Two weeks had passed.
The discovery of the mithril and iron mines had not only kept Hugo busy but also the rest of the household.
Despite the increased workload, Hugo’s face was beaming with joy, while others were on the verge of collapse.
The sudden surge in work was overwhelming.
‘Did I dig my own grave?’
And the one who suffered the most from this was Ian.
Since it was Ian who had proposed the exploration of the uncharted territory, he was now in charge of matters related to it.
It was a necessary task, but he couldn’t help feeling a pang of regret.
‘Just a little more, and today’s work will be done.’
Ian had planned to lock himself in his room and rest once the work was finished, but…
“Young Master! Please review these documents.”
“Ugh!”
Jurdan brought back the documents Ian had already approved, adding more to his workload.
Jurdan smirked at Ian’s exasperation and went about his own tasks.
‘That guy. He’s definitely enjoying my suffering.’
Ian gritted his teeth inwardly.
‘Once I get used to this, just you wait. I’ll bury you in so much work you’ll be begging for mercy!’
Vowing petty revenge, Ian went back to reviewing the documents.
As Ian was going through the documents again, Hugo approached him.
“You’ve worked hard. Care to join me for a cup of tea?”
“Yes. But I’ll have a cold drink, please.”
“Alright, understood.”
Hugo was served warm tea, while Ian received a refreshing cold drink.
“Ian, we don’t have the manpower or financial resources to develop the mines.”
“Well, that’s to be expected.”
Ian was well aware.
‘If we had repelled all the hostile territories and reclaimed the original Shrantz lands, we might have managed.’
But with a small territory consisting of two villages and one small town, and a population of only 3,000, it was impossible.
“First, we could hire those who’ve lost their jobs in Vilcen and send them there. What do you think?”
“That sounds good. But we’ll still be short on manpower.”
Ian nodded in agreement.
Still, they needed to allocate as much manpower as possible to develop the mines.
The land was too valuable to leave idle.
“Then let’s seek investment.”
In the end, the best solution given the current state of the territory was to seek investment and support from other families.
“Yes, I was thinking the same.”
With insufficient funds, they couldn’t do it alone, and seeking investment was the only way.
Knock knock!
“My lord, are you inside?”
Jurdan’s voice came from outside the office, accompanied by a knock.
“Yes, I’m here. Come in.”
Ian worried that Jurdan might be bringing another stack of documents to add to his workload, but…
Fortunately, Jurdan wasn’t carrying any documents.
“What is it?”
“Someone from the Endran Duchy has arrived.”
“From the Endran Duchy?”
“Yes, they wish to discuss the resources discovered in the uncharted territory.”
It seemed the Endran Duchy had heard the news and sent someone immediately.
Ian and Hugo exchanged smiles.
Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.
“The mine development has officially begun.”
Hugo’s face was radiant with joy.
Ever since the Endran Duchy had come and successfully negotiated, he had been in high spirits.
The constant worries that had always lingered on Hugo’s face had finally eased.
The most urgent issues—manpower and development costs—had been resolved in one fell swoop.
The Endran Duchy had made a tremendous investment.
They agreed to send a large number of workers needed for the mine development and cover half of the development costs.
‘Of course, since we don’t have the funds right now, it’s practically like they’re covering everything.’
The remaining half of the costs were to be covered by the Schrantz family as debt.
Since the terms were favourable, the burden wouldn’t be too heavy.
The short-term development costs were enormous, but…
Once mining operations began in earnest, they could repay the debt within a few years.
‘It’s a shame they’re taking half of the mining rights, but there’s nothing we can do.’
Without immediate funds, they couldn’t even start the project.
‘We need to develop the mines as quickly as possible to advance the territory!’
Ian dreamed of a brighter future as he shared this joy with Hugo.
“Ian.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you so much. If you hadn’t suggested exploring the uncharted territory, we might have missed this golden opportunity.”
“I only proposed the idea. It wouldn’t have been possible without your approval.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
Hugo then shifted to a more serious topic.
“None of the neighbouring territories have come forward to invest. What do you think about that?”
The lords who had formed the Great Schrantz Alliance.
Hugo had considered accepting some investments to create a rift among them.
But none of them had come forward to invest.
“They’re waiting for an opportunity to strike Schrantz.”
Ian had also given up hope of causing a rift in the Great Schrantz Alliance.
‘If we could have caused a rift and made even one of them withdraw from the alliance, it would have been easier.’
The fact that no one came meant that the future remained unchanged.
‘Then we have no choice but to fight.’
Even without this, they had planned to face them in battle.
That’s why they were preparing in advance.
“This is all the karma of our family. Who can we blame?”
“……”
Ian nodded in agreement.
‘Those ancestors lived well and left their descendants to suffer. How selfish.’
Ian sighed quietly.
“If they find a reason to attack us and come, what do you plan to do?”
As if he didn’t know.
“Of course, we’ll fight back. We’ll crush them and reclaim Schrantz’s former lands.”
“Good, I knew you’d say that. That’s my son. Hubert shares your resolve, so I’m at ease.”
Given what Ian had shown so far, Hugo looked at him with more trust than anyone else.
Having achieved remarkable feats in monster subjugation, Hugo believed Ian would handle any situation well.
Knock knock!
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
“My lord, urgent news from the frontier village.”
It was Jurdan.
“From the frontier village? Come in.”
With Hugo’s permission, Jurdan entered and approached him.
“What’s the urgent news?”
“Strange rumors are spreading among the workers in the frontier village, causing unrest.”
“Strange rumors?”
What kind of rumors could be causing such unrest?
“Could it be the Greenskins again?”
Hugo first thought of the Greenskins. It had been about four months since they were defeated, so it was possible.
But Jurdan shook his head.
“No, it’s not that. They say there’s a ghost in the frontier village.”
“……Huh?”
Hugo looked at Jurdan with a face that said, “What nonsense is this?”
“Oh my!”
Ian suddenly shouted and jumped up from his seat.
Hugo and Jurdan were startled and looked at him in confusion.
“Please send me to the frontier village!”
“Huh? What?”
“I want to find that ghost!”
Hugo was baffled by Ian’s sudden enthusiasm, but Ian didn’t seem to care.
For some reason, Ian looked incredibly excited.
“I’ll handle this well too! Please, let me go!”
“Uh, alright. Go ahead.”
Caught off guard by Ian’s sudden insistence, Hugo found himself agreeing.
Then, a message appeared before Ian’s eyes.
<A Ghost Has Appeared!>
Objective: Uncover the identity of the ghost.
—Rumors of a ghost appearing in the frontier village are spreading. Quickly identify the ghost and resolve the issue.
Reward: ?
A quest had appeared before Ian for the first time in a while.
“Then I’ll prepare right away!”
“Right now?”
“Yes!”
“Ah, alright. Go ahead and make sure to handle the villagers’ concerns well.”
“Leave it to me!”
With a face full of enthusiasm, Ian immediately dashed out of the office.
Jurdan stared at the door Ian had just exited through, lost in thought.
‘Did he just ask to be sent away because he hates working?
The winters in Schrantz were known to be some of the coldest in the empire.
Especially Vilcen, which was the coldest region in Schrantz, but the newly developed area was even colder than Vilcen.
‘I’m going to freeze to death.’
Thanks to the biting cold, Ian was sniffling as he rode his horse toward the frontier village.
Accompanying Ian were six knights, including Oswald and Dwayne.
“Just a little longer, young master. Once we cross that hill over there, you’ll see the frontier village.”
It was Dwayne who spoke up from beside him.
Being familiar with Vilcen and the surrounding uncharted territory, Dwayne had taken on the role of guide.
If they hadn’t brought him along, they would have gotten lost multiple times in this barren wilderness where no proper roads had been built yet.
Ian quietly observed Dwayne.
Dwayne had become quite skilled at riding horses.
Rumor had it that he was now practicing shooting arrows while on horseback.
‘Although his accuracy drops significantly when shooting from horseback.’
But that was only because he was still inexperienced.
With enough practice, he would eventually achieve perfect accuracy even while riding.
This was a problem that time would solve, so Ian decided not to worry too much about it.
“Is something wrong? Do you have any orders for me?”
Noticing Ian staring at him, Dwayne politely asked if there was something he needed to say.
Ian shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
“You said we had about 30 minutes left earlier. How much longer now?”
“We’re almost there. Just cross that hill, and you’ll see the frontier village.”
Dwayne pointed to a small hill in the distance.
Just as he said, once they crossed the hill, they saw numerous tents and buildings under construction in the middle of the wilderness.
As they descended the hill, a crowd of people began cheering loudly for Ian.
“It seems like a crowd has gathered to welcome you, young master.”
“Oh, how embarrassing.”
Though he pretended to be shy, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Ian urged his horse forward, and as he reached the entrance of the village, the cheers grew even louder.
“Wahhh!”
“Long live Young Master Ian! Long live! Long, long live!”
“I recognize most of these faces.”
Seeing so many familiar faces, Ian realized they were the villagers from Vilcen who had fought alongside him.
The villagers from Vilcen had witnessed firsthand how Ian had fought for them.
They knew how much he had suffered for their sake, so it was only natural for them to welcome him so enthusiastically.
Moreover, after securing investment from the Endran Duchy, Ian had prioritized hiring people from Vilcen and paid them decent wages.
There was no reason for them to dislike Ian, who had protected their homes and livelihoods and continued to care for them until the end.
“Welcome, young master. We’ve been waiting for you.”
As Ian arrived at the entrance, a middle-aged man approached him.
“And you are?”
“Ah, my apologies. I am the village chief of this frontier village. I’m from Vilcen. I can’t tell you how reassured we are now that you’re here.”
“Then I must live up to your expectations. I hear there’s a ghost in the frontier village? Tell everyone not to worry and to focus on their work. I’ll bring you good news within a few days.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
“Long live Young Master Ian! Long live! Long, long live!!”
The villagers cheered at Ian’s confident response.
As he listened to their cheers, Ian turned to Dwayne.
“Dwayne. You used to be a hunter, right? I’ve got a job for you.”
“What is it?”
Ian grinned mischievously.
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