Chapter 205

While The Rat Muedron owned illegal, private land widely known as the Cursed Land, Golden King Alio had a similar domain. The difference was simple. Alio had poured vast amounts of gold into legally purchasing that territory.

Lords of noble houses, especially those who had fallen from grace and were left with minimal lands, were his main targets. Thanks to this, Alio’s private villa could comfortably accommodate the dozens, if not hundreds, of sudden guests.

“Blacksmiths, this way! Alchemists, please head to the research lab next to the villa!”

Moreover, Alio’s villa was not just a simple villa. It was a place filled to the brim with an insane amount of gold. Alio had the tendency to invest huge sums of money into various things simply out of boredom, and the result was the environment now facing the guests.

“Marvelous. It’s an environment that motivates me to work. It must have been designed by someone with a knack for metallurgy.”

Master Ferguson, among others, was greatly satisfied with the newly provided environment. In reality, what was called a forge was almost as large as a whole village in terms of size. The research lab for the alchemists was no different.

“I...I feel like crying right now. You might not understand, but as a researcher, with such excellent facilities, it’s impossible not to produce outstanding results!”

Dunkehr’s alchemist, Jeriel, exclaimed with real tears in his eyes. The people he brought seemed to feel the same way as him. They looked around the interior with faces filled with emotion and began to work shortly after.

“I can’t wait any longer! We must start working right away. These are to be melted down, right?”

They started smelting the mining tools made from divine minerals without any problems.

“You helped me before. Thanks to you, I was able to gain great enlightenment. The academy showed quite a bit of interest as well! Could there be a happier moment for a researcher?”

Jeriel treated Seojin as if he was a savior. He then assured that this time, he would definitely be of help. He didn’t forget to ask if it was okay to publish this research data.

“After this job is over. Not right now.”

“I can wait that long! Thank you so much! You are making a significant contribution to the advancement of alchemy in this world! I can assure you of that!”

“That’s nice to hear. Work hard. Oh, and don’t just extract energy like last time. Don’t forget that.”

“Leave it to us!”

With Jeriel’s confident shout behind him, Seojin left the research lab. Once again, the lavish landscape of the villa came into view.

‘He really does have a lot of money. More so than I ever imagined.’

That was Seojin’s thought when he first saw Alio’s villa.

In the real world, the wealthy were said to live quite different lives, but here, the threshold was much higher. Magic existed, and so did priests who could freely use divine power, and science was also somewhat advanced in this world. Especially since it was inspired by the medieval era, there was no need to be mindful of the public’s eyes.

‘The journey here wasn’t easy, but it feels like we’re somewhat on track now.’

Getting here was no easy feat. It started from the moment they left Moonstone Village. Even for the most skilled thieves, finding a comfortable escape route was impossible. They had to use tunnels prepared deep underground. These were very narrow and long, prepared for the purpose of avoiding detection.

‘But we managed in the end.’

After investing a whole day in transporting the moonstone, they were finally able to lie down in the vehicles prepared by Alio and Muedron. Now, upon arriving at the forge inside the villa, Seojin was finally met with a familiar face.

“Master Ferguson!”

“Haha! Who do we have here! I knew I’d see you again, but never thought it would be in this land!”

“Is the place important? Who is present is what matters.”

“Yes, yes. You’re absolutely right.”

“You seem to have become gentler?”

“I heard about your promise. How could I not welcome you warmly!”

Ferguson seemed unable to contain his excitement. The other blacksmiths felt the same. They looked at Seojin with faces as bright as their master’s, as if they shared the same sentiment.

“You said you would allow us to craft equipment from divine minerals. And a tremendous amount at that.”

“A huge amount indeed. We have about ten days. Honestly, I was worried it might inconvenience you...”

“Inconvenience? What nonsense!”

Ferguson dismissed the idea as absurd. The joy of a smith was in creating fine objects from excellent materials, experiencing complete happiness in their craft. The abundance only added to their joy, not distress.

“Then I won’t say more on that matter. But I cannot thank you enough for coming all the way here at my single request. Thank you very much.”

“I came because it was you. I wouldn’t have, had it been someone else.”

“How could I not repay your kindness when you think so highly of me? Please consider this gift as a token of gratitude for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Your gratitude is overwhelming.”

“Fortunately, I could prepare without exceeding the bounds of politeness. I’ll make sure you enjoy your work.”

Ferguson chuckled, his smile full of pride and gratitude.

“Go on, I’m sure you’re busy.”

“I was just looking for the right time to ask. May I borrow my friend for a bit?”

“You mean my cherished apprentice, right?”

“So she’s already reached the position of cherished apprentice, I see. BunnyRabbit really must have talent.”

“Talent? Ha, ridiculous. The girl is a genius. And that’s another thing I thank you for, allowing such a person to become my apprentice.”

With a gesture indicating it was time to go, Ferguson waved his hand. “I’m busy. Get out.”

“Yes, I won’t send her back too late.”

Seojin headed deeper into the forge. Given its considerable size, the workspace was well divided. Especially the area where BunnyRabbit was, which was designed to be conducive for ‘designing’ products.

“Seojin!”

As soon as Seojin entered, BunnyRabbit’s eyes widened in surprise. To her, Seojin just smiled. “It’s been a while.”

* * *

“So you’re saying you won’t be crafting equipment from orichalcum.”

“The same goes for the other minerals. I’m hoping the alchemy workshop deals with them urgently. The items to be made with them would be something like this.”

Seojin picked up a hammer that was lying nearby.

“...A hammer?”

“Tools to be used in the forge.”

“Excuse me?”

“Like hammers and anvils. Ordinary minerals won’t be able to withstand the use. It’s not about the cost, but the speed of work.”

“Uh... I’m having a little trouble understanding. Such tools would surely produce something incredible.”

“The tools too, then would be incredible, right?”

“Well, yes, but if it’s for our sake, we can’t accept it. We’ve already received too much to accept such a gift.”

“It’s not a gift. You know I don’t beat around the bush. Speed of the work is what’s important right now.”

“...Speed of the work.”

BunnyRabbit could only look at Seojin blankly. Initially, she was overjoyed to see a familiar face after so long, and thrilled as a blacksmith to be able to work with divine minerals. But this was beyond unexpected.

“If it were just ordinary steel, it would be greed. Even moonstone tools would be overkill for that.”

“That’s right. So, that was what I was trying to tell you... wait.”

BunnyRabbit hesitated.

“Am I correct in what I’m thinking now?”

“It is. From now on, what we’re going to be processing is moonstone. All equipment will be made of moonstone.”

“...So that’s why speed is important.”

“Using just ordinary tools would take too much time to even make one piece of equipment. As you might have heard from Master Ferguson, we have far more moonstone than you can imagine.”

It made sense then. Moonstone was more difficult to process than any ore on the surface. If they had a vast amount, this kind of decision was perhaps natural.

“I understand. There was a reason, after all.”

“It’s normal to find it strange. And I have one more gift. How far have you progressed?”

“I’m at the early stages of a senior smith. Still a long way off compared to Master, but...”

“That’s sufficient. So, the issue now is your level?”

“Yes, if only I could fill up my stat points for further growth... No way. I can’t accept that, It’s not something EXP capsules can fill in!”

BunnyRabbit was shocked. It was a reaction born from the difference between professions and general jobs. Naturally, while general job classes gained experience through hunting, specialized job classes couldn’t do that. In Midgard, specialized classes had to work in their field to gain experience.

So, for a blacksmith, their level would rise through the process of consistently producing items, and by investing stat points, they enhance their skills.

“You have sufficient proficiency, and you should’ve learned pretty much all you can in terms of skills. And with Master Ferguson, you’ll be able to learn any further skills and improve your proficiency in them.”

“Seojin, this isn’t right. Really. Considering the cost of capsules, it would take at least billions of won to grow that high! Please...”

Simply raising her level wasn’t enough. It required increasing proficiency in job skills, learning class skills and so on for stats to have a proper impact.

As for BunnyRabbit, thanks to her hidden class and having a master, she had completed all those steps long ago.

“Experience capsules won’t cover it?”

“With just ten million... I’ve only passed level 100! Now, it would take at least billions of experience points to see any tangible effect... to... do...”

BunnyRabbit stopped mid-sentence. It was because of what she saw in Seojin’s hands. At least a dozen experience capsules, along with a bottle of liquor and a cup she had never seen before.

“This should help you out some. What’s your level now?”

“...I just got to 102.”

“That’s plenty.”

The importance of a blacksmith in this process was undeniable. Seojin knew that, and he wasn’t the type to save money at such a critical time.

“The capsules are just an extra, the main star is this.”

“What... what is this?”

“Millennium Fine Liquor. It’s an elvish treasure.”

[Eternal Wine]

* A fruit wine aged for ten thousand years using elven techniques.

* The user’s experience increases significantly. (30,000,000EXP)

[Wooden Cup]

* A rustic-looking drinking cup. It can contain the energy of the Eternal Wine without spilling.

* Breaks after 13 uses.

Seojin displayed the item descriptions in front of BunnyRabbit. A gift from the new elvish leader Jin, after completing the Shahav expedition. BunnyRabbit was essentially presented with hundreds of millions of experience points.

“...”

She was speechless.