After nearly two hours of splitting clones and running around, Rino concluded that these mines were alive. Or, in a way, they moved. They might not actually be alive like those living caves.

It was simply an engineering masterpiece, and even gnomes would not be able to match their genius invention. The rooms in the mines had no traces of spells or mana. Everything was created with the power of science.

Rino had to admit, the dwarves managed to fool him well for a while when none of his clones returned after the first batch. As it turned out, the dwarves cleverly designed three levels of mazes that would stall intruders who did not know their way. There was only one true path to walk, and Rino took two hours to understand how it worked. 

Basically, he shouldn't be following the path left or right. The right answer to finding a secret shaft going all the way down into the depth of the mines was back at the docks. It had something to do with the dwarven pods and broken tube.

Rino found it by chance, but he had to admit, boredom inspired many things. He retraced his steps to see if there was something he missed out at the docks and tripped over the tube that pulled a lever hidden in a wall. The right passageway was revealed, and Rino found himself calling off his hardworking clones as he walked down the stairs to the actual dwelling.

Nothing in the upper levels of the mines were important. Rino did not know how deep the mine was, but he started to come across more tampered grounds and walls that were clearly the work of dwarves.

This was where the true adventure began!

As the cavern expanded and the space widened at the bottom of the long flight of stairs, Rino found himself staring at a station full of tracks and minecarts. He knew that the dwarves often invented machines and tools to make their jobs easier. It was the main reason why Rino found himself curious about them even in this world. He wasn't disappointed to find such a complicated transportation system even if it screamed disorganised.

Rino learned from experience and did not hop onto any minecarts. In his previous world, he was subjected to some rather bad experience in the form of exhilarating half-built minecart tracks with half-assed reassurance from his good friend. They ended up plummeting into a ravine in the mines, and Rino barely saved them both from death using magic after they missed the usual landing spot.

Apparently, his dwarven friend forgot to consider the weight difference between a dwarf and a human when he claimed that his minecart system never failed before. Rino never trusted the dwarves' method of travelling after that and opted to fly instead. Minecart trains were out of the question, and last Rino heard, the dwarves started making plans to construct an actual steady rail path across that ravine instead of trusting the risky launch platform to get them across.

"Hopefully, they got it done and tested it before the world exploded," Rino mused, feeling nostalgic as he summoned Mutt, who ran along the side of the minecart tracks.

They rode into a different section of the cave, and Rino noticed how the paths remained dimly lit even after it was abandoned. The dwarves were clever to use glow crystals instead of gas lamps. They must have learned how dangerous it was to use fire in a mine.

The first communal place that Rino found in this abandoned mine was a canteen or what used to be a canteen. There were a lot of wooden mugs that should be used to hold ale. The dwarves loved their ale, and Rino had a feeling that would never change no matter which world they existed in.

The barrels lined against the wall in a huge kitchen contained ale that had already turned bad. By now, it was more like vinegar and less like ale. Rino let it remain in the barrels. Even if the vinegar was good, he doubted anyone in his village wanted a taste of what decade-old vinegar tasted like.

Comparing the culinary progress between the dwarves and his empire, Rino had to admit that the dwarves were still a tad more advanced than him. They used fancy machines that controlled temperature without using fire runes for cooking food to a perfect temperature. In particular, their thinly curved metal blades used in rusted metal containers that spun at the bottom intrigued Rino. Perhaps this was a new kind of cutting method that he did not know about?

The lich picked that up and saved it in his shadow sack. He must have the earth gnomes examine it later and try to replicate whatever they could, using the dwarves as inspiration.

The canteen's interior decoration was mundane, but Rino noticed something else that piqued his interest. There were wire meshes over smaller holes in the ceiling and sometimes the floor. Rino wondered what that was for and tried to see what was inside. Unfortunately, the small tunnels were very bendy, and Rino could not tell what was inside them. He left them alone for now but promised to investigate it later when he mapped out the entire mine.

The lich plotted down his journey on Mutt's back as the shadow hound sniffed at various things in the cafeteria. The sketchpad was full of discovery notes, and Mutt growled at a particularly foul smell he came across, prompting Rino to look up from his book.

"What's wrong?"

Mutt whined, and his ears flopped a little. "It smells of sickness and death even if it is faint, master."

Sickness and death? Rino patted the large wolf on his head and told Mutt to leave it for now. It might explain the dwarves' need to leave. From what Rino saw, the canteen was well equipped but not the pantry.

Judging by the kind of food the dwarves made, it wasn't a balanced diet. At this point, Rino had some guesses. The dwarves were the only species unafraid of harvesters. Their preparation for battle in this advanced mine spoke of many decades of war development. However, at one point, they were forced to abandon their impenetrable fortress. 

Rino didn't believe that a single defeat would force the dwarves to abandon the fort and scatter. The mines were deep enough and confusing. It was well equipped to take out any intruder or stall them long enough until the dwarves could escape. Yet, they still chose to up and leave after several years. 

War was something nobody liked, not even the empire. If possible, they wanted to avoid going to war because not only would people die and land destroyed, resources had to be used to fund the war, and those who did not directly participate would also starve.

Without enough talent and resources, even the most powerful country would weaken. In a prolonged battle, army rationing will affect the morale of soldiers. A soldier could fight even without weapons, but a soldier could not hope to win a fight without food. An army without a general could still continue to struggle in the name of the empire, but an army without a doctor would only fester to destruction from inside out.

These dwarves were like powerful soldiers who marched onward without fear. However, they were only good at fighting. Rino bet that they had no real farmers to secure food supplies or doctors around. Mutt's earlier claim about illness and death was the result of a long battle.

Back in his previous world, sailors often suffered from a disease caused by improper nutrition. It took the empire a long time to understand what was going on. Healing magic did not work, and even the church claimed it was a curse. Only Rino and his magician tower did not give up on trying to find a cure.

Initially, nothing much appeared out of place. A person would appear a little pale with some small skin problems such as rash spots and minor bleeding sores. After a while, the person would start losing teeth and feeling weak. Anaemia, shortness of breath and eventually even coma were possible for the late stages of this illness. Eventually, the only thing the affected person's family could do was buy a coffin and pray for easy passing.

The disease was called scurvy, and Rino did not think he would be on the receiving end for such a thing until he found his gums bleeding one day. Healing magic did not work, and desperation drove Rino into extensive research as his loyal magician apprentices accompanied him to visit various victims of the 'curse'.

Eventually, a farmer received help from magicians who gave Rino a basket of freshly harvested strawberries that led to the discovery of scurvy's cure. Rino's chef made him some strawberry juice because he could no longer stomach solids, and the improvement in his health was astounding. The road to recovery was so fast that within a week, Rino was back to normal.

The knowledge he gained spread across the empire quickly, and many fruit sellers set their stalls at docks so that sailors could replenish their important fruit supplies before voyage or on route to new towns.

Too bad the dwarves of this world did not know about it before they succumbed to a miserable fate. Rino looked everywhere, but apart from underground root staple plants, meat and ale, there were no traces of any fresh leafy vegetables or fruits in their diet.

How unfortunate.