Sudaso Mithril Mine

Calling this a castle isn't quite accurate; it's more like a manor.

The interior courtyard of this square building is very large, with at least thirty apple trees planted inside. It is surrounded by low walls and bushes that form a garden. These bushes are full of Red Berry. The garden also has a fountain, sculptures and a long corridor. It seems that the original Mine Owners was a kind of sprite who knew how to enjoy life.

The manor looks unremarkable from the outside.

But once Roy entered the manor, he felt as if he had returned to the Elf Continent.

The columns, roof, eaves, and walls almost all retain the unique architectural style of the elves, which is complex, exquisite, and luxurious, with openwork patterns and exquisite carvings everywhere.

A row of lounge chairs is placed next to the fountain, and twelve jets of water spray from a row of mermaid sculptures, forming a water curtain in the fountain.

If it weren't for the chimney in the backyard billowing thick smoke, Roy would have thought this was a very nice manor...

The manor is a U-shaped building with three floors. The roof is not flat, but rather a gray spire that looks somewhat like a Gothic style.

At each of the four corners stands Arrow Tower over forty meters high, with massive crossbow arms protruding from the Arrow Tower's battlements.

Commander Blaize led Roy on a tour of the manor before taking Roy to the backyard. The backyard was connected to the Sudaso Mountains, with fully armed Elf Warrior patrolling the ten-meter-high walls. The entire backyard was a Mithril Mine, with a huge chimney in the middle. Roy discovered a furnace in the backyard, with molten iron constantly flowing from the channel and into a square stone trough. As the molten iron slowly cooled and solidified in the trough, some silvery metal full of impurities would be visible.

Of course, these silvery metals cannot be considered mithril. Mithril exists in these silvery metals, but only in a very small portion.

Working around the furnace were a group of Gray Dwarf wearing leather aprons and tall leather boots, their upper bodies bare. These Gray Dwarf held long hooks and constantly took solidified Metal Ingots out of the stone trough.

On the other side, many Gray Dwarf continued to add ore into the furnace...

The backyard turned out to be a complete Smelting Workshop.

Commander Blaize explained to Roy, "After the Legion entered the Sudaso Mountain Range, they discovered this place immediately and occupied the Mithril Mine. The Mine Owners was killed by an arrow while fleeing, so this is a relatively intact Mithril Mine. At that time, all the Half-Elf miners were still mining in the mine, and the Gray Dwarf were also refining Mithril Mine. We quickly took control of the Mithril Mine, so it is still operating normally to this day."

When the Gray Dwarf saw Commander Blaize go into the backyard, they worked much harder...

Roy looked at the huge furnace in the backyard, frowned, and asked Commander Blaize:

"How are the Half-Elf and Gray Dwarf in the mine right now?"

Commander Blaize smiled faintly, behaving extremely humbly towards Roy while maintaining a certain distance. "This Mithril Mine is actually divided into two parts. One part is the Smelting Workshop, which is mainly managed by the Gray Dwarf. The other part is the Mithril Mine, where a group of Half-Elf miners are digging for Mithril Mine. Not only these Gray Dwarf, but even the Half-Elf miners in the mine shaft know that we have occupied this mine, but that's all."

"We have not done anything to deal with or accommodate these Half-Elf and Gray Dwarf."

"After all, we'll have to wait for you to come and take over. Our job is just to look after this Mithril Mine and hand it over to you intact. Once that's done, it's your business how you handle it."

Commander Blaize's gaze fell on Roy. He knew that this Half-Elf was currently a favorite of Earl Swynborne. He neither wanted to offend Roy nor had any intention of cultivating a good relationship with him; everything was done in an official capacity.

Roy discovered that the commanders of the Seventeenth Silver Pegasus Legion all had their own unique styles of doing things.

Whether it was the Commander Berkeley, the Captain Kepler, or the Captain Cairns, they all left a deep impression on Roy.

"You've worked hard," Roy said.

Commander Blaize then led Roy to the Mithril Mine's warehouse, which was divided into two sections, front and back.

The warehouse in the backyard mainly stores Metal Ingots, but there are no Mithril Ingot in the warehouse. There are some ordinary silver ingots on the shelves, which actually only take up half of the shelves. The rest are Lead Ingot, Zinc Ingot, and so on. These Metal Ingots almost fill the entire warehouse.

Many lead blocks were also scattered throughout the backyard.

Beside the furnace, the sweltering heat turned Roy's face bright red, but the Gray Dwarf seemed completely unfazed...

Commander Blaize led Roy out of the backyard and back to the front garden, where the steam rising from the fountain instantly refreshed Roy's mind and body.

The row of rooms on the east side of the courtyard in front were all warehouses. Commander Blaize pointed to the first warehouse and said to Roy, "The Mithril Ingot stored in this warehouse have all been transported out by the logistics department's pack trains. This warehouse is currently empty."

Roy didn't say anything.

It seems that Commander Blaize has no intention of keeping the Mithril Ingot that the Gray Dwarf smelted during his time guarding the Mithril Mine.

When they arrived at the second warehouse, Commander Blaize had his men open the warehouse door. The warehouse was very cool inside. The shelves were filled with fruit in Wooden Box, mainly apples and Breadfruit that were easy to store. On the other side, there were also Elf Biscuit, maple syrup, and dried lemon slices that were easy to store.

Commander Blaize said:

"It's about a ten-day journey from here to the Valley Camp, so the logistics department only comes to supply us about once a month, and the intervals may be even longer. Therefore, you need to allocate the supplies properly, otherwise all the supplies may be used up before the logistics supply team even arrives at the mine."

Roy looked at the supplies in the warehouse and knew that these were what Commander Blaize had prepared for him, so he said:

"I will be careful about that."

When Commander Blaize saw that Roy's expression was calm, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and his opinion of this sensible Half-Elf changed a little.

So he warned Roy, "This place is located in the southern part of the Sudaso Mountain Range, in the heart of the Pagisto Plateau. Although most of the Highland Headhunters have been driven back to the Northern Mountainous Area of the Plateau by the Silver Pegasus Legion, you need to be careful. Occasionally, hunter squads will still appear. Their appearance may cause you some trouble, but don't worry too much. Silver Pegasus Warrior squads often patrol this area. If you encounter anything you can't handle, try sending Magic Signal Flare..."

That last sentence is rather pointless.

Encountering danger in the Southern Mountain Area of the Sudaso Mountain Range, sending Magic Signal Flare to the Silver Pegasus Legion for help... might not be as effective as praying to the Goddess of Freedom.

"Well... I hope those Highland Slavers will be smart and not mess with me."

Roy muttered something under his breath.

Next, Commander Blaize showed Roy the architecture of the Mithril Mine.

The handover of the mine went surprisingly smoothly, and Commander Blaize left with ease.

The Guard Regiment stayed overnight at the Mithril Mine and packed up to leave early the next morning.

Before leaving, Commander Blaize pointed out the location of the second Mithril Mine to Roy. It was located in the northern part of the Sudaso Mountain Range. If Roy wanted to get to the Second Mine, he would have to go north along the Sudaso Mountain Range, and the distance was quite far.

Roy stood atop the manor's Arrow Tower, watching Commander Blaize and his Guard Regiment disappear into the mountains before turning his gaze to Kaka beside him. "Let's go, Kaka, come with me to the mines behind the manor to see those Half-Elf miners..."

This Mithril Mine is located in the mountains of Sudaso. It is not buried deep underground, and compared to Spinel Mine, these Mithril Mine are relatively easy to mine.

The mine entrance is square, and there is a support frame every five meters along the Mine Road extending from the entrance.

The mine tunnel extends horizontally into the mountain. The ground of the Mine Road is very flat, and there are even two tire tracks in the middle.

When Roy led Kaka into the mine, they saw some Half-Elf miners pushing out minecarts filled with Mithril Mine.

These ores need to be stored in a stockpile and undergo preliminary screening and grinding before being sent to the furnace for the first smelting.

Roy was actually quite curious about this furnace, because Roy had never heard of any coal mines here, nor were there any large forests in the southern Sudaso Mountain Range. Roy really wanted to know how the furnace actually worked.

There are no Dark Moon Elf in this mine, perhaps because the Mine Owners thinks Dark Moon Elf are difficult to manage and simply didn't buy any.

The mine was inhabited only by Gray Dwarf and Half-Elf miners...

Every day, the Half-Elf miners transport the mined ore to a huge stockpile at the mine entrance. The Gray Dwarf then throw the screened and ground ore into a furnace to smelt it into Metal Ingots full of slag, which contain many Metal Ingots.

After two refining processes, the zinc and lead are basically separated, and silver ingots containing mithril can be obtained.

These silver ingots are also considered Magic Metal, but they are not pure mithril. Moreover, the Mithril Mine in this mine is a poor ore. Only a cartload of ore can be smelted into a silver lump the size of a thumb. After collecting a basket of mithril lumps and refining them, a Mithril Ingot of the lowest quality can be obtained.

How much does a piece of mithril cost? So Roy knew that this place was far less profitable than the Spinel Mine.

The Half-Elf miners worked hard mining ore in the mines, expending a lot of energy every day. However, when Roy entered the mines, he found that although these Half-Elf miners looked a bit dirty, they were not like the miners in the Spinel Mine, who were so thin that they were just skin and bones.

The Half-Elf miners here are quite strong, and their hands are covered with thick calluses, and their arms are thicker than those of ordinary Half-Elf, clearly showing that their strength has increased significantly in the mines.

When the Half-Elf miner saw Roy followed by some Half-Elf Warrior, he stopped his minecart and asked them curiously, "Are you warriors from the Silver Moon Elf army?"

Kaka immediately jumped out and pointed at Roy, introducing him. "This is Roy, the new mine owner here. He is the Mine Owners officially appointed by the Silver Pegasus Legion, responsible for managing this mine. He is also here to rescue you."

Several Half-Elf miners stared wide-eyed at Roy and Kaka, asking somewhat bewilderedly, "Rescue us?"

"Yes, were you captured by Slave Traders and Highland Slavers?"

Kaka is a Half-Elf, and by chatting with these Half-Elf -Half-Elf miners, he can more easily gain their trust.

One of the Half-Elf immediately said, "That's right. The Mine Owners spent a lot of his savings to buy us, but he also promised us that we could redeem ourselves as long as we earned back the money he spent. Each of us is worth mithril equal to the weight of our bodies."

Kaka blinked and asked him again, "So, among the Half-Elf miners in the mine, which one has mined enough Mithril Mine and redeemed themselves?"

"Not yet!" the Half-Elf miner said somewhat awkwardly.

At this moment, a mine cart had already been pushed over from behind. Seeing that the mine cart in front was blocking the mine shaft, it stopped as well.

Kaka walked over, patted the Half-Elf miner on the shoulder, and said, "The Mine Owners said that so you could work in this mine without worry. We're here to rescue you..."

The Half-Elf behind them seemed a bit confused and interrupted Kaka, asking, "Wait, do you mean we can stop mining here and leave the mine now Kaka?"

Kaka raised his chin and said smugly, "That's right, all the Half-Elf in the mine can do it."

"Ahhh..."

The several Half-Elf miners crowded at the mine entrance cheered simultaneously, abandoning the minecarts loaded with ore at the entrance and turning to run into the mine, shouting repeatedly, "We're free! We're free..."

"We are free!"

Then, one after another, Half-Elf miners emerged from the mine carrying their luggage and pickaxes.

Roy had several Half-Elf Warrior clear the minecarts blocking the entrance, and then waited at the mine entrance, where Half-Elf miners gradually gathered.

More than five hundred Half-Elf miners had gathered at the mine entrance. Roy jumped onto a minecart and, stepping on the Half-Elf, addressed the miners. "I don't care whether you were tricked by Slave Traders or captured by the Highland Slavers. Now I only want to say one thing to you: You are free!"

"One more thing, the Half-Elf who want to leave the mine can pick up a travel bag at the warehouse up ahead. I will prepare two weeks' worth of food for everyone."