Walker in Modern World

With the amount of pure steel present here, they could build hundreds of swords and armors. A commotion erupted throughout the court once again.

Seeing this, Sanjay smiled.

One minister stood up, walked near the box, and picked up an ingot. His family dealt in the manufacture of swords for the kingdom, and with years of experience, he could easily recognize quality steel.

His hands began trembling as he examined the steel. The purity was astonishing. Usually, the amount of steel they imported from other nations was less than what was contained in this human-sized box, and even that imported steel was of far worse quality than this.

He looked at His Majesty with approving eyes.

Seeing the expression of the nation's most proficient blacksmith as well as its minister of armaments, brimming with excitement and approval, the king realized that this was the real deal.

"Silence!" the king commanded, and the hall fell into a pin-drop silence.

The Duke of the Kalyan family shot Rajiv an angry glare. Rajiv was as clueless as the others. When Sanjay had bought the box, he'd told Rajiv it was a gift for His Majesty.

Rajiv had assumed it would be some exquisite clothes, especially given how beautifully designed the box was. Everybody brought gifts for His Majesty, and Rajiv thought Sanjay was simply trying to make a good impression on the king.

But Rajiv had never imagined Sanjay would present steel ingots. Steel was far more significant than clothes, food, or even salt. It was a strategic resource. With the kingdom having only a few iron ore deposits, the steel produced domestically was scarce. They were forced to import steel from other nations at exorbitant prices.

And even with the small quantities they could import, most of it was used to make weapons for the royal army. The general army was still stuck using iron swords that were brittle, bent easily, and required frequent straightening.

If Rajiv had known Sanjay could supply steel, his family would never have let this opportunity slip away. But now, since everyone in the court was aware, the king might get directly involved.

The king looked at Sanjay and gestured for him to speak.

"Your Majesty, I can supply ten tons of steel per month, at a reasonable rate, of course," Sanjay said.

Hearing this, the eyes of everyone present widened in shock.

Ten tons per month? They could hardly acquire one ton of steel in an entire year! And this man was willing to provide ten tons every single month?

"Very well," the king said. "I accept your innocence. For your willingness to help the kingdom and supply strategic materials in times of need, I now bestow upon you the title of Baron, along with a plot of land."

Boom!

The announcement sent shockwaves through the court.

A noble title, even the lowest one of Baron, directly granted by the king, signified royal favor and protection. No one would dare touch Sanjay now—not for as long as the king was alive, at least.

Hearing that he had been granted a noble title, Sanjay felt something stir within him. It was like a surge of power coursing through his body. He didn't fully understand what it was, but his instincts told him it must be connected to his ability.

Before anything else could be discussed, the king concluded the meeting with his final declaration.

The king slowly stood up and left the royal court. Seeing him leave, everyone else stood from their seats as well. No matter how much they disapproved of the king's decision, no one dared to voice their objections in his presence. They could only grumble in private later.

Sanjay had a smile on his face. From his conversations with merchants and nobles at various parties, he had realized that the kingdom's most pressing need was steel.

With very few iron ore deposits and primitive extraction processes, the steel supply was insufficient to support the kingdom's entire army. Sanjay had taken note of this opportunity early on, and now it had borne fruit.

Yesterday, while reviewing his notebook for any way out of his predicament, Sanjay noticed an interesting opportunity and decided to gamble on it. In the modern world, buying steel is as easy as buying chocolate.

Forget ten tons per month—he could supply one hundred tons if he wanted to. However, he deliberately kept the supply low to maximize his profits.

As the king had left the royal court, everyone began to disperse one by one. There was no reason to linger now.

Rajiv turned to Sanjay. "Sanjay, when did you start dealing in steel?"

"I only bought a small quantity to understand the market and thought of gifting it to the king. There's nothing more to it," Sanjay replied casually.

Rajiv didn't say anything, but he wasn't convinced. He could tell Sanjay wasn't being entirely honest with him. From the very beginning, Sanjay had been secretive. Rajiv's father, the Duke, had even believed that Sanjay, acting as a middleman, was charging far more than necessary; the actual costs shouldn't have been so high.

Their original plan had been to show Sanjay their support first and then, through the influence of the court, pressure him into revealing the trade route for steel. This would allow Sanjay to prove his innocence and confirm it wasn't a conspiracy by an enemy kingdom.

The Kalyan family would then offer him a safe haven in exchange for the route's details.

However, their entire strategy had fallen apart when Sanjay presented something far more valuable than food or clothing—steel. As a strategic material, the dealings of steel were closely monitored, and no one was allowed to trade in it privately.

Just as Rajiv was about to ask Sanjay another question, they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, sir," a man in his thirties addressed Sanjay.

"Yes?" Sanjay replied.

"I'm Sunil, the minister of finance," the man introduced himself.

"His Majesty has asked me to oversee the purchase of steel from you," Sunil said with a polite smile.

"Sure, let's do that," Sanjay said, bidding farewell to Rajiv before following Sunil to the finance ministry to discuss the terms of their cooperation.

After extensive negotiations, they reached an agreement: fifty thousand gold coins per ton of steel. With a minimum supply of ten tons per month, Sanjay would be earning five hundred thousand gold coins every month.

In modern terms, that amounted to approximately 1.2 billion rupees per month.

Once all the details were finalized, Sanjay was advised to stay in the capital for a few days until the plot of land he was to receive as part of his baron title was decided.

Regarding the noble title, there was no certificate or formal document. Since the king had declared Sanjay a baron, that was all it took. From now on, he was officially a baron.

In this kingdom, a baron was entitled to a plot of land of their choice, which they could govern however they saw fit. However, they were required to pay taxes based on the income generated from the land.

For example, land with iron or gold ore incurred the highest taxes, agricultural land was next, and barren land was taxed the least, as mere survival in such areas was already challenging for the people living there.

After providing Sanjay with detailed records of unclaimed lands, the minister assured him they would contact him soon with the final decision.

As the day drew to a close, Sanjay declined the minister's offer to send him home, expressing his desire to explore the capital city and look for potential business opportunities.

Leaving the Royal Palace, he made his way to the nearest restaurant. The establishment was bustling with activity, and from its appearance, it seemed to cater exclusively to nobles and wealthy patrons.

As he entered, the waiter, noticing his clothes, immediately greeted him and presented the menu. Hearing the list of items—most of which he had never heard before—Sanjay instructed the waiter to bring their best dishes along with some alcohol.

In medieval times, sixteen years of age was already considered adulthood. This was due to the average life expectancy being no higher than forty, primarily because of diseases and wars. Sanjay made a mental note to address this issue when he acquired his own plot of land in the future.

A few minutes later, the waiter brought the dishes. It consisted mostly of meat soup and various types of bread.

Taking a bite of everything and sipping the soup, Sanjay nearly gagged. The taste was so awful that he couldn't bring himself to eat more. He stood up and left—it was the worst meal he had ever tried.

He had eaten the same type of food back in the town and thought it might be better in the capital, but it was just as bad. If this were the modern world, the restaurant wouldn't even get a one-star rating.

After leaving, he checked out the food section of the capital city but found nothing interesting or unique. Everything seemed uninspired. Feeling bored, he eventually hailed a carriage and headed to the Kalyan family estate.

Upon arriving, he inquired about Rajiv, but the head servant informed him that the master hadn't returned yet and was likely attending to other matters.

With nothing else to do, Sanjay decided to return to the modern world to place an order for several tons of steel under the company's name. As for why the company would need so much steel, neither the seller nor the government would care.

After returning home, he first contacted the same supplier who had previously sent a small demo shipment of steel ingots at his request. The company was the largest steel supplier in the entire state, so after Sanjay made the full payment online, they agreed to dispatch the order within a few hours.

The steel was already available in the form of raw ingots and only needed to be shipped from their warehouse. Two hours later, approximately ten tons—equal to 10,000 kilograms—of steel ingots were delivered to the warehouse Sanjay had been using.

Sanjay inspected the warehouse, which was now completely full. Alongside the ten tons of steel, there were also several bags of gold that he had transferred from the medieval world earlier for safekeeping in case he ever needed to escape.

Fortunately, everything had worked out. Satisfied, Sanjay closed the shutters of the warehouse, checked everything one last time, and then headed home.