9:54 A.M.

February 9

Frostmonth 11

Hot Iron Smithy, Limeroom, Veotera

Gary walked into the small storefront of the blacksmith he’d gotten his armor from, hearing the pleasant little chimes hooked to the door jingle loudly to announce his entry. The store was more of a medium-sized room with a counter and places to store ready commissions but Gary liked the simplicity. There was nothing ostentatious or gaudy about the place or the owner’s work. Function over form was this blacksmith’s motto and Gary preferred it that way.

The chime had alerted the residents of the forge as the door on the far side opened up to reveal the owner of the establishment. Gary was taller than this man, but he still had an intimidating presence to him since he was easily half-again Gary’s weight in sheer muscle. Occupational requirement for a man who worked a heavy hammer and moved metal all day, he supposed.

[https://i.imgur.com/zjKULf5.jpg]

“Ah, my most generous customer!” His gray-dominant black hair shone in the morning light streaming in through the storefront’s windows as he laughed in happiness. Gary smiled at the man as he stepped up to the counter and leaned forward onto it. The man joined him in leaning on the counter, a full grin showing on the man’s face as he saw the twinkle in Gary’s eyes.

“Warren, how you doing this morning? Business good?” The now-named Warren’s grin stretched a little further at the question.

“It’s been good, it’s been good. I’m fine, my forge is roaring, and I can see from that glint in your eye you have more work for me.” Gary shrugged a little bit in a self-deprecating manner.

“I’m not stealing worktime away from other projects, am I? I’d feel bad if someone got their order late because of me.” Warren slapped Gary’s shoulder in a comforting gesture as laughter rolled out from the man loudly. The larger man leaned back a little bit as he regarded the teenager and appreciated his concern for his work.

“You’re actually being a boon to me, Gary. Normally my forge is cold and my shop is barely running for at least another month. Your commissions are putting food in my family’s bellies and runees in my coin purse. And I have to admit I like the puzzle you gave me about that armor. I’ve never seen that design before. Some of the other Delvers have been asking around about getting their own suits. I’ll have work for a long time thanks to you.”

Gary nodded. It was good to know he wasn’t being a burden. That being said he’d clearly come with an objective. He produced two pieces of parchment and laid them on the counter between them. Warren leaned in eagerly, recognizing Gary’s handiwork as he spread the sheets of plant matter apart to look at both of them. Gary already knew them to be simple concept designs detailing a design for throwing knives and a tomahawk. The knives were a simple affair, clearly weighted towards the slim blade as the ‘handle’ had a couple of small holes in it to focus the momentum into the blade. The tomahawk was a more modern-looking take on the Native American weapon, the design leaning into a dane ax-inspired profile since he knew he could get away with more metal in the head for stability.

Warren’s expert eye bore into the designs sketched out in rough concept art style by Gary, and the man’s thick calloused fingers tapped the two pages on the corners that were next to each other with a thoughtful look on his face. “Interesting.. That ax looks a little flimsy for something to be wielded with two hands. But I can see where you’re going with those knives. They’re for throwing, yes?”

“Yes. The design is to make sure the force of the throw is focused in the blade. They don’t have to be big daggers or anything. Think more oversized arrowheads with a grip. And this ax isn’t meant for two hands. It’s a one-handed light ax for battle.” Gary looked around the store for something and peeled off to grab up a bare hatchet handle. He returned to the quizzical Warren with the wooden haft and wagged it a little in emphasis. “The design’s more like a hatchet that’s balanced for close-in fighting but can be thrown with great force. The blade’s profile is a bit slimmer than a traditional ax head since it’s leaning more on the sharpness of the blade rather than the heft of the weight. It should still have a bit of weight, though.”

Warren rolled his tongue around in his mouth as he held his hand out for the handle in Gary’s hand. Having surrendered it immediately, his gray eyes watched Warren wiggle the stick in his hands as he stared at the tomahawk design and was clearly working on the idea for the weapon’s balance once completed. He liked it that he’d found a professional who knew what they were doing. Finally the big man nodded as he seemed to get his head around the idea and looked back towards Gary’s face.

“You bring interesting ideas. Mind if I keep these drawings?” Gary nodded and gave an assenting wave of his hand. Warren picked them up and casually studied them more as his mind started more calculations. Gary let the man think. “You drew these knives pretty thin. Won’t be good for repeated uses if you miss or hit something that’s really hard.”

Gary nodded at that. “Honestly, this design is me trying to have more of a quantity per weight approach. I’m already working battle plans around losing them to either fleeing opponents or battle damage. Their disposable nature just means you get more work, right?” Gary winked at the man with a cheeky grin. Warren smiled back at him as he clearly got the joke. “I know of other designs that would be stronger or more purpose-made, but this suits my needs for right now. I just need stabby pokey things to make the enemy rethink their decision to live, y’know?”

Warren gave a sharp bark of a laugh. He slid the knife design under the tomahawk’s page as he focused more on the side of the drawing where Gary put possible filigree designs and wrote above it ‘relqa?’ in Veoteran, clearly done by someone unfamiliar with the inner workings of how relqa were made. The blacksmith waved the parchments in the air.

“I appreciate your confidence in my skills, but creating a relqa is beyond my humble skills. You’d need a proper crafter to work the design into the item in question. I do know that it’s part of the process of making a thing, where you seal most of the workings into the guts of the object as it’s being made. That requires specialized skills.” Gary huffed at the information as he filed it into his growing report. It had been worth a shot. He was still in possession of that onyx in the grip of his Bowienet but still had no idea of how the thug had managed to use it as a magical focus without being in a proper magic item. Perhaps the guy had been some flavor of mage?

“Well, don’t worry about it then. I figured it was long odds but worth a question. Been trying to figure out how to use an onyx I got a hold of a couple weeks back.” Warren’s thick brows raised in silent question and Gary drew the blade with the black stone worked into the wrapping of the hilt. Warren inspected it and poked a little bit at the grip before retracting his attention to regard Gary again.

“Whoever you got that from must have had a Skill to use it without being worked into a relqa. You can use the raw gemstones without a full setup if you have a Skill that lets you use magic natively. I have 「Forge Master」 myself, and I use a small ruby to ignite my forge and get it up to heat quickly.” That clearly piqued Gary’s interest, and Warren’s smile returned as he saw the spark in Gary’s eyes show his intrigue. He motioned Gary behind the counter and made for the door back into the rest of the building. Gary quickly followed the man back into what turned out to be quick access to the forge and blacksmithing area. Several people were already there, and he knew a number of the younger boys were Warren’s own children.

Warren moved to the side to come up to a small box very firmly secured to a stone with thick steel bands riveted into the simple and short rock pillar. Producing a small intricate key, Warren unlocked the box and pulled free what struck Gary as a beautiful Princess cut ruby was firmly grasped in the man’s thick fingers. It was set in a simple steel setting for grip, a small flat flange extended from the back to let the man pinch it between thumb and index finger knuckle comfortably. Gary moved in closer and Warren proudly held the gemstone up to get a shaft of sunlight to set the gem to sparkling in its namesake hue. The inside of the simple setting had clearly been polished to a mirror sheen to enhance the look.

The stone itself had to be at least a 0.85 carat size, according to the charts he brought up with his Virtual Network. It was very clear that the gem was a prized possession and everyone knew it as the work slowed down a little, Gary getting the vaguest twinge from 「Danger Sense」 that seemed to indicate he was surrounded by prepared hostility in case he tried to take the gemstone. His gray eyes shifted around the stone’s facets before nodding appreciatively and stepping back to let the man continue.

“Beautiful stone. The Princess cut was a good choice.” Warren looked down at the stone as he stepped up to the heart of his shop: the forge. It was cold and unfired at the moment, but Warren was clearly about to change that.

“Huh. So that’s what this design is called?” Gary nodded as Warren looked back at him.

“Gemstones have different names for the cut design. The sharp corners and square profile mark that ruby as a Princess cut. The size is pretty good too. I can see why you’re proud of it.” Warren’s look was one of happiness as he glanced back down to the stone and leveled the setting at his cold forge. Gary watched intently as the veins in Warren’s hands seemed to pulse and bulge the tiniest bit before the ruby gleamed dangerously in the man’s fingers. The Skill had clearly triggered as the glow front eh ruby shot into the prepared heart of the coal and charcoal arranged in the structure. Near instantly, the whole thing caught ablaze and the forge was filled with a whooshing roar as the newly-ignited flames danced and swirled at unspoken commands by the blacksmith and his Skill. The nearby temperature didn’t spike anywhere near as much as Gary thought it should, but he chalked it up to the man’s Skill focusing the heat where it was needed.

Warren inspected the flames for a minute before he was satisfied and the ruby stopped glowing. Almost immediately, the heat rolled into the space and almost forced Gary back a step while Warren simply turned and sealed away his precious ruby into the lockbox.

“And thus you have it. Sadly, I think you’re going to have to look into a relqa to make use of that stone… Bring sovereigns. Lots of sovereigns. Relqa are expensive, and I mean ‘family heirloom’ expensive. You’re gonna have to go to a larger city to even find a crafter, too. Limeroom’s near the eastern border and most of your high-end craftsmen are more towards Crown Hill to the west.” Gary nodded at the advice and added ‘Crown Hill’ to his notes. That sounded more like the capital of the kingdom. He really needed to get a larger map than the one Jack had shown him to really get a sense of scale. Still, it was a possible objective.. If he wanted to trigger so many goddamn isekai tropes. He wasn’t here to save this world, he was here to try to save Earth.

Stolen novel; please report.

Word was most likely already spreading about his ability to destroy dungeons through official channels and whatever the Velvet Court did to transfer information clandestinely. He doubted he was going to get much rest once governments got proper wind and multiple reports of his ability. Judging from where the rift he’d destroyed was, the things were probably in very inconvenient places. He’d need to figure out some sort of payment to ask for the service to keep everyone from harassing him all the time.

That was a later Gary problem. He gave Warren a smile as the man watched his thoughts scroll across his younger face and had chosen to not interrupt whatever thoughts had shown on his Earthly face. “So, Gary. How many of each do you want?”

Ah, yes. He hadn’t discussed that. “Three of the tomahawks and let’s call it twenty of the knives to start?” Warren nodded and quoted him a price. Gary paused for a moment before nodding, having had to check his math on the cash he had and was going to receive soon. “I’ll need to go talk to the leather makers to get you some holsters for the knives, and some modified ax sheaths to safely carry the tomahawks.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get started on it right away. Still at Saint Shepherd’s?” Gary nodded. Warren smiled and shook his head a bit. “Still don’t know how you convinced Father Wikloss to let you start building an armory in his house of God.”

“Well, to be honest he knows I’m gathering gear in preparation to continue my journey. He doesn’t seem to mind as long as I keep it in my room.”

“..You’re leaving?” Gary nodded and waved vaguely into the very warm air of the forge as his man’s helpers got metal ready to work on in the background. “I thought you’d have stayed longer. I’ll be sad to see you go.”

Gary smiled weakly at the statement. “It’s not like I plan to leave for good. Where else can I find a blacksmith that caters to my eccentric orders?” Warren’s sad look bloomed back into a broad smile. “I have no issue backtracking to get my hands on quality work. You make it exactly how I like it: no frills or gaudy decoration. Simple, clean lines and sturdy construction.”

Warren laughed heartily at the compliments and slapped Gary on the shoulder in a comradely fashion. “You keep sweet talking to me like that and my wife might start getting jealous!” Gary laughed as well.

“Far be it from me to disrupt a happy marriage! I’ll get out of your hair and let you work. I’ll bring the money by later today once I get with the leather people.”

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Having made his rounds to organize his new additions to his weaponry, Gary also made a stop by a store and saw about getting a hold of a tent to add to his camping supplies. The design was a nice two-person tent made with an inner layer of thick-weaved linen and an outer layer of treated oilcloth. It was going to be sticking out a bit to either side when he carried it on his pack but he liked the way it was simple to put up. The color was plain cotton-white, the oilcloth having a yellowed patina to it from whatever they’d used to make the fabric water-resistant.

Gary made a quick stop at the church to drop off his purchase and get the money for his commissions. Remmy was tending to a few faithful who had come seeking guidance, and he nodded to the small group as he made his way along the periphery of the room so as to not interrupt their hushed discussion. It was none of his business, and he made sure to keep his attention to himself as he exited back into the mid-day. He’d gone out with the money for the tent, but the weapons and their sheaths required more than he felt comfortable just carrying around without being swift about its delivery.

Getting payments where they needed to be, the teenager found his day bereft of an immediate objective. Warren would still take time as fast and skilled as he was, the leatherwork would take time as well, and he was largely in a holding pattern for now. Maybe Jack and the Delvers had something for him to do while the time ticked down? Decision made, he headed for The Unusual Huntress. The building was the same as ever with nothing seemingly amiss about the exterior. As he reached the door, Gary turned the handle and slipped into the tavern.

It was almost midday but the place was surprisingly devoid of customers. That was pretty unusual, but he hadn’t been around the tavern for long enough to memorize the patterns of the patrons. The desk for the Delvers was pretty empty as well as Gary approached. Dina was lazing in her normal chair clearly getting a nap in while things were quiet. She was lolled out in the seat and had apparently sourced a simple ottoman footrest from somewhere he didn’t know about. He decided to be quiet and let her be.

Gary looked onto the board where the open contracts were. It was significantly less full than when he’d started working as a Delver, and he considered that a good thing. It meant people’s problems were being dealt with and that was never a bad thing. None of the contracts up on the board were of particular interest and he turned to go find something else to do, only to almost bump into a barmaid.

It was the honey-haired blond that had talked with him during the party. Her amber eyes looked up towards his face with a glitter he wasn’t sure what to parse out. Gary mentally put it through the ol’ anime trope filter and recognized the expression as a girl wanting something of a manner that she felt he could do. His smile was polite as he blinked down at her and the almost nervous energy she had about her.

“Hello,” Gary tried in a quiet voice. He didn’t take his eyes off her as she seemed to puff up with pride that she’d gotten something out of him but polite silence. It didn’t help that it made her breasts rise up in prominence thanks to the intake of breath.

“Hello yourself. Can I talk with you for a minute?” Her voice was just as chipper as it had been two days ago, and before he could really say anything one way or another she decided to be bold and snatched up his hand. Gary thought he had nothing better to do so he allowed himself to be dragged towards the stairs up and she held his hand like it was the most important thing in her world as they ascended to the second floor of the tavern.

This floor was mostly rooms for rent; most were bedrooms for travelers or those too drunk to make it home, but some were meeting rooms that locals used to host small parties or Delvers used to organize hunting groups. The design elements of the tavern were present here, and the young woman brought him to a simple bench around a hall’s corner before looking at him expectantly. Gary took the hint and sat down, whereupon she plunked herself down right next to him.

They were totally alone up here, it seemed. Gray eyes met amber and she seemed to drink in just being this close to him. He was about to speak up when she beat him to it. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name’s Delilah Serd. Can I know your name?”

Out of the blue, then. Gary nodded once and spoke up. “Gary Zavon.” At the announcement of his name her eyes somehow got even sparklier. Gary wanted to sigh. He knew where this was going, but had no reason to stop it.

“Gary.. I wanted to talk with you… Maybe about spending some time together,” she ended with an unsure mumble as her hands found something to do by fiddling ith the decorations on her outfit nervously. Yup; exactly what Gary had thought.

“Well, I have no reason to say no,” he was forced to admit anyway. The Court was going to come at him regardless. They would have probably attacked her on sheer principle of being in eyesight of him. Might be better to keep her close enough to shield until he dealt with their local elements and left. “I do have to admit I don’t know what you’d want to do with me.” Internally he cringed exactly as soon as he’d said it. Delilah probably had at least one very clear thought in that line of thinking, and it had greater implications in a world he might one day leave behind. “I’m not really all that exciting.”

“That’s nonsense! You’re a breath of fresh air around here, and you know it. Jack and the other Delvers might grumble about you taking so many jobs but they’re grateful they don’t have to take them as urgently. The tavern’s been fortunate to have your patronage, too!” Delilah’s voice was getting a bit excited as she extolled his known virtues. She was clearly happy he was spending any time at all with her.

He had to ask a question, though. “But surely there’s someone better suited to be around you than some random young man like me.”

“I could stare into your eyes all day,” she replied with a completely straight face. The statement hung in the air. Her brain processed what she’d just said out loud. Delilah’s complexion swiftly blurred into a glowing cherry one; one that Gary noted in his peripheral vision aided by a photo from his Visual Network extended well down her face, her neck, and ended a few inches down onto the very top of where her breasts started. The open design gave him a very clear view of it going that far, but he kept his eyes locked on her face. Noting that aloud or with proper flicking of the eyes was bound to get a negative response. Or maybe a too positive response?

Gary decided to give her an out from her Freudian slip. “I get that a lot. The hue of my eye color is pretty rare, even where I’m from. It’s refreshing that it took you this long to let it slip.” The blush took on a different shade of red as she fiddled with her dress more, looking away from him to try and mentally recover her composure. Okay, maybe a tactical error there? Ultimately Delilah settled on just dealing with being embarrassed and looked back to his face.

“I’d like to hear about it; the place you’re from…” Her voice was lacking the raw confidence from before and replaced it with her trying to demurely get to know him better. Gary decided to indulge her with a half-truth approach.

“I’m from a town on the coast. Lots of people, and most don’t really know each other. People come and go all the time. There’s always things to do there but it can get a bit repetitive.”

The sparkle was back in her eyes. “It sounds a lot more interesting than Limeroom. At least the ocean changes the way it looks from day to day. All we got around here are hills, trees, and these damn stone walls. Why’d you even leave?”

Gary shrugged. “My uncle works with naval matters.” Not a lie, though not precise with the truth. “He told me that seeing more would give me a better perspective on the way I want to live my life.” Also not a lie, and fully true. Uncle Thomas just probably didn’t mean ‘go to another world’, though. “Circumstances forced my hand into going on a journey, and here I am.” The first half-truth. She clearly didn’t catch the sour tone he’d said it in as she nodded and eagerly lapped up the information with a small toothy smile. Gary had to admit it looked good on her. He was clearly letting the more mammalian part of his brain take over the thinking, but was that the worst thing out there?

“Well at least you made it here, right? Have you given any thought about what you want to do besides Delver things?”

“I honestly have. I need to find a way to contact my uncle and let him know I’m alright.”

Delilah tilted her head a little as her hair spilled over a bit to slide over and past a breast out the front of her sitting position. Surely it wasn’t intentional that her hair just slid over her bosom like that to draw the eye to the motion? He’d been caught this time as she saw the flick of his eyes; impossible to hide at this range and with his eye color making pupil movements easy to read for even inexperienced people. Her blush maintained itself as her smile grew into a bit of a half-grin.

“Can’t you just send him a letter?”

Gary shook his head. “It’s complicated. He’s a long way away, and I don’t know exactly where to send the message. I’m on the search for a method to do so properly.” It was more of the truth without clarifying the intricate details. He wasn’t technically lying to her. She fluttered her eyes a little as she put a hand onto the hand he had sitting on his leg. Gary was very aware of her proximity and the intimacy she was clearly trying to work up between them. He put his other hand on top of hers and patted it a little bit. “I’ve got a solid lead on what I need to do, so that’s why I’m going to be leaving once I get my affairs and resources in order.”

She put her other hand on top of his and leaned in a bit. He felt the soft flesh of her clothed bust pressing warmly against his right arm as she looked up a bit into his face. It was seeming to be an unthinking decision on her part, but she was also pouting up at him a little bit.

“I want you to contact your uncle and let him know you’re alright.. But while you’re here maybe we can get to know each other a bit better?” Gary shrugged, studiously ignoring the fact the motion caused his arm to rub up and down a little bit against her cloth-covered bosom.

“Nothing says we can’t… But I think you’re still on duty, aren’t you?” Gary tapped the floor with a booted foot to draw attention to the tavern below. Delilah blinked at the statement, then realized what she was doing. In a tizzy she shot to her feet and before Gary could fully react to it she kissed him on the cheek before fleeing back downstairs to her work. He sat there on the bench in silent contemplation of what the implications of this development were going to be like. Something else was contemplating as well, and clearly liked the way the thoughts were going.

Gary pointedly stared at his crotch and muttered aloud. “You are not in control here. Now calm the fuck down. None of the ways this ends are going to be good, you know that and I know that.” Silence greeted him again as he leaned his head back against the wall behind him and stared at the wood ceiling. “..Though they were pretty soft….”