54 The Mines 3 *bonus Chapter*

Night fell soon, and the unusual duo continued their hunt for the mysterious perpetrator. A plan had been promptly assembled, and the cooperation of the nearby miners won easily through the help of their uncultured supervisor. The pack of workers did not really play a part in the plan except for the preparation, but it was vital that they didn't get in the way nonetheless.

Everything was ready.

All things considered, it was a rather simple plan, but more often than not simple was best. The more complicated every aspect of the whole thing was, the likelier it was to fall apart without any results in the end — and they could not afford to take any risks given the current situation.

Taking into consideration that the culprit liked to steal tools, especially at night and when no one was watching, they had sent home most of the miners and ordered the rest of them to hide in the nearby huts till nightfall. The trap itself was rather unimpressive as well and only consisted of a simple iron ax on top of an old stump.

It may not seem like a particularly tempting lure, but considering the preferences of their nightly visitor and the fact that they had cleared out all the other tools in the area, it should do the trick nonetheless.

Initially, Elisa had advocated for Edgar to skewer anything he saw with a giant ice lance the moment it stepped into the clearing but had to reconsider due to the Magician's advice. She would indeed be unable to find her husband in the convoluted thicket of the forest if they killed their only lead.

They would need to catch it alive.

\"Why is it not coming out? The sun has already set, and we had all of the miners take shelter... Do you think it will come at all?\" Elisa said quietly from behind their cover. They had been hiding like this for a few hours now, and the last rays of sunshine had already bid their farewell a while ago — it was getting cold with the cooling evening breeze brushing past them. 

\"I can't answer that with certainty, but since every day so far had at least one incident and nothing has happened yet, I doubt there will be significant deviations from our predictions\", Edgar responded in a hushed voice. He had designed this setup and was utterly convinced that his plan would deliver a desirable outcome.

\"But it could still take the whole night, right? I can't feel my legs anymore, and it probably won't come for that rusty ax anyway... Wouldn't it be better to go and search the forest for its hideout directly?\" Elisa tried to persuade the middle-aged Magician while rubbing her ankles when a sudden rustling noise caught their attention.

They instantly turned their heads towards the edge of the clearing from where the sound originated, but all they saw was a black shadow swiftly making its way towards the area where the prepared ax lay on a lonely tree stump. It was way too fast!

\"I know!\" Edgar grunted back and rushed out. He had certainly not expected such a swift target.

Trying to chase after the mysterious shadow, he sprinted towards the direction of the stump and began to weave his Magic immediately. Depending entirely on his extensive expertise in Water Magic, Edgar managed to finish a half-liquid, half-frozen net of impressive proportions in no time and propelled the whole thing forward with a rushed blast of mental power, aiming directly towards the stump that the shadow was about to reach.

But he was too late. When the meshwork of elemental Magic hit the ground, it was already empty — the unknown creature had reached, taken, and darted off with the ax already, causing Edgar to miss completely. How was this thing so fast?!

\"Come on, chase it! We can't let it escape!\" Elisa shouted distressed, everything was on the line for her in this case, and she was not mentally prepared to loose their only clue once more.

Edgar, on the other hand, did not seem too bothered. It certainly did scratch his ego that he had missed a mere forest creature with one of his renowned spells, but he was not going to rush after this foe headlessly anytime soon. Instead, he slowly walked back to the direction where they had been hiding previously, meeting Elisa halfway.

\"What's wrong with you? What are you just standing around for?\" She asked displeased and out of breath as she finished her short sprint as well.

\"Calm down. I have marked the ax in advance. We can follow it directly to its hideout\",  Edgar said matter-of-factly. 

\"What? You have... what?!\" Elisa stammered unbelievingly.

\"I put a small Leadstone on the ax before we put it down so that we can track it in case anything went wrong\", the lean man replied.

\"A Leadstone? Is that some kind of magical tool?\" she asked as soon as she calmed down.

\"It's a naturally occurring magical ore the shape of a small, pointed shard. Not only is it magnetic and will stick to most metals, but once cut into two halves, they will perpetually point towards each other until one of them is destroyed. They are quite useful, and I tend to bring a pair along whenever I head into the forest, they can also be used to prevent getting lost,\" Edgar, the Magician, explained, seemingly eager to pass on his knowledge.

\"So, it's pointing towards that thing right now?\" Elisa asked, bewildered.

\"Of course! We could begin tracking it right now!\" Edgar replied and put on a victorious smile.

\"Then what are we waiting for?\" Elisa exclaimed excitedly and rushed to grab the Magician by the wrist.

\"Okay, Okay! I'm coming. Just let me grab my stuff,\" Edgar replied, flustered, and began his preparations to head out.