Chapter 945: Drelthar
Proofread by Thomas F
Damon Hardt
"You visited the mine a few days ago; you didn't have to come with me today," said Scala, turning toward me from the window.
"I want to see them doing it at the new scale," I replied, barely keeping the giddiness out of my voice.
Drelthar is the most significant news to have emerged from Panar. When they first found it, I was cursing the gods, but now I am thanking them.
It's going to benefit the city tremendously!
Soon, the carriage reached the mine, and we were stopped at the entrance.
There, they checked the carriages before permitting us to move ahead. I may be the Governor of Panar, but it didn't give me direct access.
I had to go through the security, like everyone else.
Things have rapidly changed because of the Drelthar stone. Now, there is even tighter security.
There was security before because of what we were doing in the mine.
Though our excuse about the monsters limited the number of personnel, we couldn't bring the army companies here without arousing suspicion.
Now, we could, using the excuse of protecting the precious resource.
The carriage entered the mine. It is so massive that I could see large areas housing camps at a distance. It is for thousands of miners who live and work here.
There is a lot of work here because of the crystal mines we have found, especially the Grade IV and new Grade V crystal loads.
The crystal load areas used to be inhabited by monsters, but now we are mining them for the crystals, with more than half of the crystals getting processed in the city.
My target is to make the entire processing local, and I am working toward it.
I have already made good progress, and if not for the constantly increasing production. The percentages would have been much higher.
Soon, we reached another check, and then another fifteen minutes later.
It's a good thing they have widened the mine; a month and a half ago, we needed to use the mine horses here, but now there is a rail that sends the mined ore directly to the collection point.
It was another forty minutes before we finally reached the destination.
"Lord Hardt, my lady," greeted the old man as he stopped by us. "Chief Aldridge," I replied.
Since the discovery of the Drelthar stone, the old man had spent most of his time in here. It was because of him that things could move so fast.
"Things seemed to be going well," I said.
What I meant is whether everything is under control. Until now, we have not let a foreign expert into the mine, but this time, we had no choice.
We don't want them to know that this is made artificially over thousands of years.
Drelthar is a magic-absorbing stone; it also absorbs force. Means spells and skills have a hard time dealing with it.
They affect it, but at a much lower power. It needs special expertise to mine.
So, the outside experts and tools are required.
These people we have brought in have experience working with magic-absorbing rocks and have specialized tools. They look like large grey silvery bars and small cubes, covered densely in runes.
Mage Aldridge and his people are keeping an eye on everything here, while also researching.
"They are doing well," he replied. That's when the runes on the cubes and large bars flared brightly, and a concentrated red beam came out of them.
The small cubes entered the walls, and minutes later, large, perfectly rectangular slabs of drelthar slid out of the walls onto ramps attached to the base of the walls and went directly into the carts.
"Incredible," Scala gasped. "It is, but it is also expensive," the old man replied, shaking his head.
I couldn't help but nod.
"If Drelthar's value isn't what we think it is, I wouldn't have paid such a massive price for their services," I replied.
The city is funding the whole thing, but I know it wouldn't have been possible to even get these tools and the experts here so quickly without Lord Silver.
"When will you be meeting the representative of the storm tower?" he asked.
There is a lot of interest in Drelthar; I have sent samples to over twenty places, and many more towers and construction firms have asked for them.
I have already met with three representatives of towers from the merchant states.
Magic absorption material is rare. Especially the one that also absorbs the force. Once the material's intricacies are understood and sufficient research is done, there will be a massive demand for it.
There is a huge demand even now, but we are not selling it.
Lord Silver had put a restriction on it. Currently, we are only mining it and storing it. The only place that may be using it is our own Mage Tower.
Thankfully, they will be paying the market price.
This is a precious material, and I have more uses for the money it will bring.
Until now, Panar had been known only for its mines, which are found in nearly every city in the region. It didn't have any unique identity, like Gailhorn or even Lauryl, aside from being a city of the Greltheaven Dominion.
Now, with drelthar stones, the city will have its own identity.
I could now use it to advertise the city, make deals, and do many other things that I could not before. It made me very excited about the future of Panar.
Though it's not without danger.
We did not know what would be behind this rock, before that, whether we would find any monsters, because when we did. They are going to be very strong.
They need to be strong to survive in the environment created by the Drelthar rocks.
It is why Colonel Uram and his people are permanently stationed in the mine. This is the best place for them, it's a huge mine with many spaces for them to train privately without enemies spying on them.
If we find monsters, they will not be enough, but we have General Azalia, and another Lv. 40 could come from Greltheaven if the need arises.
"With the pace we are mining, I should prepare another warehouse in a week," I said, but the old man shook his head.
"Soon, they will increase the speed of mining from tomorrow on. So, have it ready in five days." He stated, and I nodded with a big smile.
I waited for Scala to finish her talk with the experts; she is good at these things. Understand the technicalities better than I do.
So, I let her handle it.
"Done?" I asked after she returned. "Yes," she replied. Seeing that I walked back toward my carriage with her. I didn't want to leave, but there is a lot of work waiting for me at the city hall.
…
Count Viremont
I deactivated Noble's Expertise and put the bluish stone back on the table.
"It's good, possessing both magical and force absorption abilities," I said. "Great Mage Selvaron is already equalling its value, to myrvle," stated Kaus.
"He said, it will likely go higher, he is still looking at it," he added. It surprised me.
I am intimately familiar with myrvle. We used to mine it.
Unfortunately, my ancestors were not smart; they overmined it. The last of myrtle was mined when I was barely fifteen.
Even though it is a wasteland, it holds plenty of bounties. Grade VI crystals in Deerpond, Drelthar in Panar, farms in Lauryl, and not to mention Greltheaven," said Kaus.
"It has a bounty, but getting it wouldn't be easy," I replied.
Summerfield is rapidly recruiting; Zanav is helping his son strengthen his Calvary, while Silver has slowed recruiting, but he is strengthening his forces with training and armaments.
There are also the undead and Grimvale. I do not plan to touch either of those two until I establish myself in the region.
I looked at a map of Renwell and its cities, with small flags representing the minor nobles. Nobles of Nakar Forest, nobles of Grimvale's dominion.
Summerfield and Zanav are selling territories. Velaniel and Haldraven are also doing it, but through Grimvale because of their agreement.
The only one who had not sold, or was planning to sell, the territories was Silver. Many people inquired about it to him; I had even asked my people to do that, but the answer was a clear no.
It kind of surprised me.
The nobles are offering an immense amount of money to buy the wasteland territory so that they can maintain their noble class.
They would pay more to him than they would to Zanav or Summerfield because of his power, which offers stability, not to mention the other benefits like the legacy, but he declined.
"It is because of these bastards selling territories that we are having problems gathering nobles."
"They want to buy the territories simply. Instead of fighting for it," Kaus cursed.
Some of my noble allies and merchants had left me and bought territories. It is a little disappointing, but still within calculations.
Everything is moving according to the schedule. It could be said that I am ahead of it. I had succeeded in convincing a powerful consortium of merchants, which made things easier.
In less than half a year, I will be a merchant to Renwell, and before that, I have decided on one thing.
The city that I will attack first.
I was in my thoughts when I noticed Kaus' expression change, with his staff lighting up.
"They have moved," he informed. "Sound the horn," I replied and walked out of my tent. Just as I did, a loud horn rang across the camp.
I activated Stand To Arms, Supply Check, and Bloody Resolve.
As I moved, my men began to gather and get into formation. They are experienced and well-trained. It is not only my army, but also the army of nobles who allied with me, along with those belonging to a merchant consortium.
The former emperor had never let merchants keep such forces, but times have changed.
I am glad of it; they are the best money could buy, and I am using the front to train them into a unit. So when we reach Renwell, they will fight as one.
By the time I reached the front, my army had gathered behind me with their weapons unsheathed.
"After weeks of waiting, they are finally making a move," said Viscount Loxley, one of my most powerful allies—a bloodthirsty, but fine fighter.
"Follow the plan, Viscount. If we win it, I will not restrict you from having fun with the prisoner," I reminded, and the man grinned.
Like many nobles, Loxley has his peculiarities. They are on the darker side, but I am not here to judge.
As long as he follows the orders and succeeds. I don't care what he does.
"Don't worry, Count, I know what is important," he replied with a grin before looking ahead toward the enemy army that began to come into view.
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