The rain kept falling; it had been a month since the rainy season began.
Since it was now peak season for quests and monster hunting, Roxy and I temporarily paused our magic research, rescheduling it to the evening every three days whenever either of us had a breakthrough. Oh, and since it was the evening, Isolde and Talhand joined in too.
Now we were like a group of friends studying for college entrance exams together. It was pretty fun. After all, back then, I studied for my exams all alone. I had wished for a friend or two to study with and share the pressure. I didn't expect it to only come true in my next life. I hope my other wishes come true soon too. Like losing my virginity, for instance; I'm almost forty-fucking-five years old, after all and I'm also kind of a mage now, mind you.
Or something else, like being at the top of a certain field, would be nice too. Regarding that, I had a few skill trees currently being upgraded. Like crafting magic tools or forging equipment, maybe?
During this rainy season, monster subjugation quests popped up like mushrooms after rain. Get it? I'm making a joke about the rain, haha... um... sorry. Anyway, constantly fighting monsters helped me gather quite a variety of new materials. We used some to complete quests, sold some, and kept the ones that caught my eye as materials for crafting magic tools.
So during the three months of rain, my schedule looked like this:
I'd wake up around noon; by then, Isolde would have already taken the quests and prepared everything, and she and I would go fight according to the assigned tasks. We'd go fight, finish the job, gather materials, and then head back.
Or if there was a random event, like an S-rank Ancient Treant suddenly appearing, we'd rush off to fight it. Because of the unusual and urgent nature of these events, the guild wouldn't have time to issue a quest. But anyone who participated in subduing it would be credited with completing a quest one rank higher than their own (capped at the monster's rank).
Thanks to our already solid combat abilities, actively participating in those urgent quests helped us rank up and line our pockets quite quickly.
After the fights, around late afternoon, if nothing else happened, we'd rest for a bit before starting our magic research. Late at night, Talhand and I would sit and drink together (because Roxy was busy researching, and Isolde hated alcohol). Sometimes, a few adventurers I had recently met would join us. Take the Aqua Road party, for instance; they occasionally drank with us whenever their ship docked and they were waiting to set sail again.
If I'm not mistaken, Talhand seemed to be hooking up with the swordsman of that party. That explained why Talhand never seemed to be seduced by Elinalise.
Aside from the sessions that were purely about drinking and the occasional brawl, there were times when Talhand and my drinking table became highly academic.
Like tonight, for example, when the two girls had gone back to their rooms to rest, the two men passionate about their craft sat together at the tavern table. Talhand held a giant mug of ale in one hand, while his other hand rested on the massive horn of a monster I had just killed this morning.
"The horn of an Astral Stag, huh? That's a rare find. You really struck a gold mine this time, Atur!" Even his thick, rusty-orange beard seemed to express his excitement. "With such high flexibility and even good exorcism properties, combined with your craftsmanship, you could make a pretty good piece of equipment to counter undead monsters."
The story goes, as I mentioned, sometimes monsters from the Great Forest would get swept into town by the water currents. This noon, right after I woke up and walked out onto the street, I saw a giant deer glowing like a neon sign right in the middle of a town darkened by rain clouds.
But this wasn't a gentle stag appearing to save the life of some boy with a lightning bolt scar; this thing was incredibly aggressive, constantly attacking and wreaking havoc around the edge of town. Dozens of adventurers had shown up to try and subdue it, but nothing seemed to work.
I thought I had finally encountered an extremely powerful monster worthy enough to fight and that battle would be legendary. Yet, after just one slash, the monster's head was sent flying. What a disappointment. But at least, I saved a life, it's a knight with silver armour. But more about him later when we reached Millishion.
Back to the stag, as the person who contributed the most, I received the monster's most valuable drop: its antlers.
At first, I thought it was just some C or B rank monster. Who would have thought it was an S-rank Astral Stag, incredibly rare and strong(?) too. If I sold the antlers I was given, this thing would be worth dozens, maybe even a hundred Asura gold coins. Absolutely insane.
"But since it's not metal, it's hard to forge anything cool out of it, isn't it?" I rubbed my chin. "With a shape like this, it's hard to use for fighting. If I accidentally break it, it loses its value immediately."
The Astral Stag had antlers like an Irish Elk. It was quite bulky, and heavy too. Each side weighed nearly twenty kilograms. It was originally the monster's weapon as well. It was indeed very strong, but a normal person would find it hard to lift this thing and use it as a weapon.
People usually ground their horns into powder and then sold it in bags to adventurers. When encountering the undead, they could throw the powder at them to exorcise them. Just like how we Japanese often throw salt to ward off evil spirits.
Oh, did I mention that some people use this stuff to wash their penises in hopes of it working better? Truly baffling. I assume it only makes their dick glow and become holy or something.
Besides that, some collectors liked to buy the whole set of antlers to use as decorations, or even as items to ward evil spirits away from their homes. This explains why an intact set of antlers would fetch a very high price, but if it was broken or chipped, the value would plummet.
But instead of making powder or a wall decoration, Talhand seemed to have a better idea.
"How about using it as a frame for a shield or armor?" The dwarf said with a very confident tone. "The weapons of the undead are also considered a part of them. So if they are exorcised, they won't be able to deal damage. With a size this large, you could make a whole greatshield capable of protecting an entire party from the magic of a Deadly Wraith or even a Tomb Wraith."
"Oh, oh, that makes sense."
I was immediately in awe, while Talhand smiled and drank from the mug in his hand. You could say that every time I discussed magic tools with this dwarven mage, I came up with quite a few cool solutions.
But that brought a question to my mind.
"Mister Talhand."
"You're still calling me 'Mister' after all these days? Just Talhand is fine."
"Mister Talhand." Sorry, Japanese honorific habits die hard. Anyone I respect, naturally, must be addressed as such. "Why did you become an adventurer?"
"Hmm..." Talhand seemed a bit surprised by my question. He even seemed to hesitate. However, he did answer. "Because I didn't know what else to do. And I also quite enjoy this life. Here today, gone tomorrow, earning money, drinking all sorts of different ales. Isn't that nice?"
"It is nice." I grinned and gave a thumbs up. "To be honest, I also like being an adventurer for that reason. Alcohol and adventure are the best."
"That's true," Talhand nodded in agreement.
"However, um... based on what I've seen, you have experience in both forging and crafting magic tools, right?" I asked curiously. "Did you ever think about opening a blacksmith shop or something?"
Talhand didn't answer; he kept drinking, acting as if he was listening, like he always did. But at that moment, I didn't realize that the stream of liquid had stopped flowing into his mouth. Meanwhile, I continued speaking.
"I heard that all dwarves are master blacksmiths, right? So Mister Talhand must be—"
"Not everyone is like that," Talhand interrupted me.
His usual calm, deep voice vanished. Even though he tried to hold it back, I could still sense a certain irritation from the man. Perhaps if it were someone else, someone Talhand didn't know, it would have been a shout.
"Ah... I'm sorry." I immediately bowed my head. "That was thoughtless of me."
That kind of stereotyping, assuming Race A must be good at Thing B, is also a type of racism, isn't it? If someone told me that because I look like the Dragon Race, I should be able to punch Laplace like the Armored Dragon King or the Dragon God, I'd punch that guy in the face. Or worse, telling me to go around sucking people's blood or throwing garlic at me because I'm of the Blood Tribe would make me want to fight even more. First, I like garlic; second, I've never drank human blood (except Isolde's).
"It's fine."
Talhand slowly set his mug down on the table. He brought his other hand to his chin and scratched his beard. His copper eyes drooped slightly. A quiet sigh was released amidst the tavern, which was noisy with arguments as usual.
"The truth is, it's been a long time since I've been able to forge a decent sword," Talhand said. "Or rather, it's because I can't forge that I had to become an adventurer like this."
Perhaps it was because of the alcohol that Talhand told me about his life.
He originally had a friend named Godbard, a close childhood friend, and they were the only two who understood each other. I thought it must have been like me and Rudeus. But the more I listened, the more I felt it was like me and Eris, because there seemed to be romantic elements involved too.
Godbard was a person incredibly talented at forging, arguably a once-in-a-few-centuries genius. Because of that, since childhood, the villagers viewed him as the future Ore God; everyone saw Godbard as their future leader.
Because of that, Talhand lost his motivation to continue learning to forge. Instead, he learned water and wind magic in the hopes of one day being able to support Godbard. Because wind could create stronger flames, and water would help cool things down efficiently, thereby resulting in better forging quality. Peridot had once told me the same thing. It wasn't an easy task, because the dwarven race was innately unsuited for those two elements of magic. However, with determination for his friend, Talhand still tried his best.
Only to find out that when Godbard became the Ore God, Talhand was not chosen as his supporter, because the dwarven mage couldn't forge swords at all. Talhand still wanted to prove himself, but lost miserably in a completely lopsided competition. Humiliated, he left his hometown and became an adventurer.
"And that's it." Talhand looked down at his half-empty mug. The candlelight next to it made the surface of the liquid sparkle strangely. "I am a dwarf, but I cannot forge a decent sword. They say a dwarven man who cannot forge is not a man."
"That's an entirely unreasonable statement." I frowned. "It's like saying an elf who can't shoot a bow isn't an elf or something."
"Huh? Elves don't use bows, do they?"
"Ah, sorry, I meant... um, never mind. Sorry." I bowed my head. "Initially, I just wanted to find a lead-in to ask for some experience..."
"Ha!" Talhand suddenly burst out laughing. "It's fine. You just wanted to make me feel better. There's nothing to apologize for. Besides, I don't hate forging that much. It's just that I think you've probably forged more swords than I ever have in my entire life."
"No, I've never forged a sword before," I immediately explained.
"Really?" Talhand raised an eyebrow. "Then what about Isolde's armor?"
"That's the only thing I've ever managed to make," I admitted. "And it took me a whole... um... three months."
"That long!?" Talhand slammed his hand on the table.
"Sorry! I'm a newbie okay?"
"Hahaha! And here I always thought you were some kind of expert or something!" Talhand actually laughed out loud. "So you're a rookie too, huh?"
"Ahaha..."
Even though I was being looked down upon a bit, seeing Talhand looking happier like this made me feel happy too. I guess. Perhaps this was why, despite praising the quality of Isolde's armor that I made, Talhand never showed any interest in talking about it. He must have thought I was some teenager who suddenly appeared and was better than him in a field that had caused him trauma.
Talhand hadn't actively shown it, but I had the feeling he never really wanted to share too much or speak more than five sentences with me. Even though... he seemed to be like that with everyone, but it still hurt me, you know. The times he was the most sociable were probably only when talking about alcohol.
Yet now, we had found a new topic to talk about.
To be honest, I could empathize with Talhand's story.
That was because of my mother. My mother from my previous life, not Atur's. Since I was little, I had never met her. All I knew was that she was a talented woman who had appeared in the newspapers. And according to the photos in the old album, she used to be a beautiful woman. I had always wanted to meet her. But my father always told me she didn't want to meet me, over and over again.
I thought that maybe it was because I wasn't as good as her yet that she didn't want to meet me. Kind of like Gon's dad. You have to be strong enough to meet them again or something. So I decided to study really hard, turning it into my motivation so I could proudly present myself to her.
By the time I got accepted into Toudai, I decided to go find her.
When the door opened, there were two children, a boy and a girl, twins it seems. They were probably only elementary schoolers at the time. I swore I could recognize them as my siblings just by looking at their eyes. I had those eyes too; they were the only part of my body that could be called 'beautiful'.
And then I met her. Unlike what I had seen in the photos, my mother was older, but she still had the beauty I could instantly recognize. I smiled. I thought this must be a family where I would be welcomed. My efforts were about to pay off.
"What do you want? Money, right? How much? Just take this much and go home. Please..."
Yet those were the words I heard.
I completely forgot what happened after that. I only remember going home, lying on the floor, resting one hand on my forehead like that for two straight days.
And just like that, all my efforts meant absolutely nothing.
Because of that, I understood Talhand's situation. He had tried so hard, for someone who didn't even need or want him. And it was even worse than my situation; no one truly acknowledged his efforts. For me, at least society had opened the doors to a future to welcome me.
And maybe I should just shut the fuck up and drink the night away. Then tomorrow, all the melancholy I experienced tonight would vanish. It would just be like a normal heart-to-heart talk. That's how it should be, right?
But this is so unfair. And I hate it.
That's why I looked at Talhand and made my proposal.
"Do you want to forge a masterpiece of a sword for me, Mister Talhand?"
Talhand stopped drinking again. His face, which had been cheerful from the recent laughter, suddenly froze. I could see him raise an eyebrow.
"Why?" Talhand asked, not 'no' or 'yeah'. He asked me for the reason. "I know you want to get better at crafting magic tools and forging. But if you want to reach the top, don't you need someone skilled, Atur?"
"I think you are the most skilled person I know," I said.
"Don't say things like that to make me feel better—"
"No." I cut Talhand off. "Listen here, Mister Talhand. Why did you learn water and wind magic?"
"Because—"
"Because you knew that to forge a good item, fire and earth are enough," I continued. "However, to create a masterpiece, wind and water are necessary. You thought that, didn't you? And didn't that Ore God guy acknowledge it too?"
Talhand frowned at my barrage of questions. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
"But so what? It doesn't change the fact that I can't do it."
"It's true that it doesn't change that fact," I also acknowledged. "However, that very fact showed me that you have something a blacksmith needs."
"What is it?"
"Vision," I answered immediately. "You are not the Ore God, but you have the vision on par with the best, even within a group limited by old traditions. That is exactly what creates great things."
I was completely sincere.
Just like how Oda Nobunaga was always considered an idiot, even called the 'Fool of Owari', because he had unconventional thoughts. Or Thomas Edison, who was seen as an intellectually deficient child. Einstein too. True, unconventional geniuses are not born that way naturally. It lies in how they perceive things; it's vision.
Talhand might not be a good blacksmith, at least at this moment. However, since childhood, he had possessed a vision that only those at a high level like Peridot had. That was exactly what I was looking for.
"So forge a sword for me, Mister Talhand," I declared. "I'll pay whatever the price."
"Even if it's a terrible sword that will break right after the first swing?"
"Then you'll immediately have another order after that," I replied.
"You'll go bankrupt soon," Talhand shook his head.
"I don't think so," I grinned. "I'm rich. Well… not exactly but I am very good at earning money so don't worry. And there will come a day when the swords you make will sell for a price that gives me a hundredfold profit!"
Talhand glanced at me for a moment before replying.
"To be honest, you're quite like Paul, Atur."
"Hey... if I accidentally annoyed you, you don't have to say it like that, do you?" I pouted.
"No." Talhand shook his head. "I meant it in a good way. You're stubborn in a very special way."
"Um... how is that good?"
"But I also hope the scenario you mentioned comes true," Talhand admitted.
"Huh? Does that mean you agree?"
"You pushed so hard, how could I refuse? I have no intention of hunting monsters during the rainy season. And I don't like boozing for months, it would make me lazy."
I couldn't contain my excitement and slammed both hands on the table like beating a drum. Then I clenched both fists and threw them in the air.
"Awesome! Let's make some legendary swords then!"
"Hold off on celebrating. I would need a forge first."
"Don't worry, I'll buy as many forges as you want if I have to!"
"Hahaha! Renting one is fine!"
And so, I got a blacksmith exclusively for myself. How this collaboration turns out is a story for the future.