The accident had occurred in Zone E’s 8th tunnel.
Morkan ran to the site of the accident and hurriedly asked the crowd, shouting, “What happened?!”
“Mr. Morkan! Tunnel 8 collapsed!”
“What?!”
Zone E—That was a zone that was recently under development. Morkan had heard that miners would be dispatched to drill the path smoothly, but the accident happened. This wasn’t an earthquake but an accident.
Since this wasn’t a common situation, he immediately realized the severity of the situation, and the miner who had come from the 8th tunnel said, pale, “As you know, the 8th tunnel was being developed to go further underground. It was confirmed that there was no problem with the ground or the pulley on which the huge device was hung, but then one wall suddenly collapsed and went down with the mobile device. The problem is that a miner was working right below. Fortunately, it was lunchtime, so only one person went down, but since no one found any reaction, it seems like the miner is now under dirt and the collapse.”
“This…!”
This was bad news. A collapse was quite a variable. No matter how thoroughly the ground’s condition is checked beforehand, anything can happen once mining begins. Also, the reasons for collapse vary a lot. It could be that the ground was strained as the mobile device was connected, or something went wrong due to the heavy rainfall a couple days back. The sure things were that an accident had happened, and there was a miner down below whose very life might be in danger at the current moment.
‘What do I do?’
It felt like he was losing his mind. The means to go underground was now broken. Thus, it would be difficult to head down to the site of the accident, and sending someone to rescue the injured could mean another shock to the ground, making another collapse possibly happen. In the end, there was just one way—Make sure the collapsed place is handled first, then lower a ladder for the injured to be saved. That was the only way the guy to save the guy, ensuring no one lost their life.
Nevertheless, while Morkan looked troubled, one miner said, “Someone—Send someone to rescue him! The guy might die down there!”
It was a tough situation. However, before Morkan could even react, Roman stepped forward and said, “Guide me to the scene of the accident. I will go.”
Hearing that, everyone, including Morkan, was stunned. Courage and recklessness were different things. And obviously, Morkan judged Roman to be reckless.
“Absolutely not! You are the eldest son of the lord. If, in the process of saving the wounded, something happens to the young master, we will all be punished for letting you go. If you understand this—”
“It will be too late by then,” interrupted Roman. As the other miner had thought, the method Morkan wanted to take wasn’t suitable for the wounded.
“The mobile device that fell could weight around 100 Kilos. And if he is under it, the more we delay, the more there are chances of us losing him. I will not deny that the method you mentioned is the safest for everyone, but even if we send people after checking the area, it will be impossible to remove the device that fell down. Eventually, someone who can use mana will have to be called. And I can do all that right now by going down there.”
Aura Swordsmen—They were humans who lived in the realm of superhumans.
As Roman said, it was a good way to save the wounded.
However…
“It isn’t like we don’t know that! There is only one thing I am concerned about. Young Master Roman is an Aura Swordsman, and we know how great you are! But we must always consider the condition of the worst happening to the young master too.”
“Morkan.”
“Yes.”
“I told you—Why I came to the iron mine.”
As Roman said those words, Morkan’s eyes fluttered and opened wide.
“People who bear the name of Dmitry have to fulfill their responsibilities too. A leader is not a position who rules over others and enjoys just comfort and indulges in self-happiness. This, too, is a duty I need to bear. One of Dmitry’s people is now trapped under there, and I exist at the scene, so I need to solve it. But if I turn back and run away now, I will have no right to continue living as one of Dmitry’s successors.”
Roman—No. Baek Joong-hyuk had always been a leader in his life. Despite seeing so much bloodshed in Murim, the era of Baek Joong-hyuk was known as a peaceful time. It was all the result of the values he had. As he was always on the battlefield with his subordinates, Baek Joong-hyuk received their loyalty and never pushed his role onto them.
If needed, he went out directly by himself. He took on responsibility and danger too. That was his role as the Heavenly Demon. And having reigned as the supreme, Roman knew how to act in the face of danger.
‘If I run away now, the people below me will lose their trust. In order for people to give their everything under the name of Heavenly Demon, under the name of Dmitry, I have to show them that I deserve that kind of loyalty.’
The wounded guy down there was someone whose name he didn’t even know. Taking the risk to save him wasn’t rational, but Roman thought of the bigger picture. If he rescued a wounded person, the people’s attitude would change. The miners would turn in favor of Roman and help him in his future plans. And that was why he had to show his performance here. It was a golden chance to earn the trust of the general public by accomplishing his role as a leader. And as the cause and ideal were aligned, there was no reason to not go down.
“Young master…”
Morkan was speechless. He didn’t know what was happening inside Roman’s brain, but hearing him speak about his duty as Dmitry’s successor, Morkan’s heart was touched by the decision of the guy who had decided to risk his life.
Roman Dmitry—He was the real deal. Thinking he had rejected him earlier, Morkan almost went mad by his resentment toward himself.
“…Be careful. Be sure to stay safe.”
“I will.”
There was no time to delay. Thus, Roman left Morkan behind and quickly moved to the place where the accident happened. He went down the passage leading to Tunnel 8.
Any normal person would need a ladder to head down, but Roman didn’t need it.
Tak.
Roman showed his movements as swift as a beast by using the Dodging Technique. He was like a cat heading down just by using his paws on the surrounding walls, and within a few seconds, he was able able to instantly land on the ground.
However, it was difficult to secure visibility due to the dust and darkness in the surroundings. Due to the mobile device that crashed, the torches seemed to be broken as well, but it wasn’t a problem for Roman.
Flame.
He focused mana on his eyes. Even if it wasn’t as bright as daylight, Roman could now see what was around.
‘The wounded…’
He looked around. The entire place looked like a mess. Most of the tunnels were hard to see as they were, but with huge rocks collapsing in front, large stones piled up ahead. Had there been anyone below those rocks or the device, they would die instantly. Fortunately, Roman couldn’t see anything like that.
When he looked around the mobile device, he noticed a young man lying on the floor. He was unconscious. And when he measured his pulse, Roman confirmed the guy was alive.
‘You have wonderful luck.’
A device had fallen down but had not touched him at all. Also, he was only hit near the head by some stones around him, so even though he had a bleeding head, a broken leg, and wounded arms, his life wasn’t seriously affected.
The fate of a human is so interesting. Even though this man experienced the catastrophe of things falling down on him, he has wounds that can be healed.
‘You aren’t destined to die.’
Clench.
He held the man.
And then,
Tak.
Tak.
Roman went straight up the hole he came down.
“Ohhhh!”
“Woahhhh!”
“Young master saved the man!!”
When he came out, Roman noticed a large crowd gathered near him.
They must have heard that Roman had gone to rescue the wounded himself. So they all came to see it, and then they noticed Roman had managed to successfully get the wounded out. It was an unbelievable sight. It would have taken them a lot of time to go down and come back up, but Roman had gone down and carried the guy back before the people could even manage their thoughts.
Tak.
Roman laid the wounded down on the ground. People were cheering but now wasn’t the time for it. Roman checked the wounded’s condition and ordered the miner next to him.
“Bring something that can be used as a splint.”
“Uh?”
“Hurry!”
The miner who was startled at Roman’s shout rushed out right away.
Carefully checking the broken arms and the broken leg that needed immediate support, Roman infused mana into his body. After suppressing the bleeding, he aligned the broken bones by touching them directly with his hand.
Crack! Tuk!
It was a terrifying sound. People turned their heads away, hearing a sound they couldn’t handle, but Roman continued to do it.
Morkan couldn’t help but be surprised seeing that scene.
‘He’s so skilled.’
The act of treating an inured wasn’t easy. In particular, Roman wasn’t healing him or anything, but he aligned the bones with his hands. It was impossible to do that without self-confidence and excessive control.
Roman’s appearance was different. He continuously initiated a series of twists and turns to save the arms of the wounded. Actually, Roman was used to doing this. In the world of survival of the fittest, something like this was easy. Injuries were everyday things. And in order to survive, Baek Joong-hyuk himself had to fix his own broken bones and even save a lot of his subordinates.
However, he didn’t learn medicine. The experience accumulated was what led him to learn to handle injuries on the battlefield when there was an emergency. And injuries like that of the wounded man in front of him were nothing major.
In his previous life, Baek Joong-hyuk once even had to put his intestines back into his stomach and suture it. Naturally, he had no choice but to be skilled at this, and seeing the scene, all the surrounding people cheered. After putting on the splint brought by the miner, Roman fixed him as well as he could. Then, he looked at Morkan and said, “Take the injured to the physician right now. What I did was simply first aid; a professional is needed to fully treat him. Also, if there is a need for a potion for the healing, then tell them I will pay for it. I want him to be treated perfectly.”
“Yes.”
As Morkan blinked, the other workers ran, picked up the wounded person, quickly put him on a stretcher, and went out. Everything happened so fast. Yet, Morkan’s heart continued to pound loudly at the fact that within a few moments of the accident, the young master, Roman Dmitry, rescued the wounded and treated him as well. Maybe because he experienced too many things too fast, all he could do was keep staring at Roman.
Eventually, Roman got up and said to Morkan, “I think what happened today is the safety issue you told me about. Even if we prepare thoroughly, we cannot help when such disasters happen. From now on, as a person who bears the name of Dmitry, I will try to solve all these difficulties you are experiencing by any means possible. It probably won’t take long, either.”
At this moment, Morkan understood it. He felt an emotion that couldn’t be described in words. Solving the problem didn’t matter to him now. Morkan had finally understood that this man in front of him had listened to the voices of the miners, and that alone was something that made him respect Roman Dmitry.
