Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Hey, Mark!" Seth greeted Mark Baker.

"Seth?" the other exclaimed.

The next day, the blacksmith and the secretary were sitting in Mary's office calling the man who had experienced a meteoric rise since his collaboration with the Princess of Chrona and the undead of Arget Nore. Thanks to his quick and open mind, he was one of the quickest to adapt after their initial mistakes in handling outside powers.

One could say that Baker had gotten into a position of power and was in control of Y-City's foreign affairs. As such he was also the linchpin in their talk to establish an official trade route. Although Chrona had already agreed to it on their side, Mary told him that there were still things to deal with on Y-City's side.

There were still a lot of official that were doubtful of the kind of influence Chrona could have on Y-City, once a major trade route was established. After Ypsilon managed to get back on its feet after the invasion of the maritime empire, they were on guard against influences from other worlds, to the point of xenophobia.

"What a rare sight. What got me this honor, to talk with the Tower Master of Minas Mar directly?" he joked self-ironically.

Although he joked, Baker had changed quite a bit from the last time Seth saw him. The young man had aged. The high position didn't seem to do him well. Or maybe it was dealing with a lot of old and stubborn people who didn't wish to go with the times?

"Mr. Baker, please be a little more serious," Mary said seriously.

"Exactly, Mr. baker. This is serious business." Seth repeated with a smirk.

"Fine, how can I help you? I'm busy, you know?"

Mary looked to Seth, to state their business. The blacksmith bent over the communication crystal.

"I'm a blacksmith. I want to trade arms, what else could I want?" he paused.

"W won't be buying any-" Mark started but was interrupted by Seth.

"I would like to order your polyarkanate armors," he revealed to Baker.

That's right. This was what Seth had remembered. Mary had told him about the modern-style armors from Y-City flooding Delta's market. Wouldn't that mean they were able to produce them in high numbers? It was exactly what Seth needed.

He couldn't help but chuckle, when he saw the other man speechless. Baker took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Then buy them from our retailers. Why are you calling me about this?" Baker asked exasperated.

"Because I want a discount, duh. Why should I buy it from some overpriced reseller, when I can strike a deal with an old acquaintance?"

"And what makes you think I would sell it to you any cheaper? You also didn't give me any advantage in those auctions."

"Of course, I didn't! I'm just a poor little blacksmith. You were and still are a government official. However, I don't ask you to give me a discount from the good of your heart."

Baker sighed. "I'm listening."

"I'm buying in bulk and it will be a great advertisement for your armors once the trade route is operating." the blacksmith summed it up. Baker still stared at him, like he didn't understand.

"Mary, you did inform him about the safety measures we planned for the route, right?" he made sure.

"I did send his people the documents".

"You mean this is about the golem troops you want to use as guards?" Baker caught on.

"Exactly! Think about it, when the golems protecting the way wear your polyarkanate armors, it will be a huge publicity for the craftsmen of Y-City, right? Don't you think that is worth a discount?" Seth reasoned.

"And... how many would you need?" Baker asked hesitantly.

"Well, we have not yet developed the second half of the way, but I guess we will need about 200 armor sets for the golems, at least." he estimated.

With 200 golems, that would mean to station 10-15 golems at every Hangingtree along the way. This seemed like an appropriate number to start with. Each golem was the equivalent to a high-level player, it was a sizable force, just enough to deal with the dangers of the mountains, during times when people stayed at the tree.

"2-200?" Baker stuttered. "... You really intend to man the whole trade route, don't you?"

"Well, who would want to pay toll, for an unsafe trade route,right?" Seth countered.

"About that, who about I give you the armors for free and find a way for a joint management of the trade route?" Mark asked craftily.

"Hey, if you pacify and maintain the safety of the other half of the trade route, from Y-City to Mount Agra, then go ahead." Seth threw at him, knowing well, that Y-City wasn't going to risk their elites to do so.

They could have, Seth was sure that Y-City had easily enough high-level people to do so, but unlike Seth who had free labor in form of golems and trees, maintaining safety with adventurers would have astronomical prices.

Baker cleared his throat a little embarrassed. "Let's talk about that discount."

Together with Mary, they took Baker into a two-pronged attack and whittled the price down. In the end, they bought 150 sets of armor at manufacturing cost and got 50 for free. Baker assured they would be delivered in the following days, a week at latest.

Seth would have to wait for them to arrive. It was not so bad, as Mary also informed him that there was a message from Polter. Their <Ithildin> was also about ready for shipment.

In the meantime, he would need to do some other things.

…

Such as a visit to Al'Zalsar.

"What do you want?" the sorceress asked grumpily.

"You don't seem in a good mood, did something happen?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, someone asked me to find the method to make <Ithildin>," she answered reproachfully.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, to hear that. That makes me almost feel bad for the reason I came today."

"..Don't tell me."

"I wanted to ask you to enchant some stuff," he answered sheepishly.

"Urhgh!"

"I will give you dragon gold~" he waves the ingots in front of her face.

"...yeah, yeah, just give me the stuff, I will see what I can do." she unwillingly gave in at the sight of bribes.

…

And there was another brainchild he wanted to try out.

Since everyone was off-duty to prepare for their journey, Seth and the others had decided to go for a meal in Delta.

~Maw, The great me, demands to dine this as well! ~ Puffles complaint, as the table was filled with delicious meals.

~Puff you know you have become too big for the restaurant. I will get some takeaway for you to eat later.~

~Me too, Mom! I also want to eat.~ Tatzel joined.

~Sure, I will get some for both of you.~

After placating the two ravenous beasts, he got back to his conversation.

"Mina, I found some Minotaur horns in the storage, did those come from a dungeon in the city?" he asked the feline beastman.

"Hmm, oh yeah, there should be a level 50 dungeon with a Minotaur as the boss. I guess we got them from there?" Mia answered in between bites.

"Do you think there are more dungeons with a Minotaur?" the blacksmith asked between bites.

"Maybe, but people are probably queuing up for all of them. You know how it is. It would be hard to get a raid on one for weeks." Mike mentioned.

"Hmm, let's go to the Adventurer Guild and look up the dungeons, later. Maybe I'm lucky." Seth mused.

"Why the sudden interest in minotaur's?" Lyxiss asked pertly.

A small head suddenly surfaced from a meat pie.

"Is Seth planning to make a Minotaur Robot?!" the pie-diving fairy exclaimed in glee.

"Do you like them, Fin?" Seth asked the fairy brute.

"How could Fin not? They are big and muscly! Fin wants to be a Minotaur, too!" she squeaked, posing like a body builder while he was stuck in pie up to the waist.

Of course, the brute like Minotaurs...

"Then let's go to the guild and see if we have the chance to get some raw material from somewhere to make your Minotaur Robot." the blacksmith suggested jovially.