Let Us Prosper
“Come now, bring everything inside!”
“This way! Park the wagons over here!”
Beneath a clear, cloudless sky, several wagons laden with goods entered the castle courtyard one after another.
“Now this place might finally become livable. Is this pile of stones at last going to become a proper home?”
“I had no idea Griffon feathers were worth so much. Plucking every last one was hard work, but it was well worth the effort. Ha ha ha!”
Wilhelm and the other servants welcomed the procession with broad smiles. It was a truly gratifying sight.
‘Food, clothing, furniture, tools….’
Standing at the entrance and watching the workers unload the supplies from the wagons, I found it difficult to suppress a smile. We had purchased everything with the money earned from selling the materials harvested from the monsters we had slain several days earlier.
There were also livestock such as pigs and chickens, along with a large packhorse. With this, we had secured nearly everything the eleven people living in the castle needed to survive for the immediate future.
[Territory - Bricks Manor]
[Lord: Dieter Vermont]
[Population: 11]
[Development Level: Deplorable]
[Defense Level: Feeble]
The Status Window displayed a general overview of the territory. The castle was still little more than a ruin, while the manor’s fields remained abandoned and overgrown with weeds, so its assessment was not inaccurate.
However, now that the necessary supplies had arrived, the situation would begin to change. This was the first step toward transforming the abandoned land of Bricks into a prosperous territory.
“We were fortunate. A merchant who deals in monster materials happened to be staying in a southern city called Zilvergard. He also offered us a fairly generous price.”
“Indeed.”
I answered Hakon, who stood a short distance away, and turned my gaze toward the weed-choked manor and the forest beyond it.
Someday, we would have to expand the territory into that forest. There were no particularly dangerous monsters in the immediate area, so it should be possible.
However, that was a matter for the future. Before expanding the territory, there was something more pressing to consider.
“We still have a long way to go. It seems we will need a great deal more before this place can become a respectable territory.”
“That is true. Even if we begin clearing the surrounding fields and planting crops immediately, we will not reap a harvest until next year. We need a source of income to sustain the manor until then.”
For the time being, we could survive on the food we had purchased and whatever the livestock produced. However, developing the territory in the long term would require far more.
Above all, I had only ten people under my command, including Hakon. The greatest problem was our severe shortage of labor.
If we lacked workers, we at least needed enough money to hire them. Unfortunately, we had spent everything earned from selling the monster materials on the supplies before us.
“Then again, it is not as though we have no source of income whatsoever.”
I added those words while looking at Hakon.
As perceptive as ever, he immediately frowned.
“So it comes down to hunting monsters again?”
“We now have a merchant willing to purchase monster materials, which means we have secured a buyer. He also asked us to visit him again. I believe another Griffon hunt would be worth attempting.”
“Haah….”
“Something like that Drake will not appear again. You know as well as I do that monsters rarely leave their own territories in that manner.”
“We can only hope so. Even when my time comes, I would rather not die as monster fodder.”
Hakon furrowed his brow, apparently horrified by the memory alone. It was an understandable reaction, considering how close he had come to dying during our battle with the Drake.
“So, am I accompanying you again?”
“Why? Do you not want to?”
“Why would I?”
“Try to think positively. Should our monster hunts succeed and the territory develop, something good may come of it for you as well.”
“That sounds suspiciously like an attempt to win me over.”
“Does it? Either way, consider it carefully. Perhaps I will grant you a territory of your own someday. That would be quite an achievement for a knight in name only who does not possess so much as a plot of land or a single horse.”
Hakon’s expression hardened at my blatant remark, and one of his eyebrows twitched.
It was precisely the reaction I had expected. Since my words had clearly affected him, there was value in provoking him a little further.
“Come to think of it, your circumstances are rather unfortunate. My late father knighted you despite your origins as a mercenary, yet you were always treated as an outsider because you were born a commoner. Eventually, the other knights even framed you, and you were punished by having all your property confiscated… only to be driven out here with me to a remote backwater little different from exile.”
“Are you attempting to insult me? Even if you are my lord, I believe those words go too far.”
Hakon spoke in an icy voice. Anger smoldered openly in the eyes glaring at me.
In truth, had I been in Oskar’s position, I would also have chosen Hakon for this assignment. He was an isolated outsider among the knights and possessed nothing of his own. Promise him a modest fief sufficient to live on, and he would likely follow any order without complaint.
‘Something of that nature must have passed between them. That means Hakon cannot be sincerely loyal to Oskar. If I handle this properly, I may be able to bring him over to my side.’
I had considered the possibility from the moment I learned that Hakon would accompany me to Bricks.
Whether I liked him or not, we were destined to remain together. It would be far better to win his genuine loyalty.
“I apologize if I offended you. However, I am saying this for your sake. I do not know what Brother Oskar promised you, but would it not be better to pledge your loyalty to me, who stands before you now, and receive a definite reward rather than rely upon a promise that may never be fulfilled?”
“……”
“Think about it… Ah, it appears the delivery from the smithy has arrived.”
A group of young men had entered the courtyard, pulling a wagon behind them. They appeared to be apprentices from the smithy. They removed the items from the wagon and handed them to me.
“Here they are, my lord!”
“Our master was delighted to work with such valuable materials for the first time in years! He also asked us to tell you that you should return whenever you require another weapon.”
“Very well. You have done good work. Give your master my thanks.”
The apprentices departed with their empty wagon.
Hakon stared at the items they had delivered for a moment before speaking bluntly.
“Did you commission those when we visited the city?”
“Yes. The merchant said it would be difficult to sell the Drake’s bones and scales quickly. In that case, I decided it would be better to use them myself.”
“So you intended to begin hunting monsters in earnest from the very beginning. That much is obvious, considering you even had weapons and equipment made.”
I picked up a shield made from interwoven, rocklike scales, followed by a mace whose handle had been fashioned from a processed bone.
Anyone could tell at a glance that they had been crafted from monster materials.
[A Kite Shield made by binding together the Drake’s hardened scales. It appears highly resistant to breaking and should provide formidable protection.]
[A mace made from a processed Drake leg bone and a metal mace head. It appears capable of easily crushing even sturdy armor.]
I had commissioned them from a smithy in the southern trading city. The blacksmith must have been quite skilled, as he had completed them sooner than expected. I was grateful for his swift work.
“There is no other choice. We have very few ways to earn money at present… In any case, I am going for a brief walk, Hakon.”
“Again? You certainly are fond of these walks.”
“It will not take as long as last time. I am not going anywhere dangerous, so you need not worry.”
“I see. A walk while dressed like that… Are you certain you did not mean to say that you were going to war?”
Hakon looked me up and down as he spoke disapprovingly.
With my leather armor, Drake-scale shield, and mace, I hardly looked like someone preparing for a leisurely stroll.
“You should at least tell me where you are going. My fundamental duty is to protect you, my lord.”
“Follow me if you are curious. That is not an order.”
I slung the shield across my back and turned away.
I did not intend to hunt monsters immediately.
Instead, I planned to investigate a location marked by a small arrow on the Minimap.
Hakon accompanied me once again, using the protection of my person as his excuse.
However, the moment we reached our destination, his attitude changed completely.
“Do you truly intend to enter this place without knowing what lies inside?”
“At the very least, there should not be a starving Drake in there.”
“To my eyes, it looks like the perfect lair for a monster of comparable size.”
Hakon glared at the cave before us with a deeply troubled expression.
The cave yawned like a dark mouth beneath a cliff in the forest. Its ominous atmosphere made it appear entirely suitable as the lair of a large monster, just as Hakon had said.
“I will wait here. Since you assured me that this would not be dangerous, I trust you will return safely.”
So, although he was willing to monitor my every movement, he had no intention of exposing himself to an unknown danger.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Do as you please. Wait here.”
After lighting a torch, I entered the cave.
Darkness soon surrounded me, and only the sound of my own footsteps reached my ears.
Unlike Ragna’s Tomb, the ground was uneven, the air was damp, and a peculiar odor lingered within. No one had entered this place for thousands of years. It was effectively no different from a natural cave, so that was only to be expected.
‘The map said this was a mine that produced iron, did it not?’
Recalling the information marked on the map I had brought from Ragna’s Tomb, I opened the Status Window to confirm it.
[Ragna’s Tip]
[Location - Bricks Mine Entrance A]
[One of the entrances to a mine that once produced iron and various other metals. However, accidents occur frequently because of the monsters that continue to appear, so it may be closed in the future.]
My purpose in coming here was to explore the mine.
If any deposits remained, we might be able to resume mining operations in the future.
STEP, STEP.
I continued into the darkness, accompanied by the sound of my footsteps.
Although I had already walked a considerable distance, it was fortunate that I could not hear running water.
‘I was worried that groundwater might have leaked in and flooded the tunnels. This is a relief.’
After walking a little farther, I emerged into a wide, open cavern.
There, I finally found what I had been searching for.
‘An ore vein.’
The cavern’s walls glittered in the torchlight, shining out of the surrounding darkness. They contained veins of iron and various other metals.
Even at a glance, the deposits appeared considerable. The mine had clearly not been abandoned because its reserves were exhausted.
A mine of this scale could provide enough income to transform Bricks into a flourishing territory.
However, we had neither the workers nor the equipment needed to begin mining immediately. Its development would have to wait until later.
‘I should keep this secret for now. If word spreads that there is a mine here, it may attract unwanted attention.’
Having reached that conclusion, I turned toward the entrance to leave.
RUMBLE!
With a deafening roar, the ground suddenly collapsed beneath me and crumbled away.
Before I could react, I plunged into the darkness below.
“Aaargh!”
My own scream and the wind rushing across my body were all I could perceive.