The Return of the Genius Farmer - Chapter 177



Only Noblemtl

Episode 177

89. New mineral obtained – 1

As the colors of the trees in the Great Forest grew darker, a guest came to Lee Han’s cabin.

“Lee Han~! Is it there?”

It was a clever voice.

The nine-tailed fox beastman, the leader of the fox beastman tribe, smirked at Seria, who couldn’t take her eyes off his tail.

“Ah. You’re here.”

“Hehehe. Jin is developing the mine, right? We also finished preparing for winter, so we came down while we had some free time.”

The northern fox tribe was able to spend the winter much more comfortably thanks to the iron trade between Yihan and Sunsoo.

Originally, they should have been focusing on gathering and hunting to survive the winter, but now that they could receive a stable supply of food from Yihan, the sign was able to move to do other things.

“Are you thinking of going too?”

“Yes. Because that’s what we decided to do.”

Jin plans to develop the vein in the eastern part of Daesurim and then build a mine there.

Lee Han, who had invited Sain to share his knowledge as a skilled miner with the dog tribe of the east, pointed to one side of the blacksmith shop.

“Oh. You made the equipment separately.”

“I have prepared a pickaxe and a shovel as you said. Do you need them?”

In the pure iron mines, such equipment was not necessarily needed.

I was wondering why I needed equipment when I could mine the mine without any burden using just the power of the fox tribe.

“We’re used to it so we can just do it with our hands, but it might be different for the dog tribe.”

Well, that’s true too.

The eastern dog people are unlikely to be skilled at mining, so it would be much better to have the help of equipment.

Lee Han smiled brightly and picked up the pickaxe.

[A well-made and efficient pickaxe blessed by the Fairy]

[Equipment made for mining minerals. Skill ‘Efficiency’ is applied.]

[Infinite durability due to the Fairy’s Blessing effect]

[Subspace storage possible with the Fairy’s Blessing effect]

[Increased destructive power with well-made effects]

[Weight reduction with well-made effects]

[Continuous application of skill efficiency with Gaia’s Hammer effect]

[Production Difficulty: ☆☆☆☆]

I thought of the ‘Efficiency’ effect applied to the pickaxe made by applying the teachings of Carmen, Skene and Lordran.

I gave Shredder a try and he was able to mine ore faster than a normal pickaxe.

This is my first time using equipment with a persistent skill, and it was more useful than I expected.

The sign’s eyes, which seemed to be closed, grew wide as he fiddled with the pickaxe and shovel.

It was also his first time seeing such great equipment.

“Did the dwarves make it?”

“I made it. I was properly taught by my teachers.”

“Wonderful. With this level of equipment, even unskilled miners will be able to mine ore in no time.”

In mining, nothing is more dangerous than beginners.

However, if you have access to this equipment, you will be able to get used to mining without much difficulty.

“Then let’s go.”

After loading the equipment onto the cart, Lee Han headed east with Sain and the dwarves.

Perhaps because I had contacted them in advance, Seolhwa was there to greet me.

“Come in.”

Lee Han smirked at Seol-hwa, who greeted him with the same rough voice as usual.

It was because the large, fluffy-looking tail was wagging.

Behind Seol-hwa, who now seemed to have no intention of hiding her emotions, stood a group of dogs who looked nervous.

“You are a real human being.”

“What should I do? Should I start by saying hello?”

“This is my first time seeing a human. Can you pet me?”

Seol-hwa’s expression was slightly distorted, perhaps because of the gossiping subordinates.

Seol-hwa, who thought that Lee-han would be in trouble if he stayed like this, quickly grabbed his hand.

“Let’s go quickly!!”

The village of the dog people that they arrived at with Sulhwa’s guidance did not seem much different from the poor villages of the dog people in the central region.

A shabby mud house, a seemingly communal warehouse, and an unpaved dirt floor.

Still, the children’s expressions showed no signs of anxiety, as if they were eating well.

“How are your winter preparations? Are you running low on food or anything?”

“… …Thanks to you.”

Seolhwa glanced around.

Children of the dog tribe were seen running around holding stone potatoes in both hands.

Until last year, the village atmosphere in winter was not like this.

A harsh winter with limited food.

In order to survive somehow, they had no choice but to conserve food, and the remaining food could only be given to warriors who had to move to hunt monsters or wild beasts.

Every time, Seolhwa felt heartbroken.

Because of the despair and fear on the faces of starving children.

But the thing that made Seolhwa happier than anything else was that she no longer had to see that kind of face.

“I give with the intention of receiving something in return.”

“joy.”

Even as she grumbled, Seol-hwa’s tail shook violently again.

Sign smiled at the two of them and then looked at one side with narrowed eyes.

It was a cave.

This is where the village’s artisan, Seolhwa, resides.

There was a strong smell coming from there.

“I can smell Jin’s scent.”

“Do you know just by smell?”

“Haha. If you’re a skilled craftsman like me. Okay. Let’s go.”

The sign walked into the cave with a big smile and snapped its fingers.

At that moment, blue flames rose around the sign, illuminating the darkness.

After looking around the inside of the cave where there were still traces of human life, the sign found some black boulders piled up in one corner.

Jin was an ore.

Although there was not a trace of Jin Eun’s pure white light, the sign could tell that this was Jin Eun.

“The purest light tends to dwell in the darkest places. Just as light and darkness are two sides of a coin, the unrefined ore of silver is darker than any other ore.”

It is a good quality ore.

The sign looked silently at the ore in his hand, then raised his hand and began to dig into one side.

A solid rock crumbles like mud in the hands of a sign.

The man who was digging into the cave, digging through the rock as if scooping out dough, raised his hand.

“Wow. I didn’t know there was such a large vein of ore. Would you like to see it?”

The flame of the sign illuminates the inside of the pit. Surprisingly, deep black ore is buried deep inside.

“I’ll have to do some more research to find out, but I think this should be enough to make a suit of armor for everyone in the Great Forest.”

I didn’t know there would be that many.

Lee Han-do also looked surprised, but not as much as Seol-hwa.

Seol-hwa, who had been unable to say anything with her mouth wide open, flinched and shook her shoulders when she received the gaze of him and Sa-in.

“Huh, huh. I expected something like this to exist on our land.”

People naturally feel fear of things that go beyond their expectations.

He was talking as if he wasn’t surprised at all, but his tail was tucked between his legs.

The fact that the reserves of Jin were much larger than expected made me nervous.

“There’s nothing to be so nervous about. Anyway, I’ll teach you how to mine minerals.”

The sign snickered and called the dog people together.

While the Sign and Dog tribesmen were mining for minerals, Lee Han decided to do something else.

“What is it?”

“It’s a pump.”

It must have been amazing to see a human being making something near a well for the first time.

A group of young dogs gathered around Lee Han.

Everyone seems to like the plump ones.

“If you move it like this… … .”

Once the basic hand pump was completed, Lee Han tried moving the handle.

With just a few twists of the handle and a squeaking sound, clean water began to pour out of the pump.

“Wow!!”

The children’s eyes widened. Until now, they had had to struggle to get water from that deep well.

But, water comes out just by moving that long handle a few times.

Children tend to be fascinated when they see something new.

Everyone ran to Lee Han with sparkling eyes.

“Can I try it too?!”

“I’ll try it too!!”

As the children chattered loudly, many people became curious and came over to see them and were surprised.

“Can you install this in the well over there too?”

“Yes, of course.”

There were more pipes and pumps prepared.

Lee Han installed a pump near the well they had arrived at with their guidance, and the expressions on the faces of the dog people brightened beyond compare, perhaps because they no longer had to struggle to get water from the well.

“Wow~! If I had known I would receive such convenience, I would have pestered the chieftain sooner.”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“Haha. Now that I’m friends with Seolhwa, it’s only natural that I do this for her.”

“I’ve heard that humans are very dexterous, but they really are. Is there anything else they can do?”

“Hmm. I think it would be better to start by building new houses. It’s a bit difficult right now, but… … .”

“Huh? Why is it hard?”

“Because we’re short on manpower. Haha.”

“If it’s something we put effort into, we can do it!”

“We may not be as good as the young guys who went to mine, but we are also Suin people! We are confident in our ability to work hard, so you can say whatever you want!”

“Then would you start with the tree?”

There is a lack of materials to build stone houses, such as in the Sosu-in Village or the Dog-in Village.

But there are plenty of trees here, so it would be better to build a cabin.

If it’s just a hut, I don’t know how to make one, so it would be better to help with this.

Lee Han immediately started building a hut with the dog tribe.

We make a house site and build a log house by stacking logs together with those who have been cutting down trees.

Thanks to the help of the strong people, the task of building the hut was not that difficult.

“Yes. You can stack it like that. Then, I’ll just… … .”

“Where are you going?”

“It’s almost lunchtime. I should prepare dinner.”

“Shouldn’t I help you?”

“it’s okay.”

Because you can cook by yourself.

While the Suin tribe was busy moving around, Lee Han headed towards the cart.

I took out the pieces of meat I caught yesterday and put them in a pot to boil.

When times are tough, meat is the best.

By the time I had boiled the meat with chives and spices and made a vegetable side dish to serve with dozens of servings of boiled pork, people started coming out of the mine.

“What is that smell?”

“It smells so delicious… … ?”

As the dog-people, dwarves, and others, dirty with dust and gravel, approached, Ihan pointed toward the well.

“Is the pump installation finished?”

“Yes. Please wash up and come back.”

Because it’s not good to throw stones at someone while eating.

Lee Han said this while taking out the well-boiled pork and cutting it, and the workers ran straight to the pump.

“Please eat!!”

A place was created in the center of the village.

Appetizing boiled pork and vegetable salad.

And the sauce that Lee Han made is placed in its place.

“Wow! This is delicious!”

“The meat melts in your mouth!”

“What about vegetables?!”

Since it is meat that you eat after working hard, it cannot be bad.

It would be even more so if it was boiled pork made by Lee Han.

The atmosphere is friendly.

Seol-hwa sat down next to Lee Han, who had created that atmosphere.

“why?”

“Just. Because I’m grateful.”

If it weren’t for Lee Han, this kind of atmosphere wouldn’t have been possible. It was when Seol-hwa, who was smiling broadly, was about to open her mouth.

“Look here. Lee Han.”

“yes?”

“I found it while I was working earlier.”

The sign took out a small piece with a trembling expression and placed it on Lee Han’s hand.

It was something that even a layman who knew nothing about minerals could understand.

“There was a gold vein.”

It was a glittering gold mine.