After the spring plowing, they would form the army, but it wouldn't delay the progress of farming.

The importance of food to a country cannot be ignored.

By the time they finally get around to forming the legion in two or three months, the harvest in the northern lands will likely be nearing.

At that point, it would be enough for the kingdom's army to launch an offensive and stabilize the situation before the snow falls, making it unlikely that the barbarians would launch a counterattack during the winter.

Clearly, the noble elites had their heads on straight; they hadn't reached the point of living in excess.

Even Derek hadn't considered the possibility of failure.

From a certain perspective, from the time of the Holy Unified Kingdom until the present division into three countries, the barbarians had always been looked down upon.

The general consensus among the nobles was that the barbarians had taken advantage of the kingdom's division to successfully steal a victory.

Now, with the situation in the three countries stabilizing and a new balance achieved, they understood that eliminating each other would not be an easy task.

Therefore, most eyes were now focused on the barbarians.

After all, the barbarians had occupied a considerable portion of the land and population of the old kingdom.

For the nobles, land was a powerful foundation.

The news that Derek's older brother Mark had shared, no doubt, had already reached many of the nobles.

The mobilization of the southern and central regions meant that the northern provinces would soon follow suit.

After all, it was the kingdom's territory closest to the barbarians, and this battle would certainly carry immense weight.

The nobles who had lost their family lands now had an opportunity to take revenge.

Derek could already see the large-scale events that were about to unfold.

Training! Train as hard as you can!

Derek was full of energy, no longer caring about whether it would attract attention.

Given the current environment, even large movements wouldn't raise suspicions.

The price of weapons and equipment on the market had skyrocketed.

The news of the impending northern expedition against the barbarians was spreading gradually.

It had reached noble heirs, merchant families, and even some city residents, all of whom were starting to make preparations.

Although Derek had already started stockpiling materials, he soon encountered difficulties.

"The consumption of iron ore is too great."

Little Tru came to Derek, complaining.

With the expansion of the blacksmithing team, the consumption was now ten times what it had been before.

Refined steel consumed even more.

A full set of knight’s armor, weighing dozens of pounds, might require nearly a thousand pounds of ore.

Derek’s stockpile, along with the Ferreira family’s reserves, was nowhere near enough.

Even if some weapons could be exchanged for a bit of ore, there was still very little iron ore available on the market.

You simply couldn’t get it.

Even if you had gold coins in hand, you still couldn’t spend them.

The Ferreira family was not skilled in smelting and didn't own any mines.

Even within the family, few were involved in such business.

Derek tried reaching out to some connections, but unfortunately, they couldn't get enough raw materials either.

This issue stemmed from the source.

The families controlling the iron ore were intentionally tightening supply, hoping to extract excessive profits.

"If it really comes down to it, I'll lead a group and take it from them."

Simon’s eyes gleamed with malice. He had risen from the bottom, and while he had learned some manners, at critical moments, he didn't care about formalities.

Honestly, Derek was a little tempted, but he quickly dismissed this tempting idea.

Now, in the northern lands, soldiers were gathering everywhere, and the kingdom’s control was stronger than ever. Unless one had lost their mind, who would dare stir up trouble?

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Hadn't you seen how much more subdued Lloyd was nowadays?

Bandits in various regions had disappeared, fearing they'd become targets for the army’s training.

"Make a list of all the families that can provide iron ore. I'll visit them one by one and see if we can secure a share."

Derek immediately activated his network, looking for connections.

The circle in the northern provinces was small, so by finding a few more people, he was bound to make some useful connections. He wasn’t expecting much but hoped to at least make some progress.

Derek’s efforts weren’t in vain, and he soon found some middlemen.

He visited them one by one.

The families controlling the mines were very courteous, though they couldn’t spare much ore.

One family might give him one cart of ore per month, while another might offer three or five carts at once. It was all polite refusals.

After making the rounds, no real problems were solved; it seemed like a lot, but it still wasn’t enough to meet the demand.

Moreover, the families controlling the mines didn’t lack blacksmiths—any family that had access to mines also had plenty of blacksmiths.

As for warhorses, Derek didn’t have enough to use them as exchange.

"At this rate, all the stock will be gone in a month."

Derek began to grow anxious, but just as he was about to take drastic action, some good news finally arrived.

"There aren't many families that control mines, but there are some. The large mine owners on the market won’t sell, but there are still some smaller ones.

With the price of iron ore rising sharply, some people will be willing to sell."

This idea came from Baron Ferreira, who had seen a lot in his lifetime and knew of some other avenues.

In addition to the noble families with fiefs, even some merchants with court titles controlled a few mines.

Derek began visiting them one by one.

Some of these smaller mines might only last one or two years before running out, and their quality was uneven.

But Derek wasn’t picky; even a mine with a one- or two-cart monthly output would do.

In fact, he discovered a new mining site.

The Garcia family—this was a baron family with a fief, though unlike the Ferreira family, the current Baron Garcia served the kingdom and held a viscount title.

Although this viscount title could not be inherited, it still represented the family’s status.

The Garcia family was one of the newer noble families. Their strength was likely similar to that of the Ferreira family in the past.

But recently, they had discovered a sizable mine on their territory and began producing ore.

The once relatively insignificant Garcia family suddenly became a highly sought-after power.

However, because the mine had only recently been discovered, the Garcia family didn’t have a strong foundation and lacked enough blacksmiths.

They had cobbled together a few unskilled blacksmiths, but they couldn’t bring in significant profits.

As a technical trade, and one that was deliberately kept under wraps, it would take at least two generations of effort to see meaningful results.

So Derek went to visit, hoping to secure a new source of ore.

But after sending a formal request, there was no response.

Derek waited for three days, and finally, a servant invited him in.

As a new noble family, the Garcia family’s residence was just a manor, and they didn’t even have a castle of their own.

Although the manor was well-fortified, with a high wooden wall surrounding it, it still felt somewhat humble.

Adrian was very displeased. How could such a family treat them with such disdain?

Derek tried to calm the others down. Since he was the one seeking help, he had to hold his temper.

But when he finally met the person, Derek couldn’t hide his frustration.

"Harvey Garcia?"

After hearing the introduction, it turned out that the person in front of him was not the head of the Garcia family.

The Viscount Garcia wasn’t present—this was a matter that should have been discussed by the heir, not the second son.

Moreover, the other party's attitude was arrogant, almost as if his nose was in the air.