After agreeing to conduct their next trade in the Month of Melting Snow (January) once the bitter winter had passed, Lucas departed to the south under the escort of shadow wolves and monster warriors.
The pigman elder directed the monsters to finish organizing and cataloging all the supplies by that afternoon so that he could give Zoe a complete report the following morning.
Currently, among all the monsters, the pigmen possessed the highest overall level of education.
After all, the pigman tribe's original village had frequently interacted and traded with humans, allowing them to hone these skills.
“...Lord, the details of this trade are as listed above.”
While listening to the pigman elder's report, Zoe flipped through the ledger.
The column listing books caught Zoe's attention the most.
“《Ore Vein Surveying and Direction》, 《Ore Smelting Methods and Technology》, 《Iron and Steel Metallurgy (Iron Ore Section)》...”
“Puji.”
“I heard you mention that Lucas also prepared two slaves who possess relevant skills?”
“Yes, Lord.”
If it were just the theoretical knowledge, the monsters would indeed find it very difficult to grasp.
Lucas had actually taken this into consideration, going to the trouble of sending two skilled slaves.
“Puji.”
“Have the kobolds learn ore vein excavation techniques from the slave and master them as much as possible.”
“The same goes for ore smelting. Find a race suited for it to learn and master the process.”
“It is best to learn while practicing. Set up the blast furnaces for smelting as soon as possible as well.”
“Yes, Lord.”
The pigman elder hurriedly nodded in agreement.
“Puji.”
“Furthermore, establish two departments: the Ore Excavation Department and the Ore Smelting Department.”
“Allow monsters who master the relevant skills to join after passing an assessment. The ministers will be promoted from within by your Council of Elders.”
“Monsters who serve in these departments will receive priority food and housing rations.”
“Any new departments added to the territory in the future will be decided by the Council of Elders based on the actual situation, with my final approval.”
“For some of the details and construction of the existing two departments, listen to the suggestions of those two slaves. Do not let laymen lead the experts.”
Zoe felt that as the number of monsters in the territory grew, issues were also beginning to pile up.
Managing everything solely through the Council of Elders was already becoming somewhat chaotic.
Additionally, this new system would encourage the monsters to learn new skills and better contribute to the development of the territory.
“Yes, we shall carry out your will.”
Watching the pigman elder bow and withdraw, Zoe felt that he might have accidentally built something incredible step by step within the Great Hera Forest.
In any case...
“Whatever. I can reincarnate anyway. No matter how big the storm gets, it won't blow into my next life.”
Most of Zoe's skills had now reached Lv.4, and he was currently grinding intensely to push them all toward Lv.5.
...
Heavy snow blanketed the entire Great Hera Forest, painting the woods in a pristine white.
Vera was like a Husky in the snow; the entire dragon suddenly became much more elegant and dashing.
It was as if her brain had been retrofitted with a water-cooling system.
Zoe hopped out of the cave, directly feeling the freezing chill of the snow.
“Slimes are indeed quite weak against the cold.”
Zoe lamented as he felt the cold seeping into his body from the snow.
However, it wasn't to the extent of affecting his movement.
“Is this belated snow to celebrate the age of the future Frost Queen?”
“Heh, this boring snow doesn't even hold a fraction of my frost.”
“Frost Breath!”
“Hmm? The king of the viscous bodies who possesses the ancient viscous body and the bloodline of giant dragons, the cursed of the Dark Realm Agula... Heh, quite an interesting opponent.”
“So, do you intend to make an enemy of the Queen, viscous body?”
Zoe chose to ignore Vera.
His evaluation was that she had used her Frost Breath so much that she had deprived her brain of oxygen.
“Wait, Zoe, you're actually leaving your cave? No, wait, where are you going!”
Watching Zoe hop down the mountain, Vera shook the snow off her body and followed him with a look of utter disbelief.
“Puji.”
“The pigman elder reported yesterday that they dug up some strange ore in Mine No. 1, and it was transported back today. I am going to take a look.”
“Strange ore... Could it be the Heart of the Fallen Angel sealed underground by the Dark Realm Agula?”
“Oh no, if that's the case, the world will be in grave danger. The Frost Queen cannot sit by and do nothing.”
Zoe let out a long sigh.
“But Zoe, a lot of the things dug up from underground veins are extremely dangerous.”
“It is recorded in the Dragon's Heritage that many dangerous and evil things were unearthed from ore veins.”
Vera walked behind Zoe, warning him in a serious tone.
Vera's brain in winter was hit-or-miss.
“Lord!”
“Great High Slime, milord!”
“What brings you down here in person!”
“...”
The moment he reached the bottom of the mountain, the monsters at the foot of Slime Mountain eagerly crowded around to greet him with fanatical expressions, as if they had witnessed some unbelievable, auspicious sign.
After all, Zoe almost never left his cave, and many of the monsters who had fled here for refuge during the winter had never even laid eyes on him once.
‘Being too popular is also a bit of a headache.’
“Puji.”
“Don't crowd together.”
Zoe popped up a text box, then bounced along the path toward the location of the ore.
Mine No. 1 was located on the northern side of Slime Mountain.
The area to the north of Slime Mountain was a newly developed zone.
It was not a residential area, and currently, blast furnaces and warehouses under construction rose from the ground.
The iron ore excavated from the mining area would be transported here to be smelted into iron ingots.
Afterward, monsters with forging skills would forge them into weapons.
However, in the Slime Territory, only a few pigmen barely possessed forging skills, and the weapons they forged were only barely usable.
“Lord, welcome to your inspection! I am the Minister of the Ore Smelting Department!”
A young pigman respectfully stepped forward and bowed to the purple High Slime before him.
“Puji.”
“I recognize you. You were the pigman warrior who used to follow the pigman elder around, right?”
“It is an honor to be remembered by you, great Lord!”
The pigman quickly replied in an excited tone.
“Puji.”
“First, take me to see the strange ore you brought back.”
“Yes.”
The pigman turned around and led Zoe through the smelting workshop to the temporarily constructed ore warehouse.
“Lord!”
“Hello, Lord!”
“Praise be to you, Lord!”
Along the way, the working monsters greeted him one after another. Most of them were unfamiliar faces, greeting Zoe with nervous expressions.
‘The number of intelligent monsters is still growing. After all, new monsters come to join us every day.’
“We have arrived, Lord.”
Arriving at the warehouse, Zoe finally saw the full appearance of the strange ore.
They were fist-sized, spherical, rust-colored ores. Aside from the rust color, their surfaces were adorned with peculiar green lightning-like patterns.
There were fully a dozen crates of this strange ore displayed before him.
“Compared to normal iron ore, the iron content of this ore is seven to eight times higher. After a simple smelting process, we can quickly refine it into iron ingots.”
“Moreover, the strength of the resulting metal is superior to ordinary iron ingots, making the weapons and spears we forge much sharper and harder.”
It was iron ore that had undergone some kind of mutation.
Zoe could not recognize what kind of ore this was either, but the winter-limited edition Vera let out a soft murmur, seemingly lost in deep thought.
“Puji.”
“Did you think of something?”
Since Vera possessed the Dragon's Heritage, as long as she could retrieve knowledge from it, her experience and wisdom should be the highest in their territory.
Unfortunately, she usually acted as if she had forgotten the login password to her Dragon's Heritage; it was completely useless.
“This is... Iron Earthworm.”
Rate on N.U.
