The 10th Reconnaissance Team gathered around a well in the inner courtyard of the fort, and there was a constant sound of tapping from the deep well.

Roy found that there was indeed a large boom installed at the mouth of the shaft, and that the boom was not a bucket, but a large wooden box, in which there were some residual ore debris, placed next to the well, and there was an ore screening table not far away, and several warehouses were connected together in the corridor.

Through the open door of the warehouse, Roy could see that the warehouse was filled with mountains of rough gemstones.

The mine is supposed to be a gem mine, and the only means of transportation into the mine is the wooden box on this boom, whether it is to put the elven miner down or to fish the ore up, it is almost always done by this wooden box.

A mine steward elf stands at the edge of the mine with his hands tied, explaining how they connect with the miners below......

We send the slaves we bought back to the well through wooden boxes, and we don't force them to dig up as much ore as they want, but put this big wooden box into the well every night, and we will send as much food as we want when we lift up the ore, and if the amount of ore is very small, we will activate the punishment mechanism, and the food will be halved. ’

'Normally, we don't ask how the food is distributed in the mine, we only care about how much ore can be lifted up each day. ’

'If we don't get the ore that day, we don't put food into the mine. ’

Roy stood in the crowd, quietly listening to the mine steward's account of how the mine worked......

It is no wonder that the main mine owners continue to buy some elf slaves to put into the mine, it turns out that a cruel food chain will be formed in the mine, and the miners inside are estimated to need to speak with their fists, and the new elf slaves will be subjected to the most severe oppression.

'You're not worried that the miners in the mine will band together and rush out of the mine?' The elven knight asked curiously.

"It's unlikely to happen, the mouth of the shaft is very deep, it's basically impossible for them to get out of the underground digging hole, if they want to climb up the wooden box, it's impossible to threaten us by climbing up a few miners at a time, and the Gransam mine owners have other means to prevent this from happening."

The mine manager told the story of the mine, and everyone felt a chill down their spines after listening to it......

If you were the one who was put into the mine, what were the chances of escaping?

Roy and Lambo stood in the midst of the elves, listening to the mine steward's story, and couldn't help but look at the black hole in the mine.

Through the grille above the mine, Roy couldn't see what was inside the dark mine.

It's just that one of the shafts is open and has a boom, while the other is an arm-thick iron grate.

He didn't have to wait long, the two captains of Heklis and Helehus came down from the fortress together, the elven knights made way for the two captains, and the captain of Heckles walked to the well, and an adjutant next to him told him about the mine and the slave miners below.

After listening to the adjutant's brief account, Captain Heckles asked the steward, "How long has this mine existed?" ”

"There have always been decades." The mine steward said tremblingly.

Captain Heckles took a torch from his adjutant and threw it into the mine without hesitation.

In the process of falling, the torch was blown out by the cold air inside the mine.

After more than ten seconds, the sound of falling came through.

Captain Heckles saw a thick bundle of hemp rope wrapped around the roulette wheel behind the boom, thought about it and took out a moonstone the size of an egg from his magic waist bag, and threw the slightly fluorescent stone directly into the mine.

Then the head of Hercules began to count: "One, two, three, four...... Eight, nine! ”

When he counted to nine, the moonstone thrown into the mine echoed as it landed, but the faint glow did not allow him to see what was going underneath.

With a diameter of less than two meters, Captain Heckles turned his head, stared at the mine steward with a sharp gaze, and asked:

"Do you know where the first slaves were brought back?"

The elven steward recalled it earnestly, and then said:

"It should be the last period of the naval battle of Queen Evanie Island, when the Naga Sea Clan admitted defeat, they abandoned the Queen Evanie Islands, and also left some gray dwarf bandits on the island, I remember that a lot of gray dwarves were captured at that time, so that the prison in the elven continent was not enough, and our boss bought back a lot of gray dwarf slaves at that time."

"Later, these gray dwarf slaves became more and more difficult to buy, and they were not very honest in the mine, always thinking of digging a tunnel to escape from the ground, so the boss bought a batch of elven felons from the Dark Moon Elf Country and put them in the mine, but I didn't expect these two forces to fight in the mine, all to fight for the distribution of food at the mouth of the mine......"

"In fact, the felons in the prison are not so easy to buy, and for a while they are often out of stock, and then the boss does not know where to contact a slave trader, who will transport slaves of all races from the sea, including not only elves and dwarves, but also humans, orcs, lizardmen and the like."

"This kind of slave trade didn't last long, and many legions of the Silver Moon Elves severely cracked down on the slave trade along the coast, so those slave trading ships didn't dare to come."

"Later, our boss got a stable supply of slaves, and it has been maintained for a long time."

"Until three years ago, there was a large-scale riot in the Partington plane, the Silver Pegasus Army completely blocked the Partington plane, and our channels for buying slaves were completely cut off, and it was the most difficult for a while, and we had no way to hire headhunters to capture the half-blood elves on the plateau."

"I can swear to the moon god that I have never captured the elves outside the Pajisto Plateau, this is not the territory of the Silver Moon Elves, then these half-blood elves cannot be regarded as subjects of the Silver Moon Kingdom, so we have not offended your ......"

The mine steward said a lot in one breath, he was a silver moon elf, and he didn't know how to run to the mines on the Pajisto Plateau and became the steward here.

Captain Heckles squinted at the steward and asked coldly, "According to what you said, there are still gray dwarves, prisoners of Prison Island, and half-blood elves in the well, these three forces?" ”

The steward wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his hands kept trembling: "Well, almost, there may be a fourth force, and the fifth force may not be said." ”

He didn't dare to look at Captain Heckless, and twisted his head to the side.

"Captain Hellehs, does Lord Swinburn have any explanations from there?" Captain Heckles raised his head and asked the head of the Silver Pegasus Regiment, who was standing opposite.

Captain Heljehes smiled slightly and said, "Lord Earl's original purpose in launching this war was to rescue the half-blood elves on the plateau, since some of the miners in the mine are innocent half-blood elves, then our top priority is to think of a way to see how we can free them from the mine." ”

Captain Heckles nodded, turned his head and instructed the adjutant beside him: "Go find a rope ladder, it doesn't matter if it's longer, it must fall to the bottom of the well and be stronger." ”

This kind of rope ladder was also considered a must-have in the cavalry vanguard regiment, and it didn't take long for the adjutant to have two elven cavalry carry over a large bundle of rope ladders.

Commander Hercules asked his cavalry to lower the rope ladder and arranged for a cavalry squadron to stand guard at the mouth of the shaft and wait for the miners to climb out of the shaft......

At this time, the head of the regiment Hlehus walked to the well with an iron fence at the mouth of the well, and looked through the fence twice, and the well was also dark, so he also asked the mine steward, "What is hidden in this well, and why is the mouth of the well sealed with iron bars?" ”

"Some time ago, some black bugs crawled out, and then the owner of the Gransam mine added a lot of quicklime to the well, and finally sealed the wellhead with iron bars." The mine steward said honestly.

"What black bugs, can you be specific?" Commander Hlehus asked curiously.

"Black beetles, about the size of a basin, are as hard as iron, and they seem to like to eat rocks, but fortunately we found them early, and we had some armor-piercing arrows in stock, and we shot them as soon as they crawled out of the well, and then the Grantham mine owners, fearing that they would come back, filled the mine with quicklime and sealed the mouth of the well with iron bars." The mine steward replied honestly.

Commander Hlehus nodded, and raised his leg to leave the well.

"We've dried a few black bugs and kept them as specimens, do you want to take a look?" The mine steward said after the head of the regiment.

"Let's take a look!" Commander Hlehus replied without any hesitation this time.

Roy stood in the crowd and saw that the mine steward wanted to find a few helpers, so he took the initiative to stand up and said to the mine steward, "If you need help, just ask." ”

"Thanks, can you help me carry that thing off?" The mine steward asked tentatively.

"No problem!" Roy walked out briskly.

Lambo followed behind Roy, trying to move forward.

The mine steward said very kindly: "Two people are enough, and that thing is not too heavy after drying." ”

Roy was startled when he saw the sun-dried black beetle, and if no one had told him it was a giant beetle, Roy would have thought it was a turtle.

From the front, this carapace looks more like a black tortoise shell.

Only when you turn over and look at the belly side will you find that there are long feet underneath, and Roy takes a closer look and finds that it looks more like a large tide worm......

The black beetle has many sharp teeth growing from the edges of its body, and the two eyeballs on the top of its head have long since dried up.

The mine steward and Roy carried the black beetle to the mouth of the well, and Captain Hlehus covered his mouth and nose and approached to look at it.

Captain Heckles also came over, and the two even exchanged glances halfway.

"How did the creatures of darkness get into the mines?" Commander Hlehus said with a solemn face.

"Could it be that there is a connecting passage underground?" Captain Hercules' face was a little ugly, and he thought to the mine steward and asked, "Since then, these black beetles have never crawled out again?" ”

"Not all the time." The mine steward said firmly.

"It seems...... It is necessary to go down and see. Captain Hlehus said.

"At the very least, we have to dig up all the quicklime in the well before we can do it......" said Captain Hercules with a frown.

While the two were talking, a large iron cage was pushed next to another wellhead, and the ladder tied down from the wellhead shook incomprehensibly, it should be something climbing up from the well, and a group of elven cavalry pulled out their long swords from their waists, and more than a dozen sharp blades pointed at the wellhead.

It took a long while for a very long time before there was a very loud sound, and there was even a very heavy wheezing sound.

A withered, swarthy hand rested on the edge of the well, the nails of that hand looked like eagle's talons, and the arms were covered with skin and bones, and then an unkempt old elf showed his head, and he almost crawled a little weakly, and his eyes were almost lost in a line......

He was not afraid of the few long swords in front of him, and exposed the upper half of his body to the mouth of the well.

It was obvious that he was supposed to be an elf, but his body was too thin to look good, and his ribs were clearly visible.

The thin body struggled to climb outside the well, then sat on the stone floor by the well, raised his head while gasping, and said in a dry voice: "Hehe, I didn't expect that I would still live to see the color of the sky and the earth......

The elven cavalry walked over with a wary look on his face, dragged him into the iron cage lightly, and then questioned him: "Do you remember where your hometown is?" ”

The elf hesitated for a moment and said, "St. Margaery." ”

"You're a prisoner?"

"I was, and has been a mining slave for more than sixty years......"

The thin old elf replied with difficulty, and as he spoke, he showed a mouthful of rotten teeth.

Unexpectedly, the questioning elf took an apple out of his bosom, threw it into the old elf's arms, and said to him, "Answer my question well!" ”

The old elf eagerly grabbed the apple and took a big bite of it, ignoring the elven knight's question.

"How many elven slaves are there in the well?"

“……”

……

Roy thought that this old elf should have climbed up to explore the way, and sure enough, after a while, another elf crawled out of the well.

Although the elf was also a little emaciated, he seemed to be very energetic, and he was pointed at the long sword at the mouth of the well, and the muscles on his body suddenly tightened, but then he raised his hands above his head with great interest.

Roy saw that he even had a badly worn pickaxe pinned to his waist.

This time, the elven cavalry put their swords on his shoulders and chained him around his neck and hands, and then pushed him into the iron cage.

The treatment turned out to be completely different from the first old elf......

Captain Heckles instructed the elven knights guarding the mouth of the shaft: "Be careful of these guys, those who can survive in the mine may not have very clean hands......"

(End of chapter)