episode_0198

Felichel continued his explanation while showing the map.

“There should be a vein around here.”

Strangely enough, the place that Felichel told me about is a place I know well.

It was a giant ant nest that people sometimes visited to obtain dried black wood to use as firewood.

“This is a place I know well.”

“That’s great. Then, let’s go quickly.”

“Do not try to go along naturally, and let the patient rest.”

“Haha, I’m fine.”

I, who was shocked by the craftsman’s madness, forcibly laid down Felichel.

However, Dr. Ravi restrained Felichel, who was trying to move.

“Then you die. If the ball dies, you can’t make the divine stone, so just trust me and wait.”

“Hehe, then I will just trust you and wait for you, Duke.”

After barely calming down Felichel, I went straight to find Fores.

Next to the dwarves, if you serve Flora, the goddess of nature, it will help you find the ore vein.

“I’m sorry. I’m busy right now, so it might be difficult.”

“This kind of thing.”

I tried to take Fores with me, but he was already busy with the work I had given him.

“Then I have to go alone.”

“Huh? Where are you going, oppa?”

Clea, who smelled something new, wandered around me.

“It won’t work this time, so go back.”

“Hing.”

Unlike before, because of the red giant ants, it was now a dangerous place and I couldn’t take a child with a mental disorder like Claria.

‘Even if he can’t fight, it’s okay if he’s someone who can move quickly in the era.’

“Xian, is it time now?”

Petra came to me as I was thinking deeply.

She came to check the item that was made according to the design.

“Is this how you make it?”

“Well made.”

“But what if we change it like this?”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Petra added some good ideas here and there to help improve the completeness.

While talking to her like that, something occurred to me.

“Petra, Tom, are you good at minerals?”

“I think I know a little bit. He said he even used a pickaxe.”

“Really? Okay, I guess I’ll take Tom with me this time.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To go to the Dark Forest Tunnel.”

“Isn’t it dangerous there? That old man would absolutely hate to go there.”

“I wonder? Come to think of it, Tom avoided going to the Dark Forest.”

Tom has always been reluctant to enter the Dark Forest.

Well, most people in the village of Rugeron disliked entering the Dark Forest, but outsiders were just as averse.

“I heard from my mom a long time ago that she and her friends went into the Dark Forest to get drunk and met a giant boar there.”

“Oh really? Thank goodness you’re okay. It wouldn’t have been strange if one leg was broken.”

“I barely managed to avoid the monster by going into a puddle of monster feces nearby. Since then, I’ve been scared whenever I see the Dark Forest.”

“Oh, that’s a Tom Down story.”

Certainly, if something like that happened, I would probably avoid the Dark Forest too.

“Cyan, are you going to the Dark Forest for the minerals?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to get Heukcheol. But if Tom doesn’t want to go, should I take the village chief with me? I can’t make an old man suffer. ”

“Then I’ll go.”

“You?”

“Why? Is there something I shouldn’t follow?”

“That’s not it… ”

When I felt burdened, Petra’s expression hardened.

“Is it uncomfortable for me to follow you? Are you afraid I will be a burden?”

“That doesn’t matter, but getting to the Dark Forest isn’t as easy as you might think.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m an adult now by the standards of the Holy Kingdom. I’m responsible for my own body. ”

“Already? Time flies.”

Before I became a lord, the age of adulthood in the village of Rugeron was 17. This was a custom unique to the West where remnants of the old kingdom still remained.

But since I became a lord, I had to follow the laws of the Holy Kingdom. Well, it was a problem that not everyone could easily accept yet, but it was a problem that would be solved with time.

‘Cleaner is not happy.’

Clea, who is now 17 years old, would have been married and had children in the village of Ruggeron, but thanks to me, she was able to play for two more years.

There is a reason why Clara, the eldest daughter, hates Clea, the youngest daughter.

“As a master craftsman, I want to see the black iron in person. It will definitely be educational.”

“Do you have the spirit of a craftsman too?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, there is something like that. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s bland.”

I was so amazed by the craftsmanship shown by Felichel.

It is questionable whether the madness of burning one’s own body with the obsession to create a purely titanic stone can be considered a master craftsman’s spirit.

“Then, Petra, get permission from Tom before you go.”

“Huh? I’m an adult too, and you want permission from an old man?”

“Because it’s a dangerous place to go.”

“Okay… Okay.

Petra was initially reluctant to accept my suggestion, but nodded when I told her it was dangerous. Then she went to find her father.

“Dad, I have something to say.”

“Petra? What are you doing instead of working?”

“I’m done.”

“Do you need another job? Go to Mr. Forest over there. He’s short-staffed right now and having a hard time. ”

“I didn’t come here because of work. It’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to enter the dark forest.”

“What? Even if dirt gets in my eyes, that won’t do! I’d rather not see my grandchildren, so don’t go into the dark forest!”

“I’m going with Si-an.”

“With Cyan? You should have told me that earlier. Go now.”

“I gave you permission. Don’t say anything else later.”

“If it’s Xi’an, you can trust it. Oh, and while you’re at it, visit your dad’s friend’s grave instead of your dad’s. ”

“…Dad did that.”

Another strange task has arisen, but fortunately Petra is able to obtain Tom’s permission.

“Xian, let’s go quickly.”

“I got everything you need.”

“I got it. How long are you going to treat me like a kid?”

Petra, who used to beat my back like crazy, was like a childhood friend.

“Ha, I see. But you should listen to me carefully?”

“Of course. You’re not so thoughtless as to meddle in other people’s business.”

Petra, who had been fighting and bickering with her father, Tom, since she was little, followed my instructions well, as she had a strong sense of humor.

I wish Clia was half as pretty as Petra.

“This is the entrance to the underground tunnel.”

“Is your black neck broken?”

“White giant ants suck the sap of black-necked ants.”

“The durability unique to black wood has weakened.”

“That’s right. Instead, it can be used as firewood.”

“Do you always get your ingredients like this?”

“It’s not that great, but the northern tribesmen domesticate monsters.”

I too would like to tame monsters and use them to my advantage if possible, but the reality is that it was all up to the mother and daughter of Changgwi.

The other guinea pigs also had to be trained, but they were picky eaters and made no progress.

“Cyan, what is that?”

Petra asked about many things like a curious and gifted boy. She was especially interested in minerals, as she was afraid that someone might say that she was the daughter of a blacksmith.

“That’s a green lapis lazuli. It’s a gem.”

“Then what’s shining in this puddle?”

“It’s gold.”

“Gold?”

“But it’s worse than having nothing because there are a lot of impurities.”

“Cheet.”

Then there were things I saw for the first time.

“What is this obsidian-like thing?”

“This is… I’m seeing this for the first time too?”

In the tunnel that I came to visit as if I had been drinking, there was an unfamiliar mineral nestled in the tunnel.

The blacksmith Petra said it looked like obsidian, but to me it looked like a smooth black pearl.

“Heavy, heavier than steel.”

“I can’t see the knot.”

“There’s no scratch on the hammer!”

After observing the strange mineral closely, Petra came to a conclusion.

“Hmm… Cyan, isn’t this the same mineral as part of the window you were assigned to work on? ”

“Then, is this black iron?”

“I’m not sure, but other than that, I can’t think of any other minerals.”

Since Petra’s words made sense to some extent, I immediately used the mineral analyzer that Felichel had given me.

“If the color doesn’t change, it’s black iron.”

I waited for about a few minutes, but the color did not change.

“This is really black iron.”

“What do you think? Am I right?”

“I’m surprised. Even pure black iron exists naturally.”

Felichel gave me a mineral analyzer and gave me a request.

Heukseol is a mineral with a lot of impurities, so you have to spray the reagent several times to check.

However, the black mineral in front of my eyes was confirmed to be just a single drop.

“Petra, we have another job to do.”

“What are you trying to do now?”

“We need to figure out why high-purity black iron comes out.”

According to Felichel, the only dwarf family that knows how to smelt black iron is the Sun Furnace family.

It was a family secret technology that was kept strictly secret. So the cost was not small.

‘I understand that it is a technique to feed the family, but it is too expensive.’

On the other hand, if you can naturally obtain pure black iron, not only will you reduce the cost of building the temple, but if you do well, you will also create an export product for the village of Rugeron.

“We must attack the underground tunnels now. Petra, don’t even think about sleeping tonight. The fate of the village depends on it. ”

“Ugh, I feel like I followed you for no reason, but if I think about it as studying, I’ll try my best.”

So, Petra and I began to explore the underground tunnels in earnest.