Chapter 5:
The Cleanup
It took hours of slow and careful [Analysis] to disintegrate all the nitroglycerin liquid and crystals, contaminated wood crates, and aged dynamite that Allura would later learn had been sitting unattended, in a high-traffic location, for decades, with nobody giving a damn. The old saying “God protects fools, little children, and the woefully ignorant” is no joke.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that. I hope we never have to go through that again! Now that we aren't in danger of getting blasted across the duchy, perhaps it's time to look at those system notices we've been ignoring....”
Blueprint: Nitroglycerin acquired.
Blueprint: Wooden Crate acquired.
Blueprint: Dynamite acquired.
“Now to go pick up our 'pet' and deal with him. Eww. I'm not going to have to bathe him am I?”-Allura
“No. You won't. I'm going to use [Analysis] to separate him from his filth. At most, you're just going to have to chain him up outside the barracks while we sleep, like a cranky dog nobody wants to deal with.”
So Allura goes outside the office, has Jade wash the guy down with water and then suck it and the guy's wastes with his [Analysis] skill. The walrus-man is not amused.
“HEY!!”-Walrus-man
“Oh?! Did you want to spend the rest of the night wallowing in your filth like the animal you are? Do forgive my rudeness, your stinkiness, but this commoner's delicate nose is not suitably 'refined' to endure your sensitive proclivities.”-Allura
The walrus-man emits a low, feral growl at the insult.
“And here I was planning to bring you inside so you can at least have a roof over your head, but if you'd rather sleep out here under the stars...”-Allura
“Oh great and benevolent master, take pity on this insolent slave....”
Allura squints her eyes in suspicion, “That's a rather abrupt and suspicious change in attitude, but oh well, beggars can't be choosers.” She drags him into the office and chains him next to the storage room door. “And that's where you're going to spend the night.” A pile of straw is materialized next to him. “Now get some rest. You're going to be working very, very hard in the morning. All of us are.” The rest of the office is stripped clean and the door to storage is locked, and then she leaves the office to go find a bed for the night. The instant the outer door is closed, the walrus-man opens a hidden panel next to the storage doom door and activates a magical device allowing for long-range transmission and tries calling for help from the nearest garrison.
“Lord Duke Deokk! Help! It's an emergency!”
“Another 'emergency'? What is it this time? Slave shipment running late, one of your miners met a bat monster? DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! YOU FAT BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU CALL THIS LATE?!!”
“You don't understand! It's really serious this time! Or I wouldn't dare call you at this gods-damned hour!”
“Alright. This is the last time I'm going to humor your little 'emergencies,' Baron... Baron? Were you a baron? And why can't I remember your name...”
“That's the reason for this call! The mine has fallen! Beast-kin commandos have taken over, the staff enslaved as POW or killed! We need reinforcements, fast, or they'll destroy the mine entirely! They've already taken the dynamite!”
“And you're only calling us now, you incompetent, imbecilic twit?! You should have called the instant you realized there's a problem, not waited until things are so bad that unless we can instantly teleport in, everything is going to be royally screwed, and maybe even then! Can you at least tell us anything about this supposed commando unit?”
“Oh, fancy long-range communication device you're using there, Walrus-man! Bet it wasn't cheap!”-Allura
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“And who the hell is that?!”
“No one special. Just the main 'commando' this guy was talking about. Nothing special about me, really. Lout apparently thought I wouldn't hear him on the other side of these flimsy paper-thin wall and door, your Excellency Duke Deokk. That's you, right? He was telling the truth about the mine though. We were intending to blow it up later in the week, after placing all that extremely volatile dynamite in strategic places to take it all down. You should be thanking us! This mine has so many workplace safety problems that it can't possibly be profitable for you, or anyone, especially that dynamite itself. It was so old and mishandled that it was just begging to level the mine all by itself!”-Allura.
“And who are you to talk down to me like that! You're one of those filthy animals from Furcadia, aren't you?!”
“Well, not really, but any more than that would be spoilers, is that the right term, Jade? But if your little human supremacist brain is offended at talking to a 'lowly beast,' you should know I'm not the first. The guy who was the foreman here is officially qualified by The System as a 'Walrus-shaped humanoid', not a beast-kin, nor human. You might want to have a closer look at the Royce Barony if that bothers you so much. You won't be seeing us, but we might be seeing you soon! Bye, bye!”-Allura
Rather than turning off the device, Jade just summarily uses [Analysis] on it to break it apart and put its components into storage, a small glowing stone falls to the floor.
Blueprint: Long-range communication device acquired. Requires magic stone to operate. Could not use [Analysis] on magic stone.
“Oh. We can make our own now? That will be useful. Now as for you, Walrus-man, you are such a busy little bee aren't you?” Allura smiles but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. “See. We were planning to let you rest tonight and then take our sweet time placing explosives in key locations of the mine to make it collapse in a controlled implosion and be long gone by the time the duke learned of anything going wrong, but you've made that absolutely impossible now. So we're going to have to move up our plans, and you're going to start planting explosives tonight! And you're going to do it, alone. As all those people your evil countrymen have brought here as slaves against their will are going to be a bit too busy evacuating. Now where is that map, ah here it is!” Allura unwraps the map and after a brief telepathic conference with Jade marks the key locations where explosives are to be laid to ensure the mine properly collapses. “Alright, I've marked the places where you'll put the explosives, how many, and it what way. I've also laid out exactly how to wire them together so they blow all at once, or close enough to it, and when we get to the mine, I'm going to set you up with a mining cart full of fresh dynamite for you to use. You will do exactly as I laid out and you won't be getting out of there until it's rigged to blow. Either way, if you don't come back by the time the rest of us are ready to leave in the morning, I'll blow the mine myself and it won't be as neat, clean, or elegant, and frankly, I'm not going to care if you're still in there. So you'd better do your job right, do it fast, and do it well. THAT'S AN ORDER!”-Allura
“Yes, Master!”-Walrus Man
“Good. You're coming to the mine with me and you'll get started, immediately!”-Allura
The store room is once again violently opened, and the Walrus-man is equipped with proper mining tools; helmet with light, pick axe, and all the proper protective gear, then he is summarily frogmarched to the mine entrance where a mining cart full to the very brim with dynamite is prepared for him. “NOW GET STARTED! The sooner you get done, the better your odds of getting out of this alive, so MOVE IT, WALRUS-MAN! GO!” says Allura before heading back to the barracks area and seeing if there's a way to prepare a wagon or some form of transport for getting the slaves out of there before the duke's forces arrive to kill them all.
Meanwhile, at Duke Deokk's mansion....
“I can't believe that incompetent oaf! And the cheek of that beast-kin operative! That mine is the most important economic asset in our territory! All those years and gold coins invested into its upkeep and development, and POOF, all gone in one night! Who was the one who wanted that oaf running the place?” He looks at his steward before qualifying “Don't answer that. Anyway, rally the troops, we ride, immediately. Oh, as much as I'd like you by my side, what that commando said troubles me.”-Duke Deokk.
“Sir?”
“Sebastian. I need you here to coordinate an investigation into our vassal houses. If there's one house that is a nest for filthy sub-humans, there may be more. For starters, take a small detachment of knights to the Royce estate and give them an emergency audit, with the best appraisal tool you can find. If there are any 'animal-shaped humanoids' there, you know what to do.”-Deokk.
“Yes, Sir. How many knights should I take with me?”-Sebastian
“One battalion should be enough. I'm taking the main army with me. No matter how skilled or high-leveled the commandos are, it's unlikely they can hold their own against 10,000 armed and armored level 30 knights!”- Deokk.
Back at the mine...
鉄orry to wake everyone, but we don't have time. Our little walrus-man 'friend' called in the duke's armies. We don't know when they will be here, but with our pitiful numbers plus the fact that none of you have wielded weapon nor spell, at least not in killing a human, means we don't stand a chance in a straight up fight, even if the 'army' is just one marginally competent knight captain. So as it is, we're moving out at first light. So round up anything you think might be useful, no matter how insignificant, and bring it to the main gate. I'm going to be searching for some method of transport we can use to get out of here, and pronto.?Allura
The entire mine complex is searched from top to bottom, leaving no door unopened, but there are no carts, wagons, or anything of the sort for transporting people or goods. 鼎an it be that this place was entirely dependent on merchants and traders for not just basic necessities, but any and every form of transport? That's so stupid, it's insane! Even if these louts don't care about the slaves, how were they planning to evacuate when it's their lives on the line?!?cries out Allura in frustration after the completely fruitless search.
添eah. The foreman is a grade-A idiot to not even think of his own hide. You'd think there was at least one good steed here for him to ride out on, but nope. You don't suppose he ate it, do you?
典o be honest, it wouldn't surprise me. At least the others managed to bring quite a lot of goods that we can use: all sorts of preserved foods, mining tools, tents and other camping supplies. I'm guessing his superior(s) decided whoever was actually competent here can travel to the nearest garrison on foot if the need arises. Which means the place is either really close to an armed garrison, or it's the best they could come up with by working around the former foreman's idiocy.?-Allura.
溺aybe it's both. They have camping equipment because the garrison is a little over a day away on foot and Mr. Walrus-man would rather gorge himself on fancy foods than deal with the upkeep on whatever they'd use as steeds around here. In any event, we have to presume the worst and be ready to move out, ASAP. In any case, let's use [Analysis] and store away all this stuff.
Blueprints acquired: Salted beef, salted venison, bread rations, dried broth, dried vegetables, shovel, various animal carcasses (insufficient parts to acquire full animal blueprints), various cooking implements, tents, tent stakes, bed rolls, monster repellent, portable latrine. Monster stones were found and put aside.
