Part 8: The Miner Constructs an Elf Castle

Part 8:
The Miner Constructs an Elf Castle

 

THIRTY SECONDS was all it took for Alan to eliminate the Dark Beasts.

Fio was appalled by the utter lack of logic implicit in that feat. “Wait, Uncle Alan! This makes no sense!”

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” Alan replied from the center of the opening in the forest. At his feet was a mountain of Dark Beast corpses piled on top of one another. He would later use Shovel Fire to burn the bodies, and Holy Shovel to purify the area.

But Fio’s eyes were darting all over the place. “E-everything! H-how could you have defeated the Dark Beasts in seconds?”

It had taken only one attack for Alan to eliminate the creatures that caused Fio so much despair. She had no idea what had happened.

“It’s the power of the shovel.”

“The power of the shovel…”

Fio seemed satisfied with the answer, but in reality, she’d just given up on trying to comprehend what had transpired before her very eyes. He placed a scroll on the table and undid it, revealing a map with a number of squares and circles drawn on it.

“This is the plan for the elf castle,” he told her.

Fio continued repeating “the power of the shovel” to herself, completely bewildered. She didn’t even notice that Alan had changed the subject.

“Are you okay with me using the ‘Fire Knoll’ design from four hundred years ago?” he asked her. Fio was clearly not okay in any sense of the word, but Alan nonetheless took her silence as a yes. He immediately began drafting up a schedule for completing the large building. He’d be handling both the interior and exterior design, so he estimated that it would take him about two hours.

“Excuse me, Uncle Alan…” Fio interjected. “But are you sure that estimate is correct?”

“Yeah. Two hours is right.”

Fio began to question her sanity. She then spoke up again. “Um, pardon me, but I have a question. What exactly do you plan on making in two hours?”

“An elf castle. The plan is for it to be seven floors tall.”

“The castles I’m familiar with can’t be built in two hours. Building one should take over two years.”

“Needless to say, I do have to make some adjustments.”

“Adjustments?” Fio repeated.

“No worries. I’m a miner and a pro. Just trust me.”

Jewel miners were essentially extremely talented underground architects. Creating cabins, ladders, and tools for the job was part of their work. Mining a large mountain wasn’t just about digging into the ground.

It was time for Alan to show his true skill as a miner.

“I, um, believe in you, Uncle Alan, but…” she trailed off.

Alan interpreted that as permission to begin construction. “Building a trench to defend against invaders is one of the fundamentals of any castle project. So first, I’m going to dig a trench around the Elf Woods.”

The Elf Woods, incidentally, had a radius of a little over thirty miles. Fio felt the need to point out the obvious. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help but think this plan might have a few...holes in it,” she said as gently as possible.

“I suppose you’re right,” Alan said. “If my shovel wasn’t made of adamantine, it’d be impossible.”

“Does the shovel quality matter?”

“If it isn’t tough enough, it’ll break midway through construction.”

Alan got to work. Using his Construct Power, he dug a hole around the forest while his shovel emitted a blue and white aura. The hole was about three hundred feet deep and fifteen feet wide. The castle walls themselves would be about sixty feet tall, preventing Dark Beasts from leaping over them. In addition to that, he installed a guardrail to make sure that Fio wouldn’t fall into the trench. It was a surprising amount of work, but at Mach One, it took Alan ten whole minutes to create a guardrail that ran around all thirty miles of the Elf Woods.

Shortly thereafter, he and Fio were back in her cabin. She offered him some black tea as if in a daze. “Uncle Alan, am…am I dreaming right now?” she asked as she poured the tea.

“You’re not dreaming. This is reality, Fio. If you want proof, think about how delicious this tea is.”

“B-but…it’s all so strange!”

“You keep saying things like that. What’s so strange?”

“There’s almost too much to list.”

“Hrm.” Alan looked at the castle wall that stretched on beyond the horizon and mulled it over. It never hurt to get an outside opinion on one’s work. Obviously, there had to be some truth to her words. It was up to him to find what that truth was. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “Got it! I see now! You’re right, Fio. This is strange!”

“Y-you finally understand?!”

Alan nodded firmly. “There’s no bridge!”

Words could not describe the expression on Fio’s face.

“I see now…” he went on. “Since I can use my Shovel Hook to attach a wire to the castle walls and hoist myself over them, I completely failed to consider the necessity of a bridge. I’m so sorry; of course you’d need one. Give me a moment and I’ll build one in a jiffy.”

Fio didn’t need a bridge. Fio didn’t need anything except for her uncle to make sense. Her expression was steady, but she was weeping inside.

Alan took his time constructing the bridge. He realized that it’d be hard for Fio to maintain on her own, so he’d have to make it especially sturdy. He decided to utilize arches for sturdiness. Usually it took him no more than three seconds to finish a similar job, but this one took him a whopping three minutes. Ten bridges total meant half an hour overall.

Of course, Alan remembered to include checkpoints at the entrance to each bridge. He equipped them with auto-sensors, granting passage only to those whom Fio recognized.

“Perfect. Now the Dark Beasts won’t be able to get into the Elf Woods anymore.”

Fio didn’t move a muscle. She felt like she’d been hit with dragon breath or something. After a long, uncomfortable period of silence, she spoke. “Um…Uncle Alan? I have a question.”

“Yes?”

She had no idea how she was supposed to ask this. She struggled to put it into words. “Wh-where did you get the materials to build the bridges?” Anyone eavesdropping would get the impression that this wasn’t the question she really wanted to ask.

“There are all kinds of stones on the ground, no?”

“Correct.”

“There are even more of those beneath the surface.”

“I see,” Fio said.

“And that’s that.”

“Oh… What?” After a few seconds, Fio gave up. She smiled a smile that meant she had abandoned the very concept of understanding the present situation. A smile that screamed, all’s well that ends well. Fio loved Alan, so she used that love to ignore the madness that had just unfolded. “Um, thank you so much! I can finally be at ease!”

“It’s too early to give thanks. I gotta build your castle now.”

“What?” Fio’s smile froze in place.

“A trench and high walls aren’t gonna keep out an army. A highly trained squad could easily get past this, so now I’m going to build you a castle guard.”

Alan raised his shovel toward the heavens. It erupted with a blue aura, and when Alan pointed the shovel at a nearby empty space, the blue light coalesced, eventually taking the form of another, separate shovel. As the light faded, the new shovel began to move about of its own volition, walking on its metal blade.

Alan had created a Shovel Soldier, an autonomous being capable of digging up all sorts of things and places. It was also capable of combat. The Shovel Soldier came equipped with a Mini Wave Motion Shovel Blast. In long-range combat, it had the power of over ten average knights.

Alan made ninety-nine of them.

“Now if a human army tries to invade—Fio, what’s wrong? You look a bit sick.”

“No, I, um…I…” Fio looked up at the sky, her mind screaming at her. What’s happening? Am I the one who doesn’t make sense here? I must be! This must be what common sense is for humans! As it turned out, the well-endowed elf girl was extremely good at convincing herself that things were, in fact, totally fine. “S-so now the forest is safe, right?”

“No, not yet. The real fun starts now.”

Fio froze up yet again.

“I haven’t actually made the castle itself.” He’d already built a trench, castle walls, and an army of soldiers that could rival a thousand men. Sure, the odds were in Fio’s favor should an invading force of humans approach, but it still wasn’t enough for Alan.

“Huh?! Um, if it can defend against an invading force, isn’t that more than enough?”

“You’re naive, Fio. Too naive. This isn’t enough. Not by a long shot.” Alan looked like a man possessed. “For example, what if a massive force of dragons came flying in?”

Several moments passed. “I would assume it to be the end of the world and give up,” Fio answered with a smile that implied that she’d already given up in a number of ways.

“You can’t give up hope so easily,” Alan told her. “That sort of thing happened underground all the time.”

“Um, but here on the surface, groups of dragons don’t really attack on a regular basis.”

“Is that so? Well, it never hurts to be prepared.”

He then told Fio that massive numbers of elder dragons existed deep inside of Hell, in the dungeon known as the Dragon Nest. Alan had no trouble fighting them one on one, but against a whole army of them, he’d struggled.

That was when he’d invented the Attack Shovel Fortress. It was a powerful fortress capable of defending against the dragons’ fire breath before shooting the creatures out of the sky.

“And that’s why you have to be on guard against dragons,” he finished. “Understand, Fio?”

“I understand.” That I don’t understand a single thing that’s happened here today, she finished silently.

“Perfect. Watch from over there. This should take me about half an hour.”

“I doubt I’ll be able to see anything,” Fio replied. Her uncle worked too fast for her eyes to keep up with.

Thus, Alan began constructing the fortress that would come to be known as the World Tree Castle. It was located in the center of the woods. In order for it to be capable of shooting an elder dragon out of the sky, the miner built it to be over nine hundred feet tall. At that point, it was basically a tower. The miner also made sure it was built out of adamantine. Not only could it withstand a Great Wyrm’s breath, it also had auto-recovery abilities.

Alan thrust his shovel into various spots on the castle. By injecting these spots with his Shovel Power, he created auto-firing Anti-Air Shovel Cannons that would detect enemies and fire Mini Wave Motion blasts. He’d used these as his primary offensive force back during the Jewel War.

Finally, after half an hour of work, a majestic and beautiful castle stood before him. Alan stuck the blade of his shovel into the ground. “The elf castle is complete!” he declared with satisfaction.

The entirety of the Elf Woods was surrounded by a trench and the castle’s walls. Should it be attacked, the Shovel Soldiers would respond in kind. Should an enemy approach from the sky, they’d be riddled with holes by the Shovel Cannons. Altogether, it was an invincible fortress that could withstand an apocalypse.

It was time to hold the completion ceremony. Alan would have Fio cut the tape, of course.

During this entire process, Fio had simply kept whispering “Shovels… Shovels…” to herself. From eradicating the Dark Beasts to putting the finishing touches on the castle, it had taken Alan only two short hours to build a castle as mighty as the legendary World Tree itself. According to the miner, this was all because of his Shovel Power. “What exactly is...a shovel?”

It was as though Fio was asking the universe itself. What is a shovel? It was a question that Alan had spent years upon years asking himself.

The shovel could fire a Wave Motion Shovel Blast. It could dig trenches, create soldiers, and build castles. None of it obeyed the laws of common sense. Alan used to think the same way during the first hundred years he’d studied the shovel, but now, he no longer questioned it. He could do nearly anything just by focusing his energy into his shovel.

If one were to ask Alan how that could be, he would have no answer. He just did it. He bypassed every scientific and magical rule of the world and came out the other side. A shovel, he’d decided, was the power to overcome the world itself.

 

***

 

“...Anyway, so that’s what went down. This is Fio, by the way.” Alan introduced his niece. It was some time later after Alan had completed his construction project. He had gone back for Lithisia and Catria and brought them to the great hall of the World Tree Castle to meet the latest member of his family. He also took the opportunity to fill them in on what had transpired, nearly causing Catria to pass out.

“What did you do?” the knight wailed. She looked out at the castle wall at the edge of the Elf Woods from one of the windows. It was a glistening structure that stretched as far as the eye could see. She felt as though she was in the realm of the gods.

“No worries. I designed the wall so that light, rain, and wind could get through just fine. It’ll have no effect on the natural order of the forest.”

“Sir Miner’s shovely wonderful concern for nature is truly shoveltastic!” The less said about Lithisia, however, the better.

“Let’s make camp here for tonight,” Alan suggested.

Fio had no problem with that. If anything, she felt that the castle belonged to Alan. The elf girl was gripping the miner’s wrist as she glanced at Lithisia. This was her first time meeting a human other than Alan, and she was nervous. If the princess noticed, she didn’t mention it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Fioriel!” Lithisia said as she held up her dress and gracefully curtsied. “My name is Lithisia, and I am the crown princess of Rostir. It’s an honor to make your acquaintance!”

“Aaah! You’re a princess?!” Fio cried, waving her hands in a flustered fashion while her ample breasts jiggled about. She was clearly overwhelmed by Lithisia’s royal aura, which was to be expected. Even Alan felt like the princess was hard to get close to…especially when she was going on and on about shovels.

Lithisia giggled as she watched Fio. “Don’t be nervous. I hear you’re a part of Sir Miner’s family?”

“Oh, um, yeah, I suppose so…”

“She is,” said the miner. “She’s basically like my niece.”

Fio made small embarrassed noises, which Lithisia promptly ignored.

“Then…that means you’re my family, too!” the princess told the elf girl.

“Really? What kind of relationship do you have with Uncle Alan?” Fio asked.

Lithisia exuded the aura of a prim and proper princess as she gave an answer that was anything but. “Hee hee. Sir Miner and I…” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “…are exclusively ‘shoveling’ together.”

All the seriousness in the air crumbled into pieces. Fio blinked and looked at the miner. “Um…Uncle Alan?” she asked slowly.

“Sorry. I couldn’t begin to tell you what she’s going on about.”

It was then that Lithisia gripped Fio’s hand tightly. “Ah!” the elf girl cried, startled.

“But more importantly!” Lithisia shouted excitedly as her eyes sparkled. “Lady Fioriel, you must be one of the elves spoken of in the legends! Ever since I was a child, I’ve hoped to speak to an elf in person!” The princess was beaming as she continued. “Would you do me the honor of being my friend?”

Fio was so stunned that she nearly leapt away. “H-huh?! You want me to be your friend?! But you’re a princess!”

“I just want to talk to you so very much!” Lithisia said. “About the elven legends, memories of your family, the legendary elven sweets, elven festivals, the elven capital and elven jewels… I just want to hear all about you!” Lithisia looked Fio straight in the eyes. “What do you say, Lady Fioriel?”

“Um…”

Lithisia’s smile faded a little. “Do you not want to talk to me? I know I’m a bit of a naive princess, but I could tell you everything there is to know about Rostir. Um, um, the White Rose Capital, the Knights of the Seven Stars, the Rainbow Grasslands, Lugar’s Ancient Artifact, and so much more! Lady Fioriel, please be my friend!” the princess begged once more before going silent, watching for the elf’s reaction.

Fio considered the princess’ proposal, despite her confused state. Of course she wanted to be friends with her.

F-friends with a real princess...

Fio was an elf, but she was also a young lady. There was so much that she wanted to ask the girl in front of her. Princess Lithisia, with her radiant smile and beautiful white dress, her golden blonde locks kept in perfect condition… Just what exactly did it take to become such a pure, beautiful princess? More importantly, why was she traveling with Uncle Alan?

Fio would get to talk with this princess as much as she wanted, and just thinking about it made her heart race. “A-am I dreaming?”

“Lady Fio?” Lithisia asked.

“I-I mean, the legendary Old Digger is my uncle, I get to meet a beautiful princess, and she even wants to be my friend…” Fio shook her head back and forth. “N-no matter how I look at it, I have to be dreaming.”

Catria glared at Alan. What had he done to this poor girl?

“Don’t give me that look,” he told the knight. “All I did was build a castle.”

“‘All I did’? Really?” If this miner was left to his own devices, he’d probably save the world in two seconds and think nothing of it.

Alan tapped his shovel on the ground. “You’re not dreaming, Fio.”

The sound of splashing water found its way to Fio’s ears. “Huh…?” When she turned around, the water in the cup sitting atop the table began to move. Soon, it took the form of a small, naked girl, who smiled at Fio.

“Dine?!” Fio gasped. It was her spirit friend, the very same one who had vanished after protecting Fio from the Dark Beasts.

“I noticed there was some water trapped inside the Beasts, so I used my shovel to collect it all,” Alan explained.

Fio panicked and approached her old friend, picking up the cup that she was resting in. She could hear something inside.

“Fio, don’t cry. Don’t cry,” came a small voice from the water. It was the same voice she had grown so used to hearing as she was growing up. Her best friend’s kind voice. How could she not cry?

“Ah… Dine… Dine, I… I… Ahhhh…” The tears flowed. This was a future she had never even allowed herself to dream of. “Thank you so much, Uncle Alan… I…”

That was when she finally knew it was real.

 

***

 

Minutes later, Fio and Dine were drinking tea together with Lithisia. The elf was smiling brightly, listening to the princess’ stories.

“...I guess the princess has more on her mind than just shovels.”

“I guess so.”

It didn’t take long for Lithisia and Fio to become fast friends. Perhaps that shouldn’t have been so surprising considering the former was a charismatic princess.

Alan looked at his niece. She had lived alone in the woods her entire life, so having a friend close to her age could only become a good thing. Alan was glad he introduced the two. This’ll be good for Fio. Immediately after the thought crossed his mind…

“Lady Fio, let’s chat all night! Especially about…” Lithisia’s eyes lit up dangerously. “Shovels!”

Alan groaned inwardly.

 

***

 

That night, Fio appeared in Alan’s bedroom. She was clad in elven attire, but something was off about her. She was crouched on the floor beside Alan’s bed, her cheeks flushed. Perhaps more alarming was her ample bosom. It was as if she were positioned to deliberately draw attention to it.

Fio pressed her boobs together, making them appear even larger than they already were. Alan had never seen an elf as buxom as her before. “Um, please don’t look at me… Er, I mean, please...look at me!”

Laid across the tops of Fio’s firm breasts was Lithisia’s red shovel.

The same shovel the princess had once used to try to seduce Alan.

Alan felt a horrible sense of déjà vu. It didn’t take much for him to figure out from whom Fio had gotten this awful idea. The elf’s legs were trembling, tears falling from her eyes. She was embarrassed, incapable of even looking Alan in the face.

This is madness.

Alan was filled with despair and a sense of emptiness. It was his fault that the elf had met the princess. That very well might have been the greatest mistake of his thousand-year-long life.

“Uncle, um, um, p-please—”

Alan cut her off. “I already know why you’re doing this, so just calm down, Fio.”

“No, I-I have to do this! I have to!”

“You really don’t. In fact, you absolutely must not.”

“I want to restore the elf village! I have to do this!” Fio was so nervous that she wasn’t hearing Alan’s words. “That’s why… Uncle Alan, please take this naughty elf and…!” the elf cried as she drew his attention to the shovel atop her breasts. “Please ‘shovel’ with me!”

Alan buried his face in his hands and thought, That princess is no shoveling good.