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Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 247
🕑 Added 2025-07-21 10:24:44 +0000 UTCBy the time I arrived at my assigned lodging, it was already two hours or so into curriculum time, which explained why the staff housing was so empty. The first thing I wanted to do was go and greet Professor Sageira, but after checking with her via telepathy and finding that she was not available at the moment, I took the free time to unpack my luggage.
After I was done, instead of greeting the other professors who had taught me when I was studying, because they most likely had classes in session, I went to the cafeteria to greet the lunch ladies.
As I walked the academy’s hallways, Spot ran all over the place while keeping within line of sight with me, sniffing everything and nibbling some of the corners. This earned us a lot of stares from passersby, but nobody freaked out at seeing a hippogriff chick the size of a large dog because he was wearing a loose collar with the Ironcrest’s code of arms on it, so they knew that Sopt was tame.
When I made it to the cafeteria, the lunch ladies were prepping the dining hall for lunch when I greeted them.
“Oh! Young Lord Ironcrest! Good to see you again.” one of the lunch ladies said.
“And you got bigger too. Soon, you’ll be as wide and sturdy as a brick wall!” another said.
While the lunch ladies were greeting me, Spot came out from behind me, sniffing up a storm while salivating, but stopped when he saw the lunch ladies and backed up to hide behind my legs.
“Hello there, little one.” One of the lunch ladies cooed as she knelt down to look at Spot, then looked up at me. “Is this one yours, Lord Luke?”
“Yes, this little gluten is Spot, a hippogriffen chick. If you want to pet him, stick out your hand to let him get your scent.” I replied as I coaxed Spot forward.
A few sniffs and a pocket pastry from one of the lunch ladies later, and Spot was pressing his head into their hands while chirping. This makes me worry that Spot and his siblings may be easily bribed in the future.
Just as one of the other lunch ladies was about to go into the kitchen to get some meat scraps for Spot, that was when the head lunch lady came over and, without asking, started patting, poking, and squeezing different muscle groups on my body. When she was done, she just looked me in the eyes with a straight face and nodded. “At least you are eating well. Pull up a chair and let's get some food in you.” she pretty much commanded. She then looked down at Spot and said, “We will get some meat for your pet too.”
Within a minute, I had plates of breakfast leftovers laid out in front of me as the lunch ladies asked what I had been up to since graduating. As we got talking, we eventually got to the topic of my smithing business, and I passed each of the lunch ladies my business card and a three-inch-long folding pocket knife.
These folding pocket knives were simple for me to make quickly. All I needed was to create a smaller version of my signature Weave Smithed pattern, draw and flatten it to 1.5mm thickness, and make a punch and die set for the pocket knife blade and the two metal liners that sandwich the blade. After I had all the punchouts for the blade and liners, I would send them to my local blacksmith for shaping the blades, deburring all the metal pieces, and assembling and finishing with the wooden handle parts provided by the carpenter before the final product was sent back to me.
When the blacksmith asked if he could have one of the folding knives, I agreed and even gave one to each of his apprentices. As they started using them for their daily needs, people took notice and asked if they sold the folding knives. This led the blacksmith to ask for permission to sell the pocket folding knives. I approved it only if he used his own blades instead of my Weave Smithed pattern blades.
Within a week of giving permission, I saw my pocket knife in action, as people used it for minor everyday tasks. Cutting slices of meat or fruit in their hands to eat, sharpening quills for writing, and cutting fishing lines. It was selling like hotcakes and caught the attention of the merchants, who made bulk orders to sell elsewhere.
But unlike the mass-produced pocket knives, the ones I gifted to the lunch ladies had my Wyrm Works logo carved into the wooden handle and stamped on the blade, and also had a simple durability enchantment to slow down the degradation of the blade’s edge after constant use.
“Lord Luke, this is enchanted work?! This is too much for a gift to us!” one of the lunch ladies fretted.
It took some back and forth to calm them down and accept the pocket knives. “Think of it as thanks for feeding my bottomless pit, I call a stomach. If you really want to thank me, just look out for my younger siblings.”
“Ah! Little Lady Charlotte and Lord Cedric. They may not eat as much as you, but don't you worry, they are eating well.” the head lunch lady said as she scratched the back of Spot’s head as he had his head buried in a bowl of meat scraps.
“That's good to hear.” I said as the academy’s bell rang, denoting the change in period.
“As nice as it is to meet you again, Lord Luke, we'd better get back to lunch preparations.” the head lunch lady said as she waved the others back to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, I received a telepathic message from Professor Sageira informing me that she was finished with class and had the next few periods free. I quickly finished my food, cleaned Spot’s messy beak and face before heading to her personal office.
