Chapter 25: I Came for a Frying Pan, But Hit the Jackpot

Douglas doubted his ears, wondering if he had heard correctly.

Of course, there were outsiders who commissioned kitchen knives.

But if someone could obtain materials from such a strong monster, they themselves would be quite powerful.

He couldn’t understand why such a person would want a kitchen knife.

“Yes, a kitchen knife. Is it possible?”

“Of course! Our smithy originally handles the production of everyday items as well. You’ve come to the right place.”

‘A kitchen knife.’

In fact, Douglas’s specialty was everyday items.

Farming tools, kitchen utensils, and the like.

Iron weapons were what he had taken a liking to, but lately, he hadn’t even been able to do that.

“Ah, and could you also get me a frying pan?”

“A frying pan. Are you, by chance, a cook?”

“Yes. If possible, I’d like a frying pan that is sturdy enough to block arrows, yet suitable for cooking.”

It had been a long time since he’d seen a cook.

Most of the outsiders who had come so far were those reminiscent of mercenaries.

A frying pan sturdy enough to block arrows.

Though the request was a bit unusual, just thinking about making a frying pan seemed to excite him.

But there was a problem.

“I’d like to make it for you right away, but currently, the entire city is short on iron…”

His heart ached thinking the cook before him would be disappointed.

He wanted to do anything for him in return for the meal, but he couldn’t create ore out of nothing.

However, the cook seemed to already know.

“Then I just need to mine some ore from the mine, right?”

***

– Master, couldn’t you just buy it even if it’s expensive?

“Even low-grade ore is at its peak price right now. 1,500 gold wouldn’t even come close.”

– Hmm, I see.

“And I have some business at the mine.”

– Business? What kind?

“Secret.”

– What? After saying all that, you call it a secret? That’s cheap! Master!

Flutter flutter!

The pages of the [Cooking Mastery Manual] flipped rapidly.

It was expressing its emotions in its own way.

It was fortunate that I had set it so others couldn’t see it; if they could, passersby would have been horrified.

“Chorong, is it good?”

– Kkyuu!

Thanks to its level increase and the considerable rise in mana, summoning the spirit wasn’t much of a burden.

So I had summoned Chorong while moving toward the mine.

Partly for skill proficiency, and partly to feed it the butter-roasted baby potatoes I’d made earlier.

As expected, Chorong, having eaten the potatoes, happily emitted a warm flame.

“Here. Chorong, could you stay inside for a while? I’ll summon you again later.”

– Kkyu, kkyuuu!

Chorong disappeared with the last potato stuffed in its mouth.

As my footsteps quickened, more and more people began to appear.

“Hanson! Are you going to Tunnel B again today?”

“Of course. A real man goes for the jackpot!”

“You’ll end up a bachelor your whole life like that. Let’s just go to Tunnel A like normal.”

“I told you, a real man goes for the jackpot!”

They all had robust physiques.

Even outside the mine, they wore tightly pressed helmets and had heavy-looking pickaxes at their waists.

They were clearly miners.

Ignoring the growing mine before my eyes, I first entered a small building that seemed to be the office.

“Hello. I’m here to do some work.”

“A newbie? Just sit over there for now.”

[Vasen Mine Office]

Vasen Mine, the only mine in Benes.

With the price of ore rising, the office was quite busy.

About ten employees were moving busily without a moment’s rest, doing who knows what.

“Hello.”

“You’re here for a weapon too, right? Damn, what kind of market economy is this realistic? Right?”

“Haha…”

A user who had arrived earlier was sitting in the waiting area.

Not wanting to make unnecessary enemies, I tried to just smile and brush off his words without answering.

About ten minutes passed like that?

A woman who appeared to be an employee appeared with some documents.

Disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes.

Her appearance alone showed how busy this place was.

“Your name?”

“Lee Chang. I was sent here by Douglas Blacksmith.”

“Abyssal Darkness! I was sent by Wilson Blacksmith!”

“Haah… Well, you’ll probably just stay for a day or two anyway. Here, it’s a contract, so just sign it.”

[Contract]

1. Party A shall lend Party B a pickaxe and provide permission to use the mine until 10:00 PM today.

2. Party A is not responsible for any accidents occurring during Party B’s work.

3. Upon returning the pickaxe, Party B shall return 50% of the acquired ore to Party A, and the remaining 50% shall be Party B’s wage.

4. Signature: (_______)

A full 50%.

The amount of ore to be returned was too high.

But this was an imperial-owned mine.

That 50% likely included not only the pickaxe rental fee, but also taxes to the empire and the office’s operating expenses.

Moreover, what I was registering for was a daily labor contract.

It was inevitably disadvantageous for Party B.

Complaining wouldn’t change anything, so I quietly picked up the pen.

Just then.

“What? 50%? What, the bear does all the work and the rich man gets the money? Isn’t that too harsh?”

The user sitting next to me started complaining.

And, as expected, the employee watching had a very unpleasant expression.

“Haah… Nelson, please escort this person out. They’re leaving.”

“Yes.”

“Wh-what? No, that’s not it! Hey, you! You think so too, don’t you! Right?”

There wasn’t even a word of persuasion or understanding.

At the employee’s word, a man waiting behind dragged the user outside.

The user tried to resist at the end.

“Come on, 40%! No, 45%! How about it? Let’s make it good for both of us! Good for everyone! Huh?”

Bang!

“Ah, damn! Fine, I’ll do 50%, just let me in! I said!”

“Nelson, it’s getting noisy.”

“Yes! I’ll dispose of it.”

Dispose of it.

Guards like that were usually quite high level to begin with.

Not something users who just escaped the training ground could handle.

The user’s desperate struggle at the door was brief.

He was carried off somewhere by Nelson’s large, muscular build.

“If you’ve signed, please give it here.”

“Yes!”

Suddenly, I found myself tensing up.

Because I realized that if I got on this employee’s bad side even a little, working here would be impossible.

“To explain, there are three mine entrances: A, B, and C. Usually, people prefer Tunnel A, where good ore is abundant…”

The employee paused for a moment.

On the documents she was holding, the words ‘Tunnel A Entry Log’ were written.

“This one is full. So, Mr. Lee Chang, you’ll have to go to Tunnel B. You can leave if you don’t like it.”

“What kind of place is Tunnel B?”

“It’s a place with pretty good ore, but the rock is hard, and the amount of ore is small. A beginner usually just comes back empty-handed.”

Hearing her words, I understood what the miner I’d passed on my way here had said.

Compared to Tunnel A, where abundant, average ore came out, Tunnel B had good ore but was harder to find.

“What about Tunnel C?”

“That place… Haah, it’s not a place a beginner should go anyway.”

“Then I’ll go to Tunnel B.”

“Yes. Here’s your pickaxe.”

Tunnel C.

I hadn’t been there before regression, but it was a place I wanted to visit now.

And besides, my real destination was Tunnel B, not A.

“You need to return the pickaxe by 10 o’clock. Well, I hope you find at least something.”

“Haha. Thank you. I’ll come back with both hands full.”

Clunk!

As I left the office,

the employee watched my confident back and sighed again.

“More people complaining that it’s a scam, asking if there’s really nothing there.”

Then she returned to her own work.

***

Clang! Ka-gang!

Tunnel B of Vasen Mine.

As it was unpopular, there weren’t many people, but it was the loudest of the three tunnels.

Because the walls and rocks of Tunnel B were famous for being hard.

Even when a pickaxe struck the wall, it didn’t make a ‘shatter!’ sound, but a ‘clang!’ like striking metal.

In the midst of this, a young man threw down the pickaxe he was holding.

“Damn! After hours of this, what’s this! Is there even anything here?”

“Hey, young man. A man needs to know how to wait patiently. And frankly, your pickaxe work itself is…”

“Wait my ass! I’m busy hunting, what’s this! I’m done!”

“Well, I don’t care if you leave, but if you don’t return the pickaxe, you’ll have to pay a contract violation fee?”

But the young man didn’t react to the miner’s shout at all.

He threw his pickaxe on the ground and walked out, fuming.

‘If he runs away like that, he’ll be treated as a criminal for contract violation.’

I was a little worried, but it was someone else’s business.

Besides, he had even gone out of his way to offer advice and counsel.

As a fellow miner, he’d done his best to look out for him.

Perhaps to fill that spot, as if prepared in advance,

a new man walked slowly from the entrance, pickaxe in hand.

“Hey, newbie?”

“Hello. My name is Lee Chang. Please look after me.”

“Hoho, a bright one, aren’t you? There’s an empty spot over there, so you can start right away. Ah, if you’re wondering how to use the pickaxe, feel free to ask anytime.”

“Thank you. I’ll try on my own first.”

“Alright. It’s good to jump in and experience it yourself.”

Though most would swing the pickaxe a few times and then give up quickly.

‘But, what is he doing?’

He paused his work to catch his breath and watched the newbie.

Instead of doing the assigned pickaxe work, he had somehow been pressed against the wall for a while.

“What is it, is there a problem? If you need help, anytime…”

“About here should do.”

Just as the miner was about to offer a helping hand,

the newbie finally moved.

First, he held the top part and swung the pickaxe, naturally bringing his hand down.

It was a movement that made good use of the pickaxe’s weight.

Clang!

‘Hmm? Could it be he’s not new to this?’

His movements were too clean for a first-timer.

The wall the newbie struck also had a fairly large chunk broken off, as if the pickaxe had made a proper impact.

After several more strikes, a gray lump of ore appeared right in front of the newbie.

“Ooh, that’s Hard Steel! You’re lucky, friend!”

“Haha. I guess so.”

Few who came to Tunnel B for the first time found ore this quickly.

The ore in Tunnel B was such that even with luck, one could barely mine about twenty iron ores a day.

But the newbie’s luck didn’t end there.

“Th-that’s Silver Iron!”

“Another Hard Steel!”

“Gasp, this time even Mana Steel…”

Wherever the newbie struck with his pickaxe, the rare ores characteristic of Tunnel B revealed themselves.

Before long, all eyes in Tunnel B were fixed on Lee Chang.

‘No, it must be coincidence! It can’t be!’

Clang!!

As if betraying his thoughts that it was simply beginner’s luck, another ore appeared beneath the newbie’s pickaxe.

“G-good heavens!”

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