I'm not a lord

Chapter 19: Traces of the Wasteland People

Lynn took the second child up the bare, pointed hill.

The mountain is covered with rubble and looks ordinary.

But the mining hammer icon on the map reminded Lin En that there was indeed a mine under his feet.

The icon is blurred and flashing, indicating that the burial is very shallow.

Under Lynn's command, a group of four picked up shovels and started digging.

After digging for a few minutes, Lin En dug out a white crystal stone covered with mud from under the shallow soil layer.

He didn't mind the dirt, so he scraped a little with his fingernail and tasted it on the tip of his tongue.

It tasted bitter, astringent and salty, but a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The second brother noticed the movement from Lin En's side and trotted over with a shovel in hand: "Brother, did you find it?"

Lin En threw the stone to him directly: "Try it."

The second child followed suit, scraped some with his fingernails and put it in his mouth to taste, but his eyebrows quickly twisted into a ball and he spat it out.

"Brother, what on earth is this?"

"Salt." Lynn's answer was brief and powerful.

"Salt? This is what salt looks like?"

The second brother stared at the stone in his hand in confusion. He had only seen snow-white coarse salt grains, but where had he seen this unprocessed raw salt ore?

"This is salt ore that has not been refined yet. There is a salt mine of unknown size right under our feet." Lin En carried a shovel and looked at the pit where the salt ore had just been dug out.

In the sunlight, spots of light flickered in the pit, as if countless kings of the North were winking at him.

The gold coins circulating in the North are also known as the "Northern Gold Shield" because of its shape which resembles a round shield.

The front of the gold coin is engraved with the portrait of the current King of the North, and the back is a long sword piercing the sky, symbolizing the great achievements of the first King of the North in conquering the North.

"Salt mine?!"

The second brother's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his eyes looking at the ore in his hand became increasingly hot.

Before today, he didn't know what salt ore looked like, but he knew that salt could make people rich.

In the North, salt is a royal monopoly, so you can imagine the profits.

"Brother, can we sell salt from now on?"

Normally, Lao Er would kill without blinking an eye, but when faced with the immense wealth before him, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

Lynn was not nearly as excited as the second brother.

He could see the gold coins buried under the salt mines, and he could also see the fierce light flashing on the gold coins.

Those who have the courage to sell illegal salt may not live long enough to enjoy the profits.

Selling illegal salt in the North is equivalent to challenging the huge interest group headed by the king. The Duke of Swamp is most likely a member of the interest chain, and crushing a small white bear is like a piece of cake.

What's more, they may not be able to mine salt safely.

Sure enough, after the second brother inspected the hill, he soon found traces of mining that had been artificially covered up on the north side of the hill.

"Brother, could it be that the people in the territory are secretly mining salt?"

The second brother subconsciously thought that it was the territory governor Albert and others who were stealing the salt mines.

Old Ai had tried his best to dissuade Lin En from patrolling the forest before, and he must have wanted to cover up the existence of the salt mine.

In addition, the former baroness who tried to seduce Big Brother was not in a good mood when she came.

Right, all right.

The second brother even secretly believed that the poor former baron was killed by Yagena and old Albert in order to take over the salt mine.

They probably still want to murder Big Brother now.

Lin En squatted down in front of a man-made pit and carefully observed the various traces inside. Then he analyzed, "No, it should be the deserters from the north."

"Savage?" The second brother was already thinking about how to interrogate Old Albert, and his face turned strange when he heard Lin En's conclusion.

"The excavation marks are very recent, and the rock cross-section is very rough, indicating that the miners discovered this salt mine recently. The tools used are also relatively primitive. The mine is located on the north side of the hill. Taken together, it is highly likely that the diggers were deserters."

After saying that, Lin En stood up and looked around, and found a lot of fresh wild animal feces near the mine.

"The barbarians must have stumbled upon this salt mine while hunting. Open-air salt mines in the wild easily attract large animals."

Since discovering the peat mine two days ago, Lin En unlocked the [Collection] function, and knowledge about various mineral deposits appeared on the panel.

Now that his [Planting] has grown to the second level, he has transferred all five followers to this salt mine.

The second brother, Albert and other five pixel men soon started waving their pickaxes in the mine.

[Gathering Experience +1]

[Level 1 Collection: 1/100]

"Brother, if they are really deserters, what should we do?"

The second brother looked a little confused.

As a horse bandit, he usually killed noble knights. He lacked experience in fighting against the barbarians and knew very little about them.

"No rush, let's go back first."

Judging from the traces near the salt mine, Lin En believed that the barbarians had discovered the salt mine not long ago.

This indicates that this group of barbarians had only recently migrated to the vicinity of White Bear Territory, which is consistent with Old Albert's description.

As for why the barbarians did not stay near the salt mine, it was probably because they were afraid of being discovered by the people led by the White Bear.

The brutal war thirty years ago must have frightened the people of the wilderness.

It was a full thirty years before they dared to tentatively migrate south.

Lin En's initial plan is to conscript corvée labor this summer to connect White Bear Territory with the peat mines and salt mines by road.

Before the road is built, he will explore the forest many times and try to communicate effectively with the barbarian tribes.

It is best to resolve it peacefully if it can be resolved peacefully.

Besides money, what Lin En needs most urgently right now is population.

There is no shortage of land in the White Bear Territory, and large tracts of high-quality land rich in humus are waiting to be cultivated.

Although the barbarians are uncivilized, farming in the north is not something that requires high technology.

With just a little careful instruction, they can become the best farmers.

As for today, we can only return to the territory first.

After all, there are only three people around Lin En, and no matter how strong he is, he is afraid of a group fight.

Who knows how many people there are in this tribe of barbarians who moved south?

The prerequisite for a peaceful solution is the confidence to resolve it by force.

The next time he explores the northern forest, he will bring more people and send out multiple teams to search for traces of the wild people.

Overall, Lynn was very satisfied that he was able to find large areas of peat and an open-air salt mine in his first exploration, and unlocked a large area of ​​fog on the map.

Just as they were packing their luggage and heading south back to the White Bear Territory, Yagna walked out of the castle.

In the past few days since Lin En left, she has been tormented by the problems Lin En left behind, so much so that she is entangled in her heart and cannot sleep at night.

After four days, Yagna even felt suffocated and urgently needed to leave the castle to relax.

Lao Liu, who stayed behind in the castle, knew how important this woman was to Lin En, so he didn't make things too difficult for her. He just sent two bandit brothers to accompany her and monitor her.

Just after leaving the castle and taking a few steps, Yagna noticed the new heavy plow running across the fields.

Is this a plow? But why does a plow have two wheels?

(End of this chapter)