Chapter 4 - The Sparkle of Ambition and Hope
I had clashed swords with an unidentified man more than thirty times.
In the hall of the temple, overlooked by the statue of the God who cares for life, we exchanged swords and fought to the death in an attempt to take the life of our opponent.
To be honest, it's a wonder I didn't die. However, the three of us worked together to overcome the man's attacks with exquisite coordination.
「Tsk, you, a person who isn't even a member of the Holy Kingdom, showing this kind of coordination?」
The man wondered, but Elisa and I have practiced breathing together a lot during our nightly sex. Not to mention the coordination with Meena.
「Alec!」
Serina and the others showed up at the entrance with the clan's members in tow. Now the other adventurers won't be so crazy.
It's our victory.
「Hey! You can't let him get away!」
Perhaps because the man had realized this, he ran off alone into the depths of the temple. Elisa immediately chased after him. However, there was a fear that he would fight back. I didn't want her to pursue him too deeply.
「Ione! Serina! You guys go after Elisa. That guy has a lot of skills.」
「All right!」「Got it」
「Here comes the ally of justice, the Black Cat of the Wind! The soldiers will be here soon! If you don't want to be thrown in jail for your pain, It's time to grow up!」
Saki called out, but the remaining marauders seemed to be completely demoralized by this, and threw down their swords and raised their hands to show their intention to surrender.
「Ohhh, you're the Black Cat of the Wind. I'm sure the gods in the heaven are watching your good deeds.」
A priest with long eyebrows said with relief.
It's over.
――No, it was the lack of potions that started the looting and rioting. As long as we don't resolve that, the spark will still be smoldering. ......
「I'm going back to the inn first. You can stay here until the soldiers arrive.」
「「「Roger!」」」
I returned to the inn, but there were fires all over the city, and adventurers and soldiers were working hard to put the fire out. Even under such circumstances, not all of them would participate in looting. It is encouraging to see decent people, even if they are only a few, doing their best.
「And then, Master, what are you doing?」
Meena, who followed me, seemed to understand that I had come back to the inn with something in mind.
「Oh. If you don't have any potions, I thought I could make some.」
「I see. I think that's a good idea. It's a decoction of medicinal herbs, and some people make their own.」
Meena, a local, agreed with me, so I guess we can do it.
We can gather herbs from outside the city or in the dungeon, but we also need bottles and corkscrews.
「Hans, can you make a bottle?」
I asked the gentleman who was sweeping the cafeteria with a broom. He seems to be a craftsman who likes glass. I'm sure he can make a bottle.
「Bottles ......?」
Hans, however, made a difficult face.
「No, it's fine if you can't do it. I'll ask another craftsman.」
「Hold on, please! I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm just saying that I don't want to use such a boring motif that lacks any artistry.」
「It's the same thing. You know that there's a big problem in town right now with the shortage of potions, don't you?」
「Yeah, well.」
「Then, if you make a potion bottle, it will help the people in the city and also make them happy. At least I'll be happy I'm trying to pay for it.」
「But I didn't become a glassblower to make bottles ......」
「What are you doing now?」
「It's ......」
I asked, but Hans was just sweeping with a broom. If he couldn't sell his glassware and had to live and work in an inn, the craftsman would be nothing but a failure of the name.
「It's not that I'm asking you to make them all the time. I'm just saying that you need to make enough money so that you can do your own thing. Is that the extent of your passion for glass?」
When I made fun of him a little, Hans' eyes changed.
「Please don't mock me, Alec-san. I'm willing to put in a lot of effort and hard work for the thing I love next to my face.」
I don't like the idea of a self-loving child, but whatever.
「Now, I want you to make about a hundred bottles of the potion. I'll pay for all the materials.」
「Are you sure? A hundred bottles would cost, let's see, ...... ten thousand gold.」
「I can afford one gold coin.」
I took out a gold coin from the 【Item Storage】 and showed it to him.
「Ohhh!」
Hans jumped at the gold coin. But wait.
「Hans, isn't there something wrong? A potion costs about ten gold each, right? That's more than the cost of the ingredients.」
「Yes, because we collect empty bottles and use them all the time. It's quite expensive to make bottles from scratch. Besides, the bottles I make are beautifully colored and of good quality.」
Now I understand the reason. I also know why he failed as a glassblower.
「It's no good. I won't pay you unless the product and materials are exactly what I ordered. Regular, uncolored, mass-produced.」
「Kuhh, Alec-san, you're asking me to abandon my art!」
「No one's saying that. If you think sweeping with a broom is art, you can do what you want, but what are you going to do, Hans?」
「...... I understand. Then I'll just earn it now.」
「Fair enough.」
When I visited Hans's workshop, I found a sign that said: "Seized". It seemed that he had already in debt.
「Hans, how much did you borrow?」
「Let's see, I think it was about 10,000 gold. No, I added it twice, so it's 15,000? ...... I'm not sure.」
「What? You're a craftsman, but you still need to keep track of your money. Even if you don't have a ledger, at least make a note of the total amount you calculated.」
「But that's a pain in the ass, isn't it?」
He's a no-good guy.
「Whatever. So, do you have all the materials and tools you need to make the potion bottles? It would be troublesome if even the tools were seized.」
「Yeah, that's not seized, so we're good. I still have enough glass seeds to make......thirty potion bottles. Oh, but I need more corkscrews.」
「If that's the case, then I'll let you make what you have. Meena, I need you to buy a hundred corkscrews and a hundred glass seeds. If it's too difficult to buy them at the tool store, talk to Serina or Saki and they can help you out. You can also go to the commercial guild. I'm sure there's a lot of security there.」
「Yes, I understand. And I'll also bring someone to guard this place.」
「You do that.」
This area where Hans' house is located is as far away from the main shopping street, so there are no crowds of potion hunters and no fires. But we should be cautious.
「All right, let's get started, Alec-san. First, I'm going to stick this into the hearth.」
The stone container is filled with white powder and glass fragments, but I guess these are "Glass seeds". I thought it was a plant-like seed and that it would be made magically, but I guess not.
「So, you can light the wood on fire. ...... Damn, flint is hard. If I had the magic tools to ignite it, it would be quicker, but I sold them. ...... Hey, come on, light it!」
Hans is hammering the flint together, but it's going to take a while just to get it lit.
「Get out of the way, Hans. I'll do it with my magic. ――The Four Great Spirits, in the name of the Salamander, borrow his flame with an offering of my mana. 【Fireball!】」
As I chanted fire magic, a red fireball the size of my fist hit the hearth from my right hand and set the wood on fire.
「Ohhhh! Were you a magician, Alec-san?」
「No, I'm a swordsman」
I can change my class to Sage, but I'm a little embarrassed to call myself that as a title or profession. The swordsman is fine.
「I see, but am jealous of you.」
「If you earn enough money, you can buy a magic tool that can do the same thing. And then, now we just wait?」
「Ah no, the glass won't melt without this bellows. It needs to be hot.」
There was a bellows device attached to the hearth that Hans pointed to. There were two bellows on each side, so I helped him and we stepped on bellows together. It's like you're stepping on this with your foot to pump air into it. It was a lot of hard work.
「That's enough, Hans. Look at the inside of the hearth.」
「No, it's not ready yet, Alec-san. Step on it with all your might.」
Man. When the clan members arrive, I'll ask them to take over.
I just keep stomping the bellows, adding new wood along the way.
Step by step, step by step.
The heat was making me sweat, so I took off my armor and stripped off my clothes. Hans looked cool and not sweating even though he was moving, but I guess he was used to the heat.
「Hey, It's enough right!」
My legs are starting to feel sluggish. I don't know what the hell I'm doing here ....... It's not my nature to play the hero, making potions and stopping riots in the city, like I would in a video game.
I've come up with a lot of trouble when all I want to do is laze around in bed and sweat out the occasional sex session.
「I'll check it out. Oh, it's getting red, so it's almost there. Yahhh, this reddening glass is making me excited!」
Hans' eyes were shining brightly and he seemed to be enjoying himself so much that I got even more tired of it and took my foot off the bellows and sat down.
But Hans didn't seem to mind and stepped on the bellows with a happy smile on his face. This guy ...... is going to be a big deal. No doubt about it.
「It's about time, isn't it? Oh, looks good.」
Finally, Hans used a scratching post to drag the stone vessel out of the hearth. Inside was a red, sludgy glass. This time he took a long pipe and attached the melted glass to the end of it.
He seemed to be shaping the glass by rotating the pipe with quick movements of his wrist. As he breathed in, the glowing orange glass puffed up and gradually took on the shape of a bottle.
When he pressed the spatula against the glass, the shape of the tip narrowed.
It was now the shape of a bottle.
Finally, he quickly cut the base of the glass bottle and dropped it into the water.
「It looks like this, but what do you think?」
Hans grabbed the glass bottle out of the water and handed it to me.
「Fumu.」
The glass bottle, still warm, had a rose pattern carved into it before I knew it, and it was glittering beautifully like a jewel in the sunlight streaming in from the entrance of the workshop.
「You ...... are much more capable than you look, aren't you?」
I was amazed and complimented him on the perfect finish.
「No, no, no, these things have not caught up with my beauty in the slightest. It's not even close. Fuhh.」
Tsk, narcissists don't mix well with each other. Well, I guess the potion bottle is safe now.
「Master, I apologize for the delay. All the tool shops have been ransacked, so I got some corkscrews and glass seeds from another workshop.」
Meena came back at the right time. She also has Ione and some of the clan members with her. But I didn't realize that other materials were also in short supply.
「I see. Then we'd better think of a way to make them all.」
「Indeed. Saki-san has just asked the craftsmen's guild to take care of that too, and several workshops have agreed to do so. It seems that the merchants guild is also negotiating with them.」
「Houh.」
As expected of Saki, she's very skillful.
「Okay, then, you guys, the second team, five of you stay here. Follow Hans' instructions and make potion bottles. I'll also give you a bonus of 100 gold for each one you make.」
「「「Ohhhh!」」」
Of course, even so, there was no way an amateur could suddenly blow up a bottle. The second team is responsible for stepping on the bellows, stoking the firewood, and guarding the place, but they'll be more motivated if a carrot is dangled in front of them.
For now, I don't care about the bottom line. We're not making potions for profit. Of course, we're not going to volunteer, either.
This is to sell the name of the Clan Black Cat of the Wind.
If we can get our potions on the market at the right time, when everyone wants them, at the right price, it will make a good impression. It would be much more effective than poor advertising or word of mouth. In such a situation, a greedy merchant will start chasing only the immediate profit and will definitely offer the product at a high price. That's what sets us apart from the rest.
The "Black Cat of the Wind" clan is pretty good.
That's a good clan, right?
Alec is a very impressive man.
If such a reputation spreads, what will happen?
Naturally, beautiful girl loli adventurers will come to ...... to join the clan.
Convinced of such a hopeful future, I gave the order, ostensibly coolly.
「Ione, I'm leaving you in charge of security and control here. If there's anything you need, please contact the inn.」
「I got it. You can leave it to me.」
「Next is the herbs. All the rest of you, follow me!」
「「「Yes, sir! 」」」
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