Chapter 69: Ore to Gold

Approaching King Zar's throne again is Seer. He didn't hold papers on his hands this time and he doesn't seem to be in a good mood either.

Trying to be kind, basing everything from the look on his face, King Zar asked. "What news do you bring me, old friend."

Hating how close minded people are, he filled the King in with details. "Sire. I hate to inform you about this, but after the deconstruction of the Chapel started, people who stood in solitude with the religious organization known as illas, abandoned our Kingdom."

Feeling perplexed, the King took a few seconds to reply so to fill in the gap of silence, Seer continued. "They followed the Chapel Master out of the Kingdom, the believers carrying their own life savings. They've sold their furniture but left everything cheap behind."

The King's point of view being far different, he weighed in. "Hmm... that's good news. Were any of them my workers?"

Seeing where the King is getting at, Seer specified. "No, they're just people who made their fortune through religious propaganda. The houses are of good quality as well, 10 people can live in one house without invading each other's privacy!"

With this situation turning out for the better, King Zar continued with his queries. "We've let go of dead weight, what about the Chapel members and their protectors. How many houses did they leave behind?"

Highly detail oriented, Seer coughed. "7! They seemed to have shared houses to avoid big expenses, that's how I've been told."

With the silence stretching nearly half a minute, Seer patiently waiting. The King demanded, "Now listen closely. We just recruited 100 homeless Workers in total a few days ago. All those 100 shall live in those 10 big good houses temporarily until the new houses are built."

Aiming to be highly precise, or at least make Seer be that way. The King also requested. "Do not forget to fill Parchments and store them in the Castle, so we know who to put in which house in the future. We need to document everything, we can't memorize it."

His enthusiasm bustling like a little girl over a new pair of shoes, Seer chattered. "Of course Sire! Those families will be so happy. Judging from their background, they don't mind sleeping with 10 people in one room."

In the midst of happiness, a question bashed Seer on the head and he didn't spare to ask. But what about the taxes?"

This part is at least easy to put together, the King slowly specifies. "The Workers may bring whoever they please in their house to live, as long as it is a family member. And the tax is the same as per every house, 40 Gold Coins."

But of course having sympathy for them too, the King explicitly demanded. "Each individual in the house needs to pay. If there are 10 workers in a house, each one needs to pay 4 Gold Coins to make a total of 40. That should at least help them feed their families more or even buy them new clothes."

Gazing at the King, feeling admiration. Seer complimented, "With this level of sympathy, you will win the masses over in no time."

"I plan to make Pameres Kingdom a place where any poor person can get wealthy with hard work." Mouthed Zar while actually smiling for once.

"And it will be, it's not impossible." It's nice to see Seer being on board with this plan now, let's hope he maintains this enthusiasm. But he also has to ask, "Sire I have one more question. What about the 7 houses the illas officials left behind?"

Pitching an idea, Zar queried. "I want to make profit out of the Mines. Our new set of workers we will soon hire, will live in those 7 houses. But first, answer me this. How much does a raw Iron ore cost?"

Puzzled of why the King switched topics this quick, Seer just had to directly answer. "It costs 8 Gold Coins according to market price."

"What about an Iron Ingot?" Asked Zar yet another question, with full concentration on Seer.

A bit tired, unwilling to think where he is getting at. Seer again shortly answers, "25 Gold Coins if I recall right!"

"Perfect and what about an Iron Sword?" Zar butchered with half a smile, interesting as he rarely smiles.

Thinking that the King will be buying Swords again, Seer put an attempt to talk him out of it. "70 Gold Coins Sire, it is a bit costly."

Letting silence stretch a few seconds, Zar asked. "Are you seeing my point of view Seer. Did you catch on?"

"Ummm..." Seer stood puzzled.

Cutting it short so this plan can get in motion, Zar clarified. "I want to sell Iron Swords, we can make a good Income if we sell a few hundred each month."

Instantly finding a flaw in his Highness' plan, Seer pointed it out as he counted his fingers. "But have you considered the wood, blacksmiths and leather strips needed to make them?"

This is child's play, the King just gives a command and Seer follows. "We already have enough Workers experienced in lumbering, so handles aren't a problem. The Hunters and Blacksmiths however, require some work to obtain."

Finally catching up, Seer queried. "Do you want me to fill out some papers for recruitment Sire?"

Wanting to get this over already, Zar shortly stated. "Yes but for another day. I need to make 2 deals which could boost our economy."

And focusing towards the bigger problem that demands attention. "Gaster Kingdom is near the ocean and they have a port. I can't afford to send my construction Workers all the way near the ocean and back just to build a port. It is too dangerous, expensive and time consuming."

With options narrowed when it comes to using a port, Seer questioned. "So you plan to do business with another continent?"

"Yes but for that we need to make a deal with that race of which has Witches and Wizards with Healing Magic, what's it called?" Asked Zar, he isn't trying to be racist, but he doesn't know much of anything out of Ignis.

Instantly catching up, Seer replied. "You are talking about the Zamerians Sire, that's a good idea. It takes only around 2 weeks to reach that Continent. So ships will be constantly moving from there to Ignis but there is one problem!"

Jerking his eyebrow up, Zar asked. "What could the problem be?"

Having thought of this in deep detail under a short period of time, Seer laid out. "We will need at least 15 Blacksmiths to withstand the daily amount of Ore. Not to mention that Blacksmiths are harder to find, harder than Stonemasons."

The personal assistant stopped for a while, took a breath and continued to add. "If a Blacksmith has over 10 years of experience, he can likely make 3 quality Iron Swords in one week while an apprentice could likely make only 1 good quality Sword per week."

The King hasn't considered that, but of course he can fix it. "Hmmm, troublesome but if the monthly pay for an apprentice is 100 Gold Coins, we might be able to recruit more."