Side Story: Blacksmith 2 (Gozoh's POV)

Several days later.

"Ooh, Gozoh! Thanks for inviting me. Is Roppu doing well?"

"Kantra! Glad you could make it! Oh, and yeah, she's doing great."

We hugged in celebration of our long-awaited reunion.

Oops, I almost forgot. I need to introduce him to Kehma, who I snagged on his way out of the dungeon just now.

Kehma is someone absolutely essential to know if you're setting up shop near this dungeon, [Cave of Desires].

After all, he's the secretary of [Dancing Doll's Pavilion]'s owner and one of the top explorers of [Cave of Desires].

There are only two parties that have made it to the fourth floor, and Kehma's party is one of them.

His party members besides Kehma are all slaves. Well, that's common enough, but the two slaves in Kehma's party are so cheerful and lively that you'd forget they were slaves if you weren't paying attention.

That's pretty unusual.

Sure, he has the slaves work at the inn, but even accounting for that, it's clear he treats them well.

"Anyway, Kehma. This here's Kantra. Take care of him."

"O-Okay."

And with that, the introductions between Kehma and Kantra were done.

By the way, turns out he's a mage, huh. I thought he was a swordsman since he's got that magic sword hanging at his waist.

So. We were about to have a reunion drinking party after this, but Kehma went home without joining us. What a cold guy. All he left behind was that eggshell he gave to Kantra. Apparently it'll be used as material for the furnace.

"Still, what kind of egg has a fire-attribute shell?"

"Ah, I was so moved I forgot to ask… I won't know without examining it."

"Hmm, but just one eggshell? That's pretty stingy."

"Hey now. Monster eggshells are quite the rare material. For Kehma-dono to just hand one over like that means he really splurged."

"Is that so?"

Monsters are everywhere around here, so I figured it wouldn't be that weird to just happen upon a fire-attribute monster's eggshell…

"I've never seen an eggshell collection quest, though?"

"That's because it's such a rare material that you'd need at least a B-Rank quest before it's even worth talking about. Gozoh, you're C-Rank, right?"

"Seriously? That's crazy."

Why is the difficulty so high? It's just an eggshell.

"Gozoh. Have you ever seen baby monsters in a dungeon?"

"Eh? Well, obviously… wait, no. I haven't."

Come to think of it, the monsters I encounter in dungeons are always adults.

Baby monsters… I've seen them, but that was outside of dungeons.

"For some reason, baby monsters are rare too. Worm-types and such are exceptions, but you basically never see truly young ones with no combat ability in dungeons. Well, the parent usually has superior materials anyway, so it doesn't matter… but eggshells are the exception. On top of that, monsters born from eggs usually eat their own eggshell right after hatching."

"Huh, wow. Is that so? I had no idea."

"An eggshell is something a parent poured their power into for the sake of their child. In other words, it's a crystallization of power. It's said that monsters gain their first blessing by absorbing this… so, that's how it is."

"So that's how it is… hm?"

Huh? Then how do you get an eggshell?

If they eat it right after being born, there shouldn't be any just lying around.

"In other words, you have to find a monster's egg without even knowing where it might be. And then you have to deal with the parent monster. The parent monster that will come at you desperately trying to protect its child."

"I see, that does sound rough."

Honestly, parents protecting their children display unbelievable strength. Both humans and monsters. You could safely assume they'd go up one or two ranks.

"And Kehma-dono is still low rank, right? It depends on what kind of monster it was from, but even if he got lucky, that's quite a rare material. And he handed it over so readily, just asking for one magic sword if I can make one. That man's a big deal, I tell you."

Kantra chuckled.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The next day.

"This is bad. Kehma-dono is seriously bad news. Way too big of a deal."

"Wh-what happened?! Hey, Kantra!"

When I woke up, Kantra's face was pale and he was trembling.

Yesterday, we'd had a drinking party under the stars at the planned construction site for the smithy and ended up falling asleep right there. Oh, and when I asked Kehma, he brought us some [Potato Chips] for just a few dozen copper coins. The crispy texture was pleasant, the saltiness was just right, and it went perfectly with sake. Delicious.

Anyway, I'd just woken up, and as for reasons Kantra might be afraid of Kehma… ah!

"Was there something wrong with the chips?!"

"Why would you think that?! I mean, they were super tasty, but still!"

Hmm, so that wasn't it. I thought it was impressive he could make such great drinking snacks despite not drinking himself.

"So what happened?"

"… The eggshell, you know?"

"Huh? The eggshell?"

"That eggshell… it was from a phoenix…"

A phoenix… I've heard those are B-Rank subjugation targets. This is serious.

"… So that means… it's an insanely rare material? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I used a magic tool that can identify material names, so there's no mistake. Honestly, this shell is a legendary-grade rare item… Kehma-dono, where in the world did you get this…"

Legendary-grade, that's amazing. Apparently if you mix it into bricks, you get the highest-grade furnace possible. It's a material any blacksmith would drool over, and it wouldn't go for less than a hundred gold coins. Seriously. That's enough to drink all the sake you want until you die, isn't it?

"So, what are you gonna do? That shell. Give it back?"

"… I'll use it. I already accepted it and made a promise. At this point, the only way to do right by this is to make a magic sword and give it to Kehma-dono. Or rather, being told to build a furnace with such a rare material… he's seriously expecting a lot from me… this is a first."

Making a magic sword is often treated as an impossible dream. Even now, I hear that the cutting-edge researchers in the imperial capital can barely manage to make something they'd hesitantly call "maybe… a magic sword, I think?" … For a blacksmith like Kantra to make one by himself? That would truly be impossible. Normally.

"… It's like drunken rambling, isn't it? A mere blacksmith making a magic sword…"

"Yeah… but you know, might as well give it my all. With this shell, maybe, just maybe, I might be able to make a magic sword."

Maybe talking with me calmed him down. Kantra already had the look of a proper blacksmith again.

"Looking at it another way, this is a good chance to make my dream come true. This dungeon produces magic swords too, right? That's some good reference material right there. Gozoh, you'll help me gather materials, yeah?"

"Sure, I can at least help you hunt the Iron Golems around here."

Looking at Kantra's earnest eyes, I decided to support him.

… Seriously though, I really can't read that Kehma. The only thing I know for sure is that he's no ordinary guy…