Chapter 58

While heading from the commercial guild to the adventurers' guild, I suddenly wondered how the coke was doing.

It hasn't been that long since I started making it, so it's natural that no patent fees have come in yet, but I want to check the situation.

It's still a few hours before evening, so I'll make a quick trip.

I can visit the guild afterward; there's no need to rush.

Flying over the road to Eleera, I enjoy the scenery.

Even though I'm flying, the height is only about 50 meters due to the limitations of magic, so the scenery passes by at an incredible speed.

The journey that took a week to come here will take at most three hours at this speed.

Compared to Desibator, it's quite a long time, but if I leave now, I should arrive around evening.

After about 20 minutes of flying, I saw a field off the road.

I didn't notice it on the way here, but at my speed, 20 minutes, or about 200 kilometers, is quite far from Photoren.

It might be related to the monsters, just like the sugarcane.

The rest of the flight didn't reveal much.

After about two hours, I could see Eleera.

The shortcut I took by entering from the sky, rather than following the mountain path, might have made a big difference.

I was about to enter from the sky but remembered the gatekeepers and hurried back to the gate.

When I landed in front of the gate, the gatekeeper looked surprised.

Even the innkeeper routinely flies over the walls, so being surprised by someone appearing from the sky is a bit much.

I approached with my guild card, but he didn't even check my identity or show any caution.

Reluctantly, I had to call out to bring him back to reality.

"Hey, gatekeeper, it's work time."

"Ah, ah... Alright, you can pass. Was that a flying spell or something?"

"Yes, just a flying spell."

"...So, 'just' after flying that high."

He quickly passed through the gate and headed to the charcoal shop.

I thought the gatekeeper was saying something, but if it was important, he would have stopped me, so it probably doesn't concern me.

Compared to when I left the town, nothing has changed much, so I won't get lost.

The only changes are the increased number of blue weapons in the weapon shop and the increased vitality of the town.

Especially, there are many swords of a color between silver and blue, almost outnumbering iron swords.

The same goes for armor, except there are fewer pieces of armor than swords.

Did a large number of metal-producing monsters like Metal Lizards appear?

While thinking about this, I arrived at the charcoal shop.

Or rather, the place where the charcoal shop used to be, as it had completely changed.

The charcoal shop was gone.

The building had been demolished, and a new, large building was under construction.

The huge site, which seemed to have broken through the previous plot, was piled with stones and other building materials.

Did the charcoal shop go out of business?

Wondering what to do, I looked around and saw a small wooden sign.

It read, "Those who need the charcoal shop, please go to the mining association."

It seems the charcoal shop and the mining association are both doing well.

When I arrived at the location of the mining association, it had changed significantly from before.

It was much more lively, and smoke was rising from a building in the back that wasn't there before.

As I watched, a cart loaded with coke came out from the back and hurriedly left.

It seems the coke is being put to good use.

However, it seems to be overshadowed by that blue metal.

I showed my guild card at the counter and asked to be connected to Gainta.

I sat in a good-quality chair and waited, and Gainta came out after about five minutes.

"It's been a while. How's the coke business?"

"It's a huge success. Now that the facilities are in place, we're making in a week what we used to make in three months."

"Really? But I don't see much iron around. Are you selling it to other cities?"

"Iron? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you. It turns out that using coke makes mithril refining much cheaper. We've raised the price of coke and are using all of it for mithril refining. I raised the price without your permission, but with such a change in just a week, I couldn't wait for Kaede."

So, that blue metal was mithril?

I thought mithril was a rare material, something like holy silver...

But if it's being used for ships, maybe there's a lot of it?

I'm not an expert in refining, but I didn't think there were that many mithril ores.

"Raising the price is fine; I would have done the same. By the way, where are you getting the mithril ores from?"

"There's no need to bring them in. It's said that if you throw a stone, it will hit a mithril ore, and the stone you throw might even be a mithril ore. Places without mithril ores are rare."

What, there are that many mithril ores?

"But they weren't being produced much before, right?"

I hardly ever saw blue swords before.

"The old refining method was very expensive, only refining the highest quality parts of mithril ores with a lot of money. The production was limited. Especially, burning magic stones directly made it even more difficult."

Burning magic stones...

So they were refining it that way. No wonder there wasn't much.

Even low-quality ones are worth a lot more per weight than regular fuel, and I didn't even know magic stones could burn.

Well, if they say they can burn, they must.

"I see. By the way, have you received any requests from other cities to use the coke production technology?"

"Yes, a lot. We've only decided on two places so far, but some cities have had multiple merchant guilds negotiate with us."

"That's great, but it sounds troublesome... Are you going to supply it to everyone and let them compete?"

Either way, we'll make money no matter who wins.

"No, if the competition gets too intense, there's a high chance that some will do something reckless, and if one side collapses, we won't get the technology fees."

"So, you're going to choose one?"

"No, ultimately, you need coal to make coke, so we've decided to only supply the technology to organizations that have their own mines."

Ah, that makes sense. That way, we can avoid unnecessary conflicts over coal.

There might be a fight over mines, but once it's settled, it won't be a continuous competition like procurement.

"Sounds good. Once the facilities are in place, it's just a matter of time before the patent fees start pouring in. Any other issues?"

"The Basis Kingdom has offered to act as an intermediary to sell this technology to foreign countries for free."

"This country? Are they planning to use it as a diplomatic card since they're not asking for money from us?"

"Probably, it's an extremely useful technology against monsters. And there's one bad piece of news."

What could it be?

"The lord's dragon son..."

In short, the eldest son of the local lord is eyeing the profitable mining association and trying to raise taxes.

Mining is essential for fighting monsters, so taxes are significantly reduced.

The eldest son doesn't like this and is demanding more taxes.

The lord and his second son are reasonable, but the lord is currently in the capital and won't return for a month, and the second son has less power and can't stop the eldest son.

What an idiot, defying a national decision without his father's permission. He must not be thinking at all.

"Alright, I'll crush him. A pressure spell from a distance will do the job."

"Wait, wait."

If I leave him alone, he'll just cause trouble.

If the heir of the city where the coke business is based is like this, I can't do business in peace.

He's like a bandit; it's best to get rid of him.

"Can't I?"

"Even if he's a recognized dragon son, if the lord's eldest son is assassinated, it will be a big deal, and you'll become a bandit."

Hmm, is that so?

Then, I'll just do it openly.

This world has a dueling system.

That way, I won't become a bandit.

"Alright, leave it to me. I'll beat him up in a duel."

"I don't think that will work. He has received knight training and, with his expensive equipment, is probably around D-rank. Besides, he won't accept a duel from a lower rank."

Is that so?

Oops, I forgot to raise my rank at the Photoren guild.

So, I'm still E-rank. That's a problem.

"What rank do you think I am now?"

"What's with the sudden question? C or B, right?"

"No, I'm actually E-rank."

"What...?"

So, I ended up challenging the lord's dragon son to a duel.

If I can make him accept, it's in the bag, so I asked people who know my true strength not to reveal it and came up with a plan to make him accept.

The plan is as follows:

Tomorrow at noon, the eldest son (Radomkos, I think) will likely pass through the square to demand taxes.

The morning square is crowded with people chatting before work, so there will be many witnesses.

In this crowd, I will loudly declare my E-rank status and challenge Radomkos to a duel in a very disrespectful manner.

Since Radomkos is arrogant and proud, the chance of him refusing a duel from an E-rank in public is low.

Once he accepts, I'll humiliate him as much as possible and finish the plan.

Radomkos is unpopular in the town, so no one will complain if I beat him up.

I'll make him pay for making me his enemy.

The coal in this world is all high-quality bituminous coal.