“The pagan peoples of Skanemark have long rejected His word and still refuse to embrace the True Faith. The Northern Crusade, led by the forces of the March of Ulm, succeeded in establishing a foothold in southern Skanemark 20 years prior, yet much work remains to be done, as heathen power still reigns supreme outside of our fortified strongholds.” -Excerpt from a letter by Reverend Morbau, Year 830 of His Mercy
“What do you mean there’s not enough iron?”
Li frowned as he stared at Blacksmith Jarnhard, who looked back sheepishly.
“Sorry, we usually don’t stock too much extra material here in the winter months. We’re a small village after all. Most of my work consists of repairing broken tools. There aren’t many of those in winter, since everybody’s holed up inside,” he said, spreading his hands in apology.
Li glanced back at Helga and Albrecht, who were still sitting by the fire. Their idle discussion had been interrupted by a knocking on the door – a knocking that, it turned out, was Blacksmith Jarnhard bearing ill news.
“It can’t be helped, I suppose,” he sighed. “When will the peddlers start bringing metal?”
Although peddlers still arrived during the winter months on sleds, they were fewer in number and generally only brought lighter goods consumed more during the winter, such as candles and meat jerky. Metals, such as copper and iron, would only start appearing after the harvest and before the spring sowing of rye. Like Jarnhard said, this was due to the lack of demand for such materials before tools started breaking and wearing down during ploughing.
“Usually, about a week or two after we finish the harvest?” Jarnhard replied. Although harvesting tools did wear out somewhat, especially the sickles used to reap the grain, they generally weren’t damaged enough to require reforging. Simply sharpening them with a whetstone was usually sufficient.
“Is that enough time to finish forging before the sowing starts?” Jarnhard pursed his lips. “I don’t think so. The thing is, I have my own fields to take care of as well, since I can’t really make a living solely off blacksmithing – there’s not enough business here in the village.”
Being a small village of about 200, the demand for metalworking in Skeirheim was much lower compared to larger towns and cities. In fact, Li sometimes wondered what a blacksmith like Jarnhard was doing in a small farming village, and not running his own workshop somewhere more populated.
“Oi, are you guys done talking yet? I want to go hunting already.” Their conversation was interrupted by Albrecht, stretching his arms like a great blonde cat. Helga was resting her head on her palm, a bored expression on her face.
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Li sighed again. Turning back to Jarnhard, he pondered for a moment before speaking. “I guess I’ll pay a visit to the nearest town. There are quite a few things I want to make, so I’m going to need a rather large quantity of metal anyway.”
Nodding, Jarnhard turned to leave. Pushing open the door, he looked over his shoulder. “If there’s anything else you want me to make, you know where I live.” Li waved in response as Jarnhard trudged into the thick layer of snow outside, the afternoon sun reflecting off its white surface.
Indeed, the seed drill was only the first of many agricultural implements he wished to introduce. Sickles, more ergonomic than the scythes the villagers currently used. Improved irrigation systems and pumps, to help improve crop yields. And a water mill – although Li wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the people of this world didn’t know how to build water mills, it did seem that there was nobody in the village who possessed the knowledge to build one. As an engineer, Li naturally felt he had the skills to do so.
Finally getting up from his comfy position near the fire, Albrecht walked over to Li and clapped him on the shoulder. “You joining us?” he grinned. “You bet,” Li replied, smiling. Although he was physically much weaker than even Helga, he still found his time hunting with them enjoyable. Besides, shooting a crossbow didn’t exactly require much physical strength, although the fact that he needed Albrecht to load his crossbow for him was a source of constant teasing.
Grabbing the two crossbows and hunting knives from a chest in the living room, the trio set out for the woods. From what Li understood, the crossbow and knife he used had belonged to Albrecht’s father. Being an item of such sentimental value, he naturally treated it better than he did himself, wincing every time he accidentally knocked it against a tree, much to Albrecht and Helga’s amusement.
As they waded through the knee-deep snow deeper into the forest, the familiar scenery of the village disappeared to be replaced by seemingly identical trees. The gentle sploshing of the river melted away, with the only sound being the crunch-crunch of snow beneath their feet. How the other two managed to not get lost was a mystery Li had yet to solve. When he asked them about it, they simply smiled, saying that he “would learn eventually.”
Walking past what Li thought was the same tree for the nth time, Albrecht broke the silence. “So you plan on heading to Malholm? You’ll probably need to take the sled.”
Li looked at him quizzically. “Malholm? What’s that?”
“It’s the town closest to Skeirheim.” Albrecht scratched his nose. “You said you needed metal to make that weird contraption of yours, right?”
“Ah,” Li replied. “Yeah, I’ll need to pay a visit there, since Skeirheim doesn’t seem to have much in the way of metals.”
Grunting as he vaulted over a fallen log, Albrecht extended a hand to Helga, helping her over. “I see. In that case, I’ll join you. You’ll need someone to show you the way, not to mention if you went alone, I could see you getting robbed on the way, considering how weak you are,” he said, pulling Li over as well.
“Really? That would be really helpful!” Li smiled.
“You’ll also need enough food, which is why if you want to go, then we’ll probably want to find out where this deer went”, Albrecht said, gesturing to a set of deer tracks they had just come across.