Search Begins
To find the slumbering mana ore, we headed deeper into the mine shaft.
Thanks to Amira’s illumination magic, the once pitch-dark path was now bright, and the eerie atmosphere had completely vanished. With this, even if monsters attacked, we could respond immediately.
However, the purpose of this journey wasn’t monster subjugation.
We had come all this way to confirm whether there was still mana ore buried in this decommissioned site.
“How’s it looking, Amira? Think it’s time to try detection magic?”
“Yes. I’ll give it a try.”
We’d already walked a considerable distance, so if we used detection magic again, we might get a different result from last time.
With that in mind, I asked Amira to cast the detection spell again.
The result—
“Huh?”
Amira's clear surprise made us all instinctively lean forward and wait for her next words.
“This is... mana.”
“R-Really!?”
Gary asked excitedly.
If something other than a person was emitting mana in this mountain, then the only plausible answer was mana ore. Of course, we couldn’t be certain yet, but there was no doubt that we’d made progress from a point where we thought there was no chance at all.
“Could it really be new mana ore?”
“We’ll know once we go see.”
Elina couldn’t hide her excitement.
Well, considering the outcome could drastically change the economy of the Abbott region, it was understandable. Apparently, this area had once been among the top producers of mana ore in the country. If it started producing again, all eyes would surely turn to it.
Betting on the future of this region, we hurried toward the location where mana had been detected.
Then—
“Huh? Wait, huh?”
Amira, leading the way, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
“The mana I just detected... its quantity is changing slightly.”
“W-What?”
So... what does that mean?
“Sorry, Amira. Can you explain a little more—”
“S-Senior! Look over there!”
Elina suddenly grabbed my sleeve and shouted. I turned my gaze to her, and she was staring wide-eyed, pointing toward the ceiling. I looked up to see what she was talking about—
“What!?”
There were masses of mana ore.
But why hadn’t anyone noticed mana ore so close to the mine tunnel?
As I puzzled over this simple question—an unbelievable phenomenon occurred.
The mana ore on the ceiling began to move—slowly.
“W-What’s going on!?”
“Are those mana ores... alive!?”
While the knights with us grew increasingly unsettled, I realized the truth—
And drew my holy sword.
What do you think about this chapter?
