Chapter 54 - Chapter 53: The Blacksmith is an Eccentric ②
"It has been a while, Master. I apologize for the sudden visit."
"No, no, if it is His Excellency Knight Arqvist, you are welcome anytime!"
It had been approximately two weeks since the day Bart had been caught up in an argument between a young blacksmith and his master in Retovik.
While surprised that not only his retainer Bart, but his master Noein himself had personally visited the workshop, the master responded with a smile.
The location was not the front reception of the workshop, but a reception room used for business negotiations with nobles and other wealthy clients.
Noein ordered almost all the farming tools and implements required for his territory from this workshop. The transaction amount was a considerable source of income for the master. It was only natural that the master, while feeling somewhat nervous at the sudden appearance of such a VIP, would provide the utmost hospitality.
"By the way, what brings you here today?"
"Actually, I heard from Bart that there is an interesting blacksmith here. I thought I would like to speak with him. I heard he is keen on developing new things..."
"Y-you mean that brat!?"
The master understood that Noein had not come all this way simply to pick up some farming tools. However, it was unexpected that he had come to meet that youth, who was nothing more than a problem child.
"That fellow is just a daydreaming brat; he is hardly someone worthy of meeting Your Excellency, hahaha."
"Is that so? Well, since I have taken the trouble to come to Retovik, if you don't mind, Master, I would very much like to speak with him... As fellow daydreaming brats, we might get along."
When Noein smiled, the master's face twitched.
He realized belatedly that it had been shallow of him to use a disparaging phrase like "daydreaming brat" in front of Noein, who was still young and striving toward the goal of "developing the Bezel Great Forest." If things went poorly, it could be perceived as looking down on Noein as well.
"Would you please let me meet him once?"
"Y-yes! I will call him immediately, so please wait a moment."
When Noein smiled once more, the master stood up from his chair as if jumping and ran toward the workspace.
"...I should warn you, that blacksmith has an incredibly strong personality. Enough to rival you, Noein-sama."
"I look forward to it."
While exchanging such a conversation with Bart during the wait, Noein chuckled.
After receiving a report from Bart that "there was a craftsman in the Retovik workshop trying to make something interesting," Noein immediately decided to visit the craftsman himself.
Hearing about the blueprints Bart had seen, he felt it was worth the trip.
"Your Excellency, thank you for waiting... Now, hurry up and get over here!"
"What is it with you, honestly... Why do I have to meet a customer?"
"Shut up! A noble says he wants to meet you!"
The one who arrived from the workspace, as if being dragged by the master, was a man in his mid-twenties who drifted with an air of lethargy. With his haphazardly long hair and sloppily shaved beard, and seeing how he behaved in front of a noble guest, it was clear he was quite the eccentric.
Noein spoke to the young man, who had been forced into a chair in the reception room by the master.
"Nice to meet you. I am Noein Arqvist, the ruler of the Arqvist Knight territory, located to the west of the Koenitz Viscount territory. Pleased to meet you."
"Huh, hey."
"..."
"..."
"Y-you idiot! Introduce yourself too!"
Seeing the conversation cut off before the greeting was even finished, the master frantically delivered a knuckle-sandwich to the man's head.
"Ow... uh, I'm called Damian. I'm a blacksmith here, yeah."
"Thank you for the greeting, Damian-san."
Even in the face of the young man—Damian's—behavior, which could not be called polite, Noein showed no sign of being offended and continued to smile.
"Master, I am sorry, but would you mind stepping out for a moment? Damian-san might find it difficult to speak in front of his boss."
"W-well, that is fine, but... uh, this guy is an idiot as you can see, so he might do something rude..."
"I promise I will not make an issue of his behavior. Please."
"U-understood."
After seeing the master leave the room while still wearing a slightly anxious expression, Noein turned toward Damian once again.
"Damian-san, I apologize for calling upon you so suddenly. Actually, I am interested in the new weapon you are trying to develop. I heard it is a 'dream-like weapon that allows even those without training to handle a bow'..."
"Y-you'll listen to me!?"
As soon as Noein broached the subject, Damian bit onto the conversation with such momentum that he nearly leaped from his chair onto the table. It was such a dramatic reaction that Matilda, who was standing behind, instinctively stepped forward to protect Noein.
While being slightly taken aback by Damian's eagerness, which exceeded his expectations, Noein restrained Matilda with a "It's okay" and continued speaking.
"Yes, I would very much like to hear the details. Depending on the circumstances, I am considering welcoming you to my territory and providing a budget for development."
"Really!? Ah, it's like a dream! Are you a god!?"
"I mean it in the sense of 'considering it after hearing the story.' First, may I hear the details?"
"Of course! Thank goodness, I've finally met someone who will actually listen to me!"
.....
The stars of the battlefield are knights... namely cavalry, but those who determine the number of casualties in a war are the archers.
According to statistics taken by a certain scholar, it is not the sword or the spear, nor attack magic—of which the absolute number of users is small to begin with—but the bow that kills the most people.
Projectiles are that powerful. Therefore, assembling a force of elite archers is directly linked to possessing a strong army.
However, maintaining a unit of excellent archers is no easy feat.
With a sword or spear, one can at least deal damage by swinging and striking, but a bow requires the muscular strength to pull the string, the physical stamina to maintain that posture, the judgment to accurately aim at the target, and the skill to fly the arrow at sufficient speed as intended. "Handling a bow" is a specialized skill.
For that reason, it takes both money and time to raise archers to a combat-ready level, and maintaining that proficiency is also a struggle.
Because of these circumstances surrounding archers, Noein became interested in this young blacksmith... Damian, after hearing Bart's report.
The "new weapon that allows anyone to become an archer" conceived by Damian was a weapon with a structure where the bow is held horizontally and fixed to a wooden base; the string is pulled and the arrow is set, and when the trigger is pulled, the string is released and the arrow flies...
"I call this the 'Crossbow'."
"I see. Is the origin the name of the archer who appears in the 'Chronicles of Alexander'?"
"That's right! Wow, as expected of Your Excellency, you are well-informed!"
The Chronicles of Alexander is a reasonably well-known adventure tale in the southern part of this continent. It seems he named the weapon after Crossbow, the strongest archer and a companion of the protagonist Alexander.
"Even so, this is a wonderful idea... With this, one could likely create a bow unit in far less time than it would take to raise archers from scratch."
"Yes! Exactly! After all, with a crossbow, you just have to pull the trigger while pointing it at the opponent. Some practice will be necessary, but it's incomparable to bow training. If they feel like it, even children can handle it!"
A bow that can fire an arrow just by pointing it at the opponent and pulling a trigger. If this is put into practical use, it will be extraordinary. It is precisely the kind of weapon that would greatly change the form of warfare.
To put it extremely, if there were one for every person, it would be possible for the population of 150 people in the Arqvist territory to be transformed directly into 150 archers.
Noein thought that he was glad he came to hear the story. There was no way he could let a talent attempting to develop such a thing slip away.
Furthermore, Damian is a blacksmith. Considering he could welcome a blacksmith—of which there had not yet been a single one in the Arqvist territory—he wanted him even more.
While enduring the urge to lick his lips with an inadvertently ominous smile, Noein decided to welcome this Damian into his territory.