Chapter 23 - A foolish laugh
"Well, since the cat is out of the bag, you guys can figure out how to crush a necklace. Until then, I’m gonna go see those explosives," Auran said as he walked away toward a few prisoners being closely watched by some officers. They were standing near a specific area of the mine that was filled not with tantagan, but with empty rocks. However, hidden among these rocks were some tantagan pieces—purer than the ones found in other places.
"Hey hey, stay away! This area isn’t for mining with those little tools," one officer said as Auran approached.
"Huh? Then what am I supposed to use to mine these things?" Auran asked cluelessly, despite staring straight at the box of explosives placed behind the officer.
"Did this guy really just ask us that?"
"He looks like a new one. Should we mess with him a bit?" After a bit of chatting, the two officers seemed to enjoy Auran’s clueless expression and called him closer.
"You wanna know what really digs through this area? Then take this," one officer said, handing Auran what looked like a mana blaster—but without a mana core to power it.
After that, the officers picked up a explosive—actually orb-shaped objects with a sticker on them signifying the level of explosiveness they contained.
Placing the orb-shaped object in the slot where the mana core was supposed to go, the officer aimed Auran’s hand toward a giant rock.
"Here you go, now pull the trigger," he said, then ran a certain distance away from Auran.
"C’mon, pull the trigger!" shouted the other officer, who had already joined his partner at a safe distance.
"I thought he was a mindful one, but why did he walk into a silly trap like that?" Marian asked, confused about Auran’s actions as she watched the scene unfold.