23 Episode 22 Banquet and Steel Plate

"Smitha's saved!　Let's have a party!　Bring the booze!　......?　You got a guest?　Sorry, we're closed for the day. Come back tomorrow.

With that, he was driven out of the workshop. The door closes behind me.

I saved a girl and the owner, her parent, threw me out of the store. In modern Japan, this could be a problem, or is it better?

I'm sure it's not. That's for sure. Dwarves have a habit of kicking out people in their workshops.

Since it's no use getting kicked out, I'd better find a place to stay.

But there's no way to tell if it's a good place to stay or not. I should ask the guards.

When I went to the gate, the guard from when I checked my guild card came to talk to me first. He's a bit more friendly than before.

"How's the equipment procurement coming along?

"Oh, ......, it'll probably be tomorrow or later. I got kicked out of the workshop. ......

What?　You got kicked out of the workshop?　Did you bargain or something?

I didn't bargain or even negotiate.

No. "No, it was her parents' workshop. They kicked me out.

Sumise-san's workshop?　Do you use any magic-related materials?　Well, that's okay. I just wanted to thank him for talking to me and he asked me to invite you to join the party at his house. What do you say?

A dwarven banquet. .......

I'm not sure about that. I think so.

In the original world, I was neither strong nor weak when it came to drinking, but I wonder how I am now. I can run without getting tired, but the amount of food I eat hasn't changed at all. I'll have to try it to find out.

The best way to find out is to participate. You can also ask me to do some processing for you.

I'll go.

Okay. Do you know where it is?　I've given you my name, so you can just walk in and show your guild card to anyone nearby who doesn't look drunk. He should be able to help you.

"Okay. I'm off.

That's pretty out there. .......

I wonder if the Metal Lizard's armor is made of magic-related materials. It seems to be a physical material.

I came back to the workshop again. The door was unlocked. When I entered the workshop, there was a door on the side, and I could hear voices coming from there. When I entered, I found Mr. Sumizu.

I'm sorry, I've been invited to a party.

"Oh?　You're a guest from a while ago. Is that you by any chance, Kaede?　You're right, you're a bit slender for an adventurer. Thank you for saving my daughter.

It was just a while ago. ......

I'm not sure what to say. His breath reeked of alcohol, but he didn't sound like a drunk.

Smitha seems to be drinking with some women in the back. I don't know if it's alcohol or juice.

"Yes, I use magic, and I'm not that fit.

"Yes, I use magic, and I'm not very fit," she says, showing her guild card.

"You've come to my workshop to use magic?　Don't tell me you're here for Smitha?

Mr. Sumizu's eyes became suspicious. He had nothing to be ashamed of.

No, I'm not. ......

I'm sure there are a lot of good ones out there, but if you're looking for a wand, don't bother ordering one, you can usually find a practical one.　I'm sure you'll be able to find something that works for you.

...... I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I was just talking about wands.

No, I also use a sword. I've got a metal lizard in my item box that I killed, and I want you to use it to make me a sword and armor. I've also heard that you can buy metal lizard metal to cover the cost of processing, so I thought I'd ask you to do that.

I wonder if paying for it with armor might be bargaining. .......

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will work for you.　The item box means 100 kilos or so?

"No, there's a whole corpse in there. My item box is very large, and the Metal Lizard itself was killed by me.

You don't need a sword to kill a metal lizard, but you must have a reason. The money will be processed when I buy the armor. Drink up!

He said, handing me a wooden mug of sake that he had taken out from somewhere.

I drank it in one gulp as I was told. The strength was a bit high, but I didn't feel drunk.

I drank as much as I was told, but there was no sign of drunkenness at all.

A few hours later, there were many drunken people sleeping in the room.

I wasn't drunk, but I had no reason to stay awake, so I fell asleep.

Incidentally, people in this world don't seem to throw up when drunk. There was a woman there, so I was glad not to see her throw up.

The next morning, when I woke up to the sound of the bell, I found that other people had already started working.

I could hear the sound of hammering iron coming from the workshop.

Mr. Sumizu was not there, so I went to check the workshop. It seems that Mr. Sumizu was giving instructions to the others in the workshop.

When he seemed to have settled down, I called out to him.

"Excuse me, what should I do with the Metal Lizard?

"Oh, Metal Lizard, I saved the big disposal area yesterday, we'll take care of it there.

So I went with him. There seemed to be about five other people following me.

We arrived at a large area surrounded by a low wall. However, the ground was made of stone and there was no grass growing.

This is a place to deal with these big guys. It's just that we haven't thought of a way to transport big demons up here, and now it's just used as a demolition center occasionally. Just leave it there for now.

He points to the middle of the processing area.

I put out a Metal Lizard around there.

"Well, let's start the process. You can use fire magic, right?

You can use fire magic, right?

"Yes, you can, but what are you going to do?

"You've never dealt with a Metal Lizard before? It's difficult or impossible to remove the armor as it is, and cutting off the armor is out of the question, so you have to burn off the inside and leave the armor alone. You can't just cut off the armor.

Is that the way to dismantle it?

However, aside from the legs, the armor around the back seems like it would weigh more than 100kg for a single large plate, but what would you do?

With this in mind, I create fireballs as I see fit and shove them into its mouth.

About 50 fireballs later, the metal lizard began to burn solidly. Even though the air permeability seems to be poor, the fire is quite strong.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

You can use magic, but since you're solo, you can't have a vanguard protect you and shoot magic. You can use magic as fast as you can with a 20cm staff, and you can use magic while fighting with a sword, so there's no harm in having more. It's also good to have armor, because one person can act as both vanguard and rear guard, and armor doesn't disrupt your concentration.

"Well, I've never heard of it, but it doesn't seem like a lie to me. 20cm is pretty short, what kind of material do you use for your staff?

Well, it's just a regular one I bought in town.

If there's nothing written on it, it's probably made of iron core and copper skin. I'm sure you can make a much faster cane for a lot more money, but what do you think?　......, it looks like it was burned.

The metal lizard had crumbled into a pile of metal parts on the ground. But there's not as much as it first appears. I wondered if it had shrunk. It might have swelled up when heated.

The armor plate on the back looked like a single piece, but it was actually a rectangular armor plate of about 50cm x 70cm, attached together. It looks easy to use.

Since it still seems hot, I'll wait for it to cool down and continue talking about the wand.

"Does the material of the wand change the speed of the spell?

"Yes, it does. Ask Smitha for the details, she knows more about wands than I do. I specialize in weapons and metal armor. I work with wizards on materials that need to be magically processed.

I think I remember you saying something like that. I wonder what is magical about Metal Lizard.

"I don't see any magical elements in the Metal Lizard's armor, but does it need magical treatment?

"Yeah, it won't bend no matter how hard you hit it or heat it up, that's where magic tools come in, if you expose it to magically drained water for a while, the magic power will be drained from the armor and it will become as soft as hot iron, don't touch it with your hands or anything, process it with magically insulated tools, then put magic into it, and it will return to its original hardness. It's back to its original hardness.

That's how you process it? What do you mean it doesn't bend when heated?　Do you know what thermal expansion is?

That sounds like a lot of work. Is there anything I can do to help?

No, it's a job that requires a lot of experience, and I can't leave it to amateurs. Can I pay you for the armor and about two kilos of leftover materials?

That's fine. If I want to make a staff, can I use metal lizard metal for that too?

You can sell it for as much as you make it, which is more than you can get in cash. It'll probably take a week or more to process, so if you want a wand, you can explain it to me in the meantime.

It looks like we have a deal.