"What are you... oh, now I remember! I remember what you told me!" the farmer replied, keeping everyone in suspense.

"And what are you waiting for to tell everyone then? Come on!" Uncle Kuno urged in a severe tone. ​​

"Yes! Um... for a few days, my son claims to have seen a strange blackish slush among the vegetation near the mountains. He and I often go west to collect firewood and... well, perhaps it is the same substance this young man is talking about!" the farmer responded, pointing to Yoichi.

Hearing those intriguing words, the young tamer began to speak directly to the younger farmer, perhaps more brilliant than his father. The boy was about twelve years old, despite already being a worker. "Tell me, what exactly did you see? How was this sludge made? Have you tried to get close?" he asked.

"I... um... I don't know. I know the woods west of here like the back of my hand, but I've never seen anything like that. The area infected by that strange mud was devoid of vegetation, or rather... the plants that lived on that patch of soil were rotted, bending down and dying," the boy stammered, trying to remember every helpful information.

"I remember it came from the steep slopes of the Southborne Mountains. It looked like the result of an earthflow, a kind of liquid landslide coming from who knows where," he added.

"The Blackvault Mines..." Kuniaki whispered. The old village shaman approached the boy, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Before he could add anything else, Yoichi anticipated him, "what did youn just say, Kuno-sama? What does the Blackvault Mines have to do with all this mess?"

Kuniaki took a deep breath. He lifted his hand from the young farmer's shoulder and rubbed it on his forehead. "There is an deep evil power hidden in the darkness of those caverns, my fellow travellers. Some time ago, during meditation, I had a strange vision of that place. Despite my powerful shamanic arts, I couldn't decipher that message," the village chief admitted.

"What kind of message? What did you see, Kuno-sama? You know, we happen to go right there," Enatsu added, looking at Yoichi out of the corner of his eye.

"The vision was very confused. The light was swallowed up by darkness, and many red eyes sprang from the caverns. I sensed great danger and lost my breath, waking up suddenly. The Blackvault Mines are a cursed place, but I didn't think they could affect my village in any way," he spoke.

Lots of red eyes. Is he talking about the Komoerus? It all starts to make sense. But I still can't figure out the connection between that place and the black mud the boy was talking about. What's really at Blackvaul Mines? Yoichi thought, trying to paraphrase Kuniaki's story.

"When I was young, my grandmother told me several times about that place. She told me that they were iron mines and that fell into disgrace," Enatsu interrupted, recalling the stories of his childhood.

"In addition to iron, the Blackvault mines were an important gold deposit. It is said that that gold has been used in the rooms of the Imperial Palace," the village shaman confirmed. When he heard of the Nishiyama family palace, Yoichi thought back to Princess Sui.

"People say that one day many years ago, the demons that populated that cave regained possession of their home. Wild and dark demons, much more evil than normal, killed every miner, devouring their flesh and bones. From that day on, the Blackvault Mines became a dungeon", Kuniaki stated.

Yoichi, slightly confused by that sentence, approached Enatsu. "How can a normal place become a dungeon? I thought dungeons were just born that way," he whispered in his friend's ear.

"For the birth of a dungeon, the demons' spirits must be stronger than those of human beings. If the demons manage to drive out the men, leaving them forever in the minority, the place where they live becomes a dungeon," Enatsu promptly replied, always ready to provide valuable explanations.

"So... are you saying that every place can potentially become a dungeon?" Yoichi asked again.

"If it has no protection from wild demons, yes."

"Uncle Kuno! Do you suspect that the giant demon who destroyed the village came from there?" one man asked. A newborn baby was in his arms.

"There's only one way to find out," Yoichi interrupted, stepping further. Kuniaki looked at the young warrior, hoping that his following words would lift the morale of his people.

"This mystery must be analyzed at the root. Your land is no longer able to grow Crimson Lotus because of this dark energy, so until the problem is solved, you will forever be vulnerable to sudden attacks" – his words generated incredible confusion.

People in the room began to agitate, and their complaints overlapped, creating deafening chaos. "Silence! Let him talk!" the village chief yelled, raising his arms to increase his stature.

As people continued to murmur, worried, Yoichi continued to speak. "If you give us all the information you have about the Blackvault Mines, my colleagues and I will crush the threat, and your land will return as fertile as it always has been!" he spoke, clenching his fists.

Enatsu, knowing that his companion would never change his mind, took courage. Putting aside his fear, relying on the fact that he had just defeated a giant demon, he added, "any clue can be useful. The cave's planimetry, the species of demons that live there, the temperature, the presence of dark and light areas... just help us!"

The merchant looked at his companion, sensing empathy in his gaze. Yoichi was proud of Enatsu's behavior, aware that those words required a great deal of effort because of his fearful character.

As the crowd crammed inside the hut kept on mumbling confusing words, the young tamer looked for Shioko. The three fat women who had surrounded her were intent on stitching up her wound.

The movements of the most experienced woman's hand traced those of the big red-hot needle that stitched up the big cut on the biceps of the Nightblades tamer. After penetrating her skin, approaching the flaps spaced due to the gash, the red-hot metal sutured the tissue, cauterizing the wound.