Chapter 69
‘The owner of the mine has already been decided?’
I held my breath and listened closely to the men’s conversation.
It seemed Gerard was thinking the same thing. He was unloading a single suitcase from the carriage over and over again.
“The owner has already been decided? What does that even mean?”
Fortunately, one of the men spoke the words I wanted to say.
“Haven’t you heard the story yet?”
“Oh? What story is that?”
“It’s the story that this afternoon, the deputy of Duke Astrahan was seen leaving the mansion where the Count is staying.”
The deputy of Duke Astrahan was Erjin’s uncle.
I had heard that the Astrahan family was also planning to participate in the auction for the Gelende Mine. But it seemed to be something else entirely for the deputy himself to visit Gelende personally.
“He came with all sorts of things, yet we never even got a glimpse of him…”
“Do you really think he’s the same as us?”
“What’s different then?”
“Behind the deputy of Duke Astrahan… isn’t there someone else?”
“You mean… His Highness the Prince?”
“According to my source, this morning a development restriction was proposed on the Hav River.”
The man holding the cigar lowered his voice slightly.
The Hav River ran across the continent and flowed into the Western Sea.
In other words, controlling the area around the Hav River would give a huge advantage in trade with the Empire and the Western Continent.
‘Of course, the noble families will try to secure the development rights by any means.’
Naturally, a huge investment would be raised, and the end destination of that money would surely be Gelende.
“Even if we pooled all our money together, it wouldn’t even come close to Astrahan’s share.”
“Tch… it’s over. How do we even report this to the higher-ups?”
Even after the men who had smoked their cigars disappeared, we stayed in place for a while.
“It seems a lot happened while the castle was empty,” Gerard was the first to speak.
It was unexpected that the deputy of Astrahan had the prince backing him.
‘If he, who already has enormous capital, has already made an agreement with the Count…’
There wasn’t much we could do on our end.
But Kenich didn’t seem too worried.
“Isn’t the auction just about who pays more money anyway?”
He said it simply: just pay more. Unfortunate, but it was true.
If we could offer more than Deputy Astrahan, no matter what deal he had with the Count, the Gelende Mine would belong to Kreutz.
Fortunately, Kreutz had more than enough money, and the Rose Trading Company wasn’t much different.
What mattered most now was:
‘Whether crystals are actually buried in the Gelende Mine.’
Just then, as the expressions of Kenich, Yelloyz, and I grew serious, Gerard, having finished unloading the luggage, pointed to a building.
“This is the best lodging in Gelende Village,” he said.
It was a newly built modern hotel for miners and visitors.
“Chu…ut…?”
I just stared at the tall, flashy building, completely out of place in this humble village.
Along with the men who had smoked cigars earlier, aristocrats in fine suits were all heading in this direction.
That meant—
The information we could gather would also be extremely limited.
Today, among the nobles, the topic would surely be the Hav River and Deputy Astrahan.
“Chu…ut…!”
So we came all the way to Gelende just to gather this much information? That’s absolutely not happening!
“Chut!”
“Cherry, what’s wrong?”
Three pairs of eyes fell on me as I shouted.
“Chuchut, chuchut!”
There’s no more information to gather here! I crossed my arms in an X and shook my head. Then I urgently pointed somewhere.
“Chut, chuchut!”
The miners seemed to be heading where I pointed, as if following a pied piper.
“I don’t know what you mean exactly, but we should probably follow where Cherry is pointing first,” Yelloyz agreed with my insistence.
We arrived at a small building at the end of an alley.
The first floor was a restaurant, and above it, a lodging facility.
“Cherry… you don’t mean we’re staying here, do you?” Gerard leaned toward me, asking cautiously. His awkward smile looked a little strained.
“It would be a bit difficult for you and the Lady to stay here,” I replied.
It was probably a security issue. The building I pointed to looked questionable even for merchants, let alone nobles.
Although well-maintained, traces of age were evident—the paint peeling here and there.
Gerard was especially concerned about the low ceiling. A building so low that one could see the entire place with a slight glance was perfect for nightly visitors.
Just then, laughter grew louder, and something fell from the wall.
Can’t even stand the sound of laughter? Gerard’s eyes shook helplessly.
‘Unlike me, who wandered the mountains and valleys, Kenich and Yelloyz were born into the highest nobility.’
It was understandable that they found this a little unfamiliar, having spent their lives in grand estates and luxurious townhouses.
But.
“Chuchut!”
Real rumors always start in places like this!
I extended my hand, pointing toward a door emitting faint light.
Ding.
“Thanks for the meal today!”
Someone came out of the weathered wooden door.
A man with dark-stained sleeves. His hands, worn and scarred, were clearly a miner’s.
Through the slightly open door came the enticing smell of food and the lively chatter of customers.
Under the dim lighting, the guests mingled without distinction.
They were the residents of Gelende, dressed in comfortable casual clothes.
“Oh… perhaps…”
Finally, Gerard seemed to realize my intention and slapped his hands together.
“There’s nothing better to relieve the stress of hard labor than good food. Naturally, miners gather here, and then…”
“Internal information will also be here,” I finished.
Gerard’s eyes sparkled as he said this, and Kenich quietly nodded.
“Chuchut.”
Exactly.
Gelende Village was originally a mining town for ores exposed by rain or erosion.
‘The characteristic of such a small, remote town is its secrecy.’
Because the amount of ore mined was directly tied to the village’s survival.
Gelende’s open-pit mine mostly produced tin, copper, or iron. Not high-quality, so they didn’t fetch a good price, but better than nothing.
Despite spending a lifetime sweating and bleeding for such scrap metal…
There were now ores enough to buy a mansion in the capital.
Just the thought made my stomach churn.
And if high-ranking nobles came daily, carrying bags of money?
‘I’d shut my mouth too.’
Above all, the village felt artificially arranged, like a stage set.
Ore was stacked at the entrance as if to show off, and the expressions of the skilled miners were uniformly dark.
As if hiding something.
So it was necessary to look into the village’s internal affairs. Who, and why, orchestrated this? And, more importantly, whether crystals were truly buried in Gelende.
‘There’s no better place for secrets than the local hotspot.’
This “Oak Barrel Inn” was nothing less than a treasure trove of information.
“Chuchuchut.”
Leave it to me, Cherry, to gather it all.
