CH 108

So, Spirit-san.

When I rename them and increase the chances of us being together, the bigger they get, so what should I do about that? Well, I guess I can think about it later. I need to capture one first, or else nothing will come out of it.

Oh yeah, so where can I find draco, I mean dragons? If they exist then..should they be in the east?

「Jean, you’re thinking of something strange aren’t yah? ] 「You’re imagining things. 」

Retze was taking me around blacksmiths.

Was it Laura? Roze? Oh, Roza. Everyone mostly mentions Amadeo, so the others’ names were quite fuzzy.

The troublesome underlings of the Gold ranks finally left the city, so I was looking for a place that could process the magic ore that I got from Ash. To be precise, I requested Chris, Dean and Retze to take me to the smithies they frequented respectively.

The other two giddily went to the guild early in the morning, while Dinosso and his family avoided the early morning crowd, and had a leisurely breakfast first before heading out. I knew, because I delivered the eggs I forgot to give them yesterday.

「Actually, there are more craftsmen in the fortress city… 」

「That place is teeming with Roza’s underlings for sure. 」

In fact, Dean and Chris would also expressly go to the fortress city for the overall maintenance of their main weapons.

The fortress city (and) town are actually situated in the neighboring country, so essentially, people can’t easily enter or leave that place. So, it is considered to be far even though it is near, although that doesn’t matter to the adventurers. They may be treated harshly in the royal capital, and the farther they are from lands that are infested with monsters. However, they are relatively free the nearer they are to such places.

The blacksmiths over here mainly accept maintenance care that normal, day-to-day DIY can’t do, as well as dismantling knives and other sub weapons.

The craftsmen in the fortress city apparently don’t meet people without an introduction, so the two guys told me that they’ll show me around if I go there. Then they came up with talks of brothels again.

「You’re totally treating her like she’s a villainess, aren’t you? She’s famous for being a compassionate healer, you know. 」

「I can only see her as a pain in the neck. She could’ve just gathered the people of the country instead of gathering haunted guys. Just what kind of country does she want to revive, huh? 」

Retze and I engaged in small talk while walking.

「Most people would come rushing for a chance to be part of a strong group, right.」

Just as Retze said, folks, be it peasants or city guys, would prefer to be affiliated to strong people. He had an expression as if he had been rooting for her from the start.

「So, what now? Do you have a craftsman you like? 」

「Are magic ores processed the same way as iron? 」

「Hmm. Sorry for bothering you to show me around, but I guess I’ll just do it myself. 」

I did check them out, but they didn’t impress me.

The blacksmiths of the northern region that I saw before had been so superb that I couldn’t help but compare them.

「I know you’re skilled, but do you have the facilities? 」

「Yup, yup. 」

「…Not gonna ask where they are. 」

We bought stewed offal sandwiches at one of the stands, then moved to the side as we munched on them. There’s a meat disassembly place just outside the bulwark, and this meat was also processed there, but the butcher shop is separate from the entrails shop. Seems like they subdivided handling to a tee, and they drew the line between those divisions quite intensely.

Canum’s dishes are relatively more delicious than other places, probably because of the abundance of meat, and the cuisine isn’t overly salty. Not sure if it is because the main ingredient is salt-cured meat, but there are a lot of cities with salty dishes.

「Cough, this is a bit stinky, isn’t it? 」

「Yeah, it does stink, now that you mentioned it. 」

The carpenters and stonemasons from cold places also invited me to eat hotpot with them, but the meat didn’t stink that much back then,

「I want some seven spice blend, at the very least. 」

「Seven spice blend ? 」

「It’s a spicy seasoning made with seven different spices mixed together, with red pepper as base. 」

「Heh? 」

Well, that thing doesn’t exist here, I guess.

「It’s kinda scary how the things I can eat outside gets lesser and lesser the more I get used to your cooking, Jean. 」

「You can just memorize how to cook it, right? 」

Butler did memorize a lot, he even sent me some asparagus pizza he made the other day.

「It’s not to the point that you can call them decent dishes, but I grill some meat at home now, when I usually ate everything outside until now. 」

And so, I ended up smithing.

The materials are already gathered. The bellows are ready, the anvil, too, and I also have long handle pincers for grasping the hot metal. Hammers for hitting and bending, check. I have different kinds — a round-headed one and a flat-headed one, a large, heavy, two-handed hammer for fusing two metals together. Hammers and more hammers, that’s a lot of them.

Water, check. Charcoal, check. Borax, check. Straw ashes and other stuff, check. Apron made from Monitor Lizard-kun’s hide, check,. Fire spirit’s help, check!

First, I beat the steel into a shape that looks like a square plate with a stick. Iron is fine for the pole part. I add another layer of steel on top —

The tiny spirits darted around the furnace, while the orange butterfly spirits danced in the wind that the bellows made.

To level the carbon content, I had to stretch the steel and fold it and stretch it again, and fold it again — rinse and repeat — to make it more tenacious and stronger, and to beat out the impurities, too. I watched the orange-tempered steel and adjusted my strength.

The fire salamander flicked its long tongue and licked the orange heated mass.

I think it’s a job for two people, but the spirits are there to help me.

Successfully finish… tomorrow. I forgot the whetstone for sharpening the blade!!