The Mines

After coming a few days of investigating the mines, Gin had seemed to find what he was looking for.

"So what did you find?" Dan asked

Gin started pulling out multiple notes from his pockets and putting them in order.

"From what I've gathered, the mines aren't that large or well guarded." He explained "Most of the guards had been conscripted into the military, so the workers outnumber the guards 3 to 1."

Knowing the amount of men in the would be willing to sack the capital would be useful but following a foreign invader without incentive could be a problem for them.

"I've heard from some of the locals that infantry from the mines come to pick up any prisoners every two weeks." Dan said "should we head out with them?"

Gin thought about it, weighting the options they had in this time frame but before he could answer a knock came from the door. The men froze for a second before Gin grabbed all of the notes and stuffed them back in his pockets.

"How is it?" Dan asked while standing behind the door

"It's me, Tika." she said from outside "I need to talk to you and Ideo."

Dan looked at Ideo and Gin, who were clearing the room of anything suspicious, for the all clear.

"Come in." he said after they give him the thumbs up "Have seat wherever you want."

She was nervously looking for somewhere to sit, it was a bit weird for Dan and Ideo to see after the amount of work she forced them to do out of spite.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize for how I've acted." She said bowing her head "You both have been a great help to us and I'm here to thank you on behalf of the village."

They looked at Tika, who rose her head, and then looked at each other and started laughing.

"You don't need to thank us, we're doing this for ourselves." Ideo said holding back his laughter

"Exactly, even if we're not from here, if you need it we can help." Dan added

They knew that she was working really hard for the village and that was doubly tough as a young girl, so getting a little help was good for her.

The following morning, she had seemed to revert to how she was previously but she started letting Dan and Ideo do other work besides cleaning stables. Gin had also started his investigation again, this time consisting of finding incentive for an uprising in the mines, finding the fastest route to the capital and coordinating it all with the invasion that was being planned by King Cheai and his generals.