episode_0014

“Haaaam…. Who are you…?”

A woman yawning lazily and speaking slowly. As if I had just woken up… Ah. I was sleeping until just now.

By the way… I think this person is the owner of this workshop. It didn’t seem to have been cleaned up at all… Above all, it seemed like it had been so long since the furnace burned that only a pile of ashes remained.

“Are they not doing business?”

“Haaaam….yes..? Ah… that’s not it…”

It’s not that there is no business, but it’s so disorganized?

“Anyway… Would you rather be a mercenary…? Looking at his fine muscles and facial expression… he looks good…?”

“This….!”

Crackling-! Crackle!

Maybe it’s because they haven’t cleaned it yet, but there seem to be a lot of rats.

“Phew… So you’re not doing business? If that’s the case, I’ll leave.”

“Hmm… How do I explain this… It’s not that I don’t do business… It’s that I can’t do it~?”

“Can I ask you to explain?”

“It’s annoying…”

“If you explain, wouldn’t we be able to help?”

Even though she seemed bothered by the explanation, when I told her that I would help her, interest suddenly appeared in her eyes.

“Uhm… not long. It’s just… I ran out of all the materials needed to craft and smelt armor…?”

That’s it? Why not just buy the ingredients again?

If not… do you have no money? Or maybe it’s another story…?

“Do you have no money? Can’t I just buy the ingredients again?”

Seris asked the woman as if she really didn’t know. Actually, I wanted to say that too, so I didn’t bother to tackle him.

“Hmm… It’s not that simple~ Of course I have money…”

“So there was a problem with the supply of materials?”

“Oh~? That’s right~ That’s accurate. The ores I handle are not supplied these days, so I have no choice but to take a break from work.”

-Oh, by the way, my name is Spin~ So, this is Spin’s Workshop..

Spin explained that he had no choice but to take a break from work due to the ore not being supplied.

“As far as I know, there is no problem with supply of general materials.”

“That’s right. But the ore I use… is a bit rare, right?”

When I became the head of a mercenary guild, I had no choice but to receive various news even if I didn’t want to.

Of course, I had no choice but to know what was happening in Leria Village, and I was also able to obtain some information about what was happening within the empire.

As far as I know, as I am better informed than the general public, there have been no major problems with the supply of ordinary ores.

Except for one thing: special ores.

My guess is that Spin was a blacksmith who only dealt with that ore.

“You. Is the ore you’re looking for… mithril?”

“Oh! that’s right! I am a blacksmith who only deals with mithril!”

I knew it. As I expected, Spin was a blacksmith who knew how to use mithril.

Mithril. It is lighter than iron, the most commonly used ore in the world, but is much stronger.

However, I knew that there was no known way to obtain it, and that blacksmiths who knew how to use mithril were rare.

‘I never thought Spin would be one of those blacksmiths. As expected, my intuition was right!’

The cliché that you can find something special in an old workshop still holds true in this world!

“So, can you help me?! If you do that, I’ll do it for you at a specially low price!”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps because of the hope that he would be able to work as a blacksmith again, Spin, who had been in a languid posture, suddenly became more active.

The change was so drastic that I thought he was a completely different person.

“Can you help me just once? I will treat you well…”

Pat pat-

Spin suddenly made an alluring expression and started caressing my left arm.

Crackle!

“…Take off that arm.”

widely-!

Seris, who was watching the scene, hardened her expression and slapped Spin’s arm away.

“A. Even if you touch it a little, it gets worn out…”

“….don’t touch it.”

Seris instantly generated magic power and spoke to Spin in a coercive manner.

“Vice-captain Seris.”

“Okay.”

When I warned Seris, she immediately withdrew her magic power.

Afterwards, I began to think seriously about this proposal.

“Hiccup. Ah… I understand… It was just a joke, but why are you so angry…”

“I warned you in advance.”

“Can we become lovers? Or…some?”

“….Hi! Ah…no, something like that…!”

What did you just say? I couldn’t see the situation because I was thinking for a moment.

Well, I guess it wasn’t much of a story. If it was a serious issue, Seris would have handled it well.

“Can you explain how helping means to help?”

“Oh! Of course! It’s simple! All you have to do is bring me mithril ore!”

“Wasn’t there a problem with the supply of mithril?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure about that either. The supplier just told me that they can’t deliver right now… so even when I went to the mine, they didn’t let me in.”

“Is there only one supplier?”

“Yes! The Steel Mine is the only place in this village that handles mithril!”

Hmm… The only supplier is saying that they can’t supply mithril.

Is there something wrong with the mine?

“Then that means we have to go to that mine.”

“Yes! Maybe so?”

“How much discount will you give?”

Actually, this was the most important. Even if they said they would give it cheaply, if it wasn’t even a few pennies off, it actually lacked a lot of merit.

“Hmm….30%?”

“Good. I’ll be right back. Please wait.”

“Thank you for your quick decision! Here’s a map!”

I was thinking about 15% to 20%, but 30%?

This must be done unconditionally. The opportunity to obtain Mithril equipment at 30% cheaper may never come again.

“Vice-captain Seris. Is that okay?”

“If it is your choice, I will just follow it!”

“Thank you. Let’s go quickly.”

“Yes!”

Since it was my arbitrary judgment, I could have scolded her, but I was only grateful to Seris, who showed me only eyes of infinite trust.

‘good. Shall we go get some armor?’

However, it is necessary to procure materials to equip armor. Anyway, that’s it.

Mithril armor… just wait! I’m coming!

***

“According to the map… I think this is the place. Leader.”

“I think I’ve come to the right place.”

I left Ceris with the directions and followed her around, and ended up arriving at a place.

Just looking at it, it was in the middle of the mountain, and the sign had ‘Steel Mine’ written all over it, so I guess I arrived at the right place.

“Outsiders are prohibited from entering.”

As we entered the mine site, a tired-looking man spoke to us.

Doesn’t it look the same as the face of someone who worked overtime for several days? Maybe something was difficult.

“Can I ask what’s wrong with the steel mine?”

“For outsiders…. Wait. Are you mercenaries?”

“That’s right.”

As soon as he answered that he was a mercenary, his expression turned bright red. It’s like an office worker receiving a vacation after working long overtime.

“Are you here to receive a request?! Please, please. Please save our mine!”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I am Iron. The manager of this steel mine! Haha… I’ll just keep it simple and get to the point. A monster has appeared inside our mithril mine.”

“Monster…”

Was the reason why I couldn’t mine mithril ore because a monster appeared? If so, the reason for not being able to supply is covered.

Those who were just workers would not have had the strength to deal with monsters.

And, among the requests from Leria Village that I checked, there seemed to be a request for resolving mine monsters.

Because the salary was a bit ambiguous and the type of monster was unknown, no one accepted the request.

“Do you know the types of monsters?”

“It’s not clear because the inside of the mine is so dark… but the monster I saw through my blurry vision had mithril ore embedded in it. This is for sure!”

“It’s a monster with ore embedded in it…”

When you think of a monster with ore embedded in it, isn’t there only one thing that comes to mind?

‘Golem.’

It is a monster that appears as a regular in many games, and most of the entities contain ore, and there are many cases where it is hard and strong.

However, I couldn’t find any type of golem in the monster dictionary I looked at.

Hmm… Then isn’t it a golem? But other than the golem, there are no monsters that come to mind.

“Please…please! He can’t even be scratched by a decent sword or spear! If this continues, our mine will fail…!”

“I understand. The monster must be inside that mine, right?”

“Yes…yes! Since that guy appeared, he hasn’t moved a single step!”

A monster with a hard shell filled with ore. If my guess is correct, it’s probably some type of golem.

‘So, this is an opportunity to find a new monster?!’

In this world, if you discover a new type of monster and submit it with evidence, you can receive an appropriate reward from the mercenary guild.

That meant you could get mithril and additional capital at the same time!

Things seem to be getting better these days. Well then, let’s get into it!

“Let’s go. Vice-captain Seris.”

“…Yes? Captain. But we have no weapons…”

We did not bring our usual weapons. There was no reason to carry a weapon since I was just walking around the village.

At this village’s level, most problems could be solved without weapons.

“Will you trust me?”

“If that is what you mean, I will believe it.”

“Thank you. Then, take this.”

“Pickaxe..?”

Seris, who received a well-trained pickaxe from me, looked puzzled.

I’m going to catch a monster, but they give me a pickaxe instead of a weapon. It may seem absurd.

‘But there’s no law saying a pickaxe shouldn’t be a weapon, right?’

Isn’t there a game like that? A game where you can conquer the world with just a pickaxe…

And, the fact that pickaxes work better with golems than other weapons is a result of their long history.

Well, you can go in and take a quick look and come back out if it’s not a golem.

“Then, I’ll go in.”

I also picked up a clean pickaxe lying on the floor and began to enter the dark cave.

It was a bonus that Seris, who was still confused, followed me in, holding the pickaxe tightly.