Silver Mine

"Yes, my lord. This is indeed silver ore. More precisely, it should be argentite."

Vidor and Busso studied the ore crystals in the pit for quite some time before finally reaching a conclusion.

Samwell immediately beamed and quickly asked:

"Do you know how to refine this argentite?"

Vidor stroked his beard and shook his head with a troubled expression.

"My apologies, my lord. We are powerless in this matter. Highgarden has no silver mines, so we do not know how to refine it."

"Then where can I find someone who can refine silver ore?"

"The maesters of the Citadel should know."

"Maesters..." Samwell suddenly felt rather sentimental.

If not for his transmigration, the original owner of this body would have eventually become a maester.

It seemed he still needed to make a trip to Oldtown.

"Very well, I understand. You two may leave for now."

"Yes, my lord."

Samwell did not ask the two men to keep this newly discovered silver mine secret.

After all, mining, refining, and minting silver involved far too many people. Keeping it secret would be exceedingly difficult.

Besides, in Westeros, privately mining silver was a serious crime.

If Samwell had been willing to take such a risk, why had he not simply agreed to Lady Olenna's proposal and become a pirate?

The consequences would be the same if he got caught, anyway.

Of course, the silver mine had been discovered on his land. No one could take that from him.

But if he wanted to mine it, he had to obtain the king's permission.

Once silver was mined, aside from a small portion used to make luxuries such as silver jewelry and silver tableware, most of it was used to mint Silver Stags.

The right to mint currency was naturally held firmly in the hands of the royal family.

As the discoverer of the silver mine, he had to receive the king's authorization before he could mint silver coins. The king would also send people to oversee the minting and take a portion as an authorization fee.

Most of the profits from this silver mine would still belong to Samwell.

Why was House Lannister the wealthiest house in the Seven Kingdoms? Was it not because of the gold mines beneath Casterly Rock?

The silver mine before him was naturally nowhere near as valuable as a gold mine, and its reserves were still unknown, but it had already delighted Samwell beyond measure.

After all, everyone had previously believed the Red Mountains to be a barren land with nothing in it. Samwell himself had initially only planned to make money by brewing Brandy.

Now that he had this silver mine, the development of his territory would surely rise to a new level.

Just moments ago, he had been deeply troubled by the explosive growth of his population. Now, he was no longer worried at all.

With this silver mine, he would have far more confidence when seeking "investment."

Moreover, the significance of this silver mine to Samwell went beyond mere wealth.

According to his earlier speculation, the substance truly responsible for increasing his Strength attribute was likely the silver in Silverleaf Grass.

Then why not eat silver directly?

Samwell bared his teeth, somewhat hesitant.

Still, he had just eaten so much Silverleaf Grass. His intake of silver should have been considerable, yet his body had shown no discomfort at all. On the contrary, he could clearly feel his strength increasing, as though he had endless power coursing through his body.

It seemed that he really could digest silver.

With that thought, Samwell picked up a small chunk of ore in front of him and seemed about to put it into his mouth. After hesitating for a moment, however, he put it back down.

This silver ore contained too many impurities. Eating it directly might cause problems.

So he took out a Silver Stag from his clothes and tossed it into his mouth.

Gulp—

The hard silver coin scraped Samwell's throat painfully.

But in the next moment, he no longer cared about that, because his Strength attribute had indeed increased by another 0.01!

So silver really was what did it!

In that case, the silver content of five stalks of Silverleaf Grass was roughly equivalent to one Silver Stag.

Then what about Golden-Tailed Shrimp?

Samwell had specifically looked into it before. Golden-Tailed Shrimp were a specialty of Brightwater Keep, and could only be caught in a lake connected to the Honeywine.

Thus, Samwell suspected that there might be a gold mine beneath that lake!

The shrimp that lived in the lake had likely accumulated gold within their bodies after feeding for long periods on mud and sand mixed with gold from the lakebed, becoming Golden-Tailed Shrimp.

Of course, even if he guessed there might be a gold mine beneath the lake, Samwell had no way to mine it. After all, that was House Florent's territory.

Even if Samwell's mother was from House Florent, the things there had nothing to do with him.

Still, he could test whether eating gold directly would also increase his Strength attribute.

With that thought, Samwell took out a Gold Dragon and tossed it into his mouth.

A moment later, his Strength attribute did indeed increase—and by 0.02.

Good heavens, he had truly become a pay-to-win player this time.

Wait a second.

Samwell suddenly realized that if gold and silver worked, what about other ores?

So he took out a copper coin and tossed it into his mouth.

He waited for quite a while, but nothing happened.

It seemed copper would not do...

As for other metals, Samwell decided to test them slowly in the future. Otherwise, he feared his ass would not be able to take it.

Still, there was probably little hope.

After all, what kind of cheat ability was not picky about its food...

After learning that gold and silver were the substances that truly increased his Strength attribute, Samwell found himself caught in a delightful dilemma.

These two materials were not actually rare, just—

Expensive!

But their price was not gold and silver's fault. It was his own fault...

He still needed to make money as soon as possible.

Thinking about how much directly swallowing gold and silver could improve his Strength attribute made Samwell's heart burn with excitement.

Based on one Gold Dragon increasing Strength by 0.02, if he ignored diminishing returns, then just one hundred Gold Dragons could raise his Strength by a full 2 points!

Of course, it could not be calculated like that.

From his previous experience, tolerance developed toward the same substance. The more he consumed, the weaker its effect on his attributes became.

Fortunately, while gold and silver were precious, there was still plenty of them. As long as he kept eating, one day he would be able to stack his Strength attribute to a terrifying level.

By then, even if he truly encountered a dragon, he would be able to wrestle with it.

Then he would start with the silver mine before him.

Of course, he could not eat it directly. It had to be refined first.

Samwell had originally only planned to make a trip to Arbor, but now it seemed he also had to visit Oldtown and see if he could trick a maester from the Citadel into coming back with him.

Over the next two days, Samwell personally visited each of the thirteen newly subdued tribal camps. While reassuring the people, he appointed village chiefs, clerks, tax officers, peace officers, and other officials, then dealt with a number of urgent matters.

Only after finishing all that did he leave his territory with Todd Flowers and Chiman, escorted by twenty guards.

The reason for bringing Chiman was simple. Samwell did not trust that "mad dog"; he could only rest easy by keeping him at his side.

As for Todd Flowers, while Samwell did not entirely trust him either, at least he was not worried that the man would cause trouble. The only reason he had brought Todd along this time was because he was a bastard of Arbor.

The group traveled west along the northern coast of the Summer Sea. Before long, they left the Red Mountains and arrived in the territory of House Cuy—Sunhouse.

Originally, Samwell had planned to head straight for Arbor and had not intended to enter the city to visit House Cuy.

But now, with his territory's population having exploded, the food shortage had become extremely severe. By the time he reached Arbor, bought grain, and transported it back, it might already be too late.

So he decided to remain in Sunhouse for a time, buy some grain, and send it back first to relieve the emergency.

Since he had chosen to enter the city, Samwell sent a soldier ahead out of courtesy, delivering a letter requesting an audience to House Cuy.