Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Red Mithril (2)

A luxurious platinum-colored carriage.

Its brilliant hue cast a mysterious air, standing in stark contrast to the gloomy mining village.

Soon, a paladin in pure white stepped down from it.

And then, he waited humbly until a woman descended.

“So this is the place.”

Her snowy white leg lightly touched the pitch-black mine floor.

Soon, the solemn robes of a saint wrapped around that leg came into view.

“Oh my, I see some familiar faces.”

Silver hair settled over fabric as white as freshly fallen snow.

Within that hair, blue eyes shimmered faintly.

“Istina...?”

“Roger. What a surprise. Fancy seeing you in a place like this.”

Her innocent gaze was at odds with her brazen tone.

As expected, she was a person of a different nature from the religious folk I’d known.

“I’d say I’m the one surprised. What brings you all the way out to this remote place?”

She suited the role of a politician more than a saint.

Then again, if someone with her appearance were to enter politics, she might be crowned queen.

“You’ll be appointed as bishop soon, won’t you? Shouldn’t you be preparing for your investiture?”

“Hm—”

The saint approached me, her hands folded behind her back.

She slowly looked up at me with those pitch-black pupils and said,

“Even if I’m to become a bishop, I must fulfill my duties until then.”

Her eyes, as deep as the abyss, turned toward Foreman Duncan, who looked at us in a daze.

“There’s a mining boom going on in Nord these days, isn’t there? I’ve come to volunteer for the sake of the national project.”

“A s-saint...?”

Foreman Duncan looked flustered, likely because of the unexpected turn of events.

One would expect him to be pleased to receive help, but instead, he resembled a lost lamb about to have his sins exposed before the divine.

“I’m Saint Istina. You appear to be the one in charge here, yes?”

“Y-yes, that’s right. Just as the rumors say, you are truly beautiful... Saint.”

The saint gracefully brushed back her silver hair.

At the same time, she put on the merciful smile reserved only for believers.

“Think nothing of it. And how have you been, dear follower?”

“O-of course… I’ve been living holy days under the blessings of the Church.”

The foreman bowed his head politely in greeting.

However, the saint didn’t seem to agree with his words.

“Hmm. Really? Judging from the situation here, it hardly seems that way.”

Istina slowly stepped back and gestured to the carriage she had arrived in.

“Two more of our carriages should arrive soon. If you’ve been going through any hardships, don’t hesitate to speak freely.”

She glanced briefly back at me.

Then she gently pressed her index finger to her red lips and sent me a look.

“Today, our Silver Truth Church will be here to help all of you.”

As if to say, ‘You owe me one for this.’

“……”

Just what kind of favor is she planning to ask in return for this?

Still, at this point, I lacked for nothing. No matter the request, I figured it wouldn’t be much of an issue.

So when I quietly nodded and said I understood—

――――――.

“Foreman, there’s a commotion outside... What’s going on?”

Someone appeared from one of the doors inside the foreman’s office.

“Luca, didn’t I tell you to wait inside...!”

“But it was just so loud out here...”

He looked a couple of years younger than me—a boy with a hunting cap, brown hair, and neatly scattered freckles across his skin.

“But... who are all these people...?”

“Luca, go back inside. Now...!”

The foreman hurriedly tried to push the boy out of sight.

At that moment, the saint skillfully stepped past the foreman and faced him directly.

“You seem to have weak lungs.”

Luca’s voice kept fading at the end of each sentence.

Noticing this, the saint looked at the boy with a worried expression.

“How... how did you know that?”

Istina had long been known for taking care of the underprivileged and the sick.

Thanks to her skill in healing magic, she could often tell what was wrong with someone just from the sound of their voice.

“Would you hold out your hand to me for a moment?”

Perhaps it was the smile of the beautiful silver-haired lady that did it.

Luca, without realizing it, stretched out his hand to her.

In that moment—

Istina gently closed her mature eyes and took the boy’s hand in hers.

Soon, a soft, radiant light began to emanate from her body...

And that light gradually enveloped the boy in warmth.

“……”

Before long, the saint slowly opened her long eyelids.

Her eyes, like the sea reflecting the blue surface of sleep, now looked directly at the stunned boy.

“Huh...?”

Luca, the miner boy whose voice had always faltered with every word—

His voice had almost completely returned to how it was before he began working in the mines.

“My throat... it doesn’t hurt anymore...?”

The boy touched his neck and kept testing his voice, again and again.

Only a short while ago, every sound he forced out brought pain from deep in his lungs.

But now, with the feeling of being completely healed, a shiver ran through his entire body.

“It’s not a full recovery. Lung disease is tenacious.”

Istina gently lowered the hood she had been wearing.

Even in the dreary weather of the North, her visage shone as if wrapped in divine light.

“Consistent treatment and rest are important, so refrain from working in the mines for a while.”

“Th-thank you so much... Um, may I ask your name...?”

The saint gave him a wide, radiant smile.

At the same time, she placed a hand over her ample curves and said,

“I’m called Saint Istina.”

Istina.

Who in the Empire didn’t know that name?

Even people in far-off, forgotten places had long heard of her fame and beauty.

“S-Saint! It’s an honor to meet you...!! I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you sooner.”

The boy hastily dropped to his knees and bowed.

At that, Istina slowly bent one knee with a most compassionate voice.

“It’s alright. Right now, you’re a patient, aren’t you? Rest should come first.”

She gently patted Luca’s hunting cap.

Then she looked around and spoke.

“But… I don’t see anywhere suitable for resting.”

Foreman Duncan let out a deep sigh, as if at a loss for words.

Catching that, the saint revealed a bewitching look full of genuine intent while the boy kept his head lowered.

“How odd. If this place is sponsored by the Grand Duke of the North, I’d imagine it would have more than enough welfare support.”

“Well, that is…”

When the foreman looked like he was about to hide something, the saint glanced up at me.

It was a signal—she’d done enough to justify her presence, now it was my turn to dig deeper.

I nodded in understanding.

“Well, I’m sure everyone has their reasons. It would be rude to pry any further.”

The saint turned to glance at the carriages from the cathedral that had followed her.

“So, I’ll just focus on the volunteer work now. If there are other workers, could you please bring them out?”

Naturally, she was calling out all the miners Duncan had tried to keep hidden.

She really knew how to get things done.

“Then… does that mean you’ll treat the others as well?”

Luca, who had already experienced the miracle, asked carefully.

The saint responded to the young boy in a gentle voice full of mercy.

“Of course. Bring as many as you like.”

“……”

Foreman Duncan looked at the struggling Luca with concern.

Then, in a hurry, he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and pulled him aside, away from us.

“Luca, have you forgotten our promise with the Grand Duke’s house?!”

“But if we just leave them like this, my friends might really be in danger!!”

His friends were in danger.

I knew what that meant.

The current Nord mine was a front—a fake construction project arranged by Edward for tax evasion.

Those boys were being used there, forced to dig with shoddy equipment, and many of them had been injured.

And this—this was Edward’s fatal weakness. The very thing that could bring him down.

“The Grand Duke’s house promised to send doctors! If you can just hang in there a bit more, everything will—”

“How long are we supposed to just wait?! Honestly, I’ve been worried ever since they promised jobs through the mine project but never gave us proper equipment!!”

Luca, despite being much younger, spoke out boldly to the foreman.

At that, I quietly stepped between the two of them and opened my mouth.

“I’ve told you before, haven’t I?”

Duncan and Luca both looked at me.

At my pitifully sharp and slender eyes.

“I represent a partner company of the Luton family—Echina and Grand Duke’s daughter Freya. I’ve come to help. So please, speak freely.”

“……”

Hearing that, Luca seemed to gain even more confidence.

“Then… please help us. A few days ago, a tunnel collapsed and my friends were seriously injured.”

“Haven’t they been taken to a proper hospital?”

I already knew why they hadn’t been sent to a hospital.

If the injured workers were transferred to a hospital in the capital, there would be a record.

The mining tunnel, built under the patronage of the Grand Duke of the North, had collapsed due to shoddy construction, injuring the miners.

If that information got out, it would deal a serious blow to Edward. So, he must have slipped money to the foreman and a few higher-ups to keep it quiet.

At most, they’d have been shown to some local doctors...

But out here in the middle of nowhere, there were far too few doctors, and their skills were likely mediocre at best.

So that’s why...

In the future, those injuries would worsen, and some of them would die from sepsis.

Still, I wanted to live with a clear conscience.

True, if I waited until they died and then revealed the truth, it would deal an even bigger blow to Edward—but this time, I planned to expose it in advance.

After all, the dead had once stood where I stand now.

That sense of kinship was what led me to this desolate mining village.

“There were reasons we couldn’t send them to the capital. The injuries might have worsened during the trip.”

Duncan muttered, head bowed low.

But knowing the truth, I felt my anger boil over.

“Hey, Foreman. Do you really think it’s reasonable to leave people to suffer because of some so-called reason?”

I no longer used honorifics with him.

Nor did I wear a pleasant smile.

“What—did someone promise that if the workers die here, the people above would cover it up?”

“T-that’s absurd…!”

The foreman’s face twisted, as if his true thoughts had just been exposed.

“There are already injured men. And now that I know you’ve been hiding them, we can’t just stay quiet on our side either.”

I glanced at the shoddy equipment lying at the mine’s entrance.

This miserable scene, where they’d let their guard down, assuming no one would ever show up in a place like this.

“No matter how hard you try to hide it, if I bypass Edward and report this directly to the Grand Duke, it’ll be over.”

Reporting directly to the Grand Duke of the North.

In other words, the ruler of this land would learn firsthand about what happened in this mine.

The foreman swallowed hard in the face of the escalating crisis.

“If you don’t want this to blow up any further, then show me the injured workers. Now.”

“……”

At last, Duncan tightly shut his eyes.

Then, after hanging his head in silence for a moment, he muttered in a small voice.

"Understood. Please, follow me..."

Luca finally let out a sigh of relief, grateful that his friends would now be able to receive treatment.

He then took the lead himself, guiding us behind the mine office.

There, behind the office, stood a large hut.

‘It’s big enough to house about twenty people on duty,’ I thought.

But the atmosphere around the hut felt off.

Scattered at the entrance were bright white blankets and bedding.

There were faint traces of blood on them.

It seemed all of them, like Luca, were suffering from lung disease.

‘Because it’s a remote backwater, they didn’t even bother casting proper protection spells.’

That’s the way of this world.

Most nobles, like Edward, saw commoners as nothing more than tools.

In a way, someone like Freya, who actually acknowledged her subordinates, was commendable.

Helena and Istina, who treated them with respect as equals, were admirable.

And someone like Echina, who regarded them as family—she was a miracle.

“This is it…!!”

When Luca opened the door, the scene that unfolded was harrowing.

Miners lay in a row across the common room.

After the tunnel collapse, they had suffered severe bruises and fractures all over their bodies.

“Ugh…”

“Who’s there… Luca, is that you…?”

The groans of the young men in pain echoed through the room.

Beside them were various local remedies and emergency medicine provided by village doctors.

“Dear heavens…”

Even Istina, who was no stranger to such scenes, furrowed her brows.

And I was no different.

So many lives were teetering on the edge—used up for one man’s tax evasion scheme.

The injuries weren’t fatal. Not yet.

But everyone here knew the truth.

If they didn’t receive proper treatment, they would be left with lasting disabilities.

Ten years from now...

The reason so many men in the Nord region would suffer physical impairments would trace back to this very incident.

“Roger, I think I understand now.”

The ever-composed Istina—who usually wore a sly, languid gaze—now had eyes as chilling as ice.

As if she had finally unveiled the abyss she had kept hidden.

“While the Grand Duke of the North may be a capable ruler, it’s clear he has no talent when it comes to raising his children.”