Chapter 155: Red Mithril (3)
Poor facilities, and untrained workers pulled from the village.
The result was obvious, even without seeing it.
Drawn in only by the promise of earning money, the village youths had been thrown into this without any proper training.
In a situation like this, even in a fake mine, problems were bound to arise.
‘Edward must’ve been quite shaken inside.’
He probably intended to only pretend to dig the mine—just scratch the surface.
But Nordic was the region with the weakest ground even in the North.
In the first stage of tunneling, rocks fell from above, causing a string of injuries.
Then, during the mining process, a second collapse occurred.
After that, the village youths beca terrified and refused to go near the site until proper tools and experts arrived.
Edward must have heard about all this.
Even so, there was no way he would willingly bring in proper mining equipnt.
Bringing in outside personnel would an the disastrous situation in the mine might leak to the outside.
“Priests, please co with and check on the most urgent patients first.”
“Yes, Saint……!!”
Istina, who was always strangely impish, wore a serious expression for the first ti today.
She began tending to the wounded with a look befitting her title of "Saint."
Still, it wasn’t as if she could perform surgery herself.
All she could do was administer treatnt that eased bruises and pain.
For severe injuries like dislocated or broken bones, surgical procedures were necessary.
“What exactly does the Luton family think of its people? Even slavers wouldn’t treat them this way.”
Istina asked in a voice brimming with rage.
I couldn’t bring myself to answer easily.
“……”
In my previous life, whether willingly or not, I had taken part in the evil deeds of that family.
And in this life, I had co here to settle that karmic debt.
“I’ll speak to him myself.”
I turned my gaze toward Foreman Duncan, who was watching the situation from a distance with a pained expression.
Despite the fact that the young n—like his own sons—were receiving treatnt, his face was still full of complicated emotions.
“Foreman, step outside with for a mont.”
“……”
He approached with slow steps.
He couldn’t even look in the eye, just stood there with his head hanging low.
“How much did Edward offer you? How many gold coins did you pocket for the lives of these village youths?”
“I didn’t take anything…….”
That couldn’t be true.
What kind of responsible adult would send his village’s precious youths into a hell like this without compensation?
Especially at a ti when most of the younger generation had already left for Nord.
In a world like this, he must have received so kind of reward—that’s why he was so desperate to hide and ignore the situation.
“If you keep trying to cover this up, you’ll be dragged to the tribunal yourself.”
The tribunal.
That single cold remark—I knew it would make him speak in the end.
Nord was known across the Empire for its harsh punishnts and the highest sentences.
“F-Foreman didn’t do anything wrong……!! We did this because we wanted to!!”
“That’s right, Foundation Director. Mr. Duncan is not to bla!!”
But strangely enough, the injured youths didn’t seem to agree with my assumption at all.
Instead, they were eager to defend the bearded man before them.
Among them, Luca’s voice—now clear thanks to his pain having subsided—rang out the loudest.
“What do you an by that?”
“I’ll explain…….”
Duncan finally opened his mouth with a worn-out voice.
“It all began when we t Prince Edward’s secretary.”
Letting out a long sigh, he seed to be reliving a sorrowful mory.
“He looked around our village, and after seeing how underdeveloped it was, he promised to help modernize it. That’s how he got our agreent to develop the mine.”
The foreman and I stood together at the entrance to the hut.
While listening to the gradually fading screams of the injured, he continued.
“At first, it seed so promising. Unlike other nobles, the Luton family even had us sign a formal agreent, and real equipnt started arriving in the village.”
“But as we can see, the developnt didn’t proceed properly, did it?”
Duncan slowly shook his head, as if to say I was right.
“That’s right… The equipnt was pitifully insufficient and shabby. Which is why, in the end, this accident happened.”
“They must’ve wanted to cover up the accident so that the company’s poor managent wouldn’t be exposed.”
The foreman stayed silent for a mont.
Then, he slipped a hand into the inside pocket of his worn-out jacket...
And pulled out a check written for a considerable amount.
“He said he’d send proper dical staff soon. Until then, he told to use this money to take care of the injured.”
Ten million gold.
It could be seen as a little, or a lot.
Especially in a neglected place like this.
What doctor would willingly step into such a dangerous region for ten million gold to treat dozens of injured workers?
In the end, this was nothing more than hush money—an allowance tossed at the foreman to buy his silence.
“But in a place like this, no matter how much money you have, there’s nothing you can actually do.”
“That’s right. Money’s only good if there’s sowhere to spend it.”
The nearest hospital was absurdly far away, and there was nowhere nearby that sold dical equipnt either.
Knowing all this, yet still holding onto the money so carefully…
It ant that this middle-aged man standing before wasn’t soone who had acted out of greed.
That was likely why the injured youths were so quick to defend him.
“I’m sorry… I only started this hoping we could all have a better life… I never imagined it would turn out like this.”
Transparent tears began to fall from the eyes of the foreman—old enough to be their father.
Not wanting to show weakness, he bowed his head even deeper.
And so, the tears collecting in his eyes fell helplessly to the ground.
“I always thought the Grand Duke’s House was the most virtuous and noble place in the North… but now I feel betrayed……”
I closed my eyes for a mont.
There was no doubt—I was not a mber of the Grand Duke’s House.
I wasn’t Duke Luton’s son, nor even one of his employees.
And yet, for so reason, a dull ache settled in my chest.
As if all of this was part of my karmic burden.
“Would you be willing to give an honest interview?”
“But… wouldn’t that invite retaliation from the Grand Duke’s House…?”
The foreman glanced nervously toward the village youths being treated.
In response, I pulled out the spirit stone I had prepared earlier from inside my coat.
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of everything.”
The very sa item I had used once before—back when I handled a certain Nordique official.
“This is a magic stone that can record your voice. Through this, I plan to docunt everything that happened today…”
My eyes glead sharply.
With the sa ominous expression I’d worn when I dealt with Freya.
“And send it to soone even higher than the Grand Duke.”
Soone higher than the Grand Duke.
For a man who had spent his entire life in the rural reaches of Nord, that idea seed unimaginable.
“Higher than the Grand Duke? Then, don’t tell …”
I gave him a knowing smile as he caught on.
“Yes. I’m going to report this directly to His Majesty the Emperor.”
To him, the Emperor was like a god—soone seen only during grand ceremonies in the capital.
Especially for people in remote villages, even dreaming of such an encounter was unthinkable.
And yet here I was, barely twenty years old, promising to make it happen right in front of him.
“Who… exactly are you…?”
The middle-aged man seed to lose strength in his legs. He swayed and stared blankly at .
“I’m just a young man who wants to see the North—my ho—thrive.”
To that man, I replied with a bold expression.
“Just like you.”
「――――――」
About an hour later.
I finally managed to get an honest interview from Foreman Duncan.
Afterward, I headed down to the shabby village park with Istina, who had just finished tending to the wounded.
“Haa—look at what I’m doing in the middle of nowhere, all thanks to a certain soone.”
The Saint gently pulled down the hood she had been wearing low over her face.
Sure enough, she looked like she’d been through a lot. Her silver hair clung slightly to her pale face.
Beads of sweat glided down her smooth neck and into the deep line of her collarbone.
“From the way you’re talking, it doesn’t sound like you ca here for regular volunteer work. More like you happened to get dragged along.”
I narrowed my sly eyes and turned toward the shaless Saint, staring straight at her.
Because I already had a pretty good idea that she wasn’t here out of pure charity.
“Usually in rural areas, you just patch up a scraped knee or take care of an elder with aches.”
But she wasn’t about to back down either.
As eloquent as I was, she was just as skilled in speech—always ready with a clever reply.
“How did you even know to chase all the way here?”
“I didn’t follow you. It just so happened that our volunteer schedules overlapped.”
At that, I decided to co out and ask directly.
“Then why did I see your knights trailing after ? And after that, you showed up.”
“……”
At the ntion of being caught tailing , the Saint slowly turned her head.
With her eyes shut tight, she murmured quietly,
“I told them to be more careful with the surveillance…”
She let out a soft sigh.
Then, looking at like I was so naïve boy, she narrowed her eyes and scolded .
“Can’t you just pretend you didn’t notice things like that?”
“The stares your holy knights were giving were so intense, I started wondering if I’d committed blasphemy or sothing.”
Istina lightly brushed off her hood.
From the white fabric ca a faint, mixed scent of her skin and a deep soap fragrance—subtle but distinct.
“I didn’t an anything bad. When I heard you were suddenly heading into so remote countryside, I thought you were trying to run off after stirring up a ss.”
She rested her soft chin on the palm of her hand.
Then, like a goddess looking down on the world, she opened her eyes wide and spoke.
“If you were really running away, I was going to catch you and drag you back.”
“? Do I really seem that irresponsible to you?”
Istina raised her index finger to form the number one.
“You already ran away from the Grand Duke’s House once. That makes you a repeat offender.”
“Let’s call that an evacuation, shall we? As you saw for yourself, the Grand Duke’s House is a sinking ship right now.”
She let out a short laugh, amused by my refusal to concede even one word.
Then, like a sulking girl, she muttered again to herself.
“You really are like a fox.”
“Pardon…?”
When I tilted my head in confusion, she gave a small laugh and moved on.
“Never mind. So, you're really planning to report all this to the Emperor yourself?”
“I have to. Reporters from Gold Morning will be arriving soon. Once they finish their on-site coverage, the report will head straight for the Imperial Palace.”
I rested a hand on the park bench and gazed out at the quiet village.
“Edward’s twisted expression should be quite the sight.”
“So, are you planning to stay here until then?”
Istina gently swayed her head from side to side like a bored young lady in the countryside.
She looked just like a trono resting on top of a piano.
“Yes. I’ve already unpacked my things at the inn.”
“Hmmm—”
The Saint turned to look at the shabby inn I had pointed to.
Then, her blue eyes flicked sideways, as if an odd thought had co to mind...
A faint smile touched her lips.
“I see… And I just so happen to be exhausted after all that healing work—”
She lightly tapped her perfectly fine-looking shoulder.
“I suppose I should stay here and rest for the night too.”
“Go ahead. It’s a quiet enough town—you’ll sleep well.”
I smiled softly at the Saint.
Thanks to her being here, the weight of my past guilt felt just a little bit lighter.
“Yes. It really is quiet.”
Istina didn’t seem displeased either.
“So quiet, it's like no one would even notice.”
「――――――.」
anwhile, at that very mont—
In a luxurious villa located on the outskirts of Nord.
Basking in the warm autumn sunlight for the first ti in a while, a man was sunbathing peacefully.
Thanks to the tax benefits from the mining operation, he had been steadily amassing wealth.
Though a minor accident had occurred, he wasn’t the least bit concerned, savoring the peace that had been handed to him.
It seed no one could disturb the peace of Edward, the second son.
But—
“Young Master, Young Master……!!”
That peace was about to be shattered completely.
The secretary Duncan had t ca rushing in, flustered, searching for Edward.
“What is it? Can’t you see I’m resting?”
The second son lifted his head, voice laced with irritation.
But then, upon seeing the secretary’s severely contorted face, he sensed that sothing was wrong.
“R-Roger Julius has shown up at the Nordic mining village…!!”
“Ro—who…?”
Edward furrowed his brows deeply and asked again.
And then, suddenly, he recalled the arrogant man who had rejected the opportunity he’d been offered and fled.
“You an Roger Julius?”
“Yes…!! The intel just ca in—he’s t with the foreman of the mine village!!”
At that mont, Edward rembered a recent incident.
That ti when Freya had completely surrendered to Echina.
“No way… that bastard…?”
Edward sprang up from his chair.
Wearing only his pajama gown, he hastily pulled it closed and shouted at his secretary.
“Find him…!! Whatever it takes, I want that bastard caught!!”
True to the bloodline of the Grand Duke of the North, his instincts told him imdiately.
After the eldest daughter—he would be next.
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