abcnovels
Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Chapter 64
“Men, let us put our back into our work today!”
“Yeah!”
We arrived at a great smithy as Wayne bellows out an order at muscly men.
These “muscly men”—or rather, Wayne’s apprentices—are overjoyed that their mentor has made his return and promptly begin moving the shipment of ores we brought.
I assume they’ll make ingots out of it and then forge that into our new weapons. I’m excited to see what they can do.
“So, whose shall we make first? We’ve already crafted up the blueprint and a prototype for you, Cohgray, so be patient, alright?”
“Oh, of course. Thank you very much.”
“Ain’t no thing. Who’s next in line?”
“In that case, could you do Celes’ then? Since her sword suffered from damage in our venture this time.”
“We’ll get to it, son. That fine with you, Celes?”
Wayne checks with her, but Celes is just standing there spacing out.
“Girl, what’s the matter?”
“Hmm? Oh, pardon me; I was lost in thought. In that case, I shall take you up on your offer.”
“Then we’ll forge you an even better sword than the one you have. Look forward to it.”
Wayne and his men spend the rest of the day crafting and forging.
Even though they’ve got machines for smelting and hammering, the process still takes quite some time.
It takes even more time and effort if they’re to bless the weapons and protect them. Makes sense why they sell for so much more.
“In the meantime, Arleaf and I will head to the guildhall. We’ve got more business with them regarding the sewers thing.”
“See you soon.”
“I, too, shall be heading out...”
And so, we split from Wayne and Celes and set off for the guild.
They were able to prepare the rest of our money since our last visit.
The clerks seem quite a bit more chipper too; news of Wayne’s recovery must’ve brought life back into town.
But before I get the full amount of money, I hand over some evidence of the stuff I found underground. There was the dungeon, the boss rat’s nest, the belongings of some shady group.
The guildhall clerk accepts the proof with a serious look on his face.
Well, we’ve annihilated everything underground, so there shouldn’t be any more problems, but...
“Alright, then will you guys buy this stuff off me?”
“Yes, the guild can definitely purchase them, but perhaps it may not be quite as satisfactory as you might expect? Since you know Mr. Wayne well, I believe that you may be able to get a fairer price for your items from him.”
“Oh... are you sure?”
“Certainly. Thank you very much for showing us everything. We would be more than grateful if we could have you take me to where the remains are in exchange for the items.”
Are you really being all that generous? I mean, the equipment and everything are all damaged... it really depends if I can get them repaired.
‘The smith’s prowess is nothing to underestimate. Mayhaps he could restore and improve the equipment.’
Well, maybe.
“Understood. I’ll hang on to these then.”
I had to hand over some of the silver and gold pieces, but I got to keep the rest of it.
I guess it’s like a service fee for taking care of the monsters.
Well, no one would get any of it if we couldn’t wipe out the monsters from their nest.
It might just be enough to cover the cost of our equipment.
Afterwards, we headed down into the sewers with one of the clerks.
We traced our steps to show him where the skeletons and other junk was in the King Boss Rat’s nest.
According to Veno, the clerk used some sort of magic to assess and take evidence.
“It really is quiet down here...”
“Oh, if you see any round or triangular bits on the ground, absolutely do not put it in your mouth. You will die.”
It seems like Arleaf’s cooking has finished decaying.
Pieces lay scattered around. Horrifyingly, though, they still maintain their original shape.
Even if they’re not moving any more, there’s no mold growing either.
‘We can but pray that no incidents shall occur.’
Haha... please don’t make me clean it all up.
Anyway, the guild treated us very kindly and we even ended up getting a bonus from them. We really profited quite a bit.
It seems like they’re going to have a group of adventurers investigate the place before they open it up to the general public.
Before the guild officially sealed the place off, I informed them the locations where Veno used his Mapping skill and detected dangerous levels of toxic gas.
Feeling good having wrapped everything up, we returned to Wayne’s home.
Celes, still deep in thought, took us straight to the living area.
We weren’t sure exactly what was going on until Wayne tossed a thick book my way.
“That there contains all the information I gathered ‘bout the ancestor. Everythin’ my family and the people living nearby passed down is in it.”
“Oh, thank you very much.”
I got Veno to use his storage magic and stowed it away.
‘Aye... along with the data we received from the lass, I believe I have a gist of how to undo the spell. Hmm? Her ancestor grumbled a great deal in this book... what bother.’
Wasn’t Arleaf’s ancestor a truly virtuous man? Are you sure it’s him grumbling?
What are we supposed to do about it? Maybe he wanted you to solve them or something.
‘I cannot say.’
Well, what happened to him was a tragedy. He might’ve been a saint, but everyone has to have a way to talk about stuff.
‘Oh? He has written down the name of a very interesting person. It is the one who used us as scapegoats.’
Right. Arleaf mentioned something about that before.
‘My suspicions of the time have now been confirmed. He was a meddlesome one and was demoted within our faction. But he cunningly went with the course of events to gain back power, revealing his true nature.’
I mean... his descendants may be around, but he’s dead by now, right?
I wonder if Arleaf’s ancestor asked you to avenge him or anything.
‘The culprit called himself Virage, a high elf.’
“It looks like the traitor was a high elf by the name of Virage.”
“I see.”
“Hmm... I’ve heard the name before in Saint Yggdra, but ain’t that a figure of the past?”
Wayne chimes in, giving us a clue.
Something to do with Saint Yggdra again, huh? I guess they struck first... placing Forced Possession Summoning on Veno before he could get his revenge.
‘Aye... after our business together concludes, I shall track down what is left of him. If he had been buried with reverence, then I shall blow his grave away!’
That’s a pretty extreme version of spitting on someone’s grave, Veno. I get how you feel but calm down.
Still... a high elf, eh? Veno’s said that the elves in this world are a haughty race. I’d avoid getting tangled up in their business if I can help it.
In any case, the truth is that Veno still doesn’t have enough information on how to undo the Forced Possession Summoning.
Well, we’ll keep living our fugitive lives and get more info.
I hand over the mats over to Wayne and officially place a work order for him.