* * *
I headed to the forge with Nogong.
Nogong’s hobby was weapon development.
Drawing up the blueprints himself and commissioning their creation, then testing the finished products was his only joy in life.
‘Well, a lot of them have been commercialized, so I suppose it’s not just a hobby.’
One of Jebert’s main businesses was weapons. The weapons produced from the high-quality ore mined in the mountains surrounding the territory were famous across the entire continent.
‘The shield that blocked dark beasts was especially good, if I recall.’
Moreover, there had been a war sweeping the continent in recent years, so business must have been booming, whether they liked it or not.
“Wow, it’s huge.”
“It’s the largest in the empire.”
As if to speak for that reputation, the forge boasted an enormous scale.
To exaggerate a bit, it looked almost like a small village.
“Welcome.”
We entered the largest building among the countless structures. The owner greeted us half-heartedly.
The scorching heat of the furnace washed over us in a wave. Clang, clang. The sound of hammering steel rang out irregularly.
“Hand it over! My weapon!”
Like a gangster… No, Nogong shouted at the top of his lungs.
The owner, who had been smoking a pipe bare-chested, glanced up.
The man had brown hair tied up haphazardly and soot smeared all over him, but he looked surprisingly young.
“…Did you have a late child, perhaps?”
Thud. A large hammer fell to the ground.
“Still as dull-witted as ever.”
“Hoo.”
The owner bent at the waist to look down at me. A gaze full of curiosity.
“Put out the fire.”
When Nogong spoke disapprovingly, the owner pursed his lips.
“You come to a forge and ask me to put out the fire…”
“Cough, cough.”
In that instant, a gust of wind blew, and the pipe smoke wafted over.
Clicking his tongue, Nogong abruptly picked me up and set me down on the opposite side.
“Can’t you put it out right now?!”
“Ah.”
Only then did the owner seem to realize he had a pipe in his mouth.
“Well, what can I say. My apologies.”
Hoo, hoo. He waved his hand to dispel the smoke.
“So what is it? This kid. Surely not…”
Clang. Nogong lightly kicked the hammer.
“Do you really live without hearing any outside news? Come to think of it… It must be about time I tore this place down and rebuilt it?”
“…Not this anvil. Not my furnace. Nothing!”
“Then stop your nonsense and hand over the sword!”
At the furious shout, the owner shook his head back and forth.
“The old geezer’s temper, seriously…”
“I can hear you.”
“Your hearing is still in perfect shape! Should I be relieved?”
“Tch, look at him.”
Hmm, I can’t tell if they get along well or poorly.
Anyway, seeing how casually he treats Nogong, this owner doesn’t seem to be a simple man either.
The owner rummaged around somewhere with a great clatter before abruptly pulling out a sword.
Then with a crash, he swept a table clean and placed the sword upon it.
“Hrmmm!”
Nogong’s eyes gleamed as he looked down at the sword.
“I was planning to hammer it a few more times, but refining the mana stone on this side is trickier than expected, so as of yet…”
“No, wouldn’t it be better to use Epiron for the handle?”
“Hmm, well. Epiron doesn’t reflect well at certain angles under sunlight.”
The two adults began seriously geeking out over weapons. I, who had been carefully gauging the mood, cautiously stepped back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I thought he wouldn’t notice.
“I was just going to look around for a moment…”
“No! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is here?”
“Then I’ll wait outside!”
Nogong looked back and forth between the weapon and me. He seemed to be deliberating.
“I’ll stay put!”
I put on the expression of a model child. The owner, who had been watching quietly, rubbed the bridge of his nose and cut in.
“If you’re bored, would you like to try some hammering?”
“Huh? Hammering? Me?”
“Or perhaps watch the quenching… Ah, picking out and keeping some pretty metal scraps over there would be nice too.”
“What are you making a child do!”
“…? That’s what I enjoyed most at that age.”
The owner genuinely didn’t seem to understand.
“And that’s exactly why you grew up to be a weapon-crazy maniac!”
“Ha, why the sudden praise?”
“It’s not a compliment!”
Hmm, he really isn’t a simple man.
“Hehe… I’ll wait, I’ll wait outside.”
I quietly slipped out of the forge.
When I stepped outside, a familiar face was waiting.
No wonder Nogong had let me go so easily; it seemed he knew a knight was following me.
“Lord Leon, Uncle… no, Senior!”
“…It’s been a while.”
Lord Leon of blue hair looked down at me. In that instant, a strange emotion flickered across his strict eyes.
“It’s been a while! But why are you looking at me like that?”
“Why have you never once come to the knight order…”
“Hmm?”
“Ahem. Nothing.”
I tilted my head and began walking.
Lord Leon followed behind.
“Where are you going?”
“I want to go play over there!”
Where I pointed was a small shop near the forge.
Just as I had seen on the map.
There was a mana stone shop!
“An ore shop?”
“No good?”
“Well, since it’s right next door, I suppose not but…”
“It will take Lord Nogong quite a long time. Right? Senior.”
“Ahem, I suppose I have no choice.”
Lord Leon gently took the hand I held out.
After sending word to another knight waiting nearby, we headed to the ore shop.
“Wow, so sparkly. Pretty.”
Perhaps the owner had stepped out for a moment; there was no one inside the shop. My eyes sparkled as I looked around the interior.
Where my steps came to a halt was, of course, where the mana stones were displayed.
Various shapes, various colors.
A smile naturally formed on my lips.
‘As expected, since they hunt magic beasts like it’s nothing, I knew there’d be plenty of mana stones.’
When demon beasts were slain, mana stones could be obtained. Or they could be mined from magic mines.
Of course, their quality varied greatly, and the ones containing the most powerful force were the mana stones obtained from slaying magic beasts.
Just like game items, really.
Anyway, mana stones—in other words, magic stones (though from my perspective, the two were distinctly different)—could be processed into magic tools.
‘In simple terms, these stones are the main ingredients for magic tools.’
Of course, ordinary people couldn’t just whip up magic tools.
‘Back in the Kingdom, I used to make magic tools with these mana stones…’
Our kingdom had imported these mana stones.
Although some mana stones were produced in our kingdom as well, Zelrocks mana stones were of the best quality.
Perhaps because it was a land crawling with notoriously vicious magic beasts.
‘And the magic tools made that way were sold back to the continent.’
“Oh.”
My eyes scanning the shelves widened considerably.
‘Found it. The barrier stone.’
A transparent stone tinged with violet filled my vision.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“Senior, Senior.”
I tugged on Lord Leon’s sleeve.
“There are so many violet stones here. What are they used for?”
I deliberately asked, as if probing.
“It’s a rather useless mana stone. Its color is unusual, so it’s sometimes used for sword decoration, but it’s heavy, so its utility is lacking.”
“Is that so?”
I picked up the transparent stone and held it to the light; it was clean, without impurities. At this level, it was quite a fine product, and yet…
“Since it has no use, there won’t be much demand for it either.”
That was wrong.
It wasn’t that there was no demand; rather, since no one knew how to utilize this mana stone, the demand was simply unknown.
‘Because even in the kingdom, I was the only one who knew the method to make magic tools using these barrier stones.’
I gripped the purple stone tightly.
‘This is it.’
The way to protect myself, and him.
‘I have to create a barrier that covers Zelrocks with these mana stones. Like the Magic Kingdom, an absolute shield that will never break.’
The Magic Kingdom was a thousand-year fortress.
No one could invade it, and it was unshaken by any attack.
Those who didn’t know assumed the mages there simply wielded impressive defensive magic, but in truth, it was thanks to the barrier magic tools planted throughout the entire kingdom.
Magic tools embedded with ancient magic circles that no longer existed in this world…
‘I can do it.’
I was born with all the magic circles of the world in my head. Whether ancient magic or modern magic, that was no great problem.
The problem was, unexpectedly, something realistic, however…
‘To do that, I’d have to buy up these mana stones in bulk…’
Naturally, covering all of Zelrocks would require a massive quantity of mana stones.
As I let out a shallow sigh, I felt Lord Leon’s gaze from beside me.
I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t even noticed the large shadow cast behind me.
‘I also need a secret laboratory to make magic tools in…’
Could I do it?
I let out another sigh.
“Booger, what in the world are you doing here?”
But it won’t be easy… Setting aside the laboratory, I don’t even have the money to buy those mana stones right now…
“……”
“……”
Grind.
“Huh?”
At the chilling sound of grinding teeth, I raised my head.