104 – That Girl’s Sweet Trade 3

The time when YuRia and Robert were talking excitedly.

Isolda and Ophelia were riding alone in the leading carriage.

Isolda is looking at the documents once again, and Ophelia is sitting silently.

After about an hour passed in silence, it was Solda who broke the silence first.

“You… is it okay to be apart like this? Even if it’s me, you shouldn’t be away from the side of the escort target, right?”

“..it’s okay. There is no problem at this distance.”

“!…”

Ophelia answered without a hint of agitation.

In response, Isolda, who had some knowledge of magical powers, frowned slightly, but soon she erased her agitation and let out a small sigh.

“Ha ha. There’s no way a person like you would neglect Bahamut’s orders.”

It is Lee Sol who tried to say something while saying that, but after stopping, he tried to turn his gaze toward the documents again.

At that time, looking at Isolda, Ophelia opened her mouth.

“I’m just saying this since Bahamut-sama’s story came out…”

“..yes?”

Ophelia is talking to us for the first time.

As a result, Isolda began to feel some doubts and strange tension,

Gazing into Isolda’s eyes, Ophelia continued to speak in a calm voice.

“What do you… think of him?”

“… .”

Recognizing what the words meant, Isolda remained silent for a moment.

However, she soon opened her mouth quietly, showing a smile with a unique composure at the corner of her mouth.

“Well?.. what do you think? Other people may not know, but you, who have been watching us all along, would already know the answer, right?”

“I want to hear it directly from your mouth?”

Ophelia spoke in a tone that was still quiet at Isolda’s words, but felt a little thorny.

In response, Isolda smiled deeply and told her.

“Why? Are you very anxious? Are you afraid that your beloved master’s heart will turn over to me?”

“… ”

Isolda’s words were full of provocation.

In response, Ophelia made a slightly hardened expression and did not respond. Looking at her, Isolda mocked her and spoke to her.

“Well…Unfortunately, unlike you, who has already embraced many men, I am the body that gave a virgin to Bahamut. That’s right, no matter how hard money is, sell your body as easily as if someone is going to swindle it… Come on!”

The next moment, Isolda, who was talking excitedly, suddenly felt suffocated and could not say anything more.

Ophelia made no movement toward her.

However, the terrifying presence emanating from her body was itself tightly gripping Isolda’s neck.

And..

“Keah uh uh uh!.. uh uh uh… Heo Eo Eok… ”

Isolda exhaled heavily, feeling that the tremendous presence that had enveloped her for a moment disappeared in an instant. Looking at her, Ophelia said in a cold voice.

“Try to say that one more time. At that time, it might be difficult for me to exercise more patience than this.”

“..Ugh… Heck.. Kut… Whoop whoop… ha ha ha..”

The next moment, Lee Sol-da suddenly starts to laugh softly.

Seeing this, Ophelia began to have doubts, and looking at her, Isolda lightly stroked her neck and said,

“To have such a reaction.. as expected.. you really love my master a lot.”

“!… ”

Ophelia blushed slightly with a surprised expression at Isolda’s words.

Looking at her like that, Lee Solda said in a tone that seemed to be fun.

“hehehe, sorry, sorry, honestly, I wanted to ask that question once. In that sense, it was a slight provocation, but I didn’t expect it to react so dramatically. indeed… Like the woman that man loves the most, this one has a clear mind.”

“That…that… ”

“Why? no? Could it be that I misunderstood the situation? Or say no.”

“… ”

Ophelia blushed at Isolda’s words, and just turned her head away without saying anything.

Seeing her like this, Lee Solda smiled quietly.

‘I think I know why Bahamut likes this woman…’

He usually looks expressionless, but in reality he is straightforward and can’t lie.

At the same time, once released like now, emotions are revealed without filtering.. A woman who makes the same woman feel pretty cute to look at.

From the point of view of those who have to hide their true feelings like merchants and live in various tricks, it could be said that they were people who could make their minds comfortable just by looking at them.

‘Even though this one is also one of my competitors… To be honest, I don’t see any more potential than Bertina-sama…’

Of course, Isolda had no intention of giving up Bahamut. A separate issue from acknowledging the opponent.

A light smile began to form on Isolda’s lips as she saw Ophelia standing in front of her with a blushing face.

*

Arriving at the iron mines of Lugano, Robert could not hide his surprise.

A vast space that looks like a huge valley.

Iron ore coming out of large mines made here and there.

And countless workers who mine and transport them and iron ore piled up on one side like a mountain.

For Robert, who had only tried using something made of iron, seeing the production site with his own eyes was a strange and very impressive experience in itself.

“This is the largest Selah mine among the Lugano iron mines. It produces huge amounts of iron ore every year. Most of the iron ore used in the Hungarian War also came from here.”

“It’s really great… I’ve heard about it, but I never really thought it would be a place like this.”

The sound of pickaxes being heard from everywhere, the voices of loud people, and even a small furnace on one side, they were producing items made using iron ore mined on the spot.

“And this is the iron ore that was just mined here. See for yourself.”

“Five… ”

Two small lumps that YuRia held out.

At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary stone, but it gave a vague idea that a large amount of iron was contained within it.

“It must have been extracting iron from these rocks. If I didn’t know, I would have just missed it, right?”

“Iron ore is always like that. Iron is obviously an important resource, but it’s not that precious, right? It’s because you can see it surprisingly often around that much. It’s just that this area has a higher iron content than other areas, enough to be called a mine.”

“I see.. Certainly, compared to things like gold or silver, iron is quite common.”

“In fact, iron is more common than copper. Then one problem here. What is the difference between the two iron ores in your hands now?”

“Um… ”

Robert begins to look closely at YuRia’s words.

From the outside, both looked like ordinary stones, but as Yuria said, there was a subtle difference between them.

that’s right…

“Burnt powder?.. is it? There is black powder on this side, but there is nothing like that on this side.”

“Do you have a keen eye? Then you know what that means?”

“Uh…um… that’s… eww… I’m sorry, I’m not good at this.”

Feeling the limit of knowledge like that, Robert returns the iron ores to Yuria.

In response, YuRia revealed the correct answer with a smile on her face as she accepted the iron ore.

“Even if they are mined in the same area, the quality varies slightly depending on where they are mined. This one was dug up from the surface, and this one was mined from the depths. Can you spot the difference?”

“Ah.. that’s why the burnt powder…”

One side was in a relatively clean state as it was directly mined from the ground, but the iron ore buried underground was naturally in a state where coal powder and other things were bound to come out.

At this, Robert’s face showed a light of understanding, and Yuria continued to explain while watching him.

“As you can see by looking around, you can get iron ore relatively easily by mining directly from the surface like this, but there is one drawback to this method.”

“What is it?”

Obviously, digging out what’s exposed would make mining much easier. All over the mine there were shafts that cut deep into the mine.

And about this, Yuria continued to explain.

“The iron ore mined in this way has a relatively low iron content. As it is a position that is exposed, a lot of other things are mixed in, and the quality of iron is slightly inferior. Because of this, the iron produced through these guys has to go through a separate smelting process to increase its strength.”

With those words, Yuria slowly lifted the iron ore covered with black coal dust.

Unlike the others, he was dug up from the underground.

Seeing this, Yuria spoke in a calm voice.

“However, mining deep in the mine along the vein is different. The basic iron content is also high, and crucially, these guys have enough hardness and elasticity that they do not need to be reforged once they are extracted. These are the types of steel that are mainly used in war.”

“That’s… why?”

Robert asked with a question, and YuRia spoke with a sincere smile.

“Well?.. I don’t know the detailed reason, but it’s natural that the ones made with difficulty deep in the ground buried in black coal dust are of better quality than the ones made easily outside.. Maybe it’s natural? Just like how ugly fruits grown in the rain and wind are actually sweeter.”

“… Certainly… maybe not.”

Hearing those words, Robert couldn’t take his eyes off YuRia’s face, and YuRia continued talking with a friendly smile on her lips.

“Well, that’s about it. So, shall we go over there? There are a lot of iron ores that I got this time.”

“Ah yes! All right.”