Chapter 18: 18

Chapter 18

“Eugh.”

As the carriage rattled once more, I felt nauseous again.

Originally, I used to have motion sickness, but even after reincarnating, the motion sickness remained.

I already got motion sickness from just riding a carriage, but this time was even worse, as the rough roads amplified it.

‘If I make a lot of money, I’ll have to invest it in the roads.’

A well-paved road is helpful for the development of the castle in several ways.

Most of all, I would need to travel more often, but if I had motion sickness like this every time, my stomach probably wouldn’t survive.

“Madam. Are you okay?”

Bircher gently patted me on the back.

“Yes……Euck.”

“Hang in there. We will arrive soon.”

Initially, only Treon and I were supposed to travel to the Martech County.

But Bircher was concerned about who would be protecting madam and insisted on following.

Then, unexpectedly, it was happily agreed on by not only Luc but also Treon.

I recalled Luc’s face, who was seeing me off, holding back his tears when I said that I wouldn’t be seeing him for a few days.

I said that I would buy him gifts when I came back, and he replied that he wishes for sister to come back safely.

‘Should I get a painting of Luc’s portrait?’

I think I’ll get a talisman to keep it in a wallet, no, pouch.

“By that way, isn’t that lizard so docile? Is it because madam is raising it?”

Bircher tilted his head and looked at the pouch on my lap.

Blackie inside the pouch made the soft cloth look like it was a small bed.

It was something that shouldn’t be done to a normal lizard, but it was alright for Blackie since he was a divine beast.

A living creature who can survive without eating.

“That’s because he’s a special one.”

When I patted him over my pouch, Blackie poked his head out.

“I think the only person who raises lizards in this Empire is the madam. Regardless, I think you are a great person.”

“Huh. How’s the secret organisation going?”

While earning money, I decided to reorganise the secret organisation with Bircher as the leader.

“It’s going well. When I get back and do some work, I think it will be settled soon.”

“I’m sorry for making you absent at such an important time.”

“What are you talking about! Protecting the madam is the most important thing! On the contrary, only I can protect the madam, so I will follow you no matter what!”

“Treon is here.”

“Treon can’t do it because he doesn’t have the skills to serve madam yet.”

Bircher said playfully and glanced at Treon, who was sitting at the opposite side in the carriage with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

He was the sole reason why I went on this trip.

I still had a lot of work to do in the duchy, so I tried to refrain from travelling.

What was he thinking about?

Then, suddenly, Treon’s eyes opened.

When I avoided his gaze after getting caught, Treon spoke.

“We’ve arrived.”

I looked at the streets outside from the window.

“Wow.”

Unlike the semi-ruined Valruga Duchy, the Martech County was a more prosperous place than I expected.

It was as bright as the streets of Seoul, but the small buildings in compact rows reminded me of a European village.

I’ve always wanted to make a lot of money and travel to Europe one day.

If you think about it, the world technically did change. What kind of rhetorical travel was this?

Arriving through a well-paved road, Count Martech had a smaller and more ordinary castle than I expected.

I was going to ask Bircher, but then thought that Treon would know more about this, so I whispered to him.

“The castle is smaller than I imagined, is it because he’s a count?”

“No. That’s pretty average. There is no castle larger than the Valruga Castle in the entire continent, so it’s natural to feel that it’s small.”

“Larger than the Imperial Palace?”

“The Imperial Palace only looks spacious on flat ground, but in terms of size, it is inferior to the  Valruga’s.”

Treon’s face showed a rare sense of pride as he said that.

Seeing that sight, it seemed that he truly had a lot of attachment to the Valruga, so why would such a person betray them?

Upon arriving at the castle, we were told that Count Martech was away for work, so the butler led us straight to our rooms.

Bircher and Treon shared a room, and I was assigned to the room next door.

The room was spacious and clean, but it didn’t look that impressive.

Even after our luggage was unloaded, the Count still hasn’t shown his face.

After playing with Blackie for a while, I finally couldn’t stand the boredom and ran to the room beside me.

“Treon. I’m not quite sure, but is it proper to keep the guests waiting like this?”

“It’s not. Rather, it’s an act that could be considered an insult among nobles. That’s why I said I was going to go alone.”

Treon said calmly without getting angry.

Come to think of it, Treon said that he was always in charge of the contract with Count Martech, so he must have gone through something like this a few times.

I asked, tying the black pouch tightly around my waist.

“The host hasn’t appeared yet, but can I take a look around the castle?”

To find out something, you first need to gather information.

Fortunately, the strict-looking butler did not stop us from looking around the castle.

Instead, a person was assigned to us under the pretext of the ‘Castle’s Tour Guide’.

As though they were controlling the horses so that they wouldn’t roam freely around the castle.

The man introduced himself as Brody and manages the castle under the butler.

In addition, Bircher came along to escort me, and Treon followed to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

Numerous people wandered around the castle, and when they saw us, they bowed without saying a word.

The size of the castle was less than a fifth of the Valruga, but it seemed to have five times more servants.

‘This is why there were still so many areas with dust in the Valruga.’

Then, I suddenly felt the gaze of the maid who greeted me just now.

When I looked around, there was only Treon and Bircher.

Suddenly I realised something, I could feel the eyes of many maids turned towards me.

‘H-Huh? What’s wrong? Oh.’

Come to think of it, both of them were good-looking.

If Bircher was a handsome man with brown hair, Treon was a handsome man with blonde hair.

There were so many people in the Martech Castle, but there were hardly any good-looking men.

‘Of course, the most handsome one is Luc.’

He was already so handsome when he was young, so I’m looking forward to when he grows up.

When our Luc made his social debut, that day would be overturned.

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But if they were interested in Bircher and Treon, why do they look surprised when they run into me?

“Hmm……”

When I tilted my head, the maids covered their mouths with their hands.

What did Bircher do when I wasn’t looking?

Looking back at Bircher, Bircher blinked at me with a gentle expression.

I didn’t understand, so I simply smiled at the maids who made eye contact with me.

Then, the maids screamed and buried their faces in their hands.

Wait, why did you scream like that when seeing a person’s face?

Afterwards, I got tired of looking around the castle.

No matter how well the Martech Castle was managed, it was not as great as the Valruga.

Even if all the paintings were removed and sold, it was impossible to compete with the pillars of the Duke’s castle.

Built with the delicate touch of the craftsman, each pillar of the Valruga Castle was made like a piece of artwork.

And there was something else I was aiming for from the beginning.

“More than this, I want to see the people known as the blacksmiths.”

“The blacksmiths?”

Brody became vigilant.

It seems that Count Martech put a lot of effort into his craftsmanship.

To lower his vigilance, I smiled and nodded my head like a naive girl.

“Yes. People say that Count Martech was known for his swords. I want to see you make the swords.”

My smile brought a smile to Brody’s lips.

It was a smile that seemed to say, ‘What would you know just by looking?’

His vigilance towards me was finally lowered, so Brody nodded his head and agreed.

“Alright. Follow me.”

＊  ＊  ＊

The village where the blacksmiths lived was located on the outskirts of the land.

It seemed that it would be difficult to meet other people because it was far from the town.

Surrounding the village, there were knights stationed that were constantly alert.

‘Their security is very tight.’

When Brody waved his hand, the knights saluted and opened the door.

“Wow.”

The blacksmith village was a literal village on its own.

Kaang! Kaang!

There were loud sounds from knocking on the metal and large furnaces.

A cart full of ore was busily moving through the streets, and I saw a few people talking about the swords that had just been forged.

It felt like I was in the middle of a huge smithy.

“I want to look at the sword. Can I?”

“Certainly.”

When Brody beckoned someone, a man pushing a wagon loaded with swords approached him.

It looked very sharp, but I wasn’t sure since all swords looked sharp to my eyes.

“How about it, Bircher? Bircher knows swords better than I do.”

Brody handed the sword to Bircher.

Bircher looked at the sword under the sunlight, swung it with his hand to hear its sound and marvelled at it.

“I think it’s pretty good. It may not be a notable sword, but it is more than enough for ordinary soldiers to use it. It is Count Martech’s sword, so the price may be quite high.”

At Bircher’s words, Blackie poked his head out of the pouch a bit and looked at the sword.

Brody spoke as he took the sword from Bircher.

“It’s unavoidable. Our castle only uses pure light iron to make swords.”

“Light iron? Why is that?”

When I asked, Bircher explained.

“Swords made from pure light iron are much stronger than swords made with other metals. That’s why it’s expensive.”

“Then, how can you tell? You can’t see it with your own eyes.”

“You can tell right away when you hold it. So we always weigh the swords before shipping them.”

“I see.”

“After all, we do business based on the trust of our customers.”

Brody said proudly, puffing his chest.

“Our Count Martech has produced swords for the Imperial family for many years. He was recognised for his work and was bestowed the title Count. Now, other nobles also trust our Count Martech and order swords from him.”

“That’s amazing.”

Such trust is a great asset that cannot be built overnight.

As we went further into the village, we saw the swords being forged diligently.

Half-naked men struck the heated iron.

Each time the hammer was struck, red flames splattered in all directions.

Flames flew across the forearms and corners of the blacksmiths, but they continued to strike the swords without agitation as if they did not feel the heat.

I wanted to watch the sword forging up close, but it was too much.

If you get too close, you will get burnt.

As I passed the men who were working on straightening the iron, this time I saw people dipping the iron in water.

“What are they doing?”

“That is called quenching. It helps make the sword stronger.”

I nodded at Brody’s words and went to speak to the old man sitting in front of the water.

“Wait.”

Then Brody stopped me.

“Please do not talk to the workers who are working. Everyone is making an important product, so concentration is crucial.”

Brody said with a smile, but his eyes were clearly warning me.

Wow. Are you doing this because you’re afraid I might recruit them?

It’s not that I would do that, but I didn’t expect them to be so blatantly wary.

From the guards at the entrance, the security of the blacksmiths was too much.

“Then, is it okay if I just look at it with my own eyes instead?”

“That is fine.”

Brody compliantly agreed, as if he was confident that nothing could be detected with the naked eye anyway.

I watched the quenching process a few steps away from Brody.

The men heated up the iron again in a small furnace before dipping it in the water.

When the heated iron met the water, it made a loud crackling sound and white smoke rose.

Smoke appeared from the clear water.

In my eyes, it was all simply unfamiliar and I didn’t understand anything.

But it seemed to be different in Blackie’s eyes.

[It’s strange.]

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