"Now that's lucky... or, er those bastards couldn't aim so good." Gustav celebrated.
He went back to the ruined forge, just to check if the pyramid-like casing was still in one piece. It somehow made it through the rubble, as that wave of hot coal had missed it!
This was truly a miracle, and he aimed to abuse it well. He even grew excited enough to ask Tunada for help, without fearing the consequences all that much.
He met the lady in question right after, who was assessing the damage to her home. She did not appreciate how happy Gustav was, and considered smacking his head as well.
"What are you smiling about? I lost everything." She pressured, as her tone thickened.
"That's kinda my fault too. Those bastards were hunting me down, for some reason." Gustav explained half of the truth, which didn't really make things any better.
Right after though, he added. "I'm going to help you, that's why I'm smiling. Iron is worth a lot here, so why don't you take all of my ores? Some of them are across the field, but there should be five hundred of them all together."
Tunada's eyes bulged out in surprise, as this offer sounded too good to be true. Ores weren't too expensive for blacksmiths, since they constantly worked with them; But for any other common-folk, a month spent in a mine could boost their wealth efficiently!
Currency was underdeveloped here, so stuff like iron could be traded for many things, food primarily. In this case though, a pile of ores could be exchanged for construction material and plenty of appropriate workers.
Tunada was stunned by this absurd generosity, so she questioned. "What do you want in return? I can't fuck you."
"That's right, you cant..." Arila pouted.
Gustav was tempted by that idea, but he didn't want to get beaten up right now. For that matter, he pretended to be serious just for the deal's sake.
He then assured, "I need you to do, what you do best; Forge."
The deal was laid out like a canvas afterwards, but it was costly for both sides. Twice the amount of ore was needed to cover everything, and Tunada had to work for free through the next couple of days!
The total amount of ores necessary was ridiculous, but they were to cover many expenses soon. The forge equipment that Tunada needed was difficult to assemble, for example.
A lot of raw ores had to be exchanged for readily made, steel tools. The smelting pit she needed, required special craftsmanship as well.
Along with the construction workers, and the extra iron required for the beacon project; The demanded amount of ore wasn't much of a surprise.
What put Gustav in a little bit of more debt, was the following request that he made. "How much do sheep cost, or their meat? I have to feed my kids."
Arila decided to tend this matter thoroughly, so she explained. "Oh, shepherds don't really need iron. They only give their sheep away, if you give them a lot of grain or actual food. So we'll see a few farmers first, they'll trade with us for sure!"
That process sounded like a headache, but he didn't aim to avoid it. These crawler demons had to be fed, or else they wouldn't be able to work for long and would likely slaughter something.
"Considering how much ore I need, it's a risk to let them get hungry. They'd probably eat me." Gustav thought.
Afterwards he asked, "I dunno how much meat we can get for a hundred ores, but it'll probably be enough. You need to do all the work though, because I can't move much."
Arila was more than willing, unsurprisingly. She walked the mammoth towards another forge which was close by, and helped him settle there; She even handed out the blaster, which was scavenged from those aliens.
Gustav was to stay here for an hour or so, until they could figure everything out. The mid-day sun was yet to rise, so he had a long day ahead.
Everyone was on a rush, for damage control's sake. In the meantime though, he tended to the demons.
They were mostly healthy, due to their regenerative abilities. They still fidgeted around a lot though, which made it necessary to play with them for a while. It was a well-timed need, as he could only wait at the moment.
"You're little bastards are pretty weird, but you're the most useful children a father could ask for." He said, and playfully battled one of the demons, with his big forefinger.
In the meantime, he also thought. "I wonder what my other children will look like... It's obvious, I'm pregnant again."
It was advantageous to be realistic, as his belly only ached more by the second. Stuff went on in there, throughout those guts; He could only hope that it was painless, and for the better!
Anyway after about half an hour, Arila returned. She dragged a large sack behind her, which could only be the meaty merchandise.
"Lunch time!" She yelled, and flung the whole bag upwards.
Although small by figure, Arila was surprisingly strong. About thirty kilos of meat flew across the air, and landed near the demons!
Hunger seemingly overwhelmed them, although they ate just a few hours ago. Each demon bounced towards the meat, fairly happy; Those sharp teeth of theirs were useful too, as they crackled the bones with ease, which was within these raw bits of meat.
"Wow, no wonder they're so fat." Arila joked, and walked towards the mammoth.
With a playful tone, she then added. "That's all the meat I could get, sorry. The farmers didn't give me enough grain, because we didn't pay them yet."
"Hey, with this kind of meat, we'll be able to pay them in an hour." Gustav followed along.
His words were partially muffled by the growls, and chews which these demons made as they ate.
Their lack of manners were somewhat tolerable, especially once he considered all the wealth they brought, and the work they were about to put in.
No average man could mine as many ores as they could, and if it wasn't for those recent set-backs, Gustav would've been somewhat wealthy already!
He needed six-hundred more chunks of iron ores now, just to cover every expense. It shouldn't take too long to acquire them, but he was slightly irritated by the sum necessary, just so he wouldn't be in debt anymore!
It was mind-boggling, but he wasn't given much space to mutter it over. While he chattered with Arila for example, something absurd called for attention.
"Is it me, or are they growing right now?" Gustav asked, and nodded his head towards the demons.