Mercenary Wars

Chapter 105 Underground Silver Mine
The Gray Eagle Mercenary Group was led by its vice-captain, Night Owl, and consisted of over a hundred people, with no temporary workers.

They set off from Nanhai Town and headed west until they reached the vicinity of Siren Canyon.

Siren Canyon is a river valley.

The Levin River is a tributary of the Nikon River.

Of course, "Levin River" is the name given to the Mosa Kingdom, while the name of the river to the Yemen Kingdom is "Labuzat River," from which the fortresses "Levin Fortress" and "Labuzat Fortress" set up by both sides nearby also derive their names.

The Levin River flows directly to the sea. Due to the terrain of the canyon and the unique no-man's-land at its junction, no decent people settle here. There are only some Naga sea monsters and bandits.

On their way there, the Gray Eagle mercenaries encountered a group of people who appeared to be bandits.

However, no battle took place. After all, there were so many Gray Eagle mercenaries, and they were all clearly not to be trifled with, so the other side just saw them from afar and ran away.

Because they were too far apart, some people tried to chase after them but failed.

A middle-aged man with a mustache immediately straightened his face and said sternly, "Stop!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

"What's wrong, Griff?" Night Owl asked calmly.

The man called Griff took out a spell scroll from his storage ring: "To ensure the location of the silver mine is absolutely secure, I must conduct a 'mass magic detection'."

After saying that, he tore the spell scroll apart, and a ripple of light swept over everyone.

"Since there are no markings or similar spells, we can proceed." Griff breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Gavin Merchant Guild is really rich," the mercenaries murmured. "Lescova truly deserves to be the richest man in Southshore..."

Night Owl couldn't help but say, "This requires consuming a 'Group Magic Detection' spell? Those bandits don't even seem to know many tricks."

“Of course I know this thing is expensive, but compared to the value of a high-grade silver mine, it’s nothing,” Griff said. “Besides, there aren’t many opportunities to use this scroll except on occasions like this.”

The night owl said nothing more and led the group onward.

After another half-day's journey, the group arrived at a small hill.

Several hunters used Eagle Vision to survey their surroundings, while Griff took out a spell scroll and tore it open on the hillside.

With a ripple of light, a cave suddenly appeared on the hillside.

"Go through quickly!" Griff waved.

The group of mercenaries quickly entered the cave.

A dozen seconds later, Griff and a few hunters carefully observed their surroundings for a while before entering the cave and resetting the spell to conceal the hillside, restoring it to its original, seamless appearance.

Behind the cave entrance is a passage that winds downwards, with several checkpoints along the way.

These checkpoints are of two types: one is checked by sentries, and the other is checked by magic. The former requires the presentation of a token, while the latter requires the use of a spell scroll at the correct location.

After passing through all the checkpoints, the group finally arrived at their destination: an underground mine.

The scale of the mine is quite astonishing.

At a glance, Gao Gano determined that the area here was no less than that of the Grey Eagle Camp.

"Ding-ding-" The sound of chiseling and striking rose and fell, and miners carrying picks and pushing mine carts could be seen everywhere.

The miners all looked exhausted, their bodies covered in dust and sweat, and the entire underground mine reeked of their toil.

"I told you not to be lazy!" came an angry shout.

The mercenaries looked in the direction of the sound and found an overseer whipping a miner, who quickly pushed the mine cart away.

"Are these miners slaves?" one of the mercenaries asked. "Of course not," Griff said with a smile. "But we have a strict agreement that allows them to earn higher wages than the miners outside, at the cost of working a little harder."

“It’s the same for everyone.” He changed the subject. “It’s definitely tougher here than outside, but you can get higher subsidies, no less than if you were fighting a war. And the longer you stay here, the more subsidies you can get every day.”

"Everyone, go and rest for a bit. We'll assign tasks tomorrow."

Led by several overseers, the mercenaries arrived at their resting place, which was actually just a few cleared open spaces where they had to set up their own tents.

Gaucano naturally stayed with Thomas, Ryan, John, and others, setting up tents next to each other.

Before setting up the tent, the foreman leading the way first took out a copper lamp from his storage ring, turned the copper shade with his hand, and a bright and soft light immediately shone out, illuminating a large area of ​​space.

“Take this copper lamp. It should last for about two and a half months. If it goes out, you can ask me for the spell scroll for ‘Persistent Fluorescence’,” he said.

"Persistent Fluorescence doesn't seem to be this bright or last this long, does it? Could it be the Persistent Fluorescence after the ring upgrade?" Magister Guy asked.

The foreman explained, "Because the wick of this lamp is a mithril ball."

The monk suddenly realized.

Then the foreman said, "This lamp has the magical mark of the Gavin Merchant Guild. After all, even in the silver mine, mithril is a rare commodity... so don't lose it, or you might have worked for nothing."

Afterwards, everyone set up their tents and prepared to rest.

It was time for the miners to rest.

To Gaucano's surprise, just then, a hesitant voice came from afar: "Gaucano?"

Gaucano looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young miner walking toward him.

It took him a while to barely recognize her: "Barons?"

Barons was from Driftwood, the same age as him, and they had some interaction.

"Long time no see." Barons nodded, then looked at Gao Jiano's clothes and couldn't help but show a hint of envy. "You've become a Gray Eagle mercenary?"

"almost."

What mercenary level?

"Um... I'm not a formal mercenary."

Barons' envy lessened slightly: "That means he's not leveled up yet, just like me. I'm not leveled up either, unlike Edwin, who managed to awaken a holy name while mining!"

Gao Jiano remained noncommittal: "When did you leave Driftwood Town?"

“Last year,” Barons said, “if you had taken me with you when you left, I definitely would have gone with you. You know I’ve always wanted to go to a big city like Southshore.”

Nanhai Town, a major city...

Gaucano is having a hard time keeping up.

Well, actually he himself hadn't been to any bigger places. He just read more books and had more experience from his previous life, so he knew that Nanhai Town was definitely not a big city.

"How are you feeling in South Sea Town?" Gao Jiano asked.

"The Southsea Town Inn is so luxurious, but it's too expensive!" Barons recounted, sighing from time to time. "I stayed there for two days, but I couldn't afford it anymore, so I took the advice of the innkeeper's maid and went to the Raven Inn, only to have my purse stolen!"

Gao Jiano was silent for a moment: "And then?"

Barons: "Then I took the advice of the waiter at the Raven Inn, signed a contract, and came here!"

(End of this chapter)