Bear Cubs

Bear Cubs

"Your Lordship, this is a Medium Iron Vein. The orcs only mined a small portion of it, and the iron ore has a very high iron content.

Most of the iron ore I saw seemed to have an iron content of nearly thirty percent. That is already exceptionally good for a Medium Iron Vein!" An Elven Ranger who had rushed over excitedly described the discovery while holding several chunks of iron ore.

The other warriors who heard the news could not help but slowly smile.

That was right.

A Medium Iron Vein contained at least several million tons of iron ore, along with plenty of Iron Essence.

Since the vein was large enough, more mine entrances could be dug. As long as there were enough workers, at least 300,000 tons of iron ore could be extracted each year. Refining it into iron themselves would yield far less, but it would sell for a higher price.

However, with such a high iron content, the ore itself could also fetch a much better price.

At a normal mining pace, barring accidents, it could last for at least several decades.

To others, this was merely a game. Iron was worthless to ordinary players, but to an NPC lord like him, it was exceedingly valuable.

The Iron Ore Vein alone could earn him roughly ten to twenty thousand gold coins a year.

1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.

Gold coins were not much.

But steady production was what mattered, especially since his territory needed a great deal of iron.

Besides.

He was poor. In his previous life, he could have spent over ten thousand gold coins with a wave of his hand, though it would still have pained him...

But now, he had too many people to support. If he wanted to expand his territory and build a larger Neutral Faction city, even hundreds of thousands of gold coins would not be enough. A lord simply could not be compared to a solo player.

"Now that the territory finally has a mine that can make money, select suitable people once we return and begin work immediately.

Each of you will also receive a reward of five silver coins!" William did not hesitate. A single Iron Ore Vein was nothing to worry about even if word got out. The two neighboring duchies had no reason to send troops to destroy Border Town for the sake of ten or twenty thousand gold coins a year.

Border Town had remained in the Neutral Faction for so long because his father had once been here, and now he was here. There were also so many Pure-Blood Elves from Blackleaf Forest.

As long as he did not casually involve himself in the conflict between the two duchies or expose some great treasure, his enemies naturally would not act rashly.

After all, no one wanted to anger the Elves of Blackleaf Forest!

They might not know William Blackleaf's true background, but they could tell that a man with five hundred Elven Royal Guards was important to the Black Leaf Elves...

"Thank you, Your Lordship!" The many Elven Warriors shouted joyfully.

Lotner smiled faintly and pointed at the huge creature in the trap. "What should we do with this Mid-Level Monster? Its hide cannot be sold. Otherwise, an intact Frenzied Giant Bear hide, especially from one this large, could sell for at least one thousand gold coins. If we sell the meat, it would still fetch more than eight hundred gold coins!"

William considered it briefly. "Forget it. This Frenzied Giant Bear weighs over four thousand kilograms, and its flesh is rich in magic power. We'll keep it for ourselves. Every warrior who followed me will receive five pounds of meat, while every warrior guarding the town will receive two pounds."

"Thank you, Your Lordship! May the glory of the World Tree bless you forever!" This time, their words of thanks were entirely different. The Elven Warriors' favor toward William instantly soared.

Something that could increase one's strength was not easily obtained. Five pounds of monster meat was almost equivalent to ten silver coins, but in truth, even fifty silver coins might not be enough to buy such precious monster meat.

Such a reward was generous for any lord.

What was more, they had not suffered a single injury, and even the soldiers left behind to guard the town had not been forgotten. This was enough to prove that their current lord had truly changed. At the very least, his character was quite good!

However, William still kept the larger share. Of course, he did not intend to gorge himself on it. No matter how delicious a Mid-Level Monster was, one would eventually grow tired of eating it.

As a hybrid of NPC and player, he might not have the players' limit on how many times they could eat meat, but the remaining bear meat could be used as future rewards.

For professionals, rewarding them with this was far more valuable than gold coins, and much more cost-effective.

After all, William had quests to level up, while other NPCs could only improve their strength through eating, combat, training, and similar methods.

"My lord, these little ones must be hungry, right?" Norton was now holding three bear cubs in his arms. They were covered only in a thin layer of white fur, so he had taken off his undershirt and wrapped them in it, terrified that they might catch a chill and fall ill. The consequences of that... were unimaginable.

"We'll return immediately. Leave a ten-man Ranger squad here to keep watch and see whether anyone else discovers this mine. Once we get back, we'll immediately send miners and troops to replace them!" William picked up one of the cubs. It really did seem hungry, so they needed to return at once and find some milk to feed it.

As soon as he finished speaking.

William Blackleaf hurried back with his men. The Iron Ore Vein was roughly seven or eight li of mountain road from Border Town. It was neither particularly close nor particularly far.

The mountain paths were simply difficult to traverse. To empty out this Iron Ore Vein, they would also have to build a road. Otherwise, there would be no way to transport the iron ore.

Thinking of this on the way, William could not help but feel a headache coming on.

Cutting down trees cost money, and building roads cost money too.

However, Border Town had plenty of oddballs and poor wretches. As long as there was money involved, those people would do anything.

There was no helping it.

This was the Neutral Faction.

There were too few law-abiding citizens. Those who could survive here were mostly thugs. Either they bore blood-deep grudges, or they had wanted posters bearing their faces. They did not dare appear in the Light Faction and could only scrape by in the Neutral Faction.

When his father was still around, he had been able to rely on his own strength to make countless criminals quietly work for him, labor for him, and even serve as soldiers.

But once he vanished, those soldiers had been the quickest to revert to their old ways...

Still, thugs had their advantages. They were strong, capable fighters, and many were even professionals. As long as there was enough strength and money to tempt them, getting them to work was easy.

Two hours later.

The group, their armor stained with blood, finally emerged from the forest. When they returned to Border Town,

many idle civilians stared at them in shock. They began discussing what kind of monster this five-meter-tall giant bear was.

It was definitely a monster. No ordinary animal could grow to such a size.

"That's a Frenzied Giant Bear, a Mid-Level Monster. It might even be a High-Level Monster!" someone suddenly said, his eyes flashing with fervor.

After all, it was a Mid-Level Monster. Its meat was delicious, and it could greatly increase one's strength.

"My god, there are bear cubs too—three of them, even. Could it be..." When the crowd saw the cubs in William's arms, envy surged in their hearts. The cubs had not even opened their eyes yet.

The first person they saw after opening their eyes would become their master!

If all three cubs grew up successfully, they would become formidable weapons on the battlefield.

William strode down the street with an arrogant expression, ignoring those unruly civilians. The reason it had taken him two hours to leave the forest was that he did not want to butcher the giant bear. He wanted them to see this massive creature and, incidentally, display the strength of his royal guards so they would not get any foolish ideas.

"Milk! Bring me milk, quickly! I need to feed the bears!"

"Sorry, Your Lordship, but we only have goat's milk right now!"

"...Goat's milk it is, then!"

"There is very little goat's milk as well. For future feeding, we will need to... purchase some from the Steel Duchy!"

"...Buy it!"