Chapter 34: The Third Prince’s thoughts

Ren looked over to see Edgar walking alone.

“Edgar-san?”

Ren walked up to him and called out to him. He noticed Ren approaching, bowed his head in a refined manner, and asked.

“Ren-dono, are you shopping?”

“Yes. And what about you, Edgar-san?”

“I have come to buy something that Verlich-dono asked me to buy. I was away from the Lord because he is in his workshop right now.”

“Ah, Ulysses-sama is also in the capital?”

“Yes, he is. Actually, last night, I finally finished bringing the materials to the workshop of Verlich-dono. The Lord came to the imperial capital to confirm it as well.”

The material is none other than Asval’s horn.

“Ah, come to think of it, it took a long time to transport.”

“Yes, it did. It’s a big item, so the transportation was affected by the snow.”

Ren was troubled by what he heard.

I thought I should go to Verlich’s workshop after this, as I was just going to take a random look at the stores in the Imperial City. When I told this to Edgar, he nodded his head and said, “Sure”.

With that, Ren and Edgar set out on the road to Verlich’s workshop.

They headed to the nearby magic train station, and the two of them rode the magic train to the side of the blacksmith district.

Ren thought that the Imperial City was crowded everywhere, and while chatting with Edgar, they went to Verlich’s workshop.

Verlich and Ulysses, who were both in the workshop, were surprised by Wren’s visit.

“Oh! It’s Ren!”

“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you with Edgar! Come on, come over here, will you?”

Ren was invited to come closer to the two men in the workshop.

They are in a hall just inside the workshop. As soon as Ren approaches, Verlich suddenly pulls out a string from his pocket and begins to measure Ren’s waist with it.

“Umm…Huh?”

“Since you’re here, let me measure you.”

Verlich is dying to work as a blacksmith. Since you’re here, I’m sure he’ll take the opportunity to do so. The material has already arrived.”

“I see… all of a sudden…..”

Understanding the situation, Ren placed the paper bag filled with reference books on the table nearby.

“Have you been shopping?”

“Yes. I got some reference books. I saw Edgar-san on my way home, so I asked him what was going on, and here we are.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. However, this is a good thing as well. You’ve saved me a lot of time in making your armor.”

“That’s right. Thanks to that, I was able to meet Ulysses-sama.”

“Really? Did you have any business with me?”

Ren told them that he had met Fiona the other day, although it wasn’t much of an errand.

Ulysses knew about it. It would be impossible for him not to have heard, but Ren had other questions he wanted to ask.

“Why didn’t you tell Fiona that you and I had been in touch?”

“I’m sorry. I forgot about it. I didn’t mean anything else.”

(That’s an absolute lie!)

In the end, Ren did not know what Ulysses was thinking in his heart when he chose that action. And being aware that there was no way to get it out of him, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I see”.

Furthermore, Ulysses had changed the subject, so there was no way to ask him anymore.

It was that topic, however, that aroused Ren and Verlich’s strong interest.

“Huh? Stealing?”

Verlich was measuring Ren’s body size.

Ulysses’ mouth was full of small talk as he told them that just the other day, several workshops of magic tool craftsmen had been the victims of thefts.

It didn’t matter whether they were artisans belonging to the Chamber of Commerce or private individuals running their own workshops.

And it happened on the same night.

“It’s a shame. Did they have expensive magic tools?”

“I wonder. I heard that they didn’t touch any of the money or goods.”

“But it’s none of the kid’s business. This kind of talk is the province of those who work in the military or knighthood.”

“No doubt about it, but it’s always good to hear about things like this.”

(I don’t recall any event involving an attack on the workshop of a magic tool craftsman.)

That said, Ren couldn’t remain unguarded because of the incident in the Baldor Mountains. He was secretly grateful for what he had just heard.

“Good. That’s enough, Ren.”

He was done taking the measurements for the armor.

“It will be ready around April. You’re still growing, and I’ll have to make adjustments afterwards.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. You can handle Asval’s horns.”

Verlich, smiling, folded his arms.

His arms were covered with thick muscles.

“How’s your swordsmanship going?”

“I feel that I am getting stronger little by little, so I have to keep working hard.”

“I’m glad to hear that—- So, as soon as I get Ren’s armor made, I can move on to repairing Lemuria.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“I think it will be fixed in a year or two. I’ll do it myself, so it’ll take that long.”

“Huh? You’re going to do it all by yourself?”

“Of course. Do you think I have an assistant or an apprentice?”

“No, I thought you were supposed to have a magic ship engineer as a temporary assistant.”

Verlich then reverted.

No, rather, it is a word that is typical of him.

“Do you think I have the personality to work with someone else?”

Ren, who had been told so openly, couldn’t say anything back, but tried to smile so as not to be rude.

Ulysses laughed at it.

“Well…”

Ulysses looked at his watch.

“I’m sorry. I should get going. Verlich, take care of the rest, will you?”

“Okay. I’ll work out the details with Ren. I’ll put together the necessary materials and stuff. You can order it later.”

“I understand. I’ll leave you to it.”

Ulysses and Edgar leave the workshop.

It’s a beautiful day and a bit hot with the coat and scarf on. Ulysses unbuttoned his coat and let the wind blow inside the coat as he walked.

“Well, we have work to do.”

“Ha.”

The two left the blacksmith district, disappearing to blend in with the imperial city, and began to move with a purpose.

Meanwhile, Ren, who remained in the workshop, discussed the matter with Verlich.

He wanted to avoid armor-like protection, but something that would be easy to move around in. Naturally, he wanted the fingertips to be easy to move as well, so he asked for special attention to be paid to the joints.

“Should we start with hand armor or a gauntlet, since it will be easier to adjust later on?”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

With the first piece of armor to be made decided, the two men headed to the back of the workshop.

Unlike the other rooms, the space where Verlich works as a blacksmith is neat and orderly. Ren got a glimpse of how serious he is when it comes to his work.

A huge Asval horn now rests on the floor.

It looked just as Ren had found it in his home village.

“It’s magnificent. I had a chance to check it out yesterday, and it’s unusually hard for such a light weight.”

“I guess so.”

“I’m going to cut it off boldly near the root, which wasn’t my first plan. I will calculate the cut material so that it can be used properly, so please don’t worry.”

“It’s okay, I believe in you. But why did you change the schedule?”

“—- that’s easier to see than to explain.”

With that being said, Ren approached the corner with Verlich. As he neared the base of the horn, he was handed a single eye magnifying glass.

“Look where I point.”

Ren did as he was told, put on the glass, and stared into it with the corner of his eye.

There were many fine streaks there. They are like capillaries, and many of them are aiming at something.

“I’ve worked on dragon horns more times than I can count, but I’ve never seen a horn that looked like it had a special organ.”

(Maybe this one —-)

Asval is weakened when his horns are broken.

If there is something in the horns that is the root of its power, it is definitely at the end of these streaks.

Verlich nodded when he saw that Ren seemed to realize something.

“Horns are special to dragons, but Asval’s must have been especially so. Well, I won’t ask for details. It’s enough for me to know that it’s worth processing.”

He’ll get to work on it as soon as today.

Verlich, smiling winningly, showed his white teeth.

Ren bowed deeply, saying, “Please,” and then resumed talking about the production of armor.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Some of the servants and knights from Clausel came to Elendil with Ren and Licia’s personal belongings. Naturally, Lo, the horse that Ren had taken from Jerruku, was there as well.

Lo was very fond of the waiters who took care of her, and she was said to be taking it easy every day.

—-In this way, the familiar elements of Elendil’s life were returning.

Three weeks had passed since Verlich and I had talked about armor as we went about our busy days.

During this time, both Ren and Licia had kept themselves busy. Because, in addition to studying for the exams, they also had sword training, so their days were busy but fulfilling.

The same was true for Fiona. She had a series of exams to finish the year, so she spent her days studying.

It was late February, and there was only a trace of snow left in the imperial capital and in the city of Elendil.

“Are you interested in promotion, Ren-dono?”

The large, strong swordsman who preferred to use a giant sword asked Ren.

This was after Ren had been asked by Verlich to check on the progress of his armor production, and he practiced his swordsmanship at the Lion’s Sanctuary on his way back from checking it out.

“What’s the promotion for?”

“I heard it was the guild’s. I hear you’re still ranked E.”

“Oh….. is that what you’re talking about?”

“I’m certain you’ll be able to get promoted without any difficulty, but is there any reason why you wouldn’t?”

“Simply because I don’t want to do special requests.”

Special request was the general term for when the client was a noble or a state agency.

In order to move up to D rank, one must accomplish at least one special request.

The reason why Ren avoids them is that they are time-consuming.

Many of the special requests involve searching for traces of criminals or defeating them, and depending on the contents, it can take several days to complete, so it is not an easy task.

If you throw out a request in the middle, there is a big penalty, so I was not inclined to accept the request.

“I’ve got my hands full with learning swordsmanship now, and I think it will be a while before I take on any special requests.”

“I see, that sounds somewhat like you.”

Ren who said so lightly, stretched himself and picked up the training sword at his side.

“Excuse me, could you please spar with me again?”

“Really? How much stamina do you really have?”

“That should be my line. Everyone here is always practicing without getting tired. I know this because I’m always observing.”

The large man shrugged his shoulders as Ren moved ahead with a fresh smile on his face.

“…… I can’t sit idle either.”

He chuckled at Ren’s menacing rate of growth.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

From the Imperial Castle, he could see the Imperial City from one end to the other.

When Ren was honing his talents at the Holy Lion Sanctuary, in the Imperial Castle was one of the rooms on the upper floors. A boy sitting on a chair on the stone balcony was looking at a piece of parchment in his hand.

At this height, even the clouds come to about the same height on some days.

The wind was a bit chilly now that it was not yet warm spring. However, the boy was looking through the parchment without worrying.

—-The third prince, Radius Vin Leomel.

This is the balcony in his room.

The way his hair is blowing in the wind, even though he is a boy, he has a unique charm.

He exhaled as if he had made up his mind.

“Now.”

Next, he said in his usual voice.

“Mirei.”

He then uttered a woman’s name.

Then, immediately, a pretty girl, a mixture of Cait-sith and human, appeared.

She came to Radius’ room and immediately stepped to the balcony.

“You called for me, Nya?”

“It’s about that ruckus earlier. I’m a little concerned about something, so I’m going to make a request to the guild as well.”

The girl called Mirei heard Radius’ voice and her ears shook.

Again, I thought it was too sudden, but I laughed and thought it was just the way it always is.

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