“The fourth mine?”0

I couldn't help but be a little taken aback. Kyuntriachae had never gone into much detail about the mines. Not that I had asked, of course.0

Still, my instincts had told me something would eventually go wrong with the mana stone mines, although the fact that more than one existed surprised me.0

“There are four of them?”0

“Technically, five. Mana stones tend to be spread over a wide area. We started with one, then gradually expanded by surveying and excavating the surrounding land,” Kyuntriachae stated matter-of-factly, as if it were common knowledge.0

Ah, so that is how it works.0

It was simply something I hadn't been familiar with since it was a standard practice in this world. Nodding, I decided to move past that and focus on what actually mattered. 0

The number of mines wasn't the issue right now.0

“Tell me exactly what happened.”0

“The miners and supervisors typically live near the excavation sites. Each mine has three supervisors, and they take turns reporting back here every night.”0

“To update you on the day's yield, I assume?”0

Kyuntriachae nodded slightly. “Precisely. I only realized something was off last evening. The supervisor on duty never arrived.”0

“And you’re only bringing this up now because…?”0

“Well, for...0