The Best Mount

Leaving the courtyard, Su Nan headed towards the main building of the inner castle.

The patrolling soldiers he encountered along the way all greeted him with salutes and courteous words.

To keep a secret, Su Nan had his elder brother seal the news of his becoming a wizard apprentice.

As a result, the commoners and ordinary soldiers in Blackstone City knew little about Su Nan, only that the lord’s younger brother was somewhat reclusive and rarely went out.

Only the knights who knew the inside story felt genuine awe toward Su Nan.

Entering the main building, Su Nan headed directly to the study on the third floor.

Apart from holding discussions in the conference hall with the generals, Brother Ke Yi typically handled administrative matters in the study or went to the martial arts training ground to practice.

According to usual habits, he should be in the study at this time.

As soon as he stepped onto the third-floor corridor, Su Nan saw a beautiful maid emerging from the study.

Judging by her disheveled clothes, flushed cheeks, and damp hair, it was evident she had just undergone an intense exercise.

Seeing someone coming, the maid turned her head and was startled upon recognizing Su Nan, greeting him nervously.

“Master Su Nan.”

Su Nan gave the maid an odd look.

He vaguely remembered that this maid was a widow; he hadn’t expected that his elder brother had such a preference.

“Off you go.” Su Nan waved her away.

The maid hurriedly retreated.

Su Nan stood at the door for a while before he pushed the door open and walked in.

Brother Ke Yi, already dressed, was focused on reading a book at the desk.

Hearing the door open, he looked up naturally and smiled, “It’s Su Nan. Do you need something, little brother?”

Su Nan didn’t expose him and took a seat, asking, “How’s it going over at the Blackstone Mine?”

“Very smooth!”

Mentioning the Blackstone Mine brought a smile to Brother Ke Yi’s face.

“In just half a month, we’ve earned over a hundred gold coins from selling blackstone iron.”

“And this is just the beginning. The mine’s output will further increase, and once stabilized, the territory will earn at least four or five thousand gold coins annually from selling blackstone iron!”

A viscount’s domain might earn about four or five thousand gold coins a year.

Blackstone City, with just a single city, has an equivalent annual income to a viscount’s domain, demonstrating the tremendous gold-generating capability of the Blackstone Mine.

“Any reaction from Shining City?” Su Nan asked.

The commotion at the Blackstone Mine was too big to conceal for long.

It was only a matter of time before Shining City found out about the reopening of the Blackstone Mine.

Owen, unless he’s a fool, wouldn’t just sit and watch Blackstone City grow and thrive due to the Blackstone Mine.

It was obvious that he would definitely try to obstruct them.

Brother Ke Yi’s smile faded, and he pondered, “The buyers of the blackstone iron are mainly lords and merchants from the Duchy of Brambleflower. We don’t take the Jin Rock Province route, so Owen’s attempts to intercept won’t be so easy.”

The Duchy of Brambleflower is a prominent duchy, on par with the Duchy of Starlit Stars, and its borders just happen to adjoin Blackstone City.

Trading with that side means the caravan’s route doesn’t have to pass through Jin Rock Province to reach Blackstone City, so there’s no concern about Owen using checkpoints along the way to give them trouble.

Of course, Owen could send troops to cut off the route.

But doing so would involve the Duchy of Brambleflower, possibly changing the situation’s nature.

Unless absolutely necessary, Owen likely wouldn’t take such rash actions.

However, they had to guard against other tactics from him.

“I plan to form a cavalry unit,” Brother Ke Yi suddenly said.

Su Nan raised an eyebrow and quickly caught on.

Owen managed to hold the baron title and keep the three other lords silent because his forces included an elite cavalry regiment of five hundred men.

Blackstone City would have to face Owen eventually, and they had to prepare for it in advance.

The best countermeasure was to build an equally powerful army.

“It will be quite costly,” Su Nan noted.

Brother Ke Yi nodded, “Purchasing warhorses and armor—these require a lot of money.”

In this era, warhorses and armor were extremely expensive.

Obtaining one horse and one set of armor wouldn’t be possible without spending at least thirty or forty gold coins.

The subsequent cavalry training, horse upkeep, and equipment maintenance would be a huge expenditure.

A cavalry corps is essentially a money pit, with much of a territory’s tax revenue being consumed by it.

As a result, the number of cavalry under one’s command became a measure of a lord’s strength.

Even with the Blackstone Mine as a money-making tree, forming an elite knightly corps would still be challenging for Blackstone City.

“If that’s the case, I have an idea,” Su Nan’s eyes sparkled.

“What idea?” Brother Ke Yi’s eyes lit up eagerly.

Having witnessed many of Su Nan’s miraculous methods, his trust in his younger brother was unwavering.

Hearing Su Nan say he has an idea inspired hope in his heart.

“Blackrock Panther.” Su Nan spoke succinctly.

Brother Ke Yi immediately understood his meaning, eyes shining brightly.

He had already witnessed the combat power of the Blackrock Panther, which was no less than that of a knight.

The key aspect is that these puppet creations are fearless, never tire, and require no food. If they could be used as mounts, they would surely be the best mounts!

“Can you craft Blackrock Panthers?” Brother Ke Yi looked at Su Nan with hopeful eyes.

“It should be possible,” Su Nan replied.

Thanks to the benefits of the active potion, the progress of his Puppet Crafting studies significantly accelerated recently, now exceeding 90%.

In another four or five days, he would master this skill and be able to craft Blackrock Panthers.

“Fantastic!”

Brother Ke Yi was ecstatic, instinctively standing and pacing in excitement, unsure of what to say for a moment.

A cavalry corps mounted on Blackrock Panthers would undoubtedly be the strongest cavalry army in Jin Rock Province.

If he could command such a cavalry corps, with only three hundred men, he’d have the confidence to counterattack Shining City!

Amidst his excitement, Brother Ke Yi looked at Su Nan, deeply impressed.

Since returning from the mine, he had taken introductory books from Su Nan to test if he had the aptitude to become a wizard apprentice.

But after reading just a few pages, his head painfully felt like it would explode, forcing him to abandon the idea.

The reality showed that he didn’t have the aptitude to be a wizard apprentice.

He lamented over it for several days.

Yet, later, he accepted it, realizing that it didn’t matter if he couldn’t become a wizard apprentice as long as Su Nan was there.

With Su Nan’s support, he believed that the two brothers could definitely revive the Anes-t family.

After a while, Brother Ke Yi calmed his emotions, giving Su Nan’s shoulder a firm pat.

“Leave this matter to you. If it succeeds, you will be the great hero of our family!”

Hearing this, Su Nan merely smiled lightly, changing the topic to the purpose of his visit.

After listening, Brother Ke Yi slapped his forehead and laughed, “I was just about to talk to you about this.”

He got up from behind the desk, gesturing for Su Nan to follow.

“Recently, I enlisted the help of the Fire Fox Commerce Association from the Duchy of Brambleflower to find what you wanted. They arrived in Blackstone City this morning and are probably resting at the tavern now. Let’s go take a look.”