The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 15 Redevelopment

After a careful search in the laboratory, Eric was not too disappointed. He still found some valuable things.

To be precise, it was Alena who found it.

She accidentally discovered that there seemed to be a secret compartment on the rock wall, which she couldn't find, so she called Eric over to break it open by brute force.

Click!

He smashed the outer wooden board with the hilt of the sword, and after a few more pulls, the small secret compartment was exposed in front of the two men.

"It looks like some coins." Alena took a quick look and her interest waned.

Eric stirred it with his sword to confirm that it was not a trap, then reached out and took out a handful. Taking a look in the light, he saw not only silver and copper coins, but also several rings, all of which were stained with black lumps, which seemed to be coagulated blood.

"It seems this is the necromancer's private vault." Eric took out another handful of coins, but he still hadn't taken out all of them. Golden yellow coins could already be seen among them. "There are still gold coins."

Alena looked at the bloodstained jewelry, such as rings and necklaces, mixed in with the others and said, "They must have been looted from the undead."

Eric shared the same view, but was curious about the Necromancer's purpose in plundering the gold and silver. "Does it still think it can escape from here?"

The head nun shook her head in confusion.

Eric dug a few times and completely emptied the crudely made secret compartment. He picked up the torch and looked inside, only to find something stuck in the deepest part.

He took some effort to pull out the thing, which turned out to be a badge.

Alena looked over and said, "This is..."

The badge was about the size of Eric's palm. It looked like it was made of metal, but it was so light that it was almost imperceptible.

Over the years, the pattern on the badge had worn away and was no longer clear. It looked like a palace. Eric thought it looked familiar and turned it around. At a certain angle, he suddenly realized, "Xingyuan Academy?"

Alena looked at him, then at the badge. She had only a superficial understanding of the magic academy.

"Does Mr. Eric recognize this badge?"

The more Eric thought about it, the more certain he became. He nodded and said, "Although Xingyuan Academy is located in a chaotic place, there are still some basic rules within the academy. For example, only those wearing the academy badge can enter or exit."

Although this badge is not the same as the one he got after completing a series of tasks in the game, it is something from more than two hundred years ago after all, so it is normal to have differences.

"That necromancer is probably also a student of Xingyuan Academy. He might even be the student of the person who ultimately... started it all."

Eric looked at the badge against the light for a moment longer, then put it away. "I'll take this badge."

Alena didn't comment and went to check if there were any other secret compartments on the rock wall.

This badge is equivalent to a pass to the largest magic academy on that continent. Wearing it allows you to attend classes. Eric can't use it himself, but Irene might need it in the future, so he has to keep it for her.

As for the remaining coins, although no one dislikes money, Eric was not very interested in them. He picked them up a few times and was too lazy to count them. He called Leslie and asked him to distribute them to the other guards - the head sister had already said in advance that she didn't need them.

Looking at the coins on the ground, the captain of the guards widened his eyes.

The young master didn't care because he was the future heir to the City Lord's Mansion, but he was not.

He really likes these shiny little gadgets made of gold, silver and copper.

What’s more, there are so many of them.

"You can divide it up as you see fit," Eric said. "There's no need to keep any for me and my uncle."

According to the rules, no matter what they gain this time, the City Lord's Mansion will take the lion's share, but he has the final say on such small matters.

"Yes!"

Leslie put all the coins away, not because he wanted to keep them all for himself, but because it was not the time to divide the money yet.

After checking again to make sure nothing was missed, Eric lit a fire and burned everything that could be burned in the laboratory to eliminate future troubles.

"Withdraw."

The group retreated out of the mine. Compared to their initial vigilance and precautions, the way out was much easier. It didn't take long before they returned to the entrance of the underground mine.

"It's already this late..."

Eric squinted his eyes and looked at the sky outside, which seemed to be covered with a layer of egg liquid.

I couldn't feel the passage of time in the dark mine. When I came out, I found that the sun had moved to the other side of the sky. It was probably two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

It was still early, but the actual experience in the mine today was not quite what they expected. Eric and Leslie both felt it would be safer to withdraw first.

The bodies of the two unlucky villagers were still lying at the entrance of the mine. Even though a team of guards from the City Lord's Mansion went down the mine, ordinary villagers still did not dare to enter the mine, let alone collect their bodies.

"What should we do with these two bodies?"

"Did you forget? Didn't the young master say he would carry it out when he came here?"

"Where are you taking it?"

"It's none of your business. Just carry it out and dump it somewhere. Someone will come and collect it."

Several guards worked together to carry the two bodies out of the mine. They didn't just throw them away, but put them down in a more conspicuous place.

Two villagers saw it and ran back to the village below. After a while, seven or eight people came up together. The middle-aged couple who led the group lay on the corpse and cried miserably. In the end, they carried the corpse away.

Eric had returned to the camp and watched the group of people moving down the slope from afar, sighing softly.

"Master."

Leslie, who had been staying there, also returned to the camp. "I asked around, and it turns out many villagers have temporarily taken refuge elsewhere." "No wonder there aren't many people around."

"But some people have returned during the day. They probably heard some news... Those few people looking around over there are the ones."

Eric glanced over and saw a few villagers standing not far away, their eyes moving back and forth between the mine and their camp, occasionally whispering to each other.

"Send someone to appease them and keep them from leaving. Tell them that we will definitely eliminate all the undead in the mine..."

Eric said, and suddenly made a sound of clicking his tongue.

"What's wrong, young master?" Leslie asked hurriedly.

"I should have left a few undead behind and captured them. Talking is not as effective as a direct display of force."

The captain of the guards said that the young master's idea was bold, but would definitely be effective.

Eric was a little annoyed, but he was too lazy to go down the hole to catch the corpses now. "Let's just talk about it for now."

"Yes!"

"Wait, don't leave yet."

Eric stopped Leslie as he was about to leave. "The town of Valais was built because of this mine. Even though the mine has been abandoned for over two hundred years, the town has survived. Ask the villagers how many would be willing to come and mine if the mine reopened."

Leslie was stunned for a few seconds, then turned back. "Master, what you mean is..."

"Well, I plan to reopen this mine."

Eric turned his head to look at the rotting fence outside the mine. "This mine wasn't closed because the ore was exhausted. I estimate it can be mined for at least a few more decades. If that's the case, isn't it a waste to keep it idle?"

"Um……"

Leslie looked hesitant and scratched his chest through the breastplate, not knowing what he was scratching.

"If we want to reopen the mine, it seems that there aren't enough people in this town...why not ask the Earl for his opinion?"

Eric glanced at the captain of the guards and of course understood what he really meant: this matter involved too many aspects and the young master could not make the decision.

"That's what I was planning." He was not in a hurry. "I will write a letter to my uncle later. Please send someone back to the city to get the reply and then come back."

"Yes, Master."

"Let's go appease the villagers first."

Leslie turned and left, and Eric found a high place alone, and in the afternoon sun, he scanned the entire mine and the town below.

Reopening the mine was not some sudden idea of ​​a second-generation young master.

When the game was officially launched in the previous life, this mine had already been reopened, and the excavation was in full swing.

The reason is very simple. Once the war broke out in the north, countless resources were invested, especially iron ore needed to make weapons and armor.

Back to the present, the demons are bound to move south in a few years, and war is inevitable. Whether it is to make early preparations to resist the invasion of the demons or for the sake of his family, Eric must make a fortune from the war.

"As for manpower, a group of refugees recently arrived in the forest north of Ori City. We can recruit them to work as miners. Having a job is better than wandering around or harassing elves..."

Eric was thinking on the mountain, and at the same time he was mentally drafting a letter to his uncle.

"I don't know what the price of pig iron is right now, so I might as well stock up on it... Hmm... Then, I have to prepare food as well."

But from another perspective, these things are all war materials. If they suddenly start to be stockpiled without any warning, it will look a bit like they are preparing for a rebellion.

However, even if there is a real rebellion, the empire probably won't react much, or they might be willing but unable to do so.

The Delan Empire has lasted for more than 500 years, and has long been in dire straits, with its people living in misery. Otherwise, there would not be so many refugees around Dent County.

After the previous emperor's sudden death and the young current emperor Chike Utu's accession to the throne, the royal family's power and prestige plummeted, and they had actually lost control of most of the empire's territory.

"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time and see what happens. Let's get this mine under our control first."

After going down the mountain and returning to the camp, Eric found paper and pen, quickly wrote a letter, and asked a guard to take it back to the city.

"Remember, don't come back until you get the count's reply."

"I understand, Master."

Watching the guards ride away, Eric had nothing to do for the time being, so he just walked around. Then he saw Leslie and several guards on horseback surrounding some villagers in the village below.

It looked like they had some dispute.

"what happened?"

Eric watched from a distance for a while, but couldn't hear any movement over there, so he moved closer.

"The young master said—"

Leslie drove his horse to stop a villager who was trying to break out of the encirclement. He glared at him fiercely and drew his sword:

“Today, none of you who have escaped and returned will be allowed to leave!
Also, every young and strong man in the village, no one can escape!"

Eric, who was on his way over, stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Is this meant to comfort or intimidate?

"No matter who it is, none of them can escape." Are they recruiting people or driving them away?

He also said "the young master said so", but he didn't fucking say it!
(End of this chapter)