CHAPTER 3: DRAGON IRON ORE.

The next moment, Dorian was roaming down the street of the barony.

Thanks to his active skill [Resource Gathering], he was able to still track the iron ore, following the golden line on the ground.

With the shovel resting on his shoulder, he moved through the streets of the barony, following the line.

As expected, people were throwing him all kinds of looks while whispering.

"Look, it’s Young Lord Dorian; why is he carrying a shovel? Do you think he is going to cause a fight at the pub like he did the last time?"

"He looks pissed too. I’m surprised he is even walking in a straight line; normally he would be staggering."

"Poor Baron, his son is out here embarrassing his entire lineage."

He heard every single word they said. While it did, in fact, affect him, deep down he knew their anger towards him was justified—their anger towards Dorian, rather.

’I can deal with insults; it’s something I learned while working in a company in my former world. As long as I have a clear goal in mind, insults and rumors are baseless and have no effect.’

Stop.

He was now standing in front of the pub house.

The sign at the entrance read "Saloma’s Pub."

Simply staring at the place was already flooding Dorian’s head with unpleasant memories.

’Hm...’

Dorian turned his gaze to the ground.

The golden light he had been following pointed all the way behind the pub and a bit further down into the forest.

’Behind the pub, uh, this experience is about to be a pain in the ass.’

Trying to avoid the gaze of people, he moved away, following the golden light.

It took him quite a while, but finally, he made it to the site, a place where nothing but dirt and trash existed, close to the forest of Glaga.

Because of how close it was to the forest, many people avoided it, turning it into a dumpster field and completely converting it into a dead area.

Sighing, Dorian plunged his shovel into the soil.

’I remember coming here sometimes, or at least, Dorian did. In any case, if the iron ore is here, I should be able to dig it out with how soft the soil is. Thankfully, our butler managed to find me the best shovel for this business.’

And so he began.

Digging and digging for hours.

The first few scoops were the easiest, so he didn’t necessarily waste too much of his energy. But as time passed, the deeper he dug, the harder it was to scoop out a full shovelful of dirt.

Occasionally, people who were at the bar would step out to check where all the noise was coming from.

Upon seeing Dorian was the one who had been digging for hours, they would begin whispering to one another:

"Don’t tell me the young lord is back at it again? Is he looking for worms to sell?"

"This is kind of sad to watch."

Of course, Dorian ignored them, paying no mind to their words.

For now, his entire focus was on digging out the iron ore the system had highlighted for him.

"Come on!"

Clank!

He felt his shovel hit something.

A look of huge relief spread across his face after he caught a glimpse of something glowing underneath the soil.

Quickly tossing the shovel to the side, Dorian collapsed to his knees, using his hands to scrape the soil away.

After a while of doing that, he finally saw it. The iron ore.

It was silver in color and looked about the same size as a baby lion cub. That wasn’t all; it was also pulsing with energy, showing how raw and unfiltered it was.

’Interesting, this looks far different from the iron ore in my world.’

Remembering his former world, he recalled when he and his former girlfriend would often go to her father’s site to sign some contracts. It was from there that he learned a thing or two about what could be dug out of a mining ground.

But never did he think something like this could be buried at the back of a pub.

’Meh, who cares? As long as it fetches a fair price, I’ll take it.’

Without wasting any time, he loosened the sack around his waist and shoved the silver iron ore inside.

With that accomplished, the system notification popped up.

[First resource node successfully harvested.]

[+50 points have been awarded.]

[Hint: Resources can be sold, refined, or used in construction for greater rewards.]

’Points?’

....

Dorian paid little attention to the system notification and instead made his way to the baron’s local blacksmith.

With the sack on his shoulder and a shovel in one hand, he stood in front of the counter, an old man standing right behind it.

Carrying a somewhat stoic expression, Dorian dropped the sack on the counter.

"Good evening, old man, how has business been doing?"

The old man remained behind the counter, glaring at Dorian as though he was holding himself back from pouncing.

His experience with Dorian had not been one with smiles and jiggles. Dorian once entered his store and broke about five hundred gold coins’ worth of product. And never once paid back or apologized for it.

As such, one could understand why the old man was enraged just seeing the young lord in his shop again.

"What do you want, Lord Dorian? I swear if you’re here to break any of my weapons, I’ll call the authorities on you!" The old man yelled while pointing at Dorian.

Dorian, on the other hand, had his eyes scanning the entire place.

He took notice of the shelves and showcases still filled with untouched weapons.

This old man was the only blacksmith in the entire barony, so having not even a single slot empty to show, he made some sales could only mean one thing.

"Business isn’t booming, is it?" asked Dorian, a devious smile on his face.

The old man cracked with rage. "What’s so amusing about that?!" he yelled. "Many people in the barony can’t afford the weapons I make, not my fault! This barony is a joke anyway; that is why I am planning on moving to another town, where my damn talents can be appreciated. Sigh, of course I need money for that too."

"Ohhh?~ You need money for that?" Dorian leaned forward, dragging his finger on the surface of the table as he began to move to the side.

"See, I truly feel bad for you; sales are bad, and you don’t have enough money to move. You’re basically a brokie with no choice; how bad is that?"

Dorian managed to get to the other side of the counter.

He then moved closer to the man, wrapping his arm around the man’s shoulders.

The old man in question already had a frying pan in his hands; just in case anything were to happen, he would label it as self-defense.

Carrying a disinterested look on his face, he watched as Dorian moved his lips closer to his ears and then began to whisper slightly, like the devil trying to convince prey.

"The way I see it, you need a rather unique opportunity to get you out of your predicament. What if I told you I have that opportunity? Would you take that offer if I slapped it across your face?"

"What are you getting at?"

A grin grew on Dorian’s face.

Swiftly, he pulled out the iron ore from the sack for the old man to see.

"Voila! See? What if I told you I can-"

"A dragon iron ore! W-w-where did you find this?!"

Before Dorian could complete his words, the old man had already let out a shout.

It wasn’t just that; the old man was so stunned by what he was looking at that, for a moment, he was unable to speak.

This left Dorian confused for a while.

’So this is a big deal, like I thought.’

He looked at the old man, improvising.

"Oh? You know what a dragon iron ore is?"

"Who doesn’t?! Only the king has access to such rare materials, and even then, these days, it is quite rare to see. My god, it’s every blacksmith’s dream to make a weapon with one of these."

’Oh?’ Dorian turned his gaze to the iron ore. ’If it is as valuable as this man claims, then it will be a waste to sell it here; I might as well take it to the state guild.’

Nonchalantly, Dorian pulled his arm away from the old man’s shoulder and, without saying anything, began to walk away.

"W-wait, Dorian? Where are you going?" the old man began sweating as he chuckled nervously.

Still, Dorian didn’t give a response, not until he had placed the iron ore inside the sack.

With a face that screamed ’Poor bastard,’ Dorian uttered, "I am taking my product to a willing customer. I doubt you have enough money to pay for this."

"Argh!" the old man gripped his chest. "Please reconsider. I’ll pay you in installments, yes. I have 1500 gold coins with me right now; I’ll give you the remaining 9000 gold coins in monthly installments, please don’t do this to me."

Dorian paused for a while.

’If he is willing to pay about 10,000 gold pieces for this, then I bet it costs more. Thinking of this as a regular person just owing debts, it would be wise to find another buyer, say a noble, but as a businessman, there is simply no better opportunity for extortion.’

With a devilish smile on his face, Dorian replied, "Okay, fine, I agree. I’ll sell it to you."

Happy, the old man leaned against the counter. "Wait, for real?!"

"Of course, I am not the type to make an old man suffer, of course not. That said...." Dorian’s expression turned dark. "That doesn’t mean I won’t take something in return after you tried to extort me."

Sweating profusely, the old man could only gulp down his saliva.

"What do you want?"

He asked that question as though he had willingly stepped into hell. And he was well aware of it; otherwise, he wouldn’t be shaking so much.

In the blink of an eye, Dorian wore a warm smile on his face. "Old man, I won’t be asking for much, but if I recall, you have a daughter, do you not?"

"NOOOO!!"

"YESSSS! If you want this dragon iron ore, bring her to come work for me, and I’ll gladly hand it over to you! Haha!"

"I can’t do that, Lord Dorian; she... she doesn’t like you, or at least that’s what she told me."

"Uhnn? Does it look like I care about her feelings here? Hey old man, I don’t think you’re committed to taking the DRAGON iron ore." Dorian’s eyes widened with deceit. "I’ll be going then."

"No, wait!" the old man slammed his hand on the table, biting his lips so hard tears dropped from his eyes. "F-fine, I agree, you can have her work for you."