Chapter 3[แก้ไข]
-----------[Underwood Great Tree] Conference Room, Dark Evergreen Longhouse.
Porol has since reread the contents of the goatskin parchments thrice. This is because the estimated haul obtainable from the mine didn’t match his knowledge of Diamond Iron mines. It was so large a territory that it was out of the usual estimates.
(Terramaterial….refers to the minerals that would be in the same category as ‘Aether Crystals’ or ‘Orichalcum’[1] which are at the top of the list. Even within the best of the domain of lands blessed by Gods, it is not improbable for it to take many hundreds of years to develop a vein of Terramaterial. It’s the rarest and most precious metal in existence!)
The Terramaterial that Jin Russel had mentioned----[Diamond Iron Ore] is at the top of the list in terms of its hardness index. Even so, that wasn’t the most amazing part about its characteristics.
[Diamond Iron]’s characteristic is the ability to retain its hardness while being incorporated with other Gifts.
Take for example, the armor and weapons that [Perseus] had used against the [No Name] in the past were all made from the smelting of [Diamond Iron Ore].
Seeing how pale Porol had become, Carol was worried for him. However, she was also feeling the start of cold sweat on her back too.
“B…But Porol, wouldn’t it be too hasty to believe it just by these documents…..?”
“Carol Onee-san I would agree….. If I were just to judge from these maps and documents, I would have doubted it…..But didn’t you hear of the recent mass production by [Perseus] to replicate their Community’s symbolic equipment? It shouldn’t have been possible to do that…. However, if they had hidden such a huge mine….. things would really match up!”
-----Endowing the protection from the domain of Hades: the cap of invisibility aidos kyneê.
-----Endowed with the ability of flight by the Olympian god Hermes: Winged sandals of Hermes.
It was rumored that the reason why [Perseus] managed to rise as part of the cadre of [Thousand Eyes] is due to the successful mass replication of those two Gifts.
Though the Harpe[2] that sealed the Celestial Spirit Algor was also forged from the ore of [Diamond Iron], there should be a reason that obstructs the mass production of Harpes with sealing properties.
Porol felt chilled to the spine as he realized.
It’s possible to recreate all the weapons and armors of legends with that amount of ore available in the mines!
(If the [No Name]s had continued to run themselves within their periphery, the biggest trading partner would only be [Thousand Eyes]. And it would be sure to flow within the organization through that route…..!)
To begin with, the ability ‘to manufacture replicas of godly-blessed equipments’ is already a miracle in itself.
The method of production couldn’t have appeared without some trade secrets or secret mechanisms. Even if they were replicas, the Gift still required a miracle from God to be planted in it.
“However, the thing that makes it so difficult to accept isn’t that. I want to know what had been done to cause such a great amount of that mineral to run so conveniently under one spot. If the quantity estimated by those documents are true-----It can easily cover the surface of [Underwood] and be in excess.” Placing all the documents and maps about the mining process down on the table, Porol looked Jin straight in the eye.
“About that, I’m not obliged to answer.” Jin replied without hesitation. The tone within his words was an obvious refusal and Porol had no choice but to let it go. After all, the table of the negotiations have been totally turned to Jin’s favor.
The focus of the negotiations had been in regards to the price that the [No Name]s are willing to give since the start of the discussion. However, it was evident that the focus has changed to how much support [Six Scars] can offer in terms of financial and manpower.
And that was the power of the mine. It was so important that if Porol had let slip this opportunity, the ones affected would be much more than just [No Name] and [Six Scars].
It was a gold mine that could tip the balance in power between the East and the South in an instant.
(Intervening in every Demon Lord game….. Should I remove that condition and call it quits?.... No! That would be bad! If I gave in now, it would give them the advantage of being equals even in future negotiations!)
In this situation, it was even likely that they may cancel their previous offer.
Hence the only option would be to wait for the decision to come from the [No Name]'s side. Porol had much confidence that if he withdrew his previous condition on the [No Name], Jin would reply: “---How much support are you willing to offer?” while smiling in that unreliable way of his.
If he couldn’t find a way to rebuke that line, it would become the chance for the other party to take the lead. Putting aside the fact that this was a huge opportunity for his Community to profit from, Porol still wanted to prevent any situation that might cause him to lose the lead in the negotiations.
“……I get it now. I finally understand why you required a force of two hundred as manpower. However, this would seem a little insincere of us. If you wish to, I can help to market the [Diamond Iron] ore------”