Episode 30: The reason why the Tethron family resorted to force and started a territorial war.
In the previous life, the reason was revealed only about a year after the territory battle ended.
At that point, gold began to be exported from Tethron territory.
The source was a newly built mine on a hill that was originally McLane territory.
With that alone, Thesron in his previous life was able to develop a power that surpassed that of an ordinary count family.
Until the family was massacred by Ronian McLane, a vengeful Auror user.
It is unknown how Harman Tethron discovered the gold vein in his past life, and Logan has not been able to confirm the process in his current life.
When they occupied Tethron Castle, they only discovered a group of self-proclaimed mining experts in the dungeon.
– We are not guilty! We just extracted gold from the ore brought by Viscount Thethron as requested, but that ruthless noble has imprisoned us here!
Whatever the process, it meant that Harman Thethron had discovered a vein of gold, and Logan knew its location.
So what does he need?
“Only engineers who will build mines and mine gold.”
It was difficult to find someone with mining-related expertise who was not just a miner.
But that difficult task had already been done by Harman Tethron.
Logan simply promised them a little more money than Harman Tethron, and the deal was quickly closed.
“Let’s go check it out first.”
Logan, Hamar, and the five mining experts moved without delay and rode for half a day toward the west.
And of course, the place they arrived was the mountain that Logan received as a reward.
* * *
“Now, there is a vein of gold on the side of this mountain. We want to dig it up and build a mine. How much do you think the estimate will be?”
When Logan looked back and asked as if it was no big deal, everyone who was listening made bewildered expressions.
“Are you sure there is a vein of gold?”
“Even if we don’t, we need to know how much reserves there are…”
“Construction costs also vary depending on the depth of the stratum.”
“The location of the mine is also different.”
“In some cases, it may cost tens of times more…”
As soon as the topic of his specialty was mentioned, all kinds of opinions immediately poured in.
And in the end, what they all wanted to say was the same.
– How can you be sure that there is a vein of gold here, and even if you are sure, you have to dig to find out whether it will actually turn out to be worth money. What is the basis?
However, Logan’s answer to that was simple and vain.
“I’m sure. I saw it. Definitely dig it.”
The impressions of the five mining experts, who had been promised over 1,000 gold per month for each of them at a ridiculous price, and the dwarves, who had to do their best with no pay, were both frowned upon.
* * * Because secrecy had to be kept, the drilling work had to be carried out by Hamar and a total of six mining experts.
Naturally, the reaction of the parties involved was not good.
“Drilling with six people?”
“Who are you going to kill…”
“No matter how many dwarves there are…”
Moreover, since they did not trust Logan’s words in the first place, the work speed was bound to be slow.
But….
not long after, after discovering a tunnel that had already been drilled in the ground, probably by Harman Tethron, the work became as easy as a lie.
Just fifteen days later, a small amount of gold was extracted from the ore dug by only six miners(?).
They immediately calculated the budget output and all agreed.
– At least 10 tons of gold can be mined per year, and reserves cannot be measured.
Only after hearing that news was Logan able to fully cheer.
“More than 100 grams of gold can be extracted from 1 ton of ore. With this level of purity, there is a high probability that there are lumps of gold buried deep in the ground!”
“100 for 1 ton…? That’s also a gram?”
“Usually, even 30g is a highly profitable mine!”
Everything was better than expected, but it cost a little more than expected.
“The initial investment cost will be high. At the minimum, it should be 5 million gold.”
It was an amount that included all extraction equipment to inject gold from ore, manpower to dig up the blast furnace shaft, support and stepping stones, and transportation equipment.
If a territory had many serfs or slaves, money could be saved by deploying them.
However, this was not possible due to the nature of McLane territory, where most of the people were free people, so if you wanted to use manpower, you had to spend more money.
“Master. The family probably doesn’t have any money right now. Why don’t we reveal the truth to other noble families or higher-ups and receive investment?”
Hamar’s opinion seemed reasonable to anyone who heard it.
The mining experts next to him also nodded, but Logan flatly refused.
“Let someone else dig into the gold mine on my land? No!”
“…Then what are you going to do?”
“I have that much money.”
“Huh? What…”
It was a large amount of money that could not possibly be found in a borderland like McLane.
Although the listeners were shocked by the absurd boast, Logan’s expression was confident.
Because he had something to believe in.
* * * Clack.
Grumble.
When the personal safe was opened, each of the dazzling jewels showed off its light and welcomed its owner.
They were enormous jewels that did not fit into the safe of the son’s room, neither in a territory on the border nor as the head of the family.
Logan felt the corners of his mouth rise as he looked at the jewels.
“It’s a good thing I took care of it.”
These jewels were the precious metals that Harman Tethron was trying to carry.
Because they expected development of the mine, they were not killed and extorted, but were kept for the greater good.
I still wonder why Harman Tethron had so many jewels.
“I am grateful.”
Due to the excessive amount of jewels, even though precious metals worth 4 million gold were stolen, it was not noticed.
“Use it, but it’s a bit of a shame that I have to use up almost all of it.”
Not only these gems but also most of the existing money had to be poured into mining development.
– If you’re willing to replace people and dig a tunnel with blood, you can save about 2 million… do you want to do it?
If you do that, I will no longer see you as a human being.
Of course, Logan waved his hand at Hamar, who gave him a look filled with such thoughts.
Although I did not want to develop the mine to that extent, there were also reasons why I should not do it.
Conscience and moral issues were also a problem, but it was difficult to undermine one’s public reputation in order to make money for the future.
‘The key is the war with the empire. It cannot be overcome by the combined efforts of nobles alone.’
Whether you become a small variable or a focal point, you ultimately have to gather the strength of the entire country.
So now was the time to pay attention to external opinions.
…With that determination, I entrusted the disposal of precious metals and mine development.
“In order to enable stable mine development, we must pay utmost attention to safety from the time the initial tunnel is drilled. It will take some time, so please be patient.”
According to Hamar, the preparation period alone took half a year.
Even after that, another half a year was needed for profitable mining to begin in earnest.
‘okay. Tesron also took a year. ‘I was guessing.’
I tried to console myself with that thought, but when I thought that the money I could use immediately was almost gone, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
After passing the Battle of Territory and feeling a little less burdened, I felt impatience again.
“If you mine for just one year, you will see dozens of times the profit. You can’t give up.”
In one year of full-scale mining, 10 tons of gold can be mined. Even at a rough estimate, it was a huge amount of money, probably around 100 million gold.
So I had no choice but to invest.
However, funds were needed to increase the power of the territory until a mine was developed to replace the money immediately being lost.
‘Ah… if only I could have sold it now…’
The meat of Karok, another weapon he had, was still intact.
However, I had to wait until next year to sell it.
This was the time it took for the neutralizer to come out this summer, for Karok meat to become edible, for the rumor to spread, and for it to expand.
From then on, until the civil war started, we sold like crazy for half a year, and if we didn’t have enough money, we also sold it to the empire…
“Hmm? Is there a need to just wait?”
As I continued to think about it, I realized that I was missing something.
The neutralizer that will be released in the summer has been used countless times during my mercenary career, so I was able to make it myself.
The only problem is that it requires a bit more quantity.
‘Then make it yourself…’
A flash of inspiration suggested a new path.
It felt like I saw a bright light in front of me.
* * * The five mining experts and Hamar were asked to thoroughly crack down on participation.
I don’t know about Hamar, but the mine 5 people were unreliable, so I had to spend a huge sum of 50,000 gold and write a magic contract.
They promised a relatively large amount of compensation to the residents recruited for the initial development, and even built barracks to provide them with lodging.
As the money was being taken away, Logan’s heart became anxious.
‘What if something goes wrong? Just wait until the rumor spreads like it did in your past life?’
Every time I had that thought, I beat myself up.
‘There is no problem that can be solved by waiting a while. ‘I’ll try it whether it works or not!’
Logan gritted his teeth to tighten his slightly relaxed heart again.
[News of the outbreak of war and news of its end came here at the same time. I’m glad you’re safe… Why are you looking like that?]
“No, it’s nothing. Nothing special happened?”
[The work you entrusted to us is progressing without any problems. Now that Karok’s meat is being collected in earnest, you will be able to receive a large quantity soon.]
Philip’s face, seen through the communication port, was blurred, but a confident expression was visible.
“Well, I’ll trust you and leave that to you. And I have a request to make.”
[Say.]
“From now on, buy the medicinal herbs I am talking about and send them to McLane Manor. Evening Primrose, Plot Herb, and Ricky Grass. A total of 500kg in equal proportions will be enough.”
[yes? Why those cheap herbs?]
“Do what you have to do. You’ll find out soon enough.
[Sigh. It’s true every time…]
“Did you write down what I said? Is it okay to cut off communication?”
[No. At least tell me the reason!]
“It’s noisy! I can’t waste time explaining expensive magic communications. I’ll meet you later and explain why.”
[I understand.]
“Okay. If anything happens, request communication with these coordinates. It’ll be okay because
you got permission from the family.” [As expected, your reputation has improved…]
Snap.
Jijijik.
“At least listen to what I say to the end….”
Dwayne, who was listening, clicked his tongue, but Logan didn’t even flinch. .
“There’s no need to listen to the obvious through magic communication that costs 1 gold per second.”
“Heh heh. Confucius, you have a lot of money, so why are you making such
a fuss ?” “I’m a total loser right now and I’m so nervous.”
“Yes?”
“No matter how much money I have, it’s not enough. The future is uncertain.”
“…Huh?”
Dwayne was speechless at the words of Logan, the richest man in the McLane territory in terms of personal wealth, officially estimated to have over 1 million gold.
A week later.
The herbs sent from Kyle began piling up in the warehouse of the southern villa,
and Logan immediately began making a neutralizer.
* * *
“What are you making?”
“It’s noisy. Just do it if you want to.”
“No, you have to explain the reason and make it work…”
“Because I’m not trying to use bad drugs like in the past. Don’t worry, just do it. “Am I doing anything useless these days?”
“…That’s right, but.”
Rick’s sullen expression eased a little at those words.
He felt that he was still worried about going astray, so he smiled bitterly, but the person he could trust right now other than Rick came to mind. There was none.
Logan and Rick ground the three herbs in equal proportions and put them in a wooden barrel.
Then, they mixed it with about half of the water and stored it in a corner of the warehouse where the sunlight does not enter.
Meanwhile, the huge amount that Philip had mentioned was Entered McLane territory.
