'What's with this guy today, seriously. He seems so nervous…' Gerald quietly mused to himself.
"What about this token…?" Arthur took out the silver token Gerald gave him long ago.
"Ah? Oh, that's what you are worried about? It still works, of course. You can ask for one thing, and if it is within my power, I'll do it."
Arthur became visually more relaxed immediately. He breathed out in relief, "Then if I were to request for you to teach me how to fly…"
"Forget it!" Gerald didn't even let him finish before shooting him down. "Don't get me wrong, I can try to teach you, no problem. However, it would be useless since you lack the requirements for that kind of magic. You'd better ask for something else."
"Is that so…" It was quite clear Arthur was disappointed to hear he was not suited for flight magic, but he figured as much.
Not everybody was suitable for magic, and he certainly wasn't one of those geniuses. Why else would he be working as a boss in an auction house? It was way more stressful and less fun than casting spells.
"Anyway, don't mind all that!" Gerald beamed a smile once more and hugged Arthur over the shoulders. "Listen, I plan on doing some…stuff, and I need a lot of gold, and I mean A LOT! So, how about you find a few of your trustworthy workers and teach them the recipe?"
"I… Actually, I was meaning to ask you about that. I got requests from many influential figures for massive orders and so…"
"Perfect!" Gerald exclaimed, "I'll leave it to you then! You can bring the next batch of gold whenever, my doors are always open to you!"
"S-Sure!" Arthur squeezed a forced smile. Gerald gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, but it felt like being struck with a hammer.
As the man left in high spirits with his chest of gold under his armpit, Arthur collapsed in his chair, sighed out in relief, and massaged his shoulder.
"Seriously… What's happening with this world?"
While Arthur was contemplating his life, Gerald returned home with the gold. He casually handed over the chest to his butler, only to have the old man almost collapse from the weight.
"Whoops!" It slipped his mind that gold was quite heavy since he could now carry a few hundred kilograms of weight as if it was nothing.
Anyhow, now that he got some more funds he could get some more materials for spell scrolls. He felt the need to make a giant arsenal of weapons in preparation for the war that was to come.
He wanted to make at least a few hundred Greater Fireball spell scrolls, however, Fire Crystals were quite expensive and also quite rare, and just as much difficult to buy.
Since the job of gathering supplies was left to his trusted butler, Gerald decided to take a stroll through the capital.
Although he lived here for months already, the city was just too big to get to know it all in a short time. There were still some roads and alleys he didn't visit, and shops he had never seen before.
There was a weapon shop that especially attracted his attention. Among the many fancy-looking buildings, this one stood out like a sore thumb.
It was a rough stone building with a rustic look, made of both metal and dark stone. In Auralba, a city of white gold, it was truly an anomaly.
Above the front door hung a metal shield, though it was split down through the middle, and only the bottom half was still holding it together. It was hanging from two black chains that were making it gently sway in the wind.
After coming inside, a strong iron smell immediately hit Gerald's nose. And as someone that likes to work with metal, it was quite soothing for him.
"Hello! We got some good pieces if you are looking to buy." A friendly voice greeted him. It was a woman, nothing special about her.
Average height, average looks, slightly plump, and probably already over thirty. She was standing at the counter, seemingly in charge of the place.
"Oh, hey there! I guess I'm here to buy yes…"
"Excellent," the woman clapped her hands cheerfully, "So, what will it be? Want to protect yourself, or deal some damage?"
"I already have weapons so…" Gerald looked over the displayed armor sets on the walls and weapons on the weapon's rack.
There were all kinds of tools for killing for one to admire.
Long swords, spears, and pikes, heavy axes, and hammers, elegant bows, and knives, even iron hooks on chains, as well as sickles. They truly had it all!
The complete sets of armor came in various styles and materials. They had rough iron and polished steel, hammered copper and bronze, and even hard-leather metal-reinforced attire such as brigandine.
Truly fascinating!
"Do you have any shields by any chance?" That was the one thing that was missing in the entire shop. They had no shields anywhere! How weird!
"Shields?" The woman looked at him sideways and he got the feeling she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
"You don't have it? Who makes all these other things anyway, must be a really skilled craftsman!"
"It's… That's my husband's handiwork. He's working in his smithy at the back…"
"Well… Then can I go talk to him?"
The woman thought for a bit and then nodded, and signaled him he should follow her.
"Good luck!" she said after pointing him in the right direction and returned to the shop.
'What for,' Gerald wondered.
Behind the shop was a small shack with an open forge and a middle-aged man was working away, pounding on metal with his hammer.
"Hello!" Gerald loudly greeted to be heard among the noise. "I was wondering if I could buy…a shield."
He paused at the end of the sentence, because he noticed the upper part of the shack, under the ceiling, was completely packed with shields!
Small shields, big shields, round, square, oval, and even diamond-shaped shields decorated the place.
"A shield?" The man stopped banging on his anvil and looked at Gerald from top to bottom. "Go away, you are not strong enough to be worthy of my shield! Your body is too frail and thin! Scrawny toothpick!"
'The fuck?' Gerald was stunned, 'What do you mean?! I'm bigger than you, and you are already built like a bear!'
He refrained from knocking out the guy and simply taking one of his shields, and instead tried to be 'polite'.
"What the fuck do you mean, old man?! What does being worthy have to do with buying your shield? Isn't silver good enough?!"
"Hah!" The man tossed the hammer away. "You know nothing! Tell me, boy, have you ever seen a real Orc?"