Black dragon
Sebastian and Luffy were both stunned.
There is no other reason. It’s just that among all the dragons, the black dragon has never had a good reputation.
This chaotic and dark species of dragon has always been synonymous with evil and betrayal, and has a strong desire to dominate other intelligent creatures. Unless they encounter a stronger existence, it is almost impossible for them to communicate on an equal footing with ordinary intelligent creatures.
"You mean to say that in the mines lives an evil black dragon, the most brutal and cruel of all dragon species, and this black dragon...actually became friends with a miner?"
Sebastian looked odd and couldn't help but complain.
"It's true. I didn't lie to you. My brother said it was a black dragon!"
Noah insisted, looking at the two men's obvious disbelief.
Werewolf Luf shook his head and said:
"Little Noah, you are too young."
"When I was young, I had the honor of seeing a black dragon in the East Yunite Black Land. That creature... was arrogant, powerful, evil, and crazy... far beyond your imagination. In just a moment, it destroyed a city built by mercenaries, just because the mercenaries refused to surrender to it..."
"The so-called Black Dragon is what your brother said. Maybe... he was wrong. Not to mention, how do you explain the missing miners?"
Luf recalled the past with a look of awe on his face, and it was obvious that he was somewhat afraid of what had happened in the past.
Sebastian suddenly changed the subject:
"However, if everything is really as he said, it seems that there really is some monster hidden in the mine. Maybe it's not a black dragon, but maybe... a dragonborn."
As he spoke, he looked at Charlotte and asked in a respectful tone that the little werewolf could not sense at all:
"Lesha... What do you think?"
Charlotte looked deep into the mine and said:
"It doesn't matter what it is, just go inside and take a look."
As she spoke, she touched her chin with interest, looking eager to try:
"If there really is a dragonborn, I hope it is really a black dragon."
After hearing Charlotte's ignorant words, Luf was stunned and hesitated to speak.
Sebastian's eyes lit up, and he bowed respectfully, looking at Charlotte with respect.
That’s right…
For the great Lady of Dark Night, for the returning True Ancestor of Blood, perhaps only the legendary terrifying dragon like the Black Dragon is qualified to enter her field of vision!
"Let's go and take a look at the depths of the mine."
Charlotte said.
She raised her head and looked into the depths of the cave, her eyes gradually becoming darker.
That's right, she was very interested in the legendary black dragon.
However, compared to the black dragon, she was more interested in the role played by the Castel nobles in this matter.
A monster resembling a black dragon appeared in the mine. The nobles should never have concealed it and announced that the mithril mine was exhausted.
There must be something hidden deep in this mine that cannot be seen by the light.
Those nobles who knew about this must be hiding something.
Thinking of this, Charlotte took a step forward and walked deeper into the mine.
Sebastian and Luffy also hurriedly followed and took the oil lamp given to them by the old werewolf Logan for lighting in the mine.
"Wait! I want to go too! I know the way to the Mithril Mine!"
The little werewolf Noah patted his butt and chased after him panting.
Sebastian glanced at Charlotte, who nodded slightly, approving Noah's actions.
The information was given by Noah, so he was considered a relevant person, not to mention that he knew the way.
As for the danger we encountered... I am still confident that we can evacuate Charlotte safely.
Of course, whether or not to preserve the little werewolf's memory by then is another matter.
Intentionally or unintentionally surrounding Charlotte, the group soon entered the depths of the mine.
The mine tunnels deep in the mine are more complicated and interconnected. Some of them are obviously not well excavated, while others appear to be in disrepair and seem to be at risk of collapse at any time.
Soon, everyone stopped in front of a fork in the road.
"Grandpa Logan and the others should have gone deep into the mine. There are still some scattered mithril ores there, which are also the focus of mining at the workshop."
Noah pointed to the mine tunnel on the left and said.
After saying that, he pointed to the right again:
"Here... is the mine tunnel leading to the restricted area, and also where the mithril vein is."
Charlotte and Sebastian looked at each other and nodded secretly.
"Come on, let's go in."
Entering the mine tunnel on the right, the surrounding temperature became noticeably lower, and Charlotte noticed that the magic in the air began to become thicker.
Mithril is a precious magic material with the properties of magic superconductivity and magic storage. It is normal for the magic to be rich in places where mithril mines exist.
After walking in the winding mine tunnel for about ten minutes, Charlotte and others finally reached the end.
At the end of the mine tunnel is a cave, which should have been an abandoned ore transfer center. The underground track for transporting ore ends here.
Inside the cave, there was an entrance sealed with chains and a sign hanging on it that read "No Entry". It looked a bit eerie under the dim light of the oil lamp.
"That's the entrance to the Mithril Mine. It has been completely sealed off by the Forbidden Magic Chain. No one can get in."
Noah sneezed and said.
When we got here, the temperature around us was obviously lower.
Charlotte and the other two were all transcendent beings who had entered the realm of transcendence, and they did not feel any discomfort, but for the little werewolf, he was already trembling with fear.
Suddenly, a coat fell on Noah and covered him tightly.
Noah was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw the werewolf Luf with half his shirt bare.
"Uncle Luv...?"
"Put it on, don't freeze. We are all entry-level people."
Luv shook his head.
"us?"
Noah was slightly stunned.
He couldn't help but look at Charlotte beside him, and found that this werewolf girl, who was about the same age as him, really looked as if nothing had happened and was not frozen at all. He was immediately shocked again:
“Enter…Enterer! Leisa, you are also an enterer!”
Charlotte smiled at the little werewolf, neither confirming nor denying.
She took a step forward and came to the sealed entrance of the mithril mine.
Sebastian followed suit, closed his eyes, stretched out his hand and sensed the seal, and said in surprise:
"Double seal?"
Charlotte raised her eyebrows.
"Is it easy to solve?"
Sebastian's expression was a little unnatural:
“Unblocking… is not my strong point.”
"It can't be solved. It can't be solved here. I heard from the mercenaries in the tavern that in order to prevent extraordinary people from sneaking in, the mine invited the Mage Association to use a powerful and ingenious seal. Even the legendary great wizard would find it difficult to break it."
Noah on the side shook his head.
"But... my brother told me about a secret cave. If we squeeze together, we should be able to crawl in..."
He said again.
But after he finished speaking, he found that no one responded to his words.
Noah turned his head and looked at the few people, but saw the girl suddenly said to the darkness:
"Since you've already followed me in, don't hide anymore. Show up and get to work."
As soon as the voice fell, a fat black cat jumped out from the darkness, meowed, and came to Charlotte's side:
"Lady Xia...Leisa, I can't bear to interrupt you guys because you're having such a good time chatting!"
"Pig? A little black talking pig?"
The little werewolf widened his eyes again, looking stunned.
Black Cat Nice staggered.
"Open your wolf eyes and see that Master Cat is a noble, elegant, handsome and unrestrained Coria shorthair cat!"
It glared at the little werewolf with dissatisfaction and raised its head proudly.
“Cat… Cat?!”
Noah's eyes widened even more, and he seemed to not see any connection between the spherical creature in front of him and the elegant and agile cat...
"Okay, stop being so joking and come and do your work."
Charlotte rolled her eyes at Ness.
"Hey, alright!"
Nice rubbed his cat paws, looking eager to try.
He came to the seal and first looked at Sebastian provocatively. His mocking eyes seemed to say, "Is this the best of your skills?" Then, in front of Sebastian's stiff expression with gritted teeth, he proudly placed his cat's paw on the seal.
After a flash of silver light, the chains on the seal slid off by themselves as Noah looked at him in shock.
"A black cat that can talk and can unlock legendary seals..."
He muttered in disbelief, already somewhat numb.
"Hehe, it's just a tricky third-order compound sealing technique. I guess they just hired a few Silver Moon mages who have studied sealing magic for a certain number of years. Their skills are still a bit poor. They don't even have a magic torque matrix and double enhancement of the technique, and they don't make use of the rich magic power around them. They are far inferior to me, Master Cat!"
Nice raised his tail proudly.
This guy...his attainments in magic are really high, he can come up with all kinds of theories at will, where is his background
Charlotte couldn't help but glance at Nice again.
"good."
She put away her curiosity, nodded with satisfaction, and took the lead to enter the sealed mine.
Inside the mine, the magic power became even stronger, so strong that Charlotte felt as if every pore in her body seemed to be cheering.
Vampires are magical creatures, so they naturally prefer places with strong magical energy.
She took a deep breath almost subconsciously, but this breath almost made her suffocate.
There was no other reason. After the seal was broken by Nice, the pressure caused by the difference in magic concentration inside and outside the cave formed a wind from the inside to the outside, and this rotten wind was mixed with a strong stench.
Charlotte was no stranger to this stench.
Or to be more precise, she will never forget it in her life.
It was the same stench she had smelled from the zombies around her the day the old witch hung her on the cross—
The stench of corpse!
"Ugh..."
Behind him, the little werewolf, who had also had a mouthful of evil wind, vomited.
"Be alert and go in and take a look."
Charlotte's expression began to grow serious.
Sebastian and the others nodded, drew their weapons, and prepared to fight at any time.
The group entered a deeper mine.
Not long after entering, Charlotte saw glittering silver patterns on the surrounding cave walls.
The pattern was like melted silver, blending into the cave wall, shimmering in the darkness, colorful and dreamy.
"This is... the mithril mine. As expected, the mithril mine is not exhausted at all!"
Sebastian said solemnly.
The Mithril Mine is not exhausted...
Charlotte's eyes flickered.
She felt somewhat relieved after getting this answer.
The income from the mithril mine accounts for 80% of the income from the Castel mine, and the income from the mine accounts for 70% of the earldom's income. In addition, 15% of the remaining 30% of the earldom's income is related to the mithril industry.
In other words, 70% of her income is actually related to the mithril mine.
The mithril mine was fine, which meant that as long as she could expose the matter and regain control of the mine, her income would increase again.
But Charlotte also became alert.
Being able to disguise the intact mithril mine as dry, the person behind this must be planning something bigger...
At this moment, Charlotte suddenly had an idea and pricked up her ears.
The vampire's abilities will be greatly enhanced at night, and the rich magic around her will further stimulate her keen perception.
At this moment, Charlotte seemed to hear faint "tapping" sounds coming from deeper inside.
"Did you hear any noise?"
He looked at Sebastian and the others.
Luf shook his head blankly.
Black cat Nice closed his eyes and sniffed.
As for Sebastian, he pricked up his ears and listened for a while, looking a little surprised:
"It seems... to be the sound of mining?"
Charlotte narrowed her eyes immediately:
"Be careful and keep going."
Everyone became extremely alert and continued to move deeper, and as they went deeper, the faint knocking sounds became clearer.
In the end, even Noah, the weakest werewolf, heard it.
"This... really seems to be the sound of mining."
He murmured in disbelief.
Charlotte's expression became more solemn.
There is no other reason, because as we go deeper, the stench in the air becomes stronger.
Thinking of the missing miners in the mine, inexplicably... she suddenly had a bold guess in her mind.
"Be careful, I'm afraid we're going to run into old friends again."
She narrowed her eyes and said.
Everyone continued to move forward.
After walking for another three minutes, we finally reached the end of the mine tunnel.
At the end of the mine tunnel is another huge cave, which is larger than any previous one.
The knocking sounds were close to my ears, dense and yet the rhythm was oddly uniform, like a machine.
The little werewolf Noah bravely stuck his head out, but when he saw the scene in the cave clearly, his eyes widened instantly, his expression fell into great fear, and he subconsciously wanted to scream.
However, he was quickly covered in the mouth by Charlotte who stepped forward.
Charlotte looked more serious than ever.
Her gaze fell on the cave.
In the cave illuminated by the brilliant mithril veins, one miner after another, whose bodies had long since decayed, were waving mining tools and smashing and chiseling the mithril ore.
Looking around, there are probably thousands of them!
Their eyes were empty, flickering with faint green fire, and behind them, mountains of mithril ore were being pushed by mine carts and transported to deeper parts of the cave.
Charlotte looked deeper into the cave, her scarlet eyes glowing with light.
In an instant, her pupil began to dilate and her iris expanded as well, soon covering her entire eye.
Eagle Vision
This is a magic of the Way of the Wild, a magic of the blood clan that she learned after she destroyed the Blood Demon Cult of Bolde and seized the remaining pages of the holy book.
Under Eagle Eye Vision, Charlotte's already sharp vision became even sharper and clearer, and she saw the scene at the end almost instantly.
It was a huge workshop hidden in darkness.
One undead after another mechanically operated various instruments, working tirelessly.
On one side of the workshop, there was a mountain of mithril.
…
At the same time, in a room in the Castel Mining Workshop, the door was gently knocked.
"Come in."
A lazy voice sounded in the room.
The door was pushed open and a middle-aged steward in a robe walked in.
If Noah were here, he would probably recognize that this manager was none other than Mael, the mine manager who was on good terms with the old werewolf Logan and who often opened back doors for the subhumans and turned a blind eye.
It was he who just now tacitly allowed Charlotte and others to enter the mine.
He came to the desk and said respectfully to the shadow in the dark:
"Master, your offering has arrived."
Hearing this, the shadow in the darkness slowly turned.
A pale face appeared, and the blood-red eyes were like lanterns in the darkness.
"Are they the three werewolf miners from last time?"
The lazy voice asked calmly.
The middle-aged steward Maer hesitated for a moment and said:
"Only one of the three came today. The other two did not come. They were replaced by new people."
"Changed? Then why did you come to me? Aren't you afraid that I will eat you?"
The lazy voice suddenly rose, with a hint of dissatisfaction.
The middle-aged manager turned pale.
He gritted his teeth and said:
“Master, although the personnel have been replaced, after they entered the mine, I received reports from some miners. They... are probably all extraordinary beings!”
"Extraordinary?"
The lazy voice finally aroused a hint of interest.
"Got it, you did a good job, go down and claim your reward."
He said calmly.
The middle-aged steward showed joy on his face and took his leave. At the same time, the shadow in the darkness stood up and revealed his true face.
It was a dark-haired man wearing a black robe.
His arms were covered with black scales, and he had a pair of black dragon wings behind him.
He licked his lips, a hint of bloodthirstiness flashed in his eyes, and he chuckled:
"A transcendent who wants to steal Mithril..."
"Haha, I haven't tasted extraordinary blood in a few days."