The ore was very close to nickel. They had a bit in Alterra, but they were in small quantities. Judging by the size of the ore here, then she could be sure the mines weren’t small.

Nickel was very useful to add in alloys. It was corrosion-resistant, strong, heat-resistant, and so on. They used it in stainless steel production, batteries, and other things.

Of course, not many people would know how to use this. It just so happened that the region around had a lot of black metal mines, so it was not too difficult to think they developed some improvements into their products. If they didn’t know this had a use, they would not treat the ores with care.

In any case, this metal was indeed a good thing, and Alterra, which equipped each guard with a minimum of Class D equipment, needed more of this.

They added this to their ’things to note of’ while investigating the place. Hand in hand, the couple walked deeper into the territory, looking like a typical couple, when in fact they were already gathering more information that others would only get after days of research.

Acero Town was a relatively new Town that had just upgraded a few years prior. It was still obviously at the transition between village and towns.

In terms of houses, roads, and so on, they were much like an expanded village.

It did, however, start to develop an improved neighborhood in the new area, using house types that were bigger than usual, using wider roads, and so on.

There was also a new exclusive villa area, heavily guarded by sentries, where the Lord’s palace as well as the nobles’ villas were located. The place where they snuck Anna in was in one of these villas.

As a territory, it still had a lot to develop. It did not even have a Post Office yet, just a Level 1 Pharmacy. One also had to note that the system Inn, also available at level 1, consumed a building slot too.

This meant that if this territory wanted a Post Office, they’d probably wait until the next upgrade. This was not very good because even after upgrading to a Town, it was still relatively isolated, which would affect its subsequent growth.

As for why they chose an inn instead of a Post Office, it could be the costs. Special Buildings indeed cost a massive amount of gold compared to the typical system buildings.

Regardless, Althea didn’t judge too much. Each Lord had their own considerations.

Perhaps the Lord felt like he’d never be able to afford the Post Office and thought it was a waste not to use the remaining building slot, so he just bought the next best thing that he could afford.

Considering the fact that they kept being attacked as a new town, losing more often than not, it was not possible to gain that much gold within the next few decades.

In a sense, this was indeed what happened. Another reason for the choice was due to the resource metal as well as their upgrade to a town, they were getting ’stronger’ visitors. Face was very important and they thought having an inn to accommodate guests was a priority.

This was a short-term view, but what could a person do under so much pressure?

The Lord listened to the pressure of nobles who wanted to accommodate guests, and vocal guests with higher than usual levels, forgoing the chance to save up for a Post Office.

They probably didn’t think much of it. They had just upgraded from a village and were used to living like one. They probably did not even see the value of the post office yet, and did not see the potential, as well as the missed chances.

Even communication was a problem, why would they send a precious daughter to get married here?

Curious, the couple went around to investigate and explore. Wilem paid them some gold for the extra service. As for the two of them, they could not freely go around. Their names would appear in the Lord panel and if the Lord decided to take a look and notice them, they’d rather not be found easily.

In contrast, Garan and Althea walked nearby the streets, which were far messier than Illyan Town. Some areas even reminded them of villages.

There were wastes on the ground and Garan lifted her up, knowing her squemishness. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This show of PDA caused a few conservative passersby to frown, but what could they do? If anyone wanted to be nosy and speak to them, Garan would release his aura. Even Althea was not to be trifled with.

Despite her level just above average at Town level, her aura and elemental prowess weren’t jokes. Even those with a higher level were easily intimidated by her, let alone Garan.

The first place they headed to was naturally the center, where the markets were near. Fortunately, this place was cleaned up as it was a major traffic area, so Garan could listen to Althea and put her down.

The two bought a few things, though there had been nothing noteworthy so far. From here, and after a few more subtle questions here and there, especially to the old people, they could surmise how Acero became a town.

It has been the top village in this area for many decades now. Even if it was nothing special, if it still affected the surrounding environment by comparison, there would still be prestige. They also discovered a metal mine. Acero itself had no use for it, but the nearby Illyan Town had shown interest and bought them.

The price was not too high, but since Acero didn’t know what it was for, they did not haggle. It would be worse if Illyan decided to target them.

The decades of this built up and, eventually, they gathered enough to upgrade into town.

Anyway, Illyan and other territories also needed the metal, and the family Anna was marrying into was the main mining family for this. As such, they could surmise that Anna’s marriage was probably Illyan’s way of gaining more of this resource, and Anna’s father sold her to get some soup from this benefit.

It was really quite pitiful, but—sadly—not unusual.