The Unprofitable Mithril Mine

Before nightfall, Captain Ke Leiwen hurriedly led his Guard Regiment away from the Sudaso North Mithril Mine.

To Roy's surprise, Captain Ke Leiwen left behind 10,000 Mithril Ingot Mithril Ingot, which were packed in twenty chests and arranged as a wall in the castle's first-floor hall.

Looking at Ke Leiwen's gloomy face, Roy knew that he had completely offended Ke Leiwen this time.

The Sudaso North Mithril Mine had twice as many Mithril Ingot as the South Mithril Mine, which was somewhat unexpected for Roy.

In his opinion, the Sitney Mine Owners had managed the South Mithril Mine very well. Qian Ning told Roy that Commander Blaize had taken nearly five thousand Mithril Ingot from the South Mithril Mine.

The South Mithril Mine can produce five Mithril Ingot every day, and the Mithril Ingot that Commander Blaize took away were exactly the amount accumulated from the South Mithril Mine over three years.

There are now 10,000 Mithril Ingot in the North Mithril Mine. Roy casually opened a large box, and sure enough, there were rows of glittering Mithril Ingot inside. Each Mithril Ingot was about the size of a brick, and it contained far fewer impurities than the Mithril Ingot smelted in the South Mithril Mine.

The commanders of these Guard Regiment, when stationed at various mines, probably all harbored the idea of making a quick buck and leaving...

The mine was located in the backyard of the castle, with a high wall completely enclosing the entire mine. The backyard space was not very large, and Roy did not see any smoke billowing from the chimneys. The Half-Elf Warrior climbed the City Wall after another, thus completely taking control of the North Mithril Mine.

Because he left in a hurry, Roy did not receive any information when he handed over the Ke Leiwen.

To prevent the miners from escaping at night, Roy, as usual, positioned the Assassin Squad on the outskirts of the castle.

After putting the Mithril Ingot back into the warehouse, Roy checked the other supplies in the warehouse, Zinc Ingot and Lead Ingot, which were all stored away.

When Roy arrived at the cellar where the fruit was stored, he found that many shelves were almost completely empty. The remaining Wooden Box only contained apples and Breadfruit, and all the Elf Biscuit had been taken. The Half-Elf Warrior in charge of inventorying the supplies ran up to Roy with a long face, holding the ledger, and reported to him:

"Boss, those Silver Moon Elf Warrior from the Guard Regiment took all the Elf Biscuit with them when they left."

"Understood." Roy nodded.

Before leaving, Captain Ke Leiwen still schemed against Roy once again, but Roy wasn't too worried about it, because there was a large terraced field on the hillside outside the North Mithril Mine, covered with Red Berry bushes.

On the Pagisto Plateau, these Red Berry are one of the main foods of the elves.

Stepping out of the castle's cellar, the first-floor hall was suddenly empty after the Mithril Ingot had been removed. Opposite was a staircase with an arched corridor on either side. Magic wall lamps cast a soft glow on the walls, which were covered with soft wallpaper adorned with exquisite hand-painted patterns.

Along the corridor are sculptures of Elf Warrior and landscape paintings.

Roy stood in front of a mural, which prominently displayed a panoramic view of the Sudaso Mountain Range.

The castle is divided into three parts: the main building and two independent pavilions on both sides. The first and second floors of the main building have been requisitioned by the Guard Regiment, while the third floor and pavilions are currently used to house the Mine Owners's family.

Roy was actually quite curious about this family. What kind of family could make Captain Ke Leiwen willing to give up 10,000 Mithril Ingot rather than take them away?

Upon arriving in the backyard, Roy saw a furnace with a few magical elements. The entire furnace was covered with Magic Rune Array. To the left of the furnace was a River of Lava, and to the right were three exits, corresponding to Mithril Ingot, Zinc Ingot, and Lead Ingot, respectively.

Four Gray Dwarf continuously dug out the Metal Ingots solidified in the mold grooves, placed them on a flatbed cart, and then used a brush to apply some release agent to the mold cavity.

These Gray Dwarf were all very strong, bare-chested, wearing heat-resistant leather aprons, their beards singed and curled. Upon seeing Roy and several Half-Elf Warrior approaching, they immediately stopped chatting and began to concentrate on their work...

At least twenty Gray Dwarf were working around the furnace.

Near the mine exit, a row of stone houses was built beneath the high stone walls. A group of Half-Elf miners, who must have just come out of the mine, stood by a pool of water, scooping water from the pool and pouring it over their heads.

There is a track extending from the mine exit, with a row of mine cars placed on it.

Roy walked over and tried pushing the wooden funnel-shaped minecarts with his hands. He found that the four small wheels under the minecarts were very smooth and could be pushed without much effort.

The pile of materials in the backyard wasn't very large, and several Gray Dwarf were swinging large hammers, constantly smashing the ore into small pieces.

Not only are the furnaces in the North Mithril Mine superior to those in the South Mithril Mine, but even the mine carts in the mine are equipped with light rails. No wonder this mine has accumulated more than 10,000 Mithril Ingot in three years.

Roy's dilemma is that if all the Half-Elf miners are released, the North Mithril Mine will immediately cease operations without Mithril Mine reserves... There is no room for maneuver.

This is the situation Roy least wanted to see.

Instead of releasing the Half-Elf Half-Elf that night, Roy gathered them together early the next morning, before Roy entered the mine.

This time, Roy directly ordered more than 300 Half-Elf miners to leave the backyard and stand on the open ground below the steps at the castle gate.

Roy stood on the steps, surrounded by a group of Half-Elf Warrior maintaining order.

Some observant Half-Elf miners immediately noticed something amiss: the Silver Moon Elf Warrior in the mine had vanished overnight, as if they had suddenly appeared, taken over the entire mine, and now disappeared just as suddenly...

Standing around were some Half-Elf Warrior. Although they were also wearing silver armor, I felt a certain warmth in their eyes.

Roy clapped his hands on the high platform, drawing all the elves' attention to him.

"I am the new Mine Owners of the North Mithril Mine, and I will be in charge of managing this Mithril Mine for the foreseeable future!"

Roy spoke calmly to the Half-Elf miners.

He then said, "Now I want to announce a decision made by the North Mithril Mine: all Half-Elf mines are now free. You can pack some luggage and pick up your travel bags from the warehouse. I will give you... permission to gather Red Berry outside the castle. You can gather some to take with you on the road."

A group of Half-Elf miners stood below the stage, staring wide-eyed at Roy on the platform.

At first, the Half-Elf miners didn't even react, before someone shouted, "Mine Owners Roy, are you serious?"

"Of course, these Half-Elf Warrior around me can attest that I have already released the Half-Elf miners from four mines, and the Sudaso North Mithril Mine is the fifth!" Roy said confidently.

"The Boss is right, we're here to rescue you. From now on, you're free!" a group of Half-Elf Warrior shouted to the Half-Elf miners in the open field.

The Half-Elf miners immediately erupted in cheers, the sudden joy instantly making the scene boil over...

At this moment, Roy had two Half-Elf Warrior bring out an oil painting, which depicted the entire Sudaso Mountain Range. Roy pointed to the very top of the Sudaso Mountain Range and introduced it to everyone, "This is located at the northernmost end of the Sudaso Mountain Range. It will take at least fifteen days to hike from here to the southernmost end of the Sudaso Mountain Range. If we continue south after leaving the Sudaso Mountain Range, it will probably take several more days to reach the Southern Plateau."

On the perfectly good oil painting, Roy drew a winding route with Charcoal Pencil.

He continued, "But this road is not easy to travel. Along the way, you may encounter Highland Slavers, as well as some low-level magical beasts, such as Wind Wolves, Stone Tooth Boar, and Green Claw Leopard Cat. You may still have a fighting chance against these magical beasts, but if you encounter those Highland Slavers, they will not send you to this Mithril Mine."

"So my advice to you all is that if you don't want to risk leaving, you can stay here for now and wait for our logistics Transport Team. When the Transport Team leaves the North Mithril Mine, you can travel with them. It should be much safer then."

The Half-Elf miners stood still, whispering among themselves as they discussed the matter.

Having finally gained their freedom, everyone naturally didn't want to stay in the Mithril Mine.

Many of these Half-Elf miners were captured and brought to the mines by the Elf Headhunters, so they naturally knew how powerful the Highland Slavers were.

The Half-Elf were hesitant about whether to stay and wait for the logistics caravan to arrive before leaving the Sudaso Mountain Range with them.

Before long, more than a dozen Half-Elf miners stepped forward and shouted to Roy on the stage, "Mine Owners, we want to leave..."

Roy turned around and instructed a Half-Elf Warrior, "Prepare travel bags for them and let them go..."

Then, each of the Half-Elf miners received a travel bag.

The Half-Elf Warrior pointed to the road outside the castle gate and said, "You can go now."

When the Half-Elf miners saw how easily they left the Half-Elf Mithril Mine, they hesitated, even though they had originally planned to leave immediately.

Immediately afterwards, a Half-Elf miner expressed his desire to stay...

On the third floor of the castle, there was a terrace Mine Owner Harold stood in front of the railing, with a bronze statue beside him that just covered his body.

He frowned, looking at the Half-Elf miners gathered in front of the castle gate...

The Silver Pegasus Legion launched a surprise attack here.

Overnight, Harold went from Mine Owners to a prisoner.

With the departure of the Silver Pegasus Warrior, an Elven Guard was stationed there, and Harold began his life of imprisonment. He and all his family members were confined to the third floor of the castle. Every day, the Silver Moon Elf Warrior would provide them with a fixed amount of food. As long as they lived obediently on the third floor of the castle, no one would care what they were doing.

Harold had been waiting for the Silver Moon Elf to try him and his family these past few days. It was only two days ago, when he took out a magic short sword, that he learned they would be transported to the Padesto City to be tried...

Just two days later, the Silver Moon Elf Warrior suddenly withdrew.

A group of Half-Elf Warrior arrived, led by a human boy who had just taken over the Mithril Mine last night and was preparing to release all the Half-Elf miners this morning.

Harold watched helplessly as his painstakingly built Mithril Mine crumbled bit by bit, gripping the railing tightly and silently gazing at the castle gates...

Of the more than 300 Half-Elf miners, only 138 chose to leave the mine on the spot.

Nearly two hundred Half-Elf miners chose to stay temporarily.

They accepted Roy's offer and became rehired miners at the North Mithril Mine for a daily wage of one hundred Kole.

Moreover, those Half-Elf miners carried their pickaxes into the mine that very morning.

Roy then began to calculate the profits and expenses of the North Mithril Mine. Just for these two hundred Half-Elf miners, Roy would need to pay forty Magic Crystal Stone every day, which would consume ten Mithril Ingot. In addition, the mine's furnace would need to burn eight Magic Crystal Stone.

In this way, these two expenses alone consume all the Mithril Ingot produced by the Mithril Mine every day.

In other words, Roy only had some worthless things left, like Zinc Ingot Lead Ingot.

Although the North Mithril Mine is not profitable, this is a solution Roy came up with after racking his brains, and at least it can keep the Mithril Mine going...

Roy didn't have time for breakfast, as he was busy all morning before finally stopping.

Guided by a Half-Elf Warrior, Roy arrived at a restaurant on the third floor of the castle.

Mine Owners Harold wanted to meet Roy, so Roy arranged for them to meet in the restaurant on the third floor...

Pushing open the restaurant door, Roy saw that the huge restaurant was filled with half -Half-Elf. These elves were dressed in clothes made of silk and wool. Roy could tell at a glance that they were already used to this kind of luxurious life.

Everyone looked at Roy as he walked in through Roy door.

The middle-aged Half-Elf sitting in the center of the table stood up, and the other Half-Elf followed suit.

"Harold greets Roy, the Mine Owners!" the middle-aged Half-Elf said, staring at Roy.

Roy sensed some pressure from Harold's gaze, so he went directly to sit down opposite Harold.

Roy looked around and asked Harold, "Are all these elves your family?"

"Yes!" Harold readily admitted...

Roy took a closer look and saw that there were actually seventy or eighty men and women in the restaurant.

With so many family members, Commander Ke Leiwen's Guard Regiment really couldn't take them with them.

After seeing Mine Owner Harold's family, Roy understood that Commander Ke Leiwen's decision to hand over the Mithril Ingot was truly a last resort.