The next morning, Phield sat up on the bed with bleary eyes, his entire body aching. The mont he moved slightly, a sharp pain shot through his back, making him suck in a breath.
"Hiss... Ashina, you seriously need to trim your nails."
"Fufu~ at... tasty... fufu~ Phield tastes good too."
Ashina had curled herself into a ball, hugging her fluffy white wolf tail while sleeping soundly. Occasionally, she smacked her lips or twitched her ears. Though she had only just co of age, all the places that were supposed to develop certainly had not fallen behind.
Carefully pulling the thin blanket over her, Phield straightened his clothes and quietly pushed open the door of the temporary cabin.
"Good morning, Phield. Your breakfast is ready."
Tisiana stood by the campfire, frying a piece of bread while preparing black tea. Yet her expression looked strange. If Phield had to describe it, it was sothing between awkward and murderous. On top of that, she had switched to a long dress again, and not just any long dress, but the most village-wife-looking one imaginable.
"So, how did you sleep last night?" Tisiana narrowed her eyes.
"Pretty normal, I guess. Ashina and I were discussing the future developnt plans for the outpost, and the discussion ran a little late." Phield silently sipped his tea. The slightly bitter taste instantly cleared his mind. "What about you?"
"Terribly, my lord. Didn’t you think your discussion was way too loud? Every ti I patrolled past, I could hear you two discussing things."
For so reason, Tisiana sounded genuinely aggrieved.
Phield awkwardly grinned. "Don’t be mad. Ashina’s been working outside for so long, so of course I had to take proper care of her. Next ti, we’ll include you in the discussion."
"What kind of nonsense is that?! You absolutely didn’t need to add that last sentence!" Tisiana nearly lost composure on the spot, her face instantly turning bright red as she protested. "Absolutely not."
"Alright, back to serious matters. What do you think the outpost still needs?"
The mont the topic shifted to territorial developnt, Phield dropped his playful attitude. Holding his teacup elegantly, he observed the outpost that was still in its infancy.
"Uh..."
After thinking for a long ti, Tisiana answered resentfully, "Proper soundproof housing."
"Pfft!" Phield nearly choked to death. "Ridiculous. Since when did you beco as outrageous as Rosalia?"
"Hehe." Tisiana snickered smugly.
"Fine, I’ll just say it directly. What we need is a vegetable field." Phield spread his hands. "Whether it’s the citizens or the managent staff, everyone becos anxious and uneasy when they see food supplies gradually being consud, even if they know there’s still plenty left."
"But if there’s a vegetable field, things beco different. It gives people hope."
"Now that you ntion it, that’s true. Every ti I go out, I always end up calculating how many days of food we have left."
Tisiana nodded in agreent.
"Hope is what people want to see most. Besides that, next ti we’ll distribute the Magic-Suppressing Stone Golems and the staffs to the two outposts as well." Phield jotted notes into his little notebook. "As for the buildings, we’ll leave that to ti. The iron mine outpost can’t be completed in a single day."
After inspecting the outpost once more, Phield headed toward the area where the iron ore had been piled up to check the results.
"My lord, all the iron ore mined these past few days has been gathered here."
The foreman guiding him bowed deeply while speaking with a cautious smile. Even though he had washed his face several tis before eting the lord, his face was still filthy. He was honestly worried that the cleanliness-obsessed lord might hang him on the spot.
Phield paid no attention to any of that. His focus was entirely on the ore.
He once heard that even among open-pit mines, iron ore quality varied greatly. European and Australian iron ore, for example, naturally had high iron content, while their coal contained low sulfur levels. Blacksmiths only needed simple forging techniques to create excellent-quality iron tools.
"How’s the quality of this batch of iron ore?" Phield casually asked out of curiosity.
"Thanks to your blessings, my lord, this iron mine contains a small amount of associated ore called Voidiron. We’ve excavated fifteen pounds of it. Only high-quality iron mines produce rare ores like this. Under the protection of the Gem Goddess, this mine will surely bring you endless wealth."
"...What the hell?"
Phield froze for a mont. What he had asked and what the foreman answered were two completely different things.
Still, it was such incredible news that Phield could barely react.
"Please wait a mont, my lord. I hid the Voidiron separately."
The foreman hurried into the duty shack by the mine entrance, pulled out a locked wooden chest from beneath the table, and retrieved a heavy black ore.
"Interesting. This really feels like a mineral unique to this world," Phield thought to himself.
The mont he took the stone, he was instantly overwheld by the imnse weight and power it radiated. Magic flowed within the Voidiron, and the dense texture felt as if he were slapping the armor plating of a tank. There was no doubt these rare ores were materials ant for crafting high-tier equipnt.
After appraising it with The Book of True Knowledge, Phield obtained the information.
Voidiron Ore: An associated mineral found within iron mines. Extrely rare. Possesses astonishing defensive properties and powerful magical resilience, making it an exceptional material for high-tier plate armor.
"You’ve done very well. From now on, if any Voidiron is excavated, make sure it’s preserved intact. I’ll establish a reward and punishnt system. As long as rare ores are produced, I’ll ensure all of you receive better treatnt."
"Yes, my lord."
Phield almost burst out laughing. He had actually stumbled upon treasure. Rosalia had never ntioned this before, which probably ant even the Starnight family had no idea.
On the spot, he rewarded the foreman with three silver coins. Amid endless gratitude, Phield ordered the workers to load the ore onto the carts.
Once this batch of iron ore reached the great manor, it would imdiately be slted into iron for tools and weapons.
The plows he had dread about for so long could finally be manufactured.
"We’re finally advancing from the Stone Age into the Iron Age."
Phield nearly teared up. The miserable days when the territory couldn’t even produce a single iron nail were finally over. Materials were the foundation of progress. Only with proper steel could the territory truly enter a stage of real developnt.
"Wait, Ophelia’s icon is approaching. Could it be... sothing happened in Bull Territory?"
Glancing at the minimap, Phield noticed Ophelia’s marker rapidly heading toward the iron mine outpost. Ever since cleaning out the remains in Starnight City, Ophelia had stationed her corpse army near Bull Territory at Turnip Village, functioning as a hidden outpost.
Now that she was rushing toward the iron mine outpost, sothing had definitely happened.
A faint sense of unease rose in his chest as Phield imdiately gave the order, "Tisiana, go wake Ashina. I think trouble may already be heading toward us."
Though he hated disturbing Ashina’s rest, any unusual movent from Bull Territory was never a small matter. After all, that place most likely hid a pack of utterly deranged lunatics from the Shadow World Sect.
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