The Runesmith

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing fine, Lord Arthur.”

“Yes, I’m glad as well but I would have been even gladder if the bodyguards that I hired actually kept the side of their deal.”

“W-we are terribly sorry, the repair of our equipment took a lot longer than we anticipated and we also encountered some wandering monsters on the way here…”

“I see… What do you think?”

“It’s… possible, sometimes craftsmen overestimate how much they can handle at once.”

Arthur along with the two people in this room looked toward the new addition to the Valerian household. It was the man that defeated the enemy Knight Commander and who was forced into a special knightly getup to represent his lord. On his upper body, he was wearing a specially made gambeson with the household crest around his heart. A set of belts were keeping it tightly together and black gloves adorned his hands. To the side, he had a ceremonial longsword that the sun elf in the room was glancing at.

Aubron and Myrtle from the Platinum adventurer party had arrived late and as punishment was kept from meeting the city lord. Arthur needed to show them that they were actually replaceable and for this reason, Roland had been asked to come here. After spending half a week in the inn they were finally called to his mansion for another talk.

“Master Wayland… Oh, please excuse me, it’s Sir Wayland now. I’ll have to apologize for the treatment from my group during our small expedition.”

“That’s fine, they didn’t know.”

“You are truly magnanimous Sir Wayland. Aubron, how about you say a few words too?”

“Ah… yes… I must apologize for my previous behavior.”

The woman mage that looked like a witch was all smiles but her companion was not the best at playing it off. Previously when he was with them in the dungeon they treated him as a common blacksmith and a porter. The only one that showed some interest in his work was this older lady.

‘Was she so nice to me because she expected something like this to happen?’

At that time he was not a tier 3 class holder so there was no reason to be nice. She was the party leader and perhaps assumed that he was special in some way. Roland didn’t really have anything to substantiate his claim but those were the qualities that a leader should have. By her acting favorably she was able to get rid of a potentially messy situation. The sun elf on the other hand was straining himself to apologize. Considering that a Knight Commander was beaten that out-leveled all of them, he was probably feeling threatened.

“It’s fine, as I stated before, you couldn’t have known of my position. However, now that you are aware I will expect you to handle yourselves as proper bodyguards. I expect you to execute your duties properly from now on and if something happens to the Lord, you will have to answer to me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of course, we shall perform our duties as was stated by the contract.”

“Y-yes we will.”

Roland found this a little bit cathartic. Usually, it was he that needed to lower his head before people but now it was the other way around. Unless another higher noble than Arthur arrived in the city he wouldn’t really need to bow his head. Even though he was just a son of a noble, this noble was a duke.

Considering that Arthur was taking part in the succession battle he was an officially acknowledged member of the Valerian noble family. Even though almost no one treated him like that in his own household, people from the outside couldn’t be as dismissive. Even if he didn’t win this race for the main title, he could potentially gain a different one.

The title of the duke could only be given to one of the sons that continued the line. Any others that stood out could become viscounts or counts and form a branch family. Usually, they would just continue to work under the duke household as a regular lord and become something like an official.

Roland on the other hand, who was only a son of a Baron, couldn't even become a proper lord. Instead, his career would usually involve becoming a knight just like he did now. Then perhaps if Arthur managed to become a count he could be granted some land along with a baron title for his services. There was always a limited quota of how many nobles could reside in a kingdom or empire.

It was limited by the regions that these nobles were assigned to. Even his father owned land and managed it after being given it for his services. If every area that the kingdom was divided by was managed by a noble then no more titles could be really given. It was possible to divide some land here and there but this didn’t really happen often. Thus usually only thanks to war, death or bankruptcy did a new noble come to be.

“You’re not bad at this, the blood of the Silver Wolf really does run in your veins.”

“Really? I thought that I might have gone too hard on them.”

Roland shook his head at Arthur after the two platinum-grade adventurers left.

“The contract that you made with them was quite vague, they were actually following it so we can’t really punish them.”

“How troublesome, if I knew this would have happened… I really did overpay for this one…”

Arthur seemed dejected after the interaction. Even though they had apologized they didn’t seem like proper allies that he could count on. In the contract, they were supposed to act as his bodyguards but they didn’t really need to go against people like Emmerson that were nobles. They couldn’t duel anyone like Roland did and if they were hindered by outside sources then they wouldn’t be punished much besides getting a pay cut. Thus it was possible for them to come up with an excuse and Arthur could not really do much about it.

“That you did but this place should start making money soon.”

“Yes, my brother will buy out those knights so you might want to watch your back.”

“For Emmerson?”

“Mhm, he must have a lot of spare change to pay up but not like I can refuse the coin.”

“Just be sure to spend it well, like on some proper knights.”

“Haha, I will!”

Arthur looked a lot chipper than usual and Roland wasn’t sure why. Even with him around, the situation didn’t change that much. Theodore would probably not send out any knights anymore nor his brothers. That approach that had already failed would only cause more harm than good for the participants in the succession. The battle for resources was important but not like they needed that much more money.

All of them were already established lords with grand cities and small armies in their grasp. In Roland’s mind violence was not always the answer. It was possible for a person like Theodore to use bribes but he couldn’t see Arthur selling the city out. Previously he mentioned some type of bet, so joining one of his siblings was off the table.

‘They won’t send assassins out for me, will they?’

There was a possibility of him becoming the main target of people that wanted to infringe on this city. Currently, he had a small amount of protection as Arthur’s movements were considered mysterious. After Emmerson’s fall, everyone would probably send out their spies to find any other potential players in the city. Then after it became clear that he was the only obstruction in their way, his head might be targeted.

He was working tirelessly on his new armor but this was not the only way of defending himself. Just like in the tier 3 trial, there were times when others needed to be utilized. While he was the strongest piece on the chessboard this didn’t mean that he couldn’t get some help. Right on cue one of the pieces that could lessen the burden on his shoulders showed up.

“My Lord.”

“Mary? Come in, we are finished.”

“Good day, Sir Wayland, would you like some tea with cake?”

“Hm…”

He remained silent for a moment as he wasn’t paying attention to Mary but to the status screen in front of his face. Both the maid as well as the lord were wearing an enchanted trinket on their body. These types of enchantments lasted for quite some time but had the downside of only allowing simpler effects. The pendant that he received from his old boss was the same and it could absorb some of the ambient mana to keep the enchantment in effect.

Thanks to this enchantment that he had studied he was now able to see through similar magical devices. Mary’s and Arthur’s status screens became visible to him after he disabled the magical tools they were using.

Name :

Arthur Valerian L96

Classes

T2 Spirit Fencer L 46

T1 Sword Warrior L25

T1 Warrior L25

Name :

Mary L135

Classes

T2 Ninja L35

T2 Infiltrator L50

T1 Thief L25

T1 Scout L25

“Sir Wayland?”

“Level hundred thirty-five huh… Mary, would you like to reach level hundred fifty within a few days?”

“Excuse me? How did you…”

“I have my ways but Arthur, you’re level is quite low, think you should at least go through your second tier 2 class.”

“It’s fine Mary.”

Arthur raised his hand up to stop his maid from spazzing out. She realized that Roland had somehow seen through her status screen that should have remained hidden. It was the same for her lord that didn’t seem that perturbed by it. If he compared Arthur to his older brother Robert his level wasn’t that low. Usually, noblemen and knights didn’t gain that many levels in their teenage years and then quickly moved through them in their twenties.

“What did you have in mind? Do you want Mary to leave for the dungeon?”

“Yes, it would involve her going there to kill the tier 3 skeletal monsters.”

“How would I do that?”

Mary seemed confused and also not very trusting in his proposal. This was quite normal and he was expecting this. Even though Arthur was very lax around him, his guard was not. By helping her achieve the tier 3 class change he was hoping to alleviate that problem and having someone stealthy on his side was always a boon.

“I’m sure you know that you won’t get much experience from killing higher-tier monsters if others do it for you.”

“Yes.”

She nodded along with Arthur, who was curious about where this conversation was going.

“What about killing higher-tier monsters with the help of magical equipment like explosive scrolls?”

“That… shouldn’t affect it as long as they are activated by … You don’t mean?”

“Yes, that’s what I had in mind. I’ll prepare a few things for you.”

Mary realized what Roland wanted to do. The ways how some nobles leveled up fast after going through their training period were known to her. Normally the world did a good job of disallowing any power-leveling from happening. A person couldn’t be aided by higher-level people with more experience as the kill would not count. There was some leeway for it and this was something that Roland had been exploiting for many years. If someone else used something like his large mana cannon to kill the tier 3 skeletons, they would gain a large amount of experience.

“Are you capable of making such powerful weapons? But what if it fails? Can you guarantee that Mary won’t be harmed?”

“If she follows my instructions then nothing should happen to her but it would be easier if the mine area remains unclaimed…”

This time around Arthur was the one worried. It was normal for him to assume that his maid would have trouble with the skeletal monsters. She was an assassin type and wouldn’t really stand a chance in a direct confrontation with a monster like that. Roland couldn’t see her skills but when looking at the Infiltrator and Ninja class it was clear that she was probably proficient at sneak attacks.

There were two ways that he could see her getting through the dungeon without his help. The easiest way would have been similar to his grinding approach. She could use the mapping function just like he used before to lure monsters up to the entrance. Then after they turned around she could use a magical weapon that he fashioned.

Thanks to his rune compacting skills he was now able to fit a lot of runic batteries into weapons. It would still be somewhat bulky but nowhere near the size of the mana cannon that he used when he was a tier 2 person. The second option would be to go into the dungeon and plant runic mines by tracking the monster routes. With enough explosive force and divine power, it was a possibility.

After the incident involving Agni Roland had become capable of using this type of energy. He would not directly pronounce it out there but filling up runic scrolls with holy energy wouldn’t get him in trouble. Just like he saw with the lich, the skeletal monsters were really weak to even tier 2 divine magic. If he fashioned a few one-use scrolls even at that tier, defeating those monsters wouldn’t even require a bulky cannon.

“The mine area?”

“Yes, I’m sure the Union had already sent you their demands, you didn’t sign any contracts yet, right?”

“No, I left it out on the table but they are offering quite the sum…”

“I would advise you to not accept those terms, the red mythril veins and mana crystals along with the etherium could be used elsewhere.”

Roland knew how the dwarven union operated. They wanted to get their hands on everything related to ores and minerals. The sum they offered looked enticing but by his calculations, after about five years they should be able to make it back, perhaps even sooner. It was a nice immediate injection of money but there were other ways of using the resources that could be mined there.

“Elsewhere? I assume you already have an idea of what to use it for instead?”

“Of course, how would you like to be the owner of the next, Runic City of Albrook?”

“Runic City?”

Arthur was intrigued by the name and probably had an inkling where Roland was going with it.

“Yes, I’m talking about magic lanterns on every street. Runic cold boxes and heaters for every home.”

“Runic cold boxes and heaters?”

“Yes, could you imagine how much more tax revenue it would bring in? I’m sure your father would appreciate the coin.”

“That he would…”

Roland had created a runic refrigerator before and even one of those models was inside of this mansion. The true worth of that mine was actually the abundance of mana resources. There was no need for even using his generators as the crystalized mana that could be taken from there would be enough. Then in the future, if the city grows he could slowly introduce generators as a solution.

“This is slightly hard to follow, I think you’ll have to explain everything to me in simpler terms.”

“Of course, as you might know, runic enchantments require mana to function. The material is also important and for something like a magical lamp, it won’t use up much. Still, the mana will quickly drain without something providing replacement mana and for this, we first need to create a power plant, a mana power plant to be exact”

“A mana power plant?”

“Yes, we will need to place the structure in a safe location and store all of the Elokin’s Fluid and Crystals there. They will power all the runic devices in the city through a cable that we can construct in two ways…”

There was nothing like an overhead power line in this world. If he got Arthur on board then they could distribute the mana energy just like people in his old world did. It was possible and safer to place the cables underground but it would require more work than just constructing power lines. On that topic, he wasn’t quite sure as with the help of earth magic it would become easier.

“Mana power lines?”

“Yes, we’ll have to consult with someone from the builder guild to draw up some plans but I don’t see a reason for it not being feasible. I’d start with the runic lamps as they will catch the eyes of the residents, after that we can push for heating and home appliances.”

Roland could see Arthur’s brain working overtime. It was becoming clear that when thinking about the future it was better to refuse the dwarves from taking the mine. He was sure that his new partner would see the bigger picture. People in the modern world were unable to live without electricity and the boons that came with them. This was his plan, to make them addicted to the day-to-day enhancements these runic devices brought with them. It was time for an affordable magical revolution and it would start here.