Sixty-four: You know, seeing the changes, it’s clear things are progressing.

What a ridiculous surprise—I ended up getting a mansion.

Right next to Kyle’s estate, two massive houses that look like twins.

Using spatial storage, I haul out the packed boxes.

The alchemy chamber in the new mansion is exactly what Master Jabir envisioned—every little detail meticulously crafted.

Funny thing, though. The layout reminds me of Master Jabir’s alchemy chamber back in Gandar, the town where the Marquis lives.

There are identical alchemy chambers on either side of the mansion, but since I don’t plan to use both, I’ll seal off one for now.

The place is packed with basements, hidden rooms—hard to keep track of it all.

I figured sorting through the boxes alone would be a nightmare, but as soon as I set them down, maid Ryuuko had them neatly arranged before I could even blink.

Should’ve been unfamiliar, but the layout was perfect—knew every step of my daily routine like it was written in my bones.

Yeah.

Damn, that maid’s something else.

Thanks to Ryuuko, the move went off without a hitch.

Seriously… was it really okay to accept a mansion this fancy?

No!

This is like a down payment on my future performance!

All I gotta do is deliver something worthy of this gift!

Alright! I’m gonna do it!

◆

Today’s plan: hit the adventurer’s guild first, then hit the street vendors.

Most rare materials come through adventurers, since the guild manages the whole thing. So most of the good stuff’s available at the guild. But sometimes, street stalls pop up with odd finds.

The Goldendown street market was packed—way too big to be a frontier outpost.

“Looks like things are hopping today,”

I wandered slowly through the crowded market stalls, packed with people.

More people and goods than I could’ve imagined, packed tight and buzzing with life.

Seeing Kyle’s results firsthand, I can’t help but feel happy too.

Hmm? What's this?

In a corner of the vendor stalls dealing with raw materials, I found a shop that stood out from the rest.

Oh. Brother’s got good eyes. Only the rarest treasures around here.

Hmm.

Makes sense the shopkeeper said so—there’s some real oddities on display.

Is this material from a water-elemental creature?

"Hmph. Eyes seem sharp enough. That's right. This is material from a monster dwelling in the northern seas."

Hmm, the sea, huh?

I know what the sea is, as knowledge.

Bigger than a river, bigger than a lake, filled with water thick with salt.

Places where salt’s free like that… gotta be jealous of that.

"From the lands north of here, then?"

"Yeah, from the little nations squeezed between the three big ones. Heard there's a pretty big town sprouting up, so I figured I'd try my luck as a merchant and make a quick fortune."

"Ah, I see. How about this town?"

"Damn right. Feels like the kingdom of Magaria, one of the three big powers. This whole area used to be overrun with monsters, right? Never thought it’d be this far advanced. I was skeptical at first, but glad I came."

"Good to hear. Let’s push it even further, huh?"

"What?"

Shit. A traveling merchant from another country wouldn’t know me.

"Nothing. Never mind. Anyway—what about the sea monsters?"

"Yeah, sea monsters are tough. These are their materials. I figured they’d be rare around here..."

The shopkeeper grimaces.

Looks like they’re too rare to sell.

"These scales are bigger than regular fish scales."

I pick up a scale the size of a clenched fist.

“That’s a seaserpent scale. Pretty big beast—got several strong hunters killed trying to take it down.”

“Huh. Feels a bit powerful. Can I鉴定 it?”

“You a鉴定 master? Got a rare-looking mark on it, never seen one like that.”

“Yeah, I’m an alchemist.”

“Whoa. That’s impressive! Give me one scale, and I’ll let you have a quick鉴定 report?”

“No problem… ‘鉴定’.”

Just as the shopkeeper said, the scale was indeed from a seaserpent.

At the same time, fresh knowledge pours in from the mark. Seems this material can be used to make reinforced thread.

Cloth woven from reinforced thread is incredibly tough—strong enough to replace armor.

The protective clothes I gave to the orphans were made from just this.

I wanted to make more of them, but there just wasn’t enough material. Ended up only managing to craft enough for personal use.

How much of this do we have in stock?

This bag’s full to the brim.

Good, I'll take it all.

“What? You want to be saved?”

"Yeah. Feels like it could come in handy somewhere."

"Hmm?"

The shopkeeper’s eyes were like he was thinking, “If it’s some rare ingredient I don’t know about, I’ll sell it for a high price.”

Yeah, sure, if you don’t wanna sell it, that’s fine too? Ain’t like it’s some absolute must-have or anything. We’ll figure out what it’s good for as we go.

Of course, half of it's a lie.

At least it's already clear it'll become material for reinforced thread.

Still, the more you push the research, the more new uses you find for it—can't deny that.

If you're gonna try to sell it too high, I won’t buy it, I said, pressing it home, and the merchant let out a single, dry chuckle.

Ah, got it. Five gold coins—how’s that?

" hmm... got it. But if you're buying the whole lot, you're not getting a single stitch written."

"Deal's sealed."

I handed over the gold and took the bag full of scales.

That should be enough to make a decent amount of reinforced thread.

I’ll have Leifan make some reinforced cloth.

"Kyle and Maina already got clothes from the Kendall four siblings. Maybe it’s time to make some for me and Leifan too. And Persia and Alphard could use a set—just right, wouldn’t that be?...Should probably give one to Jitarou too, or he’ll pout."

Kyle and Persia always complain I’m too relaxed about danger, so if I tell them I’m making reinforced cloaks, they might actually cheer up.

Kyle’s always saying, "Craft-sama’s always putting himself last."

I walked lighter, keeping on with my shopping.

◆

One day, Raidock said he’d be staying in town for a while, so I invited him to eat.

The place was a diner and tavern near the adventurer’s guild. Inside, it was packed with adventurers.

When I walked in, Raidock was already there, waving me over.

“Seems like you’ve been busy lately, Raidock.”

“Plenty of work. And if you’re talking about ‘busy,’ Craft’s the one who’s really doing it.”

I sat down, tossing off a joke, clinking my mug against his.

After the usual greeting, the bartender—standing at the counter—noticed us and called out.

“Oh, Craft. You’re back. Long time no see.”

The man behind the counter, serving food and drinks, was Desair, one of the original pioneers who’d helped settle the land.

Back when this place was still the village before Goldendown moved, he’d run the tavern on the ground floor of the first inn built here.

He’d gotten so much heavier compared to back then, I didn’t notice right away.

"Isn't it Dezair? You ain't gotten a bit fatter, have you?"

Not just a little, if you can see for yourself—she's gotten so big, you'd think she's about to give birth.

Dazirel laughed, hahahaha, slapping his own belly.

A pleasant *plonk* echoed.

Back in the early days of settlement, I did grunt work. Now I’m just a regular at the tavern, all soft from lack of moving around.

is what it is.

That’s proof it’s making money, right?

"About that."

This time, it was just me and Desairl laughing together.

Good as it’s going, that’s the best.

Since Dezir had returned to work, Raidock turned back toward him.

Yeah, got a question. How’s that dragon-embedded hard mithril sword we made—how’s it holding up?

The sword I got from the dragon slaying reward. Since it’s a weapon made from a new metal, I wanted to hear how it’s holding up from someone actually using it on the front lines.

“Of course it’s top-notch. Barely needs any upkeep.”

“Almost? Besides polishing, what else needs doing?”

I figured, since it’s mithril, we’d squeezed every last bit of its material properties. Thought it’d last forever with no maintenance.

“Basically. But if you fight something as tough as a dungeon boss, it’ll chip sometimes.”

“What?!”

“Leifan’s had it repaired before. She’d know. Mithril’s way harder than steel, but it’s still metal. Can’t escape that fate. Adamantite’s supposed to never chip, though.”

“Adamantite. Yeah, I’d love to get my hands on that. Problem is, it’s heavier than gold.”

"Reminded me of something. One of the few downsides of this mithril sword is how light it is."

"Lightness a problem?"

"Depends. But for a sword, a bit more weight would balance better. This one I use? It’s a two-handed type—can handle it with one or both hands."

"Feeling underpowered as a weapon?"

"Absolutely not! Swordplay makes up for it easily! And the edge? Perfect. Yeah, speaking of sharpness—this oil doesn’t do much for it."

"What?"

"Never heard that before?"

"No, not really. Just that it doesn’t make iron blades suddenly cut like fire. The sharpness does improve, but not much. The original edge is already so good, the gain is tiny."

"Ah. So that’s something you can’t tell just by checking it."

That’s exactly the kind of thing I wanted to hear. Guess being a veteran adventurer really does mean you know how to read my mind.

“Thinking of giving Moda an adamantite shield. Any idea where we might find one?”

“None. But now that I’ve got free time, I could go hunting for it.”

“Then please let me know when you do.”

“Maybe I’ll talk to Kyle about it next time.”

Adamite is the hardest metal known to man.

Mithril’s tough too, but it can’t hold a candle to adamantite.

It’s heavy, sure. But when used in certain tools, it makes working with high-grade materials a breeze.

There’s a whole list of uses—adamite chisels, planes, you name it.

Some warriors even wield adamantite hammers and axes like they’re nothing.

Normally, it’d be too heavy. But these guys? They just power through it.

Mordah’s a capable warrior, but even he’s got to know that without a crest, he’s not exactly built to carry an adamantite shield. Still, I get Raidock’s point.

Maybe that’s why, that evening, Kyle called me out.

Four days until the book’s release!!!