The girls all returned, one by one. That had finished their jobs, and we’d be opening our shop in the next few days. In the meantime, we needed to carry on our task as Bandits. By that point, I had decided what we were going to do. This wasn’t exactly money this time. It was a shipment of metal from a nearby mine. It wasn’t anything so impressive as mithril or orichalcum. It was a shipment of processed steel.

“Steel is about as good as it gets without going into the mythical metals,” Ruby explained. “Some people try to push for diamond swords or something ridiculous like that, but steel is cheaper, reliable, in high quantity, and it doesn’t lose out to most standard metals.”

“Of course, there is elvish steel and dwarvish steel. Elvish steel resembled mithril in many ways, and since the elves are extinct, so is the recipe for elvish steel. No one cares that much, because mithril already does most of what elvish steel could do.” Carmine added.

Mithril wasn’t necessarily the toughest metal to fight with. Orichalcum was technically better at toughness, and there were supposedly even metals better than that, although I hadn’t looked more into it yet. Mithril was known for two things. First, having a high capacity to contain magic. It was a great metal for using enchantments. All the best enchantment items used mithril. Copper and tin also could accept spells, but the quality of said spells decreased with each downgrade. The other reason it was popular was that it was extremely light. That’s why ultimately our boat contained so much mithril instead of some other metal.

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It appeared like Elvish Steel was just an alternative to mithril, and since mithril in this world was more prevalent than elves, it sort of got forgotten. However, I was more focused on the other type of steel that they had mentioned.

“What about dwarvish steel?” I asked.

“Dwarvish steel is a step above normal steel in strength and quality. Only the dwarves know how to make it, and it’s a trade secret. They’re not nearly as extinct as elves, but they typically keep to their cities in Esmore. That’s the reason that dwarf slave contains so much value.”

So, that impish Rubee contained such an important piece of knowledge? How had she ended up leaving her city and ending up in Aberis? That was a question I’d like to know.

“They live in Esmore…”

It might be possible to get in touch with some dwarves. After all, I knew a certain guy in the Capital. I wondered if Pait would be willing to help me out, we’d always been friendly. He was the ambassador of Esmore, it’s kind of his job.

Ruby seemed to read my mind and she shook her head. “The Esmere don’t get along with the dwarves very well. The dwarves live in the mountains between the Ost Republic and Esmore and don’t concern themselves with anyone. They are notoriously reclusive. That’s why that dwarf slave is such a find.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”

I had only met the dwarf girl in passing, but she had ended up being enslaved by Lord Reign and put as a trophy for the gladiator competition. In the beginning, she wasn’t a Magic Blacksmith, so my interest in her was more just a vague thought that she might have some potential. I was mostly trying to free her because the Blacksmith who I had relocated to Chalm had asked me to do it as a personal favor. Now, I was starting to think that we should win her at all costs!