LITMIR.BIZ

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was forced to take such decisive measures, forming an alliance between Rinfall and Fordrim. Santris simply couldn’t fight against two neighboring kingdoms and the Raedarian legions simultaneously. In the end, the king of Santris was betrayed by his own elder son in exchange for the lives of his family and the opportunity to continue ruling Santris, albeit in the role of its lord. Alex Ford stabbed Bart Lihart with a spear at the ‘Meeting of the Three Kingdoms,’ dedicated to opposing the Raedarians; after that, he wasn’t just the king of Fordrim – he was the king of the kingdoms. I used to find this story somewhat inspiring,” said Rein. “I’m surprised you’re not familiar with it.”

      “I heard something similar, but they were just rumors. Wildly exaggerated tales. If you believe what I’ve heard from people, there were even dragons involved. After hearing all that, you don’t know what’s true and what’s fiction anymore.”

      “I heard that the last dragon was seen long before the appearance of Reinia,” said Rein.

      “Haha. Well, I guess they either never existed or are hiding somewhere,” said Iziro.

      Finally reaching the desired road, Iziro said, “Alright. Seems like I’m tired of walking. Give me your hand.”

      Rein smiled and helped Iziro mount the horse from behind.

      “Well, what do you think?” Rein asked, grinning broadly. “Not so bad, huh?”

      “Yeah, not bad,” replied Iziro, sitting behind Rein.

      After a considerable amount of time on the road, passing through forests and fields, small laboring villages started appearing in the distance.

      “Wow, I didn’t think we’d get here so quickly,” said Rein.

      Iziro, sitting on the horse behind Rein, peeked over his shoulder and said, “Yeah, I thought it would take longer.”

      “And there are people,” remarked Rein.

      Four people were trying to fix a broken wagon in the middle of the road.

      As Rein approached the group, Iziro immediately dismounted and began helping them lift the wagon so they could replace the wheel.

      “I thought we had more important matters,” said Rein, smiling slightly.

      Iziro saw three men, a woman, and even a little boy struggling to lift the loaded wagon.

      “Thanks, we’ll manage,” said one of the men, straining to lift it.

      “Let me help!” Iziro said to the boy.

      Once Iziro joined in, the wagon almost lifted off the ground.

      “Thank you,” said the man, while the other two started changing the wheel. The woman just watched Iziro and Rein.

      As soon as the wheel was replaced, the woman immediately rushed to one of the men who was carefully inspecting the new wagon wheel and whispered something in his ear. The man abruptly turned, looked at Rein, and said:

      “Are you a Raedarian? And you too? We don’t need trouble!”

      “What are you talking about?” asked Iziro.

      “We know about the invasion. We won’t be able to help you with anything if you’re here for that.”

      “We don’t need anything,” replied Iziro.

      “Let’s go, Izi,” said Rein.

      Iziro looked at Rein and grimaced at being called “Izi.” The people quickly gathered and rode the wagon towards the nearest village. Rein extended his hand to Iziro.

      “No, thanks,” said Iziro. “I think I’ll walk again.”

      “Well, suit yourself,” replied Rein.

      After passing a couple of villages, they finally saw a massive mine, more resembling an open-pit quarry. The pale sky and the workers in the mine, seemingly spending their entire days digging ore with pickaxes and hauling these rocks for processing, gave little resemblance to a happy life. However, these people had to do this day by day to earn some money for their survival and their families.

      “A big mine,” remarked Iziro.

      “Haven’t been here before?” asked Rein. “I can give you a little tour!”

      “Yeah… I haven’t been here before,” said Iziro.

      “Let’s go! You can’t easily go around this mine anyway. It’s easier to go straight through!”

      And so, they descended into the vast pit, dug over the years for ore extraction. As they descended, the local workers dropped their tasks and began staring intently at them.

      “Do you see that too?” asked Rein. “Any idea what’s up with them?”

      “You’ve been here before! I thought you’d tell me,” replied Iziro.

      “Maybe it’s somehow related to the legions advancing on Rinfall.”

      “Or maybe they just don’t like us. Either way, it’s too early to turn back. Let’s just keep going calmly. I think if we don’t provoke them, they won’t do anything harmful.”

      More workers gathered ahead, and those who remained behind began following Rein and Iziro.

      “Not a good sign,” said Iziro.

      As they passed halfway through the mine, the workers ahead blocked Reyna and Iziro’s path with a fairly large crowd.

      “So, what are you all gathered here for?” Reyna asked loudly.

      There was no response, only quiet whispers within the crowd and some laughter.

      “Why are you silent?” Reyna shouted at them.

      “I think shouting at them is not the best idea,” Iziro said quietly.

      “Hey, I’m talking to you!” Reyna shouted again.

      “Maybe they are contemplating why two raidarians ended up in the royal mine in the midst of the war between the last kingdoms and the raidarian empire?” a female voice said from the side of the crowd.

      Reyna and Iziro began to look around, but it wasn’t clear who exactly said it behind the crowd.

      “Get them!” the female voice said again.

      Workers armed with spears started emerging from the crowd. There were so many of them that fighting against them would be pure madness, or rather suicide. Reyna immediately calmed down, as the spears poking at the horse frightened it, and it might throw Reyna off. Reyna drew his sword, while Iziro simply sat down, folding his arms and stopped doing anything.

      “What are you doing? Don’t you want to help?” Reyna said, waving off the spear bearers. “I can’t handle them alone,” Reyna said, continuing to fend them off.

      “Drop your weapons or it will get worse!” the female voice from the crowd said.

      “Although, one could think, I can handle them alone,” Reyna thought. Then he plunged the tip of his sword into the ground and raised his hands. Reyna was seized by a slight panic attack from what was happening, but it quickly subsided when Reyna felt as if he had been hit with something heavy on the head.

      Reyna woke up already shackled to a low wooden pole driven into the ground, soaked with cold water.

      “What?” Reyna said softly.

      Reyna was in the same mine, only at the very bottom of its large pit. And Iziro was shackled nearby.

      “Well, what? Good morning!” the girl said.

      That was a girl who could already be called a woman. She was approximately a little younger than Iziro. Dark hair and a masculine style of clothing suited her well. She was quite well-built, resembling a Raderian warrior to some extent.

      “I know that in Raderia, female Raderians are prohibited from holding leadership

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