Otaku Translation: The Amber Sword V3C46

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Chapter 46: The Silver Mine, Part 7

was an exceedingly rare and valuable mineral. In the terms of his old gaming days, even a small amount blended into a weapon could enhance its effectiveness against monsters proportionally. A sword forged purely from cold iron would deal twice the damage of an ordinary steel blade.

In Vonder’s world, every nation faced the constant threat of monsters. Thus, the demand for cold iron was immense—yet the ore was found only as a byproduct in silver, copper, and certain crystal veins, making it scarce despite its worth. On the market, cold iron was valued nearly equal to its weight in gold—though, given its greater density, it was even more precious in practice.

When claimed there was cold iron here, the youths’ attention sharpened instantly. If they could extract even a portion and smuggle it out to the right buyer, the profit would be unimaginable. Of course, miners like them often had their own ways of skimming small amounts from the yield. The overseers turned a blind eye so long as the theft remained insignificant.

At the girl’s question, Brandon studied them briefly. A little generosity now might secure their cooperation later. He gestured to the slanting veins in the rock. "Dig along these lines. I can’t guarantee cold iron, but there’s definitely a rich deposit beyond."

nodded, and at his signal, swung his pickaxe into the indicated spot. The others joined swiftly. Brandon, however, had no intention of mining. Instead, he turned toward the tunnel’s shadowed depths. "Where does that lead?"

"Another level down," Koven answered. Frail as he was, he didn’t labor, yet the others shared their haul with him without complaint. "But it’s abandoned."

Brandon knew why. The boy had explained the night before—miners had breached a passage into the Great Hive, unleashing a swarm of monsters. Though they’d eventually driven them back, no one dared return to the lowest level afterward.

After a moment’s consideration, Brandon strode toward the tunnel.

"Wait," Koven called. "Sir, you should delay."

Brandon paused. "Why?"

"The overseer inspects soon. Best to go after he leaves."

"How long?"

"A quarter-hour. Sometimes half."

Brandon frowned. "Will he return?"

"Every few hours, but the timing varies."

That should be enough. He nodded. "My thanks." This was the benefit of goodwill.

He struck the wall twice with his pickaxe. Under the power of his gold rank strength, the rock crumbled away like loose sand. But what truly stunned Joka and Mahler was Brandon’s precision—each strike followed the ore seam flawlessly, as if guided by decades of instinct.

Low-grade silver ore clattered at his feet. He sifted through it absently before sitting back to listen to the rhythmic clinking of picks.

The youths worked fast. The light purple-streaked rock soon gave way to a dull gray layer. Brandon signaled a halt and had Joka toss him a fragment. He examined it, then held it up.

". Keep digging."

"So it’s there?" Koven asked.

Brandon nodded.

Excitement flickered across their faces. To escape this place, they needed coin—and fortune now lay within reach.

The pace quickened. Chips of rock scattered, some rolling to Brandon’s boots. But as he inspected them, his brow furrowed. The striated quartz’s quality was improving unnaturally. Normally, such purity was found only in high-grade crystal veins, not metal deposits.

He looked up just as Mahler and the others froze. Behind the shattered gray rock gleamed a deep blue seam of cold iron—but what stopped them were the clusters of softly glowing crystals embedded within.

Seventeen of them, each the size of a thumb.

Brandon himself was stunned. Even in his wildest tales, no one had ever uncovered so many at once. Not just Magical Eye Gems—even the lowest-tier magic crystals used for basic enchanted trinkets weren’t mined in such quantities.

He pinched his cheek to confirm he wasn’t dreaming, then asked, "Do you know what these are?"

Blank stares answered him.

Brandon studied the cold iron vein—its sheer size was abnormal, easily yielding a ton or more of ore. But the concentration of magic required to form such a deposit defied logic.

Shaking off his thoughts, he said carefully, "These are Magical Eye Gems. I have use for them."

Silence.

"Fine. We split half," Mahler declared. A generous offer, given their numbers.

But Brandon shook his head. "I’ll take all. Your shares included." He tapped his coin pouch. "I’ll pay now."

Magical Eye Gems were vital for crafting magic rings—but also for rarer artifacts, like the or the lost . Seventeen gems could outfit a hundred suits. Fortune truly favors the bold.

After a tense pause, Koven asked, "How much?"

"You don’t know their value, and selling them would be dangerous. I’ll be frank: I’ll pay half their worth, but even that will satisfy you."

"And that is?" the girl pressed.

"Ten ."

A collective gasp filled the shaft. Square crowns were the ’s standard gold coins, and ten amounted to nearly thirteen thousand —a fortune beyond their wildest dreams.

"You’d truly pay... that much?" Joka stammered.

"Indeed. Your fee included."

The boy flushed—his expected cut was maybe fifteen torr at best.

Koven, however, simply nodded to his friends. They pried the gems free and handed them over. Brandon paid without hesitation, amused as they bit and recounted the coins, disbelieving their luck. Thirteen thousand torr was an astronomical sum for boys like them. Even if they toiled here for ten years, they might never see that much, not even if they risked everything to smuggle out silver ore and sell it on the black market.

Securing the gems, Brandon heard Koven ask, "Sir, do you want the cold iron?"

He eyed the massive vein. Oh, I’ll claim it—just not yet. This mine would soon be his regardless.

He shook his head.

The boy sighed. Without Brandon’s help, smuggling the ore would be difficult.

But the discovery was merely an interlude in the grueling work. Half an hour later, the overseer arrived—familiar enough with the youths to mistake Brandon for a new recruit. None corrected him.

Once the man left, Brandon finally descended alone into the abandoned depths. The derelict tunnels were silent, devoid of life, the air thick with the kind of darkness that would unnerve any ordinary soul.

To Brandon, it was perfect.

No witnesses.

At a barricaded passage, he stopped and summoned a flickering azure card to his palm—

The .

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