Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"We really need a name for this tower," Seth said, after relaying his findings to the others. Since they were all gathered in the room, he thought it was a good moment to bring it up.

"Since you used Minas as tower in Minas Mar, I suggest we call this one also Minas-Something else to keep the naming scheme," Monique suggested lightheartedly.

Everyone agreed with that sentiment and a heated debate ensued about what kind of tower this was. Evee and Alison advocated for "Minas Curuvar", as a sort of direct translation of "Wizard Tower". Link, who had also come along this time suggested "Minas Foa", thinking of the treasure this tower would bring them if they started taking fees from people to come here.

Fin threw her hat in the ring wishing to call it "Minas Drumstick", with the eternal hope that there would always be a warm meal to get here, especially chicken drumsticks. The glutton had been on a craze for fried chicken lately. The consensus finally settled on "Minas Palan" as in the tower abroad or far away from home.

"But!" "No, Fin. No matter what happens, we won't call it Minas Drumstick." Seth was the only one traveling to Mina's Drumsticks.

With those memorial words, the discussion ended and the name of Minas Palan was decided on.

…

--Minas Mar--

The preparations across Minas Mar's territory proceeded quickly. All eligible people that wished to increase their power and travel to the Holy Land were assembled at Little Sigma and Mount Agra. This mostly included people directly under Vladimir, as well as the new members of the Oathguard and subsidiary guilds.

Agra's defenses had been reconstructed and strengthened, despite Nas'Korn still recovering from the invasion. Even though they were still mourning for the dead, or maybe because of it, the warriors of Agra also wished to join and grow their strength.

The Agra branch of the system church had recently been completed, which made it possible for people to travel to Minas Palan from there, too. Although the information of where exactly they would go and for what was not made public, the information of many soldiers traveling along the Tree Route and getting ready to leave could not be hidden.

Mary and Jane, the original Slaves 1 and 2, were currently at the forefront of the administrative battle, to organize everything. Like true professionals, they skillfully ignored any people that approached them to find out what was going on behind Minas Mar's facades. Be it the adventurer guild, people of Delta, or other minor organizations speculating on possible gains behind the operation.

They did so until someone appeared at the doorsteps of the embassy they could not ignore. A man with a big nose, like a beak, and massive crystal glasses that magnified his beady evil eyes to a normal size. Wearing a baroque attire that emphasized his wiry build, he climbed the steps.

He was the current substitute for Leana in Delta. He was invited into the meeting room, where Mary had already prepared coffee, tea, and snacks. His smug smile when facing the woman fully showed his crooked nature. He was blatantly looking down on her.

However, Mary didn't just endure this, she simply use <Reflective Mind>, a skill of her class as a Chosen of Hestia. She simply reflected the contempt back onto him. His smug smile quickly vanished, as from his perspective, it was Mary looking down on his with contempt.

"What brought you here today, Sir Melegar?" she asked with a business smile.

"As the Envoy of Chrona in Delta, I visited today to ask you about Minas Mar's suspicious movements pertaining to a large number of mid-level adventurers."

"As you mentioned, you are Chrona's Envoy in Delta. You have no business in Minas Mar. If Chrona wishes to know what we are doing, they should ask their Envoy in Minas Mar once she is here. Princess Leana should arrive soon, no?"

"Tsk. While she is gone, I am still in charge of everything pertaining to Urth. If you are assembling troops for something like a military advance … With your strained relations to Delta, It is obviously part of my business," he insisted.

"Even if we were to declare war on Delta it wouldn't be any of your business. Chrona's Policy on Non-Interference includes local wars and skirmishes," Mary shot back. As part of founding their own district, she had thoroughly studied the legal document of Chrona.

"That is unless we find evidence of you being backed or manipulated by a foreign power in your desire for war. In that case, we would have ample reason to interfere," he said triumphantly.

He didn't have to voice the fact, that forging this kind of evidence was easy, as he indicated it with his bearing. Yet, to Mary, this behavior just seemed pathetic and incapable. Who would have thought Chrona also had these kinds of low lives when they had such radiant examples like Leana? It really didn't reflect well on the prince he was serving.

"Albeit we don't need it, it's a good thing the only foreign power in Minas Mar is Chrona. We even got the better envoy, so Chrona has to really like us," she taunted him.

Like this, they kept bickering back and forth, with Mary dancing a rhetoric dance around the man, as he kept getting more and more aggravated over the pointless discussion. She kept evading revealing anything at all, making it a very frustrating experience for the man.

It kept going until finally, a figure came storming into the room. Her golden hair swayed as Leana entered the scene to save Mary, only to see Sir Melegar biting his handkerchief in irritation. In fact, it was he who quickly took this chance. He excused himself and fled from the embassy.

"You almost made him cry..." Leana mumbled stumped, still trying to understand what had happened here.

"That wasn't necessarily my intention, but I am glad you came before I had to see a grown man cry."

In this manner, Leana finally returned to Delta.

…

Her face looked tired. She had barely arrived in Delta and spent the past hour listening to Mary giving her a detailed run-down of the things that had happened in her absence. She was already practiced since she could recycle some of what they had talked about with Evee several days prior.

Even though Leana didn't have to worry about the situation in Chrona for now, since Hardwig had her back, she was thrust into an unexpectedly hairy situation upon her return. Seth had given her a rough explanation of things in Delta in his letters, but this was more complicated than she thought.

She didn't only worry about the attack on Agra and The Scene who was seemingly the puppeteer behind some of the big events in Delta. There was also a problem with Minas Palan.

"You are telling me that you not only swiped the Adventurer Guild's materials but already built a working teleportation hub to monopolize their Holy Land?" she recapped, massaging her temples.

The Scene was one thing. A local power, probably led by a powerful person with a special class, they were not much different from Minas Mar, from her perspective as a princess of a multi-dimensional empire. They were frogs in a well. Frogs with great potential, but still frogs.

The Adventurer Guild on the other hand was a powerhouse across dimensions, indirectly backed by a god in the same power stratum as the system god himself. The were only two ways to deal with this dilemma.

Come clean with them and find a peaceful solution between both parties or try to hide everything about it and fake evidence that show that Minas Palan was not built with the materials from the Guild. It was rather obvious which of those would work better.

"Has the guild already sent someone to inquire about the materials and the current movements?"

The first. The Adventurer Guild, like the System Church, were not religious zealots. They were people that could be spoken to. Leana was confident that they would be able to talk things out and find a solution that would appease both parties.

"Yes, but we made them wait for now."

"How is your relationship with the local Guild Master?"

"I believe it is quite good, but you may need to talk with Seth about that." "Where is he?"

"Well, you are in luck, he returned from the Holy Land a few days ago and spent most of his time quietly in the workshop. He should come out around noon, so you have some time to take a break. You look tired."

"...Thanks."

…

"Tower Master, Princes Leana has arrived," a messenger arrived at the workshop.

"What? She is back?" he jumped up from the book he hunched over.

"Ah, I'm close to something. I will go meet her once I'm finished."

The blacksmith had spent the past days trying to make a new armor set and kept perusing the books to find possible materials for the construction, purchasing, and testing their synergies. Seth had finally made a small breakthrough.

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