Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 12 The Greedy

Inside the lord's study.

Vilan leisurely sipped his black tea, which surprised him. The world was not lacking in tea, and had even developed a decent black tea culture.

Standing before him, Igris hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up, "Lord Vilan, I think you should pay more attention to Wirtz."

Vilan raised an eyebrow slightly, calmly setting down his teacup. "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"He's not a good person," Igris replied firmly.

Vilan was somewhat surprised; he had thought Igris would be more tactful, but he hadn't expected her to be so direct.

Seeing Vilan's surprise, Iglesias quickly added, "Everyone in town knows that Wirtz is just a down-on-his-luck merchant, not even a nobleman. He became mayor entirely because of the tax collector's arrangement. And I just saw that he seemed somewhat dissatisfied with your actions."

Igris didn't say anything more. The only reason she stood up to remind Vilan was because Vilan had treated her well, and she didn't think he was a bad nobleman.

After she finished speaking, she looked at Vilan nervously, hoping to glean some information from his expression.

However, Vilan simply smiled casually.

"Perhaps the mayor isn't so bad after all. He just reminded me that we don't need to give the serfs so much bread; half a loaf would be enough."

Upon hearing this, Igris visibly looked disappointed; it seemed the lord didn't care about such a trivial matter.

"Captain, it's your turn to report on the matter I asked you to investigate yesterday."

Vilan suddenly looked at Carreras behind him. He had wanted to report this that morning, but Vilan had stopped him for the time being.

Carreras glanced at Igris but didn't say anything.

Vilan smiled and said, "Relax, didn't you hear what Miss Igris just said? Clearly, she's trustworthy."

Iglesias was immediately puzzled. An investigation? Investigate what?

Then she saw Carreras nod. "Yes, as you instructed, I secretly investigated for a day and can confirm that Wirtz is morally corrupt and that the town's food crisis is inextricably linked to him."

"What?!"

Iglesias's eyes widened, thinking she had misheard.

"Lord Vilan, have you already investigated Wirtz?"

Vilan nodded slightly. "It was just a guess. I didn't expect to actually find something. Although Iron Anvil Territory is barren, it doesn't seem to have experienced such a severe food crisis in all these years, does it?"

"Yes, business in Anvil Territory was pretty good before Gareth Hawkwood started mining iron ore," Carreras replied indifferently.

"Gareth Hawkwood! That greedy baron!"

Iglesias gasped, seemingly completely taken aback that Vilan would utter that name.

"You know him?" Vilan asked curiously.

"I've only heard that he's the most notorious gold prospector, who treats wealth and gold coins as everything in life, greedily enslaving everything in his territory. Anyone who gets his eye on never ends up well."

Iglesias looked somewhat angry, as if she had long been dissatisfied with this guy's bad reputation.

In fact, there was another crucial reason why she knew so much about this greedy baron.

That is, the two territories are very close to each other, and serfs who cannot bear the exploitation often escape from the greedy baron and become refugees in the Anvil Territory.

Iglesias was clever; she immediately understood the meaning behind Karelas's words.

"You mean Gareth stole all the business in Anvil Territory? But what does that have to do with Wirtz?"

"Captain, can you answer Miss Igris's question?" Vilan asked Carreras.

The latter turned her head and looked at Igris. "I went to the mountains yesterday. The mine, which should have been shut down, actually had more than 20 miners working day and night."

"How could this be!" Igris exclaimed in surprise.

Vilan leaned back in his chair, his arms resting on the armrests, his hands supporting his chin, and said with a smile, "Obviously, Mr. Wirtz deceived you. You thought that no one was buying iron ore, so the mine had to close, but in fact, the mine has never stopped operating."

At this point, a barely perceptible hint of anger appeared in Vilan's eyes.

"He stole the ore from Anvil Territory!"

"That's my ore!"

Vilan's teeth ached, so he quickly drank some red tea to maintain his aristocratic elegance.

There's nothing I can do; he's actually furious right now.

This Wirtz actually betrayed him and secretly mined iron ore right under his nose.

Moreover, he certainly doesn't have the capability to transport raw ore himself, unless someone else takes over.

There has never been any record of iron ore being discovered in Gareth Hawkwood's territory, the land of that greedy baron.

Where did he get the ore to sell?

The three of them didn't say anything more, but they all knew what was going on.

"This mayor is even bolder than I imagined. He used the iron ore from Anvil Territory to bring gold coins to Gareth, while leaving his own people hungry. Heh heh."

Vera sneered, tapping the back of her left hand repeatedly with her right index finger, as if she were thinking about something.

"Lord Vilan, all I need is your order, and I will lead the guards to capture that bastard." Karelas suddenly patted his chest with one hand, his face serious.

Vilan shook his head. "No rush. There are definitely guards at the mine. Although they are no match for you, I don't want to take the risk. Besides, I need to find out just how deeply that greedy baron is involved with Wirtz."

At this point, he raised his eyes and said, "I need someone to keep an eye on the mine at all times."

"Mount," Carreras answered without hesitation.

"He's more low-key than Saka, more agile than Bigyi, and most importantly, he's never in the spotlight."

Vilan recalled the most inconspicuous little man in his guard, then nodded. "Tell him to be careful; his life is more important than the mission."

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I will tell him." A hint of surprise appeared in Carreras's eyes.

He hadn't expected that Lord Vilan would specifically care about the safety of a guard.

Vilan didn't think there was anything wrong with that statement. After all, these guards, along with the butler and advisors, were his core group. He had to treat each of them like a treasure, and he would be heartbroken if anything happened to them.

"Alright, Captain, go find Mount. Remember, send two more people to support him. We can't let him be isolated and helpless. Igris, you stay behind."

"clear."

Carreras went outside, while Igris had a complicated expression.

She thought she knew enough about how bad Wirtz was, but she never imagined he could be this bad.

And this lord, who had only been there for three days, actually found out the truth so quickly.

Her tone softened involuntarily, "I admit, you are a qualified lord, at least more capable than me."

"Can I take this as a compliment?"

Vilan rolled her eyes at her. After all, finding out just one Wirtz was far from enough. The causes of the food crisis also included bandits and refugees, which were not easy to solve.

That's why Vilan specifically kept Igris behind; he needed to accelerate the pace of change.