Chapter 14: At the Blacksmith’s Forge

Balian actually dragged Aurora to a blacksmith’s shop.

And not just any shop—one with a terrible appearance.

Balian led the way, carrying a large bundle. He pushed open a rickety wooden door, and a wave of scorching iron rust mixed with coal smoke hit them, making Aurora cough.

The shop was a mess. In front of them was a furnace glowing orange-red, with a large anvil beside it. In the corner, an old bellows and a workbench were crammed together.

By the furnace stood a water trough and a quenching bucket, their black water bubbling and steaming.

The workbench was piled with tools—hammers, chisels, cutters, whetstones, molds—all thrown about haphazardly, yet unlike other dusty corners of the shop, they seemed well-used. A coal basket lay overturned, chunks of charcoal scattered everywhere, with a shovel, rake, and poker sticking out nearby.

On the floor sat three wooden barrels filled with cut lumber, some leather, and forged sword and knife blanks.

They were placed carelessly, as if the blacksmith didn’t value them much.

Looking around, Aurora realized that despite its filthy appearance, the shop was actually in continuous operation, mass-producing ordinary blades.

This was unusual.

Aurora often helped her father with accounts, so she knew the king had no plans for war recently, nor had he spent money to purchase weapons for the army.

Who was buying them? How strange.

After a moment, Aurora couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

‘Not bad, buddy. I’m here on a date!’

‘Even though I really don’t want to, I am indeed on a date. Not here to gather and analyze open-source intelligence.’

‘Surely my brain isn’t the problem.’

Aurora considered herself a ‘sensible person,’ maybe a bit off sometimes, but not much.

Clearly, having these thoughts on a date was Balian’s fault for bringing her here.

Aurora really wanted to crack open Balian’s head and see what was inside.

‘Bringing me here? Take this date seriously, will you?!’

‘You’re a bit crazy, kid!’

Vapgis, hiding behind Aurora, was already grinning.

She had never been on a date, but she had seen older women in her family secretly meeting gigolos. Some noblewomen liked to cosplay as knight princesses, and the gigolos would play the squire, taking them to buy weapons.

Fancy magic item shops, elegantly dressed attendants, fine swords stored in precious oak boxes, perhaps enchanted with buffs or debuffs?

Like a knight princess using a forbidden weapon falling under a succubus’s evil spell, resulting in this and that.

Sigh, the rich.

‘Balian.’

Aurora patted her retainer’s shoulder.

‘Taking me to a blacksmith to watch forging is fine, but at least pick one that looks decent.’

She pointed to the barrel of sword blanks.

‘Besides, we have plenty of these ordinary swords at home. What are we doing here? Or do you think this blacksmith’s skill surpasses your father’s?’

Balian’s foster father was the marquis’s blacksmith, who forged all the practice swords for them. Aurora thought his work was decent—at least she found them handy.

Just as Balian was about to speak, a cough came from the dim corner, followed by a rough, middle-aged voice:

‘Cough, my skills are inferior to others? What a joke! How could some fragile human be better than me?’

‘Who?!’

Aurora and Vapgis warily scanned the room, seeing nothing, until after a moment, Balian tapped Aurora’s shoulder and gestured for her to look down.

‘Oh, it’s a dwarf.’

As soon as she said that, Aurora laughed at her own stupidity.

She had called a dwarf a ‘dwarf’ right in front of him.

Haha.

Sure enough, the dwarf roared.

‘SHORT?????!!!!!!’

It took Balian a while to calm the dwarf down.

He pulled out his personal savings and promised to treat the dwarf to some red wine from the Olivia family’s estate.

The March of Olivia was located in southeastern Francia, a famous wine region. The dwarf loved wine, so he agreed to overlook Aurora’s disrespect.

The dwarf said his name was Goodluck Anvilbottom, from the northern border march of Savoy.

He had come to the capital to open a blacksmith shop, claiming he could make enchanted weapons. He was once making a fortune, but got cheated in a deal, lost everything, and even his apprentice ran off.

‘Oh, my dear Balian, do you want this rude young lady to have a sword forged? Enchanted?’

‘Yes, the young lady likes to run around without guards. She’s a mage, easily caught off guard up close. I thought I’d get her something for self-defense.’

‘A side sword for a mage? Do you want an enchanted weapon or a weapon-shaped staff? Young man, those are completely different. And you need to provide the materials and what to enchant—I can’t make a sword without iron!’

Making an enchanted weapon wasn’t a simple or easy task.

First, you need a sufficiently high-quality weapon blank. Pouring magic into a lump of ordinary iron would only make it explode into fragments—like pouring dragon’s breath into a pig’s bladder.

Second, you need magical materials corresponding to the enchantment effect. Want fire attribute? Fine, go get a fire lizard’s heart. Want sharpness? Fine, find a razor and shave your head first. Finally, someone needs to channel magic into the blank during forging—how much to channel with each hammer strike, when to channel, which rune to channel through—all require skill.

So, a decent enchanted weapon requires three things: a good blank, good materials, and a good mage. Missing any one, and you’ll have the blacksmith coming at you with a hammer.

Aurora thought for a moment and realized she lacked none of these.

For a mage, there was Vapgis at hand, and blacksmiths who made enchanted weapons usually had some spellcasting ability themselves. Materials could be bought. As for the blank…

Getting a sword shouldn’t be hard.

Of course, ‘lacking none’ meant for the young lady of the Olivia family.

Balian? He had no money.

Aurora thought Balian must be mortified—bringing a girl out shopping and not having enough money.

If he got embarrassed and gave up his pursuit, that would be great, but unfortunately, Balian wasn’t that kind of person.

Aurora grabbed Balian’s shoulder, intending to step past him and negotiate the deal with Goodluck directly.

It was just buying a sword—the Olivia family could afford it.

But Balian didn’t budge.

He set down his bundle, carefully untied it, and took out several ornate boxes, handing them to the dwarf blacksmith.

‘You can use the materials from these old weapons.’

He opened a box, revealing a rapier with a chipped blade, then opened a few more boxes containing daggers and short knives.

‘These are all enchanted weapons. I consulted experts; different enchantments share many common materials. Please recycle as much as possible.’

Balian said seriously.

The blacksmith inspected the items and frowned.

Recycling materials from old weapons wasn’t easy; he didn’t want to bother.

But Balian said his family was wealthy.

And he really needed money.

After an internal struggle, the blacksmith asked, ‘What enchantment do you want?’

‘Magic attribute: radiance. Holy light. I think it suits the young lady’s aura and the meaning of her name (Aurora means dawn in French).’

‘I don’t know radiance magic. I can’t do that.’

‘I do. I’ll assist you.’

After repeated persuasion, the blacksmith finally agreed to the deal.

Now there were only two issues.

‘How much can you pay? And what do you want to enchant?’

‘This sword. I’ll pay 20 livres.’

Balian carefully pulled out a half-meter short sword from his chest.

The moment she saw it, Aurora’s face turned extremely ugly.

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