25 Episode 24 Coal and Ajit

Well, I'm done with weaponsmithing. From here on out, it's the domain of the craftsman, and I don't want to mess with it.

So I think I'll do what adventurers do best: adventure. I don't know if there are any orders to kill them around here.

I also need to find a place to stay. If possible, I'd like to get as many potions as I can.

I'm going to finish them one by one. Let's start with lodging.

When I asked for a recommendation, I was recommended a place called "Suiri-tei", so I went there. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive either. Information is also important when choosing a place to stay.

I've gotten used to going to new places. There is a saying that people don't care about you as much as you think they do, so you should just take it easy.

Welcome, are you staying for the night? 1,000 Tel per night, breakfast, lunch, and dinner included, with 100 Tel less for each additional meal.

I was greeted with a very polite attitude for an innkeeper in this part of the world. The person who greeted me was a young woman.

I've heard that there are many dwarves in this city, but I think there are many humans in the hospitality business.

Well, I suppose it is natural that a clerk who throws out a guest at an inn would be in trouble.

"Yes, I'd like to stay for seven nights, but can I eat one meal first?　Of course I'll pay for it.

That's about the shortest route to weapons processing. If it's not enough, we can add more. I'm hungry because I had breakfast very late.

I'm starving." "Okay, can you pay for one night's stay and one meal, 800 Tel in advance?　Breakfast will be served immediately in the dining hall.

So I handed over the money and went to the dining hall to eat. The meat was a little salty, but it was good enough. There were not many leafy vegetables, but there were a few things that looked like wild vegetables, probably because of the topography of the mountain.

I paid for 7 days' lodging in advance, including the 800 I had paid earlier, and went out after asking about a place that sold potions.

However, the store was next to the guild. It looked like a general store.

I bought all 30 or so of the magic recovery acceleration potions, which cost 120 Tells each, and finally headed for the guild.

My rank had risen one rank to E after the last incident. I found a reasonable request for extermination.

Rank: E

Request: Exterminate Red Wolves

Reward: 50 Tel per animal

Quantity: As many as you can kill

Note: You need to go into the mountains from the road because they are probably not near the road.

This is an extermination request with no fixed number. The purpose is probably to prevent demons from appearing on the surrounding roads.

Judging from the amount of the reward and the rank, Red Wolf is not very strong. His name also sounds like a relative of Green Wolf.

So, I quickly accept the request. Unfortunately, the receptionist was a man.

You go backwards along the path you took to get here, and turn left into the forest a little while after the bald mountain ends and the surrounding area becomes a forest. There is still no response from the tentacles.

So we start looking around. The search is easy. Use the fully-deployed tentacles to look around, and just keep moving. The ▼ function is not very useful, because it only works if you can see it.

After about five minutes of movement, three wolves appeared about 20 meters away. I got as close as 10m and hit them with a rock spear, and they all died in one hit, but I think they reacted a little too quickly. The spear was positioned at the edge of the body.

The speed of magic should be higher. If it had been 20 meters away, it might have missed.

With this in mind, I zigzagged parallel to the direction of the path and hunted the red wolves I found. I killed about 20 of them, but one of them dodged my spear.

I got close and hit it with the second spear, and it died. Of course, I collected the corpse.

After another half an hour of hunting, I found a strange reaction on the tentacles. These are two human-like reactions that don't move from the spot.

I sneak out of the shadows to examine them.

It was a bandit. The ground behind them looks like the mine in Ein. Could it be a bandit's screw?

I don't feel like dealing with them alone, so I decide to leave.

I remembered the direction of the road, so I went straight to the road and came to the place where I found the bandits going into the mountain.

I remembered some of the scenery and it made sense. After remembering the place, I headed for the city.

I came back to the guild. I wondered if the guild was the right place to report the discovery of the bandits.

When I went to the guild and told them that I had found what looked like a bandit hideout, I was summoned by the chapter leader.

"Is it true that you found a hideout in the mountains?

"Yes, sir. There was a hole in the ground and two bandits were guarding it.

Hmm. ...... I thought the bandits were running fast, not even on the most direct route, but I guess they have a hideout in the mountains. Thank you for the report. I'll organize a strike force soon. We'll pay you when we get confirmation.

Yes, sir.

And don't tell anyone about this. If the bandits are big enough to set up a hideout, there's a chance that people who haven't become bandits are helping them for money, so we're going to call out to them and gather them one by one.

"Yes, sir.

So that's all I'm going to say about that, stop by the guild tomorrow morning. Come by the guild in the morning and we'll decide on the schedule for the attack.

When the report was finished, I left the branch manager's office and reported the request. I received a reward of 2,600 Tells for a total of 52 animals.

I had nothing left to do, so I went to the workshop.

"Do you think you can make the staff?　How does it look?

"I can't because I haven't drained the magic from the metal lizard metal yet.

That's true. Metal Lizard Metal is used in almost every part of the weapon.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

I think some army was doing that as a countermeasure against guerrillas. Was it defoliant?

No. They use charcoal and stuff to refine metal. That's why they cut down most of the trees around here.

Don't they use coal?

We dig that, too, but it's for cold places. If you use it for smelting, you won't get any metal.

Oh. ......

I remember there was something like that on Earth. I think I heard it in history class or something.

How did we deal with it? As I recall, coke is used for iron refining: ......

Oh. Coke. You can make coke from coal.

I saw a coke making method somewhere when I was in high school. If I had learned some ancient martial arts like a normal high school student, it might have been useful in battle, but I never thought that my useless knowledge would be useful in such a situation.

Fortunately, thanks to my martial arts background, I did not need to learn ancient martial arts.

You can make coke, you know. You can make coke by burning coal like a charcoal briquette, and then removing the impurities.

...... I don't understand. I'll put you in touch with someone in the fuel industry who might be able to help you, but you'll probably have to pay for the experiment, okay?

If it turns out to be useful, can you buy the technology from me?

It's a bit of a hassle to get a patent or something, but I don't think it's a good idea to offer the technology and lose money on it.

If you can really refine metal with coal, it's possible. You should go here, to Igni's fuel shop.

He drew me a map. Maybe I should go there next time.

I feel like I've been developing so much lately that I haven't been adventuring much. I don't know if I'm a magician or a technician.

"Excuse me, is this the right place for Igni's fuel shop?

"Yes, that's right. Are you here to buy charcoal?

The man who answered was also a human.

No, I know a new kind of fuel, and I was told to come here for it.

"New fuel?

Yes, I heard somewhere a long time ago that there is a fuel made from coal that can be used to refine metals.

Well, we're a charcoal shop. ...... Coal is not our specialty.

The method of making it is similar to charcoal, but what do you think? Of course, we'll pay for the experiment.

In that case, ...... I'll ask my master about it.

After a while, a stout man of human race came out.

I thought he was a dwarf.

Is it true that you can make a decent amount of fuel from coal for refining?

Well, the process is not perfect, so I can't say for sure, but I think it's possible.

Well, we have a bit of production capacity, and if you're willing to pay for the research, I see no reason to refuse. Either way, we won't lose anything.

That's true.

That's true. Of course, if we succeed and use the technology, we won't give it away for free, will we?

Yes, I know. Now tell me, how do you do it?

Yes, you can cover the coal with bricks or something to prevent air from getting into the coal and heat it from around it. When you do that, something like gas and oil will come out. Those are impurities. The gas that comes out will burn, but it is poisonous, so be careful.

"Gas: ......? What is a gas?

Gas is like air that burns. It's used as a fuel to heat coal.

I've heard of burning air before. Is that what you're talking about?

Yes, coal needs a higher temperature than wood, so we use it. The liquid that comes out can be used like oil, though it's not edible.

"I see. Okay, let's try it. How much are you willing to invest?

"This will do for now.

I'll give you a large gold coin. I'll lose my money, but I can sell the metal if I need to.

A lot of gold. That's a lot of gold. I think I'll start experimenting today.

Maybe you're not a technician or an adventurer, maybe you're a capitalist or an inventor.

In the case of the inventor, he's just ripping off the achievements of the greats of the past. It's not like it's going to diminish.