166 - - 07-08 Mine





The tunnels were generally easy to walk through, although some were narrow in places. This area may have been redeveloped for tourism.

The tunnel was level at first, but gradually began to descend. We were thankful for the lights placed here and there.

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"Mother, are you cold?

the boy asked his mother. It was about 15 degrees Celsius in the tunnels, and it was not cold as long as one wore long sleeves. But Mrs. Hasegawa was wearing only short-sleeved spring clothes.

"Yes, it's a little cold.

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Naturally, she replied.

"Here, let me give you this.

The butler took out a half-coat from the luggage the big man had brought and presented it to Mrs. Yamanouchi.

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"Oh, thank you."

Mrs. Elsa said and put on the half-coat.

Elsa, who was watching this sequence of events, felt somewhat resentful that she was wearing a long-sleeved jacket.

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She then looked at the back of Jin who was walking in front of her. The jacket that Jin was wearing was one that Erza had also been given on several occasions.

After descending a short ladder and walking down another toe-down tunnel, we came to a slightly wider area.

Here we are, this is the end of the tunnel.

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Surprisingly, this was the end of the tunnel. I guess they would not take ordinary people out to the dangerous depths of the earth, and it was for sightseeing purposes only.

There are a few paths here and there, and if you are lucky, you can find gemstones in the rough," the guide told us.

The guide told me. The tool was a magic tool similar to a chisel.

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"If you press the tip of the chisel against a rock and let the magic power flow through it, you can dig the rock.

A mini rock drill with magic power, if you will.

"Mother, I'd like to try a little."

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My sister said something like that. Maybe she heard it was jewelry and wanted it.

"Really? Just a little?

The guide took out a magic tool from the big man's luggage.

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"Oh, me too!

The boy said, "Oh, me too," and added another. Since there seemed to be no extra charge, Jin and the other three, that is, Jin, Reinhard, and Erza, decided to try it as well.

Each of them enters a different branch path.

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All of them were shallow, and there were still traces of digging by the previous tourists.

"Are we really going to find gems in this? <"

This is the first time in a long time to use the ground search.

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"...... hmm? What? What is this?

There were gemstones in the walls and ground.

As you can guess, it was some kind of cheating or service to please the tourists. I had heard that Jin was doing something similar at the Matsutake mushroom mountain for a fee.

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"There are no more veins of ore around here..."

<, he can easily find out. Well, the fact that there is a large vein of ore in a much deeper place shows that the mine here is not a fake.

"Well, it's a tourist spot, let's enjoy it.

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Jin said to himself and placed the drilling tool near the embedded ore.

* * * *

When Jin dug out some of the rough stones, he said to himself.

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"Umm, I can't find it.

He heard a voice saying. When he turned around, he saw the girl from the baron's family.

She noticed Jin,

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She noticed Jin and said, "Oh, there are already people here. I'm sorry.

She said that and tried to go back. Jin stops her.

"Hey, girl, I think you can find some jewelry here. Come in if you like."

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The child stopped and turned around slowly. By the light of the dark magic lamp, she looked about 8 or 9 years old, blonde hair, blue eyes, and pretty, much like her mother's wife.

"Um, are you sure?"

Jin smiled and nodded his head, showing her the rough stones he had dug up.

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"Wow, there are so many. Can I dig here, too?

"Yes, you can. This area looks good.

Jin points to the area near the rough stones found in the ground search.

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"Yes, I'll give it a try.

With that, the girl puts the excavation tool in her hand against the wall of the tunnel. She then channels magic power into it.

The tool vibrates finely and the adamantite coated on the tip of the tool shatters the rock. The adamantite coated on the tip of the tool broke the rock, and the rough stone spilled out.

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"Oh, something came out. What is it, brother?

The child picks up the rough stone he just dug out and holds it out in front of Jin. Jin looked at it for a moment,

"This is amethyst," I told him.

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I told him, "This is an amethyst. The child looked half happy and half disappointed,

I'll look for more.

He tried to put his magic tool against the wall again. Then Jin said,

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"Why don't you try this one as well as that one?

He pointed to another wall where another rough stone was buried.

"Yes, that's what I'm going to do.

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The child dug at the wall pointed out by Jin. Then another rough stone rolled out.

"Oh, there it is again. Oh, brother, that's great!

This time, a yellow crystal (citrine) came out.

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"Uh, this is not what I want either.

A girl says something like that. And Jin said,

"Well, what kind of gemstone do you want?

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Jin asked her. And the girl said,

"A pink stone.

The child replied, "A pink stone. There are few gemstones that are pink in color. Pink sapphires, tourmalines, and kunzites. Topaz can also be found, but it is very rare and there is no way that you can find it in a fake tourist mine like this one.

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"Hmmm, I hope so.

Jin thinks as he says this.

Maybe I can find some pink sapphires.

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Sapphire is aluminum oxide, and its mineral name is corundum. It is a mineral that can be found in abundance wherever it is found. It's just that not many of them are pure enough to be made into gems.

So Jin secretly searches for a lump of corundum by . Fortunately, he finds it in a shallow place.

It is a little difficult because of the distance, but he manages to remove impurities little by little with the magic of . The main ingredient, aluminum oxide, of course, is left. And also chromium.

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It seems that the material originally contained only a small amount of chromium, so I was able to finish the process somehow.

"Ugh, I can't find it!

the girl grumbled. Jin called the girl again,

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"I think I can find something here.

He told her.

"Your brother's predictions are always right," she says. I'll give it a try.

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He then places a magic tool there. It's a little deep, so it takes time.

It's hard to get out.

"It looks like it's a little deeper."

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It seems to be deeper than I thought. It took about three times as long as before, and finally the stone rolled out.

"We did it! It's a pink stone!"

The girl happily picked it up, clutched it to her chest, and bowed.

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"Thank you, brother. I'll give you the other stones in return.

With these words, he turned back down the tunnel, taking only the pink sapphire he had found.

Jin decided that he had had enough, picked up the stones the girl had left behind, and slowly walked back down the tunnel.

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