Celestial Hymn 20 (Patreon)

Celestial Hymn
Chapter 20

-VB-

“... While I understand that being pious is not only expected but respected, why are you suddenly working on a statue of the Seven, milord? Especially with what happened with that septon and us smallfolks.”

I paused in my marble carving and looked over my shoulder.

Rosia stood behind me, looking over my shoulders, and in between my servitor, who were waiting with tools on hand. The other two servitors were operating the forges, making chunks of Valyrian Steel.

“People misjudge all of the time,” I responded to her as I went back to carving the statue. This statue carried not the image of the Seven Who are One but rather their combined symbol: the Seven Pointed Star. The statue was also eight foot tall. “And while they weren’t wrong to have issue with me, they were wrong to have taken up arms against me. I punished them for the latter, not the former.”

Rosia was a maidservant of my castle, yes, but she was a smallfolk girl who went home once her “hours” were over. I explicitly told her that she could talk about what she saw in the castle and the surrounding areas as long as I did not forbid her to talk about specific things.

Was it a horrible way to keep security? Yes, very much so. However, I was reaching a point in fame and connection that I could start to ignore the ignorable demands of the smallfolk and the faith soon enough.

I was very close to being untouchable, but not quite yet, which was why I had accepted the Seven’s “commission.” It would provide me with a “proof” for oppositions to the rabble to point to and say that “there’s no way a man who created the Connection between us and the Seven are evil!”

Yes, I had an ulterior motive to accept this request, but it was one in line with the Seven’s commission.

“Besides, just because some people I am suppose to rule over decided to pull some shit, it doesn’t mean that everyone is a dick.”

She snorted.

“So why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the castle doing your job?”

Indeed, I was working on the statue within my workshop, which was outside the castle and next to the forge.

“Ah. The maester wanted me to tell you that you have a visitor.”

I paused in my work again. A visitor who warranted my attention but not quickly? So it wasn’t a lord or -.

A merchant?

I shot up and dropped all of my tools and ran out of my workshop.

---

“You’re very much welcome in my castle, Merchant Rastal,” I greeted a familiar man in the courtyard of my castle at noon.

The thin man with dark bags underneath his eyes smiled at my greeting and bowed. “I thank you for meeting with me so soon, Lord Marris!” the sickly but jovial man grinned. “And I am happy to tell you that I have successfully acquired the materials you needed.”

I raised him up by the shoulders and shook his hand. “You have my thanks,” I said as a servant walked up to us with a plate of bread and salt. Again, it was a customary thing, but it carried a big meaning, especially since I was offering it to a lesser class than my peers.

I looked behind him as he took his first bite of the milk bread (it was a recipe I recently recreated, and those who’ve had a bite loved it). In multiple wagons covered in sheets, I saw what I wanted.

Iron.

My man here was the reason why I was able to experiment as much as I wanted despite not having an iron mine of my own. I met him in the King’s Landing during my journey down from the Vale of Eyrie to the Stormlands. I convinced him to find me iron, and he has delivered.

Of course, he did this for a very hefty profit, but he never complained.

“And this includes what I asked for last time?” I asked him as another servant walked up with a board. On top of the board were small stacks of gold dragons, and the merchant’s eyes gleamed unhealthily with greed.

“An extra gold dragon, milord?” he asked with a nearly lecherous smile.

I grinned back at him. “Only for my best supplier.”

He gave me a deep bow. “You know how to show appreciation for a copper counter like me, milord.”

“If you’re a copper counter, then I am nothing more than a sculptor.”

He laughed as he straightened himself. “That is true.” And it was. How many people could supply me with five tons of iron so easily or on time? Not many, I’ll tell you that.

I went to the last wagon, and lifted the corner of the sheet. I saw all sorts of leather, stacked neatly on top of each other.

I grinned.

This was perfec-.

Oh shit, the Forge just connected to something.

… Shit, I needed to check out my warehouse.

I cleared my throat. “Alright. Have all of these brought to my warehouse!” I shouted to my men-at-arms and laborers before turning to Rastal. “I hope the payment was more than enough?”

“Of course, of course!” he laughed heartily.

“Good. I need you to clear the courtyard. My men must train.”

“Ah, of course.” It was a bit rude of a dismissal, but I needed to get to my warehouse now!”

And then I ran for it.

I felt whatever the Forge had connected to slowly coming down, almost teasingly, in fact. Like it was threatening me with revealing more of my abilities to the public.

I raced, pumping my legs as hard as I could, and then -!

I jumped and smashed the doors open and rolled into the shop just as the new thing came down.

There was a whomp of light and sound, and I found myself staring up at a …

A Starbound Crafting Station.

My jaws dropped.

Slowly standing up, I looked down at the crafting station. Even before the Forge was explaining its function to me, I already knew what this was. With this, I could make anything in a zippy if I had the recipe. In fact, it had the components of all crafting stations found in Starbound… So could it making anything of any technology level…?

I turned and pulled out the Ar Tonelico datasphere. Then I dropped it onto a suspiciously compatible looking slot at the upper right edge of the crafting bench.

I cackled everything in the database suddenly became easily craftable now. I just needed to put the materials on top and it would be made.

I laughed. Everything I’ve done up to this point, making the furnace and all, had been useless, but I had this now! It didn’t matter!

Giddily, I ran around the shop and pulled out stacks of iron bars and leather and whatever else I needed and just unceremoniously dropped them onto the crafting bench. Reaching towards the computer screen and keyboard at the front, I hurriedly pulled up Ar Tonelico’s database and pulled up the recipe for something very simple (relatively speaking).

I hesitated once.

And then pressed Start.

The Crafting Station came to life, and I watched in awe as the item in question came to life.

I nearly burst out laughing at how easy this Crafting Station made my life.

This! This was it!

The thing that would bind everything together!

I watched as an Ionic Chainsaw finished being crafted offhand.

With trembling hands, I pulled it off of the crafting station’s manufacturing table and clicked it.

… Nothing happened.

Huh?

I looked over the chainsaw before facepalming.

Right, of course.

It had no battery.

I laughed at myself.