24 - The Youngest is Hiding a Lot
Chapter 24
I headed to the smithy with Old Duke.
Old Duke's hobby was weapon development.
His only joy was drawing blueprints himself, commissioning the development, and enjoying testing the finished products.
'Well, many of them have been commercialized, so it's not just a hobby.'
One of Jebert's main businesses was the weapon industry. Weapons produced from high-quality minerals from the mines surrounding the territory were famous throughout the continent.
'The shields against Dark Creatures were especially good.'
Moreover, in recent years, there had been a war sweeping the continent, so the business was unintentionally booming.
"Wow, it's huge."
"It's probably the biggest in the Empire."
As befitting its reputation, the smithy was of enormous scale.
To exaggerate a bit, it looked like a small village.
"Welcome."
We entered the largest of the many buildings. The owner greeted us half-heartedly.
The heat from the blazing furnace rushed in. Clang, clang. The sound of striking metal rang out irregularly.
"Give it to me! My weapon!"
A thug... no, Old Duke shouted out.
The owner, shirtless and with a pipe in his mouth, glanced up.
The man, with his green hair tied up haphazardly and soot smeared everywhere, looked surprisingly young.
"...Did you have a late child or something?"
Thud. A large hammer fell to the floor.
"You're still lacking."
"Hoo."
The owner bent down and looked at me. A curious gaze.
"Put out the fire."
Old Duke said displeased, and the owner pouted.
"Coming to a smithy and telling me to put out the fire..."
"Cough, cough."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the pipe smoke wafted over.
Old Duke clicked his tongue and abruptly picked me up and put me down on the other side.
"Can't you put it out right now?!"
"Ah."
The owner seemed to realize that he had been holding a pipe in his mouth.
"That's... sorry."
He waved his hand to chase away the smoke.
"So, what is it? This kid. Don't tell me you're..."
Clang. Old Duke lightly kicked the hammer.
"Don't you really listen to outside news? Come to think of it... it's about time to tear this place down, isn't it?"
"...You can't have this anvil. You can't have my furnace either. You can't have anything!"
"Then stop talking nonsense and give me the sword!"
At the outburst, the owner shook his head.
"Old man, you really have a temper..."
"I can hear you."
"Your hearing is still good! Should I be happy?"
"Why, you!"
Hmm, I don't know if they have a good or bad relationship.
Anyway, seeing him treat Old Duke so casually, the owner doesn't seem like an easy person either.
The owner rummaged around somewhere with a clatter, then abruptly pulled out a sword.
Again, crash, crash. He swept a table clean and placed the sword on it.
"Ummm!"
Old Duke's eyes gleamed as he looked down at the sword.
"I'm going to hammer it a few more times, but refining this Magic Stone is more troublesome than I thought, so it's not done yet..."
"Wouldn't it be better to use Epiron for the handle?"
"Hmm, I don't know. The angle of Epiron isn't very good when it's exposed to sunlight."
The two adults began their serious weapon otaku talk. I carefully watched their reactions and cautiously stepped back.
"Where are you going?"
I thought he wouldn't notice.
"I'm just going to look around for a bit..."
"No! Do you know how dangerous this place is?"
"Then I'll go outside and wait!"
Old Duke looked back and forth between the weapon and me. He seemed to be contemplating.
"I'll be good!"
I put on the face of a model child. The owner, who had been watching quietly, wiped his nose and interjected.
"Would you like to do some hammering if you're bored?"
"Yes? Hammering? Me?"
"Or watch the quenching... Ah, you can pick out pretty pieces of iron over there and keep them."
"What are you making a kid do!"
"...? That was the most fun thing for me at that age."
The owner seemed genuinely unable to understand.
"That's why you grew up to be crazy about weapons!"
"Ha, why are you suddenly praising me?"
"That's not a compliment!"
Hmm, he's not an easy person after all.
"Hehe... I'll go, I'll be outside."
I quietly slipped out of the smithy.
When I came outside, a familiar face was waiting.
No wonder Old Duke let me go so easily, it was because he knew that a guard knight was following me.
"Lord Leon Uncle, no, Senior!"
"...It's been a while."
Lord Leon with the blue hair looked down at me. At that moment, a strange look flashed across his stern eyes.
"It's been a while! But why are you looking at me like that?"
"Why haven't you ever come to the Knights..."
"Huh?"
"Ahem. Never mind."
I tilted my head and moved my feet.
Lord Leon followed.
"Where are you going?"
"I want to go play over there!"
The place I pointed to was a small shop near the smithy.
As expected, it's just like I saw on the map.
There was a Magic Stone shop!
"Ore shop?"
"Can't I?"
"Well, it's right next door, so there's no reason why you can't..."
"Old Duke will take a while. Right? Senior."
"Ahem, I can't help it."
Lord Leon gently took the hand I offered.
After telling another knight who was waiting nearby, we went to the ore shop.
"Wow, sparkling. Pretty."
The owner must have been away for a while, as there was no one inside the shop. I looked around inside with shining eyes.
The place where my steps stopped was, of course, where the Magic Stones were displayed.
Each shape was different, and each color was different.
A smile naturally formed on my lips.
'As expected, since they hunt Magical beasts like eating rice, they must have a lot of Magic Stones.'
If you defeat a Magical beast, you can get a Magic Stone. Or you can get it by mining a Magic Ore Mine.
Of course, the quality varies greatly, and the one with the most powerful power was the Magic Stone that came out after defeating a Magical beast.
It's like a game item.
Anyway, if you process a Magic Stone, in other words, a magic stone (from my point of view, the two are clearly different), it becomes a Magic Tool.
'In simple terms, these stones are the main ingredients for Magic Tools.'
Of course, ordinary people couldn't just create Magic Tools.
'When I was in the kingdom, I made Magic Tools with these Magic Stones...'
Our kingdom imported these Magic Stones.
Some Magic Stones came out in our kingdom as well, but the Magic Stones from Zellox were of the best quality.
I guess it's because it's a land full of vicious Magical beasts.
'The Magic Tools made that way were sold back to the continent.'
"Oh."
My eyes widened as I looked at the display case.
'I found it, Barrier Stone.'
A transparent stone with a light purple color filled my vision.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
"Senior, Senior."
I tugged at Lord Leon's sleeve.
"There are a lot of light purple stones here. What are they used for?"
I deliberately asked as if testing him.
"It's a useless Magic Stone. The color is unique, so it's sometimes used for sword decorations, but it's heavy, so its utility is low."
"Is that so?"
When I held up the transparent stone and shone it in the air, it was clean without impurities. This is a very good product...
"Since it's useless, there won't be much demand."
That's wrong.
Rather than there being no demand, no one knows how to use this Magic Stone, so they can't know the demand either.
'I'm the only one in the kingdom who knows how to make Magic Tools using this Barrier Stone.'
I clenched the purple stone tightly.
'This is it.'
A way to protect me and protect Uncle.
'I have to create a Barrier that will cover Zellox with this Magic Stone. Like the Archmage Kingdom, an unbreakable shield.'
The Archmage Kingdom was a thousand-year fortress.
No one could invade it, and it was impervious to any attack.
Those who didn't know just thought that the wizards were using great protection magic, but in fact, it was thanks to the power of the Barrier Magic Tools planted throughout the kingdom.
Magic Tools with ancient Magic Circles that no longer exist in this world...
'I can do it.'
I was born with all the Magic Circles in the world in my head. Whether it's ancient magic or modern magic, it's not a big problem.
The problem was surprisingly realistic...
'To do that, I have to buy a large amount of this Magic Stone...'
To cover the entire Zellox, I would naturally need a large amount of Magic Stone.
As I let out a shallow sigh, Lord Leon's gaze fell from the side.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that a large shadow had fallen behind me.
'I also need a laboratory to secretly make Magic Tools...'
Can I do it?
I sighed again.
"Snot nose, what are you doing here?"
But it's not easy... Leaving the laboratory aside, right now I have enough to buy that Magic Stone...
"I don't have any money..."
"..."
"..."
Gritting.
"Huh?"
I raised my head at the sound of teeth grinding fiercely.
