Chapter 35
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 35. 14th Floor (3)
When the Imperial Princess's command fell, everyone moved in perfect order.
"Drag this arrogant person out right now! I will strictly hold him accountable for sullying the Imperial Family's name and insulting a precious guest!"
The Head Blacksmith, who had fainted foaming at the mouth and was being dragged away forcibly, screamed.
But the Imperial Princess's eyes were firm.
She was genuinely furious.
Since he almost kicked away the Empire's sole hope, it was understandable.
But I hurriedly raised my hand and stopped them.
"Wait a moment, Princess. We shouldn't let him go."
At my words, Cassia looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Why is that? He is the one who insulted you. On top of that, didn't he dare to disobey my command and act presumptuously?"
"Of course that's true, but... right now we are in a situation where every hand is urgently needed."
At my answer, Cassia's eyes were dyed with emotion.
She covered her mouth with her hand and admired.
"To give a chance to the one who mocked you.... You are noble not only in skill but even in character. I learn from you once again."
No, that's not it though.
I smiled inwardly.
Forgiveness?
Mercy?
It's nothing like that.
I'm just going to roll him like a dog in the smithy?
Gotta make him load and unload materials.
I turned my head toward the shivering Head Blacksmith.
And I curled up the corners of my mouth fishily and met his eyes.
Perhaps reading my eyes, his face turned even paler, and he trembled like a leaf.
It was like looking at a cow being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
"Let's go. To the old-fashioned smithy."
We moved our steps again.
While moving, I felt a stinging hot gaze from behind my back.
I subtly glanced back out of the corner of my eye.
The owner of the gaze was a man mixed in the crowd of blacksmiths.
He was a sturdily built man, looking a head taller than me, with forearms the size of my thighs.
What is it, why is he staring like that?
It was burdensome so I tried to ignore it, but the gaze became increasingly persistent.
Eventually unable to bear it, I stopped walking and looked back.
I met eyes directly with the man.
Unlike his fierce appearance like a bandit boss, his eyes were sparkling brightly like a protagonist in a romance comic.
The burden doubled.
I cleared my throat and asked him.
"Excuse me. Do you have something to say to me by any chance?"
At my question, the man was startled and flinched his shoulders.
The surrounding gazes focused on him.
For a mere blacksmith to dare speak to a state guest was an unimaginable disrespect.
But the man clenched his fist tightly and strode forward in front of me as if he made a decision.
Then he suddenly bent his back 90 degrees sharply.
"......Excuse me, but are you the Hermit Knight I've only heard about in rumors recently?!"
A booming voice rang out.
The nape of his bowed neck was flushed red.
Tension was evident in his voice and expression.
Because the Imperial Princess was watching right next to us.
It was a situation where his neck could fly off for lèse-majesté if things went wrong.
Before I could even part my lips, Cassia struck first.
"That is correct."
She shrugged her shoulders and made a proud expression as if it was her own saga of heroism.
I felt my shoulders shrugging along, but soon Cassia's eyes turned fierce.
"But how did you know that? To my memory, the Imperial Family has never officially announced it."
At the Imperial Princess's suspicious glare, the man swallowed dry saliva.
It was a situation where he could be misunderstood as a spy who secretly leaked Imperial information.
"That is... It was so exactly the same as the rumors coming from my hometown that I was certain. A Knight who appeared suddenly wearing silver armor and wielding a blue sword, saving the village...."
At the man's trembling explanation, Cassia's hardened expression softened.
She nodded and smiled.
"You must be from the Arden Barony."
"Yes! That is correct!"
I looked alternately at the two.
No, so what are you two talking about?
Feeling like an outcast, when I stared with a sullen expression, Cassia went 'Ah' and turned her head to me.
"Ah... I am sorry. Do you remember the wall you defended? It seems this person is from there and came to express his gratitude to you."
Ah.
Only then did I remember.
That place where I beat up Orcs and fixed the completely crumpled gate?
I chuckled and reached out my hand to the man.
"Nice to meet you."
Then the man, as if not daring to hold it, roughly wiped his rough hands on his work clothes and bowed his waist deeply.
And then he carefully wrapped my hand with his two hands.
"...Thank you very, very much. Thanks to you, Knight, my family and hometown lived. I don't know how to repay this grace...."
His thick knuckles trembled faintly.
Sincerity was transmitted.
But the atmosphere flowed strangely.
The other blacksmiths who had been reading the room around us started approaching hesitatingly one by one.
"E-Excuse me... Knight. By any chance, the village towards the Western Plains too...?"
"My younger sister lives there, and a letter came saying she lived thanks to you, Knight!"
"My parents also survived thanks to the potions you distributed, Knight!"
"Thank you! Thank you!"
In an instant, words of gratitude flooded in.
It turned out that everywhere I had passed, their families and hometowns were there.
I scratched the back of my head, feeling shy at the pouring words of gratitude.
"Well... It wasn't a big deal."
Cassia, watching that sight, smiled contentedly.
As the door of the smithy opened, stale dust poured out.
Having not been touched by human hands for a long time, cobwebs were strung everywhere, and the hearth was coldly extinguished.
The blacksmiths, who had been in a comfortable office-like place until just a moment ago, pinched their noses and frowned.
They were looking at me with expressions saying they couldn't understand at all.
I tapped the anvil in the center of the smithy with my hand to dust it off and sat on it.
"Everyone's expressions are not good. You must be curious why I brought you to such a place."
At my words, a few nodded.
I slowly looked around them and opened my mouth.
"I will speak directly. With your current crafting or repairing abilities, there is no future for the Empire."
"......!"
The blacksmiths murmured.
No matter how much of an Empire's benefactor I am, they couldn't feel good having the skills that are their livelihood and pride blatantly ignored.
But I didn't mind and continued speaking.
"It's convenient to make things in a snap using skills. But isn't that all? And what about repairs? It's a common occurrence to blow up equipment while trying to fix it."
I drove the wedge in.
"It looks much better to rather make them manually. That will be more helpful for the future of the Empire and for you personally as well."
"Make them... manually?"
"We've never done anything like that before...."
Voices of dissatisfaction burst out from here and there.
Just as the atmosphere was about to turn threatening, I took out the [Radiant Mithril Armor] from the inventory and set it up next to the anvil.
—Thud!
Along with a heavy sound, a silver radiance brightly illuminated the old smithy.
Armor with perfect curves emitting blue energy.
At the overwhelming majesty, the mouths spewing complaints went right back in.
"This is what I made manually myself."
Of course, I didn't bother saying the fact that I received help from the Guide next to me.
Because the result is what's important.
"How is it. Isn't it more valuable to create something like this with your own sweat and effort, rather than praying to God every day hoping a good grade pops up?"
The blacksmiths' eyes shook.
Legendary grade.
Facing the legendary equipment that is hard to even see even if devoting one's whole life, my words didn't seem to sound like absurd nonsense.
I successively took out a farming tool emitting red light and showed it.
"This is also what I made manually myself. It's an item I made at the Imperial Princess's request to resolve the Empire's famine."
I held up the farming tool and spoke with emphasis.
"Its ability has already been proven. Once these tools are distributed throughout the Empire, in a few months, no, a few weeks, the tiresome famine will disappear."
"The famine... will disappear?"
"Is that true?"
Color returned to the blacksmiths' expressions.
They too were citizens of the Empire, and heads of households with starving families and neighbors.
Who wouldn't be glad to hear that the problem of eating and living will be solved.
The cluttered atmosphere calmed down, and before I knew it, their eyes were focused on me.
I paused for a moment and met their eyes one by one.
"But there is a problem."
I put down the farming tool and made a bitter expression.
"I am a foreigner. I am a person who will leave someday, and I cannot stay in this place forever."
"......."
"Then when those farming tools break, who will fix them? Will you fix them with your repair skills? What if you fail and the farming tool is destroyed?"
My voice gradually rose.
"Are you going to bet the fate of the Empire and the livelihood of your families on a gambling board with one wrong repair?"
The blacksmiths dropped their heads.
They couldn't refute.
Because everyone had the experience of blowing up equipment while trying to repair it with their abilities at least once.
I took a step forward and spoke softly.
"So that you can at least repair those farming tools well and use them for a long time, I will assist you from the side. I will teach you the techniques and the know-how."
Silence flowed momentarily, but Hans's voice broke the silence.
"What do guys like us matter...! Understood! We will do it! It's just a matter of doing it!"
His shout became a catalyst.
"That's right! We will learn!"
"What's so hard about hammering? Just use some arms!"
"It's a matter of protecting our families, what can't we do!"
"Let's give it a try!"
Thick voices burst out from here and there.
Before I knew it, hot passion was burning in their eyes instead of lethargy.
Seeing them shouting full of fighting spirit all together, I suddenly remembered the time I fixed the castle wall gate.
Ah right...
I didn't receive the Guide's help outside, did I...?
Umm... What do I do...?