KHAMSIN AND ESPARDA WERE IN THE PROCESS OF picking out people who could start up new businesses in the adventurers’ town, but it was taking some time and they hadn’t come back yet. I also put in a request to the Bell & Rango Company for a new store, so Rango gathered some of his apprentice merchants and whisked them over to me.

“This store will primarily deal in groceries and daily necessities. We’ll share a chunk of the main branch’s stock, but for the most part, this store will have to manage its own inventory. The Mary Chamber of Commerce will conduct negotiations with both branches,” Rango explained to his apprentices. “The plan is to have a shop set up across from here that will buy and sell materials. This branch will probably be busy all the time, but don’t worry, we’ll be sending help from the main store.

“Additionally, since we have more orders for cheap weapons and equipment, we’ll prepare a shop here that can sell more of those. It will coordinate with the main branch, and half of the workers there will be from our store in Seatoh

Village. Any questions so far?”

The apprentices, men and women of all ages, raised their hands. One asked, “About the store that will handle materials. How many employees will work there?”

“Five people for purchases, three for sales, one store manager, and one associate manager.”

“Most of the adventurers in the area are in this town. Wouldn’t it be wise to decrease the number of people at the main branch and focus on the stores here?”

“If the stores here find themselves understaffed, we can provide assistance, but there’s no plan to change the number of employees. If someone’s in a hurry to make a purchase and the stores here are too busy to handle them, we can direct them to the main branch. Precious materials like dragon parts will also only be handled over there. The Adventurers’ Guild is going to increase their staff so they can handle dismantling monster corpses, which will reduce the burden here as well.”

Rango answered each question precisely and eloquently, every bit the capable working man.

“I have a question,” I interjected. Rango turned, looking surprised. So did his apprentice merchants. “Whenever I’m sent out to battle, production of weapons and equipment grinds to a halt. Have you prepared things to sell in those eventualities?”

Rango’s face twitched slightly. “We’ll be sending supplies and food by carriage to the front lines, so if you could send the carriages back with weapons you’ve made…”

“What are you, the devil? You want me to make weapons while I’m out working? I’ll die from exhaustion.”

“In that case…what if you replenished the stock whenever you return to the village?”

I sighed, my shoulders sagging. “Is the only answer more work? Can’t any of the new arrivals use production magic?”

“Sadly not. Also, I showed your goods to someone who used to be a blacksmith, and they said that your work would be impossible to reproduce.”

I dropped my head in defeat. “I figured.” My job as the lord now included carpentry, flood control, and even crafting weapons and armor, and there was nothing I could do to change that. It was…a bit much. And as if my schedule wasn’t busy enough, I also had an ogre and a demon at my back, forcing me to study and train.

I had to put an end to this.

“All right. Let’s set up a carpenter’s workshop, a smithy, and a furniture store ASAP! The blacksmith, in particular, has to be highly skilled. If I remember correctly, there were a few experienced smiths among the most recent arrivals.

What happened there?”

“Well, we haven’t been able to make a forge. We got a bunch of folks with carpentry experience together, but none of them had ever made a forge before, so…” Rango looked troubled.

Our stock was full for the moment thanks to some orders for high-quality equipment that we’d made with the Mary Chamber of Commerce, but going forward, I wanted our territory to have its own showpiece weapons and armor for sale. “Making a forge won’t be easy…” I muttered. I’d seen them on TV before, but I didn’t know exactly how they were made. If I had blueprints, I could probably make one, or at least the form of one.

An adventurer who had been watching from afar raised his hand. “Um, actually, Bacchus is in town right now. You know, that famous party of dwarf adventurers? I think they’re here to explore the dungeon…”

Rango was the first to react to this new intel. “What? Are they still in the dungeon?”

“Huh? Uh, no. I saw them at the guild this morning.”

“I can’t believe it!” He whirled on me. “Lord Van! Do you have time right now?!”

I had never received such a passionate invitation before in my life. I could only nod. “Yeah, I’m free right now.”

“Perfect! Let’s go!”

Never underestimate the power of forward momentum. The time I had set aside to construct the new buildings was ripped from my hands, just like that. That same momentum drove Rango into the town’s newly built Adventurers’ Guild Branch with such urgency I wouldn’t have blamed the adventurers if they assumed they were under attack and drew their weapons.

He crashed through the doors, making everyone in the large reception area (and bar) look in our direction. Among them was a group of shorter gentlemen.

“There they are!” Rango yelled, pointing. The dwarves frowned and turned around.

Dwarves were short and had scruffy black hair and long beards. The men

were stout and the women looked like young girls. At least, that was the image most people associated with them.

The other thing people associated with dwarves was their smithing talent.

Dwarves were called the citizens of the earth; they specialized in mining. There were a variety of theories on the subject, but one such theory posited that, historically, dwarves had been subjected to discrimination and persecution due to their appearances and ultimately driven off into the mountains. I couldn’t say what was true, but that theory would certainly explain why dwarves tended not to be sociable, only trusting each other.

It was like how elves, often sought out for their beauty, or beastfolk, taken as slaves due to their usefulness in hard labor, were said to have fled into the woods and developed their own unique cultures. As a result, elves and beastfolk rarely involved themselves in the massive wars that engulfed the rest of the world, and dwarves didn’t get along with the other races. I assumed that they still held a grudge over what happened in the past, because if nothing else, those dynamics between races were definitely real. So the dwarves stayed away from flatlands and woods, instead digging into mountains to create their own sphere of life.

However, according to common knowledge in this world, vicious monsters appeared far more frequently in the mountains than in other areas. The dwarves had no choice but to acquire better weaponry to protect themselves and their homes.

And here Rango was, eagerly approaching a group of dwarves. “A-are you guys Bacchus?”

The dwarves glared at him, putting up their guard. They spoke like a bunch of grumpy middle-aged men.

“And who might you be, young man?”

“What if we are?”

Excited, Rango closed the distance between them. From my perspective, he was acting like a total weirdo, enough to put the scruffy-bearded dwarves off.

“I’d like to borrow your vast knowledge! We can’t yet do any smithing in town!

Please, I implore you, teach us how to build a dwarven forge!” He bowed his head, pleading.

The dwarves exchanged glances. Then the one standing at the front of the group said gravely, “We’re on a journey for the dwarven nation. I feel for your town, with your inability to smith, but we don’t got no time.”

Rango raised his head. “What happened? If there’s anything we can do to help, we will! Please, just teach us…!”

“Fine, fine! Just give me some space!” Either the dwarf was overwhelmed by Rango’s zeal, or he was genuinely scared of the young man. Either way, he was quickly backing up.

Once he was satisfied that Rango wouldn’t approach again, the dwarf said, “It’s pointless tellin’ you folk, but…we can’t find the materials we need for the dwarven king. Our current king is approaching the end of his life, so we have to make a weapon of orichalcum for the succession process. The problem is that, for the last twenty years, no matter how hard we’ve looked, we can’t find no orichalcum.” The rest of the dwarves nodded behind him, looking defeated.

“We searched the mountains, volcanoes, and even the woods, but no luck. Human nations sometimes sell orichalcum at a high price, so we sent our allies all across the continent, but we still can’t find any.

“It ain’t all that surprising. The royal families all say they need the stuff, so they probably hide their shares for when the next king rises to power, like we do,” the dwarf concluded in a low, sad voice. His brethren were frowning.

But Rango’s eyes gleamed. “Lord Van! Orichalcum! It’s ori​chalcum they need! If we get some, we can make a forge!” he shouted.

The dwarves sighed, exasperated. “Were you even listenin’?” asked the one who seemed to be the leader. “We just said that we can’t find no orichalcum.”

Rango turned to the dwarf again, smirking like a mischievous little boy. “Heh heh heh! As it happens, we have some! Right, Lord Van?” This time he turned to me.

“Vice President Rango…” said one of the apprentice merchants who had tagged along. “He’s like a different person…”

“He really is…” agreed another.

The apprentices seemed to find Rango’s enthusiasm off-putting. I glanced back at my pal and laughed dryly. “Ha ha… Sorry. I already used the last piece,” I said, pulling out the two swords sitting at my hip.

They were twin swords that I’d made for self-defense purposes right after my return from the big battle, wide and only slightly curved. I’d gone a bit overboard decorating them, and they now most closely resembled thin scimitars or falchion swords.

Not to toot my own horn, but they were spectacular weapons; I’d taken advantage of the orichalcum by giving them thin blades that were hard and wouldn’t bend easily, with a sharpness that wouldn’t degrade over time. Their specs were higher than any sword I’d made before, decorative weapons notwithstanding.

But from what the dwarf man had said, their king needed to craft an orichalcum weapon for his son. What was the move here? I’d already made the weapons for myself. At a loss, I looked at Rango, whose expression probably mirrored my own.

I drew my twin swords from their sheaths and showed them to the dwarves. They looked at the swords, wide-eyed. One said, “Those are indeed orichalcum swords, and in a form I ain’t never seen before…”

“Havel, correct me if I’m wrong, but did a human make those?”

The one standing in front of the rest was named Havel, then. Havel nodded, looking at me. “Well, it’s clear they used a dwarven forge, but the smith was a human. If they had a forge that could refine orichalcum, there would’ve had to be a dwarf present. I’ve heard rumors of dwarves who lived in human nations and worked as blacksmiths, but weirdos like that are few and far between.” He was glaring now, and he spat out his next words. “In other words, those are fakes. They ain’t got no dwarven spirit in them. Even if you had a dwarven forge, without a dwarf, you couldn’t make no weapons.

“A second-rate blacksmith ain’t gonna get you anything worthwhile, even with orichalcum. Us dwarves have been refining metal since we were wee lads. Copper, iron, silver, mithril… We train to be able to temper all of it, eventually allowin’ us to hear the voices of the metal.”

Havel drew his own weapon from its scabbard, a thick, long sword. It looked heavy, but he wielded it as though it were light as a feather.

“Then, and only then, does a spirit truly reside in the weapons we make. Among those dwarves, only the most gifted smiths can melt down orichalcum, temper it, and harden it, completing the process. Humans just melt the metal and pour it into the mold, right? I can’t help but feel bad for the poor orichalcum.” He traced his finger over the blade.

I nodded, raising my swords up to my face. “It’s true that forging is typically better than casting. Iron that’s been melted by a forge is free of any impurities. Moreover, you can discern which iron is suited for the job and which isn’t, then melt it down again in the forge. The tempering process is repeated, then through trial and error the smith tests out the right amount of water and oil, and the right temperature… Only someone who’s incapable of compromising can ever really make it as a blacksmith, I imagine.”

I was repeating knowledge I’d acquired from a manga, trying to agree with the dwarven man in front of me. I always found katanas super cool, and I’d also read about how to make them in various manga and on the internet. I was trying to show him that I knew a thing or two, but the dwarves simply blinked at me.

“You’re scrawny, but are you a dwarf?”

“Nope. All human,” I said with a wry smile.

I’d managed to get them to acknowledge that I knew some things about smithing. Unfortunately, Dee had been watching quietly from the sidelines, and he was infuriated by Havel’s words. “How dare you speak so rudely to Lord Van! Do you want to be cut down?!”

Just like that, the Adventurers’ Guild was thrown into turmoil.

“Aw crap! Dee’s lost it!”

“H-hey, Bacchus! Hurry up and apologize!”

The dwarves didn’t heed the advice. They shrugged, and Havel snorted, provoking Dee further. “We’re from the dwarven nation. Why should we put up with some other country’s noble turning up their nose at us? And don’t underestimate us just ’cause we’re short, big man. You really think you can beat us?”

Havel was talking like a character right out of one of those old school punk manga.

Dee wasted no time. He held his long sword up high and swung it down. The air resonated with the sound of metal slicing through metal, and just like that, the large blade was in front of Havel’s face.

Havel’s eyes widened as he realized that, in the span of less than a second, his own sword had been cut in half.

“Wh-what?!” He stared at his broken weapon, taking a few unsteady steps back. “What incredible skill! Wait, this cut… This wasn’t just skill! Hey, big man! Who tempered that sword?!” he hollered, pointing his broken weapon at Dee.

My sword instructor returned his blade to its rightful place and straightened up. He bellowed, “This sword is the creation of my master, Lord Van Nei Fertio! The very same man you just made a fool of!” The dwarves looked shocked.

“What?! B-but he’s just a child!”

“There’s no way!”

“You won’t fool us!”

They were making a scene, so I plastered a smile on my face and said to

Havel, “Hey, could you hold up your sword again for me?”

“Wh-what? What are you plottin’?” Despite his confusion, he raised his blade as I asked. I adjusted the position for him so that it was perfect.

“Nice and straight, right in front of your face. Ah, great. Now don’t move.”

“Huh? The hell are you people…”

Havel was so confused by what was transpiring that he seemed to be getting scared. Even the people around us had gone quiet; the tension in the room was thick.

I’d better wrap this up.

“Don’t move! Hiyah!” I shouted exuberantly, quickly swinging my twin swords.

I spun around, slashing both swords upward. The blades were designed to be like katanas in that the user had to pull them inward to cut properly. To best make use of their cutting potential, I had to wield them such that the blades slid along the surface of my target. For that very purpose, I had trained so that, when I twisted my body, I accelerated my shoulders, elbow, and arms to produce a sharp slash.

This time, there was barely a sound.

I made a full revolution and sheathed my swords, then turned to watch Havel’s sword fall to the ground in three pieces. Only the handle remained. “…Huh?”

The dwarf stared blankly at his bladeless sword.

 

Havel

I HAD NO CLUE WHAT HAD HAPPENED. What I did know was that my trusty blade, the one that had served me well over the years, through thick and thin, was in pieces.

Appearances be damned—I’d been named one of the Five Blackmiths of the dwarf nation. Since I’d be using this sword throughout our journey, I went out of my way to make it extra sturdy, without compromising its ability to cut. It was a damn good sword.

Or it was supposed to be, anyway. Perhaps it had reached its limit over the course of our long journey. Otherwise, I couldn’t see how it could be cut to pieces so easily, even by the dwarf king’s orichalcum sword.

I checked the cuts and found an all-too-familiar sight: a smooth cross section. The kind you’d see when you cut a chunk of iron in two with a single strike. A chunk of iron that wasn’t fit to be called a weapon, that is.

“Impossible. My sword, it…”

This was the gulf that existed between our two weapons. I didn’t even know what to say.

“Uh, was that sword important to you? Would you like me to fix it?” the boy named Van asked, apologetic.

Normally I’d lash out at him, but for some reason, I just couldn’t muster up the rage. “F-fix it? Boy, you…”

Once a sword was cut like this, it could never be returned to normal. Even if you used a mandrel and heated it up, the best you could hope to do was repair its form. Its quality would degrade as soon as it clashed with another sword, and in the worst-case scenario, it would break in the exact same spot.

Fix was the wrong word to use here. Instead, he probably meant that he would melt the sword down and rebuild it. But he spoke as if he were going to restore the sword to its prior form and quality.

I handed him the weapon, still a bit dazed. “Hey, what’s the name of the dwarf who forged that sword? Please tell me. And don’t even try to say it was a human blacksmith. I’m not even concerned about that orichalcum business right now.”

I was babbling, trying to parse Van’s movement. He wordlessly picked up the broken pieces of my blade, then held them next to the hilt. Closing his eyes, he seemed to focus—on what, I had no idea, though I was pretty dubious about the whole thing.

Then, to my surprise, the broken sword in his hands began to change form. “Wh-what the—?!”

Mine wasn’t the only voice to cry out; everyone else in the guild joined in. Well, except for the ones standing behind Van.

Ten seconds passed. The boy’s eyes stayed closed. In those ten seconds, my sword regained its original form. I made another startled noise, barely even conscious of doing so.

“Could someone give me a sword?” Van asked the people behind him, who produced one for him. “Ah, thanks.” He swung my blade down against the other sword, and with a clang of metal on metal, my blade broke the other sword in two.

“What?!” I cried again. I was astonished; my sword had cut through another like a knife cutting through a piece of radish. Was my blade really capable of such a feat?

“All right! Feels good, though it looks like this was already a great sword to begin with. It’s thick but still really sharp.” Van smiled, heedless of my confusion. “Okay, here you go. Sorry about that.”

Reverently, I took my sword from him with both hands—something I hadn’t done since my master presented me with his masterwork. The weight, the blade’s heavy center of gravity, the thickness and length… All of it was the same. The guard, handle, and back of the blade, though, were more heavily ornamented than before. I had long since dismissed decorations as a waste of time, but now, seeing such an exquisite sword, I understood that even ornamentation was important to the process.

“H-hey…” said one of my party members.

Another asked, “Havel, what’s up with that sword?”

They had probably already figured out that my sword was repaired, but they asked me about it anyway.

I looked up and saw Van standing there like nothing had happened. Still holding my sword, I gritted my teeth and looked up at the ceiling, making an inarticulate noise. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it.

But when it came to the business of smithing, I couldn’t lie.

For long moments, I grappled with this inner turmoil. Eventually, resignation washed it all away. I directed the tip of my sword downward and stabbed it into the ground. Horrifyingly, the blade cut through the stone floor like it was paper.

“Ha! Ha ha ha!” I laughed a helpless, guttural laugh. “I give up! I could never make a sword this sharp! It rivals even the treasured sword of the dwarf nation! Any excuses I might make in the face of such a fine creation would be laughable!”

Recognizing my defeat, I collapsed, sitting down on the floor. Then I shot Van a sharp look.

“I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all. Please help me make a sword like this.”

It was shameful of me, but my words were heartfelt. I didn’t care what form that sword took—it was the thought of its incredible power that had lit a fire in my smith’s soul. All thoughts of the quest for orichalcum or the dwarf nation had left my mind. I was overjoyed by the new smithing possibilities that had been revealed to me.

 

Van

THE OTHER DWARVES WERE MORE STUNNED BY HAVEL’S declaration than we were. “H-Havel?!”

“What about the orichalcum?!”

Havel turned to the panicked dwarves and, with both knees firmly planted on the floor, lowered his head, rendering his comrades speechless. “I’m so sorry! I know I’m bein’ selfish! But I want to make a weapon like this with my own two hands! I want to forge the ultimate weapon!”

This was a cry from deep within his soul. His comrades could only stare at him. “Really?” one asked.

“If you’re planning on making this your final resting place, then…”

Gradually, Havel’s party accepted his determination. But then something seemed to occur to them; their expressions darkened. “It still doesn’t change the fact that we have to find orichalcum.”

“You’re the most skilled member of our group. Without you, it’ll be dangerous exploring the mountains of other countries.”

“What are we gonna do?”

This discussion amongst the dwarves continued until I raised my hand. “Um…

How much orichalcum do you need? You guys are in a hurry, right?”

The dwarf furthest away from me nodded. “Normally the sword is crafted before the king turns sixty years of age. But we’ve been searching for two years and still haven’t found any orichalcum, and he’s about to turn sixty.”

“I see, I see.” I nodded in sympathy. “I suppose when you get to that age, doing any kind of smithing would be rough on the body.”

They shook their heads. “You misunderstand. The king won’t be doin’ it himself. The best dwarven blacksmith in all the land, L’ubor, is in charge of craftin’ the orichalcum sword. I shouldn’t say this too loudly, but the current king ain’t much of a blacksmith…”

“Which is a shame, since the previous king was one of the Five Blacksmiths.” These words were hushed.

Havel clicked his tongue and punched the ground. “He lacks passion. Passion, damn it! Every king before him was one of the Five Blacksmiths, but our current king can only make swords, and he’s still not good enough with mithril!” he complained.

Sounded like he had issues with their leadership. I thought, This is my chance.

Maybe this is inconsiderate of me, but I want dwarven blacksmiths here. I need to do something. Rango observed quietly, his hands together like he was praying, and his eyes were gleaming.

I shot my shot. “That sounds rough. If you guys can wait here for a month, I can get you some orichalcum, I reckon—but you’re in a hurry, right?”

The dwarves all turned to me, loudly astonished. “A month?!”

“Truly?!”

They were awestruck, looking like their eyes might burst out of their skulls. I nodded at them and tapped my sheathed twin swords. “We’ve got ample resources, so we get orichalcum on the regular. I gave a piece to His Highness, but I’ve actually already made a handful of orichalcum weapons.”

The dwarves exchanged looks. “Orichalcum? On his own?”

“You saw what he did earlier. After that, I’d believe he could get orichalcum in no time.”

“I refuse to believe someone could acquire orichalcum so easily.”

For a private conversation, they were speaking really loudly. Clearly losing his patience, Havel argued, “How else do you explain his orichalcum weapons, things that no dwarf could have made?”

The other dwarves frowned. “True. And we’ve seen the dungeon; it’d be hard to find orichalcum on our own.”

“Yeah. Even if we searched elsewhere, ain’t no guarantee we’d find what we need. Couldn’t hurt to wait a month or two.”

Havel and the others turned toward me then. One of the dwarves standing in the back said, “All right. We’d like to stay here for a time. The Business Guild has orichalcum set at ten platinum a piece. Is that fine with you?”

I did the math in my head. A piece was usually about five centimeters in diameter. If I went to the guild or the Bell & Rango Company, they’d have scales I could use to check the weight. And if their plan was to make a weapon, they’d need at least ten pieces, which meant a total of one hundred platinum. The exact same amount I made from slaying the forest dragon.

I didn’t want to immediately agree, so I raised my hand. “I’m not well versed

in how orichalcum is usually priced, so let me speak to my butler about it. First, let’s get you guys a place to stay. As it happens,” I added with a smile, “I know of the perfect hotel. It’s brand new, too.” The dwarves blinked a few times and nodded.

 

Havel said he wanted to do his smithing in a peaceful location, so we decided to build the workshop outside of Seatoh Village instead of in town.

For his part, Rango took his apprentice merchants to go sell furniture to Kusala. I’d approved a payment invoice for Kusala, so he and his wife wouldn’t have any problems paying for everything. When I told Havel I was going to build him a forge, he immediately wrote down everything we needed.

“Silica, saltpeter, red clay, and monster stones that’re resistant to fire. The latter is a type of crystal that you can find in small amounts inside monster hearts. It’ll be pricey, but I need all of this for a forge.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of monster stones.” “You do?” he squawked.

I’d told the Bell & Rango Company to prepare the materials for the workshop ahead of time so that we’d be good to go; the only problem was that I’d intended for the forge to be in the adventurers’ town, so having them carried to the new location was a bit of a pain.

I showed Havel the pile of monster stones, and he boggled at them. “That should’ve been the hardest thing to acquire. And you have this many?!”

The other dwarves, who had tagged along with us, were looking around Seatoh Village curiously. “I’ve never seen buildings like these before.”

“What kind of materials did they use to build all of this?”

I cast a sidelong glance at them while Havel looked around the outskirts of the village, solidifying his image for the forge. “If we’re gonna be meltin’ orichalcum, this thing needs to be big and tall,” he said, drawing a simple blueprint on the ground. “Those two towers over there are huge, but a forge that size would be bigger than the largest forge in the dwarf nation. It’d probably take a decade or two to make, though. I’ll settle for a blast furnace three meters tall.”

I examined the blueprint carefully. “Havel, could I have a moment?”

“Hm? What do you… Oh, right. Since I decided to craft a weapon even better than yours, that makes me a citizen of this land. You don’t gotta be so polite with me.” He scratched vigorously at his body as he spoke.

I just smiled and nodded. “In that case, about that massive forge you were just talking about… You said it’d take forever to build. Is that because of how many materials it’d require?”

Havel shook his hand and started altering the blueprint on the ground. He pointed at the upper and lower parts and drew something resembling a smokestack.

“No, that ain’t it. It’s pretty simple. Between this point and that one we gotta alternate blue coal and ore, but the lower section of the furnace has to exceed two thousand five hundred degrees or the orichalcum won’t soften. Iron softens at two thousand degrees, and with mithril it depends on where it’s extracted from, but orichalcum is different. Temperature is the most important factor, followed by pressure. That’s why it requires a tall forge. Problem is, the bigger it gets, the more its structure needs to be adjusted—y’know, the thickness of the walls, the building’s center of gravity.”

Blueprint finished, Havel folded his arms. To my surprise, his schematic was excellently rendered—truly a perfect blueprint. I examined the drawing, looking at the cross section viewed from the side, then at the circular hole atop the smokestack.

The lowest section was wide and round, designed so that the melted metal would settle where the temperature would rise the most. Havel had drawn a straw coming out of the side, implying that it could be placed in from outside. There was also a hole in the lowest section leading out of the forge.

“This is where the flame goes, and here’s where you extract the melted metals. This small stick is a wind hole; crushed charcoal and air need to be continually supplied through it.” As he explained, he added elements to the blueprint. “Here, sitting snug against it, is an air box that you press down with each foot in turn to send wind into the forge. You can have a maximum of four of these set around the forge, but two should work just fine.”

He was every bit the professional he proclaimed. Thoughtfully, I said, “In that case, I might be able to make this. Come with me and tell me if I’m on the right track or not.”

“Huh?”

Havel tilted his head as I turned away from him, shifting my attention to the mountain of materials nearby. I’d never dealt with this much stuff before, and there were also materials in the pile I’d never worked with; I couldn’t predict how things would turn out. Regardless, I was on a bit of a roll, and I had the feeling it would go well.

I touched the pile of materials and began to channel my magical energy into it. From all the experience I had under my belt, I knew I grew exhausted quickly when working with dense objects and things with poor magical conductivity. Monster stones, which were included in the materials for the forge, fell into that category, so I figured that I’d start out by building out the bottom section of the forge.

I ground down the saltpeter and silica, then mixed them into the red clay. Next, I ground the monster stones into powder and spread them around. Simultaneously, I drove pillars into the ground, building the lower section’s outer wall.

“Wh-wh-what in blue blazes…?”

I heard Havel’s shocked voice nearby, but I couldn’t afford to lose my concentration. I was already so exhausted that I was half-convinced the materials were sucking out my magical energy. The lower portion of the forge was only two meters tall, but its total diameter exceeded ten meters. I made the wall thick, like the one around the village, though I wasn’t sure whether that was the right move.

“Ugh, I’m dead,” I groaned. Pointing at the chunk of furnace I’d just constructed, I asked, “Havel, what do you think?”

Havel’s jaw was on the floor and his eyes were bugging out. “This is absurd.

But at this rate, I’ll be able to start smithing in about a month!”

I smiled wearily. “Yeah, that sounds about right. I should be able to finish the forge in about a month.” I still had to make the wind pumping device, so a month would give me some breathing room.

But Havel had other ideas. He grinned broadly. “Oho ho! Ten days to build the forge, two days for the wind pump, three for the fire pan. Once that’s done, I can start testing the forge with iron, silver, and mithril! Then orichalcum after a month!”

“Um, aren’t you getting a bit ahead of yourself?” Havel’s timeline made me dizzy with terror.

 

While I focused on the forge, Khamsin, Esparda, and the others finally popped back up, a few dozen people following behind them. Khamsin said, “Lord Van, we picked out some individuals with business experience who want to start new ventures!”

I mustered up a smile and waved at him. “Thanks. Way more people than I expected, too. I didn’t think there would be many people left after Esparda got through with them.”

“Actually, we initially found more than a hundred people who were interested.” Wow, these individuals must’ve been the lucky ten percent of the group to make it this far. They had to be incredible. Clearly, I wouldn’t need to worry about them.

“All right,” I said, sensing Havel’s glare on the back of my head, “then let me build their shops first. This is enough progress on the forge for today.” “The forge is our first priority,” Havel boomed.

“Look, we’re going to get orichalcum in, but you’ll be sending the first pieces off to your king, right?”

“Argh…” I’d thrown logic at him, and his response was to wave both hands around furiously. What a unique way to express rage.

“All right, then I guess I’ll head back to the town. I bet Kusala’s hotel is all furnished by now.” And either way, I finally had a break from the hell that was making a forge. When I stopped and thought about it, there was no pressing reason to get this thing up and running in fifteen days. Good thing I’d realized that, too. If I hadn’t, I would have succumbed to Havel’s zealous demands and worked unhealthy levels of overtime.

Disgruntled dwarves in tow, I made my way back to the adventurers’ town, my step lighter for having been freed from such a heavy burden. It was already late in the day, so when we reached the main street, I turned to Esparda and Khamsin’s new prospects.

“I’m going to give you all assistance in the form of initial investments and start-up capital,” I told them. “You’ll all receive a tax exemption for the first year, and I’ll even help you procure materials. In the future, though, I expect more people will step forward hoping to start businesses, so to prevent the appearance of preferential treatment, everything I give you will be a loan. Obviously, the size of your business will determine the size of the loan, but I expect you to pay me back, even if it takes time. Do you all understand this?”

They all nodded resolutely; their passion was obvious. I returned the gesture and looked around a bit. That was when I noticed that apprentice merchants from the Bell & Rango Company were still going in and out of Kusala’s hotel. They were still in the process of moving furniture, then. Since they’d be opening another store here, I wanted them to be present so we could discuss the matter, but Rango was nowhere to be found.

Never mind. “Ah, Rango! Wait, Bell, too?”

For some reason, Rango was power-walking toward me with Bell close on his heels. As soon as we made eye contact, they both waved wildly at me. “Lord Van!” Bell shouted.

“Is it true you recruited a dwarven blacksmith?!” asked Rango.

Their eyes were sparkling like starved beasts’. Looked like they were thrilled that their request for a blacksmith had come through. Bell and Rango closed the distance between us, then darted looks back and forth between Havel’s party and me.

“Oh, yeah, I’m in the process of building a forge at the edge of the village. It’s going to require two large chunks of orichalcum to complete, so I figured I’d build the new shops first, then take my time on the forge.”

Bell and Rango exchanged looks, then flashed me identical, meaningful smiles. Bell said, “Worry not, Lord Van! I checked with the apkallu, and lo and behold, they had orichalcum on hand. We negotiated with them, and they gave us a chunk!”

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” I said, my words coming out a bit more venomous than I intended. Dreading what was about to happen, I turned slowly.

Havel and his pals were all grinning. “Orichalcum, you say?!”

“Incredible! To think we would acquire a piece here, of all places!”

“Ha ha ha ha! Now we can go home!”

His buddies were cheering, but Havel said, “All right, time to build the forge!”

The others whipped around, eyes wide. Havel was the only one who seemed to assume that the forge project would continue.

“Havel, what’re you saying? Our mission takes priority!”

“Did you forget what we set out to do?”

Havel raised his palm to quiet them. He appealed to their emotions. “I remember, and I’m aware of all your feelings on the subject. But don’t you understand my perspective? My burning desire to temper burning hot metal?!”

They gave each other troubled looks. “Well, yeah… We wanna temper steel, too…”

“I haven’t done any smithing in two years now…”

It all went over my head, but Havel’s words clearly resonated with his friends. They discussed it amongst themselves for a bit longer, eventually turning to me with light in their eyes.

“All right, it’s fine,” one of the dwarves said, crossing his arms. His pals nodded along at his side. “We were already plannin’ to search elsewhere, so what’s another month or two?”

Another dwarf jumped in. “In exchange, when the forge is done a month from now, we want you to let us do some smithing as well.”

Havel nodded decisively. “Of course you damn well can!”

All around us, adventurers were nodding their heads, commenting on the heartwarming scene. I smiled too, watching Havel and his friends gladly join shoulders…until I realized that their negotiations all assumed the forge would be done in a month.

I gripped my head in my hands and turned away from the excited dwarves. I asked Rango and Bell, “Since I built Kusala’s new hotel, do you mind if I build your new store, too?”

They both nodded excitedly. “Are you sure?”

“We don’t have any carpenters ready, so that’d be a huge help!”

I smiled back at them and turned my attention to the open space on the street. “Then I’ll do a three-story building with a basement, okay? As far as aesthetics and size are concerned, I want it to match the hotel.”

Bell turned, wide-eyed, to stare at Kusala’s hotel. After a long moment, he turned back toward me like a robot in need of fresh oil. “Every merchant dreams of owning a store like that, but um, how many platinum do you want?” he asked, a tinge of concern coloring his voice.

I waved a hand at him. “Fifty gold, buddy.”

“F-fifty gold? For real?! In that case, could you also build one in the village?”

“Nope, not happening. Get your carpenters and have them whip up some fresh buildings. We have to start creating jobs so we can get the economy running healthily.”

Bell’s shoulders drooped.

“Oh, right,” I added. “The village’s aesthetic is important, too, so make sure that the new buildings match the current style. Including the color schemes.”

“That might be a touch difficult, but…”

I felt bad watching Bell struggle, but there wasn’t much I could do. We had to consider the future. We had to train all kinds of tradespeople.

If we didn’t, I would be stuck in odd job purgatory forever.

“A-anyway, the Bell & Rango Company would like our new store to be somewhere that’s easily accessible for new customers.”

“Right by the entrance works, then? Is one store enough?”

“Um, three, please—” Rango tried to answer first, but Bell desperately cut him off, causing some manner of confusion: “Four, if you will!”

“A store for buying materials, a store for selling necessities, a weapons shop… Isn’t that enough?” Rango asked his brother, who shook his head.

“That was the initial plan, but we didn’t know then that this might be the last time Lord Van ever makes us a building. You can never be too prepared, as far as I’m concerned. Let’s have him make four buildings.”

Rango tensed as he took in Bell’s explanation. “I see. In that case, four buildings would make sense. Okay! Let’s hurry and recruit some new apprentice merchants!”

He abruptly turned and ran off to Seatoh Village. Bell watched his brother exit stage right, then sighed quietly. “Just when I thought he’d finally calmed down…

We haven’t even discussed the floorplans.”

“Eh, I’m sure he thought it’d all be fine since you’re handling it.”

“I don’t know if he even thought that far ahead.”

We exchanged smiles and I went back to surveying the area. “Assuming I have the materials I need, I can make the buildings right now. What do you want to do?”

“The sooner the better. You’re sparing us your time, and that’s going to be an increasingly rare commodity going forward.”

“You make me sound like a villain.”

Bell ignored my comment and jogged over to his employees. “Hey! Bring as many wood blocks over here as you can!” He’s got guts, I’ll give him that.

While the Bell & Rango Company was getting everything ready, I talked to the folks Khamsin and Esparda had brought over. I wanted to know what sort of business ventures they were looking to start.

“I used to make furniture for a living, so I’d love to use wood to make big stuff, if that’s possible.”

“I worked in a clothing boutique, so I’d like to make the kind of cute clothes that I would love to wear.”

“I love baking bread. I only know how to make a few types right now, but I’m going to give it my all!”

I listened to ten different visions of the future from ten different individuals, then decided to assign them roles. The group included a person who was skilled at making things, a salesperson with a knack for communicating with customers, and even someone who was talented at inventory management and supply procurement.

I enjoyed how much it felt like a school culture festival. Of course, once the ball got rolling on all of these new businesses, everything would feel a lot more real and there would be new challenges to deal with, but I still wanted people to enjoy their new jobs. To that end, I began to make buildings while I talked with them.

Several of these hopefuls wanted to make eateries of one kind or another, so I created a building with a bakery and a sweets shop on the first floor, then a dining hall on the second. I turned the third floor into a storage space for things that needed to be preserved, and then made a basement suitable for storing food and alcohol.

After that, I made another building that would house a furniture shop, a clothing boutique, and a daily goods store. These three shops would all handle relatively bulky goods, so I made sure to allocate about half the area to storage space. The basements, meanwhile, housed a space they could use for product development.

“If you guys make cool stuff, fun stuff, or delicious stuff, I’ll definitely swing by to hang out. I’m counting on you all!” I laced my voice with anticipation. Their responses were all positive. They looked excited to begin.

Personally, I wanted to put the most effort into building the public bath. The adventurers were going to adore it.