Chapter 339 - Black Riches

Bale Town has made the most tremendous progress in the triangle of domains, reason behind it of course is the Coal Mine and their undying commitment to progress. Thanks to this fine combination, they can put their best foot forward with ease.

They have managed to attain over 40 tons of coal chunks from this mine, best part yet is that the second section still contains a few more tons of Coal to finish up this month's delivery. So much coal yet there is more to explore, for example the big deep hole around the middle of the mine.

Exploring that hole has become just a little bit easier, although they did not yet manage to see the bottom even with the aid of the most proper torches. But let's get back to the first part, why did it become easier to explore?

It is because the more coal they mined out, the flooring of the cave reached lower and lower. Now if approached with a long rope it will be 20 meters easier to reach the bottom of the large hole.

Now this mine has gained them three benefits, I'm not talking about ore though. A good example is that the flooring in this second section wasn't filled coal on the whole area.

When breaking it down, 70% of the flooring contained coal, 25% contained rock and the other 5% just had coal. Where will the other two help you might ask?

Stones for example, can be used by the Stonemasons once of course carved to each requirement and the dirt can help to form flat foundations. This mine has helped the town attain more benefits than they were looking for.

The walls of the second section have been dug 10 meters deep, so that really proved useful mineral-wise. Now there is a little exploration team including the best miners, forming so they can explore the big hole and form what can be as the new section.

A little bit of change which could use some mentioning, is the big staircase which connects the outside world to the big mine. Or best described the second section to the first.

Technically it was supposed to be 10 meters long, but it was cut by 2 meters to meet the lower elevation of the first section caused by mining. It worked to their advantage since it offered more stability and a longer surface.

"Seventy nine, eighty, eighty one." Eert counted coins one by one, trying to prepare the salaries of this month. This of course is their assigned job, and it might increase due to a planned salary increase.

"I think is our brake time." Mert reminded, carefully waiting for the time when they can relax. Counting all the time tends to get tiresome.

"Uuuuhhh how many salaries are we supposed to prepare before our mid day brake?" Asked Bert, well more like he wanted to remind his brother of the procedure.

"40!" Eert answered without hesitation, having memorized it.

"We didn't reach 40, we only reached 34 so far." Bert stated, signifying that he has kept count.

"But I'm so tired!!" Mert complained, wanting to convince his brothers to come.

"So are we, but as Delrus told is, positions can be made here." Trying to help his own brother progress, Eert continued. "We can't be caught slacking off."

...

As mentioned a few chapters earlier, the town needs Blacksmiths desperately! Is it easy to get them though? Hell no! King Zar has a couple hundred of them yet they aren't enough considering the work they have to do there.

A letter requesting Stonemasons have been sent to King Zar, now that it is the middle of the month all the products were sent to the Kingdom. The nice horses bought from the Zamerians with King Zar's aid sure come in handy for such a point.

Apart from a letter to King Zar, a handful of Guards were sent to Black Tail Town in the search for Blacksmiths, quite frankly it would be nice even if they manage to recruit just one from there.

Sure one Stonemason won't form a large stone wall alone in a month but they need to start from somewhere, after all Bale Town has the gold they just don't have the experienced Stonemasons.

What's the downside of having this much gold? Danger! They are so vulnerable to anything. Be it the Alliance, Bandit or Pirates. Getting more Guards here might not be the hardest task to do, equipping them isn't hard either since the town has Blacksmiths.

Something that gold can't fix here, is the lack of Stonemasons. They need a wall and they need it as soon as possible. It doesn't even have to be wide enough to hold guards above it.

At this rate, the wall being half a meter wide with a meter thick foundation dug in the ground and watch towers spread around the walls enough, is the best option and highly affordable.

The wall would be 200 meters long around, but it wouldn't grant the town much space. It is basically just enough to keep unwanted people or creatures in. Each wall would be 50 meters, and it would form in to a cube.

Considering the size, if they just had 20 experienced Stonemasons in this town such a wall would have been build in a time span of a year! As for now they are trying to increase protection with Guard Count.

Meaning, they have to put gender differences aside. Most men are set at another task, so 20 women have been hired to work as the town's protectors. It might have been the best idea yet because the town is twenty swords and shields safer.

...

A great source of food and possible profit here is the 250 Hectare piece of land carrying fine agriculture. It is fully planted with wheat and considering the population count here, half of the 45 ton harvest can be sold.

It isn't neccesarily the biggest profit, but it shows that they won't have any problem with food, even the hunters are brining luxury here with the game they manage to bring down.

Luckily there are enough farmers to handle such a land mass, but it doesn't mean that they aren't digging in the budget. Like every employee, the Farmers have to be paid as well.

...

"Bill how is the operation?" Asked Delrus as he casually walked in the mine.

"We have managed to mine most of what is left in the second section. It my calculations are correct we should be breaking the last bit of coal at the 28th of this month." Answered Bill, the most perceptive miner here and the head of all miners.

"Do you feel like we can find more Coal down there?" Asked Derlus, it wouldn't be a major deal breaker if this mine depletes but it is still best if it doesn't. "You know this is our biggest source of profit."

"I think we can, because even after we dug out most of the Coal and the rocks in the middle of them there still are small holes that we can't see an end at. Maybe they too can lead to dark riches." Bill quoted all the coal, the holes here have been covered with planks so no one falls in.

"If we manage to get coal enough to match everything we got here, we can break over a million in total profit!" Delrus specified the large wins here with absolute enthusiasm. Who wouldn't be excited about a million??

"So you would be okay if we can't find anything after the possible third section?" Bill asked in confusion, more like he wanted to test what the Guard Commander had to say.

"With the current gold we have and can get, we can open several businesses and bring in more profit." Of course he thinks of this business wise, spending time with Gustav has increased such a thought.

Gustav is all the way back to his motherland now. He is on the search for Stonemasons as well, they need as many as possible here now that they can afford to pay them.

...

Due to the recent hiring of Guards, and the payment of farmers accompanied by another 20 gold coin salary raise, the monthly expenses have made a shift of 7 grand.

However regardless, the town still earns a clean income of 30 thousand gold coins! Amazing, and the best part yet is that there isn't any salary now less than 70 gold coins? The highest salary at the moment is earned by the Blacksmiths, they earn 130 Gold Coins a month.

Regardless of what anyone gets, they don't have to spend it on anything. Food, wood and even clothing is being under process of being provided for free. The clothing part might take a bit longer due to the monthly requirements, but everything should be ready before the coldest months hit.

Delrus still found it best if they delayed the salary raises for a few more months, but at this rate if the salaries reach over 200, the people of this town have to pay for their own food instead of piling up all that gold.

As for warmth, it has to be provided for free before salaries reach over 300 because both wood and clothing tends to be expensive.