Chapter 40: Promise of Fate (3)
I felt something sharp at my wrist. When I looked down, there was a new tattoo on there. It was the mark to represent successfully completing the slave quest.
‘I guess this is how they appear.’
But to be the first human blacksmith.
I wasn’t the first because nobody has attempted it. Many people have, but they could not handle the heat of the fir tree charcoal and settled for being an anvil worker instead of becoming a blacksmith.
That is why I am the first.
If you think about it, I just did something amazing.
Maybe that was the reason the reward message was short, but still full of stuff. My public ranking and fame were increased significantly.
I opened my extended stats window.
Faith: 6
Knowledge: 125
Charm: 6
Sensitivity: 6
Fame: 568
Reliability: 131 [1]
Titan Valley Public Rank: 836
Batoru Kingdom Public Rank: 107
With this level, I should be treated well no matter where I go. Using my public rank, I should be able to lead the greatest amount of supporters when I try to develop the Southern district.
“O Lord, thank you very much. For the first ever human blacksmith to be born from our temple. It is the grace of our god.”
The bishop looked like a crazy person raising both of his arms in the air and mumbling to himself.
He then suddenly looked toward me.
His eyes were shining.
I already know what he is going to say. I already experienced it once in the game.
“Mr. Hwi Ram. You are a person selected by the god Volcanus. Challenge the Expert Blacksmith quest. You must do it.”
I knew this would happen.
I also planned to do so.
The moment I tried to open my mouth, the bishop cut me off, as if to say something first.
“Do not think about rejecting it. If you do, I will make your infamy twice the amount of your fame to hold you captive at the temple. This is an order given by our god.”
You don’t know just how much I swore at my monitor when I heard this message in the game.
But what good would that do? I didn’t have a choice. To earn infamy that is twice the amount of my fame, then there was no point in doing the temple quest in the first place.
In the end, I accepted the bishop’s will and challenged the Expert Blacksmith occupation when I played the game.
Of course I plan to do so again.
But it is different than last time. I was already prepared. I guess you can say I had a plan to tread past the upcoming problems?
First, I need to suck out everything I can suck out.
“In return, I have a request. If you can grant me this request, I will follow your will to challenge the Expert Blacksmith quest.”
“What is it? Just tell me what it is. If it is something I can do, I will do whatever it is.”
“I am currently developing the Northern Mines in Titan Valley. It is going to become the home of many miners. However, the access route is dangerous, so there are many complaints. Please help fix up the access route.”
“The development of a mine is something our Volcanus Temple highly favors. We should already have a budget set aside for it. I will soon send over some experts. Is there anything else you need?”
Great. I was worried about how to fix up the access route but it was handled in one go.
“That is enough. Then please give me the quest.”
“First. Open a blacksmith shop with your name on it. If you tell me the location, I will give you full support in creating it.”
“I will of course build it in the Northern Mines.”
“Very well. I will have architects head right over to first build the shop.”
Things were progressing smoothly. The bishop caressed my shoulder with a satisfied expression.
It was almost like he was looking at his son.
“All of the pickaxes are ready. It is piled up in the shop so take it with you.”
The dwarf’s voice. They had not returned to the blacksmith shop just yet.
“I will use that as a surprise present. I will take it once I create the right atmosphere, so please hold on to it for me for a bit.”
“Surprise present? Surely you are not planning on giving these to the miners for free?”
“That’s crazy. If you sell this in the market, you would get at least 10,000,000 won for each one. In total, that is over 2,000,000,000 won.”
The dwarves misunderstood my words.
Of course it will be a surprise present for the miners. Even if I sold these for money, mining with this pickaxe will increase the amount of minerals mined by multiple times.
But the real recipient of the surprise present is someone else. You’ll find out who it is soon enough.
“I’ll take care of that.”
“I guess it has nothing to do with us now.”
“When you are ready come on by whenever. I will open up the supply room for you.”
“Gracias.” [2]
“And you’re not too bad. I looked down on you too much.”
“Seriously. We normally do not look favorable on humans, but for some reason, you don’t seem too bad.”
Dwarves were really the blacksmith race. As soon as I became a blacksmith, the way they treated me changed completely.
If they are nice to me, I will be nice back.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank us. We just feel that it won’t be bad to know one human as long as it is someone like you.”
“If you have a request for me, let me know. If I need a request from a human, I’ll let you know as well.”
I like this deal very much.
I was planning on going to get the weapon I used in the game next anyways.
Bunkai Cutlass.
Two blades as a pair, perfect for the TBSA.
It is not fitting for the dwarves who focus on strength as they grow.
But it is a weapon that is considered a treasure in the Dwarf World.
That was why I had so much trouble getting it in the game. I also got it after I hit level 200, making it not useful for that long.
If I acquired it and used it from an earlier time, my growth would have been faster.
I plan on trying to get it earlier this time.
In order to do that, I need to first meet the Chief of the Dwarves.
Plus, it doesn’t do me any harm to get to know the dwarf race. Once you become friendly with them, it is easy to get high quality weapons, and you can rely on their support. The dwarves are strong warriors.
“Then can I make a request right now?”
“What is it?”
“Although I managed to become the first human blacksmith, it doesn’t change the fact that the blacksmith is a dwarf occupation.”
“Of course.”
“You really do understand. So what is your request?”
The dwarves expressions became brighter. No matter what race it is, if you compliment them and their surroundings, they will feel good.
“With that in mind, I want to get the last quest for the Expert Blacksmith Occupation quest directly from a dwarf. Wouldn’t that be the way to show my respect?”
“Ohoho. This friend of ours knows about respect.”
“Hahaha. This friend is really different. That is indeed proper! So you want us to introduce you to our chief?”
I lightly nodded my head.
“Right. A human cannot just waltz into a dwarf village. Can you write me an introduction?”
“Of course of course. I will write you one.”
“No. I will do it. Although you are a human, aren’t you a blacksmith that the god Volcanus approves of? I’m sure our chief will welcome you with open arms as well.”
“I said I will write him one first!”
“Why are you talking nonsense again?”
These two fight whenever they can. If they were humans, they’d probably become friends over this. But when dwarves are like this, they may end up having a big fight.
Over something so trivial.
I gave them a simple solution.
“Can’t you each write one? Then I can show that I am friends with two amazing dwarves.”
“Amazing dwarf? Ahaha. Sure thing.”
“You really are a good human. I could tell from the first time I saw you.”
The dwarves wrote the introduction message on the spot. The introduction included ‘a really amazing human,’ ‘a friend with good character,’ and other compliments of the sort.
The power of compliments is truly amazing.
I put the two invitations away safely. These will benefit me greatly in the future.
“I have one more request.”
“Humans really are greedy.”
“You plan on taking everything from us. What is it?”
The dwarves grumbled.
But contrary to their grumbling, they had a smile on their faces.
Honestly speaking, the invitation cannot be considered a request.
Wasn’t it something that boosted their pride? Plus, it was their chance to show to their chief that they have a close relationship with the historic first blacksmith of the humans.
You could even consider them benefiting off of me.
The second request wasn’t difficult either.
“Make me two pairs of cutlasses. One should have a strength restriction of 70, and the other should have a strength restriction of no more than 38. Shouldn’t we have an item to commemorate our meeting? Of course I will pay for it.”
“Commemorate our meeting. I like the sound of that. But one needs to have a strength restriction of less than 38? Then the attack strength won’t be as good.”
“I’ll need to settle in that aspect. But I believe in the abilities of you dwarves. I can’t do much about it if you don’t have the abilities though.”
The dwarves instantly looked at each other. You could see their competitive spirit in their eyes.
The dwarves took a lot of pride in the blacksmith occupation. It was natural to have such competitive spirit.
But the two of their competitive spirits should have passed that level.
Why?
Because I was the first human blacksmith.
It is not a ‘once in a while’ type of deal. I was the first ever in history, and may be even the only one to ever achieve it. No one might accomplish this ever again.
To be able to have a connection with such a person. For the blacksmith race, wouldn’t that alone be a great honor?
I was certain they will make it with care that went beyond the care they showed any weapon they made until now.
WIth this, I shouldn’t have to worry about the quality of the cutlass.
“Then I shall be on my way now.”
“Okay. We will meet again when your blacksmith shop finishes building.”
I left the bishop and the dwarves and left the temple.
There was still a hut in front of the temple gate. Kaicher was also sitting in the same position, protecting the hut.
“You’re working hard!”
Kaicher opened his eyes in surprise.
I started a conversation with Kaicher like this for close to two months. But this was the first time he was so surprised.
The reason was obvious. If he could hear my voice, he should also feel the evil aura, but there was none of it.
Kaicher looked at me up and down with disbelief.
“What happened? How……?”
“Why can’t you feel the evil aura? Obviously because I finished the quest. I told you it’ll be that way.”
“Unbelievable. It was impossible.”
“Oho. Then I turned the impossible into the possible and showed it to you. Since I showed you something so amazing, buy me food in return!”
Kaicher looked completely lost. He could not move and just continued to stare at me.
“I will help you put the hut away. Let’s hurry up. I’m so hungry I might die.”
I started to move my hand to put Kaicher’s hut away.
But a different hand grabbed my hand.
“Kang Hwi Ram. You are under arrest.”
When I turned my head, it was one of Donstar’s security force members. He wasn’t there just a moment ago.
I guess he was screwing around and just came back to his spot.
Not only is he not disciplined, he is also not very observant. By now, any normal people would have realized the change in my status.
“What am I being arrested for?”
“Of course your infamy……hmm? What happened to the infamy……?”
Very slow. He finally noticed.
“Then there is no reason for me to be arrested right?”
I moved my body to push away the security force member’s hand.
But the difference in our strength was too much. I moved with a decent amount of force, but he didn’t move an inch.
My level is indeed too low. My strength is very strong in comparison to my level, but I’m still just a baby chick in front of a security force member who is over level 100.
“Can you let go of me now?”
“Hmm? Ah, yes!”
The security force member quickly let go of me. He then changed his attitude to one of request instead of force.
“The Deputy Mayor is looking for you. Come with me.”
Even if he told me not to come, I will go see him. It is now time to pay back my debt from the game.
Beyond that, I want to land a nice hit against someone like Donstar.
But there is no need to hurry. Timing is everything.
“I’m sorry but I already have plans.”
I looked toward Kaicher as I spoke. Kaicher was in the process of putting the hut away.
“I will go see him when I have time. If he needs to urgently see me, he can come to the Northern Mines and find me there.”
“How rude!”
This is not called rude, it is more I have nothing to lose. Have you not heard that it is the thirsty people who dig the wells?[3]
I didn’t even pretend to listen. I just started to talk to Kaicher who finished putting the hut away.
“Now it is time for you to keep your promise.”
“Let’s go.”
Kaicher took the lead. I walked next to him as if we were walking on cadence.
The Warrior of Light Kaicher is a really famous warrior. There is no way the security force members do not know about his respected name.
Because of that, he could not be rude to me since I was companions with Kaicher. All he could do was stare at me as I walked away with him.
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[1] I changed this to reliability since it seems to make more sense.
[2] The author writes out the English Thank You in Korean. So in the spirit of keeping it different, I changed it to Spanish.
[3] Korean saying that says the people that need something are the ones who do what it takes to get it.
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Translator : Miraclerifle
Proofreader : Miraclerifle
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