Chapter 182 - More Torches!

Although running out of Torches became a minor problem at first, Gustav was there to save the day. Just in time too, when he returned he found out that most of the Guards almost burned out all of their Torches. Luckily, Guard Commander Delrus Aze seemed to have been listening carefully to Gustav's recommendations for this Coal mine project.

By that I'd like to clarify, Delrus ordered the Guards to make their way towards the Rope once their Torches were close to depleting, close to burning out. When Delrus himself could see(In a couple of cases.) that the Torches are dimming in the dark surrounding them, he urged the Guards to return. Yelling out one Command after the other, it was a hassle because he didn't know all of their names, so he had to yell out their positions and their height(Example: Short one, Tall one, etc etc.) Instead. It accidentally brought other Guards who didn't really need to approach the Rope and wasted a portion of their time.

A bit of wasted time was a sacrifice worth making though. Because If one gets lost for example, it would be a bit difficult to find him. It would just burn out their much limited Torches. They are in a Coal rich Cave but can't get enough Torches due to the lack of Iron Pickaxes. That's their life now.

If this project led to four men being lost, it would be a lot more risky and time consuming to bring them back near the Rope. First reason behind it is that this Cave is unpredictably big. To find a Guard who doesn't have a Torch lit, would prove very time consuming because the Guard who got victimized by the Darkness, can't move an inch. It is well verified that there are a lot of Holes here, they can't risk walking if they can't even see their hand in front of them. Now imagine if four of them got lost! It would take at least an hour and three Torches to bring them back.

They could waste the entire day without getting much done if they aren't extra careful. Lucky for them, Gustav brought 10 new Torches! 10! Just in time too. When he returned, the Guards were already waiting for new Torches. There is no time to waste, they will need new ones faster than Delrus can make them. But first he had to exchange a couple of words with Guard Commander Delrus Aze in order to catch up, since the Guards have been reporting the results to him.

So after carefully delivering the Torches down there, Gustav turned his attention towards Delrus and asked under his breath (Because he has been running all the way here, rather tricky with Snow covering the lands.). "How are the Results so far? I assume that one of them reached at least one Cave wall so far."

Trying to rush this conversation in order for Gustav to make more Torches since he seems to be quite crafty with them, he swiftly stated. "Yes yes. One Guard reached the end on the left side."

"Really?! That's good news!" Replied Gustav with a wide smile on his face. This wouldn't be good news if the Guard found that Cave wall right away, but since they are down there for a while it just points out that this Cave shows a lot of promise.

One issue which has been bothering Delrus however, is. "It is good news but I can't know for sure how far it actually is since we have no way of proper measurement or a mildly accurate measurement for that matter. But based from the speck of light I saw from up here, it has to be from 20 to 30 meters when measured from this spot!" Delrus was wearing a puzzled face trying to figure out how far that Cave Wall actually is from here, but it wasn't so noticeable because the Torch on his hand was burning out. Luckily he didn't move around too much, so he could spare the Torches for a bit longer.

But even after acknowledging the strong uncertainty, Gustav was quite happy since he focused on the bright side instead. "What! Imagine how big it is after we measure the right side!" The following question pushed Gustav through mumbling, mostly because of the wordplay but also because he was rushing due to excitement. "No one reached the end of the Right side, right?" Excited about Coal, that's rich.

"One thought he did, but after looking around a bit more, he figured out that it stretches further. The Cave has a bit of a sharp turn upwards I suppose." Rather hard to describe by word, but the point is that the Cave's right side is shaped like half a triangle, with one edge starting from the bottom right corner and stretching to the Sources know where. They can't be absolutely sure of its shape since they didn't explore it properly yet, but it is a good prediction.

Putting that thought behind, Gustav decided to ask about progress on the last but hardest to tackle side. "What about forwards? Did they find any Cave Wall in front of us?" Although the Sides of the Cave very important, the part in front can be a game changer(Profit-wise.). Caves tend to branch down in random directions, but the front part is the most important in half of the cases. Because its size can greatly impact how long this soon to be Coal Mine will last. Furthermore, it can lead to deeper wider sections of the Cave. 

"No no, they returned back here before they had the chance too!" Sadly, this is slight bad news since it could increase this exploration project for another day, Delrus had a strong itch to know now, Today!

Gustav Iron on the other hand, was still aiming to stick with the more impactful positives. "This is such an amazing opportunity. It points out that this Cave is large!"

Afterwards Delrus focused on the positive side, but with a spike joining it too. As if grabbing a Rose flower! "Indeed it is. The Guards even confirm that they saw Coal no matter how deep in they went! Your little discovery will make this town rich. It might make you even richer!" This is the spike, Delrus tried to taunt him profit-wise in order to figure out if his intends are firm and trust worthy.

"Oh I don't need Gold. I just love the fact that such a soon to be rich Town can oppose the ill.u.s.tratian Alliance." At this point, Gustav won against the taunt and accidentally won Delrus' complete trust as well, because they are practically sharing the same interest. This is what pure intends can do!

"We will need as many Domains as possible sharing our beliefs I suppose. That's the only way we can oppose them." Although his reaction slow and calm, he opened himself a longish topic without even realizing it. 

"We have time too! Before I left the Capital at Meridionali Ignis, I saw hundreds of Soldiers being sent to the neighbouring Country, Septemtrionis Ignis. I think the Snow Ignites are causing them a lot of trouble." Well, this is their mutual interest. War Politics.

"Oh right. The great Continental military shortage! Huge banter spread in Pameres Kingdom about it. But it proves your point, King Xakro wouldn't nearly be dumb enough to attack us right now. It is our time to shine." So much for cutting the conversation short, this conversation can go on forever if there weren't bigger tasks requiring attention.

But luckily, Gustav decided to cut the conversation short and turn to his responsibilities, Ironic I know. Especially after we acknowledged that Delrus wanted to cut the Conversation short since the beginning. Let's put that aside for now, there are Torches that need Crafting.

Considering the rate of Torch consumption, he should be getting a bit of help with this. But he is the only one who seems to know how to properly make a Torch. Maybe there is more who know how too, but they don't nearly have enough time to scroll through over 340 people to find one or two.

He started looking around in order to find some proper Coal. It became tricky to do so since he already used over 20 Coal Chunks already from this very Section. There can't be enough stray Chunks of Coal for another 10! 

After Gustav spent about 10 minutes looking for the Proper Coal Chunks with no exact success, Delrus had the decency to finally point out. "I forgot to tell you, the Guards have been collecting Coal and putting them in their pockets. While you were away we managed to carefully bring a Crate of them up here." It appears as simple as Delrus portrays it, but in actuality it was so difficult that one Guard had to climb up here in order to help Delrus with the delivery's stability. Because they had to pull it up here slowly in order not to drop the Coal all over the other Guard's heads, that would of been bad. But to drag it here slowly, it required an extra pair of hands since the crate became a bit heavy. 

That isn't the point right now though. How could Delrus forget about something he broke a lot of sweat for? Oh right, the War talk! "I wish you told me that Earlier!" Gustav was a bit irritated no doubt, but at least he can speed up this task big time.

He took a peek at the Crate of Coal Chunks and was highly satisfied with the results. Over half of the Coal in this Crate are properly sized to be turned into Torches. "I'll go get a bunch of Sticks so we can make enough Torches." For that however, he would require a bit of help carrying them here. I suppose any townsfolk or Guard can lend a hand. Gustav Iron is doing all of this for the town's better future after all, it was well established. Everyone in this Town is able to contribute, even some of the elderlies. There is no time to waste.