Nineteen: Valuables, handled with care

The news of vast quantities of mithril ore being unearthed, and rumors of a cyclops slayer with a notorious reputation, spread like wildfire the moment the开拓 village of Goldendown was reached.

Mithril ore has always drawn monsters to its vicinity, making it a finicky metal to secure consistently.

The problem? If you send a small, elite fighting force, you can reach it fast—but then you’ve got only a few hands to mine it.

And transport is even worse. Even if you fill barrels with ore, you can’t haul wagons deep into the mineshaft.

So in the end, you bring back only a small amount.

Later, Leifan told me it was exceptionally rare to have unearthed such a massive amount of mithril ore under these conditions.

The reason this was possible? One, mana bombs. Two, sharpness oil. Three, spatial storage. Four, reliable escorts. Five, Leifan, who knows ore like the back of his hand. Five things. Getting all of them together is tough.

Incidentally, as for the mana bombs, it was decided—by Leifan alone—to keep it a secret.

Asked Raidock’s party members to keep quiet. Told Jitarou to shut up too.

I don’t care either way, but since the guildmaster said so, no arguing.

Also, apparently Kyle should be told.

“Sorry, Leifan-sama! The mithril—when’s it going on sale!? I’ll buy it, ingot or raw, any way you want!”

The first one to come running after hearing the rumor? Akindoo, the merchant.

He’s the sharpest of all the traders who come through this village.

Plus, he wasn’t like the other merchants, trying to take advantage of us—real long-term type. I’ve ordered alchemical texts from him before, and the way he hauls in rare books? No way he’s just a traveling trader.

“W-wait wait wait! We haven’t decided anything yet! Besides, selling ore needs Kyle’s permission!”

“Ah! Sorry! But if I get permission, I’ll definitely come through!”

“Hey Akindoo! Don’t go running off! When that happens, come through our guild!”

“Better yet, deal with me!”

“Haaaaaah!”

I left Leifan squirming in the mess and turned toward Kyle.

Kyle, watching the commotion from the manor’s window, gave a faint, exasperated smile.

“Welcome back, Craft.”

“Yeah. As you can see, Leifan’s a little delayed.”

“Haha…”

Kyle’s twin sister, Maina, plopped down right next to me—like, *right* next to me. The seat Leifan always claimed.

No one’d assigned it or anything. No big deal. But… was it okay she was sitting here, not by Kyle?

I couldn’t say it out loud. Just kept my eyes on her. Then—*pfft*—she turned her head away without a word.

No idea what that was about.

“O… oh, sorry I’m late, Kyle-sama…”

“Welcome back, Leifan-san.”

Leifan finally limped into Kyle’s manor, looking like he’d been stuffed in a sack and shaken.

Hair a mess. All tangled.

“Alright. Report, please.”

“Yes. I’ll write up the full details on the monster encounter later. For now, just the highlights. We ran into goblins, orcs, giant spiders, and what looks like a stray hydra in the woods.”

"Guess this forest really is full of monsters. Now I see why settlement didn’t go well."

"Yes. But especially in the early stages, we needed massive amounts of timber. If we had to haul it all in, the transport costs alone would’ve bankrupted the nation. So having the forest nearby was absolutely essential."

"Of course I understand. Now that we’ve finished the initial village setup, things should stabilize from here on out....Sorry. Please continue."

Kyle apologized, realizing he’d gone off track.

Unbelievable behavior for a noble.

They usually come off as pompous and stuck-up.

"We found a cave on-site, so we explored it. Inside, we ran into rock lizards, will-o'-wisps, giant rolipolis—those massive pillbugs, you know—wandering around."

"Sounds like a tough cave indeed."

"Yeah. But thanks to Raidock’s party, we made it through without a single injury. Didn’t expect a single stamina potion to have this kind of impact on strategy."

"True. I knew it in theory, but hearing the results? It’s staggering."

"The real kicker was the Cyclops. Sure, it was Craft’s magic attacks that did the job, but honestly, the fact we didn’t run out of stamina deep in the cave made all the difference."

"Amazing. I heard they call it the Adventurer’s Killer, right?"

That’s a tough one for Leifan to answer.

"Yeah. Cyclopes are weird—always pop up out of nowhere, all alone. No one knows why, not even the Adventurer's Guild. Guess we haven’t done much proper monster research. Anyway, they’re hard to track down, and once they spot a human, they’re relentless. Walk into one unprepared, and you’re dead for sure."

"Th-that’s a real problem."

"Once, I barely escaped with my life."

That time, luck and terrain saved me. But honestly, fighting one head-on? Not a chance.

Still, Raidock deciding to go for it on the spot? That was impressive. Real guts.

"Stamina Potion, Healing Potion, Sharpness Oil, Hardforging Oil… having all four on hand makes you feel like your combat power’s tenfold."

"Yes, I agree."

I can't really say for sure. Saying it’s ten times stronger might be a bit risky.

That’s true. It’s safer to just think of it as boosting combat power.

Yeah.

Kyle’s the one in charge here. Better to be careful than sorry.

"So, about the mithril—Leifan’s been pressuring me to sell it right away. What should we do?"

Personally, I figured as long as we keep enough on hand for our needs, I’d leave the rest to Kyle’s judgment.

"Let’s hold off on exports for now."

"Agreed."

Leifan nods in approval at Kyle’s quick decision.

"You’ve got a reason for that?"

"Well, actually, there’s been a big breakthrough in mithril processing lately. And it’s spread fast."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah. Now that even blacksmiths who couldn’t touch mithril before can handle it, demand’s shot up real quick."

"Yeah. Prices keep climbing."

"Exactly."

Makes sense. If you’re after profit, you want to strike when prices hit their peak. Dump too much on the market now, and you’ll get hated by other traders.

"Got it. But this is a personal request—could you let adventurers based in the village sell gear?"

Otherwise, that plan won’t move forward.

"Understood. We’ll figure out a sales method. We’ll make sure the adventurers can buy what they need."

"Appreciate it."

"With the kind of coin Raidock’s crew’s bringing in, they’ll be decked out in gear before you know it."

"Yeah."

Sell this cyclops loot, and Raidock’s team’ll walk away with a nice chunk of change.

Given how they’ve been acting lately, Raidock’s crew’ll be fully kitted out in mithril before you know it.

“Guess we’ll start making mithril ingots tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah, but there’s something I want you to make first.”

“What?”

“A large cauldron—mithril alloyed with iron and copper.”

“A cauldron?”

“Yeah. I want you to forge me a alchemical furnace.”

Now alchemy’s about to take its next step.