I've Inherited the Summoning Skill, So I'm Going to Try to Master It! - Episode 116: In Other Words, Mission Complete

Episode 116: In Other Words, Mission Complete 

It seems that Brother Leonard and Duke Flute are about to reach an agreement. Realizing that their conversation was beyond my involvement, I quickly lost interest. I focused on enjoying my meal with Flare-chan. 

“Then, Prince Leonard, I’ll leave it to you as discussed. I once again express my deepest gratitude for your assistance in this matter. If the royal family ever needs anything, I will be the first to come to your aid.” 

It looks like they finalized some kind of contract. I wasn’t paying attention at all toward the end. So I have no clue what it was about. But that’s fine—I’ve entrusted everything about this inspection to Brother Leonard. I have no intention of meddling at this point. 

“Rufus, I’ll be counting on you to continue investigating the new mineral veins starting tomorrow.” 

“Understood. I don’t need to touch the ancient ruins, right?” 

“For now, yes.” 

Alright then. I’ll just keep searching for mineral veins starting tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be done in about three days. There’s no way I’ll find another set of ancient ruins, right? 

Still, we’ve been here way longer than planned. I should probably send a letter to everyone at the Summoning Guild. It would be sad if they forgot about me. 

After that, I spent my time writing letters, drafting a report, and searching for mineral veins. In between, I asked Duke Flute to improve the miners’ working conditions. He easily agreed. We secured a promise to regulate working hours and break times. And meals would be provided at lunchtime. 

It seems my request was a bit too effective. Now, I’m a little—no, very—worried that the burden on the Flute household might be too much. Is this okay? I hope this doesn’t lead to the decline of the Flute Ducal House. 

While trembling a bit at that thought, I continued my search for mineral veins. To my great dismay, I found yet another set of ancient ruins. I quickly suggested that they be treated as a pair with the first ruins I found. Problem solved. I’ll never forget the image of Duke Flute practically jumping for joy. 

The issue of ownership rights had already been settled. So I guess he could fully celebrate without any reservations. 

Before long, the end of the mine tunnel came into view. Just in time—I was starting to get tired of searching for mineral veins. 

“Your Highness, the Third Prince, this is as far as we go for now.” 

“As expected of the deepest part, it’s gotten quite narrow. Tetsujin, is there any reaction from the mineral veins?” 

“Ma.” 

It seems there aren’t any new mineral veins nearby. As we went deeper, the number of veins had gradually decreased. I kind of had a feeling it would be like this. 

When I informed the site manager, he seemed to have expected the same and didn’t look particularly disappointed. 

“Thank you, Your Highness. Even with just the veins we discovered on the way here, I believe we can expect a significant yield.” 

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad I could be of help.” 

“What are you saying? You’ve been more than just helpful. To us, the Third Prince is like a god.” 

That’s quite an exaggeration. But I guess it means they’re really grateful. Not that I mind, but Tetsujin nodding as if it were only natural was a bit concerning. 

Just make sure you don’t act like that anywhere else. People might think I’m some arrogant prince. 

After reporting the results outside, we returned to the inn. My mission here is complete. All that’s left is to head back to the castle. 

I’ve worked for about a month. So when I get back, I want to laze around for a while. Not that I expect to get away with it. 

“Huh? Brother Leonard, you’re back early today?” 

Weird. Normally, he comes back right at curfew after spending all day testing his sword, like some rebellious teenager. For him to be back this early… something must’ve happened. Is it because I tattled to His Majesty about his sword testing? 

“Oh, you’re back. Yes, Rufus, I should tell you about this too.” 

Brother Leonard guided me to the sofa. I had no idea what this was about, so I obediently sat down. Tea was promptly served. 

“Today, I went to investigate the site where you erased that mountain before.” 

“O-oh, I see.” 

His words casually pierced my heart. It made me stumble a bit. I was trying so hard to forget about that. I had just started convincing myself that maybe it was all just a dream, and now this… that’s just cruel. 

“Then, to our surprise, mineral veins were exposed all over the place. Duke Flute and I were amazed. We even discussed how, instead of digging tunnels, it might be better to just mine from the top down.” 

“I see.” 

So basically, it turned into an ideal situation for open-pit mining. That means there must have been mineral veins mixed in the part of the mountain that Lagios blew away. What a waste. 

As I thought about that and looked at Brother Leonard’s face, he grinned. 

“That’s not all. When we took a closer look at the surface, we found small metal chunks scattered everywhere.” 

“You mean…?” 

“It’s probably metal that was inside the mountain you erased, Rufus.” 

He said it twice! Couldn’t he have put it more gently? I’m bothered by this enough to wish I could just pretend it never happened. 

It seems they managed to recover some of the metal that had been inside the mountain. Of course, they probably couldn’t get all of it. But it’s better than losing everything. I’d like to think of this as a silver lining amidst the misfortune. 

Original Author’s Comment:

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Thank you so much for reading this far!

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Thank you in advance! 

(Here’s the link to the Original Author: https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330653906747006.)

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