Melina and Arnold were just about to leave the academy when Arnold noticed a person standing under the last tree from the rows of trees that led to the school hall.
The person was making it very obvious that they didn't want to be recognized since they were wearing a big sunhat with sunglasses.
Arnold squinted his eyes when he saw long red hair blowing in the wind.
What surprised him wasn't who it was but how she was dressed.
"Stella… You… You're wearing casual clothes?" Arnold said when he and Melina approached Stella.
"—Is it that surprising!?" Stella shot back.
Stella was wearing a long white dress, long black boots and a beige sunhat. She seemed like any other female student going out with friends.
Arnold had never in his life seen Stella wearing this kind of clothing, not even in the game. She was always seen wearing her full plate armor or some other outfit that was comfortable for fighting in.
But never casual clothes.
"Why are you so late!? I said to come at noon! You're ten minutes late!"
"…." Arnold checked his watch.
It was 12:13 right now.
'Maybe I should've taken a carriage to the academy instead of walking back.'
He strolled the capital when he left the bar early this morning. It was to clear his head to prepare for the slaughter which will come very soon.
Any person would need to mentally prepare for something like this. A normal human from Earth even more so.
"Who's this?" Melina stood in front of Stella and looked up at her, "Your girlfriend, big brother?"
"WHA!?" Stella's exclamation reverberated throughout the street they were standing on, "Me!? And this guy!? No way!"
'Guh.'
A "no" would've sufficed, thought Arnold as he felt his heart falling into pieces.
"She's a classmate of mine who needs help picking a sword since she's too dumb to pick one herself." Arnold casually said to hide the pain in his voice from being rejected so harshly.
"This is my little sister Melina. Melina, this is Stella Ayried. You know who the Ayried family are, right?"
"Ah! Papa always used to talk about mister Drakan!"
Although not as close as with Vance, Marcus and Drakan fought together in a few battles back when they joined the Imperial Order. Both were squires of captains before becoming fully anointed knights.
But they didn't take the same road. Drakan chose to teach swordsmanship part-time while Marcus joined the Imperial Army as a general for 20 years before retiring and being made a Great Noble.
The two were allied households despite the two patriarchs not being in the same fields.
Although they were far apart from each other, the two Houses kept in contact over the years.
…
The three of them boarded a carriage that was stationed under one of the academy's horse stables. Students were free to take one if they wanted to go on a quick errand.
It was free of charge, of course.
As one would expect from an academy famously known throughout the continent, even the carriages were magnificent pieces of work.
The two horses pulling the carriage were the largest breeds Arnold had ever seen so far.
'Why does it feel so cool in the carriage even though it's so warm outside?'
He noticed a small little box on the roof that was making a kind of noise.
'Is that thing like an AC? Our household carriages also have a cooling system but just more advanced. Still, this is impressive. Did magic technology evolve this far already?'
Stella suddenly took something out of her magic bag around her left shoulder.
"I asked the history teacher if she knew what kind of crystals were the best for weapon synchronization and she showed me this."
Arnold's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw the small crystal in her hand.
"The color is odd, right? I've only heard about pink, blue and white crystals but never red ones."
In her hand was the exact crystal that Arnold wanted to show to the world.
"Where did she get this?"
"Hm? I'm not sure. She just said that a small store owner gave this to her when she was looking for magic crystals."
"And she gave it to you when you asked which crystal type would be the best for modifying a sword?"
"That's right. But this was the only piece that she had. She advised me to look around the capital to see if I can find some more."
Arnold looked out of the window while thinking.
'This isn't good. If someone out there is selling my crystals then this might affect the amount of money I can make from them.'
His mind immediately shifted to illegal crystal hunters. They were people specialized in going dungeon diving with the sole purpose of finding crystals, without receiving authorization from guilds to enter dungeons.
Illegal crystal hunters would hunt for crystals on private estates or nature reserves that no one is allowed to enter without permission.
'If there really are people stealing my minerals then I have to find them.'
Killing them would be taking it too far. He still had to find out how many of them there were.
Then he would kill them.
"Have you thought of any places to start looking?"
"I might visit a jewel store and ask them if they know anything about this. Then I'll go to the Adventurer Guild and hire some adventurers to find more of these crystals."
'That sounds like a good idea. If a jeweler examines the crystal then they'll be able to determine its value as well. This would make them offer Stella to sell it to them for a high price. If they can find any more of the crystals then they will split it 50/50.'
That was how it worked for minerals. There was a distributor and a seller. The latter was the jewel store and the former was the one who brought the crystal to them.
They would offer to help Stella locate it but would want a piece of the pie.
A devious smirk appeared on Arnold's face, 'They will eventually come to me and offer me a price to allow them to mine my crystals.'
Now that his head was clear, he could plan for the future. He made a mental note to call Vetis and tell him to drop small hints for anyone looking to find the crystals.
In the end they would obviously find the source—which was his land.
He possessed twice the territory of his father, a duke so he had more than enough crystals to sell.
If he sold some to any of the seven Magic Towers then they can examine the crystals thoroughly, making sure others know what one could do with the crystals besides what the typical magic crystal can do, which will increase its value.
"I'll ask around when I have a new sword."
"But chances are we won't even find a suitable sword for you. It could take weeks at worst."
"W-What? Why's that?" Stella asked flabbergasted.
"I'm sure you know this already but most of the knights in the empire use swords due to its popularity. A minority of knights use other close combat weapons. Due to the large number of sword users, there would be an increased demand for swords. Increased demands means more of the skilled and experienced blacksmiths getting occupied with custom weapon crafting – knights don't always use premade weapons so they place orders in bulk."
"…."
Stella went silent as she looked at Arnold with reproachful eyes.
'Don't tell me you're looking at me like that because you have to spend more time with me?'
It seems that words weren't needed since he could tell from her gaze alone.
"…I can always ask around. The person who supplies weapons to our household knights might still be in the empire if we're lucky. But let's see what we can find today."
"Okay. Oh, we're at the shopping district already." Stella said after opening up the window and looking outside.
"Alright. Let's get going then."
"Let's go~!"
Arnold and Melina said respectively.
◇◇◇
The shopping district didn't just consist of a few markets spread on a single street. There were literally hundreds of stores in the shopping district with people going back and forth each day so the streets would always be packed with people.
There were several markets lined up on the street. The wonderful thing about the shopping district was that the owners and workers of the stores here weren't restricted to one class only.
There weren't rules like you had to be a noble in order to sell your own vegetables or to loan money to others as a form of business. Commoners were mainly the shop owners while nobles were their customers.
An example of this was the supermarket known as "Best Mart" which belonged to a wealthy family of commoners who were affiliated with Arnold's family. They became wealthy by getting sponsors in the aristocracy to expand their stores nationwide.
The family was second to the Rynald family in terms of size and wealth.
There were many other examples of commoners having more authority over the nobles in this particular place but Arnold found it to be too arduous to remember them all.
"So good~!" Melina cheerfully shouted after she bit down on the skewer Arnold bought her.
"Sorry for coming here first, Melina. I have to help Stella with finding a good sword before the two of us can spend the day together."
"It's fine, big brother! Just buy me more of these! Uncle, give two more!"
"You got it, kiddo!" the skewer man laughed heartily as Melina took two more skewers and devoured them.
Although the shopping district was a humongous place filled with various stores and buildings offering different services, he couldn't quite use his student benefits here. He had to pay full price for everything.
Ten copper down the drain just for three skewers. Being a moneygrubber and all, Arnold didn't like spending his money when he had no idea when he'll get more.
It might take awhile before he succeeds in selling his crystals as well.
'I guess this is fine. Melina won't be a bother if I keep buying her things. I'm a slave to her cuteness just like Arnold was.'
"So where are we going first?" Stella approached after she finished her business in the magic store across the street.
She was carrying a bag that was filled with magic crystals. It seems that she was determined to pick the best crystal for her sword's modification process.
Arnold didn't warn her against crystal smelting since it wouldn't be easy to acquire crystals good enough to merge with Fire Lily's blade.
"Let's see…" Arnold looked at the Imperial city's map.
Right now they were right at the start of the district. The street they were on was connected to a road that led to a noble district. But it ends once they passed by the map.
"If we take the road down here and turn a left on the first turn then we should find a blacksmith store there."
The street's name was Pluine. Unlike the stores selling food and clothes, Pluine only had stores that sold stuff for adventurers.
There were armor smiths, blacksmiths and magic stores. There were also shops that sold adventurer gear like monster repellents, traps, among other things.
It was the perfect starting point. Arnold noticed a lot of adventurers heading that way.
The street they were standing on right now was mainly the street vendors selling street food or doing all kinds of services like cleaning your shoes. Arnold could hardly see an end to the endless informal workers calling out to customers.
"Let's go."
◇◇◇
The store looked very shabby despite the reputation it had. It was apparently in business for 50 years yet it hadn't expanded at all during that time.
It looked like any ordinary small building with nothing special about it. But Arnold knew that these kinds of stores usually had people who are experts in their field. They didn't care about improving the quality of their stores so long as their skills didn't deteriorate.
The owner of the blacksmith store probably repaired and made weapons in the wars of the past. Those were the crazy things he usually came across back when he was a solo player back in Lockinge city.
The blacksmith he met there could read runes like it was the continent's human language. Because of this he was able to enchant items very easily.
Arnold frantically searched to see if he could find that personage but it seemed like the developers patched him out since players could get easy gear upgrades.
"Uhm, is that supposed to be the expert we're looking for?" Stella pointed at the window.
'Oh! A dwarf in this place?'
It was a short stout man with a long thick beard who Stella was pointing at. He was hanging chainmail armor outside the store to attract potential customers.
'This guy must be a legendary blacksmith who can craft using dragonsteel like it's nothing.' He had such delusions in his head.
Dragonsteel was this world's strongest metal. Adamantite was the second strongest but also far more common than dragonsteel.
Although both were very rare to find and extremely powerful when enchanted correctly, it was very difficult to smelt them, dragonsteel even more so.
Even if it succeeds, you would probably only succeed in making a weapon with 50% of its total durability level. These were the risks of making swords with minerals other than steel and copper.
Unless you had a legendary blacksmith class with your Craftsmanship and Blacksmithing Knowledge at Advanced. These kinds of people were even rarer besides the two that Arnold knew about who were in the top Guild.
Misteltein had no blacksmith players so they would request from other guilds. That one time when Alecs' sword broke she sought help from one of the two best craftsmen in the game.
No one besides a legendary class could fix a Star-Class weapon. She was able to fully restore her sword back to its former glory because of the blacksmith's incredible work.
"That guy is a dwarf. Dwarves are this world's best craftsmen so this one might be able to help you with Fire Lily."
Stella's eyes widened, "I thought dwarves never come into human nations."
"Whatever the reason, this one decided to stay."
It wasn't a guarantee that he had a legendary blacksmith class. But Arnold hoped he did.
Stella shrugged before approaching the dwarf.
"Hello, sir. May I speak to you for a moment?"
"If ya not buying then don't waste ya breath." The dwarf said with his back still turned.
Stella spoke, "Actually, I would like to know something first before buying."
"My profession only requires me to sell weapons and give advice on what weapons to buy."
'Seems pretty simple.'
"B-But—"
"Buy or leave. It's your choice."
Not once did the guy turn around. It was extremely terrible manners.
"Then may I ask a question, sir?" Arnold stepped forward.
"Oi, like I said—"
Before he could finish, an explosion of blue aura erupted from Arnold's body before something manifested in his hands.
Pure-born nobles were given privilege when buying weapons at blacksmiths so Arnold decided to clarify who he was.
Stella had no way of proving who she was so Arnold decided to show his identity instead.
His eyes widened when he saw the dark blue sword in Arnold's hands.
"T-That's one of the most indestructible soul weapons ever! An Aura Sword!"
The dwarf's hands were even shaking as if he wanted to snatch Arnold's aura sword.
"Y-You're the son of the Spear God. Forgive me for my petulance! I did not mean any ill-will!"
The dwarf bowed three times.
The people walking by instantly turned around and walked the opposite direction when they saw it was Arnold von Berkley standing there.
"It's alright. Will you be willing to listen to our question?"
"O-Of course!" he ran towards the store's door and opened it up, "Please come inside!"
◇◇
"I see."
Mormond—the name of the dwarf—responded with a grunt after he heard their question regarding weapon synching.
"So can you do it?" Stella asked with a small voice.
"It's not a matter if I can do it or not. It depends on what I'll be working with," he pointed at one of the display swords, "See that sword with the blue and white hilt? Go and check its quality. That's the best quality I've managed to make a sword ever since my prime."
Stella went towards the sword that was located on one of the two tables in front of the register. There were multiple swords and spears on display but only this one was proudly standing unsheathed.
"Who ordered that sword?" Arnold could tell it was an S-class weapon just from looking at it.
The man's talent for blacksmithing was definitely top notch.
Stella's eyes bulged when she lifted the sword.
"Some guy from the Theocracy. I think his name was Lance or something."
"…Lancelot?" asked Arnold out of reflex.
'Fuck, I forgot that I have his holy sword as my own now.'
"That's the one, yes. He sent a raven with a message that he wanted me to craft him a weapon. Only goddess Melis knows why he would request something like that from a small shop owner like myself. Why not just have one of their church's blacksmith craft something for him?"
"How long have you been in the business, sir Mormond?" Stella's eyes were basically sparkling as if she had hope in her heart.
"300 years. I started when I was a halfling boy carrying weapons from battlefields. I would break the blades from the hilts, smelt the steel and make brand new weapons and arrowheads. This was what fed me after the devastation of the war with the demons from that time."
Mormond was definitely referring to the war when Promethius and the people from this world fought with Arsnoria and her kind. That was the only war against demons after all.
'300 years. That's crazy.'
The war against the demons lasted two decades before Arsnoria's birth. Mormond was either born before the war or during it if he can remember it so vividly.
"Then I think I know why Lancelot decided to look for you," Arnold spoke, "Experience is much more important than the quality of the store or the owner of it. A person who had been making swords since childhood is much more sought after than some guy who only read instruction books and had mentors teach him."
"Hahaha! Indeed! I'm the oldest blacksmith in the entire capital so I'm known as the best by the people!"
'I wonder which people you're referring to.'
Arnold already knew that this store only ever saw a customer once a week. He could understand why.
Look at how shabby the place looked. The least the dwarf could do was paint his walls or buy new shelves for his weapons.
The instruction manuals and blueprints sitting on the top of the shelves were infested with silverfish and falling apart. The roof seemed to be leaking and the floor beneath Arnold's feet felt unstable to walk on.
"Have you ever modified someone's weapons before?" Stella asked.
"I've done eleven during my stay in the capital."
"Which kind of crystals have you worked with in the past?"
"Just the average kind of dungeon crystals. Some were above average in quality while others were below that quality. I've wanted to modify a weapon with high purity crystals so much but that's impossible since the empire doesn't exactly view dungeon exploration that well. If they did then they would've invested more into diving into dungeons. Who knows, we might be able to find some interesting things down at the SS-rank dungeons around the continent."
SS-rank dungeons were impossible to clear unless a fair amount of S and SS-rank adventurers chose to dive into them. But all of them didn't really want to do that since they were already at the peak of humanity.
Why waste time looking for treasures and artifacts while they had everything they ever wanted?
SS-rankers were viewed as highly as monarchs and highborn nobles no matter their background.
There were currently only three in the empire while the rest were scattered throughout the continent.
"Am I correct to assume you can work with any crystal?" Arnold asked this time.
"Course I can."
He looked at Stella and nodded at her, "Show him."
Stella nodded back and took out the thumb-sized crystal she got from Scarlet.
The blacksmith grabbed a magnifying glass and looked at the blood crystal closely.
"…What the…" He took it in his own hand and held it between hi thumb and index finger while pointing it to a nearby lamp, "I don't need a crystal purity magic item to know that this crystal is definitely above 60% in purity!"
'99% to be exact.'
If the crystal resembled the color of a red rose then it was at least in the nineties. This one in particular was shining just as bright as the bigger sample he gave Lunaria.
"Where'd ya get this?"
The dwarf looked at Arnold, "…That's not important," he answered.
Stella looked confused as to why he wouldn't say.
Well, the crystals were his property if you were to look at the bigger picture. It came from his land, after all.
"Tch." The dwarf gave it back to Stella, "You could easily have sold that for a thousand gold."
"We won't sell it. I want to modify my household sword using this crystal. But to do that I have to look for more…"
"Girly, do y'know how rich you would be if you were to find more of these? If the second Magic Tower executives were to hear of this then they will interrogate ya about where ya found this. These kinds of crystals above 60% purity have been said to heal mana-related illnesses and blockages in mana channels."
Arnold smiled smugly in secret.
'Ah, just imagining those hungry dogs when they hear that all of those crystal are mine is making my body tremble with excitement.'
"So if I were to bring you more of this then you'll be able to start working on my sword?"
"Uh huh, we use special boiling pots to smelt crystals without lessening their quality so it doesn't matter what size the crystals are that you bring."
Mormond pointed at the big cauldron standing behind the open door to his left.
'A wizard cauldron. Huh, I didn't know they used those for synchronizing weapons.'
In the game you only needed to press a few buttons and wait for a certain duration before your weapon was finished.
He knew that it wouldn't be the same as in the game but didn't expect blacksmiths to use potion-making cauldrons to do the task.
"How much do you usually charge for special commissions?" Stella's voice seemed shaky when she asked that question.
'Who can blame her. The price wouldn't be something she could afford.'
"3000 gold for swords."
Stella's face lost all color.
"I-I wouldn't be able to afford that at all…"
"Well, you don't have the crystals so why not gather that amount of money while you look for the crystals?" Mormond suggested.
"….." Stella nodded gravely.
Stella was from a branch family so she wouldn't have that much of an allowance.
'She'll be joining the main family any day now if things go as it did in the game so her money troubles won't stay for long.'
Fire Lily played a huge role in her being taken in by the main family. Her father would be the one to send the letter stating that she would he recognized as his and his first wife's daughter.
"So what else do ya need? I'll add your name to my commission book later."
"Uhm, I'm looking for a claymore."
"What!? With those skinny arms!?"
Mormond gave a big reaction to hearing her ask for a claymore.
"Eh? What's wrong with that?" Stella asked as she pulled the skin of her upper arm.
"Girly, do ya know nothing about weapons despite wantin' one for yerself? Claymores are used to fight people wearing full-plate armor. Some with abnormal amounts of physical power even crush bones with the shockwaves of their hits alone."
'Flora fits that description.'
Both Flora and Stella fought with brute force even if the latter alone had aura.
"Seasoned veteran warriors with bulky bodies like the leader from Sky Kings are more suited with two-handed swords. Although he only uses greatswords during combat, he has claymore summoning scrolls as backup."
Summoning scrolls are a useful item to carry whenever you fight against monsters but end up losing or breaking your weapons. You would only need to remember to bring a few extra backup weapons with you.
Summoning scrolls didn't require the user to have mana. All they had to do was place the weapon on top of the scroll and mark the weapon with the symbol on the scroll.
If you want to extract your weapon then all you need to do is erase one of the symbols on the scroll.
The amount of symbols on the scroll determined its price and the amount of weapons you can carry. People are advised to not use summoning scrolls for arrows since their main purpose is to hold weapons. So if an archer wanted to use one then they can only put in an extra bow.
"Just bring us the batch that you have." said Arnold.
"Alright, alright." Mormond shrugged.