Chapter 416: Descent into the well

Chapter 416 Going Down the Well
Protecting the tiny cluster of fire in her hands, Agatha took another step, heading deeper into the second waterway.

In fact, she had lost track of time, and even her perception of everything around her had become blurred; she couldn’t quite remember exactly how long she had been trekking through this damp, cold place, how many monsters she had tackled, and how many wounds she had added to her wounds in the process-at one point in time, she even forgot for a while her own name and why she had appeared in this sewer.

But when the green flame leapt in her hand, she always found her sanity and remembered the one, ultimate mission – to

Take the fire and deliver it to the nest of those heretics.

The cold wind blew from the dark corridor ahead of her, as if it were wrapped in layers of murmurs and hisses, and Agatha’s body shook for a moment as she sensed malice in the wind, and carefully hid the fire in her hand in the inner layers of her already tattered black dress.

It was important to hide it well, not to let the heretics notice.

She lifted her head and looked into the depths of the darkness, seeing countless shadows of indeterminate shapes undulating in the wind, the gas lamps on the walls of the corridor dimmed at some point to nothing more than tiny, glowing shimmers, and a little bit of foul black sludge seeping out of the shed roofs and pipe grates around her, writhing, coalescing, and molding itself into a sickening murmuring sound.

Agatha lifted the cane, which was as scarred as she was, and for some reason she felt empowered once more, the annoying tiredness having quietly disappeared.

She planted the cane heavily on the ground, her eyes dead set on the profane filth that surged through the darkness, and the end of the staff struck the ground with a roar like a flood of bells-

“Dang…”

The elevator creaked, the car shakily sank into the depths of the mine, the Guardian warrior who was on guard at the edge of the elevator car suddenly raised his head, somewhat puzzled, and said with his comrade beside him, “Did you hear any sound just now?”

“It seemed like a thud,” said the other Guardian in disbelief, followed immediately but then subconsciously turned his head and glanced at the Guardian who was standing in the center of the elevator car, “It’s like …… it’s like ……”

Like the sound of his Excellency the Gatekeeper’s cane ringing the “death knell” before the purification of the heretics – he wanted to say it, but didn’t.

For the Gatekeeper was here, and she was resting her eyes.

Agatha opened her eyes as if she had heard the conversation of her subordinates, she looked around, and in silence, she came to the edge of the palanquin surrounded by the parapet and looked down.

“Gatekeeper,” the guardsman who had spoken before approached and said hesitantly, “It seems like something just came from below, could it be that there are others operating in the mine as well?”

“We’re the only ones here,” Agatha didn’t turn around, “there’s no need to be concerned about the sound just now.”

The ministry retreated for the moment, but Agatha still looked down into the boundless and hazy darkness below.

This was the Boiling Gold Mine, the largest vertical passage to the lower diggings, and even here in the depths of the mountain the fog …… was still everywhere.

Normal circumstances of course the fog is impossible to diffuse to such a place, but these strange fog is obviously the role of transcendent power, they seem to have consciousness as if they penetrate around, and in the dimly lit, deep underground area, the fog is even more as if out of thin air as full.

The mine elevator creaked and rattled as it descended through the hazy fog, and dim masses of light could occasionally be seen moving upward around it – the gas and electric lights set up in the shaft, which looked so faint that when viewed through the fog they were as tiny as the glow of a firefly.

But in any case, the equipment in the mine was obviously still functioning – the ventilation system, the power pipes, the lighting system, the hoisting devices …… were all in working order.

Of course you have to be careful when using machinery and equipment at a time like this, and Agatha had sent a priest to check the condition of the hoist before deciding to use it – a safer option would have been to use the steps and ramps in the emergency corridor to get down the shaft, but that would have been too time-consuming and physically demanding.

“Let’s hope this thing doesn’t break on the way up,” one of the young Guardian warriors muttered in a low voice, “that runaway crashed freight car and track on the hillside earlier was pretty impressive.”

“Can’t you say anything nice at a time like this?” The other, more elderly Guardian frowned at once, “Everyone’s on the lift – if you’re really nervous, why don’t you just jump off, surely there’s no malfunction in freefall.”

“No, no, no, I’m just saying it off the top of my head, this thing is sturdy and stable as hell at first glance, surely nothing will go wrong ……”

At this time, there is another nun with short floppy hair heard the conversation between the two warriors, and came over to say, “But I heard that there is a female Inquisitor in the faraway city-state of Prand, who can jump from the cliff directly to the rocky beach to behead the ‘heir’, she is sure to be fine when she jumps down from here! ……”

The two guardsmen were silent for two seconds and said in unison, “…… Is that still human?!”

“That’s what I heard ……”

The fighters were talking, which didn’t affect their actions afterward, but washed away the tension that came with the constant descent in this darkness – the guardsmen were human, and needed to soothe their nerves.

Agatha, for her part, had her back to them, neither joining in nor stopping her men – she just listened quietly, a smile if any on her face at some point.

Unlike what many people remembered, the usually serious and calm Gatekeeper had actually always been calm and tolerant towards her subordinates. Just then, the tautness of the steel cables and the friction sound of the braking system rang out from all around, interrupting the exchange between the Gatekeepers.

The elevator car began to slow down and gradually came to a stop in an open and cold place.

“This is the point of access to the first level,” Agatha said as she looked around, seeing the nearest support structure, the lighting system, and a slight clutter of mine equipment in the nearby clearing – the mine workers who had evacuated in a hurry had obviously not been able to take everything with them. Traces of the hustle and bustle were everywhere here, “Where’s the transportation map?”

“Here it is,” one of the priests immediately stepped forward and handed the gatekeeper the traffic map he had brought with him from the Bureau of Mining Affairs when he set out, “Our current location is shaft number two.”

Agatha took the drawing and walked down the lift while comparing the surroundings according to the information, at the same time recalling the information she had obtained from the mine administrators before descending into the shaft, “The underground road train to the digging area has been discontinued, the only way to get to the digging area is to walk, follow the red line markings, a hundred and fifty meters away there will be a ramp leading to the digging operation surface. ”

She looked up and confirmed her surroundings again.

“Check around, set up a safety point, then head deeper.”

The ministry got busy, the guardsmen went forward to make sure the various traffic junctions were secure, and the priests and nuns began to briefly purify and set up altars and sacred objects in the open spaces around the lifts.

Agatha, on the other hand, walked around casually.

She stopped in front of a tipped over transit crate that she hadn’t had time to take with her.

The transit case was iron, lined with tin compartments, the lid was not fastened, and had been broken open after it had tumbled to the ground, so that the contents could be seen – it was a number of ores hammered into small chunks.

Those ores have a dim metallic texture, and on the dark-colored outer skin, you can see vein-like, light-golden veins.

“It should be a sample ready to be brought up along with the shift change crew for delivery.” A middle-aged guardsman came from the side and judged with experience.

Because of the need to explore the mine, about half of the men Agatha brought this time were guardsmen who had been on long-term missions in the Boiling Gold Mine area, and although they weren’t professional miners, they had some experience with the situation here.

“Boiling gold raw mine? ……”

Agatha’s expression was serious as she fiddled with a few pieces of ore that had fallen to the ground with her cane, before bending down and picking up a piece for a closer look.

A moment later, she handed the ore to the middle-aged guardian, “You check it.”

“It’s a good quality raw ore, it looks like it only needs a simple crushing and initial sifting to be sent into the furnace, but I’m not too good at judging …… this aspect of the output rate, so I need a professional.”

Agatha frowned, “That’s it? No problems at all?”

“I don’t see a problem, it’s just ore,” the guardian said matter-of-factly, followed by some confusion, “Do you have any questions?”

Agatha picked up a piece of boiling gold ore in silence and examined it for a long time before speaking softly, “What I’m about to say is classified, albeit only as a guess – only those involved in this operation are allowed to know about it, and it has to be after going down the shaft.”

The guard standing across from her was slightly stunned, but in the next second, the warrior’s face was already grave and serious.

Surprised, but not flustered, surprised, but not overwhelmed.

For every cleric qualified to follow the Gatekeeper on his mission – whether it was the Guardian, or the nuns and priests – was already a selected person in the Church, who had taken an oath and signed a contract under Bartok’s watchful eye.

Each of them was aware of the special nature of their mission, and knew how strange and difficult the events that required the personal attention of the Gatekeepers could be – in these operations deep into the darkness, any one of them could be classified, and what was commonplace one moment could become a taboo that had to be kept outside the civilized world the next, and even the people who took part in them could turn into “secretaries” at any time. Even the people who take part in the operation can become part of the “secret” at any time.

After all, some things even just “know”, is in the real world to leave erosion of the cracks, even just in the minds of the parties concerned to leave an “impression”, is in the future to lose control of the shadow left.

Agatha looked up and saw that the placement of the temporary altar and the holy relics had been completed, and that the safety point had been set up.

“Everyone, gather – I have an announcement to make.”

(End of chapter)