Rise of the Living Forge - Chapter 157-159 (Patreon)

Arwin followed the crowd as it wormed through the market and into what he could only presume to be the center of town. He hadn’t actually explored the main sections of Milten much, so it was anyone’s guess.

The horde of adventurers had gathered in a square around a man standing on the top of a dying fountain. Greenish-grey water sputtered out of the stained heads of angel statues. It dribbled down their mouths like a thin stream of vomit before rejoining the stagnant pool in the fountain’s center.

All the buildings around the square stood in stark contrast to the fountain. They were all well kept and looked to be targeted at the wealthy. There were none of the signs of disrepair in them that the sad water feature possessed.

Arwin suspected that may have been less to do with the fact that Milten lacked the funding to replace the fountain and more to do with the woman standing on top of said fountain. She wore loose black clothing that had been tied at the ends of her arms and legs to leave her movement completely unimpeded.

Her blonde hair was tied back into a bun and a porcelain owl mask obscured her face from sight. The mask had incredible detail carved into it. Even from the distance that Arwin stood at from her, he could have sworn that every single feather on its surface was rippling in the wind.

People continued to pile in around Arwin, cementing his spot in the crowd whether he wanted it or not. There were a disturbing number of adventurers in the square. He was far from claustrophobic, but this was a bit much.

A man elbowed Arwin in the stomach, trying to make space for himself and not looking where he was moving. He let out a pained curse as elbow connected with metal. He glared up at Arwin, but all the anger evaporated from his expression as his eyes landed on Arwin’s mask.

The man hurriedly turned away and pushed through the crowd, any bitter words swallowed before they could escape his lips. Arwin shook his head and looked back to the stage. The woman was definitely part of the Secret Eye.

He hadn’t had many dealings with them before, but he’d had enough. They were the ones that generally found the locations of just about every new dungeon — and that was quite a feat. Dungeons weren’t exactly easy to track.

They appeared seemingly of their own volition and brimming with enough magical energy to draw monsters from every corner of the continent. Stronger dungeons could fill themselves in just days.

Keeping up with all of that in addition to cataloguing every guild in the kingdom worth noting as well as the most interesting adventurers at any time was far from an easy feat, and the Secret Eye were rumored to be on the smaller side.

Makes me wonder if someone’s lying somewhere or if they’re really just that competent. It’s usually one of the two. I’d say I hadn’t heard of many dungeons going uncatalogued, but I know so little about how the world really works that I think I’d just be tricking myself.

A few more minutes passed and the dull roar of conversation in the square grew louder as it filled to the brim. Finally, the woman lifted her hand into the air. A ripple ran through the crowd as people noticed the motion and stopped speaking. Once the majority of the noise had stopped, she let her hand fall.

“Thank you all for attending,” the woman said, her voice carrying effortlessly through the air as if she were standing right beside Arwin. “I suspect the majority of you are already aware of the reason why I am here, but for any newcomers, there has been a new dungeon discovered on the outskirts of Milten. Its difficulty rating has yet to be determined as we have not been able to completely clear it.”

A few seconds of silence passed as she paused to make sure everybody had heard her before starting to speak again.

“That said, we have confirmed a few more pieces of information since the last update yesterday,” the woman continued. “The first eight rooms of the dungeon are decidedly Journeyman level. However, some of the monsters are slightly more competent than average Journeymen, so we suggest that adventurers on the lower ends of the Journeyman spectrum refrain from delving too deep.”

“What kind of monsters are they?” Someone called.

“The Secret Eye cannot verify the identity of the recurring monsters in a dungeon due to the nature of dungeons,” the woman said without missing a beat. “The majority of the enemies seemed to be goblinoid as of yesterday, but this can change based on the amount of monsters killed and their reproduction rate. More importantly, we still have yet to discover the key that allows access to the lower portion of the dungeons.”

A few disappointed mumbles passed through the crowd.

“Has anyone checked the Hounds’ Guildhouse?” someone else in the crowd asked.

“It was thoroughly studied after the disbandment of their guild,” the Secret Eye representative said in a tone that told Arwin this was far from the first time she’d answered this particular question. “The key is not present. If anyone has information about its whereabouts, we will reward them handsomely. Do not fret. No secret remains uncovered forever. There will be a time in the near future when the dungeon is properly accessible. We will open the path, but it will be you that treads it.”

Which is a fancy way to say we’ll find a way to crack the lock, but we aren’t going to be the ones sticking our necks out on the line to get killed. If anyone actually finds something interesting enough to draw the Secret Eye’s attention, I imagine they’ll just buy it off them.

It was either that or just have the person killed. Arwin didn’t want to think that was how they operated, but he wasn’t willing to bet on it. It didn’t matter. The Secret Eye didn’t have the key yet.

They hadn’t mentioned anything about Jessen either. If it really was the disk currently resting in a pouch at Arwin’s side, that meant one of two things. Either they’d failed to find the forest where Jessen had fallen and they were considerably more incompetent than he thought, or they’d found it and were just waiting for something to happen.

The woman started listing off some of the parties that had been the most successful in clearing the dungeon out in their recent runs and Arwin tuned her out slightly. Jessen had possessed access to a dungeon and likely had a key to its lower parts.

Jessen was a lot of things, but he didn’t strike Arwin as someone without a plan. He’d had a use for the dungeon. It may have been as mundane as just a normal training area, but that meant it was more than just any old dungeon.

If that’s the case… there’s a huge opportunity just sitting in my pocket. Who knows what Jessen’s got down there.

Arwin didn’t even bother hiding his exited grin. He had a mask to cover his expression, after all. There was a treasure trove of either equipment, knowledge, or power waiting for them. The peak of Journeyman tier wasn’t an easy estimate, but if Jessen had been able to handle it, then they could too.

It’s not even like I’m in a huge rush. Nobody else has a way in, and if they haven’t found another key yet, then I doubt they will anytime soon. Then again, I might not even have the key. It could just be a random badge.

That sounded hollow to Arwin’s ears, but it was better than getting too excited before he had anything to base it on. They weren’t ready for another dungeon quite yet. They would be soon, but he needed to sell some gear and do some more crafting first.

And, speaking of which, my target audience is right here. The Secret Eye has been so kind as to gather every single person I’m trying to sell to up right in this square. I just need to get their attention.

The Secret Eye representative was still taking questions, but the majority of them had stemmed off. The pauses between her words were growing longer with every answer. It wouldn’t be long before she was done.

And, the moment she finished, everyone would turn and rush out. When there was something as interesting as a brand-new dungeon dangling before them, nobody was thinking about going shopping.

Not unless something changed the direction of their attention.

Arwin’s stomach churned as he gathered himself. He’d never loved drawing attention to himself. Getting praise for successfully saving a town had been great, but trying to advertise a business was a whole different game.

The questions slowed even further. His hands tightened at his sides. He didn’t have Reya to call on here. She couldn’t take over for him. And, even if Reya had been present, she wouldn’t have been able to show herself.

She had too many enemies and there were just too many people around. This was something Arwin was going to handle himself, and it didn’t look like there was ever going to be a better time.

Inwardly cursing himself, Arwin drew in a deep breath. The Secret Eye representative answered one last question, then raised a hand, likely about to let everyone know she was heading off to do whatever fancy things a member of a shadow organization did.

Wait. What do I say? I can’t just tell people to come shop at my wagon. I’ll look like an idiot and nobody will actually follow through. Who wants to get advertised to while they’re doing something? I need to impress —

Ah. I think that might do it.

“You there,” Arwin boomed, his hand slamming down on the shoulder of a man standing beside him. His voice cut through the quieting square like a knife and a huge number of people turned to glance at him, their faces displaying a range of emotion from curiosity to annoyance. Arwin ignored all of them. The only person that mattered was the adventurer at his side. The man had tarnished steel and leather armor, which suited Arwin’s purposes perfectly.

“I – me?” the man stammered, glancing around nervously at all the people staring in their direction.

“Yes, you,” Arwin said grandiosely. “Draw your sword, good man. You can’t be planning to head out to a dungeon without properly preparing, can you?”

“Er… What? I, uh—”

Arwin reached down and yanked the sword from the man’s sheath while he stumbled over his words. He wrapped the man’s hands around the weapon’s hilt and flicked him in the chest. A clang rang out and he did his best not to wince in pain. Flicking metal hurt, even with [Indomitable Bulwark].

“You need good armor if you’re going to delve into a dungeon as dangerous as this one,” Arwin said. “You need something you can trust. Would you let me run you through with this sword?”

“What? Of course not,” the man said, finally gathering his wits. “What’s wrong with you?”

“That’s because your armor is lacking,” Arwin said. “Stab me.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Arwin said impatiently. He didn’t have long before he completely pissed off or lost the attention of the rest of the crowd. Mercifully, the Secret Eye representative wasn’t interfering. “Stab me in the chest.”

And then he did a little cheating. His hand wrapped around the bracelet in his pocket and he lifted it, palm covering the metal to conceal it from view, and shoved it into his mouth before anyone could say anything. Even though they didn’t get a chance to see it, he knew exactly what it did.

Chitinous Band: Rare Quality

[Chitinskin]: Activating this item will turn its wearer’s body to chitin and freeze them in place at the continuous cost of magical energy.

[Chittering]: While this item is active, its wearer’s movements will make loud clicking noises.

“Come on,” Arwin growled through a mouthful of metal. He shoved his hands into his pockets so nobody would see any changes to his skin. The only other open skin on his body was at his feet, and that was effectively covered by the packed crowd. His stomach heated as [The Hungering Maw] activated, consuming the detrimental trait and stopping it from activating. “You got me so bored I’m eating snacks. Stab me in the stomach. If you’ve got an ability, use it. Put some oomph into the strike. Break my armor, if you can. How many other times is someone going to ask you to stab them?”

The man tilted his head to the side, then shrugged. He passed a hand over his sword and grey energy curled off the blade. The adventurer thrust his blade at Arwin’s side, avoiding any vital organs so he wouldn’t kill him when the blade cut through the metal.

At least, that was likely what his plan had been.

Instead, it struck Arwin’s armor, now magically enhanced by the bracelet he’d just eaten. The sword rang like a bell and bounced off, failing to do more than leave a thin scratch across Arwin’s chest.

“And that’s what real armor does,” Arwin declared, his voice still echoing across the square. “Care to let me try that on you?”

“Absolutely not,” the man said, staring at his sword in disbelief. “I—”

Arwin didn’t let him finish. No matter what his demonstration was, people weren’t going to listen forever. “I can’t make every piece as good as mine, but I can get damn close, and for the best price you’re going to get anywhere in Milten. If you want armor you can trust, come find Ifrit at the Infernal Armory.”

With that, Arwin turned and pushed through the crowd. He felt his skin return to normal as the Hungering Maw consumed the last of the power in the band. Gazes bored into his skin as he left. A few people called out to him. He didn’t pause to listen. It didn’t matter what anyone said, good or bad.

He needed attention and now he had it. Even if only a small part of the crowd around him had actually seen the demonstration, with any luck, word would spread about Ifrit’s name once more. Seeds about his work had already been laid, and this would hopefully let them finally flower.

Only one way to find out. I need to get back to my cart so I can see how much shit I just stirred up.

Chapter 158

Arwin pushed through the crowd in the direction of his cart. It hadn’t fully started to disperse yet, but he needed to get back before anyone else made it there. That had the added effect of drawing even more gazes to him as he squeezed through the sea of people. It wasn’t exactly the kind of attention he’d been hoping for, but attention was attention.

Once he broke free of the crowds, he set a brisk pace through the streets and back through the market. Arwin resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder. Nearby conversation marked the edges of the crowd as it broke, but he was trying to set the appearance of a confident smith, not someone worried about if anyone would listen to him.

He strode right back up to the cart, where Reya was sitting on the counter with her hood pulled low over her head and kicking her legs in boredom. She glanced up as Arwin approached, her face still concealed.

“How’d it go?” Reya asked as Arwin drew up beside her and hopped onto the cart.

“I’m not sure. I may have just yelled at a crowd of people that they should come shop at my cart.”

“That’s a bold strategy. Get any fruit thrown at you?”

“No. Why would someone throw fruit at me?”

“Sounds like you didn’t do too badly then,” Reya said. “And I don’t know. Throwing fruit is such a waste. Who would toss perfectly good food when they could just eat it? They should throw shit instead.”

“Are you advocating for people to pelt me with shit?”

“I didn’t say that! I was just pointing out that throwing food is wasteful. It’s not easy to get a hold of, you know. Shit, on the other hand…”

“Right,” Arwin said with a sigh. “I get the idea. Thank you, Reya. With any luck, the people I end up pissing off in the future will be the wasteful type.”

Reya went to respond, then cut herself off as several adventurers strode down the street. Both she and Arwin watched them pass by, their words held, but they didn’t so much as stop as they continued through the town.

“Bummer,” Reya said. “I guess it was a bit too much to hope that—”

“Ifrit!”

Both Arwin and Reya turned as an adventurer strode toward them, a grin plastered across his broad face. It took Arwin a moment to remember the man’s name — Ted. It was the first man he’d sold gear to. He was part of a guild by the name of Jumping Tigers if Arwin’s memory served him right.

“Ted,” Arwin said, raising a hand in greeting. “It’s good to see you again. How have you been? Any issues with the armor?”

“Issues? Are you kidding? That scale armor of yours saved my life,” Ted said with a booming laugh. He leaned against the side of the cart and let his eyes drift to the new equipment that Arwin had set up. “And it seems you’ve got new stock as well. I heard your little demonstration in the crowd. Wasn’t close enough to see it, but you’ve got quite the voice. Easy to pick up on.”

“Thank you,” Arwin said. “I was worried it might be a bit much, but I wanted to drum up some interest and everyone was kind of gathered up. It was hard to pass up on the opportunity.”

“Cutting a Secret Eye member off is bold, but I guess you put your work where your mouth is. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? I’m not in the market for armor right now — I can’t justify spending the coin on myself when my current set is perfectly usable — but my brother is a damned moron and spent all his coin on me. Idiot didn’t leave himself with enough to outfit himself.”

Arwin bit back a laugh. It seemed that the two brothers were cut from the exact same cloth. “I think I can help you there. What are you looking for? I’ve got three different kinds of pieces right now.”

“What do the lot go for?” Ted asked. “And I don’t suppose you do gauntlets or sabatons?”

“Still working on those, but soon,” Arwin promised. “For the set, I’ll give you the three for two—”

“300 gold,” Reya put in, sliding up beside Arwin and giving Ted a charming smile.

“300, huh?” Ted tilted his head to the side and studied the different pieces of armor hanging from the top of the cart for a second. “Can I take a closer look?”

Arwin took a chestpiece down and handed it to him. The adventurer turned it over in his hands and examined the set with a critical eye. Arwin pushed a helm and a set of greaves over as well, then fell silent until Ted’s inspection was done.

“I’d say that’s a damn good deal.” Tedd pulled his coin pouch out and set three wrapped bundles on the counter. “Each is a hundred.”

“Thanks for your business,” Arwin said. “Both you and your brother, that is. If you ever need repairs or modifications, swing by my smithy. It’s the Infernal Armory on the haunted street. You can’t miss it. It’s the only building other than the tavern that doesn’t look like it’s an inch from falling down.”

“And it’s also got a nice sign that looks like this one,” Reya added, craning her neck back to look up at the sign hanging from the cart.

“So it does,” Arwin agreed.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Do you have different kinds of armor for sale there?”

“I can,” Arwin said. “If you’ve got something specific you want made, I can give it my best shot.”

“Logically.” Ted scooped his newly purchased armor up and tucked it under his arms. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to Arwin and flashed him a grin. “I’ll be on my way, then. It looks like your strategy might have been effective.”

Arwin lifted his gaze. Three more adventurers had gathered at the edge of the road across from his cart and were standing in wait for him to finish with Ted. And, unlike Ted, Arwin didn’t recognize any of them.

Holy shit. It actually did work.

“Good luck,” Ted said as he waddled off with his new purchases.

As soon as he’d vacated the premises, the trio all stepped forward as one. Their group consisted of two men and a woman. All three of them had red bands tied around their upper right arms beside their shoulders.

The men had blonde hair and facial shapes similar enough that they could have been brothers. In contrast, the woman was a brunette and stood a foot shorter than them.  She and one of the men bore a short sword at their sides, while the other man was armed with nothing but a slightly oversized leatherbound book.

“You’re Ifrit,” the book-bearing brother said, making it sound much more like a statement than a question.

“So I am,” Arwin said. “What are you in the market for?”

“That depends on if your claims are as good as what you were saying back in the square.” The woman crossed her arms and craned her neck back to look at one of the chestpieces hanging beside Arwin’s head. “And if those fit.”

“I can adjust them,” Arwin said. “They won’t fit you.”

“How do you know?”

He gave her a flat stare. She probably couldn’t make his expression out easily from behind his mask, but the thought was still there. “Because I made them. Also because they’d fit your friends, and you’re a fair bit smaller than they are. It doesn’t matter either way. I’ll do any modifications to get anything you buy from me to fit for free.”

She blinked, the wind taken from her sails. Then she gave him a small shrug. “Fair enough. Before I go wasting time trying stuff on, how much are we talking for the lot?”

“300 gold.”

The trio of adventurers exchanged a look and the woman turned back to Arwin. “Fair enough. Let me try it on.”

Arwin lowered one of the chestpieces into her hands and she set about putting it on. In the meantime, the two men studied the other items around the cart. One of them nodded to a helmet and raised an eyebrow.

“You want to try it on?” Arwin asked, taking a guess from his body language. “Go ahead. No pun intended.”

The man smirked and picked the helm up, putting it on. He adjusted it and shook his head, testing the fit. After a second, he stopped to reach up and touch the small horn nubs jutting out of its front.

They were small enough that they amounted to nothing but decoration. The nubs served no real purpose, but Arwin couldn’t bring himself to make a helmet without at least some form of horns on it.

The man touched the horns and raised his eyebrow again.

“Just a maker’s mark,” Arwin said. “All my helms have horns. It fits the theme, doesn’t it?”

“He can’t answer,” the woman said as she finished tying her armor on. It was definitely a bit too big, but that didn’t stop her from twisting to check the fit anyway. “Tanner is mute.”

“I reckon he can answer just fine. Just not with words,” Arwin corrected. “His body speaks just fine.”

A grin split Tanner’s face and he took the helm off, setting it back on the counter. He raised a coin pouch and tapped it, giving Arwin another eyebrow raise. Reya nudged Arwin in the side before he could say the price for the helm.

“Just the helm?” Arwin asked. “Or did you want to try on the whole set?”

Tanner scratched the side of his neck. Then he shrugged and beckoned to the other pieces. Reya gave Arwin a smug look from beneath her hood as he took down another set and handed it over to the man.

“And how about you?” Arwin asked the woman. “The fit isn’t proper, of course, but did you want to try on the greaves as well?”

“Suppose I might as well,” the woman said as she set about removing the chestpiece. “And you were right. It didn’t fit. How long would a modification take? We’re hoping to head into the dungeon today. Every minute out here is a minute that someone else could be taking the best loot from us.”

I don’t think anyone’s doing that. The best loot is going to be at the bottom of the dungeon, and nobody can get there. Then again, for smaller adventuring groups, even the top floors of a new dungeon could hold some pretty worthwhile rewards.

“I can handle it in an hour if you bring it back to my smithy on the haunted street.” Arwin handed her the greaves and took the chestpiece back. “But you’d have to wait until I wrap up my sales here.”

“How long are you going to stay here?”

Arwin looked over her shoulder. A small crowd had gathered at the edge of the street and were steadily edging closer to get a better look at the gear hanging from his cart. He grinned to himself, but his grin fell away as he spotted someone familiar in the crowd.

Taylor, the smith he’d been buying all his supplies from, stood amongst them. His eyes were narrowed in displeasure. After a second, the man turned and strode off. Arwin repressed a curse.

Something tells me I’m going to need to get a new supplier. I don’t think he’s going to be selling me anything else anytime soon.

“Not too long, I’d say,” Arwin replied. “I’m only planning to sell a few pieces here. The rest are going to be exclusive to the Infernal Armory.”

Tanner plopped down a pouch of gold, then held up three fingers. Arwin lifted it, then smiled. Another 300 gold, just like that.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Arwin said as he handed the pouch to Reya for safekeeping. “Are the three of you a party? Or are you in a guild?”

“We’re Oddjob,” the woman said, a proud grin crossing her lips. When Arwin didn’t react, she let out a sigh. “The name hasn’t quite gotten around yet. It will, though. We’re a guild.”

“Just the three of you?” Reya asked.

“Yes. There a problem with that?”

“Nope. I was just curious,” Reya said.

“What kind of odd jobs?” Arwin asked, still watching the spot where Taylor had been standing.

“Just about anything related to dungeons. Nothing past Journeyman, though. Why?”

So they’re just a normal adventuring group. Literally every normal group of adventurers does anything related to dungeons. They’re mercenaries for hire. But waste not, want not.

“You know how to swing a pickaxe?” Arwin asked.

The woman’s brow furrowed. “Not really. Why?”

Bummer.

“I’m in the market for a metal supplier,” Arwin said. “No matter. You want me to hold onto your set of armor and resize it when you swing by?”

“That would be great,” the woman said. She exchanged a look with the brothers. “And we can’t really help much with your sourcing issue… but I do happen to know a merchant we’ve worked together with before. They can be a bit difficult, but they’re good at his job.”

“Oh?” Arwin’s eyebrows rose. “Care to introduce us?”

“I can bring him with us when we come by later today. Name’s Vivian.” The woman extended a hand and Arwin shook it.

“Pleasure, Vivian,” Arwin said. “I’ll see you later today.”

Lucky me.

The three adventurers headed off and Arwin looked out at the small crowd, his smile growing ever wider behind his mask. Each of them represented a potential 300 gold — and a customer for Lillia’s tavern. Today was turning out to be quite the good day.

Chapter 159

The plan worked brilliantly. Arwin kept waiting for something to go drastically wrong, but it never did. No rival smiths popped up and tried to burn his cart down. None of his customers showed up complaining about something.

He sold the first five sets of his armor, including the one he was saving for Vivian, and announced where the remaining five could be bought before setting off with his cart in tow. A number of people actually followed after him all the way back to the street.

Some broke away when they realized he was serious about the whole haunted street bit, but the final four had no problem trailing him up to his new smithy.

“I thought you said there would be a sign that said the Infernal Armory,” a woman said.

“I haven’t gotten around to hanging it yet. It’ll be up by tomorrow,” Arwin said. He set the cart down and started gathering his armor to bring inside. “By the way, now that you’re all here, I highly suggest the tavern down the road.”

Everyone turned to follow his gaze.

“The Devil’s Den,” one of the adventurers read, a note of amusement in his voice. “You lot are really leaning into this, aren’t you?”

“Sure are.” Arwin shrugged. “Why not? You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to get served a meal by monsters. They’re normally trying to kill you. It’s a good change of pace.”

“Are you telling me there are real monsters in there?” the woman who had spoken before asked, disbelief crossing her features.

Arwin set the armor down so he could take his key out and unlock the door to the smithy. He turned back to the female adventurer and raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“Idiot,” one of the men said with a chuckle. “You’re too gullible, Tiffany. Thank the gods your meat headedness translated into your class. You might be an idiot, but you’re a damn good sponge for damage.”

“Get too cocky and I’ll accidentally let a monster slip by me,” Tiffany said, flicking the man in the shoulder.

Arwin headed into the smithy and the four adventurers followed him in.

“So, can we buy something now?” Tiffany asked as Arwin started hanging the sets of armor from the hooks around the smithy.

“Yep,” Arwin said. “How many sets? Are you all together?”

“Yeah. Do you do guild discounts?”

“Depends on the guild. Probably not.”

“Jumping Tigers,” Tiffany said.

Isn’t that the guild that Ted and Leon are in? They must be growing — or just all have good taste. I suppose the people that were in the Iron Hounds had to go somewhere.

“No discounts yet, but I’ve sold to some of your members before,” Arwin said. “Good people. How many sets do you want?”

“I think two should be good, so long as you can modify ‘em,” Tiffany said. She held a chest piece up, then grimaced and lowered it again. “My ladies don’t fit in this.”

“It wasn’t made for a woman, so that’s hardly a surprise,” Arwin said. “Put everything on and follow me into the back so I can mark what needs to be modified.”

***

A little under an hour later, the group of four headed out of the Infernal Armory with two sets of armor. Tiffany’s modifications hadn’t taken too long and the other set had been fortunate enough to fit its new owner so well that the tweaks had only taken minutes.

The two new sales had netted Arwin another 600 gold. That brought his funds all the way up to over 2800 gold, which was the most he’d had since arriving in Milten by far. It almost felt unfair.

That said, gold was almost completely worthless to me in my past life. After a certain point, you can’t really get the things you really want with gold. You need recourses that are far more valuable. But still… this much gold is incredible.

“You’re rich,” Reya said, holding up several bulging coin pouches. There was far too much gold to just fit into a single one. “You could kill a man if you threw this at his head.”

“You can kill people with most things if you throw them hard enough,” Arwin said idly. He peered out the door to watch the adventurers leave and was beyond pleased to spot them entering the Devli’s Den. “And it looks like Lillia’s got some customers.”

“For real?” Reya squeezed past Arwin to peer out the door. “Oh, this is awesome! Should we go check out how things are going?”

“Not yet. We don’t want to make them feel stifled, and the environment definitely sets you on edge a bit,” Arwin said. “Let them enjoy it on their own for now. Do you think you could just watch over the smithy in case the Oddjobs crew or anyone else shows up?”

“Sure, but why? Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah. I’m going to go track down the merchant’s guild and let them know I’ve got a physical location for my shop now. I don’t want to deal with them trying to fine us or some shit.”

“Paying them money for doing nothing is stupid,” Reya grumbled. “But yes, I can watch the smithy.”

“Thanks,” Arwin said. “I’ll be back soon.”

He set off, banishing his armor as he left the street behind. There was no need to stride around drawing attention on an errand like this, and it would be a bit difficult to ask for directions when he looked like he was about to stride into battle.

Arwin had no idea where the Merchant’s Guild hat set up shop. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find out. He only had to ask one person to point him the right way before he located their building.

It was a quaint two-story hall tucked in between similarly sized buildings on either side of it that Arwin suspected to be the bases of other crafts guilds in the city. The door was open when he tried it, so he stepped inside.

A counter sat in the center of the room. There wasn’t anybody manning it, but the door behind it hung open to reveal a hallway beyond. Arwin headed down it until he came to an open door with a nameplate on it that he recognized.

“Jake?” Arwin asked, stepping into the room.

The merchant’s guildsman sat at a small desk, his chin in one hand and spinning a quill between the fingers of the other. He glanced up at Arwin, straightening and lowering his hands.

“Ah. I remember you,” Jake said. “The smith. What brings you here so soon? We don’t do refunds.”

“Not that. I opened up a physical storefront,” Arwin said. “You said I had to get that registered, so I figured I’d drop by and let you know about it sooner rather than later.”

Jake blinked. Then he scratched the back of his neck. “That was rather fast. Did you buy or renovate the building?”

“Renovated,” Arwin said. “It’s on the haunted street.”

“I see,” Jake said. “Well, I’ll come by to take a look at it tomorrow. You don’t have to be present for the inspection. I’ll just leave a note with the amount you owe and you can swing by to pay whenever you’d like within a week.”

“That works perfectly. Thank you. I’ve actually got a follow-up question to that. Do you know how much it would cost to just… buy the land of that whole street?”

“The haunted street?” Jake’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a lot of land.”

“A lot of entirely unused land,” Arwin pointed out. “Do you see anybody doing anything with it?”

“No,” Jake admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be cheap. Land is land.”

“So you guys do have the right to sell it?”

“For your purposes, yes,” Jake said. “But no. Not really. We can facilitate the trade of land up for sale, and the haunted street’s land is up for sale. So technically, I can sell it to you. I’d just have to figure out what the going price for it is.”

“Well, I’d greatly appreciate that. I’m putting in a lot of work renovating the place and I’d be pissed as all hell if some prick tried to show up and take it from me.”

“Understandable. I suggest you start saving some coin, then,” Jake said. He adjusted the papers on the desk in front of him. “I’ll look into pricing as soon as I can. It will be at least a few days.”

“That’s all I’m asking. Thank you.”

Jake nodded in response and Arwin left the Merchant’s Guild. As far as guilds went, they actually seemed quite decent. He’d withhold his final judgement until he found out just how much money there were going to ask for the land, though.

Brokers or not, they’re going to have some level of control over the street’s pricing. If anyone is selling the area, then they’re probably desperate to be rid of it. Land isn’t any use when nobody is willing to enter it.

He traveled through the city and back over to his street, returning to the smithy. Conversation coming from within it greeted him as he approached. Arwin summoned his armor and opened the door to find Vivian and Reya speaking while Taylor and his brother sat in a corner.

“Oh, there he is,” Reya said.

“Sorry,” Arwin said. “I was taking care of some business. You showed up a bit later than I was expecting.”

“Tracking the merchant down was more difficult than expected,” Vivian said with a disgruntled huff. “They’ll swing by sometime tonight before it gets too dark. Do you think we could get the size-fixes done quickly? I want to get to the dungeon as soon as possible.”

“Sure thing. Follow me.” Arwin picked up a set of armor and led her over to the back of the smithy and into his work area.

He handed the armor over and waited while she pulled it on, then set about marking it up. Once he’d finished, Arwin waved Vivian back into the main room and got to work modifying it. Vivian’s changes were a little more extensive than Tiffany’s had been. They ended up taking him around half an hour, but he was still satisfied with the results. It wasn’t exactly anything groundbreaking. The armor was still mundane. He hadn’t gotten any help from the Mesh either, but he was pretty sure it would fit Vivian and do its job. That was all that mattered.

Arwin brought the armor back into the main room. Vivian, who had joined the brothers in their corner, hopped to her feet and hurried over.

“Is it done?” she asked.

“Yeah. Give it a try and see if everything fits.”

That was exactly what she did. Vivian fastened the armor on. Her mouth parted in a small o as she tested out her range of motion. “Whoa. You actually got it.”

“Is that a surprise?”

“A bit,” Vivian said with a laugh. “I’ve barely heard of your work before. I wasn’t too optimistic about some random new smith that makes his business by yelling at crowds, but your work looked shiny enough to take a risk on. This is pretty comfy too. Well, as comfy as armor gets.”

“Thank you. I hope it serves you well,” Arwin said. “If you’re satisfied—”

Vivian wordlessly held out a pouch of gold. Arwin took it with a smile. “Pleasure doing business. Good luck in the dungeon.”

“Given how you’re dressed, I don’t feel weird saying likewise,” Vivian said. “Something tells me you hit monsters just as much as metal.”

Arwin gave her a small shrug. “Forging materials come in all shapes and sizes.”

“I’m sure they do,” Vivian said with a laugh. The brothers both rose to their feet and nodded to Arwin before the trio headed out the door and into the street. They headed back into town instead of checking out the Devil’s Den, but Arwin wasn’t particularly surprised. They’d had plans, after all.

That’s probably for the best. Lillia hasn’t had any real new customers yet, so limiting it to just a few for the time being is ideal.

“Why don’t we go check in on Lillia?” Arwin suggested.

“You don’t think she’s having trouble, do you?” Reya asked with a concerned frown.

“Only one way to find out,” Arwin replied. “But I’ve got faith in her. I just wanted to leave her in her own element for a bit before we stuck our noses in.”

“Works for me,” Reya said with a shrug. “I’m getting hungry anyway. I hope Lillia saved some food for us.”