The Runesmith

“You want me to be a babysitter?”

“Hah, that's what I like about you kid, you catch on fast.”

Roland was rubbing his temples while looking at the guild master. The man was dangling the manufacturing methods to the mana alloys and to the special smelter in front of him. The horrendous price seemed like it was just an excuse to shove a particular mission on him, one that involved the nobles.

“This mission isn’t even that hard kid, you just join the expedition and protect those snooty noble brats.”

The guild master had already revealed what he wanted Roland to do. In a month’s time, a group of noble youths would arrive in this city. These kids were members of influential noble families that studied at the various noble academies.

Some would be from the knight academy, the same one that Roland was supposed to go to when he was still living at the Arden estate. He wasn’t sure if it was exactly the same one as there were more of them across this kingdom.

The knight academy wasn’t the only one that was sending young nobles over though. It was a joint venture with the magic academy. From what Roland knew this was something the older students had to do when they were close to graduation.

The academies would send them out to do missions like this. They would need to venture towards dungeons for a time with a couple of instructors and be judged. It was something like a rite of passage where they needed to prove that they could fight under pressure.

This dungeon had not yet fully been explored but the levels could be rated. The first ten levels were good for anyone to get the hang of it. The level Roland had been venturing to was also rated as something that silver adventurers like him would be able to handle. No monsters above the 150th level had been spotted which was the tier 3 barrier.

“Why do you want me to be there? I’m sure there are other adventurers…”

“Hah…”

The guild master gave out a sigh as his big grin subsided.

“I wish that was true but you recall our little Armand?”

“Yes…”

“He was actually someone that was more dependable than most of those other idiots…”

“You must be joking, how could he be…”

“Think you two got off on the wrong foot, he is surprisingly dependable when it comes to fighting.”

Roland didn’t reply to that as he started weighing the options. It seemed that this guild was still not fully operational. If they were then this guild master wouldn’t be asking him to take on an important mission like this.

They were talking about noble children here. They were the future of their houses, if something went wrong during the mission then their heads would roll. He would need to risk his life to protect those young brats on the off chance that a unique monster appeared.

“You worry too much kid, you’ll only be going into the volcano area. Those brats are there to gain some battle experience, they will also have instructors from the academy with them. You and the other adventurers will only need to guide them there.”

“And act as bait if something goes wrong?”

“Can’t hide anything from you kid but that’s why I like ya. Listen, you can either sign up for this mission or cover the costs for the items you want instead.”

“Let me think about it…”

“Sure, you have a week, those noble brats will be arriving in a month but before that, I need to have the team ready.”

This was understandable, the mission was quite important so the participants had to be picked wisely. There was always a certain ratio that went into a party of adventurers. The basic composition had some warriors along with backline supporters like archers. A healer would also be needed but those were hard to come by thus most people used potions instead. Then there were unique spots occupied by classes like mages that could fill more roles.

“I understand.”

After some more chit-chat, he finally left the guild master’s office. There were a couple of things he needed to think about. The most important one if it was smart to get involved with the nobles.

While heading home he contemplated on what was the correct thing to do. The guild master wanted him to be there due to his magic craftsman class. He did mention during the conversation that having someone there that could repair runic weapons would be handy. He would be also responsible for certain heat mitigating equipment that would be used.

Roland also proved himself to be stronger than Armand, who was close to the 100th level. This would put him close to gold rank adventurers that had to have a minimal level of 100 and capped out at 150. Past the 150th level was the tier 3 bump, after reaching that a person was able to advance from Gold to Platinum rank as an adventurer.

The mission was to venture below the labyrinth where he battled the Ruby Golem. Then remain in the lower regions for a few weeks. It was supposed to be a test for the noble sons and ladies that the academy organized.

Down below he would also need to answer to the nobles. The group of adventurers as he had mentioned before was there as guides and also meat shields. If something did go wrong they were required to use their bodies while the nobles escaped. This was only if there was some kind of unforeseen event.

If everything went as planned then it would be a very boring few weeks in a heated dungeon. He would only need to make some repairs to the equipment and together with the other adventurers work as a lookout. Yet because this was a mission given by the nobles he would receive a massive reward.

The high nobles were willing to pay a lot to have their kids protected. There would also be a Platinum rank adventurer coming along which made Roland consider this mission.

It was the fastest way of getting what he wanted, with the new technology he would be able to create a competent battle golem body. The only real downside was working with nobles that he wished to avoid.

The responsibility seemed to be high but the job looked to not be that hard. He had already ventured into the dungeon many times and the tier 2 monsters weren’t really a problem. From his perspective, the mission wasn’t that dangerous but mostly annoying. He would need to take orders from noble children and act as a chaperone.

‘I wonder how those brats are doing…’

While walking through the city he started thinking of his own family. He did have three brothers and sisters, with just one sister being younger than him. Roland was seen as almost the youngest child in the family but if he added the age from his previous world he would be the oldest.

‘I bet they don’t even remember how I look by now.’

It had been many years since he had left that estate and was successful in slowly cementing his life here. He didn’t feel like a noble anymore, just your regular commoner with a knack for crafting. Roland still felt a bit guilty about the lie that he told to Lucienne but the girl was really young back then, only three years of age. The possibility of him leaving a long-lasting impression on her was quite faint.

“That will be eight large silver coins.”

Roland placed some items into his storage bag while looking at his coin purse. There wasn’t that much left in there. After spending quite a bit on the golem toy and then further house renovations he was slowly becoming poor.

His savings that he received from his severance package while leaving Edelgard had also dried up. Most of it went into the house renovations and deep steel that he used for his runic armor.

If he wanted to get his hands on those manufacturing schematics he would probably need to take the job or wait some years till he had enough money. The biggest downside to this was the possibility of the offer not being on the table down the line.

He knew that these sorts of things were kept hidden from other races. The dwarves didn’t like their secrets being spread around. The possibility of something like this being up on the auction was low. He would need to visit the black market for something like this and pay a premium price which might be even worse than what the guild master was offering him.

“I think you should take the offer boss, dwarven knowledge like that almost never leaves a dwarf forge.”

Roland was now back at his own house. Both he and Bernir were down in the Runeforge crafting some gear. He had brought up this with his assistant as he also needed to know about this.

“You think so as well, huh?”

“I know those old fogies, they would never sell outside their little circle…”

Bernir replied with a somewhat annoyed tone. Roland knew that the half-dwarf had a run-in with many blacksmiths and they all denied him entrance. He knew well how this race liked to keep their secrets hidden and only allowed the techniques to be passed on to true dwarves.

“That guild master must be crafty if he managed to procure this kind of knowledge, wonder how he did it.”

*Clang*

Bernir’s hammer descended on some metal as he got it into the right shape. The young tier 2 craftsman was working on a breastplate. It wasn’t for him but to be sold off later after some mana stones and runes were added to it.

“He could have access to the black market, or someone owed him a favor...”

*Brrrr*

Roland replied while sharpening a sword on his runic grindstone. With the added wind turbines outside he and Bernir could use them at the same time. While working together Roland could also compare his smithing skills to Bernirs.

His assistant had lower stats, he couldn’t hold a candle to Roland’s dexterity and strength but he made this up with knowledge. Bernir had spent his young life looking at his father crafting, thanks to this blacksmithing came naturally. The only thing that slowed down his progress was him getting a carpenter job as his default class.

“Hm…”

Roland looked at his sword that was finished.

With some pointers and the right tools at his disposal he was finally able to make a higher grade item. After adding some highest graded runes this sword would go for quite the penny. Regretfully even with this it wouldn’t be enough to pay for those manufacturing schematics. He also needed to consider the costs of the golem that he was working on.

‘I think this will be the fastest way…’

Roland also felt that he was still too weak. Even at tier 2 he didn’t feel like he would be able to handle a tier 3 person in any way shape or form. The members from that cult were still engraved deep in his mind. The fear that he felt during that night was still something that haunted him to this day.

As things were now he felt that he would not be able to protect himself or the people around him. Bernir was a non combatant and Agni was quite young. Due to the money problem he wasn’t able to wander down into the dungeon as often and level his monster. He would gain experience from crafting but that would not be the case for Agni. The Ruby Wolf needed actual combat experience.

“Good sword boss, what are you going to put on it?”

Roland was brought out of his trance by Bernir.

“Enhanced sharpening and strengthening seems to be popular with these…”

He replied, these two enchantments were as popular as ever. There existed tier 2 versions of them that used up more mana but also produced better effects.

“Good choice.”

“Bernir, how do you feel about living here alone for a few weeks…”

This was one of the biggest issues with Roland venturing out to the deeper parts of the dungeon. Normally they would leave their most precious items in a vault in the workshop. It was protected by many runic traps and locks.

They would not leave for more than a day at a time. They would also take some of their items on the short expedition so even if someone robbed the house they would have part of their wealth. Now on the other hand he would need to leave the house in the care of his assistant. This would be the prime moment for any thieves to show up, when the strongest person was away.

“Don’t worry boss, I can take care of myself! … Hey, stop looking at me like that!”

Bernir moved his head to the side as Roland wasn’t buying it. Not so long ago he was beaten up by adventurers without even landing one good hit. These thugs were then singlehandedly taken out by Roland.

“We have about a month…”

Roland rubbed his chin as he thought about the logistics. Bernir would need to stay here as he didn’t feel that he would be allowed to go. He also didn’t want to leave the house unattended for a whole month. If something did happen Bernir could still go to the city and ask for some help there.

‘I’d be taking Agni with me…’

He started to formulate a plan, one that involved Bernir defending this home alone. Agni would need to come with Roland as he feared that the wolf would not listen to Bernir. He could even wander down into the dungeon alone in search of his master. It was also a good opportunity for his wolf to earn some experience. They would be down there for a while so it was paramount to use this time to gain more power.

“I won’t be able to create the golem in a month but we can strengthen the fence… and you will need a weapon…”

“A weapon? I’m not really good with swords or axes…”

“I was thinking of something less close and personal...”

A plan for his future departure entered his mind. He started contemplating on what would be the best option for this dwarf. He came to the conclusion that ranged weaponry would be the best as Bernir didn’t possess any type of fighting skills. This could be circumvented by the use of magical items which Roland was able to create.

“After we are finished here… go buy me some magic ink and a lot of magic paper…”

The decision was made, he would be going down into the dungeon together with the nobles. Before that some preparations needed to be made. He would need to get this house and his assistant ready for whatever event that could go wrong.

He also remembered how his last expedition ended up. Roland needed to procure life-saving items for himself as well, if a tier 3 monster appeared he needed some kind of trump card. He already had a few ideas about that but it would cost more money.

“Think we will need to sell more items to the auction house this month, let’s get back to work!”

“Aye boss!”

The two craftsmen continued with their work. They needed more funds to create better equipment and time was running out. Luckily for them with the runic tools and fully operational wind turbines they would be able to hasten the process.

‘I might have to give that runic printing press idea a try…’

What Bernir would be getting would be a lot of runic scroll-related weapons. Along with a few others that Roland wasn’t quite decided upon.

Soon the hours and days started flying by. The weather continued to be warm and pleasant. Roland had confirmed that he would be participating in this expedition.

He was given the rundown by the Guild Master about what his duties would be. The leader of the party would apparently be a tier 3 adventurer that would arrive later from another guild. Roland's duties would be to keep an eye out for the nobles and also to repair the weapons and armor along the way.

The faithful day of his departure finally arrived, what was left to do was do one last check before he said his farewells to Bernir and left the house in his care.