Chapter 18 - 018 — The Blacksmith, Pelt
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018 — The Blacksmith, Pelt
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The blacksmith introduced by Dread from Bassam in Zabalujeen Territory came to visit Rodney. It had been over three months since he asked Dread to introduce a craftsman who could process red true ore.
「Are you sure I can process true ore?」
「That's why I called you. Please put your skills to full use.」
That craftsman was still young, and by all appearances, he hadn't reached thirty yet. His build was slender, like an actor rather than a blacksmith. Rodney felt a little uneasy wondering if this guy could really process true ore, but since it was Dread's introduction, he figured it was fine and guided him to the smithy.
「Can Oira really use this smithy?」
「Use it to your heart's content. The red true ore is in the warehouse; we have about 200 Rodem stored right now.」
「200!? You have that much?」
「The lord's family warehouse has several times that amount of true ore.」
「That much... I'll work as hard as I can!」
「Yeah, I'm counting on you. First, weapons and armor for the retainers. After that, make armor that anyone can equip.」
「I understand the retainers' portion, but armor anyone can equip? Isn't it usually made to fit each individual?」
True steel weapons and armor are very expensive, so usually they are custom-made to fit the commissioner's body. He looked quite surprised because it was the first time he'd heard of an order for armor that anyone could equip.
「I can't just hand out true steel armor left and right, so it'll be loaned to the territory soldiers. So I want you to make it so the size can be adjusted to some extent.」
「I see... I'll give it a try.」
「I'm counting on you.」
This blacksmith's name was Pelt, but in a decade he would gain fame as one of the world's greatest master smiths. But for now, he was still an unknown blacksmith.
After a week, Pelt brought a prototype to Rodney. However, Rodney was quite surprised when he saw Pelt's appearance. His already slender body had become even thinner. His cheeks were sunken, and there were big bags under his eyes.
This guy hasn't been sleeping, has he?
「This part moves. All you have to do is tie it with this string.」
The explanation was easy to understand, and the method for adjusting the armor's size was simple.
「Pelt. Are you sleeping?」
「Ehehehe. You can tell I'm not sleeping? When I get into my work, I just can't bring myself to take time to rest...」
This guy is a craftsman through and through. If I leave him alone, he'll probably collapse in the smithy.
Rodney felt that while he could trust Pelt as a craftsman, he was incompetent at life. Thinking that if he had such good skills, he wanted him to work as long as possible, Rodney thought he needed to assign someone to him.
Now, who would be good...
「Make fifteen sets of these. If you run out of true ore, just take more from the warehouse.」
「Thank you very much!」
「By the way, Pelt. Are you married?」
「Oira? Marriage is out of the question. There's no bride who'd come to someone like me.」
Rodney considered quickly getting him a wife. Thinking that Riti, a maid, would be better at that sort of thing than himself, Rodney acted immediately.
「Riti, I have a favor to ask.」
「What is it, so formally?」
「You know the blacksmith Pelt, right?」
「Yes, the one who became our exclusive blacksmith about a week ago.」
「I want you to help arrange a wife for him. I don't know his preferences, so could you ask him?」
「My! If it's that kind of story, leave it to me!!」
Rodney explained that Pelt was a workaholic who would forget to eat and sleep if left alone. Riti tapped her chest and said, 「Leave it to me.」
If he marries a girl from this village, he probably won't want to leave the village either — killing two birds with one stone.
A blacksmith who could process true ore had come, so he absolutely didn't want to let him go. He wouldn't force him to stay, but he wanted to make sure Pelt didn't want to leave this Dedel Territory.
Next, Rodney went to inspect the construction site of the sake brewery.
Since water is indispensable for brewing, they were building the brewery near the river. It was almost complete and scheduled to be ready for this year's harvest.
The noise of the construction site was pleasant to Rodney. Because this vitality would lead to the Forvas House's profits, and furthermore to the development of Dedel Territory.
Once the brewery was completed, he planned to rebuild the lord's mansion next. He saved a certain amount of money, but there was no point if he didn't use it. Since it would enrich the territory, there was no reason not to use it.
If Dedel Territory boomed, people would gather. Thanks to the Galim Syrup, the population was already increasing, but it would accelerate even more.
He had also raised the territory soldiers' wages, so if they spent that money in the village, it would also help stimulate the economy. Therefore, he wanted the soldiers to earn money without getting injured.
Moreover, thanks to the pay raise, the soldiers' motivation had increased, and the amount of Life Light Stones collected had gone up. He wanted to give them weapons and armor as soon as possible.
In the Abandoned House Labyrinth, discoveries of true ore continued one after another. Just as Rodney had found an underground ore deposit from the floor of the abandoned house, several underground deposits were discovered on the 4th and 5th floors. No large-scale deposits had been found on the 6th floor yet, but he thought that once weapons and armor were deployed, they would have a bit more leeway and exploration would progress.
Rodney also entered the Abandoned House Labyrinth. It took a while to thoroughly explore the 4th floor, so from now on he planned to enter the 5th floor.
The 5th floor's field was a ruin in a forest. First, he would explore the forest, but what appeared there was a humanoid Serbanoi with a horse's head.
It was a horse-head, a Serbanoi about 1 Rom (2 meters) in length, carrying a sword shaped like a large kitchen knife.
When Rodney blocked the horse-head's kitchen knife, his feet sank into the ground. It was a Serbanoi with that much strength, but Rodney, who possessed 'Steel Arm', did not lose to the horse-head's power.
When he pushed the kitchen knife back, the horse-head staggered backward. As if aiming for that defenseless moment, Emilia and Yulin attacked, and the horse-head disappeared into dust.
「With 'Steel Arm', I don't get pushed back even by a horse-head.」
「My sword became this large just to receive that kitchen knife, but Rodney-sama's White True Steel Sword (Byakushingōken) is truly durable.」
He had Pelt make red true steel weapons and armor for the retainers. First was for the senior retainer Rodmel, and after that, they would be made in order of age, so Yulin's equipment would be the fifth to be made.
It seemed crafting true steel equipment took considerably more time than normal iron equipment, so Yulin's equipment was expected to be completed much later.
As they proceeded with the exploration of the 5th floor, this time a Serbanoi with an ox's head, called an ox-head, appeared. The massive ox-head, about 1.3 Rom in height, attacked by swinging a huge axe. The horse-head was faster, but the ox-head was superior in defense and power.
「Whoa!?」
Rodney, struck by the huge axe, was blown back about 5 Rom, gouging the ground with his feet.
「Now that's some serious power.」
「Big Brother, are you okay?」
「No problem. But if Emilia's rapier took that huge axe, it would definitely shatter.」
「I wouldn't make such a blunder, so it's fine.」
When Emilia unleashed a triple thrust at the ox-head's knee, the ox-head lost its balance and fell.
「I'm here too!」
Yulin drove her greatsword into the ox-head's right arm, slicing it off.
「I can't lose either!」
As the ox-head tried to get up with a roar, he cut off its neck with the White True Steel Sword. That was the finishing blow, and the decapitated ox-head disappeared into dust.
「For a territory soldier to withstand an ox-head's huge axe, they would need 'Steel Arm' as well as 'Fortitude' or 'Iron Wall'.」
「Fortunately, 'Steel Arm' and 'Iron Wall' can be obtained from these ox-heads.」
「From horse-heads, you can get 'Strong Legs' and 'Smell Enhancement'. If we have our soldiers obtain these Root Powers, it will help with strength, speed, defense, and even enemy detection.」
Root Powers are indispensable for strengthening the territory soldiers. To that end, they needed to obtain many Life Light Stones.
Yulin already had Root Powers from Serbanoi up to the 5th floor, so after Rodney ingested them orally, Emilia obtained the Root Powers.
Thanks to the Galim Syrup, they had funds, so after securing the Life Light Stones for the tribute, they decided to collect Life Light Stones for the soldiers to use.
「By the way, aren't you going to use the Root Power you got from the Long-Lived Evil Spirit (Recaf) on the 4th floor?」
When they got home, they ingested the Life Light Stones obtained on the 5th floor. After that, Emilia asked Rodney about something she was curious about.
「I'm having trouble mastering that one. Give me a little more time.」
The Root Power obtained from the Long-Lived Evil Spirit (Recaf) was called 'Mist Disperse'. This 'Mist Disperse' had the effect of scattering power, but it was quite difficult to use.
If used well, it could cancel attacks like 'Fireball' with 'Mist Disperse', and it might even be possible to defend against attacks like swords with 'Mist Disperse'.
For release-type Root Powers like 'Fireball', there is a bit of time from activation to impact, but that's not the case with swords. Therefore, it was a Root Power that was hard to use unless the activation time was shortened.
Currently, Rodney still took some time to activate 'Mist Disperse'. It would be good if it could last longer after activation, but the duration of 'Mist Disperse' was extremely short. It seemed it would take a bit more time to master this.
But from the Life Light Stones of the horse-head and ox-head, they obtained 'Acceleration', 'Scent Perception', 'Monster Arm', and 'Diamond'.
'Monster Arm' and 'Diamond' were superior versions of Root Powers they had been using, so they didn't have much trouble controlling them. 'Acceleration' and 'Scent Perception' were Root Powers of types they were using for the first time, but unlike 'Mist Disperse', they were advanced forms of powers they used in daily life, so they managed somehow.
「I want some too~. I wish I could get Root Powers by ingestion too~.」
She was kicking her feet in frustration. Rodney gently soothed his little sister.
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