Traveling with the Watergarde merchants was another caravan of villagers. In fact, the new arrivals more than doubled the total population of the town. While the original plan probably encouraged immigration, I doubt the current growth rate was initially intended. The natural conclusion is that, upon hearing about the favorable mana conditions, courtesy of the mana well, the Local Chamber accelerated its colonization timeline. Even with limited context, it makes complete sense. I get the impression this territory is a frontier for the burgeoning Lyrian Empire, but also for several other neighboring nations, both friendly and hostile. Obviously, they’re going to entrench themselves in the mana well.

I don’t see any obvious mages amongst the travelers, perhaps Clifford’s “Commission” organization is very distant and it’s just taking a while for them to arrive. Anyway, in the new group are, of course, many farmers, but also 30 miners. Contrary to the stereotypes, these men appear fairly well-off and clean.

I took an immediate interest in their equipment which consisted of your standard wrought iron shovels and pickaxes. Wrought iron is produced via smelting, this involves heating iron oxide bearing ore alongside a reducing agent, which is typically charcoal. At high temperatures, the carbon in the charcoal reduces the iron oxide, leaving behind the elemental metal. Slag, a combination of the remaining metal oxides and silicon dioxide from the ore is mixed with the iron in the forge. To remove the slag from the iron, a blacksmith extracts a lump of the mixture from the forge and begins to hammer it. The repeated hammering of the still-hot iron expels most of the slag resulting in finished wrought-iron. From here, the blacksmith would continue to work the lump into the desired shape. Wrought literally means “worked.”

Wrought iron is a low carbon alloy, having a carbon content of 0.08% or less. That the miners are using it for their tools definitively confirms steel production is in its infancy or possibly even nonexistent in Lyrian society. This revelation both disappoints and excites me.

They also have tools such as hammers, woodworking supplies, oil lanterns, and chisels tipped with a silvery substance which I couldn’t identify. Furthermore, they had in their possession several exotic arcane devices with knobs and dials (Of extremely poor make, if I must say.) similar to Clifford’s. They were clearly highly skilled; they’d brought along measuring tapes, diagrams, and notebooks filled with technical information. Honestly, I was impressed with the professionalism of this crew, 30 miners shouldn’t be enough for a full-scale mining operation, so my guess is that they’re waiting for more laborers to arrive while they set-up shop. No, it is more likely that these individuals are planners first and miners second.

30 people seems like it’d be overkill for the type of prospecting I’d normally expect from this technological age, however, I’m sure the mere possibility of finding magicite, and/or infused ores such as Mithril is justification enough for them to be taking this financial risk.

I doubt they’ll breach my dungeon any time soon, if at all, however, it would be prudent of me to keep an eye on their work.

There were also two blacksmiths in the new group; a master-apprentice duo by the look of it. They were currently socializing with the group of miners, evidently, they were already well-acquainted, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d done business with each other at some point in the past. The blacksmith’s supplies were pretty standard fare, so I don’t think I need to elaborate on them at this time.

At any rate, I didn’t really have any time left to check up on everyone because the Watergarde merchants had just finished putting their wares on display and Weston didn’t look too busy.

“Hello Wes, Ike here, I need your help obtaining my goods. Do you have the time?” I said telepathically.

Without outwardly reacting, Weston said, “It’s good to hear from you again, I was actually wondering when you’d get back in touch. We can do it now.”

I don’t want to reveal my dungeon-sight ability, so I can’t reveal that I’d already looked inside the parcels.

Cautiously, I said, “Weston, I need you to listen carefully and follow these steps exactly: First, I’d like you to directly ask the merchants what the total price of the pallet with my order is. After they’ve given a straight answer, ask them to display the contents of the two parcels, I can review them remotely. After that, I’ll let you know when to make the purchase. You can deduct the cost from your debt to me. If the price of the pallet exceeds the 2200 pieces you owe, I’ll deliver enough ember blossoms tonight to cover the rest. Also, please don’t try to scam me, I will know.”

Was that a bluff? Not entirely, I should be able to pick up any attempts at hidden correspondence between Weston and the other Watergarde merchants going forward, however, if he’d done so prior to now, I won’t be able to tell.

Also, am I being impulsive by purchasing everything? Somewhat so, consider that I’m really only trading ember blossoms, which I have a plentiful supply of. Nevertheless, I shouldn’t make a habit of this.

Expressing his confirmation, Wes walks over to the merchants and concisely asks for the price of my pallet.

Smiling in recognition of his associate in red, one of the merchants speaks up, “Altogether? It’d be 4500 pieces. Bit of an odd request for a place all the way out here, no?”

Weston agreed and then engaged in some small talk while somehow dancing around the topic of who the goods were for. Good on Wes, there was nothing stopping him from mentioning me, but I suppose he didn’t want to deal with any nosy future investigations either.

While they were discussing trade relations with the Isolens, the merchant opened up the two parcels and spread out their contents. Just in case, I took another cursory glance at everything and give Wes the go-ahead to buy it all. I’d rather study my newest acquisitions in the comfort of my dungeon later.

I’m honored that Wes trusts me enough to pay him back, but it can probably be attributed to him thinking I’m a grynn. Of course, I’ll reciprocate that trust, both because I’m not a bad person and because I will probably work with him again.

The two parcels don’t weigh much by themselves, however, the mass of the ingots on the pallet looks to total in at something on the order of 300 kilograms. Stacked together is tin, copper, bronze, and nickel ingots, however, the iron “ingots” couldn’t really be called such. The reason is because they weren’t ingots so much as metallic lumps. If my understanding of the Lyrian Empire’s technological capabilities is accurate, they don’t have the infrastructure necessary to fully melt down iron, so these units were probably hammered, rather than cast, into their current shape. That’s ok, even if I didn’t intend on doing my own metalworking, (and I totally do) hired blacksmiths would have no trouble heating up the malformed stock iron and reforging it into a useful form.

The immediate problem: how am I going to transport so much dense metal without getting noticed. While throwing ants at the problem could possibly work, the potential for discovery is high. I can’t have Wes simply deliver them to a location closer to my dungeon as that might give away my whereabouts. Luckily there’s no rush.

“Wes, you can ask them to deliver everything to a space behind your carriage, I shouldn’t have any trouble picking it up from there. I can keep an eye on it all in the meantime, so I’m not worried about anything being stolen. Oh, I’ll also be sure to drop off enough ember blossoms to cover my overcharge tonight, at our previous rate, of course,” I said.

Heh, that’s a lie. I’m certainly going to have trouble picking up the goods, but he doesn’t need to know that. I’m sure I’ll figure something out…

“Alright Ike, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you. If you ever need anything else, you know what to do,” said Wes.

I’m fortunate Wes has been so cooperative. Yes, I tempted him with money, and yes, I’m slightly mysterious and scary, but it still says a lot about him. Even Clifford, who knew about our correspondence didn’t seem too bothered about his friend conducting shady business with a telepathic stranger. That they’ve reacted so favorably indicates that there’s some weird stuff in this world which has desensitized them.

Anyway, the sun is about to set, so I need to start thinking about how I’m going to get everything into my dungeon.

I might find some success with making a dedicated tunnel under Weston’s carriage. Draped over the pallet is a waterproof tarpaulin made from a canvas coated in a waterproof substance. This helps because I should be able to move everything into the tunnel without bringing it out from underneath the tarp, thus reducing my chances of getting caught. I’m still worried about the ingots clinking together and making noise, so I’ll be manually moving them into the hole telekinetically. Leafcutter ants may be strong, but they’re quite clumsy.

By now I’m a professional excavator, branching off from the small passage I’d made when the settlers first arrived, I finish the tunnel leading up underneath the tarp in under an hour. I also take special care to craft a convincingly camouflaged grassy plug just in case.

…

It took another hour to get everything moved underground, but it was ultimately a flawless success. Despite a few minor setbacks, things have generally been going my way in this life. Once I was finished moving the items I’d bought, I even chopped up the wooden pallet and moved it inside along with the tarp. I’m no hoarder, but you never know when you’ll need a good tarp…

At this point I have about 700 goliath2 beetles, 1,000 un-luminous archer pods, 100 of which are already situated in their hidey holes, and 10,000 dungeon helpers. I could probably go ahead and capture the portion of the cave system I’ve set my sights on, however, it’s not going anywhere. Therefore, I deem it a higher priority to read these books and work towards understanding magic.

I mean, I can conquer that cave whenever I want, but if I’m faced with a situation in the near future where the information contained in the books would’ve been beneficial, it’d be on me if I was unprepared. Digesting the contents of the books is simply more urgent.

And fun. But that definitely wasn’t a factor in my decision.

For the first time, I carve out a room that I don’t intend on filling with wildlife, it’d be a shame if my books deteriorated, after all. I then bring in the parcel of magical items, however, I dare not try them out lest I damage them. No, to stay on the safe side, I’ll take a closer look at them only after I’ve established a stable foundation in my understanding of magic.

Spreading the stack of books out over a rhyolite table rising from the floor, I try to decide what to read first. Unfortunately, most of the books didn’t say anything on their leather covers other than title and author. Glancing inside, I’m pleasantly surprised to see these books are, in fact, printed. Though the quality is so poor that I speculate the technology is still in its infancy.

As much as I’d like to learn about magic immediately, I’ll probably be better off studying my neighbors first. As such, I pick up a heavy tome titled simply “The founding of Lyria” and relax while I begin reading.

…

After a whole day, I’d read the creatively titled works; “The founding of Lyria,” “The History of the Lyrian Empire” and “The Inner Workings of Chamber Politics.” Notably, I’d learned how royally convoluted and corrupt their government structure was. At first, I’d gotten the impression they were socially and politically advanced, but now the truth is apparent.

Sure, maybe I don’t have enough context yet to justify my verdict, but that doesn’t stop a particular thought from surfacing to the forefront of my consciousness.

I hate the Lyrian Empire.