Mine Owner Jerome

Mine Owner Jerome is a Half-Elf who has lived on the Pattington Plane for nearly two hundred years. He was once a member of an Adventure Group called the ' Impression Tree ' and traveled to many places on the Pattington Plane when he was young.

As members of the Adventure Group gradually left and new members joined, Jerome's ideas differed from those of the new members, and he eventually left the ' Impression Tree ' Adventure Group.

He traveled to many places in Pattington, catching merfolk in Sun Island Bay, hunting dragonflies in Black Swamp, living for a time in the Griffon Bulwark Mountain Range, and later working as a Magic Herbs merchant on the Pagisto Plateau.

It was by chance that he learned that the Pagisto Plateau was actually a natural mineral-rich area, so he began to plan to open a mine.

Initially, he wanted to open a Silver Mine in the Kaltim Mountain Range, but later he learned that Lord Alvis had a stake in all three Silver Mine and would never allow outsiders to come to the Kaltim Mountain Range and share in the profits.

The Mine Owner Jerome had no choice but to head north, and finally found an iron ore vein in the Northern Plateau.

Most importantly, this area should fall within the territory of the Highland Slavers. Lord Alvis's influence has not extended here, so establishing a mine in this region is feasible as long as the surrounding headhunters are dealt with.

The Iron Mine Owner Jerome was actually the result of an agreement he reached with the local headhunter tribe. Every year, he would provide a dagger and a War Blade to the young headhunters who participated in the coming-of-age hunting ceremony. It was this simple agreement that allowed the Mine Owner Jerome to have an Iron Mine in this mountain valley.

As for the elven miners, other Mine Owners were also buying and selling them freely, and the largest seller in the Pattington Plane was Lord Alvis. When something becomes a habit, people stop worrying about whether it's right or wrong...

Like other Mine Owners, he transported iron ingots to the Padesto City to sell. The largest Trading Company there also belonged to Lord Alvis, and elves would offer them Elf Slaves when they sold their iron ingots.

Mine Owner Jerome clearly remembered that he first bought Half-Elf slaves in the Padesto City.

Later, Lord Alvis ran into trouble, and not only was the supply of Half-Elf slaves suspended, but the sales channels for metal ingots were also cut off.

When the Mine Owners heard that Lord Alvis had been sent to the Buenos City Tribunal to face the most severe punishment, they were all terrified and huddled in their Mine Owners, afraid to have any contact with the Padesto City, lest they be implicated. They just hoped that this matter would pass quickly...

Unexpectedly, the Silver Pegasus Legion sealed off the Pattington Plane, and this seal lasted for more than four years.

The iron ingots produced in the mines had no sales channels, but the mines still had to be kept going, leaving almost all the Mine Owners on the Pagisto Plateau in a dilemma.

At this time, some Mine Owners dared not go to Padesto City to trade, so they made some deals with headhunters in the Northern Plateau.

As a result, these mines were able to barely keep operating.

The Mine Owner Jerome had bought some Half-Elf slaves, but these Elf Slaves were all bought from the Padesto City, and these Half-Elf miners actually lived a very stable life in the mines.

He had never purchased Half-Elf slaves from headhunters; at most, he had traded some War Blade and spear tips for the right to gather resources in this mountain range, allowing them to freely collect berries and Magic Herbs in the mountains surrounding the mine.

A few months ago, when the Silver Pegasus Legion entered the Northern Plateau, they included his Iron Mine in the list of mines awaiting takeover. However, before they could take over, the Silver Moon Elf Warrior hurriedly withdrew from the place.

Later, a large group of headhunters came to his mine and extorted some War Blade.

Fortunately, after so many years, he had become quite familiar with the chieftain of the headhunter tribe in the area. With that chieftain intervening, the Mine Owner Jerome did not suffer much loss.

Immediately afterwards, it was heard that many headhunters went to the Southern Plateau and launched a series of retaliatory actions against the Half-Elf there.

Jerome had also considered how he could help those Half-Elf in this matter.

Before he could even figure it out, the headhunters were defeated once again. This time, the Half-Elf from the Southern Plateau marched all the way to the Northern Plateau, all under the guise of liberating the Half-Elf miners...

He had also considered whether, as a Mine Owners who had bought and sold Half-Elf slaves, he should escape from the mine, and whether he should resist the Half-Elf Army. He had been struggling with this dilemma these past few days...

If they resist, they will likely be killed by those Half-Elf Warrior.

escape...

Where could his family possibly escape to?

Once he leaves the Iron Mine and loses his status as the Mine Owners, he will be no different from other Half-Elf. In the eyes of the headhunters, he will lose his last bit of value, and at that time, he may just be a Half-Elf slave in their eyes.

So when Roy led the Mine Guard to the mine, the Mine Owner Jerome chose to surrender.

At this moment, he looked nervously at the Half-Elf miner standing opposite Roy, afraid that he would say something unpleasant that would anger the young half- Elf Officer.

The Mine Owner Jerome finally understood the meaning of the saying, "It's really not a good feeling to have your fate in someone else's hands."

"We have seventy Half-Elf miners here. All the miners are currently working in the mine. A few of us are responsible for transporting the mined ore outside and then screening the ore here. Poor ore can only be used to build walls, and only rich ore can be put into the furnace for smelting."

The Half-Elf miner who spoke was called Little Cooper. When he stood in front of Roy and answered questions, he appeared neither humble nor arrogant, and his manner was orderly.

"What's your name?" Roy suddenly asked.

"They call me Little Cooper, sir," Little Cooper replied.

Roy noticed that although the Half-Elf miner was wearing tattered linen clothes, his hands and feet were not shackled, and there was no overseer following behind them.

These miners appear to be in good spirits and have not suffered any particular mistreatment.

Roy didn't see any Gray Dwarf or Dark Moon Elf miners in the mine, so he asked, "Are there any Gray Dwarf or Dark Moon Elf in your mine?"

"No, we're all from Padesto City, and we've lived here for a long time," said Little Cooper.

call...

The Mine Owner Jerome, who was standing to the side, finally felt the breath that had been suffocating in his chest finally let out.

Little Cooper didn't say anything harsh and was clearly doing his best to protect him, which touched him.

Roy glanced discreetly at the Mine Owner Jerome, worried that this Little Cooper might appear to be a miner but was actually a close confidant of the Mine Owner Jerome.

Roy was somewhat surprised by what Little Cooper said. There were no Gray Dwarf or Dark Moon Elf in this small Iron Mine, nor had he bought Half-Elf slaves from headhunters. The only Half-Elf slaves he had bought were from the Padesto City.

He knew what Lord Alvis had done, and he also knew that Lord Alvis was the biggest Slave Traders in the entire Pattington Plane.

Luo didn't continue questioning the other miners, but instead had Little Cooper take him for a stroll around the mine. At this moment, the Iron Mine had already stopped operating. After the Half-Elf Warrior entered the mine, he ordered the Half-Elf miners to call out all the other Half-Elf miners in the mine.

Roy followed Little Cooper into the stone house where they lived for a quick look.

Little Cooper lived in the row of stone houses on the east side. When Roy entered the stone houses, he found that there were partitions made of ore. Each room housed only two Half-Elf miners, and many of their personal belongings were still in the rooms. Roy even saw a recorder and a simplified organ, as well as some messy Stone Sculpture carvings.

Clearly, these Half-Elf miners have some free time outside of work and enjoy some leisure activities.

Roy went to the Half-Elf miners' Dining Hall again, where the only food on the table was some Red Berry.

This berry is common on the Pagisto Plateau, Mulin and her friends actually eat it regularly.

Next to the Dining Hall was a tool room, filled with a large number of pickaxes, Stone Hammer, and other tools. Some were waiting to be repaired, while others were already fixed. A Half-Elf was repairing these tools in the room.

So he casually asked the Half-Elf:

"Did the Mine Owners require you to repair a certain number of tools each day to meet the standard?"

"No, not really. Some tools are badly damaged and difficult to repair, while others can be fixed simply by replacing the handle. They are very easy to repair, so it's impossible to judge how much work was done by the quantity..." The Half-Elf finished speaking and gave Roy a subtle look of disdain.

Roy then went to the row of stone houses to the west and found that the Mine Owner Jerome also lived in such stone houses, but his room was more private and more exquisite, that was all.

After walking around, Roy already had a very good impression of this Mine Owner Jerome.

Roy felt that the Mine Owners did not seem to treat the Half-Elf slaves very harshly. Although the life of the Half-Elf here was not so good, it was not bad either. At least it was countless times better than the Spinel Mine.

Moreover, when the Half-Elf miners heard that the Silver Half-Elf Silver Pegasus Legion's army had arrived again and that the Iron Mine would soon be handed over, some of them even showed some resistance, even though they knew they had been granted freedom...

"Even if we're free, there are headhunters everywhere here. Where can we go after leaving the mine?"

This is probably a common problem in the minds of the Half-Elf miners. They are not residents of the Pagisto Plateau, nor do they really want to return to Padesto City, and they have nowhere else to go.

They also worried that the new Mine Owners wouldn't be as good as the Jerome Mine...

As Roy emerged from the mine, an idea suddenly struck him. Having taken over so many mines, he urgently needed some professional mine managers. Seeing that this Mine Owner Jerome held a good position in the hearts of the Half-Elf miners, he wanted to have a chat with him.

What's your name?

Roy stood in front of the only small furnace in the mine and asked the Half-Elf Mine Owners a question.

"Jerome."

"That's what the Mine Owner Jerome replied."

"Could you tell me how long you've been running this Iron Mine?"

Roy looked at the small furnace in front of him, which looked like the kind used in Blacksmith Workshop to smelt iron ingots. It was not capable of smelting large quantities of iron ore.

Clearly, this Iron Mine isn't very profitable, which is why there's no need to pay these Half-Elf Half-Elf. Otherwise, just paying their weekly wages would have bankrupted the Iron Mine instantly.

The Mine Owner Jerome, seeing Roy staring at the small furnace, didn't tie him up. Instead, he asked Roy how long he had been running the Iron Mine. He sensed that Roy didn't seem to have any hostility or hatred towards him.

Unlike the hostile gazes of the Half-Elf Warrior around him.

The Mine Owner Jerome could only talk about his experience running the mine. He knew what Roy wanted to hear, and tried his best not to talk about trading Half-Elf slaves. When he did mention those things, he would just gloss over them briefly.

Roy nodded repeatedly as he listened, and then said to the Mine Owner Jerome:

"This mine will belong to the Silver Pegasus Legion, and I will be the Mine Owners."

"Because my energy is limited, I can't manage this mine. Now... I feel I can give you some trust, and I'd like to hire you to manage this mine. Of course, I'll also leave you with 10% of the mine's shares."

The Jerome Mine was speechless when Roy said that.

'They stole my mine and now expect me to continue managing it? Just like the Silver Moon Elf Elves...'

But then I thought about it again, and it didn't seem so bad. It seemed like I wouldn't have to be sent to the trial.

With this thought in mind, the Mine Owner Jerome finally felt relieved.

When Roy told him that he could still get 10% of the shares, the Mine Owner Jerome barely managed to suppress a sneer.

Then Roy continued:

"Of course, there will definitely be no more Half-Elf miners in the future, and all Half-Elf miners have regained their freedom."

I am responsible for resolving the issues of the miners in the mine and the sales of the produced iron ingots.

All you need to do is manage this mine well. You don't need to be so pessimistic or feel like you're being taken advantage of.

You can think of this as an annexation, where a larger mine on the Pagisto Plateau swallows up your small iron ore mine.

I can bring vitality to this mine...

More resources will be invested in this mine in the future.

This iron mine will gradually expand, and I possess a trade license for the Pattington Plane.

If you understand this, the Iron Mine will no longer have to worry about selling its iron ingots.

I will also use an even larger Magic Furnace to refine iron ingots.

Oh, right, the most urgent problem right now is releasing all the Half-Elf miners from the mines and finding a new batch of miners to replace them.

After saying this, Roy stepped forward, patted the Mine Owner Jerome on the shoulder, and smiled at him, saying, "You may not understand now... but you'll gradually realize that what you're giving up now isn't necessarily what you've truly lost..."

The Mine Owner Jerome glanced at Roy, muttering to himself, 'I understand perfectly well...'