Two days after confirmation with Haruna. Artiem let out a voice of astonishment at the huge amount of magic steel and mythril being carried in. Dismissing her surprise as usual, Hiroshi examined the quality of the ore for refinement.
ăSure itâs okay to be buying all this oreïŒă
ăIn a financial sense? Or in a connections senseïŒă
ăWell, both, but I guess more on the financial sideïŒă
ăMoney? No problemo. Magic steel, mythril, if ya buy âem theyâre frigginâ expensive but in the ore stage theyâre just flabby ân cheap.ă
No one was sure whether to laugh or cry at Hiroshiâs little lecture on supply and demand. It was reasonable to expect ore to be cheap, as the craftsmen who could refine it were scarce. From the average level of craftsmen, simply refining and processing these types of material was already enough to give you a first class ranking amongst the people.
ăHold up.ă
ăMmïŒă
ăSo if theyâre flabby, that means a decent amount of people dig for ore?ă
ăYeah, maybe? Ya need quite the skill ân intuition for digginâ up high content ore, but if ya find a vein and just dig that out then thatâs an easier way out for some.ă
Haruna gaped at this revelation. In actuality, you could dig up god steel in the game if you were at least Novice 70. However, not only did the quality of ore become exceedingly horrible; digging it up would simply leave it in your storage until you could actually get your refinement skill up.
That seemed to be the same in this world, so even for greedy craftsmen, there was quite a bit of flabby ore.
ăHey, Hiro.ă
ăWazzupïŒă
ăAnd you have no problem using the hell out of your connections?ă
ăThere ainât gonna be no problem if itâs just ore, mate. Plus even if I come at it with this speed, the other people apparently have been beatinâ down prices ân savinâ flabby ore.ă
ăThe heck is the Farlane royal family doingâŠâŠă
Tatsuya held his head at how unpredictable the Farlane royal family was. Did they not consider how long they would be holding onto that flabby ore if Hiroshi had not ordered it?
ăI think they planned to forge it at some point, mate.ă
ăAhïœăyes, I seeâŠâŠă
ăActually, leavinâ aside when they planned to, Iâd be usinâ the materials around here for this ân that anyway. Plus bringinâ in ingredients helps ya learn more about the price.ă
ăYeah, that doesnât sound troublesome eitherâŠâŠă
Azuma Workshop had a lot of expectations showered on it. Maybe their growth rate wasnât as high as Harunaâs, but Teres and the other two had already surpassed the universal average for potionmaking and alchemy. Also, there were plenty of things here that couldnât be made anywhere else. Most of all, it was extremely advantageous to craft and deliver low-level expendables with a steady output like blaze stones or Class 8 antidotes in terms of achievements.
Azuma Workshop, or rather the three craftsmen working there were seen as an astonishing spectacle by the palace, the Adventurersâ Association, The Meriza Company, and so on. As it had been all but proven that leaders possessing superior skill would indicate the amount of change, various organizations were plotting to see if they could force potential apprentices into Azuma Workshop who had been holding their breath in anticipation. Then again, as they couldnât quite contact said leaders, everyone other than the royal family (who hadnât even thought about this) was in a deadlock with this plan, holding their heads in exasperation.
In order to return to their world, it appeared that shuffling around here and there was showing some success. Of course, the people in question were not thinking about this deeply in the slightest.
ăCanât have too many people blocking the way here, so could anyone other than Makoto-san, Bro, and Haruna-san git outta here for a bitïŒă
ăUnderstood.ă
ăI will go out and work.ă
ăTell me what happens later, okay Boss Man?ă
The three of them obediently went out to make some condiments. Mio went off to the construction room to make her bow. As there was nothing to currently do, Artiem wondered what she could accomplish before coming to a conclusion.
ăAh, then Iâll go out to the village and check on the progress of the soy sauce and miso storages.ă
Artiem quickly thought of something she could do, motioning to go outside. Also, there was a simple reason as to why Goivejon and Foeldan were not here: they had gone to make soy sauce and miso storages with Hiroshiâs blueprints. Miso and soy sauce could very well become a pivotal factor in gaining the currency of the other region, and even as they spoke, many elves in the village were working on the process. Stabilized production at such a time would be difficult, but the fermentation was proceeding for the first test subject without any issues at the current time, so everyone was expecting it to be the next local specialty after sake. Some of the less patient people with time on their hands had already begun plans to make new fields for production increase in soybeans, finding old areas of land to open.
Incidentally, there was a simple reason as to why that group of people in the area wanted foreign goods: if there were no foreign goods, then they couldnât buy marine products or curry powder for dashi. It went without saying that Azuma Workshop was not going to offer free condiments or marine products to satisfy all four races living in that area. However, these folks in this region really had a thing for Japanese-style food in general, taking a liking to the dried sardines, oceanic bonito, and kelp for dashi that Hiroshi brought over and willing to go to whatever lengths it took in order to get their hands on some stabilized crops. Consequently, they wanted to use such condiments for themselves and were working incredibly diligently on making soy sauce.
ăAlright then, letâs get some of these ingredients outta the way with Haruna-sanâs rapier.ă
ăMm, please.ă
ăWell then again, Iâmma just be usinâ all the ingredients in one fell swoop.ă
Hiroshi said jokingly as he put more and more ingredients in the smelting furnace. This was a highly-functional, one-of-a-kind furnace composed of bricks that contained just enough sand in circulation. Layotte was forced to collect said bricks. Then again, Hiroshi barely had any attachment to it, and it wasnât even all that high-performance to one of his caliber.
Incidentally, the reason Layotte was forced to collect the bricks was because he had grievances with Makoto and tried to get Hiroshi to make him a magic steel-made weapon for him. Honestly, this was all on Layotte.
ăAlright, time to get started, mateïœă
He said in a disheartened tone but with a serious expression as he pulled out the completed alloy, inserting the hammer into the heatened ore. As per usual, Hiroshiâs gaze was piercing enough to convince you it had a literal edge to it. Earnestly, gently, boldly, delicately, he continued his work.
Not long afterward, the first product, Harunaâs new partner, the rapier was completed.
ăComplete. Try swinginâ it a bit.ă
ăMm, alright.ă
Encouraged by Hiroshi, Haruna lightly traced the shape of the blade, recalling the first time she had gotten her weapon made. Unlike then, this time there were no issues whatsoever, and no need to adjust anything. But it didnât end there; this weapon was also astonishingly comfortable in her hand and easier to control than ever before. In addition, just from swinging the weapon around, she was able to tell that the capabilities this time around far outstripped any weapon she had before.
ăAmazing, itâs perfectâŠâŠă
ăWell thatâs cause weâve been together a while ân Iâve been watchinâ ya fight enough to remember. It ainât gonna be unbalanced anymore, mate.ă
Haruna had to give an impressed look at Hiroshi for creating the perfect balance in one go with no need for revision. She had thought about how happy she was to have Hiroshi on her team countless times, but especially this time around.
ăWell, Iâll explain the special functions later, but first letâs get to the next one. Bro, itâs yer turn.ă
ăHeck yeah, Iâll leave it to you then.ă
ăAlright, letâs a goïœă
Once again pumping in a crazy amount of mana, Hiroshi began molding the rod, the sound of a hammer reverbating through the room. He designed the conduction line, paying special attention to the increase in mana and control support and making slots in several points to attach mana crystals. He then compiled the assistance ingredients, changing the design line to the shape best suited for magic effect, and then lastly laid a strong enchantment as it cooled.
ăThen all I gotta do is stick mana crystals in hereâŠâŠă
He placed the mana crystals in a transforming pentagram formation, and the crystals lit up with a glow. After minimally adjusting the flow of energy, Hiroshi made the finishing touch with an enchantment. Lightly activating it, Hiroshi confirmed there were no defects and handed it straight to Tatsuya.