The Mad Blacksmith

"Hey, hey, what's with that attitude," the bearded man grumbled, "It's all true.

"Besides, the other nations won't be able to do much against our country without resorting to desperate measures."

He paused and took another sip from his mug before continuing.

"Oh yeah, I forgot something else to tell you. A friend of mine told me that Princess Isabelle is going to be married away in the near future. Most likely to arrange an alliance with other nations for the upcoming war."

A few seats away, Leo calmly analyzed the information he heard. It was quite convenient to visit public spaces to overhear matters regarding the current affairs of the kingdom. Even if not all the information he heard would be true, it was still useful to get a general idea among the populace.

Since Victoria City was near the capital, the citizens here would have an easier time obtaining knowledge on matters that would otherwise take time to reach the outskirt lands. Although communication has improved in later years, it was still a bit slow for some people.

After finishing his food, Leo stood up and paid the restaurant before leaving.

He needed to find a place to set down his luggage.

----------

The day passed by fairly quickly. The afternoon quickly turned to evening.

After spending most of the day wandering around, eating food, and searching for a place to sleep, Leo finally found a decent looking inn with a rent that wasn't very expensive.

Almost every other inn he had passed was either too unfurnished for his tastes or had high prices that were impossible for him to afford. Perhaps after he did some jobs as an adventurer he might be able to rent one of those places, but with the current amount of money he had on hand, it was not possible.

He was given a key to a room on the second floor after paying the owner of the inn.

Once he got inside, Leo casually flung his luggage on the floor near the entrance and checked around the interior.

'Good thing this one has a private toilet and its own bathtub,' he thought in relief, 'I would hate having to share a public washroom.'

"Sigh... The day took longer than I thought."

Because he spent a lot of time looking for a room to rent, Leo eventually had to eat supper outside as well. He originally hoped that he could have spent some more time shopping.

"At least I managed to get a map of the city," he murmured to himself, "Now I won't waste time taking longer routes.

"Plus, I've already marked down some of the places that interest me."

There were certain shops and stores that caught his eye as he was wandering, but at that point the sun was already about to set and he unfortunately had to hurry to find shelter. Otherwise, he would've had to sleep on the streets.

In Bavalon, especially near the lands around the capital, it was quite rare to see individuals without homes or jobs. Thanks to the combined efforts of Queen Victoria and several groups of mages, it was now possible for nearly every person of every class to live a comfortable life so long as they were not lazy. Thus, the kingdom has a considerable lack of poor and homeless people.

By relying on the convenience of magic, many hardships that previously plagued the kingdom were significantly reduced.

That wasn't to say there weren't still problems in the country. You would always get deviants in every society who'd want to stir up trouble. But compared to the rest of the continent, Bavalon was said to have one of the best governing systems for the majority of its people.

While Leo personally thinks most of it is propaganda, there is one popular opinion that nearly all the citizens of Bavalon agree on: compared to Fermes and Spanyx, Bavalon is a safe haven.

'Although I see myself as an open minded guy, if at least half the things I've heard about Fermes and Spanyx are true, then I'm glad that I was born here.'

Walking to his bedroom, Leo eventually decided to rest early today. It would allow him to wake up sooner and give him extra time to search for the places marked on his map. Afterwards, he would go to the guild and find an assignment to complete.

Turning his head, he gazed out his bedroom's window and saw the sun finally setting. With nothing else to do, Leo decided to cast a spell.

[Light Orb]

A ball of white light suddenly appeared in his apartment, illuminating the dark space in place of candles.

'Since it's still a bit too early to sleep, might as well get to reading more of that guide book.'

----------

It was 6:00 a.m. in the next morning. Since it was too early for the sunrise, the sky was still a bit dark outside.

Leo quickly got out of bed and went to the washroom to brush his teeth. He also put on a new pair of clothes before preparing his breakfast.

Yesterday evening, after eating his supper, Leo had made sure to buy some extra bread from a certain shop for the next few days.

As he ate the bread and drank some water, he immediately took out his map of the city.

Not too far from the middle of the map, there was an item shop that sold weapons and potions. It was conveniently closer to the Adventurer Guild than all the other places Leo had been interested in.

"Might as well go there. You never know if there is a good equipment you could buy."

Now that he is officially an adventurer, his priority should be making sure he gets back alive from quests and missions.

----------

Walking down the street that was still somewhat dark, Leo had to cast a [Light Orb] again to carefully observe the shops nearby.

When it was 6:45 a.m., Leo found himself in front of a medium-sized sign planted in front of a door. This was the entrance to the item shop he was looking for.

"Graybeard Metalworks... Yup! This should be the place." Leo excitedly said as he cancelled the orb and moved to the shop's entrance.

Seeing another sign hanging on the door that indicated that the shop was currently "Open", Leo put his hand on the door knob and twisted it before taking a step inside.

Almost immediately after, a flying hammer entered his vision.

Leo ducked just in time as the hammer grazed past the top of his black hair. While in a crouched position, he hurriedly got up in a fighting stance and cast a spell.

[Weapon Creation - Basic]!

A club made out of a strange material instantly materialized in Leo's right hand. Though this was not his preferred weapon, he was planning on using it to defend himself for a short instant to buy him enough time to prepare a counterattack.

However, his "opponent" did not follow up with anything else. No other sudden movements were made.

In the middle of the shop, there was a stout man with a large grey beard standing behind a counter and waving his fists.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO... hmm?" a gravelly voice came out from the figure of the stout man. His eyes squinted in confusion for a second before refocusing on Leo.

"Ah! A new customer!" the stout man warmly welcomed with open arms to greet this new person he had never seen before.

"Who are you? Why did you attack me?"

Despite the change in attitude of this strange person, Leo did not let his guard down and warily held his club with both hands.

"Sorry, sorry!" the stout man hastily apologized before bowing, "My name is Madelin Graybeard. I'm the blacksmith owner of this shop. Please don't be alarmed by me."

The blacksmith named Madelin stood up straight and continued to smile in a warm manner, but seeing that the young man in front of him still did not lower his weapon, he decided to give an explanation before things got more complicated.

"Sorry about that hammer throw. It wasn't intended for you. I mistakenly thought that you were someone else."

"Why did you think I was someone else? Rather, how exactly did you believe that the person who came in wasn't just a random customer?" Leo responded in a stern tone. He was still extremely suspicious.

The blacksmith named Madelin Graybeard waved his hands in a slightly irritated way.

"Ahh, it's because of the time."

"....The time?"

"Uh-huh," Madelin nodded his head like it was obvious, "All my customers know that I am very grumpy in the early morning. I'm in my best shape at around 7:30, so usually people would come to my shop after that time."

"What?!" Leo was thoroughly exasperated.

'Is this a joke? Not only did you nearly give me a concussion, but you expect me to believe this stupid reason?! Who the hell attacks people in the morning just because they're grumpy? Furthermore, your sign clearly says that your shop is open right now!'

Just as Leo was prepared to launch a complaint, the stout Madelin pointed his finger to a sign a few meters away from the door. It was propped up on a stand inside the room, and was clearly labeled with the words:

"Do not disturb me at 6:45 am. Come at around 7:30. It's my best time!"

Leo's face contorted at the ridiculousness of this situation. It really doesn't seem like the blacksmith was lying.

'Is this guy mad?'