Chapter 266 - Volume 3
Chapter 45 – Silver mines (6)
The morning at Graham’s mountain was a sky painted with desaturated purple and scant blue, and thin rays of light shot out from the horizon to pour onto the dense mountain forest— It was a picturesque view of vivid shapes.
But the time when workers went to work was even earlier than the break of dawn. Whistles sounded out when it was still dark.
The shimmering light from oil lamps lit up the shadows. Brendel and the others were called out of their camps to gather at the valley. He eyed the cross-like mining pick in his hand drowsily while he walked in the slightly chilled air due to the sun’s absence.
The coarsely made mining pick was about four feet long. It had undoubtedly served many users, as the wooden surface had been completely worn down till it was smooth, and the edges of the metallic blades were dull.
[I can’t believe I’m mining again.]
He had mined metal veins throughout the game in ancient ruins for quite a long time. He carefully inspected the rocks to extract ores and crystals from them and sold them at the market. Although he thought that it was an irksome and dull task now, he had endless motivation and fun back then to equip his character step-by-step, and it satisfied his mind immensely.
But he quickly came to the thought that it was done in a fake world and started to mock himself. When he was done thinking about the past, he looked up and carefully observed the crowd in front of him. He quickly discovered Jana, Scarlett and Medissa’s presence. They had evidently noticed the marks and clothes he left behind in the forest and were now disguised amongst the workers.
“…… It’s a valuable ore that’s mixed into a weapon as an alloy,” Brendel said slowly, “and raises the effectiveness in injuring monsters. A sword made out of pure Cold Iron has twice the effectiveness of an ordinary one, as an example.”
[It’s fine to give them more information. It’s free of charge to me, and I can win them over, especially when I still need their aid.]
“Kingdoms in Vaunte face monsters at any given time, so the demand for it is very high. These Cold Iron ores only exist alongside with silver or copper mines, as well as a few crystal mines, and their demand is high enough to cost as much as gold.”
Brendel’s explanation drew the youths’ attention. If they were able to mine out Cold Iron, secretly take a portion of it and sell to a suitable buyer, they would be able to attain unimaginable wealth.
It was not their first stint to smuggle out precious ores. In truth, the mines’ supervisors knew such deeds were ongoing, but since they reached their quota and the stealing attempts are few, they were lazy to investigate.