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This light novel is inspired by the beautiful landscapes and cultures of Bolivia and South Korea. However, the characters, events, and situations portrayed are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is purely coincidental. This content does not intend to represent or reflect the historical, social, or cultural reality of either country. The author disclaims any legal liability arising from the interpretation of these elements.
Content Warning: This chapter contains sensitive and potentially disturbing themes. Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter 56 — La Fortunata and El Tío
56.1. A Box of Boots.
Zayra approached Ryu with a firm stride, her arms relaxed and her gaze clear.
There was something different in her expression.
"Thank you for what you did today."
Ryu barely nodded.
He still felt the tension of the exposure in his shoulders,
but his mind was already relaxing.
"It was nothing."
"It was a lot."
She countered without raising her voice.
Suddenly, she smiled and added,
"Want to go somewhere with me?"
He looked at her, cautious.
Ryu knew Zayra was unpredictable.
He tensed his jaw, evaluating her.
Instinctively, accepting seemed prudent... and exciting.
And with a resigned sigh, he asked.
"Where?"
She arched an eyebrow.
"Do you want to or not?"
Her gaze had a captivating gleam.
"Every time I see it, it's hard to refuse."
The way she tilted her head, certain he would accept, made him inhale deeply and reply.
"Fine."
Zayra disappeared for a few seconds and returned with a box.
Without much ceremony, she handed it to him.
"Put these on."
Inside were steel-toe boots.
Every detail showed that Zayra had thought of his safety without saying a word.
He tried them on in silence; they fit perfectly.
A slight, barely visible arc of a smile lit up his face.
"When did she buy them? I didn't notice… she thinks about me more than I imagined."
He didn't say it, but the thought remained. Silent and vibrant.
***
Twenty minutes later, a white truck waited by the gate.
Behind the wheel was Alfonso, thin, dark-skinned, with a serene face and a light-colored cap.
His presence was imposing more for what he held back than for what he said.
"I'd like you to meet Alfonso."
Zayra said as they went out.
"He's worked with my father for years."
"Pleased to meet you, young man."
Alfonso expressed with a brief, respectful bow.
Ryu responded in kind, surprised by the man's tranquility.
"So not everyone is like Antonio…"
He thought as he assessed the man's demeanor.
Alfonso opened the back door and asked.
"Ready, miss?"
"We are ready."
Zayra replied.
As Ryu sat down, he couldn't help but ask.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"To the La Fortunata mine."
She said, buckling her seatbelt.
"It's one of my family's closest ones."
As the truck drove down the dirt road, Alfonso spoke without looking back.
"Good footwear, young man. You never know in the mine."
Ryu looked at his feet, then at Zayra.
She wasn't looking at him.
But observing the landscape.
However, in Ryu's mind:
"She had already thought of my safety, without saying a word."
Ryu relaxed his back against the seat, letting the tranquility of the landscape reach him for the first time in a long while.
He was surprised by how someone could balance care, security, and freedom.
She disarmed him in silence.
The truck disappeared into the dust of the sunset.
And with it, a new idea in Ryu's mind.
"What kind of woman is this?"
56.2 La Fortunata.
Stones, dust, and a silent altar.
He discovers that in her world, even the earth has a spirit.
The truck stopped with a crunch on the hot gravel.
When Ryu got out, he felt the loose earth, the dust in the air, the heat sticking to his skin like a dry blanket.
A rock formation watched over the mine entrance, crowned by a rusty sign.
< "LA FORTUNATA" >
On the sides, workers moved with an almost choreographed precision,
some operated machines, others classified minerals, and several greeted Zayra with a respectful gesture.
She walked ahead as if she knew every stone of the place.
And everyone knew who she was.
"Miss Zayra!" a deep voice called from the left.
Edgar, a man with a weathered face and a firm gaze, approached, removing his helmet as a sign of respect.
About fifty years old, wearing a dusty gray shirt and a serene tone of voice, accustomed to giving orders without shouting.
"It's good to see you.
We were just organizing what came out today."
Zayra smiled at him.
"How is production?"
Edgar looked proud, showing the results of his work.
"Good. We got manganese, iron… and some nice little stones."
He signaled to a young man who brought a rustic box.
"Look at this."
Zayra opened it carefully.
Inside, still among traces of earth, precious stones glittered.
Amethysts, Bolivian aquamarines, citrines… And a violet and gold bicolor piece.
"Bolivianita"
Edgar said, pointing it out.
"It came out a few hours ago.
It's fresh, so to speak."
Zayra gently took the stone.
"This one is for your mom."
She whispered.
Ryu said nothing, but he kept staring at the dirty, raw stone.
It wasn't a display piece.
It was from the root.
From living earth.
Ryu admired her strength and care amidst dust and stones.
"How does she do it?"
He rested his hand on the rock, feeling its roughness and warmth,
only wanting to capture Zayra's connection to this place.
A brief frown crossed his face, a silent astonishment at the combination of care,
foresight, and strength that she effortlessly displayed.
***
"Do you want to see inside the mine?"
Zayra asked him, closing the box.
"Yes."
Ryu replied, curious about the place.
Edgar nodded, and took out two helmets with headlamps.
He gave one to Zayra, who was already prepared.
Then he turned to Ryu.
"Take this helmet, young man.
With the boots and this, you'll be protected. Go ahead."
Ryu received the helmet.
He was surprised by the weight, but also by the gesture.
It wasn't just protocol.
It was respect.
He adjusted it and followed Zayra and Alfonso toward the entrance.
Inside, the temperature rose.
The air was humid and dense, charged with the smell of wet earth and metal.
A murmur of tools and footsteps echoed between the walls, echo after echo.
Ryu looked at everything attentively.
He wasn't claustrophobic, but he felt like he was entering something deeper than a tunnel.
56.3 El Tío
Then he saw it.
An altar carved into the stone, almost hidden on one side of the path.
A figure with horns, a black beard, a stern face, and a dark hat.
At its feet, coca leaves, cigarettes, small liquors, dried flowers.
Lit candles illuminated its face as if it were breathing.
"What is that?" he asked.
Zayra and Alfonso stopped, and she replied in a respectful tone.
"It's El Tío."
Ryu couldn't help but look at that figure, which literally looked like a horned demon.
"El Tío?"
Zayra approached him, and looking at the figure with a gesture of respect, she left a box of cigarettes and said.
"Yes. He is an underworld deity very important in the mines of western Bolivia."
Alfonso cleared his throat and added,
"Inside the mine, El Tío, a deity who protects or punishes, is respected.
Always leave him offerings of coca, cigarettes, and alcohol."
Ryu remained silent, absorbing every detail of the scene with skepticism… and some respect.
He looked at Zayra and subtly asked.
"Do they believe in that here too?"
Zayra glanced at him, approached, and whispered in his ear,
"It's not a tradition in Santa Cruz Cambas don't practice it.
But many workers came from the west with their rituals, and my father allowed it."
She made a slight bow of her head toward the altar.
"Here, the one who doesn't respect, takes a risk."
He looked at Zayra and whispered.
"Do you believe in him?"
She whispered back.
"I believe in respecting what others believe."
She turned back to Ryu.
"Especially when they've left their lives in this earth…"
She paused.
"And they keep coming back every day, as if the mountain knew them by name."
Ryu didn't answer.
He just kept looking at El Tío.
A shiver ran through him, not from fear, but from respect.
He closed his eyes and absorbed the weight of the ritual, there was no point in doubting.
And as they kept moving, the silence of the mine seemed to watch them back.