The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 371: Mine (2)

Yoo Ha-Rin carefully sharpened her sword with a cloth and whetstone and blew on it to finish. That was it. Her expression brightened as she finished maintaining her weapon as neatly as always.

“The blade is shining.”

“Right? I love this moment the most. The blade becomes super sharp once it undergoes maintenance. It makes me want to swing it around like crazy...” Yoo Ha-Rin hugged the scabbard tightly with an ecstatic look on her face.

Kai smiled and turned his head. All they could see was an endless horizon.

“Do you think there’s even a village here?”

“Hmm. Honestly, I don’t know either. It’s been a week since we arrived in the Demon Realm, and the scenery hasn't changed at all.”

The landscape they looked at never changed. A never-ending gray sky and dark red earth—that was all.

It had been a week since the two fell into the Demon Realm. During that time they had simply continued walking forward. Of course, there were countless demons that tried to attack them, but all of them had crumbled into ash.

Neither of us has seen even a single village despite gaining over thirty levels...

At this point he was beginning to doubt if the Demon Realm had even been fully implemented.

“Oh, and I think it’s about time to find new leather,” Yoo Ha-Rin pointed at the gray hide she had wrapped around herself.

The reason she wore that ragged leather instead of her newly crafted gear was simple.

The Demon Realm really is like hell.

From what they had learned over the past week, the air of the Demon Realm was very unique. For one, ordinary equipment lost durability at a rapid rate just from being exposed to the atmosphere, and the red moon that stayed in the sky for twenty-four hours gave off searing heat.

To overcome these two conditions, the solution they chose was to use the thick leather from demons. Aside from its poor appearance, their leather had good durability and almost completely blocked the heat. That was why even Kai, whose relics had infinite durability, had to wrap himself in demon leather. Without it the blazing heat was unbearable.

“Is the durability wearing out already?”

“Yes. I think it’s because the demons we’re fighting are too weak. It lasts two days at most.”

“We’ll have to hunt higher-ranking ones.”

“That’s if we even see them,” Yoo Ha-Rin grumbled.

As she said, the demons seemed to be avoiding them lately, possibly because of the rumors.

If the demons behaved like regular monsters and charged blindly, our level-up speed would be way faster.

Kai turned his head with a hint of disappointment. “Oh well. We’ll just have to hope and pray there’s a village on that mountain.”

Their destination was a mountain that had come into view two days ago. It was so massive that even though it looked close, it had taken them two full days of walking to get near it.

“I’m not even hoping for a village anymore. I just want there to be high-tier demons. Preferably big ones with lots of leather.”

Yoo Ha-Rin frowned as she looked at the leather that crumbled at her touch.

***

It was a massive mine. There were eight tunnels already developed and under active mining, and thirteen more were currently being dug. A mine of this size ranked easily within the top hundred even in the vast Demon Realm.

“Hurry up!”

“Ugh, we’ve barely rested for a few hours...”

The leisurely archdemons of the Demon Realm had no sense of time, but that applied only to them. On the other hand, the low-ranking demons were treated like slaves, and had to follow time more strictly than anyone else.

“Line up!”

“You can’t even form a straight line?!”

“This is why trash like you—”

Berated by supervisors holding whips and batons, nearly a thousand low-ranking demons scrambled toward the entrance of the mine.

“Are they all here?”

“Yes, administrator sir.”

Even the supervisors, who acted tough in the tunnels, swallowed nervously.

In the Demon Realm, rank was determined entirely by strength, and the easiest way to measure strength was by looking at the horns on a demon’s head. The stronger the demon, the more likely it was to have at least one horn. These horns grew larger, thicker, increased in number or took on cooler shapes the higher the demon's rank.

“Welcome, sir!”

"Everyone, greet the administrator!"

The supervisors bowed deeply to greet the administrator who arrived at the site. Lowering one’s horned head symbolized submission.

"Hmm."

While the horns on the supervisors’ heads were about the length of a man’s finger, the administrator who just arrived had horns that were easily three times as thick on his forehead.

"The administrator’s horn looks magnificent as always."

"My dream is to have such a splendid horn one day."

The administrator, who received both fear and admiration at once, let out a short puff of breath. He was ranked 152nd among the demons of the southern Demon Realm ruled by Archduke Kinessa. It was none other than Draken, the one who managed the fourth mine where they were stationed.

"Hmm." Draken scanned the demons with a displeased expression and slowly said, "Listen up, you trash."

Nervous swallows were heard here and there. It was a sign of panic. Judging by past experiences, a few demons always ended up dead when Draken was in a bad mood.

"Compared to Mine 9, our mine has twice the area and twice the number of workers, yet last month’s production was surprisingly similar to theirs."

The demons tightly shut their eyes at those horrifying words, hoping that Draken's cruel hand wouldn’t be aimed at them.

"However, I won’t blame you trash."

Draken gave a faint smile. Of course, few demons dared to look at that smile. Most were trembling in fear with their heads lowered.

As Draken slightly raised his hand, a fountain-like sound echoed from somewhere.

"What would trash like you understand? It’s the fault of the fools who manage you."

In the hand of Draken, who spoke indifferently, was the head of one of the supervisors. The supervisor’s body, still unaware of its own death, collapsed backward a moment later.

Draken tossed the demon’s head behind him and glared at each supervisor. They trembled every time his gaze landed on them. No matter how many horns a demon possessed, anyone without absolute strength could always be killed by someone stronger. That was how the Demon Realm worked.

"Hey, supervisors."

The supervisors forced out their voices, broken with fear. "Y-yes, sir!"

"Increase the yield. If you disappoint me again this month, I’ll slice off every last one of your heads."

"U-understood!"

"Th-thank you for your generous mercy..."

The fact that someone else had been killed gave the supervisors a small sense of relief and the faint joy of extended life. But what followed after that was anger. It was a pure fury from the fact that their lives had been endangered because of these worthless low-ranking demons.

"Manage the trash properly. I will not repeat myself."

"Yes, sir!"

After showing a harsh example to the supervisors, the administrator now looked at the demon slaves.

"Mark my words, you trash. In the Demon Realm, being trash once does not mean being trash forever. Those born strong can die weak. Those born weak can devour everything and rise to the top."

Draken walked around the platform as he shouted, "If you don’t want to be left behind, prove your worth."

Then he slung an arm around a nearby supervisor's shoulder.

"Look at this! These ones who now supervise you were once like you, mining magic stones all day without ever straightening their backs. But they proved their value, and had the desire to grow stronger. They were born as trash, but they changed their fates. Not by anything else, but through their own effort!"

That was a form of motivation. A sweet whisper meant for the low-ranking demons who lived buried in the tunnels, mining magic stones like mayflies.

"I’ll give you a chance. The top three demons who mine the most magic stones this month will be rewarded with enough stones to grow horns."

That was a shocking proposal. Even after working nearly twenty hours a day, the only things the slaves received were crumbs of magic stones. They ate those, barely regained some energy, and returned to work four hours later. Of course, dozens died every single day.

But now he was offering horns to those trapped in that dark life with no future. They would no longer need to do hard labor, they could have three full meals a day, and they wouldn’t have to huddle together like cockroaches for four hours of sleep.

That became a more powerful motivation than any sweet promise. It was the only chance to escape their dark, hopeless lives with no end in sight.

"Enough magic stones to grow a horn..."

"If I can just grow a horn... everything could change."

"Top three. I have to get in the top three no matter what."

The demon slaves who heard Draken’s words looked like they wanted to rush into the tunnels immediately. Until yesterday they had relied on one another, but now they had instantly turned into competitors. Their usually dull eyes had changed completely. What now filled them was clearly greed and desire.

Watching the slaves with satisfaction, Draken shouted, "Go! Go and change your trashy future!"

"Yeaaah!"

The demon slaves shot into their assigned tunnels like arrows.

As the mine entrance quickly emptied, Draken grinned from ear to ear.

"Idiots. Did you see that? It’s not all about whipping relentlessly. You also have to know how to offer a fine carrot."

"Y-yes, sir..."

"You are absolutely correct!"

One of the smarter supervisors glanced around cautiously and asked carefully, "But if you really give those trash that many magic stones, won’t it mean the overall yield won’t change much..."

To that, Draken burst into laughter. "You really are an idiot to the end. Why would I give away the magic stones we struggle to deliver to the archduke?"

"P-pardon? Th-then what you said earlier..."

"I didn’t like last month’s yield anyway so I was planning to kill them all. I just figured I’d work them hard for a month before doing it."

"A-as expected of Draken."

"Truly demonic."

"A born archdemon...!"

Listening to the supervisors suck up to him, Draken slowly nodded. "Yes. If you’re born a demon, you must live like one. That is the law of the Demon Realm."

***

Clang, clang!

The demon slaves had to swing their pickaxes in dark and narrow tunnels where they couldn’t even straighten their backs. Even though demons were physically superior to humans, these were merely low-ranking demons. Their physical strength was about equal to that of a human kingdom’s knight. Naturally, groans were heard everywhere.

"Ugh... I’m gonna die."

"Ugh, why did the quota go up so much?"

"This is insane."

Nothing seemed different from yesterday at a glance, but a subtle line had been drawn between the miners. After all, a ship drifting aimlessly and a ship sailing toward a goal couldn’t be the same.

"Huff, huff..."

In the meantime, an old demon collapsed. He was a demon whose death wouldn’t have been surprising at any moment.

Normally, the demons used to share a bit of their share with the old demon since mining more magic stones brought no benefit. However, today was different. Everyone glanced at him with cold eyes once then turned their heads away.

The old demon couldn’t even bring himself to ask for any stones.

This was the Demon Realm. If one was weak, they were weeded out and killed. It was a perfectly natural outcome in this world of endless competition.

I’m still grateful.

The old demon quietly expressed gratitude in his heart. Even though they now gave him cold looks, he would never have survived this long if not for their help in the past.

I may have failed as a demon, but I hope you all become strong.

His body and mind were worn out after decades of slavery. Oddly enough, letting everything go brought him peace. The old demon did what he had always dreamed of. He let go of his pickaxe and straightened his back. His short height made that barely possible.

Sure enough, a supervisor who had been lurking nearby ran over with rage in his eyes. "Hey! Who said you could straighten your back!"

"Hehe..."

If he was going to die anyway, he thought this was better than burdening his comrades by failing to meet his quota.

That was what the old demon thought when the supervisor shouted at him, "Who gave you permission to straighten your back?"

"I..."

"You must be acting so bold because you finished today’s quota—hm?" The supervisor, digging through the old demon’s basket, suddenly paused. "You did... meet the full quota."

As the old demon stayed quiet, the supervisor said, "Tsk. There’s still time left so keep working!"

Once the supervisor shoved the old demon irritably and disappeared, the old demon looked at his basket.

What? How did this happen?

He felt like he had seen something impossible in the middle of the night as his once empty basket now held a full day's worth of magic stones.

As he looked around in surprise, one demon caught his eyes. She was a humanoid demon, and naturally had no horns on her head. She was a small child and about the same height as him.

She walked up to the old demon and said, "Don’t worry too much. I’ll help you as much as I can this month."

"Who are you... no, aside from that, I’ve never seen your face before. Why would you help me?"

"I was captured just yesterday so there’s still a lot I don’t know." The girl smiled softly and bowed her head to the old man. "I heard you’ve worked here the longest. Please teach me all that you can going forward.”

"If I can even be of any help... Oh, my name is Dex."

"My name is Ira. Please call me Ira."

Ira was a red-eyed girl with white hair.

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