Chapter 25

Well, my business related to weapon manufacturing is over. From here on, it's the craftsmen's territory, and I have no intention of interfering.

So, I think I'll focus on my role as an adventurer and go on an adventure. I'm not sure if there are any hunting requests around here.

Then, I need to secure a place to stay. If possible, I want to stock up on as many magic recovery acceleration potions as I can.

I'll tackle these tasks one by one. First, I'll find a place to stay.

When I asked for a recommendation, I was told to try "Suiritei." It's not cheap at 1000 tel per night, but it's not too expensive either. Information is important when choosing a place to stay.

Entering a new inn is something I've gotten used to. There's a saying that people don't care about you as much as you think, so it's best to be relaxed.

"Welcome, are you here to stay? It's 1000 tel per night, and meals are included for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but it gets 100 tel cheaper for each meal you skip."

I was greeted with a rather polite attitude, which is unusual for an inn in this world. The person who greeted me was a young woman.

I've heard that there are many dwarves in this city, but it seems that humans are more common in customer service.

Well, it makes sense that an inn wouldn't want a staff member who drives away customers.

"Yes, I'd like to stay for seven nights. Can I decide about meals after I've had one? Of course, I'll pay for them."

The shortest route for weapon processing takes about that long. If it's not enough, I can always extend it. I'm quite hungry because breakfast was quite late.

"Understood. For now, can you pay 800 tel for one night and one meal? Breakfast is available immediately in the dining room."

I paid the money and went to the dining room to eat. The meat was a bit salty, but it was quite delicious. There were fewer leafy vegetables, but there were some mountain herbs, which might be due to the mountainous terrain.

This is fine, so I paid the 800 tel and the rest for seven days in advance, and then asked where I could buy potions before heading out.

The store turned out to be next to the guild, a kind of general store.

I bought all 30 bottles of magic recovery acceleration potion, which cost 120 tel each, and then headed to the guild.

My rank had gone up to E from the last job. I found a suitable extermination request.

Rank: E

Request: Red Wolf Extermination

Reward: 50 tel per wolf

Quantity: As many as possible

Note: They are likely not near the road, so you need to go into the mountains.

This is an extermination request with no set number. It's probably to prevent monsters from appearing on the surrounding roads.

From the reward and rank, I think Red Wolves aren't very strong. The name sounds like a relative of Green Wolves.

So, I quickly accepted the request. Unfortunately, the receptionist was a man.

I retraced the path I took to get here, turned left into the forest after the bald mountain, and entered the forest. The touch plate hasn't detected anything yet.

So, I decided to search. The method is simple: I just move around while using the fully expanded touch plate to search the surroundings. The ▼ symbol only appears when I can see something, so it's not very useful.

After moving for about five minutes, I saw three wolves about 20 meters away. When I got about 10 meters closer and hit them with a rock spear, they all died in one hit, but I felt the reaction was a bit early. The spear hit the edge of their bodies.

The speed of magic should be faster. If I had been 20 meters away, I might have missed.

While thinking about this, I moved in a zigzag pattern parallel to the road and hunted Red Wolves. I killed about 20, but one managed to dodge the spear.

When I got close and hit it with a second spear, it died normally. Of course, I collected the bodies.

After hunting for another 30 minutes, I detected an unusual reaction on the touch plate. It was two stationary human-like reactions.

I peeked out from the shadows and identified them.

They were thieves. The ground behind them looked like a tunnel, probably their hideout.

I didn't feel like dealing with them alone, so I decided to return.

I remembered the direction of the road, so I headed straight for it and found the spot where I had seen the thieves enter the mountain.

I remembered the landscape and it made sense. I memorized the location and headed back to town.

I returned to the guild. I wondered if reporting the discovery of the thieves' hideout to the guild was the right thing to do.

When I told the guild about the hideout, I was called to the branch manager's office.

"Is it true that you found a hideout in the mountains?"

"Yes. There was a hole, and two thieves were guarding it."

"Hmm... I've noticed that the thieves have been escaping unusually quickly recently. It seems they've set up a hideout in the mountains. Thank you for the report. We'll organize an extermination team soon. The reward will be paid once it's confirmed."

"Yes."

"Also, keep this confidential. If the hideout is big enough, there might be non-thieves helping out for money, so we'll need to gather people one by one."

"Understood."

"That's all for now. Please come to the guild in the morning tomorrow. The schedule for the extermination will likely be decided by then."

After the report, I left the branch manager's office and reported the request. I received a reward of 2600 tel for 52 wolves.

With nothing else to do, I decided to visit the workshop.

"Can you make a staff? What kind?"

"It's not possible yet. The magic extraction from Metal Lizard Metal isn't complete."

That's true. It's used in almost all parts of the weapon.

"By the way, all the trees in these mountains have been cut down. Is that to deal with thieves or something?"

I remember a military force doing something similar to deal with guerrillas. Wasn't it called defoliation?

"No, we use charcoal for metal refining. That's why most of the trees around here have been cut down."

"What about coal?"

"We mine that too, but it's mainly used in cold places. It doesn't produce good metal for refining."

"Ah, I see."

I remember something similar happening on Earth. I think I heard about it in a history class.

How did they deal with it? I remember that for iron refining, they used coke...

Ah, coke. They need to make coke from coal.

I remember seeing the method for making coke somewhere when I was in high school. It might have been useless knowledge, but it's coming in handy now.

Fortunately, I didn't need ancient martial arts for combat, thanks to my natural talent.

"You need to make coke. Burn coal like charcoal to remove impurities."

"...I don't understand. It might be useful, so I'll introduce you to someone in the fuel industry, but the experimental costs will likely be borne by Kaede."

"If it turns out to be usable, can I sell the technology?"

Patents and such sound complicated, but it wouldn't be right to provide the technology and end up in the red.

"If it's really possible to refine metal with coal, it should be possible. Go to this place, it's Ignis's fuel shop."

She drew a map for me. I'll go there next.

I feel like I've been doing mostly development lately and haven't been adventuring much. I'm not sure if I'm a magic swordsman or a technician.

"Excuse me, is this Ignis's fuel shop?"

"Yes, that's right. Are you here to buy charcoal?"

The person who greeted me was a human man.

"No, I was told to come here because I know about a new fuel."

"New fuel?"

"Yes, I heard about a fuel made from coal that can be used for metal refining."

"Hmm, we're a charcoal shop... Coal isn't really our specialty."

"The method is similar to making charcoal. What do you think? Of course, I'll cover the experimental costs."

"In that case... I'll ask the master."

After a while, a sturdy human man came out.

I thought it would be a dwarf.

"Is it true that you can make a usable fuel for refining from coal?"

"Well, the method isn't perfect yet, but I think it's possible."

"I see. We have some spare production capacity, and if you're covering the costs, there's no reason to refuse. We won't lose either way."

That's true.

"Right. Of course, if it's successful and the technology is used, it won't be free."

"Understood. Let's hear about the method."

"Sure. Cover the coal with bricks to prevent air from entering, and heat it from the outside. Gas and oil-like substances will come out. These are impurities. The gas is flammable but toxic, so be careful."

"Gas...? What's gas?"

"Gas is like flammable air. It's used as fuel to heat the coal."

"I've heard about flammable air somewhere. So that's what it is."

"Yes, coal requires a higher temperature than wood, so we use it. The liquid that comes out can be used like oil, but it's not suitable for food."

"I see. Let's try it. How much will you invest?"

"Here, please."

I handed over a large gold coin. I'll run out of money, but I can always sell metal if needed.

"A large gold coin, that's generous. We'll start the experiment today."

Maybe I'm not a technician or an adventurer, but a capitalist or an inventor.

Well, if I'm an inventor, I'm just taking credit for the achievements of past great people. But that's fine, it's not like it's a finite resource.