Chapter 598: The Spirit of Haulon
Surrounding Haulon are four spirits.
The Fire Spirit, Fandor, has hair resembling vibrant flower petals. She’s lively, a bit mischievous, and full of curiosity.
The spirit in blue attire is Tris, the spirit of the deep blue spring in the Forest. She is a quiet spirit, possessing neither voice nor sound.
The Dwarf Spirit, Tzolkion, has a red hat and earth-toned skin. He loves to discover and hoard treasures hidden underground.
Then there’s Egima, a spirit that appears as a piece of fabric swaying in the wind. It looks just like Ittan Momen. Despite being quite strong, he often works hard even while being stepped on by Fandor, perhaps due to his personality.
Depending on the situation, I sometimes make temporary contracts with the surrounding spirits, and I often utilize the smaller ones, but these four are always by my side.
Even now, Fandor is scouting ahead, while Ittan Momen is half-wrapped around Haulon as we slowly descend into the mine shaft.
“We’ll have to use a ladder, but it seems like there’s no tainted air down here,” Haulon says.
Tainted air? Like toxic gas or carbon dioxide? Is Fandor keeping an eye on that? Thank goodness it’s not a canary.
When we reach the bottom, we find a side tunnel. Tzolkion hops around, looking curiously at his surroundings.
“A mine that’s no longer in use probably doesn’t have any stones left, right?” I wonder. If there were any to be mined, it seems like it would still be operational.
“This place was once submerged due to an out-of-season storm,” Haulon explains.
“Ah…” It’s just a hole in the ground now.
“If we can expect a good yield, we’ll need to enclose it and put a roof over it to keep the water out.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” I definitely don’t want to be submerged while we’re inside.
“Why are there stones piled up? That has to be intentional, right?” I ask, noticing several side paths blocked halfway with stones.
“Those are paths where nothing was found or where they’ve already been completely mined out. If they’re piled up, it’s to prevent people from wandering down them. It’s a way to avoid getting lost.”
“I see.” They wouldn’t leave paths that could easily lead to getting lost.
We have our lights, but they might have been mining in much darker conditions with just lanterns.
Plus, it’s pretty hot down here, far from comfortable. The pressure of being underground adds to the discomfort, and if it collapses, we’d be in serious trouble. Haulon and I are managing thanks to the spirits, but it’s still tough physically and mentally.
Tzolkion is hopping excitedly in front of what seems to be a dead-end wall.
“Looks like he found something,” Haulon says.
As I approach and squint, I notice a section of the stone wall that seems to have a different color, or maybe it doesn’t? Perhaps the texture of the stone is just different?
“This is a pathway of the Stone Spirit. There are gemstones within this path. That’s why we need to find it first,” Haulon explains, tracing the path with his finger.
Tzolkion, eager to contribute, grabs a small pickaxe and starts breaking apart the rock wall. Is it softer than the other areas?
“Long ago, a path was formed here~”
“It shook and rumbled~”
“Because of the path, we came up from below~”
It feels like other materials flowed in from deeper layers through the gaps created by faults and folds.
“Oh, this isn’t a Traveler’s Stone. It’s blue, but… could it be a sapphire?” Haulon says, brushing off the debris from what Tzolkion unearthed and holding it up to the light.
“Let’s see…” I think it’s time to cheat a bit with [Appraisal]. When it comes to gemstones, [Appraisal] is a must.
Appraisal Result: Zoisite
“…” Just because I used [Appraisal] doesn’t mean I understand what it is. This is troublesome.
“It’s beautiful, so it’s good, right?”
“True, it’s not what we’re looking for, but it’s nice. We can investigate it later.”
And so, we continue to wander through the mine shaft. Where’s the Traveler’s Stone!?
In the end, we dug a new path. Following Tzolkion’s directions, I also asked the Earth Spirit here for guidance.
“Yes, please. Go another 60 cm from here.”
“This way—watch out, it’s going to collapse~”
“I’m going to collapse too~”
“From today, I’m the Earth Spirit~”
“I’m the Gravel Spirit~”
“Make sure the stable areas stay strong.”
“Okay, I won’t move~”
“Well, that’s convenient. No dust is kicked up either.”
“But Haulon’s Dwarf is digging too, isn’t he?”
“Normally, Earth Spirits are stubborn and don’t listen this well. Even if Tzolkion negotiates or tries to persuade them, it wouldn’t be this easy to dig. More like they’re collapsing rather than digging, right?”
It seems like they’ve transformed into other spirits.
“There are various stone-type spirits in this place,” I change the subject.
As we move forward, we find uneven, small blue stones piled up, along with some crystals.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. This Traveler’s Stone is fragile, and it’s difficult to process it into a ring. Depending on the shape, there’s a terrifying difference in value between selling it as is and after processing.”
“Wow.” I pick up a piece and examine it.
It’s a deep blue, but the transparency is low. No, there seem to be some with high transparency, but the Traveler’s Stones the People of Esha showed me were just as opaque as the one in my hand.
“They say that when this stone is made into a ring, a spirit resides within it, or the spirit of the stone awakens. Thanks to you, Gene, it might actually be preferable to have a chip in the ring from now on.”
In this world, while beautiful gemstones are certainly popular, stones with a spiritual significance are something special altogether.
But first, we need to head upstream along the Es River, walk, and set up a ladder. It looks like we have a long way to go.
“First, we need to find those who possess the Wind Spirit and the Earth Spirit. Ideally, I’d like a spirit of refreshing winds, but…” Haulon muses, resting his chin on his hand.
—The preparations for a world filled with spirits are underway!!!!