CH 263

~ 3rd Person Perspective~

“Master, about the next purchase, what will do about it?” (Apprentice)

The third apprentice, who was talking to the usual trader by the back door, asked this question, and the man called “Master” dismissed him by waving his left hand appropriately while sitting on a chair, “…It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

The third apprentice spread his hands out in a small gesture as if to say, “Well,” and looked at the trader.

The trader glanced at the third apprentice impatiently, then, determined, approached the master, and tried one last persuasion,

“Master, please don’t say that… Haven’t we known each other for a long time.” (Trader)

The master glanced at him with one eye, then turned to the vendor and began to speak, “You know…”

“You’ve seen the town before you came here, right?　Then you know what this town is like.” (Blacksmith)

“…I’ve seen it.” (Trader)

“The dungeon at the rift has disappeared. The number of adventurers has plummeted, and the blacksmiths have lost a lot of customers. We’re just barely holding on, but even so, we’re in no condition to do any stocking up.” (Blacksmith)

“No, of course, I understand that. But to suddenly stop doing business with us, I… I just don’t know what to do.” (Trader)

While tapping the desk with his fingers, the master looked up at the ceiling thinking about something and exhaled “Haaa…”.

“…I’m sorry too… You’ve been taking care of me for a long time, and our relationship is not of acquaintance. But what do you want me to do? There are no more customers in this town who want to buy weapons like before.” (Blacksmith)

“Well……” (Trader)

The trader stammers and nods.

The Rift Dungeon, which was the reason for the development of this town of Aluppo, has disappeared, and the adventurers who stayed in Aluppo for the dungeon will disappear to another town, and the demand for armors will inevitably decrease. It is only natural that the demand for metals and monster materials, the materials used to make armor, would disappear.

The trader who worked for the supplier knew this, but it was still difficult to accept the sudden disappearance of a sales channel that had supported the trading company for so many years.

“The situation up to now has been too unique. It’s a dungeon, but there are hardly any materials for armor.” (Blacksmith)

The master looked at the trader.

The former dungeon of Aluppo is full of undead that it is also known as “undead dungeon”. Because of this, the only materials that could be used for weapons were scrap iron from the skeleton’s armor and sword, and tanned leather from Acid Frogs and Mud Toads. And in this country, the three dukes were not on good terms with each other. So, they had to rely on imports from other countries for materials, but the situation was unique.

“Of course, I understand that. But… but can’t you do something about it? If things continue as they are, our trading company in the Kingdom of Zantz will go out of business…” (Trader)

“Even if you put it that way…” (Blacksmith)

There is room to think about it if it can be managed somehow, but in the first place, the demand itself does not exist in the state where the population of the town has decreased so much, so it was not a situation that could be managed with ingenuity.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave this time. If I want to make something interesting again, I may call you.” (Blacksmith)

With these words, the master turned on his heel and walked to the back of the store.

As the master’s back disappears into the back of the store, the major sales channel that the trader had inherited from his predecessor would disappear, and his store would surely suffer a major blow.

The trader thought. “Think, think, think.”

The man’s brain enters a level of concentration he has never experienced before, his nerves sharpen, and the master’s movements slow in his vision.

Sweat beaded on trader’s forehead.

In order to overcome the situation, his eyeballs wander in all directions in the store, gathering information.

Then, his eyes stopped at a certain point.

A big black metal club that was placed on the shelf of the store—an Ogre Mace. The master had shown it to him with great confidence before, but it was too heavy for anyone to handle properly, and it was one of the items that remained unsold.

The moment he saw it, a revelation fell upon him as if a [Light Source] had been casted over his head.

“M-master!” (Trader)

The man who works in the store barely called out to the master who was about to disappear into the back of the store.

“What is it?” (Blacksmith)

“Master! I have an interesting proposal!” (Trader)

He spoke. He spoke desperately. The fate of his merchant family would be decided by the performance of his presentation.

He put everything he had cultivated as a merchant, all of his knowledge, all of his talk skills, all of the minute seeds he sowed, and he desperately appealed.

He appealed, over and over.

“–so I’m calling this the [Dragon Masher]! With one swing of this, even the famous Golden Dragon can be crushed with a single blow! I’m sure of it! Yes!” (Trader)

After the man who traded amongst the businesses was rushing all at once, he let out a big sigh to calm his rough breathing.

And now to see his parents.

The master looked down and stood still for a while, trembling slightly, and then shouted “Hey!” and grabbed the trader by the collar.

And he howled.

“Isn’t that interesting!?” (Trader)

“Of course, it is! That’s what I’m talking about! You see things differently! Yes!　Absolutely!” (Blacksmith)

The master and the trader shook hands firmly, and then embraced each other warmly.

There was a passionate friendship between the two men.

“Let’s get to work! Hey! I’ll buy all the ore you have and bring it to me!” (Blacksmith)

“Yes, master!” (Trader)

“Hey master! That money is for our salary—” (Apprentice)

“Start with the formwork! And get some lumber!” (Blacksmith)

“Thank you so much!” (Trader)

“Stop it!” (Apprentice)

That day, the cries of the apprentices echoed from within the blacksmithing workshop, and for the first time in many years, the town was alive again.

XX years later.

“What’s that big thing, Mommy?” (Child)

A small child walking in the town points toward a huge metal mace.

The metal mace was black and huge, larger than a two-story building, and if stood vertically, it was said to be as big as the rift of the Aluppo Rift Dungeon.

“That one is said to be called the ‘Dragon Masher. It was used by the dragon zombies who used to be the boss of the dungeon that used to be here, but it was too big for humans to use, so they left it there.” (Woman)

A woman who seemed to be the mother of the child answered by reading the explanation written on the stone monument next to the giant mace.

Hearing that, the child muttered, “Huh…”, and after thinking for a while, he continued.

“But why was the Dragon Zombie using ‘Dragon Masher’?” (Child)

“Well……” (Woman)

The mother stammers a little.

It was a little strange that a dragon was using it when it seemed to be a weapon used to slay dragons.

The mother’s answer is not going to come out even if she thinks about it, so she decides to answer appropriately.

“Look, I’m sure that it was the mace that killed it, then it became a Dragon Zombie!” (Woman)

“I see! That’s true!” (Child)

The mother was relieved that the child seemed convinced, even though he didn’t understand, and she left, pulling the child by the hand, “Let’s go back to the inn then.”

There was once a town called Aluppo, which once prospered from an undead dungeon and then fell into decline with the dungeon’s disappearance.

However, one day a mysterious giant mace called the Dragon Masher appeared in the center of the town, and it is rumored that the town has made a miraculous comeback in the tourism industry.

Some adventurers who have lived in the town for a long time testify that it was used by the Dragon Zombie, the dungeon’s last boss, and the local tourism industry association has adopted this theory.

But the truth is, nobody knows who made the mace, for what purpose, or why it was placed here.

Was it really equipped by the Dragon Zombie? Is it a miraculous creation of the gods? Or was it something that the town blacksmith made on an impulse, but was unable to sell it and had to dispose of it, so he threw it away? No one knows for sure now.

It is a mystery within history.

T/N: The series is back. I will update again when there are at least 3 chapters.