Bribery Incident

The Grantham mine owner and Commander Hekelis talked for a long time, discussing topics such as how to manage the mine. Commander Hekelis frowned as he listened to the complicated matters.

As the commander of the Silver Pegasus Legion, he can lead a cavalry regiment into battle, but managing a Gemstone Mine is still a bit difficult for him.

After a brief chat, the Grantham mine owner noticed that Commander Hekelis seemed reluctant to manage the mine, so he went on to explain the daily work of the Gemstone Mine in more detail. Commander Hekelis frowned frequently as he listened, and his initial patience quickly wore thin.

He waved his hand somewhat irritably, and the lieutenant immediately sent the Grantham mine owner away.

Commander Hekelis plunged his Quill Pen into the Ink Bottle, glanced at the messy notes on the desk, and said to his adjutant:

"Go and invite all the battalion commanders here."

"Yes, Commander."

Before long, the captains of the various battalions entered Commander Hekelis ' room one after another. Knowing that their commander had been in a bad mood lately, none of the captains spoke first, so as not to offend him.

The room felt somewhat gloomy.

The Cavalry Vanguard Regiment consisted of nine battalion commanders, eight cavalry battalions, and one independent Reconnaissance Brigade.

The Reconnaissance Brigade is independent of the eight cavalry battalions. They are not required to carry out combat missions in peacetime. Their only task is to conduct reconnaissance missions. They are considered to be one of the most elite units in the Cavalry Vanguard Regiment.

However, recently the work of the Reconnaissance Brigade has been almost entirely taken over by the Silver Pegasus Legion, so the Reconnaissance Brigade has only been responsible for guarding and patrolling around the mine these past few days.

Commander Hekelis was looking at the map of the Pagisto Plateau on the wall. Commander Hekelis of the Silver Pegasus Legion had already filled in many patterns in the blank areas of the map. In addition to several crisscrossing mountain ranges, another mine was discovered 150 kilometers away from here.

The Silver Pegasus Legion has now gone to the mines over there, but Commander Hekelis and the Cavalry Vanguard Regiment are stuck here.

This greatly frustrated Commander Hekelis, even though he was leading the Vanguard Regiment.

"Commander, the battalion commanders have all arrived," the adjutant said from the doorway.

Commander Hekelis then turned around and nodded to everyone.

"The Earl Swynborne has ordered our Vanguard Regiment to quickly occupy the Pagisto Plateau; this is our next target."

Commander Hekelis pointed to the newly drawn red circle on the map and continued:

"Silver Pegasus Warrior have discovered a second mine in this area, and Commander Hekelis has led the Silver Pegasus Legion there."

"But we can only stay inside this mine fortress, so I'd like to hear your thoughts."

The captains immediately straightened their backs and declared to Commander Hekelis, "Commander, please allow our battalion to proceed to the second mine..."

"Commander, now that we have control of this mine, I don't think it's necessary for all of our cavalry battalions to be stationed here. As long as one or two battalions stay, the others can go to the front lines."

"Commander, could the Logistics Regiment take over this mine first?"

Commander Hekelis frowned and said, "I've already spoken with the logistics team. The Logistics Regiment personnel are currently almost entirely deployed along the road from Padesto City to the plateau, and they're not yet capable of taking over this mine. Who among you wants to stay and guard this place?"

The fortress here was built like a large prison, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. Not only did they have to guard the people in the mine, but they also had to find a way to keep the Gray Dwarf and prisoners in the mine from digging.

The captains had all seen how irritable Commander Hekelis had been these past few days, so none of them were willing to take on this arduous task.

The captains remained silent, and some elves even turned their gazes away, looking down at their toes.

The room fell silent again.

Commander Hekelis's face was frighteningly grim.

The captain of the third battalion felt that if they remained silent any longer, everyone might have to bear the wrath of Commander Hekelis.

He steeled himself, took half a step forward, and said to Commander Hekelis:

"Since we're heading to the second mine for a combat mission, and the reconnaissance mission has been completely taken over by the Silver Pegasus Legion, why don't we leave the Reconnaissance Brigade behind..."

"Captain Yulisys, what do you mean by that?" Captain Yalige of the Reconnaissance Brigade immediately questioned in a low voice from below.

"Commander Hekelis, I think Captain Yulisys makes a very good point!"

The other captains eagerly chimed in.

Commander Hekelis turned his gaze to Captain Yalige...

The matter was settled, and the Cavalry Vanguard Regiment's Reconnaissance Brigade would remain at the First Mine to temporarily take full control of the mine.

The other cavalry battalions began preparations for their withdrawal that very night.

Captain Yalige of the Reconnaissance Brigade, with a cold face, ran to the top of the fortress City Wall and arranged for the Elf Ranger to take turns on night watch.

As he cursed and swore at the disloyal captains, he observed the layout of the mine. The Cavalry Vanguard Regiment was leaving the mine the next day, and until the Logistics Unit arrived, only five hundred Reconnaissance Brigade would remain to Elf Ranger the mine.

Leaving aside the unknown dangers beneath the mine, Captain Yalige needs to keep an eye on hundreds of private soldiers and Grantham mine owners in the mine.

Captain Yalige was even a little worried that if the Highland Headhunters hiding in the shadows took the opportunity to emerge, then they would have to hold out in this fortress until the Vanguard Regiment's rescue force arrived...

According to the intelligence provided by the Silver Pegasus Warrior, it is impossible for Highland Slavers to exist within a radius of 100 kilometers.

Captain Yalige felt that these Highland Headhunters must have avoided the sight of the Silver Pegasus Warrior.

As darkness fell, the mining fortress, built on the North Slope of the mountain, was exposed to nightfall half an hour earlier than the south slope.

Commander Yalige's gloomy face almost blended into the shadow of the wall.

Given the excellent performance of the Grantham mine owner, Commander Hekelis instructed his adjutant to arrange rooms for him and his family on the third floor.

When the Elf Ranger of the Reconnaissance Brigade heard that they would have to stay and guard the mine, they privately complained that living in this prison-like mine for too long might twist their minds. The Elf Ranger were not keen on staying at the mine to act as prison guards.

However, since it was Commander Hekelis ' order, they had no choice but to accept it.

When Langbo heard about this, he came over and talked to Roy for a long time. They were supposed to go to the front with the cavalry battalion. In fact, Langbo hadn't heard that there was a mine there.

Roy had no complaints about this; in fact, he didn't want to visit every single mine.

The mines here are already in chaos, practically a lawless zone. It's as easy for an elf to die there as drinking water.

Almost all the Half-Elf slaves in this mine who were able to crawl out of the mine shafts have already come out.

Staying here at the mine, at least it's a bit quieter.

This mine is rich in a type of spinel with fine red lines. It is said that the best spinel is called blood essence, which can contain powerful magic and is the top material for making high-quality wands.

Because the Pattington Plane has been closed off for the past few years, merchants from outside have been unable to travel to the Pagisto Plateau to trade in magical gems, so the mines have actually stockpiled a large number of raw gemstones.

In the mine's warehouse, rough gemstones were piled up like small mountains.

Roy's Tenth Reconnaissance Squad was responsible for guarding several warehouses where the mine stored stones.

Tonight, Roy and two Elf Ranger from the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad will be on night duty outside Second Warehouse.

The mine yard was brightly lit, and the elven cavalry of the cavalry brigade were preparing for their departure the next day. A group of Elf Ranger were also operating a crane to pull up a large Wooden Box from the bottom of the mine.

In the evening, Wooden Box containing some food fell into the mine.

Nearly an hour later, the four Elf Ranger decided to pull the Wooden Box up from the mine. Along with it, there should also have been some ore...

Roy stood at the warehouse door, staring curiously at the cantilever rope.

The four Elf Ranger struggled to pull the Wooden Box up, but unfortunately, there were no valuable gems inside except for some useless Wooden Box.

Clearly, the Gray Dwarf and prisoners in the mine had no interest in digging for gems.

They took the food from the Wooden Box and added stones to Wooden Box, presumably as a form of protest.

The valuable Gemstone Mine every day, but now they just throw in some rotten stones.

The four Elf Ranger muttered a few complaints and moved the Wooden Box aside.

Roy discovered that the Grantham mine lord actually had the right to come out and walk around. He even stood in the third-floor corridor for a while before returning to his room under the watchful eyes of the Elf Ranger.

Roy was only responsible for the first half of the night shift.

That evening, the Elf Ranger from the other reconnaissance squads came over to hand over the duties, and Roy and his two companions returned to the room of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad. After a quick wash, they went to bed.

When they woke up the next morning, the Cavalry Vanguard Regiment's cavalry battalion had already set off in a grand procession.

Outside the fortress, there was a cacophony of voices, whistles, and the neighing of warhorses, which woke Roy from his sleep early in the morning.

Roy got out of bed, hastily put on his Magic Inscription Construct, and then walked out of the barracks.

There were not many elven cavalrymen left in the inner courtyard of the fortress. Everyone had gathered outside the castle. Roy walked out of the fortress gate and saw rows of elven cavalrymen leaving the mine in neat formation.

Only the Elf Ranger from the Reconnaissance Brigade remained at the mine.

Everyone watched helplessly as the elven cavalry departed...

That evening, as Roy stood guard at the warehouse entrance, he saw the Grantham mine owner again, his hands gripping the railing of the third-floor corridor, looking towards the warehouse and the mine.

They still found nothing in the mine, but as punishment for the prisoners below, the Elf Ranger didn't leave behind a single piece of food.

The Elf Ranger were determined to teach the prisoners a lesson and starve them for a few days, hoping it would make them behave.

At this moment, a series of agonizing screams and howls emanated from below the mine, which was quite unsettling.

Roy, standing at the warehouse door, was getting annoyed by the noise. The Elf Ranger stationed by the mine were even more impatient. In the end, they somehow managed to remove two door panels and cover the mine's exit, finally stopping the strange noises.

It was still midnight when another squad of Elf Ranger came to hand over the duties, and Roy and his companions left Second Warehouse.

On the way back to the barracks, the Grantham mine owner suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing a dark silk nightgown, so even if he were hiding in the shadows, he probably wouldn't be easily spotted.

At this moment, he held three exquisitely carved gold wine cups in his hands. The patterns on the outside of the cups were inlaid with four rubies and emeralds, making them look dazzling and obviously very valuable.

He stood beside the archway, smiling as he walked towards Roy and his two companions, and said to them:

"It's so late, officers! You must be very tired! To show my respect, I happen to have some inexpensive teacups here, which I'd like to offer as a gift, just to make friends!"

He smiled and looked completely harmless.

The two Silvermoon Elf Ranger looked at the wine glass with curiosity, seemingly somewhat tempted.

"Did you get Captain Yalige's permission to run away at night?" Roy asked doubtfully.

The Grantham mine owner smiled sheepishly and quickly said, "I just came out for some fresh air when I couldn't sleep at night. I wasn't going far. I just wanted to get some fresh air and make some friends with you all."

The two Silvermoon Elf Ranger also hardened their expressions, glaring at the Grantham mine owner and warning him:

"Don't wander around without permission, and get back to your room right now!"