Chapter 183 – The Quiet Life.

Craftsmen hoisted a sign onto what resembled a storefront. With strong hammer strikes, they fixed it in place. Rusty stood at the edge of the street with arms crossed, motionless. The sound of nails driving into wood echoed through the quiet street until at last the workers stepped back and nodded at their work.

“There you go.”

One of them said, brushing sawdust from his hands. Rusty tilted his helmet up and stared at the name: Living Metal Forge. He lingered longer than the workers expected, studying the words etched into the steel plate and the helmet carved above them. The letters gleamed in the afternoon light. Half of the helmet caught the sun and shone brightly while the other half remained in shadow. The image reflected him perfectly, as if the sign itself embodied both his nature and his shop. Yet one thing was still missing.

“…”

“Well, that’s expected, Rusty. We still have to get the interior ready.”

Said Alexander from within the armor. The roof had been patched and the sign now hung in place, but the shop still required much work. Rusty stepped inside, boots ringing on the uneven floorboards. The carpenters had cleared most of the rot, but the air remained thick with dust. To him, a monster, this meant little. Alexander reminded him, however, that poor ventilation could become a problem.

“We will need shelves and weapons on display.”

Alexander reminded him, and Aburdon added his opinion.

“We should put the best wares in front and dazzle those unwashed mortals with Rusty’s enchanted weaponry.”

“I’m not sure if that would be wise, Aburdon…”

“Bah, what do you know?”

“Probably more than a demon king who never was an adventurer.”

The two disagreed on how the shop should appear. Aburdon wanted everything to be bright and impressive, with costly items placed in plain view, much like some merchants display their treasures behind glass for passersby to admire. Rusty admitted it was an interesting idea, but he quickly saw the problems.

“If we do that, someone will just break the glass and rob us. Perhaps we need to keep the valuable items in the back like other stores?”

He asked his guides, as the other humanoids had probably chosen that solution for a reason. The place he had gotten was surprisingly spacious and included several side rooms that could be turned into storage for the more expensive wares. He also had a second floor that was no longer a hazard since the roof had been repaired, making it the best area for that purpose.

“Preposterous, we can just hire guards!”

Aburdon still didn’t agree, and soon his guides were fighting again.

“And where will we find the money for that? First, we need to earn something.”

“We can get more by selling monster parts or killing adventurers!”

The argument went back and forth. Alexander urged restraint while Aburdon pushed to be more daring. Rusty weighed their words carefully as his funds were already thin after buying materials and paying fees. When the shop was finished, there would be little left to hire protection. Yet if he returned to the dungeon, someone would have to guard the store. Rolo and the other children could handle sales, but they could not fight off thieves or intruders. He would eventually need to hire a watchman; even a weak adventurer of rank E or F was better than nothing.

‘I will have to go to the guild for that, but first I need to start selling.’

If Rusty had been human, he would have sighed at that moment. The store was a good way to make extra money, but starting it was proving troublesome. He was losing valuable time that could have been spent in the dungeon, gaining levels, and gathering materials. At times like this, he wished he could split himself, but his armor puppeteering skill did not reach that far. His puppets also lacked the ability to speak or interact with humanoids.

‘What if…’

He paused. There was still one thing he had never tried with his puppeteering skill, which was placing one of his guides inside a shell. Aburdon had tried a few times to enter a body and control it, so it seemed possible. If Rusty created a body infused only with darkness or light while leaving out the twilight element, it was a possibility.

‘Alexander would probably be better suited for this task…’

When he thought about who could act as a shop protector and deal with adventurers more effectively, Alexander was the obvious choice. He had once been human and understood how adventurers thought and behaved. There was precedent as well, since Aburdon had once managed to attach himself to Gleam and operate outside of Rusty’s influence. With a specially prepared body, Rusty could create two minions who could act independently while he was inside the dungeon. Their bodies would be sturdy enough to serve as silent bodyguards, something he would need in the future if the store became more successful.

“Rusty?”

“Huh?”

“You went quiet for a moment. What are you thinking about?”

Alexander asked, noticing that Rusty had stopped responding.

“It’s nothing, just thinking about the future.”

Rusty shook his metal head. For now, his idea was out of reach. He would first need to return to the soul forge and create an alloy infused only with the light element before he could craft a body for Alexander. That would have to wait. For the moment, getting the store in order came first.

“Well then, how about we bring out a few items and place them around, just like the other shops do?”

“Good idea. If this is to become a real shop, then we should look the part.”

Alexander agreed with Rusty’s decision. Although he could take weapons from his storage space, he could not do so here in front of the workers and children. Instead, he went back into the basement and prepared a barrel filled with various supplies. When he returned, he placed it in the middle of the main store area and looked at the children.

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“Rolo, come help me place them.”

“Sure, Mr. Edmund.”

Rolo replied as he moved over and pulled one of the swords from the barrel. The boy was young, but he already possessed a battle class, so holding a sword was not difficult for him.

“I want to help too!”

Natia shouted as she approached the barrel. Before she could jump up to reach a dagger, a concerned ant moved in front of her.

“( •́ – •̀ )”

“Gleam?”

She asked in confusion. The youngest child did not understand, since it did not seem like playtime, but soon Ria pulled her gently back.

“No, you might hurt yourself. Let the others handle this.”

“Nuoo! Natia wants to help!”

“We can help with something else. Come with me.”

Natia resisted, waving her small fists, but she could not overcome the older girl’s strength. Gleam stayed with the other two girls while Rolo, Rusty, and Isan moved the steel weapons and armor. Isan was still quite young and struggled to hold them properly, but he remained determined to help.

Rolo carried the first sword carefully, stepping across the dusty boards to hang it on one of the wooden pegs that had been newly hammered into the wall. Rusty observed his movements and nodded once when the boy adjusted it until the weapon sat straight.