Proofread: CBRRacer

“Hah”, I let out an audible sigh and yet no one around me seemed to notice, ‘Why did it end up like this?’ was the thought that was flying around in my mind.

Uwaah! Aren’t you getting a little too ‘human like’? And what’s with the looking down on me kind of personality? Sensei, give this host some respect, please.

At this point, you might be wondering why am I complaining so much, right? For that let’s go back in time, a few hours.

~~ flashback starts. ~~

After the iron ore and magic flame incident, I who was welcomed as a resident of this small village was allocated a mud house to live in. Wondering if it was okay to lend somebody else’s house to me, I decided to ask the grandma about it. She started hitting me on my shoulder and with a laugh replied,

“It's fine, it’s fine. The owners of that house left for the city a long time ago. You don't need to worry about those things, nobody is going to drive you out of there. We have tidied up the place a little and made all the necessary arrangements to make it sure that is fit to use. Just take it as a sign of gratitude from us.”

And just like she told me, I turned that mud house into my own personal abode. When evening arrived, I was invited to a banquet. When I asked the reason for one, I was told that they wanted to celebrate the discovery of the mine and also wanted to welcome to the village, which was kind of touching to me. Utilizing the situation, I asked those who had come to invite me the reason for them being so happy about the mine? I mean, even if iron ore deposit is a really good thing, I don’t think it is something to feel so overjoyed about that the entire village would dance and sing throughout the way back to the village from the swamp. Perhaps, being an earthling who had all sorts of services and luxuries, I am unable to connect with these people.  

But the onee-san who came to invite just replied with a beautiful smile and just walked away without saying anything else. Needless to say, I attended the banquet.

Even if say ‘banquet’, it wasn't some fancy or anything. The food wasn't anything close to being delicacies or even luxurious. It was just plain bread and some smoked meat. Not that I am complaining about their hospitality, I just don't want you guys to think of it as some big feast or something.

Anyway, the first to be served with the bread and meat was me. I couldn't refuse since they insisted with happy faces that I should be the one to receive the food first. Once the food was served for all, the people sat down on the ground and began to enjoy their dinner. Some of the onee-sans approached me and once again began to thank me profusely. But none of them told me why I deserved such kind treatment and their heartfelt gratitude. Being talked to by so many onee-sans at the same time was, to be honest, a tiring and a little scary too. All I could say to anyone of them was, ‘It’s Ok, It’s Ok’ before another onee-san took over and started her ‘thank you’ gestures. Sigh! Such a pity.

It took a considerable amount of time as well as effort from me before the ladies realized that I wasn't eating the food at all. Realizing that they were keeping away from my food, the ladies smiled embarrassingly and dispersed. Only then was I really able to relax and eat. When I was half was done with my food, my eyes fell on Euthe-kun, who was sitting not far to my right. On his hands were the same bread and meat as mine, which he seemed to eat solemnly, with no signs of joy frenzy as the others.

I decided to use the opportunity to strike a conversation and approached the youth. When he saw me coming, he looked at me and nodded slightly. I passed a smile and then tried to sit beside him wanting to strike a conversation.

“Mind if I sit here?”, with a casual tone not wanting to sound over friendly.

“No, I don’t”, came a short reply. Even Though I had smiled at him in courtesy, his face remained serious which for a moment made me feel a little embarrassed.

“Hello! I am Kasukabe Soma! You can call me Soma.” I made a short introduction.

Euthe-kun once again nodded at me and introduced himself as just “Euthe”.

“So why are you the only one serious? The rest are all are really merry”

And then he made a wry smile which made me think, ‘ah! So you can smile after all’.  

“The island of Arudiria has no king, there are just factions that rule various parts of the island. The entire island is divided into 7 duchies. And each of these self-proclaimed dukes owns a part of the island. Every one of these duchies has things that only specialize in. Some have wide varieties of mines, other have better craftsmen and so on. All of these duchies are really prosperous, to the point that the dukes bathe in gold. Yet due to their greed, the dukes want to expand their domain and so every now and then, a war breaks out between the factions. And when war breaks out, the first the Duke does is impose heavy taxes on his people.”

He then paused for a second and then looked at the other that were merrily celebrating. “Those who do not meet the quota given to them are forced to work as mercenaries under the faction leaders’ command. When wars broke out, these people are summoned by the Duke to form a militia and have to fight in the war for the Duke. Since we couldn't meet the quota, all the men of the village are now mercenaries, in the war that is going on now between our Rayhaven faction and Noredge faction. So until the war ends none of the men can return and nobody knows how long will the war this time will last or how many will even come back once it is over.”

Seeing my confused look, Euthe-kun smiled and continued, “With the new iron ore deposit, it’s possible to meet the tax quota and free the men from the chains of war. At least till the iron ore deposits are eaten up.”

Surprised at the news and little happy too, I smiled as I watched the energetic bunch of people.

“But”, Euthe suddenly continued but with a really heavy voice, “to produce enough iron ore to free everybody all by myself isn't possible. I am the only one in this village who can smelt iron, and even if I work all day and night, I will need a month’s time to produce enough ore to cover the share of every soul this village. And so I have to prioritize whom to free first and I just can't decide how to make such a heavy choice.” and he made a self-ridiculing smile.

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‘Hmm! Sensei! Seems like that magic flame has some serious limitations as well as some hidden dangers. So it’s not all powerful like I thought’

Was what sensei’s opinion was. I wanted to talk more about it, but with Euthe next to me, I couldn't. It was not because he might hear it or anything, I just can't hold two conversations at the same time, nobody can.

“Why don’t you just make some furnaces and work on it at the same time?” After listening to what he had to say, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

“And what exactly is a Fu-rhu-neez?”, Euthe asked with a blank expression. His eyes showed me that he genuinely had no idea what a furnace was.

“What? You don’t know what a furnace is? You don't mean to tell that you have always been using that magic flame just like when you used it on the red stone?”, I was under the impression that earlier when he was heating the red stone, he was doing it like that only because the village was far away from the swamp and hence he couldn't use his tools. But that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.

“Yes. Isn’t that the norm after all? I don’t think there exist a blacksmith that uses this furnace thing you speak of”

Fumu! Interesting. So that means it’s a world that hasn’t technologically advanced. Magic plays a higher role than science. Or at least science hasn’t progressed enough to make use of magic as a foundation for inventions. Now, why am I feeling a sense of motivation suddenly?

‘Sensei, is there any information about simple furnaces to smelt bog iron?’

‘Bloomery?’

‘Hmm! Don't you think that this bloomery is already a huge step forward for a village like this? I admit that I don't know shit about blacksmithing and iron smelting, but I don't think the quality of the end product would be something that bad. Even if it is, Euthe-kun can still use the flame to smelt it so there is nothing to lose. We will just consider it as a failed experiment if things go south. And since the fuel for the fire is charcoal rather than the magic flame, I believe the others can lend a hand to Euthe-kun to speed up the process.’

‘As expected of sensei, you sure have a solution of all kind of problems. An air compressor huh? Indeed, with his earth magic, making a cylinder and a simple piston seems feasible. Then put a few holes in the cylinder to let the air enter as well as exit and some earth corks to seal the holes, should do the trick. Excellent!’

‘Guffu! That’s rude sensei. Don't take me for a stupid sensei! Even if I don't look like it, I used to be one of the smart guys back in my school’

As I mentally complained to the annoying teacher, I explained the concept of the furnace and air compressor to the youth who was staring at the ground with a depressed attitude.

In the beginning, he stared at me with a ‘what is this man saying?’ kind of expression. But as the explanation progressed, his facial expression changed. Oh, and I intentionally skipped the part about multiple smelting. I just asked him to smelt it twice.

“Is it really possible? You mean to say that if I have this furnace, then I can have the others smelt too? This is not some kind of joke, right?” suddenly he grabbed hold of my shoulders. I was really surprised at his behavior. His face was ecstatic and his eyes had traces of excitement. I could literally feel his hands that were on my shoulders tremble.

“Not at all, what I said is one hundred person true. I am not sure how good these bloomeries are or how good the iron ore will be, I can tell you that this thing can be used by anybody. But they will need time to get used to it, learn how to smelt iron. Even if the idea seems simple, it really needs hard work so I am you will have to properly watch over them.” I explained while I tried to calm him down.

“This might really work. Even if the iron obtained is not of high quality, as long as we can produce normal quality iron in large amount then father and the others can return faster. I won’t even have to think about on whom to choose first. All of them can return together This is great new, I have to let grandma know”

Saying so, Euthe-kun got up from his seat and rushed towards his grandma. Oh, by the way, I found out the name of the grandma, she is called as Illysti, what a peculiar name. Apparently, she is the eldest in this village and at the same time the chief of this village too.

My eyes traced the dashing Euthe-kun who stopped before his grandma. And like a kid who had witnessed something incredible, with great energy he started explaining things to grandma. His hands were moving here and there, maybe trying to make the explanation simpler for them, and his eyes were practically glittering. ‘What a nice kid! May, this is how it feels to have a younger brother’

And my eyes turned moist. The memories of my parents and my school friends whom I used to hang out with surfaced in my mind. About the family dinner, about the friendly fights and laughs, many sad and joyful memories invaded my mind at the same time. But not wanting the others to find me crying, I wiped my tears and decided to focus on my food.

I’ll be honest. I was expecting the bread to be really hard to the point that my teeth would break off, but it turned out to be much softer than my expectation. Well, not as soft as the ones from my world, but okay kind of soft. On the other hand, the taste was just like I was expecting it to be, bland, same for the meat too. However, not having anything to eat since morning had made me hungry enough to gobble up the bread and meat without any complaints.

By the time I finished eating, I noticed a peculiar change in the environment around me. After the earlier thanking session, the ladies had left me, but now I was once again surrounded by the beauties. And just like Euthe-kun who had run away to find his grandmother, the ladies too had dangerously sparkling eyes. And these eyes were all directed at me which made me gulped down the saliva in my mouth and a bad feeling surfaced in my heart.

“Wise-sama!” Came a loud shout from the crowd.

‘Eh?’

“A wise-sama in our village.” Came another voice, which sounded a little teary. And soon there were shouts of ‘wise-sama’ all over. And in an instant, I was buried under the excited lady crowd.

~~ flashback ends. ~~

You know, I am still surrounded by the ladies as well as the children. It’s not just being surrounded, I am even being fed by the ladies as if I am their very own child. The loneliness I had felt a little while ago started to disappear. In their eyes, I felt care and warmth, a sensation I haven't felt ever since I moved into the city.

You might have guessed it already, the reason for such a treatment. The furnace and air compressor ideas were well received. Well received can't even describe it, the moment the idea was conveyed, the crowd got so noisy that they wanted to start building one at the earliest. Only after the grandma’s interference did they postpone it to tomorrow.

‘Yare, yare! What an energetic bunch of people.’, I thought while still being surrounded by them.

And just like that, from a stranger to an acquaintance to something like a celebrity, my standing in the village changed drastically in the span of few hours. From how they treated me and took care of me, I felt a family affection. For someone like me who had lost his family long ago, this love and care felt extremely touching and heavenly.

And this marked the beginning of a wave of changes that would soon affect the entire island.