Chapter 23: We Will Surround You

“The next Lord?”

Hearing this news was like dropping a depth charge into the ocean—the previously quiet miners instantly erupted into chaos.

None of them could have imagined that Roland would become the next owner of this mine. Not only did she lack any trace of noble airs, she even talked about abolishing their contracts? Was she some kind of Saintess reincarnated?

To give them time to digest this, Roland decided to deal with the immediate matter at hand first.

The only remaining orc captain seemed to have completely lost his will to fight. He turned to run, but Greem intended to give chase—only to be stopped by Roland.

“Greem, let it go.”

“But Miss Roland…”

“No buts. Someone has to carry news of what happened here back to their kind. Only death can instill true fear in orcs.”

Loyalty is a knight’s highest virtue. After weighing his options, Greem ultimately gave up the pursuit.

“As you command, milady. However, from what I know, orcs never forget a grudge. Losing here may just mean they’ll come back next time with more strength. What do we do then?”

Roland was, of course, aware of this. The orcs would definitely be wary of her displayed strength, and wouldn’t dare invade again in the short term—not until they’d built up their forces.

But by the time they returned, Roland would already be stronger, the mine would have walls, and once she’d recruited more men, with the miners’ help, she was confident she could defeat the orcs—or even lead a force to wipe them out completely.

As long as the mine could be set back in motion, nothing would be a problem. Money would solve everything.

“No need to worry. I rather hope they do dare to attack again—then you’ll have plenty of chances to chop off their heads.”

Turning to the wounded miners, Roland asked, “Do we have enough medical supplies here? Do you need me to have more sent over?”

A black-haired middle-aged man stepped forward. His tone was respectful, but hesitant as he replied, “Lord Roland… everyone’s been hurt to some extent. The mine doesn’t have many supplies left for treatment. Aside from several who died, there are a few badly wounded. Right now, all we can do is use what little we have on them.”

“Alright, I’ll have my men bring more immediately.”

After instructing Greem to hurry back for more medical supplies, Roland walked among the miners to inspect their injuries. Compared to those with only scrapes and light wounds, these few had all taken direct blows from the orcs’ weapons, though miraculously not killed outright.

One man’s right leg had been smashed by a spiked club, his lower leg almost twisted off. Another had his hand chopped off by a greatsword—the bandaged stump still seeping blood.

Fortunately, Roland had at least glanced at the other spells in her magic tome. She tried casting a spell with the last of her mana on the latter, just barely managing to stop the bleeding.

Her mana was now completely spent. A wave of dizziness and exhaustion washed over her, and her body swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Several miners rushed to support her, but she waved them off, indicating it wasn’t necessary.

Weak as she was, she hadn’t yet lost the strength to stand. She wouldn’t rest until things at the mine were taken care of.

“Go and call down the overseer. I have something to say to him.”

After all she’d done, the miners already saw Roland as a trustworthy Lord worthy of loyalty. It didn’t take long before someone brought Vance over.

Staring at the one-armed man before her, Roland’s face remained expressionless. Even though he’d put away his whip, it didn’t mean she’d forgotten what he’d done.

“Vance Pierce, as the acting manager of the mine, not only did you fail in your duties, you didn’t even report the orc problem to the steward. Your crimes are too many for even the Goddess to bear. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Having witnessed Roland’s power, Vance dared not speak rudely to her anymore. He could only defend himself: “Miss Magician, you misunderstand me! It’s not that I didn’t want to, I had no choice!”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

“Uh… well, it was Baron Ischut who forced me to do it! He threatened to kill me if I didn’t obey.”

Baron Ischut?

Roland thought for a moment before remembering who that was—the lecherous young lord’s father, when she’d just crossed over.

But if Vance hoped that’d get him off the hook, he was about to be disappointed. That would only prove Roland wasn’t fit to be Lord.

“Excuses. In the end, it was your greed and inaction that brought this on. You treated the mine as your private playground. You’re worse than a goblin.”

The word “goblin” hit a nerve with Vance. He put on a look of grievance and protested angrily, “You’re just an outsider. What right do you have to say that about me?”

“An outsider? Didn’t you hear me earlier? Very well, let me introduce myself again: my surname is Ackerman, given name Roland. I am the direct heir to the next rank of nobility, and your true master in every sense. Do I have the right to point out your faults now?”

That finally shut Vance up for good.

No wonder she’d seemed so familiar—she was really Rod’s daughter. What noble young lady disguises herself like this and sneaks into a mine?

If he’d known this, he’d have run off long ago. With the crystpounds he’d pocketed, he could’ve lived the high life for decades.

“You’ve embezzled quite a lot of crystpounds from the mine, haven’t you?”

Almost as soon as those words were spoken, Vance turned and bolted. He knew it would be extremely dangerous to stay any longer—there was no place for him here now.

But he hadn’t run far before he smacked headlong into a carriage and passed out on the spot.

“Hm? Did I just hit something?” Greem, driving the carriage, looked down and saw Vance lying there for some reason. “Turns out it was a person.”

Roland wondered why Greem had returned so quickly. Then she saw someone unexpected step down from the carriage—Isaiah.

As Isaiah approached, Roland asked, “You two… how did you end up together?”

Isaiah explained, “I heard from the steward that you’d come to the magic mine. I was worried there’d be bloodshed, so I brought some supplies over.”

“Such a coincidence?”

“Not really. Mia was the one who asked me to.”

“Mia?!”

“She seemed to sense the magic here, worried something would happen to you. So she told the steward to inform me.”

Roland fell silent for a long time.

So in the end, Mia still obediently did as she’d been told and stayed at home. Even though she was worried, she’d rather go through all this trouble than go against her mother’s wishes.

If anything had happened today and she hadn’t made it back, Mia would have been heartbroken.

Recalling the words she’d spoken before leaving, Roland was suddenly overwhelmed by guilt.

Once she returned, she had to—she must—make it up to her.