Chapter 15: The Maintenance and The Materials

Okay. I decided to visit the Guild to report my subjugation of the green dogs. I opened the door of the Guild and spoke to Sally-san as usual.

「Hello. I came to report on the subjugation request. I’ve brought Green Wolves.」

「Yes, please give me your Guild card. Did you kill around 700 animals today?」

Sally-san received my Guild card and laughed awkwardly. She made a good guess. But in fact, I’ve only killed 513 animals, including those I met along the way. The error was less than 30%.

「Your guess isn’t that far from the real number. It is 513.」

I felt like I lost. I should have searched for about 200 more. But I wondered if there was another horde like the one I’ve encountered.

「Ah…? Yes, it says 513. By the way, where did you defeat these Green Wolves?」

Seeing my regrettable face, Sally-san smiled. However, it did not feel like a natural smile. It was probably because I behaved uniquely, I guess.

「I found a horde of Green Wolves just 10 minutes down the forest. I got this number after attacking them with magic and sword.」

Sally-san looked a bit suspicious when she heard my story.

「Green Wolves, you say…? Were they all together in one single horde? 」

「Yes, that’s right. Is there something wrong? 」

「Well. The Green Wolf doesn’t gather in large packs. There are reports of a horde of about 100 animals, probably as a result of alpha males gathering, which brought families together. But, I have never heard of a pack with 500 animals.」

That meant I was unlucky… No, was I lucky instead? In the end, I was able to defeat them and figured out how to fight. Well, if I hadn’t defeated them, then I wouldn’t be so fortunate since I wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale.

「Anyway, I will liquidate them. It is 10 Tael per animal as payment for completing the subjugation request. Since you brought 513 animals, it will be 5130 Tael. By the way, are you selling the full corpses of these Green Wolves?」

「Yes. I am thinking of selling everything. So, should I go to the counter over there?」

「Yes, but I would appreciate it if you could refrain from selling everything here. The Guild has facilities to store items to a certain extent, but the capacity is not that large. We have a Guild rule, which says that we have to buy the items the customers want to sell. But, could you keep it down to just 100 animals? Magic stones are useful anytime, but it is waste if the meat rots, and besides, it is not that hygienic in the first place…」

That’s right. Not everyone had an item box. Of course, it would not be easy to store several items or transport them to other cities. I had no grudge against the Guild and I was not in trouble with money, so I decided to follow her advice.

「I understand. So, should I place 100 animals in the counter? 」

「Yes. Put them here please. 」

Sally-san moved to the purchase counter. I put the Green Wolves’ corpses on it, starting from those in good condition. However, Sally-san threw them into something at her feet.

Was there a warehouse (?) input port at her feet? Thinking about it now, it wouldn’t be that far-fetched in this world.

I delivered 100 animals. Then, I returned to the original counter to receive the money. Besides the price for doing the subjugation request successfully, I was going to receive 25130 Tael since each animal cost 200 Tael. I thanked Sally-san and left the Guild.

Okay. My business in the Guild was complete. Now I planned to visit the blacksmith’s shop. The green dogs did not touch me, so the armor wasn’t particularly damaged. Like my clothes, it only had dirt and blood.

However, I felt that I used the shield and sword too much, so I decided to take them to the blacksmith’s shop. I didn’t feel that the resistance when swinging the sword became particularly large, but I could not rely on my senses since the STR kept rising steadily during the battle.

I opened the door of Dveragh-san’s shop.

Today, Dveragh-san looked like a storekeeper. How unusual.

「Hello. I would like you to see the current condition of my sword and shield since I overused them in battle.」

「Oh, show me. 」

「Here they are. 」

I gave my sword and shield. Dveragh-san observed and touched the sword and shield, and eventually returned the shield to me.

「The shield doesn’t need to be repaired. The core of the sword is not distorted, but the blade is, so I will have to sharpen it again. Is 500 Tael okay with you?」

「Yes, it’s okay. 」

I answered and gave him 50 bronze coins. The item box counted the number.

「Okay, it will take about 30 minutes. Is there something you want to do in the meantime?」

「I have nothing to do, so I’ll take a look.」

「Okay. 」

When I replied, Dveragh-san moved to the workshop and began sharpening my sword.

「I knew it. You have a decent sword arm after all. From the way of usage and from the current state of this sword and shield, did you hunt the Green Wolf?  It looks like you hunt the Green Wolfs for 2 or 3 days.」

「Can you tell that much just by looking at it? 」

How did he knew which monster I fought based on the sword’s current state? As expected of a good blacksmith.

「Yeah, roughly. You were probably attacked since your shield has small scratches on the surface, but the shield is not distorted at all. Therefore, I can almost identify your opponent by the scratches on the sword instead. Based on these scratches, did you slay 2 or 3 animals at once with your arm? I can see several fresh scratches inflicted at the same time.」

This blacksmith was AWESOMEEEEEEEE!!

「Yes. You’re right. I probably slayed the animals together because of my level up.」

「I see…Okay, I’m done. 」

He gave me the sword after saying those words. The shining sword looked like brand new. In fact, it was just a little worn down.

「But I think you should change the sword soon. The hardened charcoal iron sword is strong for an iron sword, but it is just iron after all. A sword like this can’t match those made with excellent monster-derived materials and special metals. Well, a sword with those materials can be quite expensive, so you need to get rich first.」

He was right. If I could get rare materials or gold, I would definitely want a strong sword. If I got a sword made of dragon material, and if it was strong, then I would be very pleased.

「A sword made from good material will help you stay alive. But if you want a sword that good, you’ll have to leave this town. There aren’t many people in this town, and good materials are scarce as well. Moreover, you won’t find many requests too. But don’t worry. If you want a good sword or shield while staying in another land, just look for a dwarf shop. Dwarves are proud of the weapons they make, and if a half-armed guy comes to their store, they will equip the man immediately. It is the dwarves’ pride. That’s why you can’t go wrong with a dwarf blacksmith. Well, I know it because I’m one of them.」

Dveragh-san laughed while saying those words. He was a good person since he introduced me to other stores other than his own.

「By the way, how much does a sword made of a dragon cost…? 」

「Ah, dragons and wyverns*, you ask. A sword made from these species will be around 4 billion. But you won’t find these type of materials to be used for your blade. You see, dragons and wyverns haven’t been found for hundreds of years. Some of them are even national treasures. Well, if a real dragon or wyvern appeared, some country would have been destroyed by now. That would create a big chaos.」

Expensive! Impossible for me to afford it!

Moreover, a real dragon was capable of destroying a whole country. As expected, the dragon was of a totally different league.

「It’s super expensive. Then what kind of sword should I aim for?」

「Well, you should find a person who sells robust materials such as the Metal Lizard Metal. But I must warn you that finding this material will be a tough task. The Metal Lizard Metal sword is more durable, and the blade won’t break easily. For this reason, the price will be about four times higher than regular swords. Well, the blade alone is harder and stronger than dragon blades, so I recommend it because it is sturdier. The only down side is that the slashed opponent won’t catch fire.」

Then, did that mean that the dragon sword was capable of igniting fire on the opponent? …And the name, Metal Lizard Metal…Was it a metal taken from a metallic lizard? Well, shall I ask?

「What is the Metal Lizard Metal? 」

「There is a big B-rank lizard called Metal Lizard, and this monster is called Metal Lizard because it is covered with hard metal. It appears from time to time, but if it appeared in a town like this where there aren’t many decent wizards, it would cause terrible damage. The whole body of the Metal Lizard is covered in armor with a thickness of 4 cm, which is a great material for high-end weapons. For this reason, swords can’t pass through this thick armor. It’s a monster famous for killing swordsmen. This monster’s armor is called Metal Lizard Metal.」

I just heard something scary. Well, first of all, there was no way that I would come across such monster. I thanked Dveragh-san and left his store.

It was still bright, so I decided to go home after collecting some Zunana grass. I went out from the gate again and entered the forest. It was the usual medicinal herb-harvesting job.

After harvesting for about 5 minutes, a Green Wolf appeared. I invoked a rock spear to silence it. I returned to my harvesting duty. I kept overfishing herbs while making a creepy noise. Another Green Wolf appeared after 8 minutes. I also silenced him with a rock spear.

I was defeating Green Wolves that kept appearing while harvesting herbs. For some reason, I felt that there were many Green Wolves today. Well, it did not matter if I killed Green Wolves for more income. I could not sell them right now. But, including the subjugation reward, the Green Wolf was 210 Tael per animal, so I shall keep them in the item box.

They were probably attracted to the smell of blood that remained in my clothes. I wondered why the smell did not come off even if I washed them. I put another Green Wolf corpse into the item box and resumed my herb-harvesting job.

Then another Green Wolf attacked me, I killed it but the number did not decrease. Maybe it was because there was no difference between the smell of blood on my clothes and the smell of a real corpse.

It was getting dim, so I rounded it up and decided to go back in order to eat and sleep. I decided to leave the liquidation of what I found today for tomorrow morning.

Previous | Next

*Wyverns are great flying reptiles with snake-like necks and long tails that end in a venomous trident. Swooping down from the sky, they easily snatch their prey and carry it off to their nest, not caring if it is a sheep or a man.

—————–

Thank you to the Patrons for the continued support!