Rumors Among the Miners

The crisis was over, but life had to go on. Ore would not load itself into the mine carts.

Still, some things had quietly begun to change.

Since the day the mysterious lady had descended to save them, the miners had chosen, for the first time, to live for themselves.

Together, they had fabricated a lie, fooled the overseer, and done everything they could to hide the three items the mysterious lady had left behind.

Whenever their brief rest break came, they would gather to study what those three items could do.

Little by little, they began to understand.

The miners quietly passed the round copper amulet around, handling it as gingerly as believers afraid of desecrating a sacred relic.

Then one miner cautiously put it on, and a change occurred at once.

He felt sturdier, less prone to injury, and a little stronger.

The discovery stunned the miners. Afterward, they also found that they could seemingly only put it on or take it off freely in completely peaceful surroundings.

To keep things fair, they decided to take turns, allowing every bug to use this special power.

They tried embedding the second item, an orange-red crystal, in the rock wall at the entrance to the mining tunnel.

Beneath its miraculous glow, the miners felt their stamina and bodies slowly recovering. Even some who had been waiting to die found their ailments beginning to improve.

But the Stone-Eroding Bugs that remained savage never appeared again, seemingly repelled by that warmth.

As for the final item, the scroll, the miners all knew it must contain something extremely important. Unfortunately, most of them could not read.

They could not tell other bugs about it, either. Any bug who had not witnessed that scene would surely report them upon learning of it.

With no other choice, the miners tried another approach. They formed a study group and, claiming they wanted to better themselves, asked literate bugs to help them understand the writing on the scroll.

As luck would have it, the only one willing to help these miners was Raily, who was likewise shunned.

The other bugs felt that, miserable though they were, they were still better off than the lowliest, most wretched miners. Helping them would only invite trouble.

But Raily did not think that way. In that fiery light, she had grasped the ideals of freedom, equality, and compassion for the first time.

"Whew. That will be all for today's lesson."

Closing the book in which she had compiled a simple set of teaching materials, Raily wrapped up the day's lesson.

The miners sitting across from her put away their crude paper and pens.

In this dreadful mining district, those were already their most precious possessions.

"Thank you, Miss Raily. You're nothing like they say. You're a good bug."

"It's nothing. I'm honored to help the miners better themselves in their spare time."

Another lesson had ended, and all the miners offered their heartfelt thanks.

Few bugs were willing to visit this cavern full of dust and worn-out tools. Raily alone had answered the miners' request, and they were sincerely grateful.

Closing the book she had brought with her, the disguised Raily left the mining district once more.

She had been coming here often over the past few days. Whenever she thought of her carefully laid plan, the corners of her mouth could not help lifting slightly.

Yes, she had been the mysterious lady who had saved the miners.

At the time, however, she had not realized she possessed such immense power. After her first attack, she had stood stunned for a moment herself.

But Raily had quickly recovered. After dealing with the Stone-Eroding Bugs, she had left behind the three items she had prepared from the outset to stir the miners' hearts.

She had obtained the first two items in Bastion City, where they were nothing more than utterly commonplace objects.

Yet their wondrous effects had made her unable to resist bartering away her treasured pickled delicacies for them.

The final scroll, meanwhile, was a masterpiece she had written herself. The black-robed old man in her dreams had told her more than just stories.

There had also been an extremely unusual script. After waking, Raily had discovered that she had mastered it completely, and teaching it to others was effortless.

Even if the overseer discovered the scroll, without her translation, it would be taken for nothing more than meaningless scribbles.

Raily walked with determination in her eyes. She had already decided to begin at the mine and spread faith in the Sunfire God throughout the territory.

The thought of that future filled Raily with excitement and joy.

It was like a student receiving their summer homework before the holiday began and desperately trying to finish thirty days' worth before school let out.

Painful though it was, the thought of being able to enjoy the entire holiday still brought a smile to their lips.

"No. I can't smile."

Quickly concealing that momentary lapse, Raily knew she could not afford to give herself away over something so trivial.

As she left the mining district, she once again met the overseer's hostile gaze.

But Raily merely answered with a smile. Such trifles no longer bothered her.

In her eyes, the bugs who had once bullied her were merely lost souls who had made mistakes out of ignorance and frustration.

And as someone newly awakened by divine revelation, her mission was to convey the truth to them and bring them into the Sunfire God's embrace.

At that moment, however, such courtesy was out of place.

Raily's strange reaction left the overseer at a loss for a moment instead.

Under the overseer's gaze, Raily walked farther and farther away.

Looking back at the miners, the overseer saw that, once their break ended, they picked up their iron pickaxes and went back to mining without even being prodded.

They were diligent, extremely diligent, but the overseer felt they were a little too diligent.

Far too diligent. These miners neither caused trouble nor complained. They did not even need much supervision; they simply worked away obediently.

That should have been a good thing, yet there was not a trace of a smile on the overseer's face.

The change was too sudden. Vigilance honed over many years told the overseer that something was wrong. Ever since the Stone-Eroding Bugs had invaded, these miners had seemed like entirely different bugs.

Their efficiency had multiplied several times over, their output had risen sharply, and even the grumbling had disappeared. Now they were even organizing some study group during their breaks to better themselves.

This was far too strange!

Was this something a miner destined to spend their entire life digging until they died would think about?

The Overseer even began considering whether to report these unusual developments to the higher-ups.

But these were all positive changes. If the overseer made a rash report without being able to explain what was wrong, the one to suffer might well be the overseer instead.

Gritting their teeth, the overseer resolved to find out exactly what these miners were planning.

As for the miners, even while digging, they quietly discussed what they had learned that day with the coworkers beside them.

Through continued study, the miners had begun to understand what was written on the scroll.

It told a grand, epic legend of flame, and of a Sunfire God who had not yet faded away and was willing to shelter his believers.

That was far more humane than those council grandees, whose every word was about sound logic and putting efficiency first.

Besides, they truly had witnessed something incredible.

The swirling flames and the unbelievably intense heat of that moment were things they had seen with their own eyes. As time passed, their discussions grew increasingly detailed.

Some bugs said the lady was an emissary sent by the Sunfire God. Others said she was an incarnation of the god himself.

But without exception, everyone agreed that the Sunfire God was a kind and merciful being.

Once those beautiful, imagined descriptions were set against the cruelty of life in the territory, the inevitable happened.

Only a few days later, a small altar built from stones appeared in a spot within Medel Mine that no overseer could find.

An imitation Sun Emblem rested on the altar, its stone carved into a simple flame shape. Before descending into the mine, every miner would come here to pray.

They recited the words they had learned from the parchment: "May the light of the sunfire shine into the deepest darkness. With our bodies as kindling, may the flame never die..."

And so, amid the ashes of the mine, a new faith quietly took root.