novelraw Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98 Gold Clothes Sect (3)
“Could I hear more details?”
At my question, Chu Pal’s party began to tell their story.
The Stone Mountain where they were working was located a bit further south from the Gold Clothes Sect, in a sparsely populated area.
Someone had been working hard to pierce the inside of the large Stone Mountain, and they said its shape was like a bell.
Their assigned job was to excavate the remaining half of the Stone Cavern that had not yet been dug out and to move specified items inside.
After that, trivial stories followed about how much the daily wage was and how there was a pretty woman among the supervisors.
I, who was listening to the stories of Chu Pal’s party, fell into thought.
A Stone Cavern inside a Stone Mountain.
I had a strong feeling that I had to go there.
However, the problem was that the Stone Mountain was a place where only workers could enter.
I considered the method of sneaking in and watching using martial arts, but the risk of being caught was too great.
If things went wrong, I might lose the traces of the Blood Cult.
Since it was a place with a geographical strategic position that the Blood Cult would have no choice but to put effort into, a proper confirmation was necessary.
After contemplating, I opened my mouth.
“By any chance, are you short on hands? Since we have some time left after attending our acquaintance’s 60th birthday banquet.”
Chu Pal looked at me with surprised eyes.
“Huh? We are always short on hands, but it is quite a strenuous job.... You do not look like people who would do such rough work.”
“That is not true. we also have experience doing this kind of work. Especially the person wearing the scholar’s cap and the lady have a deep knowledge of architecture, so they will probably be able to help in excavating the remaining Stone Cavern. As for me, as long as the daily wage is good, I can sufficiently endure hard work.”
At my words, Chu Pal’s party scanned my sturdy body from top to bottom and nodded.
“Well... if that is the case, we welcome you. In a way, it worked out well. They said they were looking for someone who knows about construction because the inside of the Stone Cavern keeps collapsing. You might be the perfect people for the job. Having someone who can use their brain is welcome in many ways.”
When Chu Pal reached out his hand gladly, I took that hand.
****
“I told them that Miss Pan and Young Hero Ban are experts in construction. Young Hero Ban, please look at the structure, and Miss Pan, please go around with Young Hero Ban and check if there are any strange points in the surroundings.”
Ice Rakshasa gave her shoulder a shrug and then nodded.
“Hearing the story, it seems there is definitely a need to go once. Well, it seems like it will be fun? When else in my life would I have the chance to enter a Stone Cavern site again?”
Mad Dragon, who was listening to the conversation between the two, let out a small sigh.
Then, with his eyes narrowed to the maximum, he looked at me and spoke.
“You fellow, are you telling this old man to be swinging a pickaxe right now?”
“Ah, Lord Mad Dragon, if you do not feel like it, you do not have to come. The rest of us will go in.”
At my sharp reply, Mad Dragon flinched and let out a dry cough.
“Ahem! No, still, since we decided to investigate together, I cannot be left out....”
Mad Dragon, who was looking around for no reason, walked toward his bundle and began to rummage through it to find usable work clothes.
I smiled as I watched that scene, and Ice Rakshasa poked my side and gave a slight thumbs-up.
In the meantime, Ban Cheol-hwi, who had been rummaging through his luggage in the corner, pulled out a book and approached with sparkling eyes.
“I was actually quite interested in architecture. This will be a very good opportunity to use my knowledge directly on site. I have some records of buildings utilizing formations from before. Take a look at this.”
The book Ban Cheol-hwi held out was filled with complex lines.
“Young Hero Ban. We are not actually going there to work, so please calm your excitement. If it is really a building being made by the Blood Cult, we might even have to sabotage it. Since we must respond according to the situation, please prioritize closely examining the structure first.”
Ban Cheol-hwi nodded while smacking his lips as if it were a pity.
“Then, let us join them directly tomorrow morning. Everyone, please prepare the work clothes you will wear tomorrow. Hmm. Just in case, I think it would be better to prepare aliases.... How about calling each other by our names in reverse? There is no harm in being careful.”
The party nodded at my words.
****
“Un-ja.”
“Yes, Brother Yong-gwang.”
Mad Dragon could not hold back his laughter, and with his face turning beet red, his nose flared.
“Miss Yeong-bing.”
“What is it, Brother Hwi-cheol.”
“Hmm.... Hearing it now, Hwi-cheol seems to sound better.”
Ice Rakshasa, who gave a smack to the back of Ban Cheol-hwi as he scratched his head, pushed his back.
“Do not talk nonsense and give it a bit more strength. We are almost there.”
Following behind Chu Pal’s party who were going up ahead, the group walked up the stone hill.
It was an unusual terrain.
In the middle of a wide grassland, a stone hill and a large Stone Mountain were situated.
As I walked up the stone hill, I scanned the high-rising Stone Mountain here and there.
‘It does not seem to have been made artificially…… it is unique.’
The surroundings were mostly flat, but this place specifically had a lush forest spreading out, and inside it, stones were piled up to form a mountain.
I did not know what kind of natural phenomenon created this terrain, but it was certainly not a sight commonly seen.
To the eyes of the group who had walked up the Stone Mountain for a long time while pushing and pulling the struggling Ban Cheol-hwi, dozens of laborers sitting together in a small clearing on the mountainside were visible.
“Hey. You are here. Welcome. If you wait here for a moment, I will go call the supervisor.”
Chu Pal waved his hand toward the group and approached a man sitting in a corner of the clearing.
After talking with Chu Pal for a moment, the man stood up from his seat with a grunt and trudged toward the group.
“……Tsk.”
The supervisor, who scanned the group once, smacked his lips as if they were not to his liking.
“Who is the technician?”
“Ahem. I possess some knowledge of architectural techniques.”
“Me too.”
As Ice Rakshasa and Ban Cheol-hwi stepped forward, the supervisor pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and thrust it forward.
“Do you know what this means?”
Ban Cheol-hwi, who stared at the paper the supervisor held out, soon let out a tsk tsk.
Then, after slightly rolling up his sleeves, he began to explain while pointing to the paper with his hand.
“Just who came up with this idea? If you proceed like this, this structure will have no choice but to collapse, unable to endure for even a day. Unless you support it here using an inverted wedge structure, this can never last for more than a month. I guarantee it.”
The supervisor, who stared at Ban Cheol-hwi blankly, pulled out another piece of paper and held it out to him.
“Hmm. Let me see…. Here, it would be a bit safer to support it with a wooden frame structure. Having the pillars come down this way will also be less of a hindrance to passage. Although there is no great problem in working like this, if a heavy rain falls or something, this side might be washed away.”
The supervisor grinned.
“Good. This level of help will be useful. You two can help with designing the structure…… and you all?”
Mad Dragon gave a shrug and then lifted a large rock nearby with a grunt.
I, who was scratching my head, also stood next to Mad Dragon and with difficulty lifted a rock the size of my torso.
“You look like you have been living on nothing but thin gruel, but you do use some strength.”
“What? Thin gruel?”
I grabbed Mad Dragon’s wrist as he threw the rock onto the ground with a BANG and walked forward.
“Strength is strength, but we also learn and master work quickly. We will be useful.”
The supervisor, who glanced at me, nodded.
“Fine. Then you two will do the work of quarrying and carrying stones outside. The daily wage is forty copper coins per person. Collect it from me once the work is all finished.”
The supervisor raised his hand and pointed to where each of them should move.
“Just in case, refrain from telepathic messages as much as possible and let us talk when we gather during the lunch hour.”
Ice Rakshasa, who nodded at my whisper, took Ban Cheol-hwi and followed the supervisor toward the Stone Mountain.
I and Mad Dragon, who watched the two of them, also headed toward the laborers sitting in the clearing.
As I and Mad Dragon walked over, Chu Pal waved his hand from one side.
Approaching Chu Pal, I bowed my head slightly.
“We look forward to working with you, seniors.”
“Hahaha. Seniors, you say. There is nothing to teach you. You just have to do some pickaxing inside and pour the debris onto the hill next to this. It is time now, so everyone, let us go in.”
Having finished speaking, Chu Pal picked up one of the pickaxes lying nearby.
I and Mad Dragon also grabbed pickaxes.
About twenty laborers lined up and walked into the Stone Mountain, and I and Mad Dragon followed at the very end.
“Un-ja.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“Have you done any pickaxing?”
“……Actually, I have no experience doing it properly.”
I approached him and whispered quietly.
“I knew that would be the case. Tsk. In the end, this one must give you a lesson.”
I turned my head and looked at Mad Dragon.
Then, Mad Dragon tapped the pickaxe he was holding in his hand and spoke.
“My father was a stonemason. In my childhood, my daily routine was quarrying the stones my father would carve using a pickaxe like this and carrying them. Watching my father’s life, I thought I should never live like that, breathing in stone dust all my life…… but who knew I would end up breathing in stone dust again because of you fellow here.”
After Mad Dragon finished speaking, he raised the pickaxe to the sky and then slowly lowered it while steadying his breath.
“Hey, you there. Do not raise your pickaxe dangerously.”
Ignoring the voice heard from not far away, Mad Dragon loosened his shoulders.
“If you just follow what I do well, you will be halfway there, so watch my pickaxe closely.”
Mad Dragon placed the pickaxe on his shoulder with a confident attitude.
Following the laborers, I entered the hole made in the Stone Mountain and looked around with eyes full of wonder.
The inside of the Stone Mountain, which was about four or five times the height of a person, had more than half of it hollowed out, becoming a massive Stone Cavern.
Torches were hung here and there inside the Stone Cavern, and laborers were working around the torches.
─ CLANG!
─ CLANG!
The sound of pickaxes hitting stone shook the inside of the Stone Mountain.
The hollowed-out Stone Mountain was amplifying the sound, and thanks to that, even the voice of the person next to you was barely audible inside.
When the new laborers entered, the laborers who had been working stopped their pickaxing and looked back.
It seemed they were working in shifts.
Only after all the laborers had stopped their pickaxing did Mad Dragon lower his hands which had been covering his ears.
“It is a very noisy place.”
Leaving Mad Dragon, who walked forward to examine the pile of stones, I stood in the center of the Stone Cavern and slowly looked around.
Several holes that appeared to be air holes were pierced in the ceiling, and I also saw wooden supports installed here and there to prevent the Stone Cavern from collapsing while working.
‘It is an immense rock. Several massive rocks have gathered to form a large Stone Mountain.’
Looking closely at the inside, this Stone Mountain was composed of several large stones.
Thanks to that, it was a situation where the shape of the Stone Cavern could be maintained if only the seams were supported with wooden structures.
Having familiarized myself with the structure of the Stone Cavern to some extent, I approached Mad Dragon.
“By any chance, have you found anything strange?”
Mad Dragon gave no answer to my question.
After staring down at the pile of stones for a while, Mad Dragon turned his head.
“For now, won't something come out if we break it a bit?”
“Pardon?”
“Seeing stones after a long time reminds me of the old days.”
Mad Dragon, who spat PTUI PTUI on both hands, fiddled with the pickaxe and then raised it high into the sky.
“HEAVE.”
“Uh?”
─ FLASH
In an instant, it felt as if lightning struck in Mad Dragon’s eyes.
Subsequently, the pickaxe, which came down drawing an elegant curve, met a large stone placed on the floor.
─ BOOOOM!
With a single pickaxe strike from Mad Dragon, the large piece of stone was broken into small fragments and scattered in all directions.
“What? Which fellow is already pickaxing when no one gave a signal!”
At someone’s shout, everyone in the cave turned their heads and looked at Mad Dragon.
The man who was walking forward to shout at Mad Dragon stopped in his tracks after confirming the stone fragments finely spread on the floor.
“Eh?”
“What is that? Did he just split a stone of that size at once like that?”
The laborers, who rubbed their eyes and looked at the stone fragments on the floor, simultaneously stood up and walked quickly toward Mad Dragon.
“Ju-just now, how did you do that? By any chance, could you show us again?”
Looking at Mad Dragon, who wore a proud smile on his face covered in stone dust, I scratched my head.