Chapter 363 – Squire.

“Sir Wayland, I’m glad that you have returned safely.”

“Awooo!”

“Sir Agni as well, he has gotten so much bigger but if I may ask…”

“That’s true, luckily the tunnels are wide enough to even fit him through and if you want to ask about the adventurer party, there wasn’t much left from them. Luckily some of the adventurer cards survived enough to identify their group.”

“I see, will you bring up this issue with the guild?”

“Yes, I’ll be heading there now.”

Roland arrived at the entrance to the mining area with Agni trotting slowly behind him. Myrtle and her party looked somewhat astonished by the lack of damage to his armor. This group was probably a bit stronger than the lesser tier 3 platinum party he took out. They were aware that the party of five who had ventured into the dungeon beforehand. Their levels were similar and they would not come out unscathed from a proper engagement.

Even though their classes were of the lesser kind, a lot of things could affect a battle between the adventurers. One small slip-up and any one of them could have ended up dead. It was even more likely for something to go wrong when you were engaging others inside a dangerous dungeon like this one. One stray undead monster could cause a shift in the outcome rather quickly.

Some of them assumed that Roland had perhaps lured them into a trap that lowered his achievement slightly. Nevertheless, if he was able to destroy a party of five platinum adventurers his personal strength couldn’t be looked down upon. The party of five had to keep this in mind and watch to not go against the Valerian household. If they went out of line, this scary Head Knight could be their downfall.

“Ah, and that person must be…”

“Yes, it’s the Alchemist that employed those five, I’ll leave him in your care for now, send him back with the miners that are finished with their shift.”

“That’s not a proble…”

“Wait a minute, what do you mean when their shift is over? How long will that take?”

Before Myrtle could end her sentence the gnome jumped out from behind Roland. He didn’t look amused with the idea of staying in this mining shaft for longer than a few minutes.

“Well, Mr. Rastix, the escort party should arrive here in around two or three hours. Why don’t you use one of the tents to wait, we do have some rations there.”

“Three hours? Rations? Are you serious? Do you want to keep a Master Alchemist in a place like this? Do you want me to breathe in all of this dirt!?”

Rastix sneezed as some dust from the mining work tickled his nose. The place was covered in a lot of dirt but at least with the help of magic, no one was losing their hearing. Simple sound-dampening devices weren’t hard to come by and made this place rather quiet. It wasn’t such a bad situation considering that the alchemist was safe, yet time was money and at least to this gnome with an attitude problem it was not something he was willing to put himself through.

‘He sure got a lot louder after we left the harder levels…’

Roland was looking at the small shouting man getting mad. It wasn’t like he couldn’t act as an escort warrior but it would have been much faster to just leave the guy behind. There was only one reason he was still thinking about it and that was the offer he was given. The two had a lot of time to converse and the gnome used this time well.

‘There will be other Alchemists arriving in the city and I can use the resources of the Union but…’

There was a big difference between buying up alchemical concoctions and having them tailor-made. For instance, the Silvergrace suit that he was wearing could still be enhanced. A proper Master Alchemist should be able to remake it with better materials and even fit it to his physique.

Then there was also the insight into the manufacturing process of alloys. There were many ways of producing these, there were probably ways of making his suit lighter and allowing it to retain all of its functions. Having a Master Alchemist to bounce off ideas along with a Master Runesmith in the dwarven union, could enhance his craft by a tremendous amount.

There were some downsides of this partnership, one of the more obvious ones was this man’s attitude problem. He seemed cordial at first but after the danger had passed it was clear that he had a stick up his ass. Perhaps this personality trait was responsible for him getting tossed to the side by his peers. Was it wise to work with someone that was a ticking time bomb, what if the next thing that exploded was his magic shop?

‘Maybe I should have someone look into his background before I make a decision? It is possible that he was just targeted by a jealous competitor.’

Roland knew a thing or two about irritating people in the same line of work. He had almost been run out of the city by the jealous dwarven union that could still stick a dagger into his back if he didn’t take them seriously. With these variables in mind, he needed to decide as opening a multipurpose store with everything in it was one of his newest ideas.

Thanks to his more modern mind he knew that people were lazy and liked when everything was in one place. The day and age of malls and huge stores had arrived in the world he came from. If he managed to have magical potions along with magical weapons and armor in one place, then people would flock. Why would they spend half a day in the market if they could just pick up everything in one place instead?

‘Getting an Alchemist would just be a start, a good tailor, a cobbler and a leatherworker would be the next step. I’m kind of only covering the heavy armor and weapon side of adventurer gear but there is so much more ground to cover.’

Roland was somewhat limited in his craft that had to usually stick to metallic constructions. There was however a lot more that he could enchant besides metallic items. There were mana-resistant threads that could be made into mage robes and later enchanted with runes. It was the same with leather that came from monsters that had naturally resistant hides. It was also possible to integrate smaller metallic plates into lighter armor that could later be replaced quite easily.

‘Other alchemists will probably instantly join up with the union or create their own guild, the other gnomes don’t like to directly work with others. I might not even have a choice unless I make an inquiry with the Union directly …’

There was a lot of bureaucracy that went around in the background. He didn’t really know anyone within the Alchemist guild, the probability of them sending one of their masters over to his store was extremely low. Then there was the problem of tier 3 class holders having a big ego, this gnome wasn’t really that much different than the rest. Everyone at that stage in their life wanted to run their own operation. Rastix here on the other hand probably didn’t have many places to go.

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‘If the guild he was kicked out actually comes to Albrook, then he might suffer the same fate as me when the Union arrived, he might not have any other choice… Maybe, I can get a good deal out of this.’

While he didn’t want to have a potentially dangerous element around his compound there were ways of minimizing damages. There were a lot of unused farmlands to the side of his home. If an Alchemist was to perform dangerous tests that caused explosions it would be best to give him a spot devoid of anything. In his head he already had a few ways of keeping him in check and with a binding contract, it wouldn’t even cost him that much.

“Wait, are you really going to leave me here?”

“I’m sorry but I’m kind of busy… Don’t worry we can catch up on our conversation later, just come visit me at my workshop, tomorrow or the day after.”

Roland had gone through this scenario in his head several times while walking here and decided to give it a shot. However, during a negotiation, it was better not to show all of his cards. If he gave Rastix the impression that he didn’t care about him that much, then the gnome would probably lower his initial deal. When backed into a corner, people were willing to sell themselves short. When he was at his lowest, delving into a den of thieves sounded reasonable enough.

“Don’t worry Mr. Rastix. You are in good hands, just take a moment to rest.”

“Sir Wayland is right, you don’t look too good, when was the last time you have slept?”

Rastix was not in possession of a battle class and he had just gone through a tier 3 dungeon. He was down here for several days already and used positions to keep his body going. Taking too many potions always brought some side effects and could even create a persistent debuff. His face was somewhat pale from lack of sleep which could be alleviated by a nap.

“The last time? Uh…”

Myrtle took it upon herself to act as a concerned mother. While she continued to speak, Roland continued to walk away. Before the gnome knew it he was already at the secret passage area.

“Hey… w-wait.”

“I’ll see you later Mr. Rastix, get some rest in the tent and come back with the miners.”

Before his new acquaintance could raise a protest he finished along with Agni behind the passageway. With now everyone gone he could give out a sigh and have some time to think about his next stop, the adventurer guild.

“I knew that this time would come, I guess it’s better to do this now than later.”

“Worf?”