episode_0177

“Ahjussi~! Today was so fun and happy~!”

The sky is dyed red with the sunset,

Margaret waved her hand at Eugene Schneider, bathed in the sky light.

After finishing the tour of the mercenary village, she is seeing off Eugene, who took the children back to the slum.

“Yes! Ahjussi was really happy today too, kids! If you wait a little longer, you’ll be able to live together in the place you saw today! Let’s eat lots of delicious things and have lots of fun playing there in the future, kids!”

Eugene also waved to the children.

He was truly proud and happy.

The children who have not lost their bright appearance even in the harsh conditions of the slums,

Their appearance was so touching that Eugene Schneider vaguely promised to stay with them until the end.

And that came into sight at some point.

And seeing the children so happy in that visible range today, Eugene himself felt comforted and healed.

“I see! Including the other blacksmiths from the Black Hair Blacksmith! Then maybe we can bring the children’s mercenary village residency forward a little more!”

Eugene, who was seen off by the children, returned to Pangea with Marie and Mina.

Marie parted ways with the two in the middle and headed to her accommodation.

Eugene is on his way to the Black Hair Blacksmith with Mina.

In the process, Eugene Schneider was greatly impressed to hear that the blacksmiths belonging to the Black Hair Blacksmith had decided to join Mina.

“Yes, in fact, I had that conversation with Commander Jeanne d’Arc this morning before Eugene arrived. I personally want to get the children into that place as soon as possible.”

Mina affirmed Eugene’s words as if to confirm them.

Mina quickly started organizing the Black Hair Blacksmith.

This is to focus on the slum children’s mercenary village residency.

So, she was running around to find excellent successor chief blacksmiths for the affiliated blacksmiths.

However, the affiliated blacksmiths told Mina that they wanted to participate as technicians of the Red Fox Mercenary Village with her.

That meant that there were already other villagers in the mercenary village.

That’s why Mina thought that even if the village was still unfinished, she could bring the children from the slums to live there.

“To be honest, I also wanted to get them out of the slums quickly after seeing how much the children liked it today. But I thought it would be difficult because the timing for the Red Fox Mercenary Group to start taking root would be after this collaboration quest. But if Mina’s colleagues join in addition to Mina, the story will be different, right?”

Eugene also expressed a positive attitude towards Mina’s wish.

That is also why he wants to get the children out of the dangerous slums as soon as possible.

However, the only people who can play the role of guardians are currently Mina and the Red Fox Mercenary Group,

Meanwhile, the Red Fox Mercenary Group will be away for a long time to do the Drake special quest.

So, he thought he would have to wait until around autumn, but

The addition of reliable personnel could certainly be a driving force to bring the timing forward.

“Thank you for seeing it in a good light, Eugene. I was worried that I, as a blacksmith, was trying to be too involved in what is, after all, a mercenary village…”

“Oh, what are you talking about! It’s called a mercenary village, but we’re a community! Mina and the children are also proud owners of our community!”

Mina was so grateful that Eugene immediately caught on and understood her thoughts and feelings.

Wasn’t that a dream that Mana had been wanting for a long time?

She feels impatient as it seems to be right in front of her eyes.

But Eugene seemed to want to do more for her rather than be troubled by her appearance.

So, Mina blamed herself for doing something reckless.

“And you’re the one who said you’d give me a gift, Mina! We’re already giving and taking from each other!”

Perhaps it’s because of Mina’s life, where she’s only used to giving and can’t help but be clumsy in communicating with others.

Eugene, who knows this well, put on a playful act and emphasized that he and Mina are friends who can ask for and receive requests without any burden.

“I’m so glad I can give you that gift before you go on the quest you mentioned. Please come in, Eugene.”

“I guess it’s a blacksmith item?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Eugene and Mina had already arrived at the Black Hair Blacksmith.

Mina’s gift, which Marie had spoiled, seems to be given directly from the Black Hair Blacksmith.

“Oh! This is!”

Eugene Schneider, who entered Mina’s chief blacksmith’s office inside, was soon greeted with the gift Mina had prepared.

Eugene Schneider’s eyes widened at Mina’s gift.

The feeling was similar to that of a child seeing something he likes.

“Armor, Mina!!”

Mina’s gift for Eugene,

It was a new Great Swordsman Armor.

“Yes. I thought there was a limit to just adding and supplementing the armor I made before. It would be difficult to keep up with the constantly evolving Eugene Assault Captain. So, I made a completely new armor. It’s a Great Swordsman Armor made of a special metal called Baramion Steel, Eugene.”

It was a Great Swordsman Armor made of Baramion Steel, obtained from Himena, the shop owner in the Sahara Market.

It had been over a month since Mina visited the Sahara Market, but the armor production work did not begin immediately.

This is because bringing Baramion Steel into Pangea is not an easy task.

So, she originally tried to make the armor locally and bring it to Pangea, but

The mercenary village project overlapped, so she couldn’t.

Therefore, the full-scale start was when Eugene went on a business trip to Helios, so security for the surprise gift could be maintained as miraculously as possible.

“Baramion Steel, I’ve heard of it too! While performing the Pilgrim’s Path! I think it was said to be a rare metal from the Barbarian region?”

Eugene reacted to the Baramion Steel keyword.

“Baramion Steel is a steel with a very good balance of mana conductivity and durability. Therefore, it is suitable for making armor for Great Swordsmen or Giant Axemen, who require melee durability as much as ability ratio. In particular, the Baramion Steel that I personally checked and obtained in the western desert can be considered a special Baramion Steel.”

Mina explained the functionality of the Baramion Steel Great Swordsman Armor to Eugene.

Baramion Steel is also traded in the imperial black market.

Anyway, unlike swordsmen, spearmen, and archers, there are few, but there are also heavy blunt weapon expert awakeners.

However, most of it is mixed with impurities, so the quality is not very high.

Of course, only the relevant traders or very experienced blacksmiths know that.

Mina was especially a Great Swordsman Armor specialist, so of course she knew, and

So, she went directly to the Sahara Desert and obtained high-purity Baramion Steel.

“Oh…! This is lighter than I thought? It looked quite heavy at first glance.”

Eugene tried on the new Great Swordsman Armor.

With Mina’s help, he learned a slightly different wearing system from the previous armor and put on the new Great Swordsman Armor,

Eugene, who felt a different fit, clicked his tongue as if surprised.

“That’s the biggest difference between high-purity Baramion Steel and those mixed with impurities. That’s why the efficiency is maximized when blunt weapon classes, which are inevitably heavy, wear Baramion Steel armor.”

Mina explained why Baramion Steel is specialized for Great Swordsman Armor.

After all, most Great Swordsmen are large,

Since melee combat is their main weapon, the volume of steel increases to strengthen durability.

Baramion Steel remarkably offsets that disadvantage.

“Of course, there is a reason for mixing other metals. Pure Baramion Steel is difficult to handle. In my case, I learned it from my teacher.”

“Oh…! I see, Mina!”

Despite so many advantages, it is not used well, and even if it is used, the quality is lowered by adding impurities,

It is really difficult to refine. In particular, it is a metal that has only been mined and activated in certain areas, so even the handling method has not been properly known.

“Wow… I was honestly a little nervous about having to deal with non-standard monsters, but getting new armor makes me feel more confident, Mina?”

Eugene fully wore the Baramion Armor and took a pose with his greatsword, enjoying the feeling of being pumped up. He can’t stand getting a new top-class item before a legendary mission.

“By the way, I also heard that the Red Fox Mercenary Group will encounter non-standard monsters in this collaboration quest… I guess it’s difficult to tell me what kind of monster it is?”

Mina, who was looking closely at Eugene wearing the armor to see if there was any room for further improvement, had a keen expression when the non-standard monster keyword came up.

Now that Mina has become half of the Red Fox Mercenary Group,

Thomas and Marie are actively communicating with her and vaguely telling her various stories.

“Hmm… I’ve been thinking about that too, but I heard that expert awakeners tell their exclusive blacksmiths everything without any secrets? Is it an unspoken rule?”

Eugene seems to know why Mina is asking so carefully.

If you don’t know what quest the client is doing and what opponent they are fighting, how can you buff the weapon or buff the armor?

Eugene also felt the need for it as the quests became more difficult, and when he found out,

He heard testimonies that even if it was a business secret, the expert awakeners of the Imperial Knights secretly tell their exclusive blacksmiths.

This is a story he heard while visiting the Imperial Knights Arena this time.

“It seems like we’re going to Enclema Cliff in the western desert area. And what is specifically designated as that non-standard monster is actually a top-class monster, Drake. No one has actually seen it, but after analyzing various traces, Drake is the most likely situation.”

So, Eugene told Mina where he would be leaving for the collaboration quest with the Imperial Knights,

And the name of the monster he is expected to face.

“Drake???”

When Eugene mentioned Drake.

Mina’s eyes widened.

“Oh! So Mina knows Drake too! I thought it would be enough to just mention the name since you have such great knowledge.”

When Eugene looked, Mina’s eyes did not just feel surprised, but seemed to have enough knowledge about Drake.

‘I know…’

Yes, Mina knows very well.

‘Because it was Drake who destroyed the Mohican tribe.’

And that was not just an area of knowledge.

It was an area of experience directly experienced.