The Lord Just Wants to Have Fun

Boom!

Robert slammed the door shut with a furious expression and stormed out. As soon as he left, Viscount Carpenter, the commander of the territory’s knight order, approached Hyunsoo.

With a large scar running across the right side of his face, Carpenter looked less like a knight and more like a gangster.

“My lord, how long are you going to let Robert be? Just give the order. I’ll take his head off and bury him right away!”

‘This guy doesn’t just look like a gangster—he is a gangster.’

Despite his rough personality, Carpenter wasn’t an evil man. He had started as a mere soldier under the previous lord’s patronage, rising to knighthood through relentless training, eventually reaching mid-level Expert rank.

He wasn’t particularly fond of Philip, but he was fiercely loyal to the Baron Brandel family.

Seeing Carpenter ready to chase after Robert immediately, Hyunsoo stopped him and spoke.

“I have no intention of letting him be. That’s why I made the bet.”

“Huh? Then all the more reason not to have made it! How do you expect to gather a million Dalant in just three days?”

But Hyunsoo hadn’t acted recklessly.

Recalling the information about the territory from the original owner’s memories, he realized he had a good chance of winning.

“Getting the money might be difficult, but there’s a way to pay off the debt.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“We have a lead mine in our territory, don’t we?”

At Hyunsoo’s words, Carpenter jumped in shock.

“My lord, that mine dried up ten years ago! Even if we gave away the mining rights, no one would even bother looking at it!”

“I know.”

“…What?”

“I know that.”

“Then how do you plan to pay off the debt?”

Carpenter looked completely baffled, but Hyunsoo remained relaxed.

“Just follow me, and you’ll see. Oh, and bring Chief Blacksmith Hans as well.”

Hans, the chief blacksmith, had been in charge of making weapons for the Baron’s family since the time of the previous lord. He was an old man with deep loyalty and a strong sense of attachment to the land.

As he watched Hans walk ahead, half filled with concern and half with expectation, Hyunsoo smiled subtly.

‘Don’t worry, Mr. Gangster. Believe it or not, I used to be a pretty well-known military and history YouTuber.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Shut up! Plenty of people watch without subscribing.’

Hyunsoo had lost his parents early and was raised by his grandfather in the countryside.

To escape the boredom of rural life, he started uploading videos to YouTube. Initially, his content focused on country life, but as he shifted towards military and history themes, his channel gained significant popularity.

Among the videos he had uploaded, there was one that introduced a method for making a fortune—if done correctly.

‘Robert, you old man, you’re in for the shock of your life!’

******

A while later, Hyunsoo led Carpenter, Chief Blacksmith Hans, and his apprentices to the abandoned lead mine located west of the lord’s castle.

‘What in the world does he plan to do here?’

While Carpenter remained puzzled, the blacksmiths followed Hyunsoo’s instructions and adjusted the furnace in the old smelting workshop attached to the mine.

“My lord, is this good enough?”

“Yes, this should be just fine.”

After modifying the furnace using the materials and tools they had brought, Hyunsoo nodded in satisfaction.

“Good work. Now, everyone except Hans and Sir Carpenter, leave.”

Once the apprentices had cleared the area, Hyunsoo turned to Hans.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Following Hyunsoo’s directions, Hans placed the materials into the furnace and lit the fire.

A short while later…

“W-what?! This is…!”

Carpenter and Hans’ eyes widened as they stared at what had emerged from the blazing furnace.

“Well? Isn’t it amazing?”

At Hyunsoo’s question, the two men could only nod repeatedly, their faces filled with disbelief.

*****

Three days later – Lord’s Office

From the early morning, the retainers had gathered in the study, sneaking glances at the half-elf man clad in a silk coat while whispering amongst themselves.

“That man… Is he the head of the Callisto Trading Company, Delpharos?”

“That’s right. According to rumors, he has over 500 mercenaries under his command and is a 4th-circle mage himself.”

Delpharos, the head of the Callisto Trading Company, was infamous even within the organization as a ruthless loan shark.

It was well known that he would extract every last coin from his debtors, even if they were nobles.

“When will the Baron arrive? Surely, he hasn’t run away, has he?”

Delpharos, sipping tea with a slight frown, spoke with irritation.

“Do not make baseless assumptions. The lord has been staying at the abandoned mine in the west with the blacksmiths for the past three days.”

“And what exactly is he doing there?”

“I don’t know the details, but it seems he’s trying to find a way to repay the debt.”

Listening to the conversation between Delpharos and Butch, the treasurer, Robert smirked.

‘That foolish young lord… Is he trying to find a new vein of ore? What an idiot.’

If he somehow discovered a new lode, he could offer the mining rights as payment for the debt.

But five years ago, a dwarven prospector had already confirmed that the northern abandoned mine was completely depleted.

There was no way a new vein would suddenly appear in such a place.

‘Forget that spineless fool. Right now, my priority is to take over and handle this situation.’

That naive brat had promised to hand over full authority over the territory.

If Robert managed things properly, he would effectively gain control over the domain.

‘Even Carpenter hasn’t shown up. Looks like he’s given up. Time to wrap this up.’

Just as Robert was about to negotiate with Delpharos—

“The lord is arriving!”

The office doors suddenly swung open, and Hyunsoo stepped inside, carrying a wooden box, with Carpenter following closely behind.

“Greetings, my lord.”

Acknowledging the retainers’ greetings with a nod, Hyunsoo turned his attention to the half-elf who offered him a polite bow.

“You must be Delpharos.”

“That is correct. You are late. What exactly have you been doing?”

“Ah, I was busy gathering something valuable.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”

Hyunsoo smirked and motioned toward Carpenter.

“Sir Carpenter, open it.”

With a grin, Carpenter lifted the lid of the wooden box.

A dazzling light spilled out.

“Ugh! T-That is…!”

“Silver ingots! There’s no doubt about it!”

The box was filled to the brim with silver bars.

The retainers gasped in excitement, but Robert and Delpharos remained unimpressed.

“This is unexpected, but even so, that amount is nowhere near enough to repay 1 million Dalant.”

From a rough estimate, the total value of the silver was around 70,000 to 80,000 Dalant.

At Delpharos’ pointed remark, Hyunsoo simply nodded.

“You’re right. This is just a sample.”

“A sample? Don’t tell me you found a new silver vein in the abandoned mine?”

Seeing Delpharos’ growing interest, Hyunsoo threw out the bait.

“What if I told you there’s a way to extract silver from waste materials? Would you buy the technology for 1 million Dalant?”

“Extract silver from trash?”

The retainers looked baffled, and even Delpharos let out a scoffing laugh, his expression remaining cool and skeptical.

“If that nonsense were true, I’d pay double.”

Hyunsoo had anticipated Delpharos’ bravado.

After all, the Laterran continent’s currency, Dalant, was primarily silver-based.

Silver was essential for commerce and international trade.

“I’m not lying. Sign a contract agreeing to pay three times the amount, and I’ll share the method immediately.”

“Isn’t that a bit greedy for a debtor?”

“Then I’ll just take this offer to another trading company in Campania. I’m sure they’d be willing to pay handsomely to reclaim this territory.”

Hyunsoo’s confidence made Delpharos fall silent.

Tapping his fingers against the table, the merchant weighed his options.

But it didn’t take him long to reach a decision.

Losing this technology to a rival trading company would be a greater loss.

“Fine. We will cancel your debt and sign a contract for 2 million Dalant. However, you must never disclose this technology to any other trading company. And if it turns out to be a fraud, the contract will be voided.”

Of course, if Hyunsoo was trying to deceive him, the repercussions would be severe.

“Agreed.”

A contract for the technology transfer was drafted on the spot, and Hyunsoo handed over a parchment scroll detailing the method in full.

The retainers, completely taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, could only watch in stunned silence.

The lord had not only brought silver ingots but had also managed to sell an unheard-of technology!

“Not only did he repay the debt with just a few words, but he even managed to earn an extra 2 million Dalant!”

“But… what if it’s a scam?”

“Then our territory is doomed.”

Hearing the hushed whispers of the retainers, Viscount Robert stepped forward.

“My lord, how do you plan to deal with the consequences of this fraud?!”

Hyunsoo scoffed and brushed Robert off.

“It’s not fraud, so worry about yourself instead.”

Ignoring Robert completely, he turned to Delpharos.

“Come with me, Head Merchant. I’ll show you firsthand whether this is a scam or not.”

Hyunsoo led Delpharos to the western lead mine and showed him the furnace where they had been refining silver ingots over the past three days.

Delpharos examined the structure with curiosity.

“This is an unusual-looking furnace. And you’re telling me this is used for silver refining?”

“That’s right. Now, let me demonstrate.”

Following Hyunsoo’s command, Hans the blacksmith placed waste lead ore and crushed stone powder into the cauldron inside the furnace.

Then, they added a generous amount of coal and stoked the bellows.

Before long, fierce flames roared, heating the furnace to an intense degree.

‘That’s an incredible amount of heat. If this continues, won’t the furnace explode or the cauldron melt?’

Delpharos watched in growing concern as molten metal slowly began to trickle out of a small opening in the cauldron, glowing red-hot.

Hans quickly collected the molten substance, cooled it, and presented it to Delpharos.

“This is real silver!”

Still in disbelief, Delpharos examined it multiple times, but there was no mistake.

Just as the young lord had claimed, silver had been extracted from what was essentially waste—specifically, leftover slag from lead smelting!

‘Heh… So this is the cupellation process.’

In reality, lead ore often contained trace amounts of other valuable metals such as gold, silver, and zinc.

However, silver had a much higher melting point than lead.

Because ancient refining techniques were primitive, people had been unaware of this, and so they simply discarded the leftover slag.

‘But during the reign of King Yeonsan, a blacksmith named Kim Gambul and a servant named Kim Geomdong succeeded in extracting silver from lead ore.’

The key was to continue heating the material past lead’s melting point until silver also melted out.

Back then, the two men had used fireproof bricks to construct a specialized furnace.

Hyunsoo had actually recreated this process once and uploaded it on YouTube.

There had been an abandoned mine near his rural hometown that had shut down decades ago.

Although the amount of silver he had extracted had been minuscule, the donations he received during his livestream had more than made up for it.

‘I never thought I’d end up using that experience in another world…’

Feeling satisfied, Hyunsoo turned his gaze back to Delpharos.

The merchant, still struggling to recover from his shock, now wore a far more respectful expression than before.

‘Hah, typical merchant behavior.’

Seeing Delpharos act as if he were standing before a high noble, Hyunsoo nearly scoffed aloud.

“My lord, where did you learn such a refining technique?”

Delpharos asked with great interest.

Hyunsoo shrugged.

“Where else? The gods revealed it to me.”

“The gods…? Ah… I see!”

Before coming here, Delpharos had investigated Baron Brandel’s background.

One particular detail had stood out—the previous lord had received the blessing of Eldir, the god of blacksmiths, over a decade ago.

‘Because of that, I heard he was mocked by neighboring nobles and even his own retainers… But to think he had inherited such divine knowledge!’

Of course, from Hyunsoo’s perspective, he couldn’t exactly say it was knowledge from another world.

But invoking the name of a god had instantly convinced his audience.

‘Fantasy worlds sure are convenient in times like this.’