"This is…" The Master Blacksmith, Roel, frowned while staring at the sword he had just enchanted.
The sword had a stable Spiritual Energy flow, but the power was a bit lackluster compared to the normal Spirit Enchantment.
"Wait a minute… it seems that there are a few differences in here, here, and here…" Roel took another look at the sword as well as the Hardening Rune he embedded.
This time, Roel was in his personal workshop so that no one could know about this weapon. But because it had been three days, Dimitri ended up tagging along, so he could get the completed version.
His children, Rick and Rica, were worried that their father would end up meeting misfortune, so they also came and sat in the corner.
When they realized their father had failed again, they couldn't help but walk to Dimitri.
"Sir…" Rick looked at Dimitri with a serious expression. "It's impossible for one to learn this within three days even though one has the basic skill for it…"
Dimitri wasn't that bothered since Roel had given his promise, so he had to fulfill it.
However, Rick tried to persuade him after finding something amiss in the negotiation. "Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but you seem to be short of time. You are rushing this negotiation and learning process.
"I believe that I can give you another solution. There is no way an expert like you will be staying in that fort, considering Iad… Sir Iadre is coming with his squad. Hence, I believe that you are planning to leave the fort right away after giving the swords to some people.
"Here is my suggestion. Can you give my father a few more days to work this out? In exchange, I'll deliver the goods to those people.
"I am trying to respect your boundary by not getting involved in the creation process and the negotiation, but since you've given your words about supporting our merchant group in Sir Iadre's future territory, how about giving us a little privilege to bring these goods with us?
"You can consider this as our first contribution to Sir Iadre."
Rick's suggestion was good. Not only could he buy some time for his father, but he could also figure out Iadre's true identity. After all, depending on the people he would meet later, he might be able to get enough information to deduce the noble's identity.
After all, there was no way a normal person could have a powerful expert like Dimitri under his command.
Dimitri thought this was a good idea. But he also didn't want to let people know about Noel's identity.
So, he thought about another way to work this out. And this was a good measure to check these two's integrity.
"I'll be giving you a letter after this. In exchange, you will be giving the goods to the Demon Banner Army's administration office. With that letter, the people should know who they should give."
Dimitri's answer was clear. Although he couldn't reveal Noel's information to these two, it didn't mean he had to avoid it if the commander was directly involved.
He might be a former member of the Demon Banner Army, but he was once one of the strongest people in the Demon Banner Army. So, asking a little favor from the commander should be fine. It wouldn't take too much time to give the weapons to the kids anyway.
And it wasn't like the commander didn't know that the 'Shadow' had gone to serve the Ardagan Family.
So, this was actually the best option.
In addition, by using this letter, he could see whether these two were honest or not. If they actually tried to take a peek at the content, it meant they couldn't be trusted and he had to be wary of them along with Roel himself.
If they actually delivered the goods without any problem, it meant having both the Master Blacksmith and the merchant group in their territory shouldn't be a problem.
Rick and Rica also knew they were being tested, but they still decided to accept the task. This was their way of contributing to the family. They wanted to help their father, who had used a lot of resources to help their merchant group grow.
Roel understood their intention and smiled. He was truly blessed by two great children.
"I'll extend the time limit by five… no, four days! But that's the limit."
"Two days are enough for me to complete one and another day to complete the rest of the swords." Roel smiled with confidence.
"That's better being the case." Dimitri nodded. He wasn't Noel, who had some attachments to this family. As a butler of the Ardagan Family, he had to maintain a professional attitude and focus on the task and the time allocated for it.
After the agreement, Dimitri finally disappeared, leaving them alone.
"Thank you." Roel smiled at the two kids, thanking them for their help.
"This is what we should do, Father." Rica smiled back since she was the one giving the idea to her brother.
"But will you be fine now?" Rick asked, worried that the time was still not enough.
"Yeah. I underestimated the difficulty of this thing, but the time should be enough right now. I can even finish it faster…" Roel nodded while glancing at the rune. "Still, this is truly remarkable.
"This rune… was it? It seems to be only one of the applications. No, should I say that Spirit Enchantment is only a branch of the Rune System?
"However, after looking at the complete mark, I know for sure that the Rune System is the future.
"Even this one rune alone is about two times stronger than the incomplete Spirit Enchantment. And the flow of Spiritual Energy is more stable.
"If I manage to complete all this work and learn the Rune System, I might be able to become the number one Master Blacksmith in the world…" Despite etching his name into the canal of history, Roel was sighing.
After all, his ambition ended up involving his two children.