CH 21

Chapter21 - Production Request

Eventually, Lou’s measurements were taken.

“What’s up, Elda?”

The young female tailor, called Elda by the branch manager, Marco Fonti, let out a miserable sigh and looked down.

“Hey-hey, are you feeling sick?”

“…No, I’m fine.”

Elda shook her head with a tearful look in response to Marco’s worried question.

“Excuse me.”

Elda said in a hushed voice and retreated to a corner of the room.

“What’s going on?”

Marco tilted his head in wonder…

He switched the subject as if he had second thoughts.

“We’ll start with the leather armor. I’ll bring you some samples of the material, and then we’ll decide on the design based on the samples as well. By the way, the same method is used to select your vestments and daily wear.”

“Got it.”

Lou understood what Marco was saying.

As Fran listened to the conversation between the two, she was as excited as if it were her own, wondering what kind of material would be used.

The first material was served.

It was a surprise!

It was a silvery white leather that emitted a tremendous magical wave aura.

“W-Wow…”

Fran gasped.

“Yes! This is the skin of an ancient dragon that was once defeated by a hero.”

“An ancient dragon?

“Yes! It’s our store’s proud gem, and it’s priced at…”

Fran was floored when Marco suddenly presented her with an exorbitant material.

She couldn’t help but gulp.

“It’s worth 3 divine gold coins and 30,000 gold coins.”

*30,000 gold coins = 300 million yen.

“Eh, yeaaaah?!”

Fran unconsciously yelped out loud.

Regardless of her status as the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat…

She was shell-shocked when she saw the material and heard the cost, which was colossal.　

A-Ancient dragon…

That’s…30,000 gold coins?

What the hell?!

I’ve never seen anything this awesome before.

No matter how much I want to buy it for Lou, I just can’t afford this price…

Just then.

As if to shatter Fran’s thoughts, Lou’s voice sounded almost drained of strength.

“Sorry…but can you use this to make leather armor for Francesca-sama and me?”

What Lou took out of the storage bracelet…

It was a jet black leather material with a similar texture.

The shining silvery-white skin that Marco presented earlier, which he said was from an ancient dragon…

As he said, it was a rare find.

However, the one Lou took out…

It had an overwhelming aura that went far beyond the skin of the ancient dragon.

“W-What is this! What the heck is going on here?!”

Marco’s relaxed expression just now changed drastically.

As a first-class merchant, he could judge the quality of a product at a glance.

“Well, it’s a treasured possession my grandfather passed down to me.”

A treasured possession of Sowell of Arlv!

What exactly does that mean?

Fran was very curious, but now wasn’t the time for that.

Did Lou say that he wants Marco to make my leather armor too?

I didn’t hear wrong, did I?

Fran wanted to jump right up.

No. Fran realized that this was exactly what it meant to be in seventh heaven.

“E-Either way! I-I’m calling the Dvergar* craftsman right now, so please wait a little while!”

*Dvergar = Dwarf

Marco ordered Elda to bring the craftsman posthaste.

Then Erda, who had been waiting, flew off…

Soon a small, muscular, bearded man, typical of the Dvergar, arrived, accompanied by Elda.

“What-what’s going on? I came because Elda told me to come quickly.”

When Lou and Fran introduced themselves, Dvergar smiled at them, surprisingly friendly for someone of a stocky appearance.

“Brother, I’m Olvo Gilden. I’ve known Marco for quite some time. I was originally in Bardland, but I ended up in the royal city.”

Fran was not very familiar with weapons and armor.

However, she had heard of Olvo Gilden, one of the best arms and armor craftsmen on the continent.

Rumor had it that he was very eccentric and would only do work that he liked…

“Gahaha! For some reason, I ended up in this dreary, hard-to-live-with royal city, eh?”

Olvo sought Marco’s approval, but he smiled vaguely, perhaps because of Marco’s position as branch manager.

“So, you want me to take a look at that insanely awesome skin?”

Sure enough, Olvo was a top-notch craftsman from the Dvergars.

The moment he entered the special conference room, he noticed the oddity of the material that Lou had presented.

“Hmm…T-This!”

Marco watched with interest as Olvo roared…

“Whoaaa, what on earth is this?!”

After the loud yell…

“Phew,” sighed Olvo, and began to speak as if in a fever.

“I can’t say for sure…, this is probably the skin of the True Dragon King that lived during the Gods Era. I’m beyond thrilled to have come across such a treasure before my death!”

The True Dragon King?

I’m pretty sure the True Dragon King is…

Fran once read a myth when she was a young child…

It was said that the God who created the world, the God of Creation/Creator, incarnated into the form of a ferocious dragon to conquer an enemy that emerged…

When the Creator was in dragon form, it was said that his child born to a certain goddess was the Sacred Dragon King, the founder of dragons. That direct son was said to be the True Dragon King.

Thus…

The prosperity of the Dragon Tribe began as the family of the God of Creation with his son as its founder.

However, in later years, the arrogance of the True Dragon King, who was overconfident in his power and behaved domineeringly, angered the Creator.

The dragon race, which had been immortal until then, was given finite life again…

A dragon was an evil monster that was hostile to the world…

It was said that he issued a divine revelation to the people of the world…to embrace that image.

The Creator stripped the Dragon Tribe off their eternal life and imbued them with an evil image.

The Dragon Tribe resented the treatment of the Creator and went on a rampage in various parts of the world with the support of their mighty power.

Since then, dragons have been…

The dragons had since been recognized as the enemy of all races, including the human race, the Arlvs and the Dvergars.

“Descendants of the Creator’s son…”

Olvo narrated…

Everyone, except Lou, was stunned.

“No way, that’s unthinkable.  I heard that the True Dragon King was no longer immortal, but he was as strong as a god.”

Orvo sighed again, “Phew.”

His curiosity about the material, peculiar to Dvergars, seemed to excite him.

“From the Dvergars’ point of view, that’s definitely a bogus tale, but…legend has it that the True Dragon King has been fought and defeated by a man named Sowell, the greatest of all time in the legend of Arlvs.”

Fran immediately jolted with a “Ping!”

The most powerful Sowell in history…

Aah!

That’s the guy who raised Lou.

Olvo sniffed and spat.

“He’s a mind-blowing genius in terms of mind, skill, and strength, in the eyes of those damn, annoying Arlvs.”

Damn, annoying?

Lou smiled wryly as he watched Olvo swore.

No wonder…

Arlvs and Dvergars had never gotten along with each other.

Lou received Marco’s approval and spoke to Olvo.

“Say, Gilden-san…”

“You can call me Olvo.”

“Then, Olvo, I’m actually related to the Arlvs, and I’m one of their people…Will you take the job?”

His question prompted Olvo to look at him again.

He checked him out from head to toe.

A man with a mysterious aura.

Lou’s jet-black eyes…

Even though the guy is human, when I look at him, my consciousness seems to be sucked deeper and deeper…

Olvo shook his head lightly.

“Normally, I absolutely would never accept a commission from a damn Arlv, but with this treasure involved…”

Orvo chuckled and jerked his thumb.

With his darkish face and those awfully white teeth that peeked out of his mouth when he smiled…

“I…will gladly take it!”

“Oh, thank you. If so, may we have another talk…”

Lou calmly asked Olvo, who readily agreed, and smiled.

“I hadn’t really considered the money I’d have to pay…Do you think what I have will be enough?”

Lou’s carefree manner of speech…

Olvo laughed when he heard.

“Money? Hahaha! Yeah, yeah!　Let’s do something about the money, Marco!”

Olvo shouted in amusement.

For some reason, Fran was relieved.

The look on Lou’s face when he saved her from the delinquents showed that he would never show mercy to anyone.　

The same thing happened when he saved her the first time.

That time, too, Lou was…

He showed no mercy to the deformed beings that attacked her.

But the Lou now was calm and aloof, but with an indescribable warmth.

He’s scary when he’s angry, but he’s always there to protect me.

Carefree, gentle and warm Lou.

I…Which Lou do I like the best?

While watching Lou scratch his head worriedly…

Fran giggled.