“I see…Sorry for that. I didn’t mean to call you like those damn fire-slinger,” the half-masked man apologized after I explained everything to him; about my nonexistent service to the church of Aurena, my dislike for Shiterno, and also the fact he summoned a giant toad which horrified me. “Talon. Adventurer. Dungeon Guide. Treasure Hunter. If you have the Davi, I can get you through the dungeon safely for the first couple of floors.”
“You’re a treasure hunter?” I tilted my head.
“The dungeon spawns loot boxes and random treasure. I find and then hand them over to clients, for a price. Dark elemental magic is useful for this job, but my empty vessel magic is better suited,” Talon stated, prompting me to remember what he did back in the dungeon.
“Would that be the floating toad and the mirror-like wall you created?” Ellaine asked. Our whole party was sitting at the same table with Talon right now, listening to what he had to say.
“[Illusion Magic]. Despite being a compound element of light and dark, you cannot acquire it by increasing both skills to level 10, but are required to learn it from a practitioner or through instructions. As it’s my empty vessel skill, I would prefer it if you didn’t ask for further details,” Talon said in a deadpan voice. “However, sorry for opening an old wound. I didn’t know toads or frogs would cause that reaction from you. Traumas are hard to learn before I use my spells, but I rather not cause others that much fear.”
He sounded rude but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy. Well, he did mention that he wanted to swipe the treasure chest away from under our noses so I don’t know if I could call him selfless or something. It was his job to acquire chests for his clients, but it didn’t mean I should like it as I was a victim of his illusions.
While he was speaking, I began to feel more curious about his half-mask as it was covering the entire right side of his face. The moment he noticed my stare, I apologized to him since staring was kinda rude of me. “And just leave it be. You have your own issues, I do, too. Now, if you four aren’t here to hire me for my spells, then I would suggest you leave. I would like to eat in peace.”
Talon began to eat the moment he said that, ignoring us as if we’ve already left. Rude as it was, he had no reason to stay polite after the misunderstanding was resolved. Still, I had some questions for him, “Do you know any good blacksmiths in the city?”
“I’m not an information broker.”
He was being stubborn but I kept speaking, “I know, but you should have been in Cedaraille longer than us, right? As an adventurer wouldn’t you know any competent blacksmiths in the area?”
“I’m a mage. For my gear, I visit the alchemy guild, the tailor guild, and the mage’s guild. If you want information on blacksmiths, ask the blacksmith guild,” was Talon’s answer. It honestly didn’t look like he wanted to speak at all, so I had to give up entirely.
Jeez, does he really hate white robes that much, or is it ‘cause he doesn’t trust my word that I wasn’t a Danterno follower? Shiterno, you inconvenienced us once again!
After asking a bit more inside the hunter’s guild for information on a blacksmith, we returned to our lodging, deciding to postpone our trip until tomorrow. Once we were back at the inn, Ellaine let out a sigh and complained about what had happened today, “There were quite a lot of rude and insensitive people today, even if you ignored those who boldly showed their lecherous gazes at us. I never expected all these commoners to show their true feelings so publicly.”
Including Talon, there were quite a lot of hunters and mercenaries who didn’t care much about what we wanted to ask, shooing us away if they were preoccupied with something else, either talking with their own party or enjoying their lunch break. Of course, some were helpful and gave us some tips, including the guild staff, but there were also cases of creeps and perverts.
I raised a brow when she said this, remembering the tea party we attended in Firwood, “I presume nobles are less conspicuous about it? Hiding everything behind a mask like when we first met, Ellaine? The Chezaic twin’s tea party demonstrated that there are plenty of rude people even in high society. I should know, I had to experience them on Earth, too, at my school.”
Saori concurred, “Wealth and influence alone do not make a better man or woman in any society, it is the values they learn from birth into adulthood that comprise their personality and conduct. Despite the advantages of being born into wealthy families, some students at the school I worked at would behave less than acceptably. On the other hand, those with fewer opportunities can turn out good through their humble beginnings. People can end up rough around the edges either way, though, although the latter group probably knows how to hide it better.”
“I see…you two experienced your aristocrat-like society on Earth in different ways, yes? As you would expect, learning how to hide your true feelings and motives is something I learned very early on from my mother. Saori would be a perfect fit with her stoic exterior, but Hestia would be too emotional to handle putting on a mask.” She wasn’t wrong, I’m still impulsive even after all Manuela taught me how to act more like a lady. “I know that not all commoners are as rude as those adventurers we met. Josine is the perfect example for this, and the other servants also were very kind. Still, seeing them all act like that was not pleasant for me.”
“That is why you should start learning how to chill out more, Ellaine. This is the life we have to handle regardless of whether we like some of the people or not,” I shrugged, displaying how indifferent she should act when some people annoy her. Defending yourself when somebody wrongs you is fine, but acting on every single provocation or mistake will just tire you out.
“Chill out?” Ellaine gave me a look of confusion.
“Yeah. Try not to let everything trigger you since the world won’t change to fit your ideal in this case.” With that discussion down, I took out some of Ellaine’s belongings and a small orb from my storage. “Here you go, your artificer equipment and also the [Season Regulator]. We’ll probably make the innkeeper angry if we make too much of a mess so please be careful while you handle them, Ellaine.”
“Of course, Hestia.”
Sitting at a table in one of our rooms, Ellaine first put on a thin glove with sharp metal claws and a rune on the palm side. As she was checking if it was properly on her left hand, I asked her what the glove was. “This is a Mana Breaker Glove. They allow artificers to grab manatech safely by protecting their hands from arcane corruption. As you should know, Hestia, arcane corruption is caused by mana which attacks our bodies like a toxin if the concentration is too high.”
In simple terms, arcane corruption was like CO2, a leftover after your body uses oxygen. CO2 was toxic to the body but it would be expelled from the body through the respiratory system where we breathe it out. Arcane corruption was similar, where our body removes mana from our body through mana paths before it starts to affect our body, however, since magicians used magic like crazy, building that stuff up inside our body was quite easy. Other than medicinal herbs like fulinoe leaves or spells like [Sacred Veil], which reduced the creation of arcane corruption outright, only the skill [Arcane Corruption Resistance] could increase our tolerance for it, delaying any harmful side effects and the status ailment [Arcane Corruption].
Ellaine continued, “This same principle happens with manatech. The glove is for my protection as I hold onto the item, as a manatech’s mana battery can radiate arcane corruption and accumulate it into our bodies through touch. I am not sure why it only happens with manatech and not other magic tools, but mother mentioned it is due to materials used to make a battery.”
“Marianne doesn’t know?” I repeated.
“My mother is at best a journeyman-level artificer, capable enough to save our house money by repairing our manatech but not proficient enough to create new inventions out of thin air. She is not the most knowledgable in this field,” Ellaine explained. “Regardless, the most important fact is that I can protect myself while adjusting this [Season Regulator].”
The glove had eoriant claws designed like sharp spikes to hold onto the manetech as comfortably as possible, which causes the mana to collect in the claws and pass back into the item in a perpetual circle, preventing the eoriant claws from overloading with mana and the manatech from releasing any arcane corruption from inside it.
The rune on the palm side was a rune of magic protection, meant to be used as a circuit breaker. If a mana related issue were to happen, the rune would protect the artificer’s hand, although it had to be reapplied every time it was used up.
Ellaine’s second artificer tool was a wand she called [Tinkerer’s Wand]. It was essentially a mage’s staff with an alchemical stone at the tip, the only difference was its specialization in artificer work. It was entirely useless for helping a mage cast spells and was barely a self-defense tool.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t made to cast spells but to repair and invent. Using her mana, the wand was able to release a small spark of mana or act as a magnet for mana-filled wires or components to drag them around. She was even able to refill mana batteries with mana using her wand without having to remove it or replace it.
“What are the goggles for?” I question the last item of her equipment.
“Obviously, to protect my eyes,” Ellaine answered nonchalantly.
“That’s it? Nothing fancy like being able to look at mana paths or so?”
Ellaine’s expression turned into an “ahh” with a gaping mouth. “That would be a [Monocle of Mana Sight]. Mother has one but I do not. She mentioned buying one for me before I joined Aurora but, well, I guess I’ll have to pick it up at Griffonpeak now. Anyway, let us start.”
Ellaine’s ability as an artificer was still beginner level, demonstrated by her [Artificer Lv. 1] skill. While I accepted Ellaine simply ‘cause she was a friend and wanted to join us — the more the merrier for me — she was also an able financial and fief manager trained by her noble parents with some ability in enchanting and magic tinkering. She wasn’t confident in her enchanting abilities and mentioned she needed more practice, but she was good enough as an artificer to repair whole manatechs, which included the [Season Regulator] she brought with her, our IDs, and our party bracelets.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The [Season Regulator] was a device that created a bubble in which it controlled and regulated the temperature to match its settings. Since our party managed a garden to grow products like fragassa and fulinoe leaves, being able to manage the temperature for them was essential for them to grow, as the humidity could be controlled with Tasianna’s water magic. This was the same manatech the nobles used to control the environment in and around their homes, preventing rain and snow from ruining their perfect gardens.
This [Season Regulator] wasn’t broken but its mana battery was almost drained. Additionally, Ellaine wanted to tweak a few functions to better fit our usage of it as a temperature regulator for our garden, since the bubble created by it could overflow into a room next to ours. We didn’t want to inconvenience others.
“According to mother’s instructions, this wire here and here are responsible for mana conduction. I can adjust these wires here to shrink the temperature bubble, and I believe the mana battery is hidden over here.” After opening a hatch under the ball, the inside of the manatech was revealed, showing wires and components I couldn’t name at all. Before Ellaine began working, she read through the instructions her mother wrote on parchment, identifying the intricacies and inscribing these details into her memory. As I said, she was still not experienced enough so she was taking it slow.
She grabbed the ball with her glove’s claws and held it up to look into the inside. I cast [Shine] to create a lamplight for Ellaine to better see by, while Tasianna constructed an [Air Shield] around her for additional protection in case she messed something up and the manatech exploded. She warned us of it, so it could be a possibility if she was that nervous about it.
Since Tasianna’s catalyst was blessed by Zephira herself, Tasianna’s [Air Shield] was stronger than mine and was able to allow oxygen into the shield, unlike mine. Even with [Aerokinesis], opening small holes into the shield would render it fragile and weak, although, it allowed oxygen in and sound to come out and in.
Anxious she would make a mistake, Ellaine worked slowly, unlike her mother when she repaired Tasianna’s catalyst. It was as if time slowed down for her as even managing the wires was done at a snail’s pace. Saori, Tasianna, and I weren’t bored by it though, since this was our first time watching somebody tinker with a manatech as much as Ellaine.
She was our party’s artificer now, responsible for repairing our manatech and maybe creating some of her own creations in the future. As friends, the very least we could do was to watch and support her as much as possible.
I’m not part of the “PC Master Race” team but I heard those who built their own PC for the first time would be extremely nervous, since the parts were expensive and hard to get by. The good stuff, I heard. Maybe this is what Ellaine is feeling?
After what felt like an hour, Ellaine finished rearranging the wires and refilling the manatech with her mana. She closed the hatch and handed it over to Tasianna, asking her to test it out. We took our garden out and placed it next to the window, prompting Tasianna to fiddle with the regulator as she always did at Ellaine’s home in Firwood.
Pressing a button, a translucent field was emitted by the ball before turning transparent at the edge of the room. Since the bubble could only form as an oval or ball, the field seemed to overlap into the walls and floor of the room but not enough to enter our neighbors’. It was a success!
Ellaine let out a sigh in relief, happy that she didn’t ruin anything, while the rest of us patted her on the back for a job well done. After setting up our garden and harvesting any ready product, we had lunch and decided to rest for the rest of the day. Saori and Tasianna left our rented room to sightsee the city a bit, to find where the local guilds were, leaving Ellaine and me behind.
I look out of the window, noticing a couple of signals on my [Detection Sensor] which have been stationary since we arrived in the inn. You know, since people walk around all the time and wouldn’t stay in one spot for an extended period outside of sleeping, it made me quite suspicious. Whether I was right or not really didn’t matter, honestly, since nobody would care if I was wrong.
I opened up the window, looked in the direction of the signals and waved at them. I even stuck my tongue out as if I was mocking them. After smiling smugly for a couple of seconds, all these stagnant signals began to move for the first time ever. How funny.
“Hestia?” Ellaine questioned me with a worried face, looking at me as if I’ve gone crazy.
Oops, she doesn’t have [Detection Sensor] yet. Oopsie~
“Spies,” was what I needed to say as Ellaine immediately caught onto the meaning and said “oooohhh.”
“If they were the same spies Uno found, meaning they belonged to Duke Greenveil, then they should be aware of Saori’s tracking abilities, right?”
Ellaine nodded but continued to explain the situation from a noble’s perspective, “While being detected is a failure on the spies’ side which could hurt Lord Duke Greenveil’s reputation if it were to be found out — a powerful noble must have competent retainers. I would say not keeping reconnaissance on a mighty dragonewt like you, Lady Hestia, would be more detrimental.”
“How so? He should know from reports that I’m rather peaceful. Spying on where we go is something I can understand but sitting around, looking at us eat or sleep is a bit annoying, in my opinion,” I replied.
Ellaine nodded once again, understanding what I meant but her own view on the situation gave me more insight into how Duke Greenveil thought, “While in Firwood, House Helvas and I kept watch over your actions. We were essentially House Sirius’s ‘spies’ in this case. You must be more aware of how venerable your status is, Lady Hestia, and how much of a force you are as a magician, not to mention your true lineage. Especially after you explained to me what you told Sir Farron, the kingdom’s priority should be to take care of your safety, otherwise, we will experience dragon fire, ehehehe.” Her laughter was filled with dread. I could understand, having my dragon mother swoop in would be bad news. I hope Farron got somebody to send a message to Kargryx before it becomes worse.
As I was thinking of that, an annoying feeling suddenly appeared. I didn’t want to consider it but being around nobles had made me a bit too wary of their kind. “Ellaine, can I ask you a serious question?”
“Of course.”
I then created an [Air Shield] around us to stop eavesdropping, “Then, it is time for me to be more truthful. Ellaine, this happened before you officially joined and concerns the grimgarian army. Saori, Tasianna, and I have unanimously decided to not interfere with the impending war.”
“W-What?” she stumbled in surprise.
“We three aren’t strong enough yet and we don’t know if we can become strong enough whenever the army attacks. After fighting against that lone B rank High Ogre, I do not think Aurora should participate in a war we aren’t affiliated with…until you actually joined. I wanted to inform you this when we met again in Griffonpeak but you suddenly joining, well, I couldn’t find the moment to tell you about it,” I forced myself to say all of that, waiting for Ellaine to speak up. “Well…I’m telling you this since I trust you. I trust you as a friend. Not as your liege or something else. Saori and the garms have been guarding us against spies and you kept your promise of not leaking the information on my dragon mother.”
Nobles were crafty and with the resources they had; they could do whatever they wanted, really. Theodore was able to craft a whole string of rumors to help Ellaine and me during the Chezaic tea party while also getting the evidence to incarcerate House Chezaic. They proved themselves competent, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they somehow talked Ellaine or House Helvas into informing them about everything, even the stuff Ellaine learned after she joined us.
However, she didn’t. No external contact during our travels nor when we reached Cedaraille. Sure, there was the chance that she could do this later on but that would be paranoid at that point.
“Uhm, well, what I want to say is what would you like to do, Ellaine? You are a member now so we have to take your opinion seriously. If the grimgarians were to attack the Kingdom of Artorias, what would you do?”
However, unexpectedly, Ellaine’s firmed up and she kneeled down, speaking clearly, “Lady Hestia, I have sworn my fealty to you and only you. While it would pain me to see my kingdom attacked while I stay out of it, it isn’t as if my participation will help anybody. I know my limits, I know I am too weak to be even a fraction of a factor in any war. However, I cannot force you, Miss Saori, or Miss Tasianna to risk your lives for my kingdom. As a friend, I couldn’t do that. In the first place, I don’t think of myself as somebody special enough to decide on such an important decision.”
I was surprised to hear her downplay herself this much before me. What am I doing?!
“Until the day I met you, I had only lived by the rules and decisions of my parents and brother. The failure of a noble that I am did not deserve to decide on what I wanted to do…and even after all that I learned from you, I don’t think I do now.”
“But you rebelled against your mother to join us earlier. If you ask me, that was a significant decision to change your life around,” I argued.
“Well, I guess allowing myself to be selfish for a moment was nice…but if I hadn’t experienced your stubbornness nor your will to be free, I wouldn’t have dared to do so. But, enough of that, Lady Hestia, my decision to your question is that I will follow yours. However, I do so hope that you could change your mind one day, Lady Hestia. As you said, I love my kingdom.”
Why are serious talks always this serious? So annoying…
After calming down, I changed the subject to Ellaine’s magical training. It was something to help both of us get our minds away from the heavy topic of before. Fortunately, it actually helped as Ellaine finally mastered the last of the four advanced casting methods — [Delayed Cast]. We cheered together as the talk we had just disappeared into the evening. Once Saori and Tasianna came back, we had dinner and then went to sleep on a very large bed suited for five people to sleep on. Our inn was decent, but it wasn’t the most expensive one in town — the House Helvas mansion in this city was.
Once morning came, we visited the blacksmith guild, asking them for any competent blacksmiths who could fulfill our orders. Similar to the other guilds, well-groomed men and women manned the reception despite the number of sweaty, muscled men in their late thirties who were waiting in a line.
Once our chance came, Saori asked the beastman receptionist, “A blacksmith who can work with dragonewt scales? Yours, I presume, Lady Priestess?”
I nodded. “That would be correct, Sir. My scales are quite thick and resistant to fire so it should be somebody who is used to high temperatures. Maybe a dwarf?”
However, instead of the receptionist, a man from the line suddenly started laughing boisterously, “Hahaha! The only dwarf in the city is somebody who is abandoned by Bleidla! Imagine that, a dwarven blacksmith abandoned by his racial god! What a jest! Lady Priestess, if you need armor or weapons, come over to the ‘Tunging Hammer!’ My master will serve you well!”
“Ahh, shut it, Marcel! Trying to hype everything up when you’re only an apprentice handling errands. My Lady Priestess, come over to the ‘Iron Crevasse’ for all your equipment needs! We’ve worked with C rank monster materials before, and I can bet you we will turn your scales into the prettiest thing ever!”
My scales are B ranked...and are from a fire dragon. You need some hardcore fire to melt that.
As the guildhall became so loud it was hard to hear anybody, the receptionist quickly gave us a list of the most renowned blacksmiths in the city including the one dwarf they had mentioned before. Since I still had a good experience with Kraftja and Ogni, including their token of respect, I decided to visit the dwarf blacksmith first before scouring the others.
Saori handed me some of our party’s funds, mentioning that she wanted to visit this merchant corporation Zeather mentioned. As Ellaine would be responsible for our future dealings, she was to accompany her while Tasianna would come with me in case I needed to know about some dwarven custom.
Strangely, the address wasn’t in the middle district, it actually was in the slums! You could imagine our surprise when a respectable dwarven blacksmith would be relegated to the backdrop of the city. Merchants and adventurers rarely visited the slums if it wasn’t their home already, so how could the dwarf pay for anything if the clientele was so meager?
But then I realized how shallow my thinking was. It doesn’t matter if you only received a few customers when all of them are high-paying ones! Similar to how Kraftja and Ogni handled their store. Highest prices among the blacksmiths and also the least popular location in the middle district, but regulars came regardless.
That has to be it!
However, what we saw wasn’t a cool-looking shop but some weird caravan that looked like some recreational vehicle, an RV. There wasn’t even a sign to tell people this was a shop and even Tasianna and I would have been confused by it were it not for the receptionist’s instructions.
We knocked on the door, waited for the moment until somebody’s quaking footsteps approached us. The wide door opened up and a very familiar face appeared before us again.
“What in Crustacia’s name are you waking me up in the fucking morning?! Bladdarg! Who the hell are you?”
It’s the taz.