The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 101 Teleportation Array Trade Plan
El-Erian stated the three requests he had prepared beforehand:
"First of all, because the Sun Elf alliance has just attacked our human lands. If we were to release the previous Sun Elf invader, Alamir Goldfleck, at this time, my people would certainly not accept it."

"So I hope that we can wait 3 to 5 years until the public anger subsides before sending Alamir back."

The Elf Queen nodded slightly, finding the request quite reasonable.

Elves have long lifespans, and legendary mages even more so.

Three to five years pass in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that Her Majesty the Queen had no objections, El-Erian smiled inwardly.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of immediately releasing Alamir, this hostile extremist.

If the plan goes smoothly, by the time the empire is 15 years old, preliminary trade relations between humans and elves will likely have been established. Alamir Goldfleck's return to the elven kingdom will then be unlikely to cause any further trouble.

"My second request is that I wish to acquire ownership of a mineral deposit in the elven kingdom on behalf of the human kingdom of Eldoron."

As he spoke, El-Erian pulled out a map.

Upon hearing this request, the expressions of the elven minister and the elven queen present suddenly turned serious.

The Elven Royal Court possesses the best natural resources on this continent, including countless adamantite, mithril, orogen, blackwood, shadow vine, starlight crystal, ice tear pearl, fairy tears, moon dew pollen, and more.

These precious natural resources can be crafted into magical items or used as materials for magical rituals, making them important strategic resources!

If Eldoron wants a certain key resource, he cannot simply hand it over.

"Yes, this is it, this cold iron ore mine. Can we have it?"

Elian tapped on a barren mountain northwest of Eldoron on the map.

what the hell……

It's just a cold iron ore deposit. I thought it was a fine gold or mithril ore...

Seeing that Elian's request was quite ordinary, the Elf Queen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although cold iron is also a magical metal, its value is far less than that of materials such as adamantite and mithril, and its uses are very limited.

Compared to mithril, which is as light as a feather, and adamantite, which is indestructible, cold iron has almost the same properties as ordinary iron.

Its only functions are twofold: first, as a material for a few rare rituals; and second, to be crafted into [Cold Iron Weapons], which have a certain restraining effect on a few magical creatures such as fairies and demons.

"No problem, the mine is yours."

The Elf Queen waved her hand dismissively, feigning nonchalance.

In fact, the Elven Kingdom had no intention of spending time and effort mining this mineral.

It's good to give it away as a favor.

“Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty.” El-Erian smiled broadly.

It's the end of the 10th year of the Empire, and cold iron ore is indeed of little use.

But when the Empire reaches its 30th year, the Abyss invasion begins, and millions of demons belonging to different Abyss lords wreak havoc on the eastern part of the continent. The value of Cold Iron will increase more than a thousandfold!
Just as silver weapons can subdue the demons of hell.

Weapons made of cold iron are extremely effective against the demons of the abyss!

It's important to understand that, as the embodiment of the concept of chaotic evil, demons are difficult to harm with ordinary weapons.

Cold Iron weapons can ignore the demons' innate "damage reduction" ability and deal normal damage to these supernatural species!
In the era of the Abyss invasion, cold iron will be regarded as a more precious magical metal than adamantite and mithril, and will be sold at exorbitant prices, making it extremely difficult to find even a single piece...

"Very well, King of Mankind, state your third request."

Because Elian's two previous demands were very modest, the Elf Queen suspected that the human king had reserved all his greed for his last demand for compensation.

"My final request is exactly what I said when I first visited the Elven Royal Court: I hope that the human kingdom of Eldoron and the Elven Royal Court can establish diplomatic relations, become allies, and engage in trade and exchange of goods!"
El-Erian stated the most important goal.

"However, compared to my last visit, I now have a new idea!"

Elian unfolded the map, picked up a pen, and drew circles in several places on the map.

"Between the elven kingdom and the human kingdom lies a vast, uninhabited wilderness, making direct transport of supplies extremely inconvenient."

"We can build teleportation arrays connecting the two countries in these key cities, as well as in resource-rich areas such as forests, mines, and lakes."

"This will make trade between the two countries much easier."

"Although the initial cost of creating a [teleportation array] is relatively high, in the long run, it is a great benefit for both humans and elves!"

When El-Erian mentioned trade between the two countries, he showed obvious excitement, as if he saw a bright future ahead.

A Sun Elf minister frowned and questioned Elion:
"Setting up so many teleportation arrays is extremely expensive. Who will bear the cost?"

El-Erian smiled and answered:
"Our human kingdom of Eldoron can provide a large number of professional mages and mage apprentices as human resources to be responsible for the construction and subsequent maintenance of the [teleportation array]."

"However, creating a magic circle requires a large amount of magical materials. These are not available in our valley. Only the Elven Royal Court can provide them."

"As everyone knows, we only occupy a small, barren piece of land in the eastern part of the continent."

What El-Erian was referring to is also the dilemma that Eldoron, the nation of humankind, is currently facing in its development.

The best magical resources on the continent, whether minerals like gems or biological resources like trees, dew, and pearls, have long been controlled by races such as elves, dwarves, halflings, fire giants, and goblins. Almost nothing, not even a scrap, has been left for humanity.

Without these magical materials, it would be difficult for humans to create magical items and constructs, and to achieve large-scale production. Many ritual spells also struggle to function due to a lack of materials.

In this ancient era, other races, including elves, did not actually utilize these resources efficiently. Man-made constructs had not yet appeared, and the magical items they produced were of very poor quality, a veritable waste of resources.

"You provide the manpower, will our elven kingdom provide the materials?"

Several elven ministers considered the proposal.

The main cost of teleportation arrays lies in expensive materials, not manpower.

Clearly, the human side has gained more advantages in this collaboration.

But Elion, the King of Men, came here to demand compensation, so this proposal sounds reasonable.

The Sun Elf minister who had previously raised the question, looking displeased, continued to question:
"No, no. If subsequent trade doesn't bring enough benefits to the Elven Kingdom, all these initial investments will be wasted!"

"Can the goods you produce be compared to those produced by our Sunflower Family?"

"What is the point of trading with you?"

Although on the surface it seemed that the minister was considering the interests of the entire elven kingdom, Elion knew very well:

This Sun Elf minister was acting in the best interests of his own "Sunflower" family.

Currently, the Moon Elf and Wood Elf families possess abundant natural resources, while the ten Sun Elf families dominate most of the manufacturing industries in the Elf Kingdom—many wand-making families, magic cloak shops, and renowned swordsmiths originate from the Sun Elf families.

For the Moon Elf family, trading with Eldoron, the human kingdom responsible for manufacturing, is a mutually beneficial arrangement. However, for the Sun Elf family, it represents market share grabbing and would have a significant impact on their profits!
This is a genuine conflict of interest!
Another Sun Elf minister expressed a similar view:

"You must prove that cooperating with you humans can bring sufficient benefits to our elven kingdom before we will accept you humans into the civilized world, be willing to take the risk of wasting investment, and engage in trade with you."

Elian nodded slightly:
"I will try to prove that."

"Although the human kingdom possesses far fewer resources than your elven kingdom, humans are hardworking, down-to-earth, and willing to devote themselves to production."

“We have a large team of mages skilled in production and manufacturing. They specialize in productive magic such as [Divine Craftsmanship] and [Stone Shaping], and are also ready to learn the expertise to create magical artifacts. Once trade is established between our two countries, we will be able to produce a large quantity of the goods you need.”

"The astonishing speed of development of the human kingdom of Eldoron over the past 10 years is proof of the work of this team of production mages!"

Mentioning the astonishing speed of development of the human kingdom of Eldoron, many elves, including the Elf Queen, showed slight changes in expression.

Recently, the Elven Royal Court secretly sent out some scouts to investigate the development of the human kingdom of Eldoron. They were all quite surprised when they saw the towns that humans had built.

The speed at which human kingdoms are developing has even frightened the elves!
"Production mage?"

The Elf Queen carefully considered this slightly unfamiliar word.

El-Erian patiently explained:
"In our human kingdom of Eldoron, mages are divided into two categories—production mages and combat mages."

"Of course, this is just one perspective. Many mages hold two positions at the same time, and can switch between the two positions when necessary."

"From our human perspective, using magic as a tool for construction and production to make our country better is a commendable thing!"

Of course, what El-Erian didn't say was:

After 10 years of development, most of the buildings in Eldoron have been completed.

The current production capacity of mages is clearly excessive.

Many production mages learned numerous production techniques and developed the skill of working long hours.

But across the entire country, there is nowhere that needs further development.

Apart from the vast elven kingdom, there are no other forces nearby that can fully absorb such a massive production capacity!
"Could it be that human civilian magic can surpass that of elves?"

"Is it necessary to bear the high cost of building a magic array just to trade with a remote little country?"

Faced with the questions from the many elven ministers, Elian smiled and said:

"How about this."

“I suggest that your Elven Royal Court form a special delegation to visit our magic production workshops in Eldoron.”

"See for yourself how our production mages build this country."

"The newly formed human kingdom will prove to you that trading with us, Eldoron, is absolutely the best choice for the Elven royal court!"

After a period of discussion, the Elf Queen nodded amidst many skeptical glances:

“Alright. I will assemble an elven delegation to visit the human kingdom.”

"As long as your human nation demonstrates the potential to make us friends."

"Humanity will become a part of the civilized world, just like dwarves, halflings, and gnomes."

"The two countries will formally establish diplomatic relations and build a [teleportation array] connecting the East and the West!"

(End of this chapter)