CH 16

Chapter 16: The Heart of a Weapon Smith

After that, Yuto and Mari discussed the price of the order.

As they previously discussed, they settled for 50,000 gards.

Yuto: “Wait, so it’s this cheap if I bring in the material…?”

Mari: “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m giving you an extra, EXTRA special discount. Don’t tell anyone about this.”

Yuto: “Oh, right… Thank you very much.”

Just like when he first purchased a sword, Yuto had Mari work really hard to lower the price.

Yuto: (I wonder if there will ever come a day when I can buy the store items at regular price…)

He briefly peeked at a nearby price tag and it read 5,000,000G—.

Yuto: (OOF! NOPE. That’s impossible.)

And with that, Yuto gave up on that idea at once.

He’ll still be indebted to Mari for quite some time going forward.

・・・

In the very back of the store, sitting in his workshop, Duglar stares intensely at the longsword.

Undoubtedly, this was a sword Duglar forged.

He did pour his best efforts into it, but the materials used were of the cheapest quality.

And of course, the price was so so.

Duglar: (Granted, compared to other stores, the price was rather high.)

And though the material was cheap, for 10 years, this sword did not break or bend, and it still fully functioned as it was designed.

Duglar: “......fwew.”

This is the first time Duglar met anyone who would treat a sword this well.

A weapon from any other craftsman would never last this long.

The reason why this sword lasted for 10 years was because Duglar made this sword.

The weapon and armor craftsman also have Skills just the same as adventurers.

The higher the Skill Level, the resulting weapon or armor’s quality will greatly change.

An armor made of iron could last 5, 10 years if you take care of it well enough….

The body of an adventurer is extremely strong.

A regular weapon would easily be destroyed in their hands.

But the weapons Duglar makes can handle the power of an adventurer.

This is what it means to have a Level 7 Smithing Skill. His skill cannot be underestimated.

Even so, there are still those who will still destroy his weapons.

That’s because they only look at the sword as a tool.

They don’t care if it breaks or bends as long as their life is safe.

For them, that’s the whole reason for having a weapon in the first place.

Duglar doesn’t believe they are wrong.

If an adventurer breaks their weapon, they’ll have to buy a new one.

And they’ll be dropping their savings into the weapon and armor shop periodically.

An adventurer who keeps destroying their weapon is a regular shopper at his store.

But to Duglar, a weapon getting destroyed is no laughing matter.

Duglar puts his soul into every weapon and armor he makes.

He wanted the wielders of his weapons to treat them as lifelong partners.

This was something Duglar’s pride as a smith held onto.

But because he knows that it’s his own ego desiring this, he will not impose it on his shoppers.

Regardless, Duglar wanted to see this adventurer who brought in Mythril.

He wanted to know what kind of guy would ask him to make a custom order.

If it was some lame adventurer, Duglar had the full intention of refusing the offer no matter what.

But the order came from Mari’s childhood friend, Yuto.

Duglar knows him very well.

He has watched Yuto at times diligently work on his sword skills through the backyard window of the workshop.

Compared to those days, Duglar could tell that he has grown two or three-fold and has improved quite a bit.

That was something Duglar could just feel.

Duglar: (He’s gotten stronger…)

The man that Mari acknowledged finally started stepping up.

It was rare that he would be so happy about something so trivial.

But part of the reason why Duglar wanted to take the job was because Yuto finally showed some growth.

He also took one look at his sword and felt something - a deep desire.

“I want to make him a good weapon” - that was his genuine feeling.

Duglar does not feel this way often.

But this shows how much Duglar appreciated a man who took such good care of his sword.

Mari: “Owner.”

He was looking at the long sword and was wondering how to shape the Mythril when Mari walked in.

Mari appeared in the workshop.

Mari: “Thank you so much for accepting Yuto’s order.”

Duglar: “Don’t worry about it.”

Mari: “I will make sure that the money will get paid.”

Duglar: “I know you’re going to pay most of it.”

Mari: “Wh---!!”

Her wide eyes screamed, “How did he know?!”

But there’s no way that Duglar wouldn’t know.

He’s paid good money to keep Mari as the Head Manager of his store.

But she stays at a cheap dormitory and eats at the cheap Gold Rock.

Unlike girls of her own age, she doesn’t spend any money on makeup or beauty products.

If she’s living that frugally, the majority of her salary would still be left.

And she could potentially save up enough to pay Duglar for a custom order - he could easily expect that much savings.

No matter how you look at it, Yuto doesn’t have money.

He was at the bottom of all E-Ranks up until recently.

There is no way he made any money during that time.

That kind of adventurer finally stepped up a few days ago, and came to Duglar for a custom order, but there is no way he could have any savings to pay for it.

So it’s obvious who would be footing the bill.

Duglar: (I’m giving her enough to live more than comfortably…, but I guess this is what it means to fall for a guy.)

Mari has turned red and is trying this and that to make up some excuse, but Duglar just watches her with kindness and warmth in his eyes.

・・・

Yuto: “Okay… what should I do…”

Yuto was in his room coming up with ideas.

This is because in order to get a new weapon made, he had to leave his long sword at the Pluto’s Weapons Shop.

He can’t go into a dungeon bare-handed.

Yuto: “I even had a new quest appear…”

Maybe it’s because Yuto reached a certain level, but there were new quests on his Quest screen.

Repeat Quest

E-Rank Monster Slaying (0/1000) NEW

D-Rank Monster Slaying (0/1000) NEW

C-Rank Monster Slaying (0/1000) NEW

Standard Quest

Arrive at the 5th floor of the base dungeon without slaying a single monster NEW

Join a party NEW

Chain Quest

Obtain a new weapon

Because he was able to obtain Mythril, Yuto is now able to complete the New Weapon quest.

But even more, he’s curious about the Repeat Quest.

Yuto: “Couldn’t they have given me this quest earlier....”

If he received this quest prior to the 24 hour dungeon marathon, he’s sure that he would have completed this at least twice by now.

When he clears quests, he receives experience and Quest Points, so not being able to maximize his profits from the previous efforts is a huge loss.

Yuto: “Well, I guess there’s no point whining about it. Maybe I was supposed to originally get the 24 hour dungeon quest after getting these Repeat Quests.”

Yuto quickly switches his mindset.

Right now, the quests that Yuto can clear are the two Standard Quests.

The first one is asking him to purposefully avoid fights with monsters. Although he’s worried to be without his long sword, in case of emergencies, he still has his magic spells. It’s not an impossible request.

The second is asking him to join a party. It’s not clear what the criteria is, but he can easily join a part as a luggage carrier. It may be possible to clear the quest doing so.

Yuto: “Which one should I do…?”

They both have pros and cons, so Yuto remains indecisive.

But without making a decision, Yuto decided to head to the dungeon.

Yuto came to the square in front of the temple.

This is where you will ordinarily see scouts for parties recruit temporary members.

But it was already after lunch, and there were no adventurers recruiting members.

Yuto: “I thought about going with anyone who invited me but… yeah, I guess there would be no one recruiting to go into a dungeon in the afternoon.”

Yuto gave up on the party quest, and decided to do the “Get down to the 5th floor without defeating a single monster” quest.

Before he enters the base dungeon, he confirms his gear.

He brought a wooden sword just in case.

He doesn’t plan to attack any monsters with this, but this will be handy in blocking the monsters’ attacks.

Other than that, he’s going with minimal armor.

His regular dungeon exploring equipment is all in his inventory.

Yuto: “I’ll go as far as I can, and if I get in trouble, I won’t hesitate to use a spell. Okay, LET’S DO THIS!”

He confirmed his routes in the dungeon, and Yuto descends below.

There was no way for Yuto to know that this decision would alter the course of his life.