Unable to endure the freezing cold, the man wiped his face. Mud clung stubbornly to his skin, and murky droplets ran down from his palm. When he looked up at the sky, heavy rain poured down as if someone had spilled a bucket. He rushed up a crude staircase made from stakes and planks. At his feet, rainwater flowed away like a small river.

“When the hell is this rain going to stop?”

The rain had been falling for three days straight, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. If this were a farming village, no one would worry about water shortage. It might’ve even been welcomed. But for the Refun region whose main industry was mining, and especially for a man who led a tunneling crew, this rain was nothing but a curse. Even if the tunnel in question was only one of many small shafts.

“Hey! I brought extra buckets and rope! How’s it looking down there?”

Raising his voice so it wouldn’t be drowned out by the pouring rain, the man shouted with a throat hoarse from dust. A shadow that had blended into the dimness slowly rose.

“Foreman Zidre! The water’s up to our knees. In some places, it’s even higher than that!”

The one answering while frantically turning the drainage wheel was a young miner from the tunneling crew He was a subordinate of Zidre, the foreman of the tunneling crew, and a face Zidre had long grown used to seeing more familiar than even his own grandchildren. His whole body was smeared with mud like a wild boar’s filthy coat, and the grime covering his lower body revealed just how high the water had risen inside the tunnel.

“I can see that just by looking at you! What’s the situation with arranging a drainage mage?”

To deal with unprecedented rainfall like this, they needed a mage capable of bending the laws of nature. Those who could create water with mana were usually skilled at manipulating it as well. When it came to clearing water out of narrow, twisting mine tunnels, there was probably no one better suited.

“Well, the operations chief tried to push for it, but the mages all got pulled by the crews working in the main tunnels number one through number five. They said there’s none left to send our way. The only one who came was that old man who used to be part of the water-removal crew.”

It turned out exactly as Zidre had feared. Even within the mining community, each tunnel often had different employers and different work crews. In a sense, each tunnel had its own territory. In normal times there might have been some cooperation, but during a storm like this, it was only natural that people and equipment would be fought over. If a tunnel collapsed, their livelihood would vanish. There weren’t many generous souls who would spare a thought for another tunnel.

“He’s been retired for ages, and he still came. Even a half-dead old man’s better than nothing.”

Hiding the anxiety gnawing inside him, Zidre forced himself to act tough. Even if the old man already had one foot in the grave, his water-attribute magic for drainage was still reliable. His withered body, like a dried branch, was well suited for these tiny tunnels anyway. And if the shaft collapsed, at least the funeral costs would be saved.

“At this rate, even dragging that old man here won’t be enough.”

“Then next time, bring a cat with you.”

“Huh? You want us to teach it how to dog-paddle or something?”

The young worker’s blank reply made it impossible to tell if he was serious or joking. Zidre snorted in irritation. There was no point punching him or asking again. Grabbing a bucket tied with rope, the tunneling foreman began hauling water out himself.

Whether they were miners, haulers, support crews, on a day like this they had no choice but to play the role of the drainage workers. The real specialists were already deep in the tunnels, soaked in filthy water where the spring flow was worst. Thinking ahead about the next steps, Zidre had already hauled out hundreds of buckets of water when a metallic clang echoed from inside the tunnel. The rhythm was too crude to be called an alarm bell, but it was clearly a signal.

“Clear the way! They’re coming out!”

The miners working inside the tunnel burst out like ants fleeing a nest. Every one of them showed signs of exhaustion. Zidre grabbed their arms and waists as they staggered, guiding them up to the surface. And there was only one place the men who crawled out were heading for, the smithy.

Normally the building was used to repair and forge tools like chisels and pickaxes, but in this weather it had turned into a bonfire shelter to keep warm. If anything, the miners were too exhausted to even bother returning to the mining town where their houses were. Instead, the rough men clustered together like winter insects, snoring loudly as they slept.

Under normal circumstances, such a sight would have been found in the rest areas set up inside the tunnels, but no one was reckless enough to fall asleep in a shaft that was on the verge of being flooded.

As the half-dead men who looked like ghouls were led out, the next shift of miners who had been resting in the smithy jumped down into the tunnel. After washing off some of the grime and getting a short nap, they at least looked somewhat human again.

“Stay sharp when you go down! If you break an arm or a leg, we’ll be in real trouble!”

As Zidre shouted encouragement to the young men entering the tunnel, someone shook his shoulder. The caller’s voice had been swallowed by the sound of rain pounding on the shabby roof.

“Foreman! Food’s here!”

Shielded carefully from the rain with both hands, the man held out a bowl of lukewarm soup made from crushed beans and a piece of bread. It had likely been prepared at the smithy, which was currently serving as a makeshift kitchen.

“Alright, thanks. I’ll take it.”

He rinsed some dirt off with rainwater, gulped down the soup, and stuffed the bread into his mouth. The gritty crunch of sand mixed into it was unpleasant, but his body was freezing. Even lukewarm soup felt like a blessing as it travelled down his throat into his stomach.

Twenty seconds later, Zidre finished his meal, pulled the rope back in, and resumed work. Fortunately, the rain had begun to weaken. If things kept up like this, their miserable water hauling might finally come to an end. Just as he began pulling up a bucket he had submerged into the pooled water, a dull sound echoed through the air. His skin prickled, as if something slick had licked across it, and a chill ran down his spine.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

As Zidre cursed under his breath, the young miners noticed it a moment later.

“What was that sound?!”

It wasn’t just the sound. The tremor that traveled through the soles of his boots and rattled his organs was something Zidre knew well as the memory of his worst nightmare.

“The tunnel… collapsed.”

“C-collapsed?!”

“N-No way… that can’t be!”

He snapped at the subordinates who were leaning over to peer down into the tunnel.

“Quit panicking. It’s not ours… damn it, look over there.”

In the distance, the slope of the mountain pulsed like a living creature. The collapse of underground cavities had triggered a chain reaction, causing the ground to cave in. The earth itself flowed like water. Even Zidre, who had worked in the Refun Mine for many years, had never seen destruction on this scale.

“The number three main tunnel?! What about the drainage tunnels?!”

“Damn it, part of it’s even slid down into the mining town!”

“They took several drainage mages with them too!”

“What do we do?!”

“Keep working, but if the support crew chiefs or drainage chiefs inside start screaming like mad, drop your tools and run. Don’t get buried alive.”

After calming the shaken workers, Zidre continued.

“You there, come with me. We’re going to help the main tunnel crew.”

“But… Foreman Zidre, with things looking like that…”

The young miner had a point. The slope along the tunnel had collapsed, and the muddy torrent had turned into a literal river. It was like a black boundary rejecting human approach.

“Shut it. You guys stay here and keep working. You don’t want this happening to us too, do you?”

With that, Zidre wrapped the rope around his body, slung it over his shoulder, grabbed a digging tool, and began climbing the slope. The closer he got to the collapse site, the clearer the devastation became. A twisted arm stuck out of the ground, and nearby several men lay half-buried in mud, groaning as they struggled to breathe. Those were the lucky ones. They were still alive, and even the dead at least remained recognizable.

“Stay away from the flowing water as much as you can. If you absolutely have to go near it, drive a stake into the ground and tie on a lifeline.”

At his command, the miners scattered. Following faint groans, Zidre located injured workers and dragged them away by their collars or arms. At times he slapped their backs, shoved his fingers into their mouths to scrape out the mud they had swallowed, and pounded on the chests of those who had stopped breathing.

“The number three main tunnel… it had strong bedrock and the equipment was first-rate too…”

Breathing raggedly, his shoulders rising and falling with exhaustion, Zidre muttered what was on his mind. The main tunnel had been built with ample funding and manpower, enough to make others envious. It had large horizontal drainage tunnels, pumping machinery, and even drainage mages assigned to it.

Small cave-ins or accidents could happen anywhere, but what had occurred here was a complete collapse. Even the tiny tunnel Zidre worked in kept fifty men constantly at work.

“How many people… are buried under there…?”

As a miner, it was something he didn’t even want to think about.

TL note: Sorry for just 1 chapter today, I’ll get 3 done tomorrow!

Translator – Lyxxna