Returning to the blacksmith

I threw away the dungeon. No chance I’m spending 8 hours inside the dungeon doing nothing at all. I will maybe spend time there during the night, if at all. With that settled, I decided to tag along with Aeldrya as she headed for the Adventurers Guild. It’s been a long time since the last time we visited.

“If someone figures out what you really are, I’m playing dumb. Leave me out of it,” said Aeldrya, reluctant to letting us accompany her.

“Don’t sweat it. If you had not noticed before, nobody would notice too. Wouldn’t you agree, Limy?”

“Of course, master.”

Aeldrya wasn’t entirely convinced, but she voiced no further complaints. It didn’t take us long to get to the Guild. When we entered it, we noticed that the atmosphere there was exactly the same as I remembered.

“I’ll go sell what I salvaged from the Bolsgron and purchase a few supplies. Don’t go starting a ruckus in the meantime.”

“Got it.”

Aeldrya left our side to attend to her business, and we stayed by the reception area, along with the rest of the adventurers. Since we had nothing better to do, we decided to have a look around. It didn’t take us long to run into a familiar face.

—Isn’t that Aledrya’s friend? Let’s go say hi to her.

We spotted the priestess standing near the Quest Board. I believe her name was called Casniel… I think... She was browsing through the quests, looking undecided. When she noticed someone was approaching her, she turned around, and as she spotted Limy, she became visible tense.

“The tentacle girl…” she whispered in a faint voice

“Hi,” Limy replied.

“Uhmm hi… hehehe… so… are you by any chance here on your own?”

“No, I came along with Aeldrya. She went on to buy some supplies and told me to wait here.“

“Oh, I see. I’d keep you company but I’m in a bit of a hurry myself. See you around!”

And with that, she left as if the devil was chasing her… or as if she had a devil to chase herself... We ran into that warrior lady next, Nimbra was her name if I remember correctly. We attempted to greet her, but as soon as she saw Limy approach, her reaction was exactly the same Casniel had just moments ago. She became tense, whispered something to herself and finally pretended she hadn’t noticed us and dashed off.

—Looks like you have earned quite the reputation among those two… Maybe you should give them a taste of the good old tentacle treatment next time we run into them, that will teach them to show you some respect.

—Understood, master.

Since we were close to the Quest Board, I figured we may as well have a look to see what kinds of quests were available. I had a quick look, but unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a word of what was written there.

‘Maybe it’s time I stopped relying on the translator and focused on trying to learn the language... If only it could be used to translate text as well…’

[Activating Optical Character Recognition. Text translation is now available.]

A blue window popped up on the lower side of my field of vision, displaying the text translated into English.

‘Oh wow, Helpy, you are amazing. You’d put some of the translation engines I knew back in my original world to shame… but let’s be honest… what would become of the internet without those clunky translations?’

Limy and I started browsing through the available quests. All Rank 1 quests, whether green or red, seemed like a bit of a joke. Rank 2 and 3 quests seemed a bit more challenging, and some of them even looked outright dangerous. As for Rank 4 quests… we’ll let’s leave those alone for the time being. They seemed rough. I spotted a green one, whose goal was to slay a grade 4 monster… as if that was an easy task. I even found a yellow one whose target was a dragon…

‘Turns out the erofu was right. Being an adventurer isn’t a walk in the park.’

Speak of the devil. She returned just as Limy, out of curiosity, was getting a hold of a Rank 4 red quest. She took it out of her hands before I even had a chance to check it out, and when she skimmed through its content, her expression turned sour. She then checked her surroundings and furtively pocketed the paper.

“What are you doing here? Don’t go grabbing stuff you can’t read.”

“Master can.”

“That damn stone…”

She checked some quests herself before heading for the counter where we were greeted cheerfully by Clotpole. There she grabbed a large bag with all the supplies she had purchased before finally heading out of the Guild.

“Where are we going next?” I asked the elf

“We’re gonna pay Imliar a visit. I promised Limy would get a weapon and I am a woman of my word.”

“Right, I had forgotten about that. Let’s get going right away!”

“The weapon is not for you!”

The next order of business was visiting the dwarf. Just the act of standing outside her house made my mineral cortex crystalize in spikes. The thought of a bearded woman with such a deep voice and solid build was something I was having a hard time coming to terms with.

“Let’s go.”

Bam!

Aeldrya kicked the door open.

“I got the materials you asked for, you fat-ass!”

“Don’t break my door!”

“Ok, ok.”

As soon as she stepped inside, Aeldrya dropped her bag on the floor and headed straight for the smithy. She soon returned holding a large mug of beer.

‘You know you have a true friend when your fridge is raided without even asking... That reminds me of Iosu, that bastard used to ransack mine every chance he got…’

“Dumbass elf, did you really get all the materials I need?”

The dwarf put aside the hammer she was using to forge what seemed to be… a shovel… a damn simple shovel… Right, blacksmiths aren't just forging weapons… Damn, I want back my ideals about game worlds right now! Wait, a shovel is also a weapon, right? Yes… a broom too…

“Who do you think you’re talking to? Of course I did. Furthermore, I even brought you a little present.”

Aeldrya tossed a smaller bag over to the dwarf. When she opened it, she let out a groan of amazement.

“The kid managed to hunt a Bolstgron yesterday. I thought you’d be interested so I set aside the most valuable stuff for you.”

“I will put this to good use. Alright, let’s check out the goods.”

Imliar started inspecting the contents of the bag. By the time she finished, she was looking completely confused

“The core is missing. Which happens to be the single most important ingredient. I cannot forge a magic weapon without it.”

“Don’t you worry about that; it won’t be necessary. This kid is… special. She will be able to wield the weapon by fuelling it with her own mana.”

“That’s not gonna work. I need the core of an amoeboid monster precisely because it’s a weapon with the ability to shapeshift. The mana of a human being just would not be compatible.”

“Trust me, it will be fine…” she answered, looking sideways at Limy

“Well, if you say so…” the dwarf conceded after giving it some thought. “As a personal favor to you, I will give this the highest priority. I will start working on it right away, so you can expect it to be ready by tomorrow morning.”

‘Yes put that crappy shovel aside!’

“That’s great news. I will take some of your beer meanwhile.”

“How about you bring your own beer!”