Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Are you sure you can deal with this?" Seth asked the princess in person.

Early in the morning, they had gotten the call, that the situation at Delta had been taken care of. Captain Gardy and his men stayed behind at the gorge, bound, while the Team of the Boulder Guild and Minas Mar returned to Delta using Home Call.

"The doctors are experts in the containment of alien diseases. We are also checking the teleportation registries from last night, to see if someone arrived. If someone returned with Home Call last night, they will find and check them," the Princess reassured.

Although she looked tired, the confidence swinging in her voice made Seth actually believe that things were in good hands, for now.

"Thanks, Leana. Do you still need the map data?"

The blacksmith took out the core of the map table, that Captain Gardy had entrusted to him. This was the heart of the device that stored the map data from the <Map> skill. The fact that it was the only thing the guard captain had salvaged from the camp before their departure, showed how precious these kinds of items were.

"It won't hurt having it. Thank you. Captain Gardy?"

<Ding! You have finished the Quest: Explore the Nest. Experience gained. Gold gained.> Hearing the notification, he took a glance at his status to see that his experience had jumped to just over 50% of lv.72. He had gained roughly 40% of the experience needed for a level-up. He also got 15 gold as a reward. If these quests were not so exhausting, he may have thought of doing more.

"The captain and the other four guards bound themselves and stayed with the other individual at the temporary camp of the boulder guild. I put the location into the core, too."

"Good, we will send a group of doctors to take care of them. Will you return to Minas Mar right away?"

Seth nodded seriously. They parted ways soon after and the blacksmith returned to Minas Mar quickly using the church's teleport hub.

"Seth! Are you okay?" Mina immediately cried out, hugging him tightly.

"I'm fine, and so are the others. Did you follow my orders?"

"Yes, Minas Mar has entered quarantine," Mary answered his question from the side.

His call with Leana was not the only one the blacksmith made that night. He had explained the situation to Mary and asked her to pull out all of their members from Delta, similar to when they celebrated. While the administrative staff was now staying in their business building on the surface, the Oathguards and other inner members had assembled in Minas Mar.

Seth didn't intend to take any risks. Even if Leana was able to deal with the current incident, this wasn't over. The fact that the infection originally came from a monster outside, meant that this disease could spread rampantly outside of Delta, even if the princess was able to prevent or contain cases within the city.

Literally, anyone going outside could come back infected. With home call anyone was able to directly enter the heart of the district. Even if this function was somehow blocked, there were more than enough ways for someone to enter Delta unseen. Maybe the disease was already in the city and nobody knew.

"If you really want to go through with it, Minas Mar will be able to operate self-supporting. We can easily sustain ourselves with produce from the herb gardens and our current storage. But what about the expedition to the guild's holy land?"

"Let's not make a decision yet and observe how things are developing in Delta first."

"Alright, but there is another problem we need to discuss. We are getting more and more reports of monster encounters on the trade route."

The trade route, or Tree Route as it came to be called. At this time, it had changed quite a lot from the original design. Originally, it was just planned as a line of waypoints protected by trees, or golems if people were present, that led from Y-City to Delta.

Even though it was cut short at Mount Agra because of the changes in Ypsilon, it had only grown past their expectations. With the gradual expansion of the Tree stations and expeditions of Delta spreading towards the southwestern mountain range, traffic had already boomed. But it wasn't just people from Delta, traders and merchants from Y-City still made their way to the mountain city from where they traveled the tree route.

"According to recent reports, the number of monsters appearing keeps increasing."

This had been a common theme ever since Urth was synchronized with the pathworks. Although settlements like the Tree Stations and districts like Delta were safe, the number of portals that opened in the wild had gradually increased, filling the no man's land with monsters. Even if the golems of the tree stations regularly went out to cull beasts, travelers still had a rising chance of meeting dangerous beasts on the road.

"We need a higher presence out there," Mary insisted. It was not just keeping the way between the Tree Stations safe, but also the stations themselves. With the rising population in these places, they also needed people to police them and keep order in the cities.

The laws of the old world were a blessing and a curse, depending on what side one stood on. It was a curse to Delta, as district forces were not allowed to operate outside of the districts except under special circumstances.

The forces Delta had been able to grow under the protection of Chrona were confined to the district. This was a blessing for any entrepreneur intending to operate outside of the districts. There were no taxes to pay or laws to obey in the no man's land.

Just like when Minas Mar decided to mine any resources they could get their hands on. It was first come, first served and whoever had the biggest fist was in the right. Another reason why Seth intended to keep his fists as big and meaty as possible.

Another effect of this was, that people who settled in the wild, were responsible for themselves. It was Minas Mar's responsibility to keep up the semblance of law and order in their Tree Stations and they couldn't expect anyone else like the police of Delta or guards from Chrona to keep public order.

It was just another worry added. They had the people necessary. The chimeras, the Oathguard, the new faer, though they still needed to grow a little. The problem was the disease. After doing his own tests, he knew that it had something to do with the soul and he couldn't know whether it could even affect the faer, or his golems. He first needed a countermeasure for it.

"Did Al also come in?" he interrupted Mary.

"Err, yes. She wanted to meet you, too," she answered a little surprised.

"Alright, let's postpone this topic for now. I want to have a talk with her first. If things go well, I am sure we can solve all of that soon."

…

"You've come. Took you a while."

"What are you talking about? I've been back for like an hour and rushed here as soon as possible."

Seth omitted that he had taken some time to have a meal with Mina and the others after postponing their talk.

"Anyway, I know the timing isn't great, but I have been meaning to talk to you about this since the last time we met," she said with a conflicted expression.

"You are leaving."

Seth detonated the bomb before the sorceress even had the time to set a timer. He wasn't dense, even if he often decided to ignore the signs for his own peace of mind.

"How did you know?"

"Just guessing. You finished what I asked of you, you managed to solve the problem with your body. Don't think I forgot that you are the great sorceress who still has unfinished business with a dragon. It was just a matter of time."

"I guess it was rather obvious... I came to explain how Iego and the production of <Ithildin> work and give you control over the systems before I leave."

"You are leaving so soon?" Seth asked a little surprised. He didn't expect it to go this quickly.

"Well, I had been wanting to tell you earlier but didn't get the chance. I spent the time looking for clues about the lizard. I recently found out where he might be, so I will go to search for it."

They both fell silent for a moment. Seth needed some time to find the right wording.

"It's great that you managed to find some clues. Although I feel sad you are going to leave, I hope you can fulfill your goal and find what you are looking for."

Al her glare was stabbing him with doubt. She didn't expect him to be so supportive, which just made her suspicious.

"Err, don't misunderstand this as an attempt to keep you here, but, err, could you help me with something one last time before leaving?" he asked awkwardly.

"I KNEW IT!"