"You are not going to participate in the opening day?

" Irea asked as soon as she returned from the kitchen. As the cook of the camp, she was already used to waking up earlier than anyone just to prepare everything for a healthy meal.

But this time, Layn didn't slack for long past her. By the time she returned from her early round of kitchen duty, the archmage already sat on the earthy floor of their house, working on the coins.

"I don't really have time nor interest in that,

" Layn shrugged, putting a small knife away. With how rare the metal was in this place, had no other choice but to rely on stone to prepare the coins.

"And I still need to get all those coins ready,

" he added, pointing at a set of smithing tools littering the floor.

"Still, if you don't appear to the public, they won't regard you as one of the leaders,

" Irea added as she sat on her knees beside the archmage.

"It's not like I'm hungry for power, but I think you are the most suitable to be the leader here,

" she added, leaning her head as she looked at Layn.

"That might be the case,

" Layn said impassively, putting his entire focus on the small crucible. In there, several kinds of stones that proved to be weak to the temperature mixed with the crush of magic stones. Stirred by Layn's magic, the two elements of the mixture continued to mix while the long, circular form awaited its use.

"But I was never really interested in being a leader in the first place,

" Layn said once he was satisfied with the process.

"So that's the case,

" Irea muttered, moving her eyes over to Layn's hands.

"Don't you think they will be angry that you are not using precious metals for the coins?

" she asked, pointing at a small pile of stones with her chin.

"I don't think monsters would care for vanities like that,

" Layn replied while putting a small smile on his face.

"It's less about the value of the coin but more about its function,

" he said, using his mana to wrap his hands in a protective cover before grabbing the crucible and moving it over the wooden form.

In its truest sense, the real form was actually made from Layn's magic barrier. The wood was just the anchor allowing Layn to shape his barrier to mirror the structure of the wood.

For a moment, the room turned silent. As Layn poured down the solution to the long tube, he was too focused on the task to talk while doing it.

"First one is done,

" Layn said, stabilizing the heavy container as he moved the filled form away, only to replace it with a fresh one.

In the end, a single crucible worth of material lasted for four different forms. Each of them could be later cut to produce between ten and twenty coins depending on how thick Layn wanted them to be.

"How many more do you need to do?

" Irea asked, moving her eyes on Layn's face.

"Don't we have enough already?

" she added another question, leaning her head over her shoulder.

"The more we make, the better,

" Layn replied, grabbing the predetermined amount of the two different materials before stuffing them into a crucible.

"In a sense, I think we should hurry up and create some sort of a forge,

" he said before biting his lips.

"But that solution has some problem on its own,

" Layn added, already deep in his thoughts.

With all the materials back in the crucible, Layn took a mental swing before smashing an invisible hand of his mana the container.

"Let me guess,

" Irea grabbed her chin before massaging it a little.

"Creating a forge would speed the process up but make it hard to control the output, right?

" she guessed before looking at Layn with curiosity.

"That's exactly right,

" Layn nodded his head.

"While we could just push all the coin-creating things on others if I kept the job of turning the stones into powdered form...

" Layn muttered silently, trying to figure out a solution to the problem on the go.

"Ultimately, you will have to rest this task in the hands of someone else,

" Irea replied, raising her head up.

"I mean, I don't want to pressure you into doing it, but at some point, the scale will simply overwhelm you,

" she added before shaking her head.

"You know, I just don't want to see you turn into a money-making machine for others,

" she continued, her voice starting to shake.

"Gosh, what am I even saying...

" she suddenly uttered, hiding her face in her hands.

"It's okay, I understand what you mean,' Layn said while putting a small smile on his lips.

"I'm glad to hear that you think that way, but I don't think this is something we need to worry about for now,

" he added, moving his eyes down on the coins.

"If it's just crushing the stones, I can do it pretty fast. But creating a forge should be our top priority,

" Layn said, looking at the materials in the crucible heating up.

Without a proper forge, Layn had no other choice but to use his own magic to heat the container up. But while that might be a problem for him several weeks ago, with how he was right now, there was hardly any limit to the magic he could spare.

"I will go and pass that to the others, then,

" Irea said, standing up from her spot in a single, fluid motion.

"How big do you want it to be?

" she asked as she approached the doors.

"Roughly twice the size of this place,

" Layn replied, keeping his eyes on the crucible.

"We really need only one or two forges. There is no need to invest in more of them if we don't have materials to actually push through it,

" he added before suddenly turning his head and glancing over at the girl.

"In fact, just tell Markus that we need to get a small forge for the coins.. He will understand.

"