The battle was scorching ahead, but in the rear, in the land of Blackhammer Castle, there was another scene full of life. The crowd fleeing from Errengrad inadvertently increased the town's population and prospered Blackhammer Castle. Crucially, the expanded Blackhammer Fort has more than enough jobs.

When the endless iron ore was mined, Laheim even planned to set up a special blacksmith guild to gather all the blacksmiths in the city and standardize the entire weapon forging industry. Although the laws of Kislev stipulate that lieges cannot forge weapons without permission, and some special lords can forge their own weapons and sell them, the quantity is also under the control and regulations of the Ice Queen. But Laheim doesn't care, the north is originally far away from the capital, and Blackhammer Fort is located on the northern border, and it is even more far away from Kislev City, and the mountain is far away from the emperor, not to mention that the Ice Queen is now busy dealing with the Erengrad rebellion, even if she is not busy, she can't care so far away......

Although the population of Kislev is small, it is very large. It takes a whole week to get from the north to the capital city of Kislev, which is still a great road, and if you encounter hail and snow storms, it will take more than a week without encountering harsh weather. It takes half a month to go back and forth...... Blackhammer Fort is the northernmost point, and it takes at least twenty days to travel back and forth to Kislev...... At such a distance, the Ice Queen can't manage it even if she wants to. It is also because the lords of the northern border have basically been in a state of autonomy for many years.

Laheim centralized, managed, and distributed salaries in a unified manner in order to optimize and standardize the industry. Although the weapons and armor produced were not of high quality, they were more than enough to sell to some low-end mercenaries. Of course, all this must be decided after consulting with Rod's old butler, Mulos.

Taking advantage of the easy access to the docks, Blackhammer Fort is constantly evolving, and the city is constantly expanding. So much so that many houses have been built outside the city walls. Unlike Rod, Laheim had no interest in building walls to protect the common people, and a small northern castle with a main fortress and a perimeter wall was already a luxury and waste for him, and the idea of building a third wall never came to his mind. You must know that the outer city wall, the higher the construction cost, because it will build a lot more mileage than the inner circle, and the stone consumption and manpower required will be twice or even more than the inner ring wall. Except for important military points within the kingdom, few lords were willing to spend money on building a three-tier wall.

And Laheim is even more, he is a capitalist, and the biggest purpose of a capitalist is to make money, and for him, there is no direct benefit from building the city wall, so what is it for.

Laheim's biggest purpose is to revitalize the economy of Blackhammer Castle, and he did it, before Rod left, he cleared the beastmen around Blackhammer Castle, and when the Ten Thousand Demon Rock is no more, the threat of Blackhammer Castle will not be there in a short time, which allows Laheim to do things boldly, roll up his sleeves and work hard. The refugee camp-like neighborhood expanded from inside the city to the outside of the city, extending to the riverside wharf, where the area near the wharf became a new residential area, and the area inside Fort Black Hammer became the old town......

The success of his investments in several projects fueled Laheim's vision of a future where Blackhammer would grow from a castle into a city, and perhaps one day, a large city like Errengrad. Although it is now seen that the development of Black Hammer Fort has been very fast, the cultivation of ice peppers on a large scale, the stable income of the deep pit mines, the hunting and logging industry is also booming, and the market has become a real market, where the goods that can be seen and those who cannot be seen are traded, and there is even an underground market...... The tax revenue alone is twice as much. Laheim can get a share of 30% of it, which is already a considerable amount of income. However, greed forced him to make a bolder move, he wanted to recruit partners and get more nobles to invest in the land, as Rhodes did. LeTV

However, Muros became the biggest stumbling block in front of him. The faithful steward did not allow him to do so. This was beyond Muros's decision-making, and he had to consult the true owner of Blackhammer Castle, Rod.

"Just like when we opened the market, let's do it again, and Blackhammer will receive a steady stream of investment, and although the land is barren and the climate is cold, the shipping conditions are very good. It's like ...... It's like a mine full of treasures, and we've only unearthed a tenth of it!" Laheim pointed to the huge map of the Old World in the castle's office, and said, "Look, Blackhammer is here, we have almost the same geographical advantages as Erlengrad, except that Blackhammer is closer to the north, however, its trade value is the same as Erlengrad, it is a trade bridge between the dwarves and the Empire. All goods from the East have to leave here for the Empire and further south, and the sea lanes are worth far more than land, you know that!"

Murros was silent, he knew of course that the sea did not require a lot of animal power, the loss was very small, only the sea breeze was sufficient, and besides, the ships carried much more than the carriages. A few dozen wagons can only catch up with a medium-sized cargo ship. Almost all the prosperous cities of the Old and New Continents are located along the coast or along the great rivers.

However, to recruit a new partner, this must be agreed by Rhodes. Mulos didn't think it would be that simple. Laheim now owns 30% of the assets of Blackhammer, and if he invites a few more partners to invest, although it can promote the faster development of Blackhammer, Rhodes's proportion of assets in the entire Blackhammer will be further reduced. Once one day, a few big nobles occupy more than seventy percent of the assets of Black Hammer Castle, then Rhodes will not have enough say in it. This is absolutely not allowed to happen.

"Friend, I know what you said, and I have seen you work hard for this town during this time, but this matter is not my own decision after all, I must ask Rhodes, he is the real master of Black Hammer Castle, and this matter can only be passed if he agrees. Sorry, I had to do this. That's my job. ”

The old butler, Muros, sat down on the imported sandalwood bench and replied calmly.

He dipped the quill in ink, pulled out a new piece of parchment, and wrote a few lines on it. It was a letter to the camp in the North, and Laheim trembled with rage, as if he were a caged bird unable to spread its wings, and it was directly related to the wealth in his pocket......