According to what Elena had heard in Dur, Izana had three large iron mines in the past.

Finding the first mine was not difficult, it was in plain sight on the side of a rocky hill near the ruins of Izana.

Elena and Nia entered the place and after eliminating some small monsters inside, they were unable to continue their exploration, the tunnel was completely blocked by a collapse.

「Elena-sama, these mines have already been fully exploited, what do you plan to do with them?」

From what Nia had seen of Elena so far, there was no way her young and beautiful master was so naive as to think that there might still be some iron left in these abandoned mines.

「Although I have some ideas on possible uses for these mines, for now, I just want to know their location and get to know them for future plans」

The possible uses Elena had for those three mines would undoubtedly make the Izana region begin to prosper, but something like that would only become one more incentive for Sadora to come looking for her, or even for the king of Varest to change his opinion and request back the control of the territory.

Before reviving the region, Elena had to prepare properly to protect it.

The second mine was hidden under a wide ravine near the dry bed of an ancient river. Exploration of this mine was impossible since access had collapsed.

The third and largest mine of the three was located in a nearby deep depression, specifically, it was what Elena had determined to be the ancient impact zone of a large meteorite. Undoubtedly the iron extracted in the place must have been part of that meteorite.

By the time Elena and Nia returned, the three golems had already completely demolished the old tower and were beginning to dig the foundation for the new building.

「It seems like it will take more manpower」

「Will you create more golems, Elena-sama?」

「Golems are good for heavy work, but they are too slow and not very skilled for more detailed work」

Nia agreed with Elena's words. Golems could easily move large rocks, but they could not do work that required more detail.

「Nia, do you think there is a cemetery in this place?」

「There must be one since ever this place was a city」

「Let's find it then」

Nia couldn't imagine why Elena wanted to find the old city cemetery.

「This must be the place」

After walking around the ruins of the city, Elena and Nia found an area that, although it contained a few debris, did not correspond to the foundations of buildings, but must have been the remains of ancient tombstones.

「What do you plan to do in this place, Elena-sama?」

「Recruit additional workers of course」

Facing a confused Nia, Elena moved to the center of the area.

「Undead Creation, Low Level, Skeleton」

Nia's breathing stopped as she saw a skeleton rise from the ground.

「Necromancy…」

Even if Nia had promised herself not to be further surprised by Elena's actions, it seemed like a promise she couldn't keep.

「Do you still trust me, Nia?」

「Of course, Elena-sama!」

Nia did not hesitate in her quick response. Necromancy was certainly a branch of magic considered taboo and forbidden in every corner of the world, yet how important was what the rest of the world thought? Elena had saved her, helped her become strong, and had shown her warmth and affection that she had only received from her mother. For Nia, even if Elena decided to set fire to the world, she would remain loyal to Elena as long as she did not harm her mother.

With a smile on her lips and enduring the desire to hug Nia, Elena approached the skeleton that had just emerged from the ground. She took the 'A' quality magic core she had brought with her and inserted it into the empty left basin of the skeleton's skull.

「Undead Creation, High Level, Lich」

The skeleton began to shiver as a black substance emerged from the left basin of its skull and began to completely cover its bones.

After a few seconds, that black substance shaped a hooded robe and an ominous black cane decorated with skulls. Who was covered by that robe and held that staff, was the same skeleton but now possessed a sinister aura and two violet flames burned above his eye sockets, a genuine Lich.

「Master」

The skeleton knelt in front of Elena and a grim voice escaped from his mouth devoid of organs and skin.

「Your name will be Necro」

「This servant pledges you full loyalty and gives thanks to you for giving him a name, Master」

Despite Elena having given him such a simple name, Necro was truly grateful. In the same way that happened with the puppets, in necromancy, the intelligence level of the undead created is determined by the skill of the necromancer.

During the last days of campaigning against the demon king, to increase the strength of his worn army, Kaname had resorted to necromancy, something that was later used by the gods against him to order his execution.

「Necro, this is Nia, my second in command, her word has as much weight as mine」

「Understood, Master」

Since Nia had blood ties to Elena, the golems would obey her without Elena ordering them to, but this was not the case concerning Necro, therefore, Elena should have made Nia's position clear for the Lich.

「Necro, I need you to create a large number of skeleton soldiers and use them to help me with construction tasks」

「It will be a pleasure, Master」

Elena could have created the skeletons herself, but it was easier to employ a Lich who could direct them directly. Also, the Lich could create a greater number of skeletons since being an undead, his necromancy would occupy less magic power. Simply creating Necro took a third of Elena's total magic power, with that amount she could barely have created fifty common skeletons, and these would always have come to her for instruction.

Elena and Nia returned to the center of Izana leaving Necro behind, who set about creating skeleton soldiers. Undead are generally sensitive to sunlight, but given the level of Necromancy with which it was created, Necro and his creations were indifferent to sunlight, so the Lich continued to create skeletons even after sunrise and only stopped once the cemetery no longer had enough material to continue. In the end, by sunset that day, Necro had created four hundred skeleton soldiers.

As for Elena and Nia, they both took on the task of supervising the construction work. They had brought food from Dur for an extended stay, and they used magic to take care of their hygiene.

In this way two more days passed during which there was no rest, the skeleton soldiers did not need it or the golems, as for Nia and Elena, once their bodies reached the limit, Elena opened a warp to return to Dur and rest in the usual inn.

Since Elena had taken the time to create two mytril swords these days, they both went and sold them and then spent half of their funds buying two S-quality magic cores, something that could only be obtained by defeating powerful monsters. Cores of such quality were also not common, so when seeing them, Elena did not hesitate to buy them.

With a plan in mind that as always she did not communicate to Nia to surprise her once again, Elena chose to stay in Dur for five full days, during which time she dedicated herself to creating mytril daggers and swords that she later sold to a very pleased weapons merchantman. This man was making his fortune by shipping all of that unmatched quality mytril weapons to various great merchants throughout the kingdom. Elena did not know it, but Bela's name and her characteristic butterfly-shaped signature were beginning to gain great fame and admiration throughout Varest.

As for the rumors regarding the young knight who had led the Varest army to victory, although Elena's name had yet to emerge, her fame continued to grow steadily and was already nicknamed by her as the Varest Valkyrie. Elena could only laugh upon hearing about this.

For the sixth day of their stay in Dur, Elena and Nia left the city with Nia now leading the reins of a wagon full of low-quality weapons and a pair of full-body armor, in addition to several 'A' quality magic cores.

Using warp outside Dur, Elena and Nia reached the center of Izana directly in just a blink.

Nia's eyes widened with pleasing surprise to see that most of the city wall was already standing, and the palace, it already had the necessary rooms so that both did not have to return to Dur to rest properly.

「Welcome back, Master, General Nia」

Necro welcomed Elena and Nia, and Nia smiled awkwardly, still not used to being called a general by Necro.

「Anything to report, Necro?」

「Construction continues at a favorable rate, and for some unexpected event, nothing has happened so far Master」

As a precaution against the arrival of unexpected visitors, Elena had ordered Necro to send skeleton soldiers to the edge of Izana territory to monitor any suspicious movements.

「Good job, Necro」

「Your humble servant is not worthy of such words, Master」

Sometimes even Elena felt a little uneasy about Necro's devotion to her, but on those few occasions, she could only show a smile and nod, something that seemed to further incentivize Necro to do an efficient job.

With the help of the skeleton soldiers, Elena and Nia proceeded to carry what they had brought with them from Dur into the already finished rooms of the palace.

Once that task was completed, Nia set about preparing one of the rooms to be able to use it as a bedroom. Since they did not have a bed, both would have to settle for sleeping on the floor on some blankets, something that Elena did not mind as long as she could enjoy Nia's heat.