Ch.19A rumor travels a thousand miles without legs.

-Rich, high-quality iron ore has been discovered in Amurtat!-

This simple yet effective rumor spread quickly.

Since there were already merchants selling weapons and iron, hoping the rumor wouldn’t spread would be nothing short of thievish thinking. Regardless, numerous merchant groups rushed to Amurtat, eyeing its iron.

“Look! This seal! This seal was granted by the ruler of Avalonia!”

“So you’re saying you’re an official merchant guild?”

“That’s right! So please let us in!”

Among them were official merchant guilds, which referred to those directly operated by rulers or where rulers held the majority stake.

Most of them were merchant-envoys sent from city-states that were either at war, about to go to war, or had just finished a war. Amurtat gave them special consideration, allowing them to purchase as many weapons or as much iron as possible at low prices.

And naturally, since iron production was limited, other merchant groups who had arrived earlier but were pushed down in priority began to grumble.

“What? We came first, so why are you saying there’s no stock?”

“There isn’t any, so I’m saying there isn’t. Why are you arguing with me? Do you want to be quartered?”

“Ugh…”

“Be quiet. It’s not like the iron is going to run away…”

Of course, they only grumbled. They showed no other movement.

When rulers want to socialize with other rulers, how dare lowly beings try to interfere?

Besides, when anything floods the market, prices naturally drop. I stayed one step ahead by setting a strict limit on the total amount of iron each merchant group could purchase, and issued a decree that anyone trying to buy more would first have their limbs torn off.

Of course, for the sake of fairness, this regulation applied to merchant groups created by Amurtat citizens as well.

When the limit was set to just enough to fill one four-horse wagon, half of the merchant groups who had traveled long distances clicked their tongues and turned their horses around.

“Damn it! I thought I’d finally found a good specialty product! This is why you can’t reason with high-ranking people! I just wasted money for nothing!”

“Only 5 tons per merchant group? What are we supposed to do with that..!”

A four-horse wagon was equivalent to what could be fully loaded onto a 5-ton truck that we occasionally see on the streets.

Even by medieval standards, it wasn’t a particularly large amount, so large-scale merchant groups who had hoped to fill dozens of wagons had no choice but to leave, shaking with frustration.

Honestly, even if the iron was high quality, it was still just iron. It couldn’t cut through other iron like soft tofu; it was simply more durable iron, so there was no reason to buy it while suffering such humiliation(?).

“Um… I have a question…?”

“What is it?”

“Can we… can we really buy about 5 tons?”

“Of course. If you show your merchant guild leader’s token at the Steelyard in the northern part of town, you can pay and receive your iron ingots.”

“Ah! Thank you!”

Nevertheless, nearly half of the merchants stayed.

These were either newly established merchant groups or small-scale ones that had been around for a long time but remained modest in size. In fact, I created the above regulations specifically for them.

There were several reasons for this.

First, small-scale merchant groups might sell less at once, but they could travel around and sell Amurtat’s iron in various places.

Second, since there was a limit to how much could be sold at once, demand would grow in the market, but supply wouldn’t be able to keep up.

This second factor was particularly important. You’ve probably heard of the supply and demand curve at least once.

It’s the graph where the demand line and supply line form an X, and the point where they intersect is where the market price is formed. The important thing here is that when supply disappears, demand eventually disappears as well.

What good would it do if Amurtat’s iron was excellent? If it’s not circulating in the market!

Moreover, travel in pre-modern times was terribly dangerous, so even going to the neighboring village added a premium. How much worse would it be in this world where real demons and monsters roam?

Eventually, even though people knew it was good, they couldn’t get it, so demand would gradually decrease. By the time it was released into the market later, the market would judge, “Rather than using that, I might as well add a bit more money and buy two of these instead.”

People in this world may be ignorant, but that’s just because most of them haven’t received education and can’t even write their own names. Their intelligence itself isn’t lower than modern people.

However, if it were to flood the market indiscriminately, it would end up being just a slightly better version of iron with no special characteristics. That’s why it was important to carefully control the supply and spread Amurtat’s iron throughout the continent.

Just as “It’s an iron sword from Amurtat?” and “Oh, it’s an iron sword from Amurtat” carry different meanings, I would use all sorts of petty marketing tactics to scatter ingots stamped with Amurtat’s seal throughout every corner of this continent.

*

Several months later, at a forge in Fahrenheit.

“So this is that iron from Amurtat?”

“Yes. I bought it at a high price in the market. Please make a decent sword with it.”

“Hmm… let me see…”

The blacksmith tapped the Amurtat ingot that the client had procured, then said:

“How much did you pay for this one?”

“I paid 50 silver coins! I don’t know why a single ingot costs so much… It really is good, right?”

The client, as if begging for confirmation, couldn’t take his eyes off the well-refined ingot.

“It’s a well-made ingot. No ordinary iron sword could compare. 50 silver coins, you say? It’s certainly expensive, but the quality is undeniable. I guarantee it.”

“Then…!”

“For a crafting fee of 50 silver coins, I’ll make you a sword that you can pass down to your son.”

“Argh…!”

The client, with trembling hands, handed over 50 silver coins.

In total, that’s 1 gold coin. Approximately 10 million won in Korean currency—a considerable sum.

“Come back in a week. I’ll make something magnificent for you.”

“Then… I’ll wait with trust.”

“Hmm.”

A week passed, and the client returned to retrieve the sword he had left with the blacksmith.

His eyes fell upon the exhausted blacksmith, a scabbard placed on the anvil, and a sword inserted into it. When the blacksmith handed it to him, he grabbed the scabbard and pulled out the blade to examine it.

Shing!

“Ohhh…..”

“How is it?” the blacksmith asked.

“It’s magnificent! It’s gleaming so brightly!”

The gleaming indicated high reflectivity, which meant the iron had almost no impurities and just the right amount of carbon added.

“When the material is top-grade, the finished product can only be good.”

“Was that iron really that good?”

The client’s mouth slowly stretched into a grin. When people think they’ve gotten their money’s worth despite the high price, they tend to rationalize their impulse purchases.

“Yes. Amur… what was it again?”

“Amurtat.”

“If you ever have a chance to go there, bring me some of that iron. I’ll reward you handsomely.”

“I’ll remember that.”

The client, seemingly satisfied, put the blue-edged longsword back into its scabbard and headed to a tavern to show it off to his friends.

Jingle!

The small bell attached to the door rang, and his friends waved to him from a table.

“Hey! Did you get your sword?”

“Guys! This is no joke! It looks fucking amazing!”

The man wearing the sword excitedly rushed to his friends.

However, contrary to his expectations, his friends seemed determined to mock him for spending 1 gold coin—about 10 million won—on a single sword.

“Idiot. If the sword doesn’t look good, it’s your problem.”

“No, seriously. Just look at it first? Should I draw it?”

“You must be going crazy after spending 1 gold coin, hehe… Honestly, with that money, you could buy 10 swords.”

Shing!

Flash!

“Holy shit.”

“That looks fucking amazing.”

But seeing is always different. Under the dim tavern lighting, the Amurtat iron sword gleaming with an amber light seemed almost sacred, as if a legendary holy sword was emitting light.

“See? I told you I didn’t waste my money!”

“Damn, that’s insane. How is a sword glowing? Like a holy sword…”

“The blacksmith said that when you use Amurtat iron, all swords turn out like this.”

“Maur… what?”

“Amurtat, you idiot. Amurtat. Since I’ve already drawn my sword—the blacksmith asked me to get him some iron from there. I bought this for 50 silver coins, but you know how merchants are with their sales tactics, right? It should be much cheaper if we buy it directly from the source. Let’s go together and get a bunch of that iron. What do you think?”

“Amurtat iron?”

“Yeah! Judging by the look in your eyes, I think my sword will change owners within a week, so take this chance to get a good sword for yourselves!”

The man who had obtained the fine sword excitedly proposed a journey to Amurtat to his companions…

“…I’m in.”

“Me too. Let’s leave tomorrow morning.”

His companions accepted.

This was the moment when the name of the metal produced by Amurtat was first made known.