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C172: The Orichalcone Vein
In both of Arleo’s hands is a huge pickaxe, I slammed it down on the hard bedrock. The high-pitched sound of metal clashing against metal echoed as I chipped away at a portion of the rock.
“What color is the orichalcone ore?”
As I scrape away at the rock, I suddenly feel uneasy about what I’m looking for.
“It’s a blue color, almost black, with a slight glow, so I think you’ll recognize it.”
As expected of Jean, he seems to have information about the ore. However, despite his

knowledge, he seems to be uncomfortable with physical labor and at a loss when operating the excavator that Rafishal built.
“Rafishal! How do you do this? I can’t move it, it’s off the axis!”
“You’ve got to hold it steady. Look at Darm and Balm. They’re handling it well.”
“Don’t compare me with those muscle-bound twins! I’ve been living using my head!”
Rafishal seems to have made a small heavy machine so that anyone can handle it, regardless of their Ludia value, and that seems to have put a lot of strain on his body. Jean, who was overwhelmingly weak compared to the muscle twins, was being pushed around rather than handling the heavy machinery.
It was an unexpected person who made the first achievement in the Iron Knights’ mining campaign.
“Jean

is this orichalcon?”
Lorgo said to me as he showed us the pale shiny ore.
“Whoa! Lorgo, that’s exactly what orichalcon looks like! Where did you find it? If you found one, we might be able to figure out how the whole vein flows!”
Thanks to Lorgo’s finding of the orichalcon, it seems that the whole picture of the vein is becoming clearer. Under Jean’s direction, mining was carried out, and orichalcon was dug up.
“Okay, I’m going for 50 kilos! Come on, guys!”
“How much are you getting now?”
Alana asked in response to Jean’s suggestion.
“We haven’t even gotten a kilo yet.”
“Hey, we’ve all been working hard for half a day now, and we haven’t even gotten a kilo yet, you’re aiming too high!”
Linnecarlo complained that she was tired of mining.
“We used to be able to get a lot more, but the veins have thinned out.”
“Still, I reckon we can get 50 kilos! Stop whispering and start digging!”
Before we knew it, Jean had thrown away the heavy machinery and shifted to foreman

.He’s really good at that kind of thing

In the end, we were only able to get about 10 kilos in three days of mining, which was not enough to reach our goal. Then Rafishal made a suggestion.
“Okay, let’s change the spot! We need to get the Phoenix Stone, and there’s a better place in the back, so let’s go there.”
“What? If you have such a good point, why didn’t you say so in the beginning?”
“It’s more dangerous than this place. There are ruins nearby and Guardians roaming around, so I didn’t want to go there if I could help it.”
“I’ve heard that Guardians can easily destroy Highlanders, is that true?”
“The Guardian is a magicraft controlled by an artificial rider, but the artificial rider’s Ludia value is 25,000.”
“Wow, a double Highlander?”
“But the Iron Knights will be fine, we have Yuta, and I think we can manage even if the Guardians come out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Yuta can handle the Guardians. Okay, let’s move to that point!”
I’m glad you’re relying on me, but I think you need to stop thinking that I can handle everything.
We took Fugaku to the other spot. I hear it’s not that far, but I’ll use the time to get some food. I drank some vegetable soup and ate some freshly baked bread. Mealtime is the best time, no matter where you are. I was enjoying my meal when Rafishal’s loud voice interrupted my moment of happiness.
“Oh, my God!”
He was making so much noise that Jean and I rushed over to him.
“What’s the matter, Rafishal! What’s going on?”
“The site is up and running

.”
“Ruins activated? What does that mean?”
When I asked him that, Rafishal said,
“The activation of the ruins is the first step in unsealing the giant beasts.”
At Rafishal’s words, Jean, me, and the rest of the group

tensed up from the core of our bodies.