Derek left the base, but training continued. The new recruits were trained by the previous militia, which was much less efficient. However, with the support of the data panel, it wasn’t too slow. In contrast, progress at Little Tru’s station was quite sluggish. Although the blacksmith apprentices made good progress in the first few days, once Derek left, their speed dropped to less than half.
Fortunately, the data panel compensated for this, and within ten days, they had reached the level of a formal army blacksmith. Little Tru quickly realized that the new apprentices were as talented as he was. No, he recalled what Lord Derek had said: talent? No, as long as the materials were available, even a pig could become a qualified blacksmith. He had once secretly mocked Lord Derek, but now he realized how foolish he had been.
Instantly, his attitude changed. Since the blacksmithing skills couldn’t be a proprietary secret, he decided to obediently follow orders to avoid trouble. This was also due to his youth; the older Tru would have found it much harder to persuade.
If the data panel had a loyalty metric, Little Tru’s loyalty had likely increased by at least fifty percent at that moment. Meanwhile, Derek, in Watchtower City, could roughly guess what was happening through the data panel. So this method of managing people was quite effective?
Toying with a country blacksmith’s son obviously lacked any sense of achievement. The next day, Derek began exploring the streets. With its large population, Watchtower City was where nearby nobles congregated. The variety of shops offered a wealth of resources.
Derek didn’t want to provoke anyone; his knight title was merely an entry ticket. Reputation, strength, and pricing were all factors he had to consider. He wasn’t planning to purchase too much iron ore at once; Little Tru consumed only seven to eight pounds a day, so short-term demand wouldn’t be high.
Watchtower City, being the largest city nearby, had businesses in every trade, and iron ore was not scarce. Recently, there hadn’t been any military conflicts, so prices remained stable. One pound of iron ore cost around ten copper coins, yielding about one-third in iron. Doing the math, one pound of iron was roughly thirty copper coins, but the market price hovered around forty to fifty.
Doesn’t that sound profitable? But after deducting labor, fuel, and transportation costs, the profit was merely hard-earned. Buying a ton of iron ore cost about eighty silver coins. Bringing it back for the blacksmiths to practice would yield over three hundred pounds of iron, enough to forge seven to eight hundred spearheads, valued at over three hundred silver coins. Even three novice blacksmiths would take two to three months to accomplish that.
Subtracting the trivial labor and material costs of a few silver coins, he could still net around two hundred and fifty. Derek knew he would also be making about two hundred and fifty this way. That made it a business worth a few gold coins over three months, but with so many people to feed, the salary and maintenance costs would require three gold coins monthly, meaning he’d effectively earn nothing in three months.
Of course, sustaining so many people would necessitate other income sources. Typical nobles wouldn’t keep so many workers, so there was still some profit. For Derek, money was merely a resource; building his power was the main goal.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Holding three squads of regular soldiers meant that even Baron Ferreira would have to take him seriously. Derek quickly set a target and purchased a wagon of iron ore. This quantity wasn’t large, so no one paid much attention. This visit to Watchtower City felt like being a mere lackey; no one cared.
Derek knew that this wouldn’t last long. The caravan creaked back to Maida Village. As for Derek’s insistence on training blacksmiths, Andrew remained skeptical. The training ground Derek had borrowed was seldom visited. Maintaining a suitable distance was also key to preserving family ties.
It took nearly a month for the round trip. The levels of soldiers at the base and those out in the field weren’t that different; the new recruits hovered around levels three to five, while the veterans were only at levels five to seven. However, the blacksmiths were making rapid progress.
Tru Occupation: Army Blacksmith Level 4 (17/100) Experience Pool: 22/100
The other two blacksmith apprentices had also reached level two.
They had accumulated dozens of iron swords, and the iron ore was nearly depleted. Timewise, three months had passed. Half of his gold coins had already been spent. Staying here any longer would draw unwanted attention. Derek needed to find a foothold.
Upon meeting again, Little Tru bent his waist even lower.
“How many spearheads can you forge in a day now?”
“About ten. My skills have improved a bit recently, and with the help of my two apprentices, I can manage ten sets of spearheads a day.”
“Try forging a few iron swords. Use the iron ore I brought back; a good blacksmith needs practice to develop.”
“You’re right. I’ve progressed more here in a short time than I did in ten years under my father. I have a rough idea for the iron swords, but I might need a few more experiments.”
Little Tru was confident; despite the recent slow progress, he could see improvement and believed he could produce qualified iron swords given some time. Derek nodded in satisfaction, although he recognized that Little Tru’s talent had likely reached its limits.
He was only making a slight improvement each day, sometimes none at all. It was all thanks to the overflow experience from the experience pool; without that, he’d remain a level five blacksmith for life, just like his father. Yet, this wasn’t important.
The materials for an iron sword weighed around three to five pounds, costing only one or two silver coins, but could sell for five silver coins. Even if he forged just one iron sword a day, the profit would be doubled. Of course, this was contingent on reaching level five as a blacksmith.
Currently, that was a threshold; below it, he would essentially be a country blacksmith earning two or three gold coins a year. At level five, he could at least generate four to five times that value annually.
That was true profit; this was the real deal. Indeed, increasing added value was the way to make money. Otherwise, fifty gold coins would only yield the output of a small estate.
Once all three blacksmiths could forge iron swords, paired with a few apprentices, they could earn one hundred and fifty gold coins a year, enough to support six or seven squads of soldiers.
Of course, various other expenses made it difficult to sustain four to five squads. After arranging for the blacksmiths, Derek continued to focus on training. Everything hinged on having the military might for protection. Otherwise, such a profitable business would attract envy.
You couldn’t expand indefinitely just because you had the means to earn money. In this feudal society, nobles controlled the essential resources, and one had to operate within the rules.
A month and a half later, after numerous failures, Little Tru finally managed to forge iron swords. Compared to cheap spears, iron swords held greater value.