Surprises Keep Coming

"Lord Thor, is that true?"

Upon hearing Thor's words, Neil Morton immediately looked up from his troubled expression, speaking with surprise and delight.

"By the Goddess of Life, it is naturally true."

Thor nodded with a smile.

"May the Goddess of Life bless you!"

Neil Morton spoke excitedly.

"May the Goddess of Life bless you!"

Thor returned the gesture as well.

Afterward, he saw Neil Morton off.

Once Neil Morton had left the room, Thor could no longer suppress his smile.

Even he had not expected things to turn out this way.

Keeping Neil Morton here had turned out to be so simple.

Though he had agreed that Ryan could leave if he wished to go with him.

Over this period of time, however, given the favor Thor had shown Ryan and his understanding of him, Ryan could not possibly leave.

And as long as Ryan did not leave, Neil Morton, who was teaching Ryan, could not leave either.

Wouldn't that indirectly keep Neil Morton here?

Though it was not as efficient as keeping him directly, it was enough for Thor.

After all, once the man remained, many things would be much easier to discuss.

The smile never left Thor's face that day.

And as that smile spread across his face.

It seemed that his surprises had no intention of stopping that day.

As evening arrived, another surprise soon appeared.

"My lord!"

"The supplies from the iron mine have arrived. Would you like to inspect them?"

A knight entered and spoke respectfully.

"They're here?"

"Come, let's take a look!"

Thor's smile grew even broader as he quickly rose to his feet.

Then, led by the knight.

He made his way to the storage area.

At that moment, wooden crates stood before him one after another, while Reserve Knights unloaded them.

When Thor arrived, a knight quickly jogged over.

"My lord!"

The knight gave a knight's salute before speaking respectfully.

"How much is there?"

Thor looked at the heavy wooden crates, then turned to the knight with curiosity.

Nearly two months had passed, and he was somewhat curious about just how many supplies the Large Iron Mine had produced. This represented the future economic backbone of his territory.

"My lord, this batch contains a total of one hundred sets of Black Iron Armor, one set of Silver Armor, and two hundred pieces of various farming tools. Knight Captain Steve said that starting next month, production can increase further. They should be able to make two hundred sets of Black Iron Armor, along with even more Silver Armor."

The knight respectfully reported the figures.

Upon hearing those numbers, Thor's eyes lit up.

He had not expected the first harvest to be so enormous.

A hundred sets of Black Iron Armor, each worth twenty or thirty silver coins, meant two or three thousand silver coins. Not to mention the Silver Armor, which was worth three hundred gold coins, along with all those farming tools.

With production increasing later, his monthly income could directly reach three or four hundred gold coins, perhaps even more.

Even without relying on anything else, the Large Iron Mine alone could bring him more than three thousand gold coins a year.

With numbers like that, it was no wonder even Counts would be tempted.

A Count's income was indeed high. Some Counts with well-run estates could earn tens of thousands of gold coins a year, while even poorer ones could still make ten thousand without much trouble. But that was their total income. Now, a single iron mine could reliably bring in three or four thousand gold coins annually, which was already no small sum.

Of course, without the goblin race, reaching such figures would have been difficult.

After all, even with Mithril Iron, selling raw iron ore did not bring much of a markup.

It was only because of the goblins that all this was possible. The Counts of the Inland Province could not easily obtain goblins.

Only because he was in the Northern Province, coupled with a stroke of luck, had Thor acquired these goblins.

Only then did he have all this.

Others might not have such good fortune.

Still smiling, he ordered the supplies stored away.

Only then did he leave.

Yet these past few days truly seemed to be blessed ones, with good news arriving one after another.

From Neil Morton's arrival early that morning.

To the delivery of supplies from the iron mine.

And then to the following day.

Another matter that delighted him appeared.

"Thor Dressrosa, my friend, two months have already passed. Please forgive me for being unable to visit. You know how busy I have been—I needed to prepare a great quantity of supplies and fulfill our agreement. But thankfully, the Goddess of Life has blessed us, and everything has gone smoothly. Therefore, I have decided to visit you at the beginning of next month. Your friend—Lajos Assad."

It was a letter, mailed from Loren City.

The sender was Lajos Assad.

The man with whom he had previously formed a partnership.

Thor had not expected that he would be arriving so soon.

Thor was undoubtedly looking forward to his arrival.

After all, this was the most crucial step in building his territory.

Especially after acquiring the Large Iron Mine, a merchant like him was more important to Thor than many other things.

He could sell these supplies to the Habs Merchant Guild in Loren City, but their value would undoubtedly drop by an unknown number of times. Even Black Iron Armor made by goblins would fetch no more than ten silver coins there. But if sold to nobles of other territories, it would likely be worth over thirty silver coins. And that was only Black Iron Armor. The difference for Silver Armor would be even greater.

The Habs Merchant Guild would never offer much for Silver Armor, but other lords' demand for it was enough to drive its price through the roof.

That was all gold.

More importantly.

It was foreseeable that the Large Iron Mine would continuously produce Black Iron Armor and Silver Armor from now on.

He naturally could not use so much himself, so he needed to sell it.

He needed to earn more gold coins to purchase supplies and develop his territory.

Lajos Assad was undoubtedly the best choice.

First, he was a member of the Assad Family. Even if he was not valued, he still had access to commercial resources.

Second, precisely because he was not valued, his strength would not be too great, at least not in the early stages. That meant Thor need not worry about him harboring other intentions.

Third, again because he was not valued, what Thor offered was very important to him. Things others would be unwilling to do, Lajos Assad might not refuse.

Especially controlled goods like Blazing Oil. Since Lajos Assad had the nerve to bring it over, Thor had high expectations for him.

Back then, Thor had not merely painted him a rosy picture. He truly had the ability to make it happen.