Chapter 131

Miners and Rebels

Buzz—

The magical runes on the surface of the airship gradually dimmed, and a faint hum emanated from the hull.

Six pairs of massive clamps, like the claws of a steel behemoth, slowly contracted, anchoring the floating colossus in place.

Bare-chested laborers, urged on by Tower Knights, pushed forward a giant boarding ladder.

In the air filled with a mix of sweat and sulfur, shouts and curses rang out in succession, vividly illustrating the stark contrast between arcane constructs and mundane toil.

Once the airship came to a complete halt, the cargo bay below and the passenger cabin above both opened, allowing a pungent waft of sulfur to seep into the cabin.

The silver-haired girl behind the door instinctively covered her nose.

Olivia exclaimed with fascination, “The Kingdom of Atley is a major mining power. I’d heard the air here always reeks of sulfur—I didn’t think it would be true!”

After three days of flight, Lucy and Olivia had finally arrived at their mission’s destination: the Kingdom of Atley.

At this moment, the airship was docked at the skyport of the kingdom’s largest wizard tower.

Although in theory, commoners could also ride the airship, the restriction of payment in magic stones had made these airborne beasts functionally exclusive to wizards, primarily as cargo transports.

“Come on, we still need to find a carriage to Steel City. Wizard Karel has already arrived ahead of us.”

This city, formerly named Auckland, had become widely known as Steel City due to its thriving metallurgy industry.

As for Karel, he was a high-ranking wizard dispatched by the Star Law Institute to assist Lucy. In addition, there were four intermediate-level wizards.

They had taken an earlier airship a few days prior and had already begun preliminary investigations.

Just as Master Theodosius had said, Lucy’s presence was largely symbolic in this mission—the main force of the investigation lay with these official wizards.

By now, the two had changed out of their signature black wizard robes and into ordinary civilian clothing.

This attire was known as a “Diya” outfit, consisting of a basic underlayer and a waist-tied outer coat, with a long skirt below. It was commonly paired with a headscarf.

The fabric was usually coarse linen or wool, with colors leaning toward black, white, or gray.

The outfit left Lucy’s curvaceous figure fully exposed, drawing frequent side glances from Olivia.

“Livy, the clothes you picked out are way too weird!” Lucy tugged irritably at the tightly cinched waistband. “This is ten times more uncomfortable than a wizard’s robe. Maybe I should just change into something looser, like a hunter’s outfit.”

This outfit made her chest look even fuller.

It was the first time since her transformation that she had worn something that so clearly accentuated her feminine figure, and it was hard not to feel a mix of embarrassment and irritation.

Olivia had long been curious to see Lucy’s reaction in such clothing.

Now, satisfied, she giggled and said, “I couldn’t find a hunter’s outfit that would fit your chest.”

“You’re asking for it!”

…

The process of hiring a carriage went surprisingly smoothly.

Very soon, the two found a caravan heading toward Steel City—Auckland.

For twenty silver coins, they managed to secure a narrow, single-horse carriage.

The caravan leader welcomed them with a broad smile. From his obsequious expression, it was obvious he had already guessed their identities.

“Ladies... please get on board. We’ll be departing shortly.”

Once aboard, Lucy instinctively pulled out a notebook on anatomy to read, while Olivia sat opposite her.

Resting her chin on one hand, she stared at the barren scenery rapidly retreating outside the window.

The roads of the Kingdom of Atley were extremely bumpy, and many carts loaded with timber and ore rolled along them.

Forests had been nearly clear-cut, revealing barren hills, and on the cracked farmland, withered remains of crops could occasionally be seen.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Lucy suddenly closed her notebook and asked.

“Yes. It’s very different from the prosperous image I had of the Kingdom of Atley.” Olivia withdrew her gaze. “Didn’t I say that the kingdom suffered a great famine a few years ago? And yet, so much fertile land is still lying fallow.”

“Why don’t we just ask?”

Lucy lifted the carriage curtain and addressed the driver at the front.

“Excuse me, why is all this land left uncultivated? I remember the Kingdom of Atley experienced a famine just a few years back.”

The coachman immediately glanced around cautiously upon hearing the question. After confirming that no one else was nearby, he sighed and lowered his voice.

“Miladies may not be aware—this is all due to His Majesty the King's new policy. All commoners are now required to prioritize labor in the mines. Privately cultivating land comes with heavy taxes. These days, aside from the noble estates, regular folks simply can’t afford to farm anymore.”

Olivia frowned and interjected, “But miners still need to eat. Where does the food come from?”

“From the Kingdom of Cordova and a few northern countries, of course,” the coachman snapped his reins. “The mine owners trade ore for grain and then sell it to the workers at inflated prices. We transport folks make a bit of profit from the margin, but those poor...”

He suddenly went silent, nervously glancing at a transport cart passing by.

The worn-out cart was packed with emaciated, soot-covered miners.

They were being escorted to the mines by soldiers clad in standard-issue plate armor, whose wary gazes flickered from beneath their helmets.

Only after they had passed did the coachman resume speaking.

“The great famine three years ago happened because the heavy snow collapsed the roads, cutting off the grain supply.”

“It wasn’t too bad near the capital, but I heard tens of thousands starved to death in the south. It was horrific.”

Lucy and Olivia exchanged a glance. As their carriage passed a hillside bearing an iron sign that read “Royal Mines,”

they saw hundreds of skeletal laborers hauling baskets of ore up the slope. Overseers cracked whips through the air, and the workers moved mechanically, like corpses long since stripped of life.

Clearly, this was where those miners from earlier were headed.

Olivia’s fingertips dug into her palm. “If they were really importing grain from several kingdoms, there's no way one collapsed trade route could trigger such a widespread famine.”

“The nobles probably took advantage of the snow to jack up grain prices. That’s what really caused the famine.”

No wonder famines seemed to erupt every few years.

As a princess, Olivia knew all too well the kind of monstrous things noble lords would do in times of natural disaster.

To those in the disaster-stricken regions, human lives were far less valuable than the silver coins in the nobles’ hands.

Lucy, however, saw things more deeply.

The Kingdom of Atley had entirely abandoned agriculture in favor of a profit-driven mining industry.

Just like she had known in her previous life: any nation without food security was bound to collapse.

Only when a country held its own rice bowl could it ensure national stability. Clearly, the nobles of the Kingdom of Atley had not realized this—

or perhaps they had, but simply didn’t care.

After all, no matter how severe the famine, it would never reach the nobles. There would always be bread on their tables.

In that sense, they were not so different from the “oligarchs” of her previous world.

At that moment—

Boom—

A sudden explosion shook the carriage violently.

A mushroom cloud rose from the distant mine, black and gray smoke blanketing the hillside like a shroud of death.

“What was that?!”

“No idea. Maybe part of the mining operation?”

“No way. I’ve worked in mines before—there’s no explosive that strong used in extraction.”

The blast threw the entire caravan into a brief panic.

But it didn’t last long. A squad of cavalry soon galloped toward the mine.

Moments later, the caravan leader arrived on horseback.

“The royal mine’s been attacked by rebels. The knights have already gone to suppress them,” he announced to each carriage. “Let’s move quickly—get as far away as we can while we have the chance!”

Rebels?!

Lucy turned her gaze toward the mine now cloaked in thick smoke.

She hadn’t expected the Kingdom of Atley to still have something like that.