He thought it wouldn't be bad to look for such a treasure before going to Arabion.
Of course, such things weren't readily available just because you wanted them.
Lost in such thoughts while flying for three or four hours.
After repeatedly landing on several islands they passed to ask directions, Turan arrived at Parayan Island.
Known as the source of saltpeter, it was a moderately sized island several kiloters long, and looking down from above, there seed to be a village.
After descending to an appropriate height and concentrating on his sense of sll, he detected the peculiar ammonia-like scent of saltpeter from sowhere in the center of the island.
Having Bize land in a suitable spot, Turan walked toward where the sll was coming from.
After walking through thick vegetation for a few minutes, he saw a cave under a huge cliff, its walls and ceiling supported by wooden pillars.
From inside ca the sound of sothing being struck repeatedly.
'Is this it?'
With no one guarding the mine entrance, Turan went straight inside.
Soon he saw miners extracting white ore from the walls by flickering torchlight, but their complexion and clothing looked quite poor.
'While mining isn't exactly a clean profession, this seems a bit extre...'
Miners with gaunt faces and clothes reeking of gri, with bruises all over their bodies.
Moreover, they all had shackles on their legs.
Looking more like slaves than anything else, they saw Turan suddenly appear among them and fearfully bowed their heads.
"We're working hard, Supervisor!"
"...Supervisor?"
When Turan questioned with a puzzled expression, the miners' expressions changed.
Now that they looked, the young man's appearance and attitude were quite different from the supervisors they were used to seeing.
"Are, are you not here to supervise our work...?"
"I'm just soone who ca to get saltpeter after hearing it's found on this island. Is there soone in charge of sales here?"
"Did, did you co with others?"
"No. I ca alone."
At Turan's answer, the miners cried out in alarm.
"Quick, run away! No, however you got here, please take with you too. Please!"
"Were you all brought here by force?"
"We were all brought here against our will! Those bastards..."
Just as one miner was shouting heatedly, there was a sharp crack of a whip from behind.
Hearing this, all the miners frantically prostrated themselves.
"Shut up! Why so talkative? Can't even wait while I take a shit... huh?"
The supervisor with the whip discovered Turan and frowned as if unable to comprehend.
Due to the local ocean currents, Parayan Island was difficult to reach unless specifically targeted, so only regular visitors usually ca.
He'd heard no ships had arrived today, so there shouldn't be any visitors, yet who was this stranger?
"Who are you?"
"I ca to buy saltpeter."
"I didn't receive notice of anyone coming... no, more importantly, if you want to buy saltpeter, why not talk in the village? Why are you here? Which pirate group are you with?"
"I'm not with any pirate group. By the way, did you fill this mine with kidnapped people?"
At Turan's question, the nearby miners looked at the supervisor with startled expressions.
The supervisor, who had been glaring at the surrounding miners murderously, suddenly seed to realize sothing and forced a smile.
"Well, first, where did you co from..."
"Don't make ask twice."
When Turan suddenly switched to an oppressive attitude, the supervisor shuddered and quickly nodded.
"Y-yes, that's right."
"Which house governs this area?"
"It's not a house, but the Cobinus pirate group!"
"Pirate group?"
"Yes. The great pirate lord Cobinus..."
According to the supervisor's explanation in an ingratiating voice, Cobinus was the illegitimate child of so noble who had gained notoriety in the South Sea for many years as a pirate wizard.
His skills were too outstanding to dismiss as re piracy - he had even defeated armies from other houses sent to subjugate him several tis.
Under his command were dozens of knights and warships, and he controlled several islands, with Parayan Island being one of them.
After listening quietly to the explanation, Turan pointed at the miners.
"So, this Cobinus fellow kidnapped people here and made them mine saltpeter?"
"Huh? Yes... though it's not just saltpeter they mine."
Looking around after hearing this, there were several other shining minerals besides saltpeter in the carts placed here and there.
Of course, why would they operate a mine just to extract sothing with little use besides selling it by deceiving people as an elixir of immortality?
It seed more like they extracted it as a side business while mining other minerals.
Turan looked at the shabbily dressed miners and muttered quietly.
"I don't like this."
While it might be overstepping to interfere with how another shepherd handles their sheep, stealing other people's sheep was different.
Even if they treated the kidnapped people well it would be one thing, but they weren't even doing that.
Hearing this, the supervisor's face turned pale.
"There, there are knights under his command here too! I'll try talking to them..."
"Thanks, but that won't be necessary."
Originally, like with the sulfur before, he'd planned to mine it himself if it was just lying around, or negotiate a reasonable price if there was an owner.
But seeing this situation, that thought vanished.
What nonsense would it be to pay kidnappers for their goods?
Turan quietly ordered the miners.
"Everyone, this way."
Though he hadn't used any animal control magic, the miners walked toward Turan as if entranced, without exception.
Their total number was thirty-five.
It wasn't particularly difficult to open the shackles on their ankles with lock-picking magic.
"It's, it's off..."
"Thank you, thank you!"
"Please send ho, master wizard!"
So marveled at their shackles being removed, so cried and expressed thanks, and so grabbed his pants begging to be sent ho.
Turan politely removed the hands grabbing his pants and said.
"I'll go deal with the village first, so I'll leave things here to you."
"When you say deal with..."
"That one."
When Turan pointed at the supervisor, he tried to run away in surprise, but simple telekinetic magic was enough to knock down soone who was just an ordinary human.
Turan took away his only weapon, the whip, threw it aside, and walked out of the mine.
Horrible screams echoed from behind.
==
The coastal village was an hour's walk from the mine, but that distance was nothing to Turan riding Bize.
Being dayti, the black eagle and Turan's shadow cast on the ground, and the pirates quickly noticed their presence and pointed at the sky.
"There's soone riding a bird! No, hanging from a bird...?"
"Is it a wizard? Soone report to the village chief!"
While the pirates were in confusion at the sudden appearance of an unknown figure, Turan looked down at the pirates on the ground while putting his hand in and out of his pocket.
In his fist was a handful of pitch-black powder.
"This is the first ti using it in actual combat. Rember, Bize? Don't be surprised."
After hearing a chirp in response aning she understood, Turan scattered the fire spirits over the village.
Explosions occurred on the ground along with the casting of ignition magic.
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