The portly man speaking had the accent of someone from the Wastes, like Connor. He also appeared to be of Wastes descent, like Mona and Connor. He had fair skin, light brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing an apron covered in dark, black soot. He bowed respectfully.
My mother smiled and said, "Keegan, it's good to see you! My son, Damiano, is in need of your services!" She looked down to where I had been at her side. She then noticed me squatting next to a piece of metal and called out, "What are you doing? Come here!" I came over and stood next to her.
He exclaimed, "Your son?! Looks like he has an interest in metalwork!--" He bowed to me "--Hello young master. I'm Keegan Clarke, the finest blacksmith in the city!"
"Hello Keegan, nice to meet you." I said while return a head nod like I had been taught. Nobles had to precisely measure their behavior, considering the situation and the difference in status. While Keegan was a commoner, he was the owner of a shop in a prestigious profession. Furthermore, I was a noble only by birth, possessing no titles myself. There are strict customs I had to observe. For instance, the deepness of my head bow had to be carefully calibrated to reflect the difference in status. Honestly, expecting a four year old to learn all this was unreasonable, Selahe. Be thankful I'm smarter than your average four year old.
He turned to my mother, "What will he be needing?"
She said, "He'll be trained like Anna so he'll need a training sword, a proper sword, and a set of mail."
Keegan nodded and replied, "He'll be kept on the island like Anna?" My mother nodded. He picked up some measurement tools and had me hold several bars. I found it odd they were sizing it for my four year old form. Surely, I wouldn't be able to fight with this as I aged?
He continued, "We'll do what we did with her then. I'll make his training sword when he's a little older."
My mother took a deep breath and I interrupted her in case she wanted to leave, "How do you keep the metal from getting the orange stuff?" I prayed that conveyed I wanted to know how they prevented rust.
He laughed boisterously, "That 'orange stuff' is called rust! And we coat the metal in something to prevent it from rusting, usually an oil. We have to keep putting it on though, especially since our tools get a lot of use."
My mother tried to speak but I cut her off, "How hot is the oven?"
He said, "It's called a forge. Forges get much hotter than ovens. You know how embers glow in the fire?--" I nodded. "--Well the color is a measure of the temperature! A regular fire glows a dark red, our forge can get metal to almost a yellow!"
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
He chuckled and added, "It takes a lot of work to get the forge that hot but it's possible."
Before I could ask another question, my mother cut me off, "Enough questions, Dam. Selahe can bring you back here later to learn more."
"Yay!" I yelled. I knew that blacksmithing was the first step in implementing my ideas. I wanted to invent, or re-invent, useful technologies. There was indoor plumbing and steam power, to name a few. I had so many things I wanted to learn and do I felt like my brain would explode just thinking about everything. Though, I suppose the actual first step was learning to read and write.
After we left, I asked my mother, "Could I use magic to power their forge?"
She shook her head, "Don't mention your abilities in the city. There might be spies nearby. And no, you can't. It would take too much mana to apply enough heat to work the metal." I nodded. What she said made sense because even if I could put out heat mana to help, I couldn't sustain it for long enough to be useful. At best all I could function as was a lighter. It wouldn't make sense to reveal and potentially expose my abilities for something so trivial. We navigated the streets until we came to a jeweler. The jeweler was very medium size as well but only a tiny portion was the storefront. I assume the owner lived in the back. There were dazzling pieces on display of every gem type. The selection was small, however.
An elderly lady greeted us immediately and said, "Ragna! I knew you'd come crawling back to me!" She walked up and hugged my mother. I was surprised considering the level of familiarity. I had been taught that this kind of behavior could be dangerous for a commoner.
"Ada, it's been too long!" My mother said, returning the hug.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" The elderly lady asked. She had fair skin, bright eyes and greying red hair. She was not gaunt old lady, rather the opposite she was heavyset and clearly strong.
"Oh, I'm sure you have an inkling." My mother said with a smile.
Ada had a twinkle in her eye and replied, "I can guess, but I think it would be improper to say anything since you're just coming to me now."
My mother said, "How is your niece?"
Ada replied, "She's well. She sent a missive of information a few years ago as you can guess." My mother nodded. Ada continued, "I assume you'll want the same thing you wanted for Anna?"
My mother nodded again and said, "I'd also like a rush, I'd like it to be ready as soon as you can."
Ada said, "It'll cost you. Material cost has increased since the pirate activity has flared up."
My mother frowned and said, "How much?"
Ada considered for a moment and replied, "As always, it depends on the size and quality of the gems. But for what you're asking, probably five thousand or so should do." Everyone but my mother's eyes widened in shock at the price. I was unsure what that meant.
My mother pursed her lips in thought and said, "Fine, but only because I don't have time to do it myself." Ada smiled. My mother pulled out a large quartz crystal, like the one she used to gate us to the capital.
Ada looked confused for a moment and realized, "Oh! I'm so used to dealing with commoners, I completely forgot." She rummaged around her person until she pulled out another crystal as equally large. The women touched them together and I could feel mana moving from my mother's crystal to Ada's.
When the movement stopped, Ada said, "Pleasure doing business with you, Ragna." My mother nodded and we exited the small shop. Clearly mana had been exchanged instead of currency which didn't make any sense. Is this how they handled the fact you could conjure gold?
I asked, "Mother, what was that?" She opened her mouth to speak but the 5th bell rang throughout the city.
She said, "Let's discuss over dinner." We walked for what felt like ages, towards a large and fortified house. Not quite a castle but not quite a house. It was situated near the port. I could see people on the roof watching the port closely. The walls seemed thick and sturdy and the windows were sized smaller. Luckily we were just on the outskirts of the industrial area so the smell wasn't too bad.
I looked questioningly to Selahe, "We're eating with the mayor tonight." We walked up to the house and knocked on the door. I looked at Fazio, who had been drug to and fro on our shopping trip. I saw how weary Savino and Urgamal, our guards were as well. Having to walk all over the city in heavy chainmail.