Editing HEAVY OBJECT:Volume3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 8===

Heivia and Myonri headed deeper into the coal mine.

Not far past the entrance was a simple inspection area. It held a railway crossing-like gate for bringing in large equipment and a smaller gate next to it for people to pass through. The gate for people was a simple cube-shaped prefab building. It had a single door on the front and the back.

Heivia and Myonri were cautious, but there was no sign of any guards.

Pure white LED lights illuminated the facility.

“Dammit. I’d actually prefer it if it was pitch black in here. Our shadows stretch further than I would like.”

“What is that prefab building?”

“An air curtain facility or something like that, I would assume. Usually, that kind of thing is meant for when you’re leaving more than when you’re entering.”

“To get rid of the dust from the mine?”

“That’s the reason they give, but it also lets them check to see if you’re trying to sneak any coal out.”

“This isn’t a gold mine.”

As they spoke, Heivia and Myonri climbed over the railway crossing-like gate and headed on.

The tunnel beyond was about 2 meters across and 5 meters tall. For a coal mine, the interior was quite clean and the ceiling, walls, and floor were all coated in a brightly-colored plastic.

They did not even need to use their military flashlights.

LED lights for the workers were set up at even intervals, illuminating the entire tunnel in a dim light.

“What is this plastic on the walls?”

“This area must not have any coal left to mine, so they’ve covered it all up to prevent any unnecessary dust from getting in. It can damage people’s lungs and cause dust explosions.”

“How do they know where the deposits are? There could be some other resource sleeping beyond these walls.”

“They can tell by using ultrasonic waves. Also, they’ve made sure they can easily break through and continue mining if a new resource is found. That must be why they used this plastic rather than thick concrete.”

“Maybe that is why we can’t hear any noises.”

“They’ll have dug around wherever it was needed, making this place into a labyrinth. The area near the entrance may only be used to go in and out at starting time and quitting time.”

The two soldiers hoped that was true.

If they ran across Faith Organization soldiers in that narrow area and a firefight began, they had no chance of winning. The gunshots would draw in more and more enemy soldiers until they were surrounded.

Incidentally…

“This is odd…”

“Yes, we haven’t seen a single guard.”

“Come to think of it, there wasn’t a single camera at the entrance to the mine either. With set routes in like that, they would be able to vastly reduce the possibility of an intruder just by setting up a camera on those routes.”

“This ''is'' a military mine…right?”

“It has to be.”

Heivia and Myonri came to a small room.

No one was inside it.

The area likely functioned as a break room for workers. Even if putting the break room far away from the mining area was a bit inconvenient, it may have provided a more comfortable environment by distancing the workers from the noise and dust.

It contained a simple sofa, a refrigerator, a microwave, and other such amenities.

What stood out the most was the poster attached to one wall.

“…This is in the Legitimacy Kingdom language.”

“Yes, but the grammar is pretty bad.”

“Why would this be in a Faith Organization military coal mine?”

Heivia grabbed something from atop the break room table. It was a dictionary for the Legitimacy Kingdom language. The pages were well worn and the three side edges other than the spine had turned yellow. It had been read again and again. Bookmarks were placed in quite a few pages and a highlighter had been used to highlight passages.

As he flipped through the pages of the dictionary, Heivia said, “So would this be a spy training camp?”

“Do you really think that?”

“…No, you’re right. If their military intelligence department was training spies, they would certainly not teach them to use such broken language.”

As he spoke, Heivia peered inside a cardboard box located next to the sofa. It appeared to have been used for some party. It was neatly filled with various types of plastic decorations and a hand-written banner.

When he spread out the banner, it said the following in the same slightly-grammatically-incorrect Legitimacy Kingdom language:

''To future friends in Legitimacy Kingdom.

''It may not be much, but we hope this can help pay for construction of drinking water well.

“What the hell is this?”

Heivia was legitimately surprised.

He could see no way that text supporting an enemy nation would be allowed in a military coal mine. If that banner had been made out of actual thought for the other nation rather than out of sarcasm or mockery…

“Is this ''not'' a military mine…?”

“It might actually be a facility belonging to an anti-war group.”

Between her thumb and forefinger, Myonri held a publication speaking of peaceful ideas that were far removed from the policy of the Faith Organization military.

“This is no joke. There are three years’ worth of remittance records here.”

There was a discrepancy in all the information they had.

But…

Where had this discrepancy come from and how had it gotten there?