Game Transmigration: Saving the World Again 1000 Years Later

Chapter 19: Silverstream Mine

Translator: CKtalon

Compared to the previous, indecisive duke of Thorn City, Duke Simon was much tougher when it came to matters of personal interest. Sometimes, he even didn’t hesitate to have friction with the royal family of the Riel Empire.

For example, the ownership of the Silverstream Mine. Legally speaking, ever since Terra I conquered the Blackwater Kingdom and changed it to the Blackwater Province, the few larger Elementium Silver mines with the Silverstream Mine being the leading mine should’ve been considered the royal family’s assets. The city lord of Thorn City was only managing them on their behalf.

However, the first thing Simon did after taking over as Duke of Thorn was to remove all the factions the royal family had planted in the Silverstream Mine, making it Duke Simon’s private property. The royal family could only collect a trade tax on Elementium Silver exports every year.

This matter had once caused the citizens of Thorn City to feel insecure. They were afraid that he knew no fear being young, Duke Simon would publicly oppose the royal family and stir up war on this cursed land again.

But strangely, the royal family chose to compromise. They eventually signed a trade agreement that prioritized providing high-quality Elementium Silver ingots to the Imperial Battle Mage Academy and the Astral Council.

The security in the Silverstream Mine were elite Bramble Guards. The miners were hired from locals without any background, and even the supervisor was assigned to his Palace Mages.

To the duke, this industry was indeed firmly in his hands, but to the supervisors, they inevitably had a lot of complaints about being a supervisor in the mines despite being a magic chanter.

This was especially so for the supervisor who was being provoked by the new miner in front of him. As a magic chanter with the title of Expert, he should’ve been the attention of many in the palace or continued his research at the academy.

He was sent to this mine to manage a group of dirty commoners because of a mistake in his political leanings.

Nobody would have a good temper here.

Therefore, the first rule he set here was that anyone who addressed him had to add ‘sir.’ Although it was difficult for him to acquire any sense of superiority from these miners, it could at least slightly alleviate the humiliation of being deployed here.

As for the new transferred miner in front of him, he actually dared to joke with his rule.

Everyone looked at the bold rookie.

The supervisor didn’t flare up immediately and said with a gloomy expression, “Show me your transfer order.”

Every miner who came to the Silverstream Mine would have their identity strictly reviewed by the Elementium Silver Chamber of Commerce. This prevented the possibility of other factions planting spies in the Elementium Silver mines. Even if they were transferred from other mines, they needed a transfer order with a rose seal.

William took out a folded transfer order from his pocket.

It was an empty piece of blank paper.

It wasn’t right to call it blank paper. The moment the supervisor opened it, dense words appeared on the paper, but they only appeared for an instant before disappearing. The supervisor’s eyes also fell into a daze for a few seconds.

When he came back to his senses, he folded the paper again as if nothing had happened and handed it back to William.

“Join the team first. We’ll talk about your rebuttal when you return,”

the supervisor said calmly.

The surrounding miners looked at the supervisor in disbelief. When he turned his gaze over, they quickly lowered their heads.

When did he become so good-tempered?

...

He never expected that even the supervisor here was a magic chanter. Thankfully, he had prepared the Legendary spell, Seal of Confusion, in advance and not the Expert spell, Human Befuddlement. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been fooled.

In the game, these two skills were only illusion-type skills. The effect was to make the enemy temporarily ignore him while he was in stealth. The only difference was that the former was effective on intellectual creatures below Lv. 50, while the latter could only be effective on humans below Lv. 20.

But after transmigrating, William discovered that these two illusion skills were as described. They could confuse the thoughts of the target to a certain extent, but of course, it was only for an instant. They couldn’t be controlled.

However, it wasn’t a problem for him to enter the mine.

Rows of magic crystal lamps lit up the mine, and the miners entered one after another, putting on their personal gear in front of the elevator.

William imitated the actions of the others and tied the rope to his body, but he did it messily. It took him a long time to tie it up. At this moment, the tall man named Sigmonds walked over.

“This goes from under before the knot is tied...”

He patiently instructed William on how to wear the equipment needed to head down the well.

“The mining equipment in the mines in Thorn City should be about the same. Is this your first time in a mine?”

After helping William put on his equipment, he asked casually.

“Yes, this is my first time in a mine. Can you explain the situation here?”

Sigmonds looked at the man in front of him in surprise.

Although he was only probing, he never expected him to have never entered a mine.

It was unprecedented. How was it possible for a person who had never entered a mine to enter the Silverstream Mine? Even his old friend’s child, Colt, was taught the ropes for a period of time before he truly started mining.

Coupled with the supervisor’s strange attitude after seeing the transfer order, Sigmonds couldn’t help but suspect the identity of the person in front of him.

It was rumored that Duke Simon had disguised himself as a miner and went to many mines to carry out an investigation before he ascended the throne. Of course, his goal wasn’t to investigate the situation among the miners but to figure out the exact operations of the entire Elementium Silver industry so as to pave the way for him to completely regain its control.

Then, who was this person who didn’t look like a miner at all?

With this in mind, Sigmonds shook his head inwardly.

No matter who he was, he probably wouldn’t effect any changes for them.

The battle between the Duke of Thorn and the Riel royal family 20 years ago seemed to have changed the situation in the entire Blackwater Province and affected the fate of countless nobles and bureaucrats. However, to the miners, it was just a change of slave owners. Even after the duke completely took power and sent the Bramble Guards and Palace Mages to be their managers, their lives seemed only to deteriorate.

“Are we going down from here?”

William looked at the bottomless mine and asked.

Sigmonds came back to his senses and replied, “Yes, but we have to wait for the elevator. The superficial mineral veins have been dug clean, and we have to go deeper underground to find them.”

As he spoke, a five-square-meter elevator that looked like an iron cage was raised.

“Like before, groups of ten will descend to Mine Path #9. Remember to turn on the magic crystal lamps only after you’re down there to conserve energy. Each group will bring a cage of golden-tailed birds. If you find anything amiss with the birds, come up immediately.”

After speaking to the crowd, Sigmonds spoke to William and the child named Colt.

“The two of you will follow me to the mine in Group 1.”

The two nodded.

With the sound of gears turning, the elevator slowly descended.

“You have to remember...”

On the way down, Sigmonds suddenly spoke.

“Remember to soften your attitude in front of the supervisor when you return tonight. Although I don’t know why he didn’t flare up, he’s quite a vengeful person. Don’t anger him.”

William smiled and asked a question that had nothing to do with the previous topic.

“I heard that the Silverstream Mine was temporarily sealed off not long ago. Do you know the reason?”

“Shh! Don’t talk about this here.”