CH 38

Chapter 7 – Two Gifts

“Hey, I came to pick you up. …What the hell is this?”

Night. Tor had gone to the workshop after parting ways with Rokuk, and was quite puzzled to find the three looking completely exhausted mentally.

Unfamiliar iron instruments, beakers of white and yellow powders, glass bottles with ‘waste liquid’ labels that were filled with something resembling red mud.

Mailey raised a tired-looking face at him.

“Mr. Tor… Please help us…”

“I’ve never heard you sound so desperate.”

Euphie also looked drained as she got to her feet and grabbed onto Tor with her sister.

As for Coen, she was looking at Tor like a ravenous beast looking at its prey.

“Mr. Tor, would you consider being employed here for the rest of your life?”

“Wait, what is going on here? What happened? Were you not able to make the aluminum?”

He passed out some of the cake he had bought as a gift at the bar. Apparently, the three had not even had dinner yet, and they looked at Tor with shining eyes.

“Mr. Tor, God of Thunder! Lend us your power!”

“Enough of that now. Just tell me what happened.”

He insisted as Mailey and Euphie put their hands together.

And so Mailey picked up the beaker of yellow powder and began to explain.

“It was fine up until the moment that the sodium for reduction was prepared in an attempt to obtain the aluminum. But the material we needed, the aluminum chloride, could not be obtained. The only thing that formed was aluminum compounds that are difficult to dissolve in water, and that we don’t know very well. And so we are stuck.”

“Ah, um. I see. Well, I don’t really…”

Tor only had a junior highschool level knowledge of chemistry, and so while he recognized the names of substances, he did not understand what had happened.

Regardless, the point was that they had failed in their attempt.

As for Tor, he decided that he best change the subject, as he also had something to tell them.

“By the way, I have some good news for the three of you.”

“Good news?”

“They are going to storm another magitec beast nest. And Rokuk asked me to join them. I agreed. However, since I didn’t want to go without any prior information, I looked through the records at the guild.”

Tor then showed them a copy of the records.

There was a list of rewards you would acquire, which included various metals and ores.

“Ms. Coen. The last time you acquired cryolite, it was because it entered the market after a magitect beast nest raid, wasn’t it?”

“It was. It was an exciting time, as all kinds of things were flowing in.”

“That made me curious, and so I started looking at the old records. And then I found this. It’s a record from the early days of Fangaro, of an operation to completely destroy a magitec beast nest. ‘…Discovered a silver that does not react to mercury. Cotton-like fibers extend when scratched.’”

Euphie and Mailey stopped eating their cake and looked at Tor.

“It’s aluminum!”

“I thought it sounded familiar. I suppose it really is a record of aluminum then.”

Aluminum reacts with air to form an oxide film, and the surface becomes aluminum oxide.

Aluminum oxide does not react with mercury and is stable. However, when the surface is damaged and the aluminum inside is exposed, it reacts with mercury, but it immediately becomes aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide formed in this way will stretch like a tower over the mercury in a fibrous form.

Tor had been going off of a picture he had seen in a textbook in the twins’ room back at the Ubaz Company, but it seemed like he had been right.

The twins applauded him.

“Mr. Tor, you have done it!”

“Thank you. Apparently, it’s a metal used in the flying-type magitec beasts that are categorized as scouts. But flying magitec beasts are hard to kill, so the metal rarely enters the market.”

Tor suggested that this was the reason that hardly anyone knew about aluminum.

Coen smiled at this.

“So if you participated in this operation, you may be able to acquire some aluminum.”

“That’s right. Regardless, I have decided to participate. And I will try to bring back some aluminum. But how much do you need?”

“I will go too. Because we’ll be able to carry more if there is a Golem with us.”

Tor looked at Coen with surprise.

She was a Magtiec Master. Surely she was not able to fight. And ordinary monsters were one thing, but these were magitec beasts. She would just get in the way.

“Sorry, but you’ll just hinder us.”

“I won’t expect you to protect me. I have five Golems that are specialized for combat. The guild commissioned them to be training partners for Adventurers. They can use Enchants as well.”

Want to give it a test? She asked, and so Tor nodded.

“We’ll give it a try then.”

“So it’s decided.”

Coen left the workshop and headed for the storehouse.

“We will go too.”

“We definitely will.”

“I’ve told them as much. I need you two to be with me. I would not know how to tell aluminum apart from other metals.”

With their ability, the twins would at least be able to protect themselves. They could use Enchant rather well now, and were equal to most B-Rank Adventurers.

Besides, he thought that it was time for them to experience fighting against some magitec beasts. As a lot of Fangaro Adventurers would be participating this time, as long as they understood their roles, they should not be in too much danger.

Coen entered the storehouse and came out with five Golems.

As they were built for battle, they wore thick armor and seemed very heavy. All were two meters tall, had two arms and two legs, as well as a tail for extra balance. There was a pulley on the tips of their tails.

As for weapons, they had crossbows and iron clubs. I suppose they felt that if they were going to fight magitec beasts, then it would be best to use the strength of the Golems and strike them.

“Should I have them change to training equipment?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. As I want to see their combat ability, have them use real weapons that are affected by the length of the Enchant.”

In order to avoid breaking them, Tor only put on his chain gloves, and did not take out the combat rings. His breath still smelled of drink as he sighed and fell into a fighting stance.

“Let’s begin then.”