Chapter 178 - Extra Safety.

Eight men surrounded the little Cave entrance. The first was Gustav, he can sure be entitled as the most excited about this project, the thought of helping this Town reach an impacting form of independence has his heart overwhelmed with joy. The second was Delrus, he tried to be as helpful with this project as Humanly possible once he found out about this astonishing opportunity. He doesn't want any form of entitlement, frankly he is very curious about the Cave more than he is excited about the Gold Coins it can provide.

Third was the Farmer who helped Gustav in the first place, he wanted to go down there too since he claims to be used of going in the first section of the Cave by now. Gustav insisted for him to stay outside, he is needed for another strongly important task. And the rest were the five Guards Delrus Aze personally picked to explore the second section of this Cave. They are quite fit individually, they can sure provide a tight grip against the Rope.

Most of them were carrying Tools on their hands serving purpose to this task, "If only we had Pickaxes." Delrus thought to himself. But to make up for it, he also picked up a couple of wooden Crates. They were rather small but could carry around 15 Kilograms of Coal Chunks. It isn't necessary to fill them though if they can't get it out of the second Section.

Why would he get Crates with Pickaxes not available? Well there could be stray Chunks of Coal down there even though no one likely made their way to that darker area and hit the Cave walls with a Pickaxe. The Cave appears quite untouched even at the first small section of the Cave come to think of it. Even though people likely didn't go that deep before, there still can be stray Chunks of Coal. It's quite a natural process.

So it would be a good idea to pick some up and get them up there, to prove how rich in mineral this Cave can be. Quite frankly, the town will be rich even if they mine out nothing but Coal from this Cave. It smells rich! First things first, Gustav took a peek at the Ropes tied on one of the Guard's Shoulder. It appeared quite long at first, but Gustav had to measure in order to gain absolute certainty before sending the men down there. He can't play luck games if 5 men depend on his technique. "Can you please give me that Rope?"

"For sure Sir." Swiftly replied the Guard and handed the Rope to Gustav, frankly it was quite heavy. So he was forced to flinch because of the weight, luckily the ground was close enough so he simply dropped the Rope down.

He grabbed one end of the Rope and started dragging it behind his back as he walked east from the Cave. What would he be doing you might ask? Well he just intends to do a simple measurement. It took a bit of effort to set the Rope straight though, especially since it got tangled badly! Or best described, they got tangled. Delrus had an expression on such an issue even though the Guards were doing most of the work. "It looks like you put the Ropes in a sack!"

"I just grabbed them in a rush. You over reacted to the point where I thought we were being attacked." Expressed the Guard who was carrying the Rope a moment ago. He has a point, I suppose Delrus was quite excited.

When they straightened up and divided the three Ropes, Gustav started measuring it with his feet, It's a technique used for ages. He took large steps he thought as 1 meter each, to get a rough estimation of the Rope's length as a result. At first glance he wasn't pleased of their length though.

He found out that the first Rope was an estimated 7 meters long. Not nearly long enough to even pass through the first section of the Cave from the outside, not to mention reaching all the way down to the Second section. But Gustav found it reasonably long enough if the Ropes were connected with each other, tied into a knot to be exact.

The second Rope was a bit above 5  meters long. I suppose the Guard was right when he said that he was in a rush, who would pick a short Rope about anything but dragging Lumber? The third Rope however, will make this task a lot easier as it measured nearly ten meters. It gave Gustav hope for this project.

That's 22 meters combined. Let's say a meter at max would be shortened due to all of the knot tying. That's still 21 meters remaining. Even though they can't tie it from the inside of the Cave, this length will still prove quite useful, and hopefully enough to help the Guards land on their feet safely.

Gustav requested 9 sticks, since he thought that the three Ropes would be over 20 meters long! He wanted to throw three Ropes down there, he didn't expect these short ones. But he could still use fairly half of the sticks without taking too much Rope and of course assure safety for the Guards too.

He started nailing 4 sticks to the ground, so he can be absolutely sure that the trip down will be safe. He nailed the first one as close to the Cave as possible, nearly a meter of the stick was in the ground but a couple of feet were above it. To lower down the risks of breaking the stick, he would just need to tie the Rope a lot lower.

At least he will once they nail the second stick to the ground, then the third and of course the fourth too. At first he thought it best for them to be in a straight line, but he gave it a little thought and was forced to change his approach. He figured that if all four of the sticks were suddenly forced to shift forwards, they would easily take off of the ground with the dirt working to their advantage, aiding dismount.

So they almost shaped the sticks like an inverted letter "C" instead. This might take just a few inches of more Rope length but it's better than the Guards falling down onto the hard Cave floor from a height of several Meters. The sticks were about half a meter away from each other, with an estimated foot taken per knot too! At least the knots were well tied and dependable. Because after tying the first one firmly, the rest were a Breeze.

Measuring how much Rope there is left, he figured out that there is only 18 meters. It might just be enough to help the Guards get down there safely, but there is one catch. They can't risk getting on the Rope all at the same time, it is too much tension for the Rope to handle. Only one at a time can go down there, but patience is a worthy sacrifice for this matter.

As for the Torches, one Person will have to hold a Torch from above, providing as much light as possible from above while the first ever Guard to go down there, holds a dimmed Torch on his pocket or waist at least, whatever feels comfortable on the way down I suppose. Once the Guard makes sure that he landed safely, he won't move far from where he landed and try to Ignite a Torch with the provided Flint and Steel Dagger too.

It will be hard to do it in the pitch dark, but at least he can feel with his hands where the Torch is once he sets it on the Ground, it will make it a bit easier. Once lit, he will take a better look of his surroundings to ensure if it's safe for five men to freely walk around. He will have to be very careful though, Gustav keeps urging safety!

Delrus and Gustav will watch as much as the eye can see from the first section and the Farmer will be in charge of the Ropes outside. If the Rope malfunctions, at least there will be two men from above(The first section.) who can ensure a tight grip, until the third man(Farmer) arrives down there where he can get a better grip of the Rope and the Ground. It isn't easy to pull with one's entire force when there is snow around one's feet.

As far as they are concerned, 3 men can easily hold 1 man on a Rope. They have this little exploration plan all thought out even though they rushed it a little bit at first. Now, it's time to put this plan into action. The First Guard will climb his way down, setting such an important foundation for the people of Bale Town.