Yesterday's makeshift camp has grown considerably in size today.
It was just dawn, and the lingering mist in the forest had not yet dissipated. Three oxcarts were tied up not far away.
Roderick was leading a group of people to cut down trees, while Ed was checking the equipment for the day.
Today, Ed carried a short sword at his waist, its hilt gleaming with silver light. His leather breastplate was neatly worn. Though his boots were slightly worn, they did not prevent him from standing upright.
Ordinary appearance, but an extraordinary life.
"Everyone come here," Ed's voice rang out in the woods.
Everyone quickly gathered around Ed.
"Roderick, build the house simply, just sturdy and durable. Build it in a place where it won't be easily flooded by rain, and surround it with walls."
"Yes, my lord."
"Andrew, take a headcount."
"My lord, everyone has arrived," Andrew said after looking around.
"Let's go!" The group then carefully made their way deeper into the forest.
Andrew led the way, his longsword clearing the path, with Ed in the middle and Adelaide ahead of him marking the trees they passed.
And at the back of the team is the exceptionally talented Eric.
A moment later
"My lord, there's a stream not far ahead," Andrew's voice came from nearby.
Ed looked ahead and saw that there were far fewer trees. He could even hear the sound of flowing water as he walked further.
Soon the group arrived at the stream.
"My lord, why is the water red in some places?" Andrew was the first to arrive and the first to notice the anomaly in the water.
Everyone gasped in surprise.
Ed looked closely and noticed that in some of the slower-flowing parts of the stream, there was a dark red hue.
Ed certainly knew what that red color represented.
"Look around the neighborhood for any red stones. Don't stray too far."
So everyone split up to search.
"My lord, there are many red stones over here," Will's voice came from afar.
Everyone hurriedly ran in that direction.
The red stones stretched into the distance, gleaming in the sunlight.
"Ah!" Ed was overjoyed. So much hematite!
"Master, what are these red stones?" Adelaide asked.
"These are all iron ore, which can be smelted into iron."
Although everyone knows about iron, no one knows where it comes from.
The blacksmiths in the territory are almost out of work. Forget about the others.
"Ah!" This time it was their turn to be surprised. So much! How much iron must that be!
They knew how precious iron was.
"Andrew, is this part of our territory?" Ed asked with some concern. Could such a treasure trove belong to someone else?
"My lord, this forest is vast, and there are many more high mountains over there that are difficult to cross. No one knows what the situation is like over there. Now that we are here, this place is ours."
Ed mentally gave Andrew 99 thumbs up. (Actually, Ed wanted that too.)
Ed was delighted after hearing Andrew's words. But his joy quickly faded as he calmed down.
Although there is a lot of iron ore, mining it is a problem. There is currently no population in the territory, so it is impossible to mine such a large mine.
Ed was troubled; how could he increase the population?
But suddenly so many people have arrived, and the food available in the territory isn't enough to feed them all. The people in the territory themselves aren't even getting enough to eat.
What to do? Smelt iron on the spot? Personnel, food, and supplies are all difficult to obtain, and this place is still far from the temporary camp.
There was no other way but to take it slowly. Ed decided to familiarize himself with the environment and determine the routes first to facilitate future transportation.
"We can't do anything about this iron ore for now. It's still early, let's go ahead and take another look," Ed said to the group.
The others weren't too disappointed either; with these stones falling one by one, it would be difficult to carry them back.
The group had no choice but to continue in the same formation and head deeper into the dense forest.