Episode 43—Morgan's Perspective

Summoned by the Knight Corps Commander, I had assumed I would be praised for working hard on the Enchantments.

However, the Knight Corps Commander’s expression was grim.

“Morgan. No, it’s not just you. What are you lot in the blacksmith division doing?”

It’s one thing that the Knight Corps Commander came to the blacksmith division, but I was pulled out of the room and was speaking face-to-face with him.

The Knight Corps Commander glared at me intently. His cold gaze made my body tremble.

…What. What’s happening? It was as if he was directing anger at me.

Lately, this Knight Corps Commander has been coming to the blacksmith division and nitpicking about one thing or another.

From our side, we were just about ready to complain about the brutal work we had been doing day after day.

“What do you mean ‘what are we doing’? …We are still performing sword Enchantments for the knights. There are simply too many requests from the knights, so it’s very difficult. Could you have them handle things a little more carefully?”

Recently, because of the knights, we haven’t been getting proper days off. And on top of that, being called in for some incomprehensible summons like this was unbearable.

“Wasn’t it the blacksmith division that originally proposed making it about once a week? I think it was around half a year ago?”

I was struck by the Knight Corps Commander’s words and remembered my own statements from the past.

At that time, I had given a presentation.

When Faik entered the court and got somewhat used to the job, we shoved all the work onto him.

We all talked and decided to change to the current system to make things harder for him.

Surprisingly, Faik handled the work easily. So, because it displeased me, I negotiated so that the knights’ work for us would increase.

We switched the Enchantments from once a month to once a week.

We claimed that we could apply more powerful Enchantments, and in exchange said the Enchantments’ durations would become shorter.

Because we could apply stronger Enchantments, the knights’ evaluation of us went up, and as a result my pay increased.

Of course, Faik’s salary remained unchanged.

“Th-that’s…”

“Well, whatever. The reason I called you here this time is that there was a problem with the delivered swords.”

“Wh-what is it?”

Could it be that they were too well made? Up until now we’ve always compared things to Faik’s swords.

Last time, I apparently happened not to meet the Knight Corps Commander’s approval, but all of the royal court blacksmiths are more talented than Faik.

Because of that, maybe he’d come to notice the mistake and apologize. If so, I’ll accept those words graciously.

“I want you to stop delivering that kind of shitty stuff from now on.”

“…Huh?”

Sh- Shitty?

“The swords that have been delivered up until now—presumably the ones Faik Enchanted—are incomparable. That raised a sudden question: surely you didn’t have Faik Enchant all of that huge quantity of swords by himself, did you?”

The Knight Corps Commander’s gaze sharpened. Th-that sort of thing doesn’t matter.

“W-wait a moment. What do you mean by delivering ‘shitty stuff’?”

“The swords you delivered. All of them are unusable. I want them re-Enchanted.”

“N-no way! We’re working without days off here!? We don’t have time for that! If you’re going that far, raise our pay—”

“Also, if next time you can only deliver things of that quality, I plan to reconsider your salaries as well.”

“W-w-wait—!”

“…It seems you can’t repair them by yourselves. Just in case, I brought the swords Faik had Enchanted that were left over. Use them as reference and carry it out. That’s all.”

“Faik’s Enchantments!? Those are of such poor quality I can’t even look at them!”

When I shouted that, the Knight Corps Commander turned around in surprise.

“…Even I could look at them to some extent, you know? Surely you—”

That mocking look irritated me. Who does he think I am!

So I decided to teach that ignorant man.

“Do you know, Knight Corps Commander? Magical information can’t be seen without a certain talent. And you can’t look at magical information that’s too sloppy and dirty. None of us can look at Faik’s. Because his is so shoddy that trying to look at it makes you feel sick.”

“…All of you?”

“Yes, all of us.”

“…Are you saying that the people in the blacksmith division here are all useless and who only got their positions through connections?”

“……”

I was pissed. Indeed, including me, everyone had become royal court blacksmiths through connections.

However, even so, we had a fair amount of talent. We weren’t dropouts who should be talked down to when compared to ordinary commoners.

The Knight Corps Commander put a hand to his forehead and then let out a big sigh.

“Understood…. No, it’s fine. Do whatever you can to perform Enchantments that are at least somewhat usable, okay?”

The Knight Corps Commander looked at us with eyes that had completely lost interest, then left the room.

…Wh-what a tyrannical person.

He just made one-sided demands at us…! Even though we’re all working hard, he denies that!

If that’s the Knight Corps Commander, this country might be doomed.

…Good thing though. If I’d become that man’s personal smith, my life would have been ruined.

In the now-quiet room, I leaned my body back against the chair blankly.

Even now, in the workshop, my coworkers are probably working with dead eyes.

For now… I’ll slack off a bit before going back to the workshop.