A few days passed, and I ordered Claude to investigate all blacksmiths in the area.
From Claude's report, I know that every village in this area has some kind of blacksmith. But only one of them is a real blacksmith, that is they are the one that lives by doing blacksmith. The others only do blacksmithing when there is a need, in other times, they are a normal farmer.
We are traveling to Lothpine village, the village where that blacksmith is located. This is the village that has a unique ritual for saying farewell to death person. This village has many people hunting for wild animals and magical beasts along the foot of the northern mountain range. Because of the number of hunters, the demands for weapons are high. This lone blacksmith is making weapons and doing repairing work in exchange for food.
I knock at the already opened door of the blacksmith. "Good afternoon."
I can see there are four people in this place. An old man and three younger men doing work in the smithy. One of the young men hears my greeting and makes a beeline toward the door. That young man is looking at my attire before talking.
"Uhm, so—I am sorry, but who are you? And what do—Is there something you need?" The young man fixed some of his word choices and tried to talk in a more polite way.
"Good afternoon, I am the count of Northwellen, Aquila Lockway. I want to talk with Mazug the blacksmiths. Is he here now?"
"Wai—Please wait!" The young man moves inside the room and called the old man.
"Huh?" The old man replied to the young man. He looks annoyed to have his work disrupted. He then walks toward me that stands in front of the door.
"Come in! Sit there," said Mazug as he pointed to an old chair. I followed his instruction and sit on the chair. Seeing me sitting, Mazug asked me, "What do you want?"
As I see that Mazug is a direct person, I decided to cut to the case. "Do you know how to process a mithril?"
"Mithril? Ain't no way this run-down place can."
"I can upgrade your forgery to be able to process mithril. But to do that, I want something back. Do you want it?"
"Really?" Mazug put a suspicious emotion. He thinks for a few minutes full before answering my question.
"What should I pay with?" asked Mazug. He can't help but be interested in my offer. In the end, mithril is a magical material that every blacksmith is interested in. All blacksmiths will want to try to process mithril at least once in their life. Well, that is what Silvia and Claude taught me yesterday.
"I will put my name as the count of Northwellen as a guarantee to my promise. For the payment… Let's see, I want you to train someone or let me bring one of your apprentices to work for me. I will let you think and discuss it with your apprentice first," I said. "Oh right, I will wait in Bered's—the village chief—house."
* * *
Village chief's house
"Thank you for receiving me in a short time."
I send a letter as soon as I decided to go to this village, a few days ago. The village chief, Bered, replied with a message that says I can come here anytime.
"No problem, you are welcome here…" Bered paused, "So, about what I said the other days…"
There is some other thing that Bered said in his letter. "Is it about the man from the northern mountain? Is he still alive?"
"Yes… I have sheltered him for a week. To date, there is still no sign of him waking up."
"Can you tell me all the story?" I am interested in this man from the north. As far as I know, the northern mountain range is an impassable area. I have never heard anyone able to go through that place.
Bered started to recount the event a week ago.
It started when a group of villagers was hunting in the forest nearby. They heard the steps of many creatures running around. These were not familiar sounds to the villagers. Villagers here are familiar with deer, their usual hunting prizes, or great boars—a normal magic beast around this area—footsteps.
The villagers need to know what is running around so they send a scout to check the sound. The scout found the source of the sounds is from a group of goblins chasing a human with a weird outfit. The villagers decided to kill the group of goblins and save the human.
"Goblin? Are they normal in here?" This is the first time hearing about goblins in Northwellen.
A goblin is a low-tier monster that usually lives in the forest. They are small creatures with green skin and a repulsive appearance. Their body is as short as a human kid with their back slumped.
"They are rare… But sometimes we can see a group or two come down from the mountain… Especially when winter comes around."
"I see," I paused for a bit. "Are the goblins problem for the village?"
"Problem? No… Goblins are not that hard to fight. Everyone can beat goblins."
"That is good. Then about that man, can I see him?" asked me.
"Sure… Follow me." Bered guide me to a room in the back.
A man is laying down on the bed. I can see that he is still living by seeing the movement in his lung.
The first impression I get when seeing him is that the man is obviously not from this kingdom. He has paler skin compared to the average people in this place. I don't know if that paler skin comes naturally from his body or because he is not awake.
"What is your plan after this?"
Bered showed a troubled expression. "I also don't know… If possible I want Lord Aquila to bring him from here."
I consider Bered's suggestion. That is not a bad idea. There are many things that I want to ask the man. Bered must also be troubled as the man is a stranger from an unknown land. Who knows what kind of problem might arise?
"Is there a way to bring him from here?" I muttered this word. The distance between this village and the Northwellen manor is around 6 hours of travel using a carriage. It is possible to bring him in a carriage but I didn't use a carriage to come here. I used a horse as I need to come here fast to get the blacksmith.
"I don't think I can bring him today. I will get a carriage tomorrow or the next da—" I stopped talking as I noticed a change in the man.
*cough cough*
The man coughed a lot before opening his eyes in front of me and Bered.
What a coincidence for him to wake up right now…