Mining with Four

When Yohane told the three of them about the burning stone, their reactions varied.

"Master, are we really going all the way to the Empire to sell it?"

"Yeah. The rates are better than selling through my shop."

Yohane nodded at Azu's words. He was impressed that Azu had asked a pretty good question.

"… This noble's name. And this location."

Alexia kept checking the same details over and over. The delivery destination for the burning stone was her former territory.

It bordered the Kingdom.

She might have concerns, but they were just making a delivery. Yohane didn't see a problem.

Elza seemed to have no particular issues. She stood quietly without asking Yohane anything.

"The four of us gather as much as we can and deliver it. A job this small won't cause issues."

Exporting burning stone as an actual business would require the Kingdom's permission. But selling it as adventurers fell within acceptable bounds. Adventurers were largely jacks-of-all-trades, after all.

"That said… you are going to ask about its intended use, correct?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"If they're using adventurers to gather it, the quantity will be substantial. If it's just for fuel, I don't mind. For the record, my family stockpiled burning stone before picking a fight with this country."

"That made us even poorer, though," Alexia added.

Yohane thought about her words for a moment.

"War materiel, huh. Buying weapons outright would be too conspicuous, but burning stone can pass as fuel."

"Exactly. If you sell without looking into that, this time it won't end with just a cell."

"I'd rather avoid that. That was awful. Fine. I obviously can't ask the noble directly, but I'll do some digging before we sell."

Alexia nodded at Yohane's words.

"You don't mind going to the Empire, right? We'd end up going eventually."

"Since when do you ask slaves for permission?"

Alexia put a hand on her hip and closed one eye in exasperation. That's her "I don't actually mind" pose, Yohane decided.

"I enter as a merchant, you three enter as adventurers. Minimal hassle. For now, let's go dig up the burning stone we're going to sell."

"Sure. Though I wonder if you can handle that kind of hard labor."

"You're one to talk…"

Nobody here still believed Elza was weak. Even if she looked the part.

Yohane felt mildly exasperated.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I meant that with your blessing, digging would be easy."

"Is that so? Hehe."

Elza's pursuit ended there.

They only had one full-sized pickaxe. Yohane would carry that, while the other three took smaller picks.

Rather than preparing meals at home, they'd buy from the stalls. This was partly Yohane's way of supporting the street vendors.

Cooking at home would be cheaper, but the stall owners were also customers at the tool shop. They bought all sorts of small goods, smoked meat, and burning stone for their fires.

Between the lord's son and the statue, the stall vendors were apparently struggling right now.

He had the three of them change, and changed into his own outdoor clothes.

Yohane strapped on a short sword as a precaution. Not that it meant much — compared to the other three, his combat ability was essentially nil. It was more like a good-luck charm.

Azu seemed to prefer the mobility of half-length pants over skirts, worrying about whether things were visible when she moved. Skirts could wait for around the house, Yohane decided, and let her have her way.

Elza wore her priest robe. Dirt was no concern when you had purification magic.

Alexia went with her battle dress, opting for the version with less exposed skin. Between her looks and the outfit, too much skin drew too many eyes.

Last, they each shouldered a backpack for hauling burning stone, enchanted with weight-reduction magic.

Outfitting all four of them was a decent expense, but unavoidable.

At least they were from the shop's inventory, so he was getting them at cost. Small mercy, Yohane thought.

The four of them set out.

Restoration work was already underway in the plaza.

The square that the statue had torn through was being repaired and straightened out. The tool shop was profiting from the demand for construction materials.

There were fewer stalls than during the plaza's heyday, but the energy was coming back.

They stopped at a stall and placed their orders. Roasted mutton stuffed into dark bread and fried mashed potato — the standard fare — times four.

For drinks, the usual: apple cider vinegar mixed with honey and diluted into a juice.

Silver coins paid, food received.

The food was piping hot.

Since it was a special occasion, they decided to eat while walking once they left the town, even though the manners were a bit bad. Everyone ate at their own pace.

Azu was opening her small mouth as wide as it would go to bite into the dark bread.

"Here."

She had sauce at the corner of her mouth, so he wiped it off. Azu swallowed what was in her mouth and thanked Yohane.

"Thank you."

"Yeah."

After walking a while, they arrived at their destination. The massive crater Azu had blown open with the magic stone he'd lent her was still visible.

Their business today was the area where burning stone could be mined. They had no need for the crater, but Yohane peeked down into it.

The cross-section was smooth as glass — it had probably melted and then resolidified.

"… I really thought I was going to die that time. Thank you, Master."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad it came in handy."

Yohane patted the bowing Azu on the shoulder.

"What happened here?"

"Fire magic, maybe? If so, I can't even imagine the firepower."

Elza and Alexia peered into the crater too. Watching them from behind, Yohane reflected that back then, it had been just Azu, alone.

(It's gotten a lot livelier since then.)

If he had the land, Yohane would have liked to open a restaurant and put more slaves to work there.

With that idle thought, they descended to the valley floor and set about mining burning stone.