In truth, Arthurs had no desire to go back to that valley; the shadow of the valley from the last time still haunted him.
He felt that valley was an ominous place; before he went there, nothing had gone wrong. He had always completed the tasks assigned to him by Earl Worthy perfectly.
That's why he was able to work for the Earl for so long and wield some power. In other parts of the manor, he was also a figure of great authority.
But ever since he went to that valley, he was scolded by the count for digging the wrong mine. The count had always praised him before, and this was the first time he had been scolded.
After being scolded, a group of robbers appeared out of nowhere and stole all the ore they had painstakingly mined, and even the miners disappeared without a trace.
Although he managed to save his life with some cleverness, he later ran into trouble when he went to buy slaves and was locked in a dark room, so that valley was definitely not a good place.
But now the Earl wants him to go again, which is really troublesome! Arthur doesn't know how to tell the Earl.
"My master, I'm just going to check on the situation, right? Is there anything else?"
Arthurs wanted to emphasize his responsibilities first; he was just there to check things out, and any problems were none of his business.
"Yes, you can go and check on the situation. If there are any problems, come back and tell me. It's none of your business."
Count Worthy was confident. He had sent so many men this time, and he didn't believe that those barbarians could defeat his warriors in the mountainous environment without the aid of horses.
If barbarians were that powerful, they would have conquered this place long ago.
"Yes, my master. Please wait for my good news at the manor." Arthur lowered his head, turned, and left the main building of the manor.
In an unnamed valley
Arthurs' heart was ice-cold; everything in the valley was exactly the same as when he last left.
The people and the ore are all gone. It's clear that this place has been robbed again, and this time the robbers even cleaned up the place, disposing of the bodies of the dead guards.
They didn't take any of the mining tools with them, probably thinking that if the Earl sent people to mine again, they wouldn't need to prepare any tools, just the people themselves, making it easier for them to rob them again next time.
However, he dared not tell these speculations to Earl Worsis, because last time he said that barbarians had raided the place, and barbarians might have taken these tools, since many of these tools were made of iron, which was very important for making weapons.
Arthurs arrived at the largest shed, the place where he used to live.
There was nothing left inside, but the simple table was still there, because he saw a piece of parchment on it.
Arthurs couldn't read, but he was certain that it wasn't left by the guards; it must have been left by the bandits.
He hesitated whether to show the parchment to Lord Worthy, because it might reveal to Lord Worthy that the valley was not raided by barbarians.
If he lies for the first time, Lord Worthy might investigate the matter and might actually kick him into the lake to feed the fish.
However, this may just be his guess, because there aren't many words on the parchment, so it may not have said these things.
Never mind, let's go back first!
Fortunately, he had said before he came out that the Earl should not be angry with him.
This valley truly is a cursed place. Arthur didn't want to stay any longer; he mounted his horse and prepared to return.