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Supply of Weapons and Armor
Espa Medici Store, a branch of the Bellrango Chamber of Commerce.
The Seat Village store, the main store, specializes in the purchase of materials, but the rest of the store has the same selection as the main store.
In other words, it is very busy. In fact, since it is located closest to the main road, sales may be busier than the main store.
A peek inside the store revealed that it was full of shoppers, even though it was supposed to be spacious.
No, this number of customers is definitely larger than that of the main store. After all, is it the power of the beautiful shopkeeper?
“Do you have any more spears?”
“Sorry. We sold out of spears the other day…”
“I would also like to buy a shield.”
“Oh, we have small shields!”
“No, I need a big one, like this one.”
“I’m sorry, we don’t have any shields that size. I’m sorry, we don’t have shields that size…”
A young employee near the entrance was busy dealing with customers.
The employee noticed me and looked surprised.
“Manager!  It’s Van-sama!  Van-sama…!”
The employee calls out to the manager through sobs. At the sound of his voice, the adventurers and villagers who had come as customers also turn to look.
Then, a tired-looking Medici emerges from the back.
“Ah, Van-sama!  I mean, are you here today to deliver weapons or armor?”
Medici asks me with trepidation, to which I deny him honestly.
“No, it’s not that…”
“Ah, I see!”
Medici broke down in tears on the spot as soon as he heard my words. Too pathetic.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make it soon!  Just give me the ingredients!  I’ll make it in no time!”
I hurriedly followed up, and Medici looked up with tears in his eyes and started praying.
“Oh, thank you!  Van-sama…!”
“You’re welcome…”
When I replied, Medici stood up and immediately called out to his employees.
“Materials!  Bring wood, iron, and mithril!”
“Yes!”
Seeing their frantic appearance and voices, I thought to myself, this is a kind of war.
After a while, I did my best weapon and armor making for the first time in a long while. The adventurers lined up happily, so I made a box and a price list and asked them to put their money in it.
“Dagger!  I want iron!”
“Straight?  Curved?  Single-edged?”
“Uh… double-edged and straight!”
“…Yes, like this?”
“Wow!  Fast!  That’s great!  Thank you!”
And with a great deal of energy, I start to serve the customers one after another. The goal was to serve each customer within five minutes.
After two hours, all the customers had been served.
“Good job…I’m not a line worker, you know. What’s a baron again?  Another name for the factory manager?”
“I’m sorry. I have no idea…”
I was so tired that I started to abuse Till. Then, God must have been watching because the punishment came swiftly.
“Van-sama! I’ve brought him!”
With that voice, Ortho appeared with a group of adventurers in tow.
“I’ll take a big sword and a set of armor!  Oh, and the shield should be a large, slightly rounded one!”
Seeing and hearing his happy face and voice, I sagged in my chair.
Ashes. Ashes. I’ve burned up white. Call me Baron High Van from now on.
In his desperation, Van ended up spending the entire day producing weapons and armor.
No, I don’t want to join the war in a big hurry, which is fine, but it’s not a baron’s job by any stretch of the imagination.
I complained, but the next day was the next day, and I was meeting with the Seat Knights.
We gather everyone in a vacant lot in Seat Village and stand on the dais.
The knights now number a hundred, including the former residents of the neighboring village and the slaves who joined later. Well, it is still not much, but considering the population of the village, it is more than enough.
Gaining everyone’s attention, I begin speaking.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen of the knighthood. This will be the Seat Knights’ first expedition. Our destination is Scudetto, the largest fortified city in the neighborhood, which seems to be in the middle of a defensive battle presently.”
When I told them this, everyone’s expressions hardened. Especially the villagers and slaves who had no experience in battle.
Well, I don’t like it either. I think everyone else is even more so.
“Perhaps the other side is the Knights of the Kingdom of Jiernetta. They have been in many skirmishes with our country, and unlike us, they probably have a lot of experience.”
As I continue speaking, everyone gasps.
I look around at their faces and dare to smile.
“But we are not afraid of them.”
I say this, and they all look at each other, including Dee, who is looking at me with interest.
Conscious of their gazes, I smiled and held up the index finger of my right hand in front of my face.
“We’ll never go to the front lines, you know.”
At my words, everyone looks at each other with a rustle. Then someone raised one hand.
It is Borra, the vice commander of the expected super-strong rapid-firing mechanical bow unit.
“Yes, Borra-san.”
I pointed and called his name, and Borra opened his mouth.
“Well, Van-sama just got a new knighthood, right? If that’s the case, wouldn’t you rather be placed on the front lines…”
“Good question!  Good question, Borra-san!
“What?”
Borra’s shoulders jumped at my tension. But since I could give a reason to convince everyone, I wanted to give Borra a hyper Takeshi-kun.
I smile, nod, and reply.
“Because His Majesty the King is interested in the weapons and fortress city I made!  There are other reasons as well, but for now, if only two or three hundred new knights go to the front lines, there is a high possibility of destruction, so they will be placed in the back… supposedly!”
After saying this, Ortho, now in new full-body gear, spoke up.
“I would appreciate it if that were the case, but even if we are deployed to the front, I think we can manage with this group of people. You know, Van-sama made more than fifty mechanical bows, right?”
“Well, yes. But if you’re on the front line, you’re bound to have casualties. I’m going to make it my goal to get everyone back home unharmed.”
As I said this, I signaled to Till and Camsin to open the wooden boxes that were lined up in front of us.
The front-row group members are on their tiptoes, trying to peek inside.
I chuckle at this and look at Camsin and point to the rightmost box.
Camsin nodded and moved over, lifting the contents of the box and holding it out in front of his face.
“This time, I have prepared new equipment to protect you. It is a large shield, light and strong. If you stand it on the ground and hold it up with your shoulders pressed against the back of the shield, it is made to hide your entire body completely. It has a small window with a lattice on the top, to see what is in front of you even when it is held up.”
I explain and ask him to hand out the shields to the group members lined up in the front of the line.
“Oh, it’s so light!”
I give a supplementary explanation while looking at the group of people who are excitedly holding the shields.
“It’s made of the same material as armor. It’s as light as steel. Incidentally, the surface is covered with a thin mithril plate, so it should be able to withstand once or twice even if it is hit by fire magic.
“Oh, my!”
“…I haven’t been able to verify that, though.”
I keep my last words a small murmur. I can’t let everyone get worried.
Well, I’m going to be shooting arrows at them from as far away as possible to cover them, so it should be fine.
“After that, maybe a carriage. Let’s make some. Considering the king and Panamera’s itinerary, I guess we have some time.”
Muttering something like that, we broke up for the day and I had Dee train the knights.
So, I started making the carriage the next day and completed it in three days.
I got a lot of flack for it, but I just laughed it off.
Van-kun is a man who will do anything to ensure his own safety. There was no way he would take it upon himself to do so.