Golden Artificer c18 (Patreon)

“Goddess… do you think it's fine? I mean… we will be in debt for years…” Ryuu said with a nervous tone. 

While they didn’t show it, they all were worried, as they knew they were basically buying high-quality artefacts, not weapons.

While the Familia is considered second class, they do have money—but not first-class money, not something like Loki or Freya Familia money.

“That is why we will declare War Game to Freya for charming you four.

She won’t be able to pull off from this as I will go to Guild.”

“So we will be taking money from their Familia?” Alise doesn’t know what to think about that.

“Its fine. After all they will be fined by the guild but I doubt we will get much money as we don’t have a physical proof.”Astraea said reasoned with her girls.

“But even so…”

Kaguya had this feeling that it won’t be enough. As someone who comes from nobility she has seen what people bring to court.

‘That Katana… from balance to craftsmanship, I have never seen such style before. It's unique.

The weapon is not just perfectly crafted; those letters are crafted with exact precision. By all means, it's two weapons in a single weapon. Such a price could be between 150 thousand to 200 thousand. If the metal could be better, it could be close to 300 thousand to 400 thousand.’ 

Though Kaguya is not weapon expert she didn’t include the fact that mana is completely conductive and it has inbuld spell…

The price is much more than that.

“That Katana I had… I would price it around 150 to 200 thousand. That is more than any of our things.”

“...Hmm, but it's not like first-class weapons, which are in millions,” Alise reasoned.

“...You forget that it was regular steel. Most steel weapons don’t go beyond 40 to 50 thousand.”

“...But…”

“Are you guessing that with those enchantments, it would be around 150 to 200 thousand?” Astraea commented.

“Yes. It was a rough estimation.” Kaguya said with a sigh.

“Magic induction should increase the value severalfold. If those weapons have magic elements, not just conducting magic, it will be in hundreds of millions,” Ryuu said with a stoic voice, as she was a little bit nervious for the price.

“...Well, in the end, we can pay back in instalments.” Astraea smiled; all she cared about was that her girls would be protected.

~~~

“...Those poor girls, now you are planning to rip them off.” Alfia brought a cup of tea to him.”

“...Hmm, Who knows? They are quite the Girl Scouts. Helping them is a must.” Marcus joked while saying that.

“What does girl scouts even mean?” The black-clad girl asked him, as she had no idea the terms of these words.

“Basically innocent and inexperienced city girls going to the wilds for the first time, unaware of all the predators and dangers of the woods.” He clarified to her.

“...So, in a way, you are making fun?” She frowned while still not understanding.

“Not quite. I am more like an adult who tries to keep the challenge going but pampers them as much as possible with powerful items.”

He clarified to her even more.

“Hmm, you are just weird. If it were me, I would rip them off and then send them to the dungeon until they get all the needed money.” She snorted in a pouty manner. 

It would seem she is jealous again. But this time slightly less as she doesn’t think that these girls will reach the hights needed to challenge her.

“Besides! You still need to finish my clothes!” Her cheeks were slightly inflated. 

Normally she would crush anyone who annoys her. Being one of strongest females alive she would abuse her magic until she gets what she wants. But Marcus showed to her that she was powerless in front of him.

It leaves her with only one option… 

And that is pouting!

“Yes, yes, I know.” He motioned with his hand that it was nothing.

“I will finish the first set today.” 

After drinking his tea, Marcus went to work on her clothes. 

As he said, he spent the entirety of the day sewing her clothes. But it was not a simple process either.

Alfia noticed something crazy as she saw him weave three times magic along the way into the strings that made the cloth.

It was extremely meticulous. As once the pieces were done he started to put the whole thing together even then she saw some sort of reaction the moment the clothes come together.

By the time the sun was down, Marcus was done as he presented the clothes to her.

“Your first maid set is complete.” 

Alfia inspected the material for the first time.

“Its so smooth, but I saw you weave metal into it.” She commented on that as she was slightly concerned that she would need to dress in metal!

“That is because, at this moment, steel is the best conductor for magic as it's refined in mana flames.

I have no doubt I will get something even better in the dungeon.” He explained to her.

“Now you see these clothes are good because they are very magic conductive and it assist you with recover, they are sharp object proof and quite fire and water resistant.

In other words, you will be super maid with this uniform.” Marcus said with a smirk.

“Oh, and… if it actually gets damaged, it will recover on its own.” 

“...That’s impressive.” 

Alfia was impressed but then she was quite annoyed that he went that far for maid clothes. They were almost indistructible.

“Does it mean they are quite the magic proof?”

“...Yes, but it's a side effect. I heard you have magic that gives you armour, so it was created with that in mind.”

“...oh… so thoughtful.” Alfia nodded at him. She didn’t remember speaking much about her abilities. It was more like he treated her like a pet and just cuddled her.

But it appears he does listen.

“Yep. Now go switch~” He smirked at her as he wants to see her in uniform.

“...Fine.”

A few minutes later she came out from the bathroom dressed in her maid uniform. It was classic black and white uniform with long gloves and black stocking. It made Alfia feel professional. But same time she felt that she is dressed in thin clothes which could rip apart at any time.

“Well?” 

“Gorgeous~ what you are dressed in is Victorian style maid uniform. I will make some other cultural ones as well.” He said with a small smirk as he will couple lewd ones too. Like the bikini variant for summer.

“I don’t like that smile.” The maid said with a nervous frown.

“Your Master is only thinking about how to get most of it.” He smiled ‘innocently’.

“Right.”

~~~

After the uniform was done, the next day, Marcus proceeded to work on the orders, but he stopped midway as he had no idea of the pricing.

So he spends a couple of minutes thinking about what to do.

In the end he decided to go visit Hephaestus as to him she looked like someone who knew what his stuff could cost.

But empty handed going there doesn’t fit his style, so he went over and forged another steel sword, but this time he decided to make it into a conduit.

After a couple of hours of working, he was ready to leave.

“Are we going somewhere?” Alfia asked him as she saw him getting ready to go somewhere.

“Yes. We will see Hephaestus. I want to figure out pricing for weapons and armour before I can sell anything.” He said to her as he took his Yamato and the steel sword. This time around, he had a sheath for the newly forged weapon.

“Let’s go, Alfia.” 

Marcus motioned for her to come with him.

The pair proceeded to leave their house.

The Alchemist placed some extra security after realising that everyone knew where he lived.

He decided to change some of the parameters of his barrier, as hiding is pointless.

‘Pretty sure the guild registered me at this location.’

He pondered as he walked towards where he thought Hephaestus' headquarters were.

~~~~~~Around a Half Hour Later~~~~~~

“So what can I do for you?” The red-haired Goddess looked at Marcus in front of her.

She was pleasantly surprised to see him all clean and dressed properly. 

Her eyes stayed on Alfia for a second which made her confused before she realised who it was dressed in maid clothes.

What she was looking at was ‘Silence’ from Hera’s Familia… it was so weird tbat she needed to double take at what she saw. 

After recovering, she looked at what he had for her.

“I am here to ask for your assistance.” Marcus sighed as he placed the sheathed sword on the table.

“I need to figure out pricing for my stuff. I have Astraea Familia and Loki Familia wanting stuff made for them.” He clarified.

He pushed the sword towards her.

“This is my payment for your assistance.” 

Hephaestus looked at him for a second before taking the blade. She pulled it out from the sheath. For a moment, she inspected the craftsmanship before feeling something.

Her eye scanned the letters on the blade. 

For a while she looked at them, then send a pulse of mana. The letters reacted and glowed.

“...You are one crazy bastard.” She sighed as she realised what she was looking at.

“...Why so?”

“Alfia, did you tell him how magic works in our world?” Instead of replying, Hephaestus asked him maid.

“I did. But from what I understood, he ignored everything.” The maid replied with a blunt tone.

“...You are making shortcuts to magic. Even more than any Falna could. That alone makes this weapon worth over a million Valis.

Not to mention it has something more?” She asked him as she realised this kid could make revolutionary items that would change society forever.

“It can conduit spells, meaning you can use it as mage staff or a wand. In another sense, by wielding this sword, one can become a battlemage or magic swordsman.” Marcus explained with a raised finger. 

He finds magic swordsman cool, so he is keeping on magic swords!

“...all spells?” 

“In all spells, the metal is very conductive, meaning that nothing stays behind to damage the structure. On top of that, as long as mana flows through the weapon, it won’t break.”

“...Damn…” Hephaestus placed the weapon down and looked at him with a weirded-out look.

“You did that with a steel weapon?” She gulped down.

“Yes? I mean, what I added is elementary. I could try making mithril, but it takes a while.” He sighed.

“I could switch to titanium-carbon, but again, I need to build up infrastructure for that.” 

“...No. what I mean is these letters, they should burn and melt the weapon.” 

“Not really. I simply spread out the excess energy to fortify the metal.” He clarified how he did it.

**Sigh**

“I will help, but at the same time, I will pay for this weapon.” She said with a resigned sigh.

“...Why?” Marcus frowned while hearing that.

“Otherwise, I won’t be able to sleep at night.” The Goddess shook her head.

“...fine.” The Alchemist pouted. Here he was, trying to be gregarious. But people can’t take his gifts. He needed to honey talk Ais to take her blade, which was a basic weapon!

And now Hephaestus doesn’t want a basic conduit weapon!

“Good, then, let’s start with market prices.” As she said that, she got up and motioned for him to follow.

“We will visit one of my best stores.” 

“Alright.” 

Marcus didn’t thought that they will go to Tower of Babel. He was plesantry surprised that they do have lift technology. It reminded him of the pictures he saw from lifts in early 20th century.

It was quite out of place in a medieval society.

Eventually they ended up in a big weapons and armour store. The Goddess proceeded to give a tour guide.