Files not output to directory by webpack - publicPath not working

Question

I have a simple webpack and trying to use publicPath:

const path = require('path');

module.exports = {
    entry: {
        jquery: './node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js',
    },
    output: {
       path: path.join(__dirname, '/wwwroot/dist/js/'),
       filename: '[name].build.js',
       publicPath: 'virtual-location'
    }
};

The file is placed in the dist folder and is browsable there :

<script type="text/javascript" src="~/dist/js/jquery.build.js"></script>

however when I try to browse publicPath - I get 404:

https://localhost:44306/virtual-location/jquery.build.js

And it does not matter whether I write it with folder slashes or not:

publicPath: 'virtual-location'

or

publicPath: '/virtual-location/'

Versions I use:

"jquery": "3.4.1",
"jquery-ui": "^1.13.1",
"webpack": "^5.72.1",
"webpack-cli": "^4.9.2",

The output file look correct and do not present any errors.

Any idea why the built is not finding the file neither in physical nor virtual location?