Chapter 14

"Zig, is a week really okay?"

As we stepped out of the station, Erika asked.

"About a hundred should be fine. More importantly, is that lieutenant colonel always like that?"

"I haven't met him much, but yeah, he is."

He seems to be one of the unpleasant nobles.

"Erika, I'll handle this emergency request alone."

"Huh? But... I can help, you know?"

I knew Erika would say something like that...

"No, this request is a bit special. Erika, I need you to get bricks and ingots. You haven't made ingots before, right?"

"Yes. Of course, I did it in school practice, but..."

"That's enough. Anyway, let's head back to the branch office first."

We left the station and walked back to the branch office.

"Um, Zig, is this emergency request really okay?"

Huh?

"What do you mean by 'okay'?"

"It's my first time with an emergency request... Moreover, there was no request for magic stones last year."

It's sad that there were no requests for magic stones, which are essential military items...

"This is a harassment job."

"Huh? Harassment? Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe they didn't like the mercy request from above, or they got money from a civilian... Anyway, this request is unprecedented."

I think someone got money from a civilian to sabotage us. That's how bureaucrats are.

"Sorry... I don't understand."

Erika looked down.

"No, it's fine not to understand. Basically, unless there's a war or a major monster outbreak, there shouldn't be a shortage of magic stones. The military always keeps a stock because magic stones are essential. They probably issued this request because they thought the branch office couldn't deliver magic stones."

After all, there were no such requests last year.

"Is that so...?"

"Well, it's a chance for the branch office to flourish, so don't worry. Magic stones aren't that difficult to make."

It's tedious to do it by hand, but it's not impossible.

We walked and talked, and returned to the branch office. Then we went up to the second floor and took our seats.

"Since we have time until the magic stones arrive, I'll teach you how to make ingots... But you've done it in magic school, right?"

"Yes, I did it in practice."

"Then give it a try."

"Um..."

Erika placed an iron ore on her desk and began to infuse it with magic power. The iron ore started to glow slightly.

"What... You can do it."

No need to teach you.

"It takes time, though."

"Everyone does. If we had specialized equipment, it would be instantaneous..."

We don't have such equipment here.

"Maybe we'll get that equipment someday."

Who knows when...

I watched Erika transform the iron ore into iron, giving her occasional advice. When it was time for lunch, we went to buy bread. After finishing our shopping and returning, I saw several soldiers unloading wooden boxes from a cart in front of the branch office. Lutz was among them, so I approached.

"Hey, did you bring the magic stones?"

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Siegfried."

"Call me Zig. And no need for formalities. We're about the same age, right?"

Lutz is probably in his early twenties.

"Sure. Where's Erika?"

"She's having lunch upstairs. Should I call her?"

"No, it's fine. More importantly, I need 100 magic stones. Here's the appraisal certificate."

Lutz handed me a piece of paper, which I read.

"Five B-rank, 22 C-rank... The rest are D-rank..."

They're not low-quality, but it's a bit iffy.

"I gathered them in a hurry from the market."

He probably used people to collect them in the morning. I wanted to say that he should have spent the whole day to get better quality, but that's not my place to say.

"Do you need to use a catalyst to improve the quality? Of course, it will be more expensive..."

"No, that's fine. But the lieutenant colonel said three days..."

Is he crazy?

"Since it's the client's request, the fee will double, or more. Anyway, I'll do it. But be prepared for the invoice. Not that it's your problem."

"I'm just a messenger. But are you really okay? I'm not an alchemy expert, but usually, such requests have a one-month deadline."

"It's an emergency, right? Sometimes that happens. As long as we get paid, anything goes."

In the capital, emergency requests are common, and I've issued them too. If the other party hesitates, 'There are 24 hours in a day, you know?' is my catchphrase. Yeah, I get disliked.

"Anyway, I'll do it in three days. Sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about it. By the way, is that lieutenant colonel from this town?"

"No, he's from a noble family in the north."

He's been demoted. Just like me.

"Hmm... I see. Well, I'll deliver them within three days. Thanks for your hard work."

I used spatial magic to store the wooden boxes the soldiers had placed in front of the branch office.

"Spatial magic... You should have mentioned it first. You made us unload them for nothing."

"Sorry about that."

He said it without any remorse, then entered the branch office and went up to the second floor.

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