Venturing into gloomy tunnels, the pair found the sapphire mine initially identical to the crystal one. However, as they proceeded, something felt amiss.
"Why's there not a single one left?" Murphy muttered to himself.
Sapphires, similar to crystals in form, should reflect light under the bright spell. Yet deep within the mine, not a shard was in sight.
"Could they have been mined out?" wondered Pepe.
"After some thought, Murphy responded, "Unlikely. If it were cleaned out, this place would’ve been abandoned much earlier."
As they continued onward, Murphy suddenly felt something soft underfoot.
"Argh!"
A raspy and pained groan echoed up from beneath.
"Ah!"
Startled by the noise, Pepe shrieked, and Murphy quickly hoisted his unfortunate apprentice back, simultaneously intensifying the light from his spell.
Under the harsh glow, they saw a figure in tattered black robes writhing on the ground, like a mouse startled by sunlight under a brick.
Upon closer examination, Murphy and Pepe noted the disheveled figure was definitely human.
Trying the common tongue, Murphy inquired, "Who are you?"
The quivering shadow froze momentarily, then asked shakily, "You're not here to capture me?"
"Capture you? For what?" Murphy asked, perplexed.
"Tax evasion..."
Murphy, astonished at the far-fetched excuse, bluntly remarked, "Are you even listening to yourself? Sapphires are falling out of your pockets."
Turning over, the man noticed several decently-sized gems revealed by his squirming and scratched his head in embarrassment.
“Look, if you don’t want to talk that’s fine by me, just keep to yourself, but I need a fine sapphire,” Murphy said, summoning the luminescent blue gems to his hand, then dismissively throwing them back after inspection, “Just run-of-the-mill."
Looking down at the scruffy apparition, Murphy continued, "Any more? I didn’t see a single one on my way in, which means they must be with you, right?"
The shadow, hearing this, quickly backed up against the wall, "No... there's none left."
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"No more? Hand of the Mage!" Murphy manipulated an invisible magical arm to hoist the ragged figure by the ankle, shaking him violently in mid-air.
As objects, including many large sapphires, tumbled from the man's robes with crisp and thudding noises, Murphy tossed the scruffy guy aside. He picked up several large stones, and after close examination, kept a fist-sized one.
“This ain’t your mine, and it’s not like I’m not paying. Quote me a price, and I won't haggle,” Murphy declared boldly, the semi-ruler of his own viscount title.
Shaking, the figure on the ground responded, "I don't need money, but please, on your way here, did you encounter knights in white armor?"
"The Faith Protectors?" Murphy queried.
"You know of them?" the voice rasped with alarm. "You're really not here for me?"
"Quit mumbling! I said I'm not. I know about the Faith Protectors because they've been in City of Gath recently. That hard to understand?" Murphy was getting impatient.
"City of Gath? Do you know what they were there for?" the man asked.
Murphy’s grin turned mischievous, "That info will cost you extra."
Without hesitating, the man threw over a smaller sapphire.
Catching it, Murphy divulged, "The Count of City of Gath broke the law, Faith Protectors dragged him back for execution. Simple."
The man on the ground let out a relieved sigh.
"What intrigues me more," Murphy casually threw in, "is why a priest like you would fear the Faith Protectors."
"How did you—?" the man began, pausing as he saw the fearless young girl fiddling with a dusty pure gold religious emblem that had fallen from his robes.
In fact, Murphy hadn’t based his deduction on the emblem.
After a formal encounter, he’d unlocked the privilege to view the other's profile which revealed unexpected details.
This priest, Lambert by name and fiftieth level, had every single skill shaded gray.
Bending down with keen interest, Murphy proposed, “I'm no church-goer, and I'm chummy with the new viscount of City of Gath. You've piqued my interest. Tell me who you really are, and I'll offer you protection."
The disheveled priest slowly took off his hood, revealing a haggard, middle-aged face.
"It's no use; you can't protect me. But if you really want to know," the man solemnly stated, "then brace yourself for what I'm about to say."
Murphy and Pepe exchanged looks and nodded in unison.
The man began, "I’m a heretic."
"Oh—," both Murphy and Pepe nonchalantly acknowledged, signaling they were still listening.
Now the priest seemed awkward, "Aren’t you shocked?"
"Shocked, terribly so," Murphy placated, dripping with sarcasm.
"Go on, do continue," Pepe beckoned, ready for a tale.
The priest resumed, "I was an ordinary priest in the great cathedral of Rovka City, in the dukedom to the west, confident in my fervent belief, fit to stand against all others."
"I grew up in the church. As an acolyte—the precursor to my current vocation—I often felt the tender gaze of the divine during my night prayers."
"But one day, about a month ago, the warmth vanished. I tried and tried, devout as ever, but nothing brought it back."
"Panic set in. I was sure the fault wasn't mine – leaving only the goddess to blame."
"My faith was shaken, my holy powers waned, my relic dimmed. I began avoiding my fellow monks and priests."
"Yet the archbishop found out. He reported me to the church in the capital and publicly branded me a heretic."
"Ironically, I didn't even know what a heretic was."
"Fearing the Faith Protectors would execute me, I ran without direction. A few days past, I stumbled here, and just as I found a way out, the Faith Protectors arrived."
"Fearing they were after me, I hid, never expecting this to be a sapphire mine."
"I resolved to live as a commoner. Yet, I dared not check on the Faith Protectors' status, so I mined all the sapphires I could reach with an abandoned pickaxe, hoping to sell them for a living."
"...Then you came along and snatched my largest gem," the priest finished with a look of sheer dejection.