MINING AWAY

"It's kind of cute…"

No one knew who muttered those words, but all three of them nodded in agreement. The large chrome box obliterated everything in its way, the crudely drawn smiley face a product of Felis' boredom. The rubble created in its wake disappeared as soon as the Rumebuh went over it. Ivan smiled seeing it all work as intended. Clapping his hands as he warmly watched the scene along with the other two.

The machine traveled for hours before beeping and returning to the storage depot, docking itself as it glowed red. After a few minutes, it flashed green before it undocked itself and set out to continue its adventures. Ivan tapped on the touch screen connected to the storage depot, nodding as each material the machine collected displayed a number above their respective thumbnail. All the unsaved material was stored in a different area ready to be repurposed or disposed of.

Claire busted out the celebratory snacks as the three of them sat on a picnic blanket set out by Ivan. Today was the day Ivan and Claire would return home, much to Felis' dismay. Though in the end, she accepted the responsibility she agreed to prior. Waving goodbye to them while forcing Ivan to promise to call her at least twice during her shifts.

Ivan smiled wryly, wondering why she was making a big deal about the process when he was going to be back in eight hours to pick her up. But in any case, he was proud of his daughter for taking on this responsibility seriously. Ignoring Claire who sighed as she thought these two were both exaggerating.

"Alight, Claire. It's time we get home. You wouldn't want Yue to beat you to the kitchen, would you?"

Claire's eyes glinted with a serious light according to those words, subtly requesting for Ivan to fly faster by suggesting she left the stove in the lab on. A funny excuse to Ivan who had made sure the appliances were incapable of backfiring even after long durations. If it had been a normal stove there wouldn't be any point in hurrying as it had already been a day and most likely most of his stuff would have been destroyed.

But not refuting her at all, Ivan pressed down on the joystick. He didn't want to spend the whole day flying anyways. He made a note to himself during that flight to install a self-flying feature that would at least work from the manor to the dungeon entrance. At least that way Felis would be able to get home even if he was busy. Of course on the basis that the airship wasn't already going to be used for something else.

Which got Ivan thinking about the costs of building Felis an airship of her own that would only serve to take her to work and back home. Not very implausible so long as he kept the dimensions small, not that it would need to be very big if its purpose was to deliver one person.

If there was anything Ivan had to complain about in this new world was that it lacked music. Hell, he was convinced the only thing that existed in this world that was in any way artistic were just paintings and sculptures of half-naked people. A subject he didn't enjoy in his old world and definitely doesn't enjoy now. But it wasn't like he was some musical prodigy, the same went for his classmates. Which left the only way of getting the music he desired for his vehicle travels was to 'borrow' the phone of one of his classmates.

Copying whatever music they had downloaded onto his own disks before returning it. The only problem was that he had zero ideas who would even have a large library in his class. Hajime was definitely out of the game as Ivan was sure the only music he had would either be from games or anime. Speaking of Hajime it was probably him that made phone chargers that worked in this world without outlets, as the battery percentage of Aiko's phone that he saw in Ur was way too high after the long duration they spent here.

As for Ivan's phone, he never bothered making a charger as there was no point since the reception wouldn't work anyways. This world had cameras so besides that feature his phone would have been useless. It's not like he had a particularly large set of music, and well any music he did have was never downloaded to save space. Even his photo library was just full of screenshots and pictures of some of his documents.

'Maaa~ I'll just ask Hajime who I can stea– I mean to borrow from the next time I see him. With his long experience with the class, he probably has a guess or two. I'll just ask for a charger as well seeing as how it would be a pain to work out making one for myself when I have someone who is already on that~'

'But Felis' siblings huh…' Ivan still had three more powerful mana crystals he intended on transmuting into Homunculi... The problem was when to transmute them into the world, as the moment they were created he'd have to spend a lot of time to ensure their development, taking away from his personal projects.

'Or perhaps it would be better for them to learn from a fellow Homunculus…' Ivan thought to himself. It didn't seem too unreasonable to leave their training to Felis, perhaps it would even be bountiful considering no one knew the mindset of one better than her. Ivan nodded as that would be the next set of actions.

It would take away from Felis' current job but she'd probably have more fun dominating her siblings with her seniority rather than stare at a metal box suck up rocks. He'd wait a week before starting that development to see how far the mining project would progress in that time before coming to a complete decision. After all, since training might take weeks it'd be a shame to put the mining project on pause before any real progress was made.

BEEP-BEEP

A blue light shone on the dashboard of the airship, blinking as it let out moderately loud beeps. Not in a hurry, Ivan pressed the button that the light was shining from, waiting for the caller to speak up first.

"The templar knights are here, they are requesting that they speak to you personally. Just give me the word and I'll take care of them. Or if you want I can activate the barrier and we can just wait for them to leave…"

From the other side of the speaker resounded Yue's voice, notifying them of their estate's newest guests. Ivan pondered for a moment before responding for her to wait for him to get there, even with their large weapons and battle-ready gear there was always the chance they were just there to drop off Felis' rewards.

A message that Yue picked up as 'we'll rob them before kicking their asses out the door.' She nodded curtly before hanging up. Ivan pressed on the acceleration as he made a b-line for the manor, slowing down a bit before allowing Claire to buckle herself in her seat.

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The platoon of templar knights stood outside the shop banging on the glass, their faces scrunched up as they had felt disrespected by the lack of hospitality. Yue watched them all from the inside of the shop with a disgusted expression on her face, Tio and Ari by her side showing wry expressions. The moment after her call with Ivan she immediately slammed the door in their faces before telling them to wait for the owner's arrival.

Not offering a single refreshment or allowing them to rest inside as she didn't want to have any interactions with them at all. However, even their jabs at the shop with their weapons only resulted in getting blown back by their attacks. Yue, having activated the shop's personal barrier, smiled seeing their useless tactics.

It was such a sadistic look that it made even Ari shiver in fear, while Tio shivered in the corner for a whole other reason. As part of the shop's defense mechanism, the glass became one way, meaning none of the templars were able to see in while Yue and the other two looked at them through the glass. With that Yue had taken off her mask and mantle while relaxing until Ivan showed up, moving to the staff room as she watched the ants (templar knights) through the security cameras.

Their threats became nothing to her ears, all that mattered to her was that she spotted neither sacks full of money nor the status plates that had been rightfully won by Felis. A detail that pretty much confirmed what she thought their intentions were by coming here. She pressed a button on the remote control before the audio outside transmitted through the room's speakers.

"By order of the Holy Church, we have come to confiscate all of your belongings for failing to comply with our requests! Allow us entry into the premises or we will be forced to use lethal force!"

Yue snickered to herself hearing those words, reminding herself to ask Ivan that she be the one to clean them up once they acted maliciously. Cold intent seeped from her body as her posture had somehow become more intimidating despite having not made a single movement. Whether it be the hand cupping her cheek, her right leg crossed over her left as they barely reached the floor, or the grin she adorned on her face, all of it amassed to intense pressure.

"Fufufufu~!" The faint laughter escaping from her lips sent the hairs on Ari's neck straight up. While Ari did feel resentful against those who came to disturb their peace she didn't think much of them other than the feeling of needing to dispose of them. But what she felt from this Yue was more than that, what she felt was a desire to erase.

"This is the home Ivan and I had promised to create and protect, I will not allow it to be sullied by some heathens who think they could do whatever they want. Ari, Tio, understand that what I mean by no mercy is to strike fear in your opponents' hearts. That is only one of two ways in making sure they never cross your line again."

"..... What is the other way…?" Ari felt as though she already knew the answer but decided to ask anyway.

"That is complete and utter annihilation…"

Their conversation came to an end as the clamoring outside turned to complete silence. Seeing nothing on the cameras the three left the staff room before heading out the secret back door. They looked up and smiled seeing the familiar metal bird, clearing out of the way as it descended to land. The hatch beneath it opened up as a ramp unfolded to make a path, the light pouring out making it difficult to see the inside of the ship.

"We're home!" Ivan jumped out of the smoke as he rushed on over to the shop, ignoring the templar knights that had circled around the back out of curiosity. They gasped and awed at the giant machine after making sure it wasn't going to attack them or anything.

"W-What is that thing? It descended from the skies like an angel!"

"Ahhh, it must be a creation of our Lord Ehit!" The templar knight that spoke these words immediately clasped his hands together as he began praying.

"But to think that man came out of this divine artifact… You there! Who gave you the right to use this artifact?"

The Templar knights readied their weapons before approaching Ivan.

"Eh?" It would seem that Ivan finally noticed their presence. That intent was conveyed to the templar knights after hearing his surprised yelp. This only further soured their moods. First, they were made to wait at least an hour outside after a long horse ride here, ignored despite carrying the words of their superiors, and now disrespected.

"Oh, you're talking to me?" Ivan pointed to himself before rubbing the back of his head bashfully. His expression was invisible as the mask covered his features, however from his tone of voice the templar knights can indeed affirm he was making a fool of them.

"My name is Paracelsus Von Hohenheim, owner of this fine establishment. Maa~ I've been waiting for you guys for a long time y'know. I was beginning to think the hero kid was going back on his word after suffering a humiliating defeat to my daughter! But, now that you're here we can finally complete the transaction, so how about you leave the money and plates on the floor and we can go back to having a neutral relationship~?"

His bow at his opening statement was not at all sincere, making demands despite being surrounded by an army, the mocking tone of his voice, all of it made their blood boil.

"Defeated the hero? Don't kid yourself, no way the chosen hero would be defeated by a damned beastman. Besides, did you think you'd get what you want by making a mockery of us? I state again, by order of the Holy Church you and your companions shall forfeit all of your belongings to us for failing to comply with our requests. That includes this winged beast artifact… And you are also to be put under arrest, punishment falls upon those that fail to listen to our Lord Ehit!"

Ivan matched his gaze with the man that appeared to be the head honcho, the pure white armor and red cape making him a real eye-catcher.

"Sorry but I must refuse, our agreement with the hero was that the matter would be dropped if our side won. What you're doing here is a complete violation of that condition. Hmph, aren't you afraid of facing punishment for failing to adhere to the words of the chosen hero?"

"..... If I'm to be sacrificed for this greater good then so be it. Whatever it takes to meet the words of our Lord Ehit I will fulfill, even if that means meeting an end at my punishment. Besides, your attempts to scare me won't work. The hero and his group are in the depths of the dungeon as we speak, no one will find out about this… Don't be sorry kid when we drag you through the dirt dangling from our horses after watching your loved ones crucified as heretics. Men, charge!"

The templar general's words ended with a fierce yell, the soldiers roared as they dashed to the group of five with brandished weapons. Having heard nothing about Ivan's capabilities from the templars that had shown up with the students, they directly ignored him. Writing him off as just some shop owner. He was a target marked for capturing alive so only those carrying restraints headed for him.

"Yue, you're up!" Ivan left those words as he backed away with Tio, Ari, and Claire. Their short little reunion had been enough for Yue to transmit her intentions before getting disturbed by the templars.

"...Yes." A sadistic glint flashed in her eyes as she held her arms in front of her. Her hair slightly swayed as the mana she collected created winds strong enough to affect her surroundings. The winds became cold air as snowflakes started sprouting in the air, another second later a blue light shone from her hands. With her setup having been complete she stared fearlessly at the charging templars before coldly muttering—

"Frost Prison." The spell exploded outward from her hands and engulfed the field in front of her in a giant crystal orb, its fifty-meter diameter stopping any foe from moving before anyone that had been left in an unbalanced position fell over and shattered into a million pieces. Like that over seventy-five percent of the templar knights that had shown up today were frozen to death.

The rest remained being bowmen and mages that stood far away, along with the general that had initially planned to watch the show from afar.

Ivan sighed as he thanked Yue from within his heart for not using 'Thunderlord's Judgment.' Waiting for this ice to melt was one thousand times better than having to deal with the stench of charred bodies.

"Ah, he's running away…" Ivan muttered aloud as the general commanded his remaining knights to fire a volley before hopping on his horse and dashing the opposite direction. It was a rather cowardly display considering the bravado he had up earlier when they were still on talking terms.

Tio's flames erased any attacks that had fallen toward them before Ivan pulled something out of his 'Treasure Trove.' He held the long needle in his hand before ensuring that the tiny transmutation circle engraved was properly drawn. Ivan nodded in satisfaction before throwing it to the fleeing general, a white trail of light following behind it as its speed was enough to create a distinct whistling noise as it broke through the air.

The knights that had anticipated the attack helplessly covered themselves with their hands as any attempts to muster a defense had been left unavailable after their recent attack, however, to their surprise the needle weaved and bobbed through their group as if intentionally dodging each of them.

It picked up speed after passing through the group, rushing straight toward the center of the general's fleeing back. And then—-

STAB

"Huh?" The general only let out a surprised yelp as he felt something hit the back of his armor, peering his head over his shoulder as he observed the needle protruding from it. The circle on it faintly reminds him of a magic circle. Fearing it may be an enemy attack he reached for the object and—

BANG!!!

The needle's transmutation circle shone blue before the device released a powerful explosion, engulfing the general in smoke and ash. And when the smoke cleared, nothing was left…

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Hey hey people! Real quick I wanna thank my patr.eons~! So hey thanks, because of you guys I was able to afford a water filter. Hopefully this'll save me a ton on water bottles. Reminder that if we reach the first goal chapters both here and there will upgrade to a release schedule of two a day instead of one.

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Hehehe, got ya huh? I don't got work today so I'm just going to chill and relax~ Though there's still the matter of recording for a video... then again that's a way more enjoyable process than work! So imma just have fun with it, My back is aching quite a bit and I'm starving so I'm going ahead and calling it a wrap.

Thanks so much for reading today's chapter! It was a bit random but I hope you enjoyed~ Stay safe, have great evening, and I'll see ya soon!

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