Episode 57
“Please drink it before it gets cold. This is the best tea I brought in with great care.”
“Oh! How sweet.”
Plums were a rare fruit in the Kingdom of Zenon. They were monopolized by a small number of powerful people, including the royal family and the dukedom. Serpens happened to obtain some of the fruit, pickled it in sugar, and made it into tea.
The well-aged plum tea was sweet and sour, making my mouth water.
“This is tea made from plums. It’s also good for digestion.”
“indeed!”
Zyleson was a nobleman who enjoyed tea ceremonies.
He turned to his maid, Mariam, and asked for a refill.
Mariam glanced at me.
It was a precious car so I couldn’t just give it away.
I tried hard to ignore Mariam and Jayson’s gaze.
“I’m going to say this with a sip of my coffee,” said Jayson.
“Anyway, it looks like a gold mine has been discovered.”
“Yes.”
“Wow, Hebron’s future looks very bright.”
I wish there was a gold mine in Hebron too.
If that had been the case, they would have taken over the surrounding territory in one fell swoop using the gold ore mined from the gold mine without having to manipulate information like they do now.
“Jayson will also see the light of Hebron, unless he turns his back on Hebron.”
Zielson did not respond. He accepted my advice and warning politely. After all, the Srein Count was a common enemy of Zielson and Hebron, so it was important to take him down first.
Instead of rising from his seat, Zyleson caressed his empty teacup and spoke softly.
“Ambrod de Gilson.”
“Yes, Viscount Jayleston.”
“I have high expectations for you.”
“thank you.”
“There’s something I forgot to give you.”
At Zielson’s gesture, his servant entered the reception room.
The servant held something wrapped in fine cloth in his hand.
As the servant untied the strings that bound the cloth, a jewel-encrusted sword appeared in its sheath, its elegant form revealed.
Even at first glance, it seemed like it was no ordinary sword. Even in the Duke of Braio’s household, items of that value were classified as treasures and treated with special care.
Ambrod immediately recognized the identity of the sword the servant handed him.
“I can’t accept this!”
“Isn’t your swordsmanship better than mine? You’ll be more likely to make Zyleson’s name known to the world than I will, but if I keep this instead of you, it’s just for decoration.”
“Your Majesty… … .”
Ambrod took the sword with trembling hands. At that moment, the energy flowing from the sword swept through Ambrod.
‘Is that… alive? It’s not an ordinary sword.’
I had never heard of such a famous sword in the House of Zailson. Judging from the reactions of the two men, it seemed like the sword had not seen the light of day for a long time.
And it seemed that in order for the sword’s abilities to be fully utilized, the user’s abilities had to follow suit.
‘It’s a weapon that is too much for Ambrod right now. I don’t think I could use it either.’
“Amb, you are my brother.”
“Yes, brother.”
One of them was dull and oblivious, the other was very reserved, but they were still good brothers.
Since Ambrod was my vassal, I didn’t mind being given a precious sword. No, it seemed like Hebron’s power would be greatly strengthened.
I asked the departing Viscount Jayleston one last question.
“What if a gold mine is discovered in Hebron? What if the reserves are greater than expected?”
“I will send an envoy immediately. If persuading them to develop the mine together doesn’t work, I will send a merchant to bring gold ore. I will have to refine it, process it, and sell it. Besides, there aren’t enough furnaces in Hebron to refine the abundant gold ore.”
“We are building large-scale facilities in each region. The contents inside are not disclosed, but the facilities will be able to accommodate from as few as 50 to as many as 100 people.”
In Hebron, various public facilities were being built, including a birth support center, a childcare support center, an academy, and a hospital. The purpose of the building was kept secret until the building was completed, and all sorts of rumors were created using this fact.
“That’s great. Does that mean there’s a way to utilize them?”
I laughed instead of answering. It meant that even if all plans go through in an instant, don’t be surprised or be wary of Hebron.
Hebron and Zayleson were neighbors separated by a cloud bridge, and to go from Hebron to Zerain, one had to go through Zayleson.
“I bet Srein is in trouble.”
“It’s still a matter of a distant territory. They are showing excessive interest, though. Even before that, when we publicly recruited workers, many workers from the Srein Viscounty flocked in. So we sent them to the wasteland.”
This time, it was Jayson who laughed. They had been hastily gathering their forces in anticipation of a civil war with Srein, but thanks to royal intervention, Jayson’s Viscounty regained peace.
If I could shake up Srein, the peace of Zielson would last longer. Perhaps this would be an opportunity for the Zielson family to expand their power.
Zyleson bowed his head to me in gratitude.
But I wasn’t the kind of person who would settle a debt with such formalities.
“Since you’ve come this far, could you grant me a favor?”
“Tell me anything.”
“I need a linden tree.”
The linden tree was the second most common tree on the Zielson estate, after the birch tree.
It was a hardy species that could even withstand the heat of the bissan tree, making it perfect for taking root in the humid and humid wasteland. It also produced edible fruit every summer, satisfying the hunger of the people before the crop harvest.
Jayson was speechless for a moment.
A look of admiration appeared on his face.
“I see. So you are planning to reclaim the wasteland. That is why you asked for workers, and that you are going to mine gold… …!”
When I shook my head, Zielson stopped talking. There was no use in saying such things out loud.
Even though they were concerned about security, there was magic in this world. High-level magic was so secretive that even I couldn’t detect it.
“I will pay the full price.”
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“If that vast land were to be covered in green… … .”
Zielson’s eyes wavered. He seemed to have imagined Hebron’s future. He seemed to be wondering whether Zielson could survive the explosive growth.
“Xenon’s territory will expand. It will be the first time in nearly a century.”
* * *
The rumor that gold had been discovered in the wastelands of Hebron spread like wildfire. The whispered rumor became the banquet of drunkards and the main topic of conversation in the barracks.
Hebron, Nurha, and Delgain saw an influx of foreigners. There were many who sat in taverns and listened as well as those who sought employment.
Hebron’s soldiers watched them in plain clothes, trying to figure out how they could pass on information without actually touching them.
“I don’t know for sure, but it seems like there’s a huge amount of gold buried there. I saw a pile of gold ore on one side, and it looked like it could fill ten wagons. They say that ten wagons from the top of the serpentine went back and forth across the wasteland every day.”
When a man drunk on cheap beer started talking about gold mining, the other guests kept quiet as if they had made a promise.
The man’s words were picked up by another man. The two of them, as if they had made up their minds, spoke in a clear voice, revealing the secret story of the gold mine.
“My nephew works at the top of the serpentine. I heard from him that from now on, they’re going to be mobilizing all 25 of the top’s wagons.”
“There was a gold mine in the abandoned land. The Viscount Hebron must be a great man. How did he find out about it?”
“I heard you hired a spirit master.”
Another man approached, holding a wooden mug of beer that clanked, and joined the conversation.
“No, you said that your Majesty summoned the spirit himself?”
“Your Majesty, you command the spirit of fire? Can the spirit of fire see into the ground?”
“They say you can summon fire spirits and earth spirits at the same time!”
“Oh!”
“It’s only a matter of time before Hebron becomes a big city. Shouldn’t we apply as workers?”
“They said they would give me 1 gold every three months.”
“Considering the character of the Count of Hebron, I think he will give you a big share later. He really cares about the people of Yeongji.”
“Oh, that’s right. My daughter recently gave birth to a daughter, and the midwife from Yeongji helped with the birth. After a while, the doctor came to visit… … .”
The story the men were telling reached several pairs of ears. Some of them got up from their seats, and others followed those who got up.
* * *
The number of workers dispatched to the wasteland exceeded 300. Not all of them were involved in the development of the gold mine. Most of them gathered in the wasteland adjacent to Hebron and planted lychee trees. The lychee trees airlifted from Zyleson were saplings that were about 2 meters tall, and when fully grown, they grew to be over 10 meters tall. If you use the ancient special fertilizer mixed with magic, the lychee trees will grow differently every day.
As one group of workers dug the ground, another group of workers followed, planted seedlings, and covered them with soil. Then the children came and watered the seedlings.
The yellow-haired man who was digging the ground in the lead spoke quietly to the person next to him.
“Why do you plant trees?”
“They said they were building a village nearby.”
“village?”
“We’ll be mining gold for the next few decades, so shouldn’t we at least build a village?”
“Well, that’s amazing. Trying to turn a wasteland into a forest.”
The two quickly shut their mouths and swung their pickaxes and shovels.
It was because the supervisor approached.
The supervisor pointed to two people in the lead group.
“You and you follow me.”
As the overseer and two workers departed deep into the wasteland, the workers began to chatter.
“Aren’t those guys the ones who fought and got into fights yesterday? Where are they going?”
“It must be a gold mine. That would be great. I heard that those who are summoned get double their wages.”
“Then what’s the point? I’ll live without even seeing the sunlight.”
“fizzle!”
There was a rustling of the wind, and a heavy silence settled over the workers. They dug the ground and planted seedlings, keeping an eye on me.
The greeting was omitted because of my orders to work to save time.
When I arrived at the site, construction supervisor Baryan met me. The Rainbow Bridge he had designed was in full swing, but I left that work to the field workers. I gave Baryan a more important task.
“How is the work on clearing the waterway going?”
“I think we have enough manpower. For now, we plan to dig the ground to create a waterway and then burst the dam to let the water flow.”
A waterway was being built through the wasteland south of Hebron. The original plan was to provide water for the wasteland villages.
“Can’t we float the boat?”
“yes?”
Baryan looked at me in surprise.
“I wish we could launch a transport ship and transport the supplies.”
“That, that scale is a major project to build a river!”
Money began to accumulate in Hebron.
The fashion brand Hebron’s revenues were greater than the barony’s taxes, and with the construction of a safe trade route connecting Zyleson and Hebron, taxes had increased significantly. Add to this the money extracted from Nurha, Biskin, and Delgain, and it was possible to carry out large-scale business without difficulty.
“Why? Are you not confident?”
“Because it’s something I’ve never done before… … .”
Baryan’s reaction was natural.
If he had taken on this job without thinking, even though he had the opportunity, I would have felt uncomfortable.
I handed Baryan three books.
It was a book that contained knowledge related to water management, not just about making waterways, but also about controlling water depth and bringing in water for irrigation.
Since most of the content was administrative, there was a limitation in inferring the actual construction method based on this.
“I’ll let you study as you go along to make up for your shortcomings. Do you think you can do that much?”
“I will do my best!”
