Episode 12—Morgan's Perspective

I am Morgan. I serve as the head of the blacksmith division.

We were gathered in the blacksmith division’s office from morning for the first time in a while and held an emergency meeting.

Seitor, who sat opposite, kept glancing over at us in a fluster. At his frightened, childlike, pathetic manner, I let out a small sigh.

He’s been like that since long ago. I’ve told him many times that he needs to act more composed; otherwise he can’t set an example for those beneath him.

“Wh-what should we do? Shall we recruit someone new for the odd-job position?”

Odd-job position. That’s the title we gave Faik.

On paper he’s a royal court blacksmith, but we call him the odd-job person.

Because of that, his pay is worlds apart from ours. Even accounting for differences in title, his basic salary doesn’t come close to ours.

We use that little extra money to hold a lavish drinking party once a month. Of course, we exclude that incompetent.

“Recruit for the odd-job position? That’s not necessary.”

At Seitor’s words, Light added on.

Letov was the same.

…I agreed with their opinion too. The reason was simple.

“Seitor, do you know what sort of family Lady Alicia—or rather, her family, the Barnast family—is?”

“N-no… They’re famous as dukes, and other than that they’re currently looking for a fiance for her.”

“Hmph, you’d better have your facts straight. The Barnast family originally comes from a line of smiths. Seeing Faik’s skill, no one would think to hire him, surely.”

Faik doesn’t have any notable smithing ability. I’ve had him make things a few times, but he couldn’t even hold the mallet and even once fainted.

“I-I see… So Faik will eventually be kicked out of the Barnast family?”

“Yeah, that’s right. If that happens, Lady Alicia’s search for a husband will resume. Then won’t she come to the country’s finest blacksmith?”

I was secretly aiming to be Lady Alicia’s husband. I’m twenty-seven this year. Lady Alicia should be seventeen.

For noble marriages, that age gap isn’t an issue. There have even been older men going after much younger girls.

“Now it’s just a question of how long until Faik is expelled.”

“He’ll last about a week, I’d say. Those who lose somewhere to go always come back here.”

“Then let’s give him a week’s worth. And have him do next week’s forging as well.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.”

At Letov’s words, I returned a smile.

They’ve left holes in the work and slacked off like this, so it’s only fitting they get what’s coming!

I looked at Seitor.

“Seitor, explain it to the knights in advance. Tell them an important job came in and it can’t be done right away. For the time being, have them use a spare sword.”

“Understood!”

We should have about two weeks’ worth of spares, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Two weeks is more than enough time for Faik to expose his incompetence.

We looked at each other, and then someone—no one person in particular—started laughing.

“It’s only a matter of time before he notices his own talent!”

“If that happens, we’ll dote on him again as the odd-job person!”

“Ah, that’s right. Let’s have him work harder than ever!”

We chuckled together.

We deliberately left the piling work undone.

Everything is punishment to shove onto that incompetent.