(Do note that any location or character used in this book is purely fictional and not based on any real-life location/character)
"So, you want to take a look at the mine?" Ol' Fang stared down at the little boy who stood before him.
"Yes." Asher nodded.
With both Darius and Elijah out of the estate, Ol' Fang automatically became the one who ran the family's daily operations and made some of the decisions. This was a power that came from him being Darius' most trusted subordinate and closest friend. As for major decisions that would affect the family as a whole, a meeting would usually be scheduled with the family's elders upon which a decision would be made.
The magic crystal mine was one of the Arnhaunts' most valuable resources so for anyone to visit it, they would require permission from a high-ranking official of the family. As Asher was still too young, he couldn't enter the mine whenever he wished to even with his title as young lord, so he needed the permission of an elder figure in the family. Since he didn't want everyone to know of his movements, he decided to request Ol' Fang for his permission.
"Well, alright. However, you would have to go with both Luther and Aaron watching over you." Ol' Fang said.
"Alright." Asher hesitated before replying.
The secret behind the mine was only known by Darius, and he had only told Asher about it. This wasn't to say that Darius didn't trust Ol' Fang, but he was made to take an oath by his father to only reveal this information to the next heir of the family when appropriate. Since Darius had let Asher in on the family's situation and had been letting him handle more responsibilities than usual, he decided there was no reason to hide this information from Asher any longer.
With a token from Ol' Fang representing his authority, Asher entered a carriage alongside Luther and Aaron, Luther's fellow student under Ol' Fang and one of Asher's personal guards when he was a lot younger. While the mine was said to be in the Red Maple province, it wasn't close to the provincial capital, Red Maple city, but was in a separate area.
Four hours later, Asher had arrived in Vermont city, Red Maple province. Vermont city was originally a small inconspicuous town that held no real value. The roads to the town were originally damaged and the position of the town was far from any of the major merchant trade routes. Apart from that, the soil wasn't suitable for planting the famous Red Maple trees and this further diminished whatever possible value the town had, so it was easily ignored. However, when the magic crystal mine was discovered, everything changed. Under Darius' command, the town was changed to a fortress of sorts and became the centre of operation for the excavation done within the mine. While this might seem authoritarian, Darius had no such intention. On the contrary, he had made sure that part of the proceeds from the sale of the magic crystals mined was given to the people of Vermont. As a result of that, as well as the visioning of the town's head, the previous Vermont town was constantly improved till it became the current Vermont city; one of the special trade zones in Red Maple province and a flourishing city.
"We will soon be there, young master." The carriage driver for this trip, Chen, said[1].
The magic crystal mine, or better yet, the Vermont mine, was located within the reach of the city of Vermont. As he planned on going to the mine without drawing too much attention, Asher decided not to pay the city lord a visit and headed straight for the mine. As a result, he had to circle the city to avoid being spotted by the sentries and this, in turn, extended the journey a bit.
"We're here."
Less than an hour later, Asher's entourage had reached the first security checkpoint.
As the Vermont mine was the Arnhaunts' most precious resource, the surrounding five hundred metres was taken up by the Arnhaunts with various sentries, both hidden and in plain sight, watching over the area, and from the 500 metres mark up till the 1 km mark were hidden guards, magical traps and alert systems, and specially trained birds that monitored the region from the air. Such a tight security network made it such that even a bunny would have a hard time getting within 800 metres of the mine without getting spotted.
"They should already be aware of our presence." Asher said.
500 metres out from the mine was the first checkpoint, but the security network of the mine began from 1 km out, that is to say, from a few minutes back, the guards were already aware of their presence. If Asher's carriage had not moved in the direction of the first checkpoint, they would have been attacked by the hidden guards.
"Asher Arnhaunt, son of duke Darius Arnhaunt. I'm on inspection duty."
Once they reached the first checkpoint, Asher flashed them the token Ol' Fang gave him through the window as he announced his identity and exposed his face.
"Oh, young lord."
The guards saluted before letting him through.
With his identity confirmed, Asher had an easier time going through the other checkpoints. In total, there were 3 major checkpoints, each with a 150 metres gap between the other.
After passing through the checkpoints, Asher finally arrived at the core area of the excavation site.
There laid a huge pit about 30 metres wide with a depth of roughly 20 metres. At the bottom of the pit were 6 tunnels that spread out in six different directions. Beside the pit were three large buildings, two of that were built to serve as warehouses for both equipment and the mined magic crystals while the final building was a three-story building that served as the administerial grounds of the area. On the opposite side of the pit were a couple of other smaller buildings, about twelve, as well as a bunch of pitched tents. That was the residential area for both the workers and the guards.
To prevent any concealed theft of raw magic crystals and the possibility of a spy hidden amongst the workers, few miners were employed and every one of them went through a strict background check. Even then, there were at least 240 workers at the site, working based on preset schedules. At each shift (every six hours), there would be 90 miners and 30 workers (15 miners and 5 workers per tunnel) who collected the raw magic crystals from the mine and brought them to the warehouses. The first shift began from 8 am till 2 pm and the second was from 2 pm to 8 pm.
Apart from the miners and workers were also the guards. The hidden guards resided in a different camp from here, but the sentries out in the open stayed within the residential area. There were also guards that monitored the miners and workers while also preventing them from getting injured by any landslides or cave collapse, and they too stayed within the residential area. In total, there were roughly 162 guards. Ten stood guard at each checkpoint while 72 monitored the miners and workers (36 at each shift with 6 guards per tunnel). The remaining 60 were guarding the area as well as the warehouses. While this number seemed small, every one of the guards was at least a second-stage Guardian, their captains were fourth-stage Guardian mages, while the overall commander was a fifth-stage Guardian. Also, each team had a certain level of cooperation, was equipped with high-quality weapons and armour, and was used to fighting group battles, so their strength couldn't be simply based on their numbers or level of power. There were also ten captains in the area, meaning 10 fourth-stage Guardian mages. This level of security was even above that of most counts and only below that of the main houses of marquises or dukes.
"Young lord."
The commander of the security, who was a middle-aged man in jet-black armour with blue lines, walked up to Asher and bowed.
"This little one accepts your greetings. On behalf of my father and the family, I thank you and your men for your services, commander." Asher sincerely greeted as he bowed his head.
While it was not a popular story, Asher was aware that the mine had been raided countless times by either bandits or spies sent by other forces, including the Kingdom of Terra's. Despite all that, it had held firm and not lost its resources to the thieves. This was all thanks to the ability of the security forces as well as the commands of the man before him.
Stunned, the commander didn't know what to say then but hurriedly recovered.
"Please, please, young lord. I can't accept your bow." The man rushed to lift Asher.
"But you must."
Asher was disinclined to stand up straight.
"Well fine." The man sighed.
"I thank you on behalf of everyone in the camp. Now would you please rise, young lord?"
"No problem." Asher smiled
While it might seem for nought, this meagre gesture of his had won him the admiration of not just the commander, but also the other guards that managed to see what happened. By the end of the day, the news would have spread and most of the guards' respect for him would be high, making future visits easier.
"Oh? If it isn't the lord's son. You should have let me know that you were coming over."