Chapter 267: Act 34 – Expansion (15)
The silver mine in Schafflund originates from the rich silver reserves beneath Graham’s Mountain. This ore vein extends from the Karanjar mountain range into the territory of Duke Toniger, and is actually just a small part of the Black Forest, yet it is sufficient to benefit Erluin immensely.
In fact, the true silver mining area is the Tobadral Fortress on the southern bank of Green Lake, east of Graham’s Mountain. As for Schafflund’s silver mine, it merely draws some benefit from the end of this ore vein.
The impoverished faraway lands of Duke Toniger are not without reason—
“Antinna, tell me about the situation in Schafflund,” Brendel asked.
The noble lady’s dark eyes lit up slightly; was the Lord going to take action against the silver mine? She immediately replied, “My Lord, Schafflund has always been one of the most important sources of income for the Toniger region. As early as the Year of the Burrowing Beasts, the former lord constructed a fortress here to mine and transport silver. However, over time, it slowly developed into the Schafflund town we know today.”
“The Year of the Burrowing Beasts,” Brendel calculated in his mind, “That was nearly thirty years ago, right?”
Antinna nodded, “Currently, the highest officials of this mining town consist of an executive officer and a secretary, but I found that these two are not accountable to Grudin; they are directly appointed and dismissed by Count Rendener. Therefore, although this silver mine produces nearly fifteen tons of silver each year, our baron truly receives very little.”
“Grudin must be a pretty pitiful lord,” Brendel thought, unable to suppress a bit of sympathy for this poor creature. He smiled slightly, “So, this means you want me to take a stab at Count Rendener’s cheese, Antinna.”
The young girl also smiled, “Hasn’t it already been taken?”
Brendel turned his head and saw Juliette’s gaze also directed this way; he keenly noticed that although the female mercenary leader maintained a necessary restraint on her face, a hint of anxiety had already slipped through her emerald eyes.
Seeing that both Vurn and Crenshia, who had risen with her, had received appointments, Juliette didn’t want her people to end up with nothing in this group or, worse, be sold out in the end. Although this young lord appeared friendly enough, she had dealt with various nobles and held necessary disdain and suspicion towards these sorts—she knew firsthand how despicable these individuals could be when they turned their backs.
Juliette requested in a slightly hoarse voice, “My Lord, please let me take Schafflund! I know the situation there; there are usually only over a hundred soldiers stationed at the mine,” she pressed her hand against her chest, “My people and I would have no trouble occupying it.”
But Brendel replied, “However, Schafflund town is too close to Parsons; our other noble gentleman might be watching closely. Even if we took it down, we would hardly be able to control it for a while.”
The female mercenary leader fell silent.
“Is there no way to handle this? The burrowers can be of use, right?” Antinna asked, “Or do you not trust them?”
Not that he didn’t trust them, Brendel thought. He had made an oath to the gods regarding Tagib, and those burrowers would certainly not dare to publicly violate such an oath.
But occupying Schafflund was about mining, and if Parsons were to cause disturbances now and then, no one could endure that.
“How large is the food shortage?” he asked.
“Seventeen thousand bushels short,” the noble lady replied immediately.
Most of the measurements in the Amber Sword used English units, and this world continued to do the same, which made Brendel feel extremely uncomfortable. However, regarding grains, one bushel roughly equated to twenty-seven kilograms; he calculated and found the food shortage to be close to five hundred thousand kilograms—this was no small number.
“Considering our people, how long can the territory sustain based on the food reserves in Firburh?”
Antinna frowned slightly, “My Lord, if calculated purely on the numbers, it can last for two months. But considering that there are still some food stocks not counted in the territory, it won’t exceed three months at most.”
“In other words, there’s nearly a two-month gap?”
The young girl nodded.
Brendel thought for a moment, “That’s fine; we’ll continue to recruit soldiers from the residents, and give Berun what he needs—land, people, money, you just give it to him. Juliette and Vurn are the same—but the magic workshop will have to wait a bit.”
Antinna nodded again; she was merely suggesting it, after all, Toniger did not produce amber stones.
“Roman’s plan can also be pushed back,” Brendel added.
Roman’s voice came from the back of the hall, “That’s natural, Brendel; there’s no point in doing those things now.” It sounded as if the Merchant Miss was not depressed by this at all.
“Moreover, at the very least, we need to ensure we can continue fighting in the upcoming battles. As for how much budget to leave, you can judge for yourself; of course, you understand, the only requirement is that we shouldn’t be driven into the Black Forest in the end.”
His words caused several girls present to involuntarily smile slightly.
However, Antinna was rubbing her forehead. To be honest, she genuinely wanted to be driven into the Black Forest right now. Of course, that was just a thought. “My Lord, do you have a plan?” She looked up, sharply sensing Brendel’s intentions.
“Of course, it’s still about the silver mine,” Brendel smiled, “With such a large piece of cheese sitting next to us, we have no reason not to act, do we?”
“But—?”
But Medisa had already thought of something, “You mean, change the approach, My Lord?” The Silver Elf princess lifted her head, a flicker of understanding in her silver eyes, her brows slightly raised.
Brendel looked at her with appreciation, “Yes, you and Xi will accompany me personally; we’ll go and meet Count Rendener’s subordinates.” He turned back to Juliette and said, “Miss Juliette, you come too—”
Juliette was taken aback, and she quickly reacted and looked up, “Should we bring people?”
“Of course, but not too many,” Brendel thought for a moment, “Twenty or thirty would be enough.”
The female mercenary leader nodded silently—but then felt somewhat inexplicably strange; the other person was clearly much younger than she was, yet his demeanor always made her feel a head shorter; it wasn’t merely because of status—this young lord seemed to carry a unique aura that allowed him to maintain a natural advantage over anyone.
She wasn’t quite sure but subconsciously thought that this young man would likely be the same even in front of the king. Although that thought was somewhat absurd, Juliette subconsciously felt it was correct.
But this was not important; Brendel’s appointment finally let her breathe a sigh of relief. This female mercenary leader immediately sprang into action, bidding farewell to Brendel to gather her people.
Antinna watched the woman leave, “Should I go too?” The noble young lady turned to ask, clearly a bit reluctant; after all, she had finally settled down and was not someone who liked to run around.
“Stay here,” Brendel saw her unwillingness and replied, “By the way, help me organize a plan.”
“What plan?”
“The reconstruction plan for Firburh.”
“Ah?” The young girl’s eyes went wide.
Brendel had known she would be surprised, but this was one of his initial plans. In his plan, historical tragedies would not be allowed to repeat, but if Her Highness Princess Grifian did not marry Duc Anlek, the rewritten history would inevitably face failure at the hands of the Royalist army—at that time, the coalition of several northern dukes and princes would sweep down.
Brendel hoped that by then, the newly constructed Firburh would be sufficient to become the final fortress to withstand this formidable army. It would preserve the last territory of Erluin south of Baron Firburh—especially Valhalla, which represented his hope for a comeback in the future.
Additionally, due to the existence of Valhalla, Firburh was not an ideal capital; in Brendel’s plan, Erluin’s future capital would certainly be Valhalla. However, its role as a hub connecting Valhalla and the final solid barrier was ample.
In Brendel’s mind, Firburh must ultimately be built into a fortress, but it couldn’t be here; another location had to be chosen.
He had already instructed Tagib and the burrowers under him to search north for a suitable location to build a fortress; the ideal site not only needed to accommodate this future giant fortress but also had to be defensible and hard to attack.
To the north of the Gus River were vast hills; Brendel thought that with the burrowers’ capabilities, it should not be a problem to find a suitable spot among them. These underground visitors were not adept at besieging, but this did not prevent them from being the finest builders underground in Jotungrund.
He pulled back his thoughts and saw Antinna’s confused expression, replying, “Don’t be so surprised. This is not something that can be done in one go. We have one to two years for this; it’s just about setting a long-term plan.”
Building a fortress within one or two years seemed incredible in the real world. However, in Vaunte, it was not a ridiculous tale; aided by magic, some things were indeed easier than imagined.
Of course, completing a fully built city in one or two years would be difficult, but if it were merely in its initial stages, that would be more than enough.
“What should I do?” Upon hearing this news, Antinna still took a gentle breath; building a city was no small matter. It involved far too many aspects, and for the first time, she doubted if she could do it well.
“It’s fine, you can observe Firburh more, and also recall everything you saw in Bruglas. See how predecessors did it, and then think about what we need,” Brendel said.
The new Firburh would be a fortress; Brendel emphasized this point before he continued, “Additionally, Charles should be able to help you; although he is a wizard, most wizards, being those who stroll out from stacks of books, should find simple engineering knowledge not challenging—”
……
(PS. Happy Dragon Boat Festival, classmates! Best of luck to the senior students taking the college entrance examination!) (To be continued; to find out what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)
