The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 103

“Father!”

“…Your father isn’t deaf. Be quiet.”

“How could you not say a word…?”

“What’s such a big deal that you had to call me from so far away? Even the healthiest person gets a disease or two when they get old. No need to make a fuss.”

“That’s not the issue!”

I couldn’t help but be quite taken aback by the response that he was receiving treatment and recuperating due to recent health issues. There hadn’t been any news at all. Although it was true that the Imperial City and the Dragnil territory were quite far apart, it wasn’t as if sending a letter was difficult.

Yet, not a single word was mentioned about the family’s important affairs. Of course, strictly speaking, it was true that my relationship with the family had become slightly ambiguous since I had received a new surname from the Emperor, but since when had the relationship between parents and son become so cold?

“Don’t make such a fuss. It wasn’t that big of a deal for you to be so worked up. The priest said that I would be fine with enough rest, and your father’s intention was to keep you from worrying unnecessarily, so don’t be too upset.”

“How can I not make a fuss? Besides, your son is one of the top magicians in the world, how could you not say a word…?”

“Magicians are just good at getting prescriptions anyway. It won’t change much even if you come….”

“That’s enough. Why are you two arguing over something so trivial, even after getting married?”

Certainly, like my father and brother said, it might not have been a big deal. They might think I’m making a bigger fuss than necessary. But there was a reason why I was acting this way.

A few years ago, when I was preparing a gift for my younger sister’s wedding, I gave my father an accessory with health-boosting effects. Back then, before I met Serena, my ability to handle engravings was less than it is now, but even so, the effectiveness of the accessory was still outstanding.

Unless it was a really serious illness, he shouldn’t have suffered from minor ailments. Just in case, I took back the artifact and examined it, but there was nothing wrong with its function.

‘Could it be that the symptoms of the illness were weakened because of this?’

That possibility couldn’t be ruled out. Because of the various engravings, the effects might have been complex. Whether it was not a serious illness in the first place, or the artifact’s effect turned a serious illness into a minor one, either way, it was a fortunate thing.

“But what brings you here without any notice? Even bringing your wife.”

“Am I not allowed to come here?”

“It’s true that you usually don’t come without a specific reason.”

Was that so? After considering my brother’s reply, I realized that it was very rare for me to come to my hometown, and except for one time, I had never come without a reason.

“It’s nothing particularly dangerous. I just thought I should come by for once, and it happened to coincide with something I had to do. I’ll tell you the details later.”

#

That evening, the whole family gathered for dinner for the first time in a while. My parents, brother and sister-in-law, younger sister and brother-in-law. Even Lucius and my younger sister’s daughter, who was just starting to talk. The dinner table with a total of ten people was nothing but convivial. After dinner, my brother and I moved to another room to talk.

“So, what’s the matter that you’ve been keeping your mouth shut about until now? It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“I told you it’s nothing like that.”

“I’ll be the judge of whether it’s dangerous or not, so what is it?”

“It’s nothing much. Does our territory have any mines?”

“Mines?”

My brother asked back as if he hadn’t expected my question at all. It was indeed a somewhat random question. To come all the way here without notice and ask if there were any mines. But my brother, knowing that I wasn’t speaking idly, slowly began to recall.

“…There was one in the south, but it’s practically abandoned now. You know that. Our territory doesn’t have anything that good.”

I wondered if that might be the case. A decade could change the landscape, and I had been away from the territory for even longer than that. As such, I thought something I didn’t know might have come up, but this place, which was a peaceful rural village ten years ago, seemed to have not changed even after ten years.

“But why suddenly mines? Was that the reason you came?”

“You know Titan, right?”

“Yeah. I saw it in a video. It was amazing.”

My brother had also walked the path of the sword in his own way. Even though the pilot was from the Imperial Knights, he couldn’t have failed to recognize the inherent power of Titan.

“If you have some to spare, give us a few in our territory. I don’t need many, just about two.”

“Seriously? Never mind the money, but you don’t even have a place to use them?”

“Why never mind the money? Thanks to you, we have plenty of money. It’s not like our family is the type to splurge just because we have money, and besides, why don’t we have a place to use them? If we set one up in the training grounds, it would be good for raising the morale of the knights, and if we set up another one in the center of the territory, the residents would love it.”

“Forget about the latter part; it’s good to hear that you have a lot of money.”

“Why, do you need money?”

“How could there be a shortage of money for something the entire empire is involved in? The problem is iron. So much iron is needed that we’re planning to find undiscovered mines in the southern part of the empire this time. Blood is thicker than water, so I came here first. So, if a mine is discovered, you need initial capital to develop it.”

“…There’s a mine in our territory?”

“It’s just a possibility. I’ll have to go around the territory from tomorrow to see if there really is one.”

After pondering for a moment at the mention of the mine, my brother relaxed and his face brightened, relieved that it wasn’t a dangerous matter and that there was no risk involved.

I said it wasn’t a dangerous matter, but unlike me, who was practically on my own, my brother had many people to be responsible for as the lord of a territory.

“I appreciate your concern, but I don’t know if there will be one. If there was, wouldn’t we have developed it a long time ago?”

“It doesn’t matter much if there isn’t. I’m just starting here since I came, and if there isn’t, I can find it somewhere else.”

From the next day, I went around the territory looking for places where mines were likely to be. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fulfill the sightseeing I had told my wife about in this place. As befitting a small territory that no one cared about until I made a name for myself, there were no beautiful natural scenery or monuments to see.

“It’s okay. Instead, I’d like to stop by Oslon.”

“Oslon?”

“Yes. …I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never actually seen the sea. I don’t think I’ll have many opportunities like this, so I really want to see it with my own eyes.”

Having spent most of her time in the Zeke territory when she was young, and in the Imperial City as she grew up, it would have been difficult for her to come into contact with the sea, which is far from the Zeke territory.

How could I say no when she asked me with such a story? I told her that we would stop by Oslon even if it took a little longer, and then I started working in earnest.

“Was it too much to expect after all?”

First, I visited the mine that was said to be practically abandoned, which had come up in the conversation with my brother, to find out the reserves. Perhaps the reserves were still plentiful, but they had given up prematurely. But as expected, there was a reason why it had been abandoned. The reserves of minerals presumed to be iron ore were practically non-existent.

You can’t be full on the first try [idiom meaning you can’t expect success immediately]. As much as I didn’t expect much, I wasn’t too disappointed. After that, I went around all the places that seemed likely based on the knowledge I gained from books and skilled miners, but I didn’t produce any meaningful results. Just as the thought of leaving was starting to raise its head.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t the iron mine I wanted. But when looking at the value alone, it was a mineral worth tens or hundreds of times more.

“A, a bonanza?”

#

Element number 79 on the periodic table, a solid substance with a melting point of 1060 degrees Celsius and a boiling point of 2970 degrees Celsius. A metal with a yellow shimmering surface. This metal has been a symbol of wealth and power since ancient times.

Gold.

My feeling of finding a gold mine while trying to find an iron mine was like hitting the jackpot. Of course, high-quality iron was more essential than ever, but it couldn’t compare to gold. But soon, that good feeling returned to its original state, if not all the way to the bottom.

‘This is going to be tough.’

The amount of gold was not large, but it wasn’t small either. The problem was that it was buried so deep that you had to dig vertically 5km [3.1 miles] to start mining in earnest.

If this was modern Earth, it wouldn’t be a big problem, but even if magic could show innovative aspects, it was still quite a difficult task.

“What, gold?!”

As expected, when I told him this news, my brother was so surprised that he jumped up and down. A gold mine in a small territory in a rural area with nothing but farmland, a territory that had never had any special characteristics until now. But he frowned at the mention that he had to go down 5km vertically.

“Let’s just leave it alone for now.”

“Leave it alone? It’s too precious to do that….”

“It’s a pity, but there’s nothing we can do. It has to be cost-effective. Just you know for now. I don’t want to get caught up in rumors.”

As long as it’s a gold mine, it’s unconditionally profitable unless corruption is involved, but it’s not an urgent matter right now, and it’s not a bad idea to keep it for a while until there’s more technological development. It’s not like gold has legs and can run away [idiom meaning it’s not going anywhere].

‘I can’t just think in terms of combat.’

Titan doesn’t necessarily have to be used only in war. Even if the appearance is different, even if the role is different, if it is an unmanned or manned weapon that moves around the core, it will be called Titan. Even if it’s a job that’s difficult for people to do, or difficult for livestock to do, Titan would make it much easier.

‘Once the work in the north is done….’

Besides, I don’t have to do it myself. Not a single engraving that only I can use has been used on the exoskeleton.

If I leave only the research data, others will be able to create derivatives. Of course, the number of cores required for that will require me to suffer a little more unless the level of magic increases, but it doesn’t need the performance of Glory, so I can produce several times, several tens of times the amount.

“Have you looked around everything now?”

“Yeah. To be honest, I didn’t expect much when I came, but I caught one, a big one, so I should move on.”

According to the original plan, I was going to turn the route southeast from now on and go through the southern part of the empire counterclockwise. But in the revised plan, it’s not southeast, but southwest. Oslon, the largest port city in the empire. I was thinking of making my second visit in a long time.

Baron’s Family Second Son – Episode 103 – End