, noticing Jess's promotion to iron rank but deciding it was a conversation for later.

They walked out of the guild, the sky tinged with the orange glow of sunset. They made haste to the mine section of town. Along the way, they passed many warehouses and smithies, witnessing countless smiths hammering down on weapons and various metal products. So this was where all that steam was coming from, thought Vulcan. He was enticed by the many rare metals he had seen.

They arrived at the western wall gate that led to the mines and underwent another quick inspection with the gate guards. They were informed that the walls would be closing down soon, but once they arrived at the mine operation outpost, there would be another guard station open all night where they could ask for further details. Thanking the guard, they ran the rest of the way, their increased strength making the journey easy. In just under ten minutes, they arrived at a walled outpost. The guards at the top of the wall questioned them about their business, as it was uncommon for anyone to head out to the mines when it was getting dark, and all the miners had left for the night. Only the town guards and several people managing the mines remained, as there were rooms for them to stay the night.

They announced that they were adventurers undertaking the missing miners' rescue quest from the copper mine. The guards let them inside and called for a mine supervisor to confirm further. An overweight man stumbled out, following one of the guards. "Who the fuck came to the mines? It's getting fucking dark already," the man said rudely. The rude man's attitude seemed to change slightly upon seeing the intimidating group.

"My name is Jack. I was told you were here to find our missing miners?" Jack's tone suggested he didn't care much for the miners safety or lives but saw their disappearance as an inconvenience due to the halted production. Jess stopped herself from making a scene when Vulcan held her back. "Yes, we're Dark Sentry. If you would show us to the mine, the sooner we can resolve this issue for you," said Vulcan, recognizing Jack's type – they cared only about work getting done and considered anything else a waste of time.

Jack checked off the quest and confirmed with the guards that they were indeed supposed to be there. Afterward, he left, and the guards escorted them to the sealed mine shaft.

The mine in question was sealed with large, heavy-looking metal doors, with several guards standing watch around it. They snapped to attention when Vulcan and his team arrived, and the escorting guard explained that they would be the team to investigate the disappearance of the miners. As the gates were opened, Vulcan queried the guard who seemed to be in charge for any details regarding the incident that led to the disappearance and lockdown of the mine.

"All we know is that early in the morning, all of the miners fled screaming for their lives, and rumors of monsters deep in the mines spread, but there were no explanations as to what these creatures looked like. When the mine conducted a headcount, more than 23 people were missing," the guard explained with a sigh, his tone carrying a hint of sympathy for the lives lost. "I'm not holding out hope for anyone being alive, but if you do find survivors, these coins, gathered by me and the families of the miners, are yours," he said, reaching for a bag of coins on his belt.

Jess and Vulcan exchanged a look before Vulcan replied, "We can't promise anything. We'll have to assess the situation once we're inside." With that, Vulcan walked toward the open mine entrance, its dark abyss welcoming them into its cold embrace. The guard put away the bag of coins and handed a lamp to one of the sentries passing by. After the team entered and the guards closed the gate, the lead guard muttered a small prayer for their success.

Vulcan didn't need a torch to see inside, thanks to his night vision, but knowing Jess didn't possess the same ability, they still carried several torches. Once they had traveled a reasonable distance into the mine, all ten sentries pulled out round steel shields from their backs, hidden by their black capes. Jess was a little surprised when five sentries took a protective formation in front and the others in the back, leaving Vulcan and Jess in the middle for safety. Since it was a tunnel, they brandished their spears, reminiscent of how they handled the goblin horde in the caves.

They passed abandoned pickaxes, wheelbarrows filled with ore, and even bags with spilled lunches, left behind by the miners in their haste to escape. The first clue they found was a streak of dried blood on the ground, accompanied by palm-shaped blood marks on the walls, indicating that someone had been dragged deeper into the mine. Another intriguing clue was a pickaxe lying on the ground next to the blood streaks, its pointed edge coated with a green liquid.

"Whatever attacked them, they fought back. Since there's no creature's body, it means they managed to injure it. Let's follow the trail," Vulcan suggested, piecing together a scenario of what might have transpired. Further walking revealed more blood trails but no signs of bodies, making the search and rescue feel more like a body recovery mission.

At a fork in the tunnel, they paused, but the blood trails led toward the left, so there was no need for them to split up. Silence enveloped them, with no noises indicating the presence of any person or creature. Vulcan kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings, scanning for any potential threats.

Suddenly, Vulcan's hand grasped Jess's shoulder, startling her. They approached a turned-over wheelbarrow, and Vulcan sensed something underneath it. Sending a sentry to tip it over, both Jess and Vulcan braced themselves for a fight. However, when the sentry revealed a shivering man hiding underneath, Jess rushed to him, reassuring him that they were the rescue team and meant him no harm.

The man, covered in grime and blood, appeared to be in shock, and Jess could tell he was quite young, possibly in his early twenties. He sobbed as he spoke, "I couldn't save them, I just hid. Oh god, please, you have to save them!"

"We're here to help. Can you tell us what happened to the miners? Did you get a good look at the creatures that attacked them?" Jess asked, hoping to gather any information that could aid their rescue efforts.

The man finally gathered himself a little. "T-they were as large as a man. I don't know, maybe about 6 to 7 legs with a hard carapace. But they had these large mandibles! Oh god, they were dragging them away using those things!" he stammered, his voice trembling as he recounted the horrifying experience.

"What is it, Jess? What are we dealing with?" Vulcan inquired.

Jess turned back to Vulcan with a troubled expression. "I think we're dealing with an ant colony. We're going to need a lot more people than just us," she replied, her voice tinged with worry.