The Youngest Hides a Lot of Things [Novel] Chapter 24

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 24

Chapter Title: The Blacksmith's Forge

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I headed to the forge with Old Duke.

Old Duke's hobby was weapon development.

He would draw up blueprints himself, commission their creation, test the finished products, and take great delight in it all. That was his one and only joy.

'Well, plenty of those have even made it to market, so it's not just a hobby.'

One of House Jebert's main businesses was arms manufacturing. The weapons they produced from the high-quality ores mined in the mountains surrounding the territory were renowned across the entire continent.

'Their shields that block Black Magic Beasts were especially good.'

And with the war that had swept the continent in recent years, business must have been booming, even if unintentionally.

"Wow, it's huge."

"It's the biggest in the Empire."

True to its reputation, the forge was on an enormous scale.

Exaggerating a bit, it looked like a small village.

"Come on in."

We entered the largest building among the many structures. The owner greeted us half-heartedly.

A wave of scorching heat from the blazing furnace hit us. Clang, clang. The irregular sound of metal being hammered echoed around.

"Hand it over! My weapon!"

Thug... no, Old Duke bellowed.

The owner, who had been puffing on a pipe with his upper body bare, glanced up.

The man with brown hair tied up messily and soot smeared all over looked surprisingly young.

"...Did you finally spot a late bloomer?"

Thud. A massive hammer dropped to the floor.

"Still as dim as ever."

"Ho ho."

The owner bent down to peer at me, his gaze filled with curiosity.

"Put out the fire."

Old Duke grumbled in annoyance, and the owner pouted.

"Asking me to put out the fire in a forge..."

"Cough, cough."

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, carrying pipe smoke right into us.

Old Duke clicked his tongue, abruptly picked me up, and set me down on the opposite side.

"Can't you put it out right now?!"

"Ah."

The owner seemed to finally realize he was still smoking the pipe.

"Uh, sorry about that."

Whoosh, whoosh. He waved his hands to fan away the smoke.

"So, what's this? This kid. Don't tell me you're trying to sell..."

Clang. Old Duke lightly kicked the hammer aside.

"Do you really live like a hermit, cut off from the world? Come to think of it... it's about time to overhaul this place, isn't it?"

"...Not this anvil. Not my furnace. None of it!"

"Then quit yapping and bring out the sword!"

The owner shook his head emphatically at the shout.

"You old coot and your temper..."

"I can hear you."

"Your hearing's still sharp! Lucky you."

"Ugh, that guy."

Hmm, are they on good terms or bad? Hard to tell.

Still, the way he treats Old Duke so casually means this owner isn't one to mess with either.

The owner rummaged around noisily and pulled out a single sword.

Once more, a clatter of things being swept aside. He placed the sword on a table.

"Hmm!"

Old Duke's eyes gleamed as he looked down at the sword.

"I was planning to hammer it a few more times, but refining the Magic Stone for the blade has been trickier than expected, so it's not quite..."

"Wouldn't it be better to use Epiron for the hilt?"

"Hm, maybe. But Epiron doesn't reflect light at the right angles."

The two adults dove headfirst into their weapon geekery. I watched cautiously for a bit before quietly stepping back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He noticed.

"Just looking around a little..."

"No! Do you know how dangerous this place is?"

"Then I'll wait outside!"

Old Duke glanced back and forth between the weapon and me, clearly torn.

"I'll behave!"

I put on my best good-little-kid face. The owner, who had been watching silently, wiped his nose and chimed in.

"If you're bored, how about swinging a hammer?"

"Me? Hammering?"

"Or watch the quenching... Ah, or pick out some pretty metal scraps to keep."

"What kind of work is that for a kid!"

"...? That's what I loved most at that age."

The owner seemed genuinely baffled.

"That's exactly why you grew up obsessed with weapons!"

"Ha, why the sudden compliment?"

"It's not a compliment!"

Hmm, definitely not an easy guy.

"Hehe... I'll be outside."

I slipped quietly out of the forge.

A familiar face was waiting outside.

I'd wondered why Old Duke let me go so easily. Turns out he knew the guard knight was tailing me.

"Sir Leon, Uncle—no, Senior!"

"...It's been a while."

Sir Leon with his blue hair looked down at me. For a moment, a strange glint passed through his stern eyes.

"Long time no see! But why are you staring like that?"

"Why haven't you ever come to the knight order even once..."

"Huh?"

"Ahem. Never mind."

I tilted my head and started walking.

Sir Leon followed.

"Where are you headed?"

"I wanna go play over there!"

The place I pointed to was a small shop near the forge.

Just as it showed on the map.

There was a Magic Stone shop!

"Ore shop?"

"Can't I?"

"Well, it's right next door, so no real reason not to..."

"Old Duke will take a while. Right, Senior?"

"Ahem, can't be helped."

Sir Leon gently took the hand I offered.

He gave instructions to another knight waiting nearby, and we headed to the ore shop.

"Wow, so sparkly. Pretty."

The owner must have stepped out—the shop was empty. I wandered around, eyes shining.

Naturally, I stopped where the Magic Stones were displayed.

Each one a different shape, a different color.

A smile spread across my lips.

'Figured there'd be tons of Magic Stones since they hunt Magic Beasts like it's breakfast.'

Defeating Magic Beasts yielded Magic Stones. Or you could mine them from Magic Stone mines.

Of course, their quality varied wildly—the strongest ones came from slain Magic Beasts.

Just like game items.

Anyway, processing Magic Stones—also called magic stones (though from my perspective, they're not the same)—turned them into Magic Tools.

'Simply put, these rocks are the main ingredient for Magic Tools.'

Of course, ordinary folk couldn't just whip up Magic Tools on the spot.

'Back in the kingdom, I made Magic Tools with these stones...'

My kingdom imported them.

We had some domestic Magic Stones, but Zelox's were the highest quality.

Probably because the land crawled with such vicious Magic Beasts.

'And we sold those Magic Tools back across the continent.'

"Oh."

My eyes widened as I scanned the display.

'Found it. Barrier Stone.'

A transparent stone glowing pale purple filled my vision.

"What are you looking at?"

"Senior, Senior."

I tugged at Sir Leon's clothes.

"There are so many pale purple stones here. What are they used for?"

I asked on purpose, probing.

"Useless Magic Stones. Their color is unique, so they're sometimes used for sword decorations, but they're too heavy, so not very practical."

"Really?"

I held up the transparent stone to the light—it was flawless, no impurities. This was top quality...

"No real use for them, so demand is low."

That was wrong.

Not no demand—nobody knew how to use them, so demand was unknown.

'I'm the only one in the kingdom who knows how to make Magic Tools with these Barrier Stones.'

I gripped the purple stone tightly.

'This is it.'

The way to protect myself and Uncle.

'I'll make a barrier with this stone to envelop all of Zelox. Like the Magic Kingdom—an unbreakable shield.'

The Magic Kingdom was a fortress of a millennium.

No one could invade it, no attack could faze it.

The ignorant assumed it was due to the mages' grand protection spells, but in truth, it was the power of barrier Magic Tools embedded throughout the kingdom.

Ancient magic arrays, lost to the modern world...

'I can do it.'

I was born with every magic array in the world etched in my mind. Ancient or modern, it didn't matter.

The problem was something more practical...

'But to do that, I'd need to buy these stones in bulk...'

To cover all of Zelox, I'd need a massive quantity, obviously.

I let out a shallow sigh, and Sir Leon's gaze shifted away from me.

Lost in thought, I didn't even notice the huge shadow looming behind me.

'I'd also need a secret workshop to craft the Magic Tools...'

Can I pull it off?

I sighed again.

"Booger, what the hell are you doing here?"

But it's not easy... Workshop aside, right now, to buy those stones...

"I don't have any money..."

"......"

"......"

Grind.

"Huh?"

I looked up at the ominous sound of teeth gnashing.