The Runesmith

The streets of Albrook gradually settled after the departure of the high nobles, though traces of excitement still lingered throughout the districts. Citizens continued whispering among themselves while merchants and craftsmen discussed the unexpected visit with increasingly more exaggeration.

“I wonder what all of that was about?”

“Just nobles being nobles.”

“I suppose so. I wonder how much that carriage cost…”

“More than someone like us could earn in a lifetime!”

“That’s true!”

Two peddlers with neighboring food stands talked about the events of the previous day. Life moved peacefully through the city, and smiles were often seen on people’s faces, something uncommon in this age.

“I suppose it’s time to close up. The sun is almost down…”

One of the men spoke as he prepared to pack up for the evening, but before he could, he noticed someone running toward him.

“Can I get some roasted meat? A full bag’s worth!”

“Oh, of course!”

Even though the man was eager to go home, he still had some food left, and it was best to sell everything while it was fresh.

“Give me some of those onion rings, too. A full bag!”

“Hm?”

As he packed the roasted meat, he noticed someone else rush over to the neighboring peddler, who also seemed eager to clear out his stock. However, it did not stop there. More people kept arriving, not just at their stands but throughout the entire food section of the merchant district. Soon, droves of people were scrambling for food that was easy to carry and quick to eat, which seemed strange.

“Hey, I was here first! Stop shoving.”

“Can’t you hurry up? They said it will start soon. I don’t want to miss it!”

“Ha, you should have had your kids save you a spot!”

“That’s cheating!”

The peddlers exchanged confused looks. They had been working there since morning and had little chance to leave their stands. Neither of them had any idea what was happening. The merchant district was usually loud during the day, but by nightfall, people normally drifted toward taverns and pubs while the peddlers returned home after a full day’s work. Tonight was different. For some reason, everyone seemed to be in a hurry, as though they were afraid of missing something important.

“What exactly is starting soon?”

The peddler handing over the roasted meat frowned. The young man who had bought the food looked genuinely shocked by the question.

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“The fireworks!”

The second peddler blinked.

“Fireworks?”

The peddler frowned in confusion. The word sounded vaguely familiar, but he could not quite remember what it meant.

“You really stayed here all day, huh? I’m not sure myself, but they said it’s something grand that we shouldn’t miss!”

The young customer laughed and pointed toward the main district in the distance, where the town square had been established.

“They say Lord Arthur prepared some kind of giant magical light show. We can’t miss it!”

“A magical light show?”

The peddler repeated the question, but another customer shoved his way forward and asked for some meat instead, forcing the young man to step aside.

“Please, I’m next!”

“S-sure…”

The man nodded and started serving the customers, who suddenly seemed crazed for food. Still, he remained intrigued by the fireworks that had been mentioned, so he hurried through the growing line. Within twenty minutes, he had earned more money than he had during the entire day, and before long, he ran out of meat.

“...”

He stared at the empty trays and roasting station in disbelief. Everything had been sold. For once, he would not need to throw anything away or store leftovers in the cold box to sell the next day. His neighboring peddler fared the same. The onion rings had vanished completely, along with most of the fried vegetables.

“I’ve never seen people buy food this quickly…”

“Maybe there really is some festival. Maybe we should go see what it is…”

Before either man could continue, another wave of people rushed through the street toward the central district. Children ran ahead of their parents while groups of laborers, still covered in dust from work, hurried along with mugs of ale in hand. Some had even dragged chairs and blankets with them.

“Hurry up!”

“They said it starts soon. If we don’t hurry, we won’t get good spots.”

The two peddlers exchanged a glance, and as if a switch had been flipped, they immediately began packing up their wares. In most cities, they would have needed to dismantle their stalls and haul everything away with them. Their stands had been built to be compact and easy to disassemble. However, they had already sold all their produce, and Albrook was safe enough that neither of them worried about leaving the stalls behind.

With that in mind, the peddler made his way through the streets. Just as everyone had said, crowds were gathering around the city square. Adventurers, merchants, dwarven craftsmen, and even rough-looking men from the gambling district had all gathered there.

“This must be something really big…”

It was difficult to see what was happening through the sea of people, but as he scanned the area, he noticed something peculiar. Some people were climbing onto the rooftops of nearby taverns and surrounding buildings. He was not opposed to climbing himself, so he soon followed suit to get a better look at whatever was being prepared in the square.

“Hey, you were right, Senna. You can see everything from up here!”

“Of course, Grisy. Who do you think I am?”

Once they were up top, he spotted a large woman who looked like a barbarian laughing while a smaller halfling stood beside her with her nose in the air. A few other adventurers were with them, including a man with a massive sword strapped to his back and a stocky dwarf who already seemed drunk.

He lowered his gaze to the ground below and noticed strange metal rods jutting from the earth. They were covered in runes and connected by thick wiring that spread between them like spiderwebs.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Guards, paladins of Solaria, and other adventurers filled the area as well. He spotted a muscular man flexing while an elven woman beside him rolled her eyes. They stood with a family of three beyond the barrier the city guards had set up.

“What is this really supposed to be?”

He sat down as people continued to swarm the square beneath him. The rooftops quickly became crowded as more citizens climbed up in search of a better view. Some carried crates and stools with them while tavern owners shouted from below, warning people not to damage their roofs.

It seemed like the entire city had gathered there. He spotted a group of dwarves below, with what appeared to be their leader standing at the front. She was busy smacking them across the head as the drunken dwarves danced around her.

A half-orc adventurer stood out as well, eating what looked like an entire roasted pig by himself. Even he seemed small compared to the massive man standing beside him, the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild, along with a lovely elven woman at his side.

‘Is this really just some kind of light show, or are they planning to make an announcement?’

The merchant remained suspicious of what was happening. He knew nobles well, and they rarely did anything for free. If this was meant to be a spectacle, he expected them to sell tickets and charge admission, yet there was nothing of the sort anywhere in sight.

‘If I’d known this was happening, I would have stocked up more...’

He was still a merchant at heart, and the lack of any prior announcement irritated him. If he had known, he probably could have sold three times as much as he already had. His disappointment over the lost profit vanished, however, when something finally began happening below. The people assembling the rods started moving away. Their leader appeared to be a short man with a strange metallic limb. Beside him stood a young girl whom he had previously seen with the family of three and a dwarven youth.

The strange trio moved between the metal rods while workers carrying tools cleared away the last of the crates. The short man with the metallic arm shouted orders in a surprisingly gentle tone as he inspected the runic lines connected to each rod. With all the noise around him, he could barely make out what was being said, but soon even the workers cleared out, and it seemed the moment had finally arrived.

“Oh, something is happening!”

“Yeah!”

The people gathered on the rooftops began whispering excitedly as magical energy surged through the wires, and the runes along the metallic rods lit up. Soon, the tips started glowing, some white, others blue or red, cycling through every color imaginable before it finally happened.

A strange sound echoed across the square. For a split second, the entire city seemed to freeze. Then the night sky exploded.

A streak of white shot upward from one of the rods, soaring high above the rooftops before bursting into a massive sphere of radiant light. Countless sparks scattered outward like stars across the sky, lingering for several seconds before slowly fading.

“…What?”

The crowd below stood stunned. Another launch followed immediately, and this time various shapes appeared overhead. Some resembled blooming flowers made of light, their petals expanding outward in perfect symmetry before dissolving into drifting embers. Others formed sharp geometric patterns that shifted into detailed figures.

Mythical creatures appeared across the sky: dragons, fairies, and even Solaria in all her glory with the blazing sun symbol shining behind her. People shouted and clapped in disbelief as they watched the spectacle unfold.

‘So these are fireworks?’

He was not entirely sure why they were called that, as there was no real fire involved, only light shaped through runic magic, but he did not care. His eyes widened as he took in the spectacle, and he was far from the only one.

The people who had gathered there were completely enthralled by the display. Light continued to erupt into the night sky at steady intervals, each launch brighter than the last. The runic rods embedded throughout the plaza pulsed in sequence, creating a strange but harmonious melody. One after another, the patterns changed, evolving from simple bursts of color into intricate shapes that lingered impossibly long in the air.

A dragon made of pure light curved across the sky before dissolving into shimmering dust. A cascade of golden sparks formed the outline of a castle before breaking apart into drifting embers. Then, for one brief moment that silenced even the loudest spectators, the image of the sun appeared overhead, radiating warmth across the square.

“I truly wish my brother could have seen this. He really outdid himself with this one…”

Within the Valerian villa, Arthur stood outside watching the lights flicker across the night sky.

“He is a man full of surprises, Lord Arthur.”

Mary stood beside her lord, holding a tray in her hands while the exploding lights reflected in her eyes.

“So beautiful…”

As she spoke, Arthur nodded and turned toward her with a smile. His gaze lingered for a moment on the reflected lights shining in her eyes.

“Indeed, beautiful…”

He turned back to the show. The sky continued to bloom with light above the city, each explosion rippling across Albrook as though a second sun had taken residence in the heavens.

Everyone in the city could see it, even those far from the main square. Adventurers traveling to and from the dungeon stopped in their tracks to watch. Merchants waiting by the entrance gate stepped out of their carriages for a better view, and even the animals near the forest lifted their heads toward the pulsing sky.

“This is quite something… but I’m not sure about the name. Wouldn’t ‘Lightworks’ fit better?”

A woman asked the man sitting beside her.

“They were invented through alchemy, but I adapted the concept into runic magic.”

“Of course you did.”

It was Elodia speaking to her husband, Roland. The two of them lay side by side on the roof of their home. A blanket had been spread across the tiles in haste, now slightly rumpled as they watched the sky together.

“Awooo!”

“Haha, look at him. He’s excited.”

Elodia laughed as she watched Agni howl at the sky. The next wave of lights rose higher than the others. It did not burst immediately. Instead, it climbed slowly, as if waiting for the previous shapes to fade. Then, at the very peak, when the night sky stretched dark and empty around it, the light exploded in a brilliant golden bloom that bathed the city beneath it.

“Mhm.”

Roland nodded, though he never looked away from the display he had created. Elodia noticed something weighing on his mind, and a moment later, he felt her hand gently squeeze his.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm…”

He paused for a moment, leaning back against the blanket beneath them.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that we haven’t had time to relax in a while…”

“Maybe we should thank Lady Aurelia for today, then. If she hadn’t left, you’d still be tending to Lord Arthur and his brother.”

Elodia rested her head against Roland’s chest, listening to the steady beat beneath it.

“Perhaps we should…”

His words faded as he looked back toward the sky. Another wave of lights rose overhead, forming new shapes. One resembled the Valerian crest, while others twisted and danced together in perfect unison.

Roland had seen fireworks before and had even set off some himself during New Year celebrations, but this was easily the grandest display he had ever witnessed. Creating lights with magic was not especially difficult, yet in a world like this, people rarely had time for things meant purely for enjoyment. Sometimes, though, simply looking up at the sky and allowing yourself to relax was exactly what a person needed. A brief moment to forget their worries and let their mind rest.

“You’re thinking too much again.”

“I know. It’s hard not to with traits like mine…”

Even when Roland managed to relax one part of his mind, another was already racing ahead. It was difficult to silence the intrusive thoughts and truly rest. Too many times in the past, enemies had struck when he least expected it. Despite all the countermeasures he had prepared, he could never fully let his guard down, especially not with something so significant looming on the horizon.

“Maybe I should give you something else to focus on instead?”

Elodia chuckled softly before leaning in to nibble at Roland’s exposed neck. The sudden touch caught him off guard, and his body twitched in response.

“I wonder what your enemies would do if they discovered this weak spot, Mister Wayland.”

“…”

It did not take long for him to respond to her teasing. Whatever sounds the two of them made were drowned out by the spectacle outside and Agni’s distant howls. A massive flower of silver and violet light blossomed across the night sky while Roland and Elodia lost themselves in each other’s embrace.

The lights continued to dance overhead as the city celebrated below, but like all things, the night eventually came to an end. Hours later, Roland pressed a kiss to his wife’s forehead before slipping out of their bedchamber at dawn.

‘That was quite the night… but it’s time to get back to work.’

The brief respite had left him refreshed, but countless projects still awaited him. As he entered his workshop, he could see the aftermath of the previous night’s festivities throughout the city. A few drunks still littered the streets while guards escorted others away, but overall, the celebration had been a success.

‘Perhaps we should make fireworks a yearly tradition.’

The experiment had clearly paid off, and word of it would spread soon enough. He had never intended to market this little invention, yet he could already imagine nobles paying generously for extravagant displays to end their gatherings in style.

‘Well then, back to work.’

Alone once more, he stepped into the larger chamber that housed a massive construct resembling a hamster wheel mounted atop enormous metallic legs. The giant golem was finally beginning to take shape, though much work still remained before it could be completed. Time continued to slip away, as it always did, and before long the chamber echoed with the steady clang of hammer against metal.

His thoughts were filled with countless disastrous scenarios and all the things that could go wrong once the day of the event arrived. He could not relax. Too many people depended on him, and he could not afford to falter. The life he had once envisioned had changed along the way, yet he still struggled to remain on course. No matter what stood in his path, he refused to let anything stop him.