Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Under cover of night, Jerich and I had made our way to the abandoned mine area north of Klauchen.
Numerous abandoned mine shafts gaped open in the towering cliffs. They were all rock salt mines.

“Say, Boss. They really dug deep, huh?”
“Supposedly these mines go back to three hundred years ago. Focus on the abandoned mines that haven’t been reused and follow the scent.”
“Got it.”

All the abandoned mines were quite deep; it would be impossible to check every single one even if we spent the whole night.
But with a werewolf’s sense of smell, I could at least tell what each mine was currently being used for.
That’s why we were sneaking around, scouting out the abandoned mines.

Among the abandoned mines, the lower levels near the town are used for commercial purposes. There were even abandoned mine bars and abandoned mine breweries. There were also plenty of warehouses.
On the other hand, the upper levels aren’t used much. That’s because they’re hard to reach.

“This place is… Oh?”

It smells strongly of dairy products. It seems to be a cheese storage facility.
I don’t smell anything else. A bust.

This one over here…

“Ugh!?”

It smelled like fermented vegetables, but since it caught me off guard, I couldn’t help but groan.
It’s a somewhat nostalgic smell. Probably pickled root vegetables. It’s Klauchen’s specialty, “Rock Salt Pickles.” They’re also called “Abandoned Mine Pickles.”
Rasie once told me that the older ones are pickled for several years, so they’re stored in abandoned mines far from the city—so this must be the place.

As I was sniffing around, Jerich called out to me.

“Boss, come over here. I sense someone.”

I ran up the narrow passageway and peered cautiously into the abandoned mine.
Even with my werewolf’s eyes that can see through the darkness, I couldn’t make out anything.
But there was definitely a fresh scent of humans. And faintly, I could hear what sounded like human voices.
There are quite a few of them. At least several dozen.

Judging by the way the sound carries, this tunnel seems to go quite deep.
Jerich, keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings, whispered to me.

“What do we do, Boss? Should we investigate?”
“No, it’d be trouble if this tunnel is a dead end.”

If someone shows up while we’re sneaking around, we’ll need a place to hide and wait it out. I don’t know if there is one in there.
I examined the footprints on the ground and could tell that quite a few people had been coming and going.

“This isn’t a prison or a residential area, is it?”

I muttered that as I looked around, but there were no structures that would give it away.

“A bandit hideout, maybe?”

Jerich muttered, but I shook my head.

“They’d be a fish in a barrel if the guards found them in this mine. According to Mao, the guards inspect the abandoned mines regularly.”
“Then that means the people using this place have the governor’s approval.”
“That’s my thoughts too.”

The governor here seems to be up to something.

In that case, I’d like to check out the active mining sites as well. Let’s get it all done tonight.
The rock salt mines within the city have become too deep, so lately they’ve been mining exclusively at sites outside the city.
I’ve heard the guard patrols are stationed there because it’s an important location for Klauchen, but let’s go take a look.

We’ll climb the cliff and head outside the city.
The structure, which makes use of the natural terrain, works to our advantage as werewolves. There were patrolling guards on top of the cliff, but it was easy to slip past them.

“Is that it?”

Across the same cliff, separated by the city walls, lies the rock salt mine.
Although there were no city walls, a sturdy fence had been erected, and light was spilling out from the guardhouse nearby.
Jerich muttered as he looked at it.

“Which one?”

There were several rock salt mines, but there was one that stood apart from the rest, its entrance wide open. I pointed at it.

“That’s the one, I guess.”

That was the only rock salt mine with guards standing on either side.
Jerich, still in his werewolf form, growled softly.

“We can’t really get close to that one…”

Unlike the abandoned mines, torches were lit there even at night. On top of that, it was guarded.

“Boss, look. They’re digging away in the middle of the night.”

Just as Jerich pointed out, there are a lot of workers coming and going.
Wooden crates filled with stones are being carried out of the mining shaft one after another, but it doesn’t seem to be rock salt. The contents are being dumped all over the place.

“This doesn’t look like mining, Boss. It seems the goal is just to dig the shaft.”
“It certainly does.”

I shifted my gaze away from the mining shaft and looked up at the mountain towering before me.
With this world’s civil engineering technology, it might be impossible to dig a tunnel all the way through this entire mountain. However, the long, winding tunnels prove that they can build something of a certain scale.

“Beyond the Northern Mountain Range, huh…”

Unfortunately, we have almost no information of what lies beyond.
The only thing that has trickled through is the name of a very, very old empire.
It is called “Rolmund.”
I’ve never heard that it fell, so it must still exist.
That’s the extent of our information.

Just then, Jerich whispered to me.

“Boss. The guards in that tunnel—their gear is different.”
“In what way?”
“The armor. Around the neck, they’re using fur or leather so the iron doesn’t touch the skin directly.”
“You can tell that from this distance?”
“I know all about gears.”

Upon closer inspection, it was true—various parts of their armor were clearly designed for cold weather.
The inner layer beneath the armor covered their necks, and their cloaks were unusually thick—it looked just like mountaineering gear.

Jerich tilted his head.

“Sure, that would keep them warm, but are humans really that sensitive to the cold?”
“No, you’ve got it wrong. They need those or else their life is in danger.”
“Their life…”
“That’s how cold the place they came from must have been.”

Klauhen is certainly cold, but since Miraldia as a whole has a mild climate, it’s not exactly freezing.
However, in truly frigid regions, cold metal poses a serious threat. If even slightly damp skin touches it, it freezes and instantly sticks to the metal.

I look up at the mountain in front of me once more. The summit is shrouded in clouds, invisible from here.
I don’t know much about the Northern Mountain Range, but they’re probably several thousand meters high.
My only experience comes from climbing Mount Fuji in my previous life, but even in the middle of a midsummer day, I needed proper cold-weather gear at the summit.

Just then, a figure emerged from the tunnel. A middle-aged man with a commanding build.
From his appearance and the attitudes of the surrounding guards and workers, I had a pretty good idea who he was. He also matched the description I’d heard.

“He’s the governor here. I believe his name is Bercken Zest Diefurt.”
“Huh, the governor came out to see the mine himself—zealous isn’t he?”

Jerich muttered.
The man who appeared to be Governor Bercken gave some orders to the soldiers around him, then left the mining site accompanied by his guards.
Well, I’ve gathered enough information for now. I suppose I’ll go see the governor.
It seems there will be plenty to discuss besides just returning the “Werewolf Slayer.”