(T/N: Chapter has been split into two due to length.)
After the fair ended, Lucius returned to Golden Hawk’s headquarters and immediately began to accelerate his plan for dealing with Arsenal of the Spirits.
He gathered his closest advisors to help refine his strategy.
“Deanna, Laurent and Lilianne have formed an alliance with each other.”
“Yes, it was a surprise,” Deanna said, as though she had known all along.
“Everything makes sense now. The one who supplied Guardians of the Magical Tree with [Earth Stones] was Laurent’s guild.”
“It was an oversight. If we had known earlier, we could have formed a plan against them,” Deanna said idly.
“If they made it a point to participate in the Silver Fair… that must mean that they’re planning to specialise in silverwork. In that case… from now on, tighten security on all the mines used for silver ore and [Earth Stone] production. No unauthorised personnel are allowed near our dungeon mines. Buy every last silver ore and the raw materials for [Earth Stones] from the market. I don’t care how much it costs. Every piece of silver in this city should be ours!”
“Understood.”
“And don’t forget to put pressure on every alchemist guild, shop and trader. Make sure that any guild that has traded with Arsenal of the Spirits doesn’t even think of doing it again.”
“Understood.”
Once Lucius had finished giving out his instructions, his advisors shuffled out of the room.
However, despite the directives he had given out, he still could not feel at ease.
Guardians of the Magical Tree is in possession of one dungeon. I can’t cut off the ores produced from there. Tch. It depends on whether we’ll be able to take the dungeons set to appear next. If we can control all three dungeons, we can push Guardians of the Magical Tree into a corner, too.
Lucius thought of the cold shoulder Count Elson had given him after the fair.
Count Elson had joined hands with Arsenal of the Spirits, and because of that, he had postponed the business lunch he was supposed to have with Lucius. “Ah, sorry, Lucius. Let’s eat out next time, okay?” he had said, looking as though he would rather be anywhere else.
‘Next time’ felt more like ‘never’.
That b*****d Laurent. He swooped in like a vulture and stole my Court Seal.
Everything Lucius had been working for had nearly been usurped.
Don’t think this is over, Laurent.
——
Immediately after the fair, Arsenal of the Spirits was overwhelmed with work.
Not only had the day of the fair been a great success, with them winning the grand prize, they had also received a count’s Court Seal.
Inquiries regarding silverwork had been coming into the workshop steadily, and orders so expensive that they could never have even imagined just a few days ago came like a windfall.
Despite how busy the workshop was, Laurent still tried his best to gather everyone for their morning briefings.
Today, too, Ranju announced the start of the morning briefing at the workshop.
“Okay, let’s get started. Good work at the fair yesterday, everyone. Not only was it good publicity, but we also received a Court Seal from the count. Thanks to that, we’re getting a huge amount of orders.”
Arri and Charl brightened.
Both of them were delighted by the recognition that their work was receiving.
“Therefore, this month we need to craft fifty silverwork products.”
“F-Fifty?”
“Fifty?!”
Arri and Charl said in unison.
Arri turned pale, thinking of how she would have to refine silver for fifty silverwork products.
Charl’s eyes gleamed at the prospect of creating fifty silverwork products.
“Ranju, have you delivered the silver that Charl needs for her crafting to Forest House today?” Laurent asked.
“Yes, I’ve already sent over the required A-grade silver for the day to Forest House.”
“W-Will it really work out? Fifty silverwork products are a lot.”
In addition to the silver, Arri also had to refine 150 pieces of [Earth Stones].
“You’ll be fine, Arri. I have faith in you,” Laurent said, patting her head. It reassured her.
“O-Okay. I’ll try my best,” Arrie said, her cheeks turning pink.
Charl stared at her.
“Hm? Hang on, Ranju. Did you include the silverworks required for in-store sales along with the number of direct orders?”
They were planning on opening up a silverworks store in the next few days.
Now that they had permission from Count Elson, they did not have to go through the tedious application process for a permit to open up an alchemical store.
“Oh, right. In that case, I’ll need a bit more time.”
“No, that won’t do. I need the exact amount to hash out a production schedule. Otherwise, it’ll be a hassle for our suppliers.”
“Eh? But we don’t know how much we need yet…”
“We know how many we can display in the store, don’t we? Use other stores as reference.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Not much we can do about it now. We’ll talk more later.”
“R-Right. I’ll make time,” Ranju said, pulling out his notes hurriedly and fixing the schedule.
Contrary to his appearance, he had a diligent and focused personality.
“Uh, okay, so here is today’s schedule. Arri-san is to make twenty [Earth Stones] and five pieces of silver. Charl-san will start working on a goblet, platter, ring, necklace and a brooch—one of each. I will be heading to the mines after this. And Laurent-san will be spending the day out again, making arrangements, so our temps will be assisting Arrie-san and Charl-san.”
“Okay!” the temps said. They had been sent out from Zens’ guild.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s briefing session. Everyone, let’s get started.”
“Yes, sir.”
H-Huh? Charl thought in dismay. She had been getting ready to have her head patted, just like Arri, but… Laurent-san didn’t pat my head?
She felt regretful.
She should have made some complaints, like Arri had done.
“Charl-san, Arri-san,” Ranju called, and Charl returned to herself. “About the upcoming production schedule…” He began to discuss the plans with them immediately.
Charl spread open the blueprint she had drawn up at home yesterday, explaining how much silver she would need.
Ranju put together the arrangements, figuring out how long it would take to gather the silver and how much they would need to transport.
Arrie made a plan for refining the silver as she stared at the blueprint.
The three of them worked seamlessly together to hash out the arrangements.
When Laurent saw how hard they were working and how in-sync they were with each other, he felt a rush of contentment.
Things would change soon and they would get busier.
Laurent knew that better than anyone.
But for now, he submerged himself in the happiness of the moment.
——
After the morning briefing ended, Laurent left the workshop with Ranju. On Ranju’s way to the dungeon, they dropped by an open silverware store, looking around at how many goods were sitting on their shelves.
“There, did you count how many goods were on the shelves? Use that as a guideline for how many orders we can expect this month.”
“I-I see,” Ranju said, taking notes eagerly.
“On your way back from the dungeon, have another look in the stores. Research how much stock they have and calculate our numbers with that.”
“G-Got it.” Ranju took even more notes.
Laurent smiled as he saw how busily Ranju was taking notes, though inwardly he felt a bit guilty.
My bad, Ranju. I’ve put a lot on your plate. But if we don’t get this much done now, we’ll be even busier in the future.
——
“Speaking of, is it really alright to refuse orders from other shops?” Ranju asked as they emerged from the store.
“Yeah.”
Arsenal of the Spirits was not just accepting orders from individuals, but they were also getting requests from retail stores that wanted to sell their products.
But Laurent had refused all of those requests.
“Is it because of Golden Hawk?” Ranju pressed.
Laurent gave a bitter smile.
Damn, he’s quick on the uptake.
“Tell me, please. This is something that I should know about, as the manager of the workshop. I swear I won’t tell anyone else.”
“I can’t hide anything from you,” Laurent said, sighing. He told Ranju everything. “I don’t think Lucius will let things end like this. Right now, he’s probably increasing the pressure even now to shut us down, one way or another.”
“I didn’t think so, either.”
“If we don’t know what his next move is, increasing our production output is risky. Thanks to Lilianne-san, we have plenty of raw materials supplied for [Earth Stones] and silver, but there’s no guarantee that Guardians of the Magical Tree will be able to capture a dungeon next month and continue supplying us.”
“So are you trying to limit our production output so that if anything happens, our system can adjust to changes flexibly?”
Ranju thought of how difficult it had become to obtain raw materials recently.
Merchants who had previously been eager to express their interest in selling ores to them were backing out of the deals.
Now, Arsenal of the Spirits’ only supply of ores came from the dungeon mines that Guardians of the Magical Tree had acquired.
“Don’t tell Arri and Charl anything about this. I want them to be giving their undivided attention to their work, instead of thinking about all this.”
“Okay.”
“Well, anyway, you head on to the mines. For now, just get as many resources from the mine as possible. I’m relying on you for this.” Laurent clapped Ranju on the back.
“Yeah, I’ll see you back at the workshop.”
——
“I’m very sorry, but I have to request that you return the workers I loaned out to you,” Zens told Laurent at the tavern where they always met up.
Before, his expression had been relaxed, and he had freely shared his worries. But now, that expression had changed completely, and he looked cold.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, Laurent thought.
“That’s quite sudden. Can I ask what brought this about?”
“Lucius found out that I’ve been working with you. I’ve heard about everything—that your guild was the one that supplied Guardians of the Magical Tree with [Earth Stones].”
“…”
“I’m in a tough position, you know, and, well, since it’s all out in the open now… We receive a massive amount of orders from Golden Hawk. If we stopped trading with them, we’re finished. And I have a lot of people in my employ that I need to provide for,” Zens said, his face twisted in anguish.
Truthfully, Zens hardly wanted to deny Laurent his request. Laurent had helped him out of his dilemma, after all. But it was undeniable that if he didn’t prioritise his partnership with Lucius, his guild would sink. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
“Basically, this is the last time we’ll be able to meet. Please understand.”
“It’s okay.”
I guess other alchemist guilds will inevitably prioritise business with Golden Hawk over us. It’s hardly a surprise.
After his discussion with Zens, Laurent had a bit of free time before his next appointment, so he wandered around, looking at alchemist street stalls.
Most of the goods displayed there were weapons for adventurers.
If we want the other alchemist guilds to break away from Lucius, it would be best if we could attach better conditions to our orders, but… in the current market, alchemist work is almost all about producing weapons. If I want them to come over to our side, there has to be weapons orders from someone other than Golden Hawk. To do that, I’ll have to make sure that other adventurer guilds, like Guardians of the Magical Tree, keep on growing.
(T/N: Chapter has been split into two due to length.)
After the fair ended, Lucius returned to Golden Hawk’s headquarters and immediately began to accelerate his plan for dealing with Arsenal of the Spirits.
He gathered his closest advisors to help refine his strategy.
“Deanna, Laurent and Lilianne have formed an alliance with each other.”
“Yes, it was a surprise,” Deanna said, as though she had known all along.
“Everything makes sense now. The one who supplied Guardians of the Magical Tree with [Earth Stones] was Laurent’s guild.”
“It was an oversight. If we had known earlier, we could have formed a plan against them,” Deanna said idly.
“If they made it a point to participate in the Silver Fair… that must mean that they’re planning to specialise in silverwork. In that case… from now on, tighten security on all the mines used for silver ore and [Earth Stone] production. No unauthorised personnel are allowed near our dungeon mines. Buy every last silver ore and the raw materials for [Earth Stones] from the market. I don’t care how much it costs. Every piece of silver in this city should be ours!”
“Understood.”
“And don’t forget to put pressure on every alchemist guild, shop and trader. Make sure that any guild that has traded with Arsenal of the Spirits doesn’t even think of doing it again.”
“Understood.”
Once Lucius had finished giving out his instructions, his advisors shuffled out of the room.
However, despite the directives he had given out, he still could not feel at ease.
Guardians of the Magical Tree is in possession of one dungeon. I can’t cut off the ores produced from there. Tch. It depends on whether we’ll be able to take the dungeons set to appear next. If we can control all three dungeons, we can push Guardians of the Magical Tree into a corner, too.
Lucius thought of the cold shoulder Count Elson had given him after the fair.
Count Elson had joined hands with Arsenal of the Spirits, and because of that, he had postponed the business lunch he was supposed to have with Lucius. “Ah, sorry, Lucius. Let’s eat out next time, okay?” he had said, looking as though he would rather be anywhere else.
‘Next time’ felt more like ‘never’.
That b*****d Laurent. He swooped in like a vulture and stole my Court Seal.
Everything Lucius had been working for had nearly been usurped.
Don’t think this is over, Laurent.
——
Immediately after the fair, Arsenal of the Spirits was overwhelmed with work.
Not only had the day of the fair been a great success, with them winning the grand prize, they had also received a count’s Court Seal.
Inquiries regarding silverwork had been coming into the workshop steadily, and orders so expensive that they could never have even imagined just a few days ago came like a windfall.
Despite how busy the workshop was, Laurent still tried his best to gather everyone for their morning briefings.
Today, too, Ranju announced the start of the morning briefing at the workshop.
“Okay, let’s get started. Good work at the fair yesterday, everyone. Not only was it good publicity, but we also received a Court Seal from the count. Thanks to that, we’re getting a huge amount of orders.”
Arri and Charl brightened.
Both of them were delighted by the recognition that their work was receiving.
“Therefore, this month we need to craft fifty silverwork products.”
“F-Fifty?”
“Fifty?!”
Arri and Charl said in unison.
Arri turned pale, thinking of how she would have to refine silver for fifty silverwork products.
Charl’s eyes gleamed at the prospect of creating fifty silverwork products.
“Ranju, have you delivered the silver that Charl needs for her crafting to Forest House today?” Laurent asked.
“Yes, I’ve already sent over the required A-grade silver for the day to Forest House.”
“W-Will it really work out? Fifty silverwork products are a lot.”
In addition to the silver, Arri also had to refine 150 pieces of [Earth Stones].
“You’ll be fine, Arri. I have faith in you,” Laurent said, patting her head. It reassured her.
“O-Okay. I’ll try my best,” Arrie said, her cheeks turning pink.
Charl stared at her.
“Hm? Hang on, Ranju. Did you include the silverworks required for in-store sales along with the number of direct orders?”
They were planning on opening up a silverworks store in the next few days.
Now that they had permission from Count Elson, they did not have to go through the tedious application process for a permit to open up an alchemical store.
“Oh, right. In that case, I’ll need a bit more time.”
“No, that won’t do. I need the exact amount to hash out a production schedule. Otherwise, it’ll be a hassle for our suppliers.”
“Eh? But we don’t know how much we need yet…”
“We know how many we can display in the store, don’t we? Use other stores as reference.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Not much we can do about it now. We’ll talk more later.”
“R-Right. I’ll make time,” Ranju said, pulling out his notes hurriedly and fixing the schedule.
Contrary to his appearance, he had a diligent and focused personality.
“Uh, okay, so here is today’s schedule. Arri-san is to make twenty [Earth Stones] and five pieces of silver. Charl-san will start working on a goblet, platter, ring, necklace and a brooch—one of each. I will be heading to the mines after this. And Laurent-san will be spending the day out again, making arrangements, so our temps will be assisting Arrie-san and Charl-san.”
“Okay!” the temps said. They had been sent out from Zens’ guild.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s briefing session. Everyone, let’s get started.”
“Yes, sir.”
H-Huh? Charl thought in dismay. She had been getting ready to have her head patted, just like Arri, but… Laurent-san didn’t pat my head?
She felt regretful.
She should have made some complaints, like Arri had done.
“Charl-san, Arri-san,” Ranju called, and Charl returned to herself. “About the upcoming production schedule…” He began to discuss the plans with them immediately.
Charl spread open the blueprint she had drawn up at home yesterday, explaining how much silver she would need.
Ranju put together the arrangements, figuring out how long it would take to gather the silver and how much they would need to transport.
Arrie made a plan for refining the silver as she stared at the blueprint.
The three of them worked seamlessly together to hash out the arrangements.
When Laurent saw how hard they were working and how in-sync they were with each other, he felt a rush of contentment.
Things would change soon and they would get busier.
Laurent knew that better than anyone.
But for now, he submerged himself in the happiness of the moment.
——
After the morning briefing ended, Laurent left the workshop with Ranju. On Ranju’s way to the dungeon, they dropped by an open silverware store, looking around at how many goods were sitting on their shelves.
“There, did you count how many goods were on the shelves? Use that as a guideline for how many orders we can expect this month.”
“I-I see,” Ranju said, taking notes eagerly.
“On your way back from the dungeon, have another look in the stores. Research how much stock they have and calculate our numbers with that.”
“G-Got it.” Ranju took even more notes.
Laurent smiled as he saw how busily Ranju was taking notes, though inwardly he felt a bit guilty.
My bad, Ranju. I’ve put a lot on your plate. But if we don’t get this much done now, we’ll be even busier in the future.
——
“Speaking of, is it really alright to refuse orders from other shops?” Ranju asked as they emerged from the store.
“Yeah.”
Arsenal of the Spirits was not just accepting orders from individuals, but they were also getting requests from retail stores that wanted to sell their products.
But Laurent had refused all of those requests.
“Is it because of Golden Hawk?” Ranju pressed.
Laurent gave a bitter smile.
Damn, he’s quick on the uptake.
“Tell me, please. This is something that I should know about, as the manager of the workshop. I swear I won’t tell anyone else.”
“I can’t hide anything from you,” Laurent said, sighing. He told Ranju everything. “I don’t think Lucius will let things end like this. Right now, he’s probably increasing the pressure even now to shut us down, one way or another.”
“I didn’t think so, either.”
“If we don’t know what his next move is, increasing our production output is risky. Thanks to Lilianne-san, we have plenty of raw materials supplied for [Earth Stones] and silver, but there’s no guarantee that Guardians of the Magical Tree will be able to capture a dungeon next month and continue supplying us.”
“So are you trying to limit our production output so that if anything happens, our system can adjust to changes flexibly?”
Ranju thought of how difficult it had become to obtain raw materials recently.
Merchants who had previously been eager to express their interest in selling ores to them were backing out of the deals.
Now, Arsenal of the Spirits’ only supply of ores came from the dungeon mines that Guardians of the Magical Tree had acquired.
“Don’t tell Arri and Charl anything about this. I want them to be giving their undivided attention to their work, instead of thinking about all this.”
“Okay.”
“Well, anyway, you head on to the mines. For now, just get as many resources from the mine as possible. I’m relying on you for this.” Laurent clapped Ranju on the back.
“Yeah, I’ll see you back at the workshop.”
——
“I’m very sorry, but I have to request that you return the workers I loaned out to you,” Zens told Laurent at the tavern where they always met up.
Before, his expression had been relaxed, and he had freely shared his worries. But now, that expression had changed completely, and he looked cold.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, Laurent thought.
“That’s quite sudden. Can I ask what brought this about?”
“Lucius found out that I’ve been working with you. I’ve heard about everything—that your guild was the one that supplied Guardians of the Magical Tree with [Earth Stones].”
“…”
“I’m in a tough position, you know, and, well, since it’s all out in the open now… We receive a massive amount of orders from Golden Hawk. If we stopped trading with them, we’re finished. And I have a lot of people in my employ that I need to provide for,” Zens said, his face twisted in anguish.
Truthfully, Zens hardly wanted to deny Laurent his request. Laurent had helped him out of his dilemma, after all. But it was undeniable that if he didn’t prioritise his partnership with Lucius, his guild would sink. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
“Basically, this is the last time we’ll be able to meet. Please understand.”
“It’s okay.”
I guess other alchemist guilds will inevitably prioritise business with Golden Hawk over us. It’s hardly a surprise.
After his discussion with Zens, Laurent had a bit of free time before his next appointment, so he wandered around, looking at alchemist street stalls.
Most of the goods displayed there were weapons for adventurers.
If we want the other alchemist guilds to break away from Lucius, it would be best if we could attach better conditions to our orders, but… in the current market, alchemist work is almost all about producing weapons. If I want them to come over to our side, there has to be weapons orders from someone other than Golden Hawk. To do that, I’ll have to make sure that other adventurer guilds, like Guardians of the Magical Tree, keep on growing.
