"Enough! If you want to go to the Inner Mining Area to find the legendary giant dragon, talk to me when you can lift a minecart!"
Old Werewolf Logan glared fiercely at Noah.
The Werewolf boy, full of defiance, approached the minecart, rolled up his sleeves, and squatted down.
However, he was too small to hug even one side of the minecart, let alone lift it.
Despite exerting all his might, all he managed was to turn his small face red, while the minecart didn’t budge.
He even stumbled and fell due to exerting too much force, landing on the ground with an ’ouch,’ causing the other miners who had already arrived to burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha... little Noah, try again when you’re a bit bigger!"
"Don’t waste your energy, his little body won’t be able to lift it even when he grows up..."
"Oh Noah, you can’t do it, you really can’t..."
"Okay, give Noah some face; he still needs to find a wife!"
The miners laughed heartily until Old Logan glared at them fiercely, quickly silencing them.
"Hmph, you little rascal!"
Old Logan grimaced and stopped picking on the Werewolf boy, instead leading the main group deeper into the mine.
Noah sat beside the minecart, sulking alone.
Charlotte and Sebastian exchanged glances and nodded subtly.
Taking the cue, Sebastian stepped forward and came up beside the little Werewolf, asking with a warm smile:
"Noah, have you seen the dragon in the mine?"
The mention of dragons instantly invigorated the Werewolf boy.
However, before he could answer, laughter from the other Sub-human miners filled the air:
"Ha ha, has he seen a dragon in the mine? Could he have really seen one and still come back alive?"
"Hey hey hey... maybe, haven’t you heard little Noah say, the monsters... oh no, dragons in the mine don’t eat people!"
"Eh? Is that so? Then where did those missing miners go?"
"Who knows? Maybe they were kept by the monsters deeper in the mine to continue mining!"
"Ha ha ha! Shouldn’t they get paid then? Dragons are rich; they should pay more than the Castel family!"
The miners chattered on, making it clear they didn’t really believe there was a dragon deep in the mine.
Of course, while they always joked about the depths of the mine, they lowered their voices whenever they mentioned monsters, clearly fearful of the legends about the mine’s depths.
Charlotte noted that the miners’ teasing of the little Werewolf was not only for fun but also a way to deflect their own fears of the depths.
Although there were rumors of a monster being a dragon in the mine, it was clear not all miners believed this.
But the little Werewolf clearly did.
Other than him, although Old Werewolf Logan avoided giving a direct opinion, from what he once revealed to Luf, it seemed Logan actually believed there was a real dragon deep in the mine.
However, he differed from Noah in that he believed the mine’s depths held something dangerous.
Evidently, Noah and Old Werewolf Logan must know or have seen something.
Noah glared at the Sub-human miners taunting him, but this only provoked greater laughter.
It wasn’t until Sebastian, under Charlotte’s cue, kindly gave them a glance and subtly released a bit of his presence that the group of Sub-human miners instantly shut their mouths and turned to resume mining obediently.
"A tier-entering Transcendent..."
Some miners widened their eyes, nearly blurting out but were quickly silenced by their peers:
"Shut up, keep your head down and mine!"
Soon, almost all the miners bowed their heads and focused solely on their tasks.
Being long-term miners in the Castel silver mine, it was quite common to see unknowing Transcendents sneak in, but even those just entering tiers were not ones these miners could afford to provoke.
The best survival tactic for these low-class Alien Clan miners, who barely bothered looking at the Mine Supervisor, was to act as if they had seen nothing.
Moreover, perhaps due to the pressure of being near such a mysterious tier-entering figure, the Sub-human miners instinctively started to keep their distance, quickly hiding far away and no longer daring to approach.
Some even tried to persuade Noah to leave with them, but a glance at Sebastian, standing between them, made them silently bow their heads and swiftly move away with the others.
Soon, only Charlotte and her group were left in the mining area.
"A Transcendent? You’re a tier-entering Transcendent?!"
Noah also widened his eyes.
However, he quickly caught on and his expression turned wary:
"You... you’re not here to mine! You’ve deceived Grandpa Logan!"
Saying this, the little Werewolf suddenly stood up, ready to chase after Logan and the others who had walked away, but Luf quickly stopped him:
"Noah, calm down, we’re not bad people."
Noah stared at Luf, his eyes wide and his expression complex:
"You... are you also in league with them? Are you also deceiving us?"
"Noah, although I brought them here, I truly intend to become friends with everyone in the mining area. You’ve seen my people too; we genuinely plan to settle in Castel."