The girls turned around and saw several men dressed as miners walking in. They shook their heads, sat down at the bar with their heads down, then asked the boss for a few drinks and started chatting.

"Hey, what do you think we should do if Bonn continues to make trouble?"

"Who knows? But that Archon is too overbearing... He is not giving us a chance to live."

A few people were drinking, shaking their heads and sighing, and at this time Miao Jie came over with a smile on her face.

"What are you talking about, gentlemen?"

"Hmm? Who are you, little girl?"

Looking at the cute girl in front of them, the miners didn't care.

"I'm a tourist here. I just arrived in town, but it doesn't look peaceful here. Is there something wrong?"

"Hey, it's not a big deal."

Perhaps it was because Miao Jie's tone was polite and relaxed, and she herself was smiling and gave people a good impression, so the miners immediately started chatting with her.

"You probably know that Mainz is a mining town. It was once prosperous, but that was many years ago. Now the output of our Yaojing Mine is just OK. But recently I heard that a large underground vein has been discovered here, and the governor...oh, the current ruler of Crossbell plans to use some kind of automated mining device for mining. According to him, this device can ensure the safety of mining, and can work 24 hours a day without stopping, and does not require too many people..."

“Isn’t this a good thing?”

Hearing this, Miao Jie tilted her head curiously, while the other miner put down the wine glass in his hand.

"Hey, what's so good about that! When everyone first heard that there was a new mineral vein here, they were all very excited. But unexpectedly, the Archon said that because the new technology requires professionally trained members to operate, they want to hire new people, and we old miners are completely useless!"

At this point, the miner slammed the table in dissatisfaction, while another miner next to him rolled his eyes.

"What are you complaining about? Didn't they say that if you are willing to join, they can provide free training and teach you how to use those power-guiding tools?"

"Hey, I'm already this old, and I can't understand what's written on it. What connection process, what restart, what radar waveform scanning... I know every word, but I can't understand them together. I think this is a deliberate trick on us!"

"Well, what's there to complain about!"

Just at this moment, the innkeeper came over, put the wine jug on the bar and snorted coldly.

"If you ask me, the Archon did a good job. Mining is a dangerous business. You all know that there have been many accidents and deaths in the past. Now we have those big iron shells, so we don't have to worry about landslides or monsters. Isn't this good? And didn't the Archon also say that if you can't continue to work in the mine, you can learn skills, or provide loans to open a store to do business. Isn't this better than working in the mine all day? What are you arguing about? Do you want your wife to wait for you to come back in fear every day?"

"Hey...that's not what I meant."

After being scolded by the innkeeper, the complaining miner suddenly stopped talking. Indeed, as the innkeeper said, the job of a miner is not safe at all. Landslides and explosions are still rare events, but if you are not careful and dig into a monster's nest, it will be troublesome.

After all, according to the "settings" of the continent of Semria, the Brilliant Crystals are very likely to attract monsters, so it is highly likely that monster nests will appear next to the Brilliant Crystals veins underground. Especially during the high-production period decades ago, a bunch of monsters would appear almost everywhere you dig a mine. Although the reserves of Brilliant Crystals in the mines here have decreased, there is no guarantee that there are still some dangerous monsters sleeping underneath.

So every day when these miners are working, their families outside are also worried, afraid to hear the news that another monster nest has been dug up in the mine...

Therefore, when Fangzheng announced that it would use fully automatic mining equipment to replace manual mining, the families of most of the miners in Mainzli were in favor of it.

"When we came here, we saw someone shouting outside the mine. What was going on?"

At this moment, Aileyin also asked curiously. Hearing her question, several miners looked at each other awkwardly, and then the leading miner sighed.

"Hey, that's Bonn. How should I put it... This guy is a bully in the mine. He has gathered a group of people and does nothing all day. I heard that the new mineral vein that was explored this time was discovered from the mine dug by Bonn and his group, so they demanded half of the mining rights, but the governor would definitely not agree, so he brought people to make trouble. He said that if their conditions were not met, the machines would not be allowed to be transported in for mining."

At this point, the leading miner snorted.

"If you ask me, this guy is just used to being domineering. He relies on his father being a foreman and dares to come up with any ideas..."

After a few more complaints, the miners stopped talking and started drinking and chatting. At this time, the three girls quietly left the hotel and found a place to gather.

"I suggest that we split up and gather intelligence next."

Miao Jie quickly put forward her suggestion, and the other two nodded.

"I'm going to see what's going on with the group of miners surrounding the mine gate."

Elfen was the first to speak. For some reason, after hearing what the miners had said before, she felt something move in her heart. When Miaojie and Aileyin heard her words, they were stunned.

"Do you need me to go with you? It's very dangerous over there."

Elaine asked uneasily, while Elfen smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay. I know what I'm doing."

"Then it's settled. Miss Elaine and I will go to the town to continue collecting intelligence. Your Highness Elfen, the mine will be left to you."

Miao Jie didn't say anything. She greeted Elfen and then left with Aileiyin. Elfen was silent for a moment, then turned around and walked up the stairs to the mountain path, and then came to the gate of the mine at the top.

At this moment, there were many burly miners gathered here, staring fiercely at the soldiers guarding the mine, while the latter just stood there quietly, holding their weapons without moving. Although these miners looked extremely vicious, they did not dare to move when they saw the weapons in the other party's hands.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have been scared away by the miners, but Elfen was the princess of the empire after all, and during the civil war, she had traveled all over the empire with Fang Zheng, so she had seen all kinds of situations. So she tidied herself up, then ran over with a curious look on her face, looked at everyone carefully, and then walked to a miner not far away and asked.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

Hearing Alfin's question, the miner turned around and looked at Alfin, and his brows immediately raised.

"Go away, go away, what are you doing here, a little girl? Stay away!"

Facing the miners' fierce looks, Elfen was not frightened, but found it very interesting. She was a princess in the empire, and even the hostile nobles during the civil war were polite to her. How could they be so rude and glaring?

If it were Crown Prince Cedric, his legs would probably be weak with fear, but Elfin was not afraid at all. Instead, she felt a little excited. She ignored the miner's drive and took two more steps forward.

"Can you talk to me? I'm... an intern reporter for Liberl Weekly, and I'm very interested in what's going on here."

“Are you a reporter?”

"Intern reporter, I'm from Liberl, thank you for your guidance."

Elfin was no fool. She originally wanted to say that she was an intern reporter at the Imperial News Agency, but then she thought that the Empire and the Republic currently had a bad reputation in Crossbell, so she simply used Liberl as a cover-up.

"this……"

Looking at Elfin, the miner frowned. Although Elfin looked like a little girl, she did have the aura of a royal family. So after a moment, the miner nodded and waved to the crowd.

"Hey, boss, come here, there's a reporter!"

"oh?"

After hearing the miner's shout, another burly miner as strong as a bear strode over from the crowd. When he saw Alfin, he was also stunned.

“Are you a reporter?”

"Yes, I'm an intern reporter for Liber Weekly. Can I ask you a few questions?"

So even if you haven't eaten pork, you have seen pigs run. As a princess, Elfen has been interviewed several times in the empire, so she can learn it well. The other party is just a local mining tycoon in Crossbell who has never seen the world, so he was really confused by Elfen's tricks and nodded subconsciously.

"You ask."

"So... I would like to ask, why are you here..."

"You don't know yet! That damn consul is going to rob our mine!"

Hearing this, the miner leader suddenly shouted.

"Robbery?"

"Yes, you know what? When Crossbell became independent, he announced an order that all the land in Crossbell would be nationalized. We only have the right to use it, not the ownership!"

"What!?"

Hearing this, Elfen was really shocked. She could almost imagine that if the empire implemented such a law, the nobles would probably rise up in rebellion... Oh, no, they have already rebelled.

“Very overbearing, huh?”

Seeing the shocked expression on the cute little girl's face, the miner leader became proud and continued talking.

"This is the mine that our ancestors dug, how can we give it to others? Humph, that man wants to occupy this mine, I won't give him this opportunity! I want to let him see how powerful our miners are!"

"But I heard from people down there that they are going to use a new type of automated mining equipment..."

"Those are all excuses!!"

The leader of the miners snorted coldly and interrupted Alfin's words.

"He just wants to find a way to drive us away! This is the mine developed by our ancestors, how can we let a bunch of young boys come here? You are kidding, didn't you see who are the people operating the machines? A bunch of young kids, I doubt they can even use a pickaxe! This mine was discovered by my grandfather, and has been mined until now! Now he deliberately made some broken machine and says that we can't enter the mine if we can't learn it? This is simply making things difficult for us! We will never agree to it!"

“…”

Facing the miners' leader's roar, Elfin nodded and listened from time to time, but at the same time, the look in her eyes became much more serious.

Although it’s not quite appropriate to say this, but... Elfin feels that these miners and those nobles... seem very similar.