I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 32

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (33)

He asked the self-defense group with his head bowed.

“Where is the village chief’s house?”

“It’s… over there!”

“Show me the way.”

Several members of the group stayed close to Ethan. The self-defense group’s eyes were filled with admiration.

The man before them was a descendant of the famous Ardan Duke’s family.

When the Dragon Clan invaded the Kingdom of Haidern, this family was at the forefront of defending the kingdom.

Meeting a descendant of such a family, they couldn’t help but be cautious in their every movement.

The vigilantes, showing the utmost respect, guided Ethan and hurriedly knocked on the village chief’s door.

“Chief! Come out quickly!”

“What’s going on…?”

The village chief, whose face was lined with wrinkles, opened the door and looked at Ethan.

The old man blinked for a moment.

When he saw the identity card Ethan handed him, his eyes widened.

He quickly bowed his head.

“We are honored to meet you!”

“Do you know who I am?”

There was no way he could not know.

The village chief had already heard the rumors spreading throughout the viscount’s domain.

Baron Helmut.

It was a story about a trashy nobleman who had been punished by the Grand Duke for his exploitation of the people.

Considering the content of the rumor and the gold-colored insignia in front of him, the person standing before him was none other than…

“…Are you the Grand Duke?”

“I know who you are.”

It was undoubtedly the Grand Duke of the Duke’s family, who was believed to have fallen in the past.

It was then that Ethan nodded his head.

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Suddenly, the village chief’s eyes filled with tears, and he began to shout energetically toward Ethan.

“You have come to solve our difficulties! As expected! The descendants of the great hero’s family are truly different! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“…Huh?”

Ethan was taken aback for a moment.

Not only was the old village chief suddenly bursting into tears, but he was also bowing and banging his forehead on the ground.

Ethan grabbed the village chief’s shoulder to stop him and said,

“There’s no need to be so formal.”

“Yes. I am truly honored.”

“So what exactly happened?”

“Well…”

The village chief began to tell his story.

The gist of it was simple.

There was an abandoned mine on Mount Mitron.

It had been quiet for decades, but recently, strange noises had been heard coming from there.

“Noises from an abandoned mine?”

“Yes. Could you wait here for a moment? I will call someone who witnessed it.”

“Sure.”

An abandoned mine.

That was exactly where Ethan was headed. Could it be that a dungeon had already been created and monsters had taken up residence there?

It was an interesting topic, so he readily nodded in agreement to the village chief’s request.

“Bring Gillian here! Hurry!”

The vigilantes ran quickly, and soon a middle-aged man approached with them.

“This man is a hunter from our village. He hunts beasts around Mount Mitron. Gillian? Tell the prince what you saw in the abandoned mine.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gillian swallowed hard and began to explain what he had seen.

“I usually hunt animals near the abandoned mine, but at some point, I started hearing strange noises.”

“What exactly did they sound like?”

“It was like… someone striking metal with a pickaxe.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

The name of the dungeon he was going to was the Abandoned Metal Snake Mine.

Metal snakes were literally snakes that ate metal.

Unless snakes had hands, there was no way they could make a sound like a pickaxe.

“So?”

“At first, I just ignored it, but the sound kept coming, and I couldn’t resist my curiosity. Eventually, I decided to go inside the mine. There, I witnessed a strange scene.”

“What was it?”

“It was a scene of undead creatures striking metal with pickaxes in the abandoned mine.”

“……Undead?”

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“Yes. I’d bet my life on it! Those were definitely undead creatures! I was so shocked my heart almost stopped.”

“One more question. Did you see what the undead were mining?”

“It was too dark to see clearly, but it looked like they were extracting some kind of black mass.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

An abandoned mine is, as the name suggests, a mine that has reached the end of its life. To be digging there with a pickaxe…

“Damn it.”

It meant that someone had gotten to the metal he was after first.

Annoyance and anger.

The next emotion that flashed through him was suspicion.

“How did they know?”

The Metal Serpent’s abandoned mine was a dungeon that would not be discovered until much later.

How did they know about it at this point in time and start mining metal?

“This is strange.”

Was it because of the altered past, or had some other variable come into play?

Nothing was certain yet.

“There are undead mining metal.”

There were two possibilities.

Either a high-ranking undead with the power to raise lower-ranking undead had appeared and ordered them to mine the metal.

“Or a black mage is involved.”

Of the two, the former was definitely the more difficult to deal with. Riches were known to be one of the most powerful undead, possessing immense power.

“We should check it out.”

Which of the two was mining metal in the abandoned mine?

He felt he had to go and see for himself.

Ethan nodded.

“Let’s go check it out.”

The village chief brightened at those words.

The village and the abandoned mine were only a day’s journey away. The presence of undead creatures so close by was a major concern for the small village.

“Thank you! As expected, you are completely different from the baron!”

“The baron? Are you referring to Helmut?”

“Yes! We sent dozens of letters, but the baron didn’t even send any reinforcements. He didn’t even send an investigator.”

“When did you first send the letter?”

“…A year ago.”

Ethan tilted his head.

The baron was a greedy man, so he might have ignored such a minor incident. However, if the village had sent dozens of letters over the course of a year, there should have been at least some record of it.

However, while handling the baron’s affairs, he had never seen anything the village chief had mentioned.

“That’s strange.”

Unless the records themselves had been completely erased…

Ethan frowned.

“Could they have really erased the records?”

If so, why?

Although he was only the lord of a small barony, the title of baron was not so insignificant that he would be afraid of the village chief’s request.

There was no need to go to the trouble of erasing the records.

The strange thing was that this wasn’t the end of it.

“A lich or a black mage could be living in the domain, and they just ignored it?”

If he were a baron, he would have at least sent an investigator.

Ignoring such people would inevitably lead to big problems later on.

“Something smells fishy.”

A very foul smell.

Ethan looked at Gillian.

“Can you guide me to the abandoned mine? I’ll pay you well.”

Gold coins flew out of Ethan’s pocket. Gillian’s eyes lit up at the sight of the glittering gold coins.

One gold coin was enough to feed him for half a month if he hunted in the mountains.

Going to an abandoned mine infested with undead was a very unpleasant prospect, but if the reward was gold coins…!

It was the right choice to just close his eyes and agree to guide them.

“I’ll guide you.”

“If we arrive within half a day, I’ll give you another gold coin.”

“I’ll do my best!”

After hiring a guide, he looked at the village chief.

“I’d like to leave my horse with you for two days.”

“Yes. If you leave it with me, I’ll take good care of it.”

After leaving his horse in the village,

he set off for the mountains with Gillian.

* *

Ten hours after climbing Mt. Mitron, the two arrived at the entrance of the abandoned mine.

Kaang!

Kaang!

It was a very faint sound, but if you listened carefully, you could hear it clearly.

“This is interesting.”

Just as the guide had said, the sound of something like a pickaxe echoing through the abandoned mine could be heard.

Either they had already occupied this place before the dungeon was created and were mining metal, or

“They’re mining metal after getting rid of all the metal snakes.”

Whatever the case, to Ethan, they were no different from thugs stealing his target item.

Ethan smiled grimly and handed Gillian one more gold coin.

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

It was an incredible reward for just one day of climbing the mountain.

Gillian’s mouth curved into a wide smile.

“Your Highness. What should I do? Should I wait here? Or should I guide you inside the abandoned mine?”

“You may go.”

In his previous life, Ethan had fought against the dragon clan and traveled across countless terrains.

Memorizing the geography of a single mountain was easier than eating cold porridge.

The abandoned mine was easy enough to navigate alone by following the source of the sound.

Taking a guide would only be a hindrance.

Gillian let out a sigh of relief at Ethan’s words. He had encountered numerous monsters while taking the shortcut through Mitron Mountain.

Even though he had witnessed the prince wipe out the monsters with a single sword stroke every time, he couldn’t help but feel afraid to ask him to guide him into the abandoned mine full of undead creatures.

“Yes. I’ll be going now. Please be careful…”

Gillian descended the mountain, and Ethan entered the abandoned mine.

Half-collapsed tunnels and a musty smell.

On top of that, rusty pickaxes were scattered here and there.

It was definitely an abandoned mine that had been closed for a very long time. Ethan walked toward the sound of pickaxes.

After about twenty minutes.

He saw a scene where skulls were holding pickaxes and striking black metal with all their might.

Among the undead mining ore, there was a figure wearing a black robe.

“A black mage.”

His physique, his scent, and the voice that could be heard intermittently. The figure wearing the robe was not an undead.

This was good news for Ethan.

It would be much easier to deal with a black magician than a lich.

“What should I do?”

After thinking for a moment, Ethan came to a conclusion. He would first subdue the black magician and then decide what to do next.

The moment he drew his sword.

“Who are you?”

With a voice that sounded like scraping metal, the figure in the robe turned around.

A dark aura rose from his hands. Seeing the enormous amount of black magic, Ethan’s eyes lit up.

He was a transcendent being in his previous life and had seen countless things in his lifetime.

“That’s like…”

It was as if he was seeing the way the Dragon Clan wielded their power.

The Dragon Clan.

They had almost no system or rules that could be called technique.

They were simply beings that used their overwhelming power and mana to slaughter humans.

“That’s definitely how it was.”

Why did he feel so dirty every time he saw that black mage?

It was as if he was facing the dragon-headed creatures themselves.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

Soon, he was certain.

“It’s definite.”

The way the Yongin tribe did things.

The black mage in front of him was manipulating black magic in a way that seemed to mix human technology with their own.

He had unexpectedly come across their traces in an unexpected situation.

Ethan asked abruptly.

“Where did you learn that technique?”

“Die!”

A black energy that spread like a whip began to fly toward Ethan’s body. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to get an answer.