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Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 214
🕑 Added 2025-04-02 13:08:45 +0000 UTCWhen I got out of my bath, one of Dad’s knights was waiting for me, “A man who says you are expecting him is here. He says his name is Santon.” he reported.
Wow, that was fast. I thanked the man and got dressed before going down to the inn’s lobby and to one of the private booths where Santon was waiting for me.
“You contracted me sooner than expected. I thought someone of your station would have many other affairs to attend to.” I said as I took a seat opposite Santon.
“Indeed, I do, but it is only proper to keep a close eye on a new prospect’s first job. Well done by the way, the target does not suspect you in the slightest.” Santon said. He then brought his suitcase up onto the table, “Now, with every job well done, comes payment.” he then pulled out a hefty pouch that jingled with gold.
I opened the pouch to see the gleaming gold and estimated that there were a hundred gold coins. If there were any fewer when I counted later, I would have to consider different employment.
Happy with my acceptance of the gold, Santon continued. “Now for the client’s other request.”
I then took out the spyglass while Santon took out some kind of artifact from his suitcase. He then plucked the mana crystal out of the spyglass and slotted it in the artifact. The artifact then powered up and projected a circle on the booth’s wall, replaying what I recorded.
When the recording finished, Santon smiled, “The client would be most pleased with the quality of this recording, especially because it was so public. I will send you the gold when I receive the bonus from the client. Once again, congratulations on your first successful job.” he said to me as he packed up his stuff and shook my hand.
Just as I was standing up to leave, Santon asked, “Before you leave, can I interest you in another job?” he then laid out three folders, “They are all in your area and pay substantially more than this job.”
My hand automatically reached out but stopped just before I touched the first folder. As much as I was tempted to take a job that promised more money than a hundred gold to pull a prank, I had other obligations back home.
In that week of waiting for Santon to come and give me this job, I had crafted two sword blades, just the blades, mind you. In a way, it was more meaningful to gift just the blade as it was so that the person who receives it could customise the hilt, scabbard, and enchantments to their own taste. And by now, Dad should be traveling to gift those blades out at a couple of parties.
That meant that I would need to get more blacksmithing done before he gets back so he can get back out there and socialise, maybe even strike a few deals that can bring more money into our territory.
I retracted my hand from the job folders, “Maybe in a month’s time, I have other commitments to take care of back home before I am free to take on more missions.”
“How unfortunate,” Santon said as he stood up. “Well, when you are ready to take on more jobs, just inject mana into your membership card, and I will be with you as soon as I can.”
After Santon left, I decided to leave the city just in case I got called in for an investigation. I know that Santon said that Evanheart did not suspect a thing, but I could not assume the same of the rest of his family. This prank was public and a slight against them, and they would definitely want their pound of flesh for this disgrace.
***
Four days later, I was back home and hammering away at my anvil. Dad was away at a party he was invited to, and Mum was busy managing the territory in his absence.
When I handed my pay to Mum, she was shocked by the amount of gold. When she asked why a simple job that took just over a week would pay so much, I told her that I do not question what a dragon considers fair pay when they throw around bags of gold. Thankfully, she saw the wisdom in not looking a gift dragon in the maw.
As for what I am currently crafting, I followed Dad’s suggestion and started making a set of full plate armor. Regarding its design, I had plenty of time with a sketchbook during the journey to and from the city of Sandor and came up with several designs; some of them were inspired by pop culture from my old world.
Now, as I was hammering away, I was coming to the realisation why armor costs ten times what a sword does. A sword was just a straight, long, and sharp metal stick, but a full plate armor was made out of many curved parts that needed to fit together. And to hammer it out all by hand was going to be a bitch and a half, even if I use aura to give me more strength to flatten out the metal.
That's where my second realisation came. Compared to the smithing class back at the Royal Academy, I am lacking a lot of tools. And what is man without his tools? He is but a caveman banging rocks together.
That's when I made a decision. I would shelve all the crafting of swords and armor and concentrate on outfitting my workshop, but not only with the tools that could be found in any blacksmith in this world; I planned to usher in a new era in manufacturing. So, I started making a list of what I needed. After finishing the list, I realized this would take a long time if I crafted all these tools myself, so I would need to outsource much of the work if I were going to get my retooled workshop up and running in a reasonable timeframe.
Now that I have a general direction of what needs to be done, I gathered the drawing materials I needed and locked myself in my room to start creating blueprints of the parts I need fabricated.
***
It has been a week since I was held up in my room. The floor was littered with crumpled paper, and my walls were lined with paper diagrams clipped to strings.
In the week I was in my room, Mum was worried about me skipping some meals so as not to be interrupted in my train of thought, and there were two occasions that she ordered the servants to drag me off to a bath due to reeking of old sweat.
But it was all worth it. When I was done, I compiled all my drawings into a few folders, freshened myself up, and went to my mum to ask for a hundred gold.
“What do you need a hundred gold for? Are you okay, honey?” she asked as she came around the table to feel my forehead. She then cupped my cheeks. “I knew I should have forced you to go outside and get some sunlight. You might be stir-crazy.”
I gently took Mum’s hands and patted them. “No, Mum, I am fine. I need the money for a project that will greatly help me speed up my production.” I then showed her the compiled folders, each file a power tool that could be found in my previous world, but with a twist of enchantments and magical metals.
