"So this is the Folcania mine…"
A massive group of adventurers had arrived at the mine.
On the surface, it was a colossal cavern made of reddish-brown rock.
However, right now, thin blue smoke was drifting out from the entrance.
Deep inside the vast mine, blue smoke so dense you couldn't see what lay ahead hung in the air — the source supposedly lay somewhere beyond — but apparently no one could advance any further.
That blue smoke, they said, would gradually drain your life force the moment you breathed it in.
"It drains your life force? Sounds like something to let adventurers breathe in!"
"After that, we just follow along at our leisure!"
"Low-rank adventurers are a dime a dozen — even if they drop dead, who cares?"
"Exactly! Ahahahaha!"
That was what I'd overheard from the Earl Douglas Knight Order, who had marched up behind the adventurers on the way here.
My [Gentleman Thief] skill had the [Eavesdrop] ability, so I could hear every last word even from a distance.
Come to think of it — was that the whole reason they'd forcibly conscripted the adventurers?
As always, their sense of ethics was utterly broken.
It wasn't like the knight order would bother carrying unconscious adventurers back to the entrance, and what would happen if they simply died where they fell?
Meanwhile, the Earl himself was waiting back in the town at the base of the mountain, leisurely biding his time for the results.
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"Oi, adventurers! Get in there, now!"
"Tch…"
Grumbling under their breath, the adventurers and I trudged into the mine.
The knight order followed at a safe distance behind us.
I took a look at the faint blue smoke with my [Divine Eye], and sure enough, it did seem to have a life-draining effect.
Breathe in too much and you'd become utterly exhausted and collapse.
Push too hard trying to advance deeper and you'd absorb so much you'd die.
Around the point where we'd made it to the middle layer, adventurers began stumbling on their feet.
Even adventurers of a reasonably high rank were finding it rough.
And true to the knight order's plan, they were following along at their leisure through the area where the smoke's concentration had temporarily thinned.
They kept a close watch on each of us to make sure we didn't try to flee, which was incredibly annoying.
"Hey, wait — I can't go any further!"
One of the adventurers shouted when we'd pushed even deeper into the middle layer.
"What's wrong?"
"I've got a skill called [Canary]. It's telling me we can't go any further — if we advance, we'll definitely die!"
The adventurer was declaring his apparently rare skill of his own volition just to warn everyone about the danger ahead.
"Advance."
A knight who'd been putting on airs of a field commander issued a merciless order.
"You guys value your own lives too, don't you?!"
The man with the [Canary] skill tried to persuade the knight order, but naturally they wouldn't listen.
"Doesn't matter. Move out. What do you think we mobilized all these adventurers for? If you don't advance, I'll have you beheaded on the spot."
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Skills: [Reverse][Divine Eye][Sword God][Fist God][Spear God][Scorching Magic][Freezing Ice Magic][Clear Gale Magic][Rock-Iron Magic][Holy Magic][Dark Magic][Space-Time Magic][Thunder God Sword][Gentleman Thief][Ninja Master][Seeker of Truth][Supernatural Strength][Idaten][Pain Relief][Complete Status Ailment Resistance][Dark Spirit's Protection][Super Intuition][Heaven's Gate][Pact of the Abyss][Magic Hand][Treasure Search][Seduction][Incitement][Eloquence][Strong Luck][Tenfold Growth Speed][Growth Limit Breakthrough]
Rank: Orichalcum