CH.284 Smokey Workshop

CH.284 Smokey Workshop

“Brian. I found a good quest for us.” Alice called out to me.

We were in the Pekkers town, ruled by Baron Peks. Unlike with Bloggs, there was nothing crazy going on in here, the guild had already prepared for the arrival of Mariina and the test she was going to keep, and we had two days to just chill out and do whatever.

Because of that, our party was at the adventurer’s guild looking at jobs. There was nothing that special, but apparently Alice found something.

“... this is just a material quest for treant wood...” I commented.

“Yes. And you have like a ton of it.”

“... multiple tons, yes.” I mean, just the world treant is like ... over 1,000 tons. And I do have an assorted pile of elemental treant corpses from the treant forest floors of HomeBase, with each weighing around 3 tons.

“So an easy mission, right? And treants might not even be that common in this area, so why not? I even asked the receptionist, and she said the quest has been sitting for a while.” Alice explained.

“... sure we can turn it in. I don’t mind.”

I’m usually a bit against turning in jobs like this, just because I basically cheat through them, and it could cause issues to the local adventurers. I don’t want to steal their jobs after all. But if this one has been sitting for a while, it should be fine.

“I’ve confirmed the requested materials. Will you deliver it to the client yourself, or would you like the guild to do that? There will be a cost if you ask the guild to do it.”

“We can just take it. Could you give us the instructions?”

“Yes. It is...”

“So a workshop, huh. Is this really the place?”

Wilhelmina’s Workshop read on the sign of the building we entered. It looked ... well, dead.

I think once upon a time this place was a good smithy, considering the general looks and the smokestack. But now, it just looked... almost abandoned, at least was it not for the bloom of smoke coming from the smokestack. The building itself wasn’t quite in disrepair or anything, but it still needed some major TLCtender loving care. Not something I would expect from an operating workshop.

“The name does match, so it should be.” Alice answered. “Let’s just go in and see.”

We entered through what I think is the front door and were greeted by a dead storefront. It had racks for weapons and other stuff, but no merchandise anywhere. The only things left were some broken and worn weapons in what I assume is a scrap barrel.

“Hello!” I called out. I didn’t want to walk into the backrooms, unless I had to. No point in invading too far into someone's space. “Is anyone here?! We are from the adventurer’s guild!”

...

...

...

“... is there no one here? Are we really at the right place?” I questioned.

“It shouldn’t be. Maybe they are closed today?” Alice questioned.

“I think the receptionist would have said so, if that was the case.” Lua commented.

“I can smell a humanoid, so I think someone is here.” Agunan said.

“It could be leftover smell. Besides, how do you smell anything here accurately? This place reeks of smoke, as well as a mix of blood and sweat.” Ria asked.

“Just block out the specific smells with magic. It isn’t that difficult.” Agunan answered.

I didn’t know he could do that, but that does sound incredibly useful. I’ll have to have him teach me that.

“... then, should I call out again?” I asked everyone.

“We could also just go in.” Ria offered.

“Invading private residences is not the most ... legal thing to do.” I pointed out.

“We probably still should.” Alice said. “What if the client is in trouble?”

“They could also be dead.” Agunan stated.

... I know that is actually possible, but you don’t have to say it.

“Let me call out one more time. If we don’t get a response... I guess we can go in and look.”

Spoiler[collapse]

“Not like that. I meant having one of my monsters make a smokeproof barrier and then go in.”

“Then let me go again. It is more safe that way.” Agunan offered.

“... but then I won’t get to see... maybe I have a card for that though...”

I quickly checked my collection for any cards that might help me see better, and I did come up with few. The card I was going to try is The Eye of Truth. I’m not exactly sure what it will do, but let’s try it anyway.

Spoiler

[collapse]

After I activated the card, I felt something on my forehead. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, so I pulled out a small mirror from Storage and looked at myself. I now had a ‘third eye’ drawn on my forehead. It looked like the Eye of Anubis that appeared on Yugi’s forehead whenever Atem took over his body.

Spoiler

[collapse]

With it on my forehead, my vision did most definitely improve. By focusing, I could see ‘through’ things. Not walls or clothes or stuff like that, but things that might usually obstruct your view without completely blocking it were something I could see through. That also included smoke.

... but this doesn’t really solve my issue.

“Agunan. I’ll use one on you as well. Go in there and search the coal pit of the forge. There might be something there. Then bring it to me so I can take it into Storage for analysis.”

I quickly activated another copy of The Eye of Truth, trying to use it on Agunan instead of myself, and it worked as a ‘third eye’ was soon drawn on his forehead as well. I then sent him back into the smoke, and as we opened the door, I saw perfectly in the completely smoky room. But we didn’t keep the door open for any longer than it was necessary for Agunan to enter, so quite quickly, my vision of the room was cut off.

“Master. I believe I recovered the source of the smoke.” Agunan called to be from beyond the door. I could just hardly hear him, so maybe the insulation that keeps the smoke out of this room is actually designed to keep the sound of hammering from this room.

“Good. Put it next to the door, on the side it opens from, and then open the door. I’ll take it into Storage.”

We did as I said, and soon enough the object was in my Storage. Then I had Agunan exit the forge room, and we closed the door again. After that, I deactivated both of our third eyes, as they were just a bit off-putting.

(Laura, have the object analyzed.)

(Already done. It is a dual stage smoke bomb. At first, it lets out an odorless and colorless sleeping gas, but after a while, it starts to let out a large quantity of carbon monoxide. It has to be activated by heat over 300°C. And after use, it will burn up completely, leaving next to nothing behind. Luckily we got it before it deteriorated to that point.)

(... how on earth would something like that end up in the forge? For some reason, I doubt that was a mistake.)

(Could be any number of ways. It could have been set there, and when the forge was lit, the temperature would rise to the point where the device would activate. Or someone could have thrown it into the smokestack, and it fell into the forge.)

(... so, an assassination attempt? But why do it like this?)

(It would be nearly untraceable. They would just think she died from carbon monoxide coming from the forge.)

(I meant why do it to her? To this place? This place isn’t worth anything from the looks of it.)

(I would not know. Perhaps ask the smith when she wakes up.)

“... Brian... She passed.” Lua announced.

“... I see. That is too bad.” So they couldn’t help her, huh. We must have been too late.

“... do you think... we should ... resurrect her?” Lua asked.

“I don’t know. I think so. Theoretically, this could have been a suicide, but still.”

“Why do you think so?” Lua asked.

I quickly explained the object Agunan found in the forge to Lua.

“... Well, I suppose it could be...” Lua accepted my theory.

“It would explain why something like that was in there.” Alice also agreed.

“I doubt it.” Agunan stated.

“... why is that?”

“She didn’t look like it.” The dragon continued. “She had a hammer next to her and a piece of metal on the anvil, so she must have been working on something. Had she planned this, she’d likely have set up a chair or something, while looking at the fire.”

Yeah. There is no way you’d do that if you were actually planning on ... well, offing yourself. And even if this was an attempt for her to ... kill herself, I can use any number of cards to make that into reality as an apology for ruining this attempt. Or even do something like having Shining Dragon completely annihilate her from existence with Shining Nova.

NO! Bad brain! Stop thinking of ways of giving people an honorable death. This is the time to live, not the time to die.

“Alright. Then let’s resurrect her.” I decided.