At the entrance of the mine, there was a specially cordoned off room with reinforced inner walls.

It was furnished with a table, chairs, beds and other living amenities. On the table was a map - the mine tunnel map.

Captain Hamill walked around the room and commented, "This should be the dwelling of the mine supervisor, but it's now occupied by these frost dwarves."

Sharina, on the other hand, stood by the table closely examining the mine map, her frown deepening, "The main tunnel has completely collapsed, leaving only some shallow new tunnels."

Phillip also looked at the map, "No need to say more. That thing must be hidden in the main tunnel. The collapse was also its doing. The problem is, how do we get in?!"

At that, everyone's gaze naturally turned to Rosen.

Rosen was using the corner of his eye to look at a small bag tucked away in an obscure corner of the mine.

The bag was about 20 centimeters high, lumpy, with a faint glow characteristic of moonlight stones peeking out of the slightly open mouth. There were at least ten pounds of high quality moonlight stones.

'Hmm... that's quite a fortune. Enough to set me up for a while. But I definitely can't do this alone.'

'If I can convince Sharina and get the Temple's help, then I should be able to get a small cut from the total earnings.'

Even a tenth of the share would be a significant gain.

But Sharina seemed quite principled. How could he persuade her to cooperate with him?

He had to think hard about it.

Suddenly aware of the strange looks from those around, he quickly snapped back to attention and glanced through the adventure log to catch up.

He spread his hands, "Why're you all looking at me? I'm not a miner, I don't know the tunnels well."

He pointed at the frost dwarf chieftain, "If you wanna ask, you should be asking him."

That was a fair point. Sharina looked towards the chieftain, "What's your name?"

The chieftain's skin was icy blue, now looking somewhat faded and listless. His head drooped motionless, ignoring them completely.

Phillip gave him a slap, "Hey! Gone deaf? We're talking to you!"

The chieftain lifted his head and glared at Phillip.

Phillip glared right back, "What? Wanna fight? With just your head, I could beat out all your teeth with one hand tied behind my back!"

Unexpectedly, the chieftain took it seriously, "Humph! Even without Ophina's help, I, Nandix, can easily defeat you with my fists!"

Before he even finished speaking, Phillip dealt him four quick slaps, splitting his mouth corner.

Phillip sneered coldly, "Know your place, dwarf!"

Nandix spat out a mouthful of blood and glowered maliciously at the warrior who kept slapping him, as if wanting to tear him into pieces.

Seeing the two about to come to blows again, Sharina raised her voice, "Stop!"

She looked to Phillip, "We need his help. Go easy on him, Phillip."

"Fine." Phillip shrugged and took a step back, though his grip on the chains remained tight.

Sharina turned to Nandix, "Our grievances can be traced back seven hundred years, I don't deny that."

"But that doesn't mean we can't cooperate. I stand by what I said, you lead us through the collapse into the main tunnel, and I'll let you and your white wolf go."

Nandix hesitated for a moment, "War is inevitable. We'll both take losses, but my people will surely claim final victory."

Hearing that, Phillip wanted to go over and slap him again.

Sharina stopped him with a raised hand, then smiled at the frost dwarf, "Like I said, we don't care about secular conflicts. Victory or defeat, they're all fleeting. But we absolutely won't tolerate profiteering gods. You understand?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Nandix nodded, "Although you're despicable, you're not wrong. There're already enough gods in this world, no need for more."

"So you agree to help?"

Nandix pointed at the shackles around his neck, "Only if you take this damned thing off me."

Phillip immediately objected, "Boss, we can't remove that!"

Nandix let out a mocking laugh, "Is this how you ask for cooperation?"

Sharina hesitated and glanced at Rosen again.

Rosen gave a slight nod, "Go ahead and release him. He's no match for me."

The bear chieftain would be troublesome, but the wolf chieftain posed much less threat.

The wizard's gravity spells could easily overcome his speed and agility. No matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun iron balls. Rosen could subdue him with ease.

His words gave Sharina confidence. She waved her hand, "Take off the shackles."

Phillip shrugged in clear disapproval but could only comply.

As soon as the shackles were off, Nandix threw a hook punch at Phillip, who was prepared and blocked it with his elbow.

Their fists collided with a loud thud, the tremendous force making Phillip stumble back several steps, his forearm numb and sore, barely able to muster any strength.

He was shocked inwardly, 'A wizard has such power, a warrior would be a real headache.'

On the other side, Nandix tried to press the attack but spinning iron balls appeared in his path, blocking his way.

A slightly immature voice came from the side, "Chieftain, respect goes both ways. We respect you, so you must also restrain your temper!"

Nandix took a deep breath, threw a resentful glance at Phillip, then went to the table and pointed at a spot on the map with his short, stubby fingers.

"There's a weak point here. Dig a short stretch ahead and we can break through the collapse into the deep mine."

Sharina was overjoyed, "How do you know?"

"The wind told me."

Seeing her confusion, he said mockingly, "Looks like milady's brain doesn't work too well. I meant there's wind blowing out from the rock crevices!"

Sharina faltered, her expression turning cold, "Personally, I feel Phillip didn't slap you enough."

Unexpectedly, Nandix leaned forward tauntingly, "Go on, hit me if you dare! If you lay a finger on me, I guarantee no miners will help you dig!"

His attitude was begging for a beating. The warriors present were itching to gang up and thrash him.

But Sharina still had her wits. She certainly wouldn't jeopardize their mission over some attitude.

"You'd better not overstep your bounds, or I'll make a scarf from the white wolf's fur!"

Nandix snorted disdainfully.

"My frost folk are the most renowned miners in the Frostlands. And I come from a family of master stonemasons."

"To me, your so-called mine is a joke! Today I'll open your useless eyes to what real mining is!"

Having said that, he turned to Phillip, "My miners need full bellies before working. What're you standing there like an oaf for? Go find us some food!"

Phillip's face turned green, barely stopping himself from drawing his blade. He looked to Sharina.

Sharina pressed her palm down signaling him to endure, then called out loudly, "Alright folks, let's get moving. Go hunt in the vicinity. Catch some wild boars, or rabbits, squirrels, vegetables and fruits if you can't find any."

Captain Hamill of the Silver Moon Rangers looked towards Rosen, since he was nominally their commanding officer now.

Rosen gave a slight nod, "Go on, be careful."

He then fished out two vials of first-aid potion from his pocket and tossed them over, "Bring these along just in case."

Captain Hamill nodded and waved to his men, "Let's go hunt."

Soon, both the Exorcists and Silver Moon Rangers left, leaving only Sharina, Rosen and Nandix in the mine.

Nandix sat down heavily on a chair, his brownish-grey eyes shifting between Sharina and Rosen.

"A woman and a child. You're that confident you can subdue me?"

Sharina shrugged, "I'm not confident, but the wizard is. And I believe in his abilities."

Nandix turned to Rosen, "Boy, what tricks you got?"

Rosen's thoughts stirred and he cast a gravity spell, lifting Nandix's body one meter into the air.

"Nothing fancy, just ability to bypass your magical defenses."

As he spoke, an innocent smile spread across Rosen's boyish face.

Sharina understood now, "Ah, I almost forgot, this young man is quite the expert in gravity magic."

Nandix sneered coldly, "Just cheap tricks to toss people around. I'm not scared."

"Not just tossing, twisting too."

Rosen smiled and with a thought, turned the forces spiraling.

Suddenly, Nandix found his head twisting left but his neck forcefully twisting right. He had to use tremendous effort just to straighten his neck back.

If caught unprepared, such a move could easily snap his neck.

What's most terrifying was he had no idea how to defend against this damned spell.

He tried to say something to bolster his morale, but the words died in his mouth.

Faced with such bizarre sorcery, any brave front now seemed laughable pretense.

After a long while, he finally squeezed out, "Azathoth and Eva, they died by your hand?"

Rosen didn't deny it, "If you don't want your Ophina to share their fate, feel free to challenge me."

In truth, his spacetime magic wasn't that formidable yet. This was just a trick at its core, still a contest of brute strength.

The neck twist wouldn't work well on powerful warriors or prepared wizards. Even basic defensive spells could maintain the caster's external form.

The only reason it cowed this uneducated dwarf was his ignorance.

On the other side, Nandix's expression shifted rapidly before he slowly shook his head.

"The Frost King teaches us not to challenge strong foes without absolute certainty. You have my word that I'll keep my end of the bargain."

Seeing the recalcitrant frost dwarf subdued, Sharina finally relaxed completely.

The Exorcists and Silver Moon Rangers were extremely efficient at hunting.

Especially the Rangers with their extensive wilderness experience and good luck today, coming across a small herd of spotted deer and bagging thirteen in one go.

Along with the three wild boars caught by the Exorcists, the transformed townsfolk were fed full, even the white wolf Ophina had her fill.

After the meal, the big white wolf looked upon the people with much softer eyes, not seemingly ready to pounce and devour like before.

Nandix wasted no time and immediately set the transformed townsfolk to work digging the tunnel as he directed.

"Alright lads, don't think you can laze around after the hunt. Hurry and go chop trees, the more the better. Wood must be hard! Size must be thick!"

"I need these timbers to reinforce the mine. Otherwise, any tremors will bury us all."

What else could they do? The warriors could only change profession again and become lumberjacks.

(Chapter end)