Chapter 11: The Pebble and The Iron

I decided to check the location of the smelter and asked Sally-san for directions. The smelter was located on the grassland side of the town. I turned left from the gate and passed by two houses before reaching the smelter.

I confirmed its location. Although larger than the Adventurer’s Guild, the smelter was only a one-story brick building. It looked more practical than the Guild. I didn’t spot any insignia. The stone signboard only said, “Smelter”. The door was open, but I probably should only enter after acquiring the iron.

I showed my Guild card and exited through the gate of the town. It was the first time I saw this side, but it was a pleasant landscape. I never seen such landscape before, not even in Japan. People said this place was a grassland, but in some places, it looked like a green hill. Moreover, there was a road from the top of the hill to the bottom. It looked quite spectacular. In fact, it looked like a green carpet.

If somebody cultivated this place, it would easily become a good farmland. But why not? I wondered if there were monsters roaming around since this grassland was untouched by human hands. At first glance, I did not find any monsters, and I did not feel any sign (the radar with the help of the Information Manipulation Analysis. It displayed in my head in a distracting way, so I tried not to use it as much as possible). However, being in a high place as a hill meant that it was easy to see the surrounding areas. From here, I could reduce the worry of unexpected attacks from monsters.

There was no point in looking at or thinking about the scenery for the time being, so I equipped myself with a shield and started moving. I took the sheath with the sword from the item box, and then I separated the two and put them again in the item box. If I got into a battle, then I would be able to take out the sword immediately from the item box without the sheath attached to it. An invisible swordsmanship! Well, kinda, I guess. At least, this was a way to avoid wasting time in a battle, since I removed the sword from the sheath in advance.

I found not too long ago while collecting herbs that I could run at a good pace without getting tired. Therefore, I began to run through the grassland. I felt that my speed was about 20 km / h. I could beat a marathon runner with this kind of speed.

I thought deeply while running. If a fireball was about 40km / h, did that mean only about twice as fast as running? It was slow. I had to consider using a wand. I could handle the sword with my right hand, and I used the shield in my left arm. Maybe it would be impossible to hold a wand after all. If a wand was too long like a staff, then it could get in the way. I just wanted something that could help my magic swiftness. It did not need to be long as the regular wand. I wanted something about 30 cm long, but it probably had to be custom-made. I was going to get my leather armor tomorrow. I shall use that opportunity to ask the owner about magical wands.

I came up with one idea that seemed to speed up my magic without using a wand. It seemed that no special preparation was required.

I picked up one pebble about 3 cm from the ground and made an experiment. What I came up with was a gun. No, actually, it was more like a slingshot than a gun. I did not want to use the pressure of the air nor the ignition to explode.

If I tried to use magic while putting pressure on the pebble, then the pebble could fly at high speed. I wanted to try it to see if it could fly fast or not. I tried it for the time being.

If I got my hands caught, it would definitely hurt, so I threw the pebble lightly and then I activated my magic with pressure concentration. I heard a buzzing sound, but the pebble did not fly, or rather, it had already fallen to the ground as if I had never activated my magic.

Next, I tried to solidify first the image of “activating magic”, and then I threw the pebble as I released my magical power. I heard a buzzing sound and the pebble flew away. The speed likely exceeded the 40km / h, but not 80km / h. It was subtle for the time it took. The pebble was small.

Well, I felt that it could be useful for something, so I just threw about 20 pebbles I grabbed with my hand and stored them into the item box. Then I started again.

When I checked the status while moving, I noticed the words, “Pressure Magic 1”. Where did the Wind Magic go?

Anyway, I was not going to use the Pressure Magic regularly for the time being, so I hid it. I couldn’t find anyone who had it when I investigated the status of the people walking in the road, so there was no need to stand out in vain. I felt that I stood out a little with the gathering of medicinal herbs, but it was different to stand out in vain without any reason. I wanted to avoid unnecessary attention.

Before long, I saw something that resembled a tunnel. I felt like I’ve moved about 5km, so I probably reached my destination.

Unlike what I had imagined when I heard about the mine, there was a hole in one high area of the grassland. A large amount of stones piled up by the tunnel. A man came out of the tunnel and added more stones to the area where the other stones were piled up. Was it iron ore?

Anyway. I approached the man and asked him the following question.

「Excuse me. I am the one commissioned by the Adventurer’s Guild to carry iron ore. 」

The man I talked to was someone who looked like Dveragh-san, but somehow, he felt different from Dveragh-san and he seemed young. He wore pants that looked like jeans, a sturdy fabric that coal miners wore in Australia. Just as the Japanese did not know the difference between white people, I found that the dwarves were very similar to one another.

「Ahh. Then, show me your Guild card. 」

I showed him my Guild card when he asked me to.

「Okay, there is no problem. But, you look weak, are you okay with carrying iron ore?」

「Yes, I have an item box. So I thought of carrying it inside the item box.」

The coal miner seemed surprised. My answer shocked him a little, I guess.

「I don’t know why you’re carrying iron ore even though you have an item box, but that’s not a problem. The iron ore is over there, so take as much as you can.」

He pointed to the reddish stone pile close to the mine tunnel. I could see the size better when I came closer. The pile iron ore looked like the slope of a mountain, which was shaped like Mt. Fuji. The height was about 5 m high. Quite impressive.

I thrust the iron ore into the item box when I touched the mountain. I wondered if I plunged about 200kg at one go.

The coal miner spoke to me.

「Is your item box that enormous that you can carry a large portion of iron ore? I heard that an item box could only carry around 200kg maximum. 」

Is that so? Well, it was not my fault that I could carry much more than 200kg though.

「Yes, for some reason my item box has a large capacity. I’m not aware of its limitation, so I wanted to experiment a little.」

「I see. Then take as many as you can. All the people who have been carrying iron ore lately have stopped. I can dig it out, but I can’t carry it. There is almost no stockpile in the smelter, so I was thinking of hiring people or buying slaves to carry iron ore. However, slaves are expensive and people cannot be hired immediately. I made a request to the Guild because I couldn’t find another way. Anyway, I appreciate it if you can carry the iron ore. Will you carry the iron ore from now on?」

「Yes. But, I don’t know how long I will be in that town. As long as I remain around here, I will continue with this request…and it seems that my capacity is full.」

I managed to put about 2 tons of iron ore in the item box. 2011kg was written in the lower right corner of the iron ore image. I had no response even if I tried to put more in the same frame.

「Ohh, you’re done. But, what are you doing? Did you not say that your capacity was full?」

「Eh? Yes. One frame is full, but I still have more frames.」

It worked normally when I put the iron ore in a different frame. I continued the process.

「Are you really human? Are you the incarnation of an item box?」

「I am actually a human being… 」

I continued to increase the rocky mountain without breaking the pace. I filled 4 frames in the item box, and when I almost finished the 5th frame, the coal miner called me out.

「That’s enough. I don’t know how much more you can carry in your item box, but if you continue to carry more iron ore, there won’t be any place to put it in the smelter. With that large amount, I won’t ask the Guild for help in the meantime. Moreover, I will be able to hire people until it runs out in the smelter. If you go inside the smelter and talk to someone in charge, that someone will tell you where to put it. So you can go now.」

I completed a good request. But it was pity that it was over way too soon. Because of the quantity I carried, the coal miner did not want any more help for a long while. Well, I still managed to earn enough with this request, I guess?

I ran triumphantly back to the town. Despite storing more than 10 tons of luggage in the item box, it did not slow down my speed. It took me about 15 minutes to reach the town.

After showing my Guild card and entering the town, I turned right and entered the smelter.

I did not know what kind of tools they were making, but most of them were dwarves. Was it something similar to steel making? I did not really know. The people who were working seemed to be not very busy.

I called out to the people I saw when I came inside the smelter. The closest person to me was a dwarf, but to me, humans were easier to talk to than dwarves were.

「I am an adventurer who brought iron ore. Where should I put it? 」

「Hmm? Are you an adventurer? You say you have the iron ore, but I don’t see it anywhere. Did you keep it somewhere else?」

He looked at me with suspicious eyes! He wore working clothes, with a plaid pattern and glasses. Anyway, I wondered if item boxes were rarely used to carry iron ore.

「I can use the item box, so I carried the iron ore inside. Please look.」

I took one iron ore from the item box and showed him. It hurt because the rock weighed on my hand. So I immediately stored it again.

「Hmm, I see. Quite rare to see someone use the item box for iron ore. Please follow me.」

He guided me after saying those words. The ore storage site was in a slightly higher position near a tool that I did not recognize. I wondered if this equipment made it easier to transport the iron ore from the depot to the smelting area.

The worker said, “Please put it here”, and he went back to where he was originally.

I released the iron ore into the hole. I noticed that I had forgotten something important when I released one frame. How could they count the amount I brought?

I hurried up and checked my Guild card.

In the request achievement history, it was written, “Iron ore transportation 2011kg not yet paid”. What kind of mechanism was this…?

It seemed that my Guild card counted the amount for the time being, so I released the remaining 4 frames with confidence. The capacity of the ore storage site seemed to be almost full. I wondered if a full deposit was great for an artisan.

My Guild card said, “Iron ore transport 9972kg not yet paid”. This amount would cost about 20,000 Tael. It was more than enough for me to live comfortably.

「You are taking too long. What are you doing…Eh!? Where did you bring such a large amount of iron ore!」

The dwarf worker came to see the situation, and asked me a strange question. Was there other mines other than the one I came from?

「I came from the mine tunnel about 5 km away from the town.」

「I did not ask for the place! 」

I misunderstood. He did not ask me the location. In fact, he asked me where I brought the amount (transportation).

「I brought it in the item box. 」

「Is your item box that big…? I never heard of such thing before.」

He was mumbling. Then, he shouted out of nowhere.

「Everyone! The iron ore is here! Get ready for full operation now! Don’t hold back!」

「Master! But, I said that I couldn’t carry it anymore…Ouch!」

The master dwarf hit the head of the young dwarf when he replied.

「Shut up! There are times when it can’t be helped, so don’t complain! It’s about 10 tons, so move them quickly!」

After listening to the voice of the master, the people who had been somewhat free until a while ago started moving in a hurry.

「Adventurer, you will be paid properly. So you can go home now. I don’t know how you did it, but you did well.」

He drove me away while saying those words. I wondered if dwarves were impatient creatures. Or was it a habit to drive people out so profusely?

Well, there was no reason to stay, so I returned to the Guild straightaway. I wondered if I did enough to Rank up.

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😉 Dwarves are cute people! Somehow, these dwarves reminded me of The Hobbit…How nostalagic, maybe I should rewatch those movies ahahah 😀

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