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nChapter 41: Starting Preparations

nAs the sun was setting, Loren was starting a fire in a furnace he found in a nearby blacksmith’s shop.

nIt was shaped like a pot, and although it was quite large, it wasn’t too hard for him to carry it back to the clinic. After he put coal inside, he pulled the lever on it, and hot flames shot out of the opening.

nThere was a spell that controlled the flames inside, so it was possible to control the intensity of the fire.

nIt was a magic tool that used the mana of the user through holding down the lever, and Lapis told him that it was quite an expensive tool, but Loren didn’t care about its price if it could do its job.

nBut it was indeed very useful, and Loren was thinking of taking it with him, as its fire controlling feature would make it a better version of a bonfire.

nAnyways, when the fire started going, he held the crucible he found at the shop with a pair of tongs, put in the ingredients he found from nearby buildings, and held it over the furnace.

nSince what he was doing would emit a lot of heat, if he wasn’t careful, it could start a fire, so he was doing this outside of the clinic, sitting on a chair.

n“What are you doing?”

nLapis asked him while he was working.

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nHer curious gaze was focused on his hands, but Loren didn’t respond, but instead silently focused on his work.

nThe ingredients inside the crucible wouldn’t become anything just by roasting it over a fire.

nHe gripped the lever and pulled it up and down, letting air inside the furnace. The coals inside started burning furiously, and after increasing the fire using the magic spell, the fire became hot enough to start melting the ingredients inside the crucible.

n“Loren, getting ignored is kind of sad, you know?”

nLoren replied to Lapis, who was looking frustrated, without letting his eyes off his work.

n“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m trying to be a blacksmith here.”

n“Huh, what are you trying to make?”

nThe city was silent during the day, but there was no telling what could come out at night.

nSince there were undead popping up around the city, there was a high probability that something else like them might be around as well, so currently Klaus was destroying nearby buildings and making a barricade around the clinic with the rubble.

nThe reason Klaus was chosen for the job was mostly due to the power of his Gift, but Loren suspected that this was Lapis’ plan. In the case this became a problem later, all the responsibility would fall upon Klaus.

n“It looks like our opponents are mostly undead, so you would need an appropriate weapon.”

n“Are you saying the great sword isn’t going to be enough?”

nLoren looked over at the great sword sitting next to him. Loren guessed that this great sword, pitch black from its grip all the way down to the end of the scabbard, wasn’t an ordinary great sword, but currently it was nothing but a black sword.

nWell, judging from its enormous size and weight, most might not agree that the sword was normal at all, but from the viewpoint that it didn’t have any special features to it, it was in fact, normal.

n“I want to take it easy if I can.”

nLoren never thought of swinging around such a heavy weapon as difficult but doing so continuously will eventually tire him down.

nSo after thinking for a while, Loren reached a conclusion to make the things he needed in order to make things easier, which led him to what he was currently doing.

n“I see. So, what are you making?”

n“The cla.s.sic type of weapon when it comes to dealing with undead is silver, right?”

nNear Loren was a cast for making thin plates.

nLoren poured the contents of the crucible into the cast and after it became about the length of his palm, he hit it out of the cast, and picked it up with the tongs. He then set it onto the anvil he brought from the shop and hammered it to sharpen the edges, then cooled it off in the barrel of water at his feet.

nA loud sizzling sound occurred along with the steam, and Loren turned and poured in more ingredients into the crucible and started melting it again.

n“Silver weapons? But where did you find all that silver?”

nLapis rolled up her sleeves and took out the thing that Loren dropped into the barrel of water.

nThe blade-like object was in no way a masterpiece, but when she rubbed the black surface with her finger, a silver shine appeared from underneath.

n“Well…it was something that needed to be done…”

nAs Loren gave her a vague answer, Lapis turned her gaze to the bag behind Loren, which seemed to have the ingredients, and opened it.

nInside were silver coins.

nDifferent nations used a different amount of silver for the coins, and often were mixed with other metals if there weren’t enough silver, but it was indeed something that could be used as silver ingredients.

nThere was some jewelry in there too, but most of the things inside were silver coins. Lapis looked up and said to Loren with a serious look on her face.

n“Isn’t destroying currency supposed to be a crime?”

n“Hmm, was it?”

nEven as Loren played dumb, his hands continued to move.

nCrimes only become crimes when there is someone to regulate it, but in Hanza there was nothing of the sort, and nothing was stopping Loren from what he was doing.

n“Anyways, where’s Shayna and Shutel?”

n“I locked them up in different rooms.”

nLocking them up didn’t seem like the most peaceful thing to do, so Loren guessed that she just meant that she locked the door, but Lapis then added.

n“I barricaded their doors with chairs and tables, so they can’t come out even if they wanted to.”

n“You actually confined them.”

n“Don’t be so rude. Not being able to get outside means nothing can go inside. I nailed the windows down too, so it should be perfect.”

nLoren returned his gaze back down to his hands and asked Lapis in a low, quiet voice.

n“So, what did you notice?”

n“Your question is so vague, I’m not sure how to respond.”

nLoren sighed at Lapis’ calm response.

nAs Lapis c.o.c.ked her head at his behavior, Loren then purposely said to her in a complaining manner.

n“You can’t tell me, either, huh.”

n“It’s not that. Your question was, in fact, vague, so I’m not sure what to tell you.”

n“About these series of events. You’ve noticed quite a bit already, right?”

n“For example, why we found Shayna in the forest? Why the forest wolves didn’t attack her? The mysterious illness that Broas and the others have? The fact that we found a survivor at this timing?”

nLoren gave Lapis, who rolled the questions off her tongue, a sharp glare.

nIf Lapis had an explanation for everything she just said, Loren believed that it wasn’t too far off to say that most of the mysteries behind this whole thing was uncovered.

nThe problem was whether Lapis was willing to explain it or not.

n“I’m sorry if you got your hopes up, but the only thing I know right now is that Shayna is very suspicious, Broas and the others’ conditions are due to energy drain, and that Shutel is nothing but suspicious.”

nHe thought she would withhold for a bit longer, but Lapis unexpectedly gave him the information just like that.

nThat surprised him, but what was more surprising was the word ‘energy drain’.

nHe just had the knowledge about it, but energy drain was a special ability of high rank undead, and it absorbed life energy and mana from the living. Those who died from it couldn’t rest peacefully, but instead wandered as undead.

n“Are you saying that Shayna is the cause?”

n“If you see what happened to the people who rode with her, that’s what you would think, right? But from what I can see, Shayna is human. A completely normal one, in fact.”

n“Then…”

n“That’s what I can’t figure out. There is the possibility that a high rank undead monster is following us, but it’s highly unlikely.”

nSome famous high rank undead were vampires, who suck blood, or liches, which high cla.s.s magicians sometimes turned into, but if something like that were following them, it would be stranger not to notice them.

nThat’s the kind of existence they were.

n“In any case, I’m acting on the a.s.sumption that Shayna is suspicious. That’s why I tried to keep her away from Broas and the others, and I’m not letting anyone near them. I performed a ritual for warding off evil in the room as well.”

n“You?”

nLoren was surprised yet again.

nWarding off evil was indeed for warding off bad things, but although she was hiding it, Lapis herself was a demon.

nAs Loren thought a demon warding off evil seemed like a bad joke, Lapis said to him, looking slightly offended.

n“We’re a race that are skilled in using evil and magic. Of course, we have ways to deal with them.”

n“Is that so?”

n“This technique can be casted on the body as well.”

nAs Lapis said that proudly, Loren raised his hand to his forehead, not understanding what she meant, but then remembered what happened at the camp and looked at Lapis.

nIt was when Loren said he wanted to invite Shayna, since all the other adventurers were afraid of her.

nLapis had told him to do as he wanted, as she put her hand on his forehead like she was patting him on the head.

n“You…The reason I didn’t fall unconscious.”

n“By the way, the reason why I’m fine is because the same spell is incorporated into my prosthetics. For Klaus…I guess it just shows that he has the potential to become a hero>”

nLapis was very skeptical when it came to Klaus, but instead of trying to figure out what was going on with him, Loren wanted to figure out what was going on until now.

n“What about Shutel?”

n“A lone survivor at this point of time in the city. She’s basically announcing to the whole world that she’s suspicious. Well, is she really a survivor?”

n“There’s a reason why you put them in separate rooms, right?”

nPutting aside the reasoning and situation, Loren’s goal was to take Shayna back to her parents.

nBut putting her near someone that they knew was suspicious, without any protection, could only look like Lapis was using her as bait.

nBut to Loren, using a young girl like that wasn’t something he could overlook.

n“You don’t have to worry about it, Loren. Leave this kind of dirty work to me. I’m a demon, after all.”

nShe must’ve said is since Klaus wasn’t around, but after hearing that, Loren stopped what he was doing.

n“Loren?”

n“Don’t say things like that. Whatever you are, right now you’re my partner, right?”

nFor a second after being told that, Lapis had a blank expression, looking like she didn’t understand what Loren had just said to her. After a moment, she avoided his gaze and slowly turned her back to him.

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n“W-well, you know. Umm, I guess I’m your partner. Well, more like your client. Or you debtor.”

n“I don’t care whichever you are. Don’t keep things to yourself and talk to me.”

nAt Loren’s aggressive and blunt words, Lapis looked back at him with a slightly embarra.s.sed look on her face.

n“You’re right. Yes, I’ll do that a bit more.”

nAs Loren sighed, wishing she would’ve just done that from the start, Lapis looked again at the bucket at his feet, which was now filled with quite a few silver plates.

n“So, how are you going to use these?”

n“Going to use them as throwing knives. It should be enough for zombies and revenants.”

nAs soon as Loren replied, a roar from far away echoed throughout the night.

nIt seemed to have reached the ears of Klaus, who was making barricades, as he came running back to the clinic.

nLooking at him, Loren guessed that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep at all tonight as he drew the great sword closer to him.

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