Chapter 168: Iron Mountain
A month later, the frontier grew colder by the day.
The people of Newhaven gradually stopped working and returned indoors to escape the cold, relying on fires to keep warm.
The mountains were rich in timber. Long before winter arrived, Newhaven had already begun cutting trees and stockpiling firewood.
Food was not a concern either.
Overall, surviving the winter would not be a problem.
The small amount of cotton Torran had brought was nowhere near enough to make winter clothing for more than six thousand people.
The townspeople could only stuff dried plants into their clothes for insulation.
It worked surprisingly well.
Even after winter began, the Wardens did not stop training.
Most of Newhaven’s cotton had been made into winter clothing for them. Several hundred men shared the garments in rotation and continued training despite the bitter cold.
They also remained responsible for patrol duty.
Caelum looked over the quiet settlement and sighed softly.
"We are still too poor."
Edrick thought Newhaven had already achieved something remarkable under Caelum.
"My lord, every household in Newhaven has enough food after winter begins, and every family has firewood to keep warm. That alone is exceedingly rare."
In other border towns, people stopped earning the moment winter halted their work.
Even if they did not freeze to death, many starved.
Westbarrow had seen plenty of such deaths every year.
The place had always been poor and broken.
Earning enough for a single meal was difficult enough. Most people could not even eat their fill, much less save money or grain.
Once winter arrived and work stopped, starvation followed.
Caelum said nothing.
He wondered how the other players were faring.
If any of them had begun on a frontier like his, this winter would likely deal them a severe blow.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire from shooting practice echoed from the training ground through the cold wind.
A patrol of Wardens passed before Caelum and immediately stopped to salute him.
"My lord!"
Caelum nodded in return.
"You have worked hard."
"It is our duty!"
Warmth spread through the patrolmen’s hearts.
After Caelum walked away, they began whispering among themselves.
"Our lord truly is different."
"Exactly. The Garrison Commander at my old military town never even looked us in the eye. Our lord actually takes the time to speak to us."
"That is the truth."
The Squad Captain leading them turned and glared.
"Do not discuss His Lordship behind his back."
"Yes, Captain!"
Before long, white flakes began drifting slowly from the sky.
It was snowing.
To the people of the frontier, snow was no beautiful sight.
It was a deadly natural disaster.
The cold wind swept through the settlement and struck the wooden walls sealed with yellow clay.
From within one house came the faint laughter of a family of three.
The sound mingled with the wind before being carried away.
Newhaven passed several quiet months like this.
Only when the cold winds gradually faded and the weather began to warm did the town come alive again.
As spring advanced, the snow and ice in the mountains began to melt.
Newhaven resumed production, and the chill finally disappeared.
One day, an old man ran toward Caelum with excitement written all over his face.
"My lord, I found an iron vein in the mountains. A large one!"
Caelum’s attention sharpened at once.
"Where is it?"
The old man was the blacksmith who knew how to survey mineral veins.
Caelum had sent him into the mountains the previous year, but he found nothing.
The moment the snow melted this year, he returned to the mountains.
His luck had finally turned.
It had not taken long for him to locate an iron deposit.
From his assessment, it was most likely a major vein.
If Newhaven could mine it, they would no longer lack iron.
The old man pointed.
"Northwest of Newhaven, in a mountain about ten li away."
This discovery would shape Newhaven’s future and could not be ignored.
Caelum immediately prepared to leave.
"Take me there."
"Of course, my lord. Follow me."
The deposit lay deeper in the mountains than Newhaven.
There was no proper road, only the traces left by the old man’s passage.
The distance was only ten li, yet it took them more than half a day to arrive.
The old man stepped onto the rocky ground, picked up a piece of ore, and showed it to Caelum.
"My lord, this entire area contains exposed iron ore. I have surveyed it, and there should be far richer deposits inside the mountain."
Caelum examined the ore in his hand and activated the technology tree.
[Smelting and Mineral Surveying]
[Survey Complete: Iron Deposit]
It truly was an iron mountain.
Once the survey was complete, the next technologies unlocked.
[Smelting and Steel Unlocked]
[Construction and Brick Firing Unlocked]
One was the technology for smelting steel.
The other was a branch of construction technology that allowed bricks to be fired.
Newhaven happened to be surrounded by large amounts of yellow clay, making it well suited for brick production.
The only problem was the binding material.
Mixing yellow clay with plant fibers was far too crude and unreliable.
Unfortunately, no limestone had been found nearby.
Limestone could be burned into lime, then mixed with water into a paste that served as a strong building binder.
Since they lacked it, construction would have to wait.
The iron deposit came first.
Caelum looked over the exposed ore beneath his feet.
[Smelting and Steel Accelerated Production]
At once, the exposed iron ore rose into the air.
An invisible force heated it and extracted the iron, shaping it into ingots.
Thud!
The iron ingots dropped to the ground one after another with heavy impacts.
[Smelting and Steel Production Complete]
For now, Caelum refined all of it into iron ingots.
Later, depending on his needs, he could process part of the pig iron into steel or wrought iron.
Steel was tougher and less brittle than pig iron, making it more useful for industry and better suited for firearms.
Wrought iron was softer than steel and could be drawn into wire.
No charcoal was needed.
The metal had been refined from nothing but empty air and invisible force.
The Household Guard had already grown accustomed to Caelum’s miraculous methods.
They were certain their lord was an immortal.
Every time he displayed such power, their reverence deepened.
The old man, however, was seeing it for the first time.
He dropped to his knees in shock.
His awe toward Caelum now surpassed anything he felt for the Emperor of the Grand Concord Dynasty.
The emperor was still only human.
Their lord was a true immortal.
After the iron was refined, another branch technology unlocked.
[Coal Mining Unlocked]
The next technology after that was coal refining.
Caelum gave his orders.
"Arrange for the townspeople to build a road directly to this mountain and begin mining the iron. Use these ingots to forge mining tools. Elder, can you handle it?"
"This commoner obeys!"
Caelum helped the old man to his feet.
"I will leave the mining operation entirely in your hands. Discovering this deposit is a great achievement. You will be rewarded with ten shi of millet and ten pounds of white sugar."
The old man dropped to his knees again, trembling with excitement.
"Thank you, my lord!"
Ten shi of millet.
That was enough to feed one person for nearly seven years.
Now he could finally afford to take a wife.
