Chapter 10 Section 10. Annan’s Happy Holidays
Aunt Susan is kind, tolerant, and kind-hearted.
Early the next morning, she took Martin with her to the market in Pinglin Town.
Unlike before, Annan and Martin had only been selling firewood in a hurry, occasionally wandering on the streets, and never approached street shops or food vendors.
But today, Aunt Susan took the initiative to take them, who had not had breakfast, to the fragrant market.
The sweet smell of baking bread and the smell of meat on the grill accompanied the market in the morning mist. The steak on the barbecue reminded Annan of a half-tauren... At this time, the miners should have entered the mine.
"Annan? Annan?" Aunt Susan lovingly woke up the distracted Annan, "What do you want to eat?"
…
"Anything goes...anything goes..."
Old Zoron, holding a pickaxe, mingled among the miners. He was lame in one leg, old, muttering, and as downcast as a tramp.
Going into the mines alone is a dangerous decision. But at least he didn’t have to pay anyone a salary, and all the harvest in the gold mine belonged to him—and most importantly, he had picked up one piece of ore, why couldn’t he pick up the second piece?
Thinking that luck was on his side, Old Zollen got into the Chalu Mine, completely unaware of a figure dragging rusty shackles looking at him not far away.
Wow – Wow –
Tasia dragged the chain, ignoring the disgusted looks of the miners around her, and silently followed the team deep into the gold mine.
Stopping deep in the mine, Tasia swung the pickaxe, and sparks flew out, peeling off a large piece of gravel from the rock wall.
"Hey, Minotaur, get out of the way."
The words coming from behind made Tasia stop. Without fighting for anything, she passed by the two miners and walked back.
"Damn orc slaves... Bah."
They are vulgar than orcs, cowardly than goblins, and greedy than dragons.
Tasia stayed away from the talking miners. The horns that she once felt ashamed of and wanted to cut off were no longer in her mind as her experience increased.
She thought of the boy named "Annan". He never showed disgust or concealed contempt in his eyes like other humans, although the occasional expressions of pity and sympathy made Tasia uncomfortable.
The two miners who drove away the half-tauren picked up the gravel and continued digging. They are not slaves and can be rewarded for digging ore.
The gravel splashed, and the clanging sound echoed deep in the mine.
Not long after, a miner stopped in confusion.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?"
The companion put down the ax in confusion, and then heard noisy footsteps behind him.
The two miners looked puzzledly at the darkness outside the halo of the oil lamp. At a certain moment, a ferocious head covered with scales emerged, followed by the second, and the third...
"Don't, don't be afraid! The foreman said that kobolds only attack enemies that are much smaller than them!"
The miner trembled and said to his companions that nothing was done. Even if the two kobolds they faced were not even as high as their waists. But at this moment, noisy dog barking sounded again deep in the mine, and more and more kobolds emerged from the darkness.
Two miners missed their last chance because of timidity.
"No--"
The kobolds held up crooked short spears and stabbed the screaming miners——
…
Annan looked up at the shy Martin, looked down at the saliva-stained wooden skewer stuck on the potato stick, and had no choice but to give the potato stick to him.
Aunt Susan was still paying and didn't notice the movement behind her. By the time she turned around, Martin had finished eating the potato chips and destroyed the body.
"Is it delicious?" The smiling Aunt Susan almost lost her sight.
"It smells pretty good," Annan said.
…
"Damn it, did some idiot poop somewhere again?"
A miner suddenly sniffed around and cursed the turbid air smelling of feces, "Evil... I need to change places before I spit it out..."
The miner dragged his pickaxe deeper, but no one paid attention to him. Others continued to wield their pickaxe dully. Not long after, they suddenly heard a loud noise coming from deep inside, and then a shrill scream.
The miner who left not long ago ran back wailing, with an iron pickaxe coming out of his chest, dragging behind him two kobolds who were grabbing the wooden handle and barking. The miners who were walking slower and slower fell down and lost their voices.
thump--
The miners screamed and threw away their pickaxes and turned to run away. No one wanted to resist, because the kobolds poured out like a tide.
The anthill-like mine tunnels scattered the miners, who were at most in small groups. When these kobolds with ragged clothes and a body shape like children rushed out barking, they could only flee in panic, and were surrounded by kobolds who were chasing or blocking their way. Countless spears and pickaxes hit their fragile bodies. ——
…
The chef skillfully cut the barbecue into strips, scooped it up with a shovel, and put it into a brown paper bag.
Martin's outstretched palm was slapped away by Aunt Susan, and Gentle put the brown paper bag on Annan's hand.
"Eat more, little Annan, you are still growing."
Annan picked up the brown paper bag and suddenly retracted his hand because the bottom of the bag was burning.
"Hiss...it's so hot!"
…
The sparks splashing on the back of his hand made the miner shake his hand. When the tinkling sound that filled his ears faded, the incoming noise left him dazed. He saw the miners running out in terror and subconsciously ran away with them.
The chaotic crowd kicked down the basket, and the ore with gold veins rolled out, shining with a dark gold color under the oil lamp.
Kobolds are short and weak, bullying the weak and afraid of the strong, and always raise the butcher knife to attack the weaker ones. But the miners who were gripped by fear and only knew how to flee undoubtedly fit the definition of the weaker.
The fleeing old Zoron saw with his own eyes that a miner was jumped up by the chasing kobold and bit between the legs——
…
The scalding hot eggs flowed along the corners of Martin's mouth, making Martin's face distorted by the heat.
Annan waited patiently for it to cool down before opening his mouth and biting it. The orange yolk is thick and runny, and the delicious aroma spreads on the taste buds.
"Annan, there's a trick over there!"
Martin pulled Annan and pushed towards the most crowded place in the market.
…
"Don't crowd! Don't crowd!"
The miners crowded into the mine and fell into a heap.
Tasia held on to old Zoron like a rock in the river. A foreman saw this and yelled at her: "Slave, you should be protecting me, not that old man!"
"I, a tauren, will save him, but you just want to abandon your compatriots?" Tasia said.
Suddenly, a shrill scream broke out from the crowd.
"Kobold Warlock!!!"
A sudden light filled the mine, and then a fireball exploded among the crowd——
…
The sweeping heat wave caused exclamations of surprise.
Annan hid quickly, but Martin was not spared. His tawny forehead hair was permed and curled.
The exclaimed townspeople threw copper coins at the circus performers who were holding torches and spitting wine.
Annan spent a wonderful vacation in another world.
On the way back, he heard the townspeople talking about something happening at the haunted gold mine.