The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 444: Volume 9: Phantom of the Ancient Castle, - 6: Preemptive Strike

Chapter 444: Volume 9: Phantom of the Ancient Castle, Chapter 6: Preemptive Strike

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The warming weather seemed to also drive the sustained economic development of the Caucasus.

With the Bahomon Iron Mine officially starting production, and its output steadily increasing, and the dredging of the Catania River, the transportation route from Bahomon to Mattdam was officially opened, allowing raw iron ore and pig iron to be transported directly to Mattdam by water.

The road from Bahomon to Ugru had become the best road in the entire Caucasus Region. It only took two days to travel from Bahomon to Ugru, and if one had urgent matters and needed to travel overnight, a day and a half was enough. This quickly made Bahomon the largest raw material and rough processing base in the whole Caucasus.

As the riots in Leon became more frequent, a considerable number of liberated slaves among the half-orc miners, who were neither willing to stay and wait for death nor willing to join the rioting armies, fled to the Caucasus.

Whether they traveled through Muscat or crossed the Volt Mountain Range, they could easily find a well-paid job in Santiago and Bahomon. Mine owners, coal mine owners, and iron mines, in desperate need of a large number of skilled workers, warmly welcomed these large groups of cheap skilled labor.

In addition to giving them so-called freedom, these people did not seem to prize the concept of wages very much, which simply delighted the mine owners.

The rapid increase in the number of workers in several regions also drove other industries to develop rapidly. With Ugru’s population breaking through twenty thousand people, the populations of Mattdam and Bahomon quickly exceeded ten thousand and were closing in on fifteen thousand. All of this was thanks to the development of several mines, the improvement of transportation conditions, and the large influx of barbarians following the signing of the peace agreement. Of course, the civil strife in Leon played a part too.

The vast lands to the south of Bahomon once again became the object of merchants’ favor. Seeing the huge benefits generated by the Bahomon Iron Mine, almost everyone was green with envy at the Barefoot Society Merchants for getting there first. Would that land near the south of Bahomon, close to the Barbarian Territory, also have the same good fortune?

Several Dwarven exploration teams, hired from the South at great expense, successively entered this land with prospecting licenses issued by the Lord’s Mansion. The masters behind them were eager to have the same good luck and opportunities as the Barefoot Society Merchants.

The exploration teams did not disappoint them. Two of the teams were successful, and while the iron ore was nowhere near as extensive as the Bahomon Iron Mine, it was enough to send the merchants into raptures. Of course, they still needed to purchase mining rights from the Lord’s Mansion.

The establishment of judicial assistant officers in Mattdam and Bahomon marked that these two places had become important fairs second only to Ugru. Facing the increasingly complex security situation, Komer had to agree to detach fifty soldiers who had completed basic training from the newly formed Caucasus Self-Defense Forces and equip them as judicial police to assist judicial assistant officers in Ugru, Mattdam, and Bahomon to handle security affairs.

The formation of the Caucasus Self-Defense Forces was unanimously welcomed by the new immigrants because most of the soldiers were selected from new immigrants. Although a large number of immigrants went to Myron Duchy, this signified that the new immigrants had truly become part of the citizens of the Caucasus and were recognized by the Lord. Especially since the Chief of the Self-Defense Army was a knight who originally came from Myron Duchy but had the Lord’s deep trust, this made the new immigrants, particularly those from the Myron region, ecstatic.

The Indigenous People were equally happy. Aside from the substantial economic benefits brought by the large number of new immigrants, Komer’s official appointment of the young Neptune as Knight Puba of Political Affairs’ assistant in charge of civil affairs also made them proudly express their satisfaction.

This was a rare honor for the Indigenous People. To be appointed as an assistant political officer in his early twenties was unprecedented on the Continent, especially since his family background was not noble. Komer had successfully balanced the relationship between the two major ethnic groups and was gradually promoting their integration.

The Self-Defense Army and the Lord’s Guard, with a daunting force of a thousand men, intimidated some. Although this provided enough security for the people, there were still many who were puzzled about why the Lord was keen on building such two large military forces. Especially the Indigenous People, of course, they did not oppose the Lord doing so. As long as the Lord could afford such a large military expense, they were happy to see it happen.

Komer had been quite busy recently. Although he completed the first phase of the exploration of Damarlinsk Castle, and the harvest was extraordinarily rich, he still faced many challenges.

The Mysterious Magician had become a valuable asset in his hands, but to extract more valuable information from her and train her into a thorough Dark Envoy was a long and arduous journey. Komer was more than willing to accept this challenge.

The Pirates from Rhode Island had never relaxed their pressure on Komer. In their view, the benefits that the Caucasus had received after the opening of the Mattdam port were substantial, and they had also paid a considerable amount of funds. Even if the Magic-armed gun could not be produced in time, Mirror of Thousand Miles, which had no technical problems, was something Komer could definitely spare a few more of. This forced Komer to sit down and make another two.

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