CH 119

Chapter 119: The Far Expedition

Jend: “Mr. Bannon, is there anything that can be done?” Bannon: “Hmmmmmmm….” After listening to Jend, the number 1 black smith of the Carousel Merchant Group, Mr. Bannon, thought long and hard as he groaned.

We are in the corner of town where all the Craftsmen gather, and specifically, where the Black Smiths set up shop. This is the 3rd shop we’ve visited today, and we have yet to receive a good response from anyone.

Bannon: “.......if it’s a request from our dear boy, Jend, I do want to help if I can…..but I don’t think there’s anyone who can handle Orichalcum or Mithril at the standards Mr. Heroic Warrior needs. The gauntlet, leg braces, and shoes you’ve shown me were far beyond my skill to make.

Mr. Bannon raised both hands in surrender when I asked if he could make something of equal or greater quality than the gear I showed him.

The gauntlet and leg braces are made with Orichalcum and Mithril. It also incorporates dust made from Dragon bones, and the rest is a top rare secret allow made by a Smith who also used rare metals.

The shoes were made from multiple Demonic Beast furs very cleverly and the soles had Adamantite embedded in it.

Jend: “Mr. Bannon, you too?” Bannon: “If it was regular steel or a mid-tier Magic Metal, I can make you something decent from that, but you have to understand that in this town, you never get a chance to work with that kind of material in the first place.”

I thought so. We received the exact same explanation from the previous 2 shops, and I groaned in frustration.

…….this was our preliminary investigation to see if we can get our gear upgraded or renewed.

And since we are aiming to go to the frontlines, our gear needs to be something that can withstanding or exceed Ligaleo battle standards.

I’m okay, butーー

Jend uses mainly godly equipment. The Large Broad Sword Blaze Blade. The Wind Mail with the ability to create small breezes of wind which he never uses, and the Defenders Gauntlet.

Ferris has a sword and shield passed down from her family, and the most expensive gear she owns is the godly equipment, the Armor of Oath.

Cyril and Teo’s gear requires tailors or Magecraft Tool Artisans more than Black Smiths so we’ve tabled that for now.

………..it’s not as though we absolutely cannot go to the frontlines with the gear we have today. But if you want to stand out as an Adventurer in Ligaleo, we need to upgrade it at least once or twice.

And it would be too risky waiting on a good draw from the Heaven’s Treasure Vault, so in the end, we need someone to custom make or upgrade our gear.

There’s also the problem of pricing, so just to see how much it would cost, we are here asking around today. But in the end……..they told us that it would be impossible for them to make it.

And thinking about it more carefully now, if you don’t go to the summit of Altohern, only mid-tier and lower Demonic Creatures appear around this city. In other words, there’s no demand for extremely strong weapons here. So just as Mr. Bannon said, the Black Smiths here will severely lack experience handling high-grade material here.

……….I’m glad that my gauntlet and leg braces have remained intact up to today.

Bannon: “I’ve had a little experience when I was studying under my Master way back in my days, but handling high-grade Magic Metals are extremely difficult in many ways.”

Henry: “I see. That makes sense. All of my gear was charged an exorbitant technical skill fee that made my eyes pop out.”

Bannon: “I’m sure.” Since I brought them half the needed materials, there was a bit of a discount, but it still cost a lot.

Bannon: “And it breaks my heart to have to turn you down and hurts my pride as a Smith, but……I never want to say yes to a job I can’t do.”

Henry: “No, thank you for discussing this with us. We will also think of a solution as well.”

Bannon: “Yeah, sorry again. And good luck.” And we leave Mr. Bannon’s workshop.

Jend and I walked down the street and across the snow-covered ground.

Henry: “Ughh~~ that was my bad. It was something I would have realized if I thought about it just a bit more carefully.”

Jend: “I should have realized it too. The materials used in your gear, Henry, are things that’s rarely traded in this city. We do occasionally see goods with them after it’s already been made though.”

As the son of the city’s biggest merchant group, this guy knows the imports and exports of this city really well.

Henry: “And we wouldn’t be able to order and import gear of this level…..maybe we’ll ask the workshops around Northerntier?” Jend: “Hmmm, yeah, we might do that. My family’s group hasn’t been able to dig into business in that area, but we do have some connections. I’ll poke them with a letter or two to see.”

Henry: “But during this time, sending letters are so expensive. Last time I sent letter to Ligaleo, they took twice the fee than normal.”

Jend: “Yeah, especially in the north, we’re closed with snow.”

And we continued to chat as we walked.

Well, the Black Smiths at Flowtier couldn’t help us, but there has got to be some Smiths in the four corner city of Northerntier who can make Ligaleo-standard equipment.

Both Jend and I were looking at the issue way too optimistically at this time.

And we went to get a drink to wash off the failure of today and start anew tomorrow.

………..and realized how naïve we were 10 days later.

<<<<>>>>

Jend: “.......Henry, take a look at this.”

Henry: “Hm? What’s wrong, Jend? What is this?” We were having one of our scheduled, periodic meetings.

After we got done with our main discussion topics, Jend handed me a letter with a bitter expression on his face.

Jend: “So just as we discussed, I made an inquiry on Smiths who can make quality gear in Northertier, and this is their reply.” Henry: “Hmmmm…. Okay, let’s see here…..”

I read the contents of the letter.

Well, it was a single page with well summarized bullet points, so it didn’t take any time to read all of it.

As I read through……..I got to the end, but I rubbed my eyes once and read it once more.

Henry: “There are only 4 places in Northerntier that can handle Orichalcum……..and they are all booked with reservations. The soonest we can begin discussions is one year from now…….”

Jend: “And the price is astronomical too.”

Jend let out a sigh as he spoke. And yes, though this is just a rough estimate, the numbers shown here………..even with all the earnings we’ve had at the Altohern mountain, the price is way beyond any of our Party members.

Cyril: “Let me see~ Here, can I read that too?” Henry: “Here.” Cyril was drawn over with curiosity, and I handed the letter to her. In a few seconds, she let out a “EEEEK?!?!” after looking at the numbers.

Ferris: “Let me…….yes. Mr. Henry. This is impossible.”

Ferris looked through the letter and with a elegant smile, concluded concisely.

She just finished paying off her father’s debts, so she hasn’t really had a chance to build up her savings. And so, at this point, yes, the price asked is way more than she can afford.

Henry: “Well, yeah, but since we have to a wait a year, we can definitely save up enough money by then.”

Teo: “But that would be a severe delay for us.”

Teo spoke up.

…………and yeah, she’s right.

Jend: “Then why not find another Smith in the Capital or in the other Four Corner Cities? They’re all connected by the Teleportation Gate, so it’ll be easy to investigate. We might even find a cheaper vendor.”

Henry: “Hmmmmmmm, but having someone offer their service that cheap would be highly suspicious. And just paying for the materials will make us surpass our budgets……..wait here.”

I thought about all the other past stories I heard from other Adventurers as I head to the second floor of the Church to their library.

I took out one of the largest books, and with permission from the records keeper, I go down stairs with it. The book I have is not allowed to leave the church premise, and if I wasn’t a Heroic Warrior, this precious book would take hours to get approval to borrow from the library.

Jend: “The Northern Continent Demonic Creature Demographic Encyclopedia……you brought out a very rare book.”

Cyril: “Hmmmー? I understand what that book is from the title, but what are we going to do with it?” I cough to clear my throat to answer Cyril’s question.

Henry: “So this is just one idea, but when spring time comes, why not go on an extended expedition?”

Ferris: “An expedition……? Mr. Henry, for what purpose?” Henry: “In order to reach out goals to earn enough to upgrade our gear, the Flowtier area is too inefficient. The Altohern Mountain Summit has giants and Snow Queens, but the return is too little for the investment in effort and time. And we don’t every come across Dragons either. Then it’ll be better if we go after Demonic Creatures that drop gear materials or give us more money in return. I’m suggesting that we go to an area where that’s possible.”

These kinds of things are pretty common for veteran parties……..apparently. I’ve never done it before.

Cyril: “I seeーー I see. That sounds like fun!”

Henry: “Cyrilー I won’t tell you to not to have fun, but let’s be a little more serious here.”

Cyril: “Yessirー”

I reprimand Cyril slightly and look to everyone else to see their reaction.

Henry: “How about it? I think this will take at least a few months. And since we’re already away from Flowtier, we can go ahead and tackle the Dojos of Eastflair and short-term training at the Sunwest Mages Tower………..but this will mean that we will be away from Flowtier for a while……..and after we’re done, we will return here once, but we’ll probably head to Ligaleo shortly afterwards. It also means that we are leaving this city earlier than planned……”

Ferris and I have only been living in this city for less than a year. But the other 3 have grown up here, and they have family and friends. If we leave in the spring, that only leaves them 2 to 3 months of time.

They would probably have to pack up their belongings and say their farewells. And now that they will really be leaving town, they might even feel some hesitation…..

Jend: “If it’s like that, let’s not wait for Spring. As soon as we’re packed, we can go. I’ve already finished preparing for my departure.”

Cyril: “Miss Cyril has already finished saying good bye to her friends last year.”

Teo: “.......I’m ready too.” That was fast!

Henry: “Shouldn’t you at least hesitate a little more? Especially you, Teo. You’re still only 15.”

Teo: “You’re considered an adult at 16 in this country, but Rishu is 15.”

Oh, really? ……..but yes, your grandfather is from Rishu, but you were born and raised in Alvenia…..

But I already know that it’s impossible to convince Teo once she made up her mind. Cyril and Jend are the same too. …………I guess I was looking on them too lightly.

Henry: “And just in case, what about you, Ferris?” Ferris: “I’m good with that too. I thought things might turn out this way, so I do not have any patients assigned to me specifically.”

So she’s been preparing for this too in her work schedule….

Cyril: “Then we have no problems! Okay, Henry. Where should we go?”

Cyril stood behind me, and we both looked at the Northern Continent Demonic Creature Demographic Encyclopedia.

Of course, everyone else was curious too so they looked on from the side.

I flip through the pages one by one.

Cyril: “So what kind of Demonic Creatures are we looking for?” Henry: “Hmmm, it really depends on the Party too, but even if they help us make a lot of money, if they don’t appear enough, there’s no point, so it’ll be difficult to decide.”

But as far as our Party strength is concerned, unless the Demonic Creature fights in an incredibly unorthodox manner, we should be fine.

Henry: “If we’re looking for gear materials, we should hunt Orichalcum Golems and Mithril Golems…..”

So we’ll first look for where those Demonic Creatures appear.

I flip to the very back of the book to look at the Appendices for a list of Demonic Creatures.

Henry: “.......the Varsaldi Empire, the [The Mountains of the Most Honored God of the Mines], huh.”

From their Race, they tend to be very adept with craftsmanship. There, on average, you will see more skillful dwarf craftsman than human ones.

And as one of the boundaries of the Alvenian Kingdom, the large mountain ranges caught my eye.