[Dalmagna Blacksmith]

So, Hecate spent the next 3 hours helping Dalmagna with his work.

Since she was temporarily unable to use mana, of course she would not be able to participate in the Glyph inscription process. But this didn't matter because Dalmagna had no intention of letting her participate until her Engrave Glyph skill reached at least Lv3.

But this doesn't mean that Hecate doesn't do anything.

After switching her Ceremonial set into regular clothes, she helped Dalmagna by crafting several blank swords and blank shields that would later be engraved with Glyphs by him.

Of course, since she was blocked from using mana, she couldn't cheat the crafting process with her usual way and had to do it the old way by manually hitting a red-hot block of metal with a forging hammer.

This old method of course requires a lot of STR and DEX stats, not to mention consuming a lot of stamina to execute it. Fortunately, with 10 Bravery Rings and her newly upgraded necklace, these problems were resolved.

As for the furnace, it was already activated by Dalmagna so she simply used it without much trouble.

It was at this moment that she realized once again that the equipment made with this old method was stronger and had a greater durability point compared to her cheating method.

'No wonder teacher always emphasizes the importance of forging hammers...'

Still, both methods still have advantages and disadvantages.

Although it was true that using the old method produces a better product, it was too cumbersome with many requirements and not easy to make the desired shape. On the other hand, her method produces inferior products but faster completion and as a result, provides EXP and proficiency points faster.

Hecate decided not to think to much and concentrate on her task.

And at the same time, she also carefully observed how Dalmagna carved Glyphs onto equipment and deepened her understanding of the process. Notifications about skill proficiency points increasing appear from time to time.

That was quite quick.

In these 3 hours, Hecate observed the engraving process 7 times and her Engrave Glyph skill had leveled up to Lv3, which was the minimum requirement set by Dalmagna to participate.

Regarding this, she did not feel surprised at all.

Because she regularly drinks the Elixir in real life, her body and mind are always in perfect condition, which also contributes to her quick thinking and quick learning of whatever she wants to learn.

Then, the game system that monitors her brainwave activity detects that her understanding reaches a certain condition and gives her a higher score in the name of proficiency, which then unlocks the next higher privilege of the skill in the name of Lv.

Or that was what she had concluded.

But still, since she couldn't use mana for now, she wouldn't be able to practice anyway. So she said nothing and continued working and observing as before.

"Sharpness Glyph grants the Sharpness skill, which increases ATK, and Reinforce Glyph grants the Reinforce skill, which increases DEF. There are 16 strokes for Sharpness Glyph and 17 strokes for Reinforce Glyph..."

Hecate murmured.

In this work routine, Dalmagna engraved the Sharpness Glyph into the sword hilt and Reinforce Glyph to the shield handle. After the user pouring their mana to the Glyph, the Glyph will start working and the skill will activate.

Based on her understanding, this was like how light bulbs and switches worked.

But still, she couldn't help but think, was there a need to carve those Glyph symbols on the handle?

With how Dalmagna placed the Glyph, the user could only activate one or two Glyph symbols at most. So why not just engrave the activation spot on the handle, while the important Glyph symbols itself can be engraved in any desired place?

Of course, the factor of the equipment "data capacity" had to be considered as well. 

Looking at the swords and shields she crafted, they had a rarity of 4★which wasn't that bad in itself. Meanwhile, the Sharpness and Reinforce skill are tier-1 buff skills, so there are still 3 slots left which was coincidently, enough to be carved on the handle.

'This can be confirmed later.'

Hecate suppressed her curiosity and said nothing.

After all, even if her hypothesis was correct, she couldn't just carelessly change the design of the swords and shields, especially since today's work seemed to be a big order.

"By the way, teacher... With so many orders for swords and shields, will there be a war?" (Hecate)

“Well, just yesterday the Holy Order suddenly gave all the blacksmiths in the city the task of making as many swords, shields and armors as possible. There is no maximum limit on the number of orders that we must produce. The more we make, the bigger the reward the Holy Order will give. So, most likely yes." (Dalmagna)

While answering Hecate's question, Dalmagna didn't stop his hand and just answered casually.

"But this is not a matter that we as Blacksmiths need to think about. Leave such barbaric things to the Knights, and we as Blacksmiths only need to care about our hammers and furnaces. We will do the armors tomorrow, so don't be late."

"Holy Order...?"

Hearing Dalmagna's answer, Hecate was taken aback.

She couldn't help but glance at the pile of shields she had just made beside her. No matter how she looked at them, they were clearly Round Shields, not the Cross Shields that Holy Order Knights usually used. Meanwhile, the swords were just ordinary Broadswords without any blessings.

There wasn't even a symbol of the Church of Light on the sword or shield. So, for the Holy Order Knights who paid great attention to their appearance, it was impossible for them to use these things.

Suddenly, she realized something.

'Is this our Leon-sama's work? He most likely used his Templar privilege to give this task.'

As for what purpose those stuffs were used for, there were a few things that came to mind, but these were not important to her. It would become clear at the next guild meeting anyway.

Still, there was something she didn't understand.

If it was just to make swords, shields, and armor, the Genesis Guild wouldn't need to place orders for outsiders to make them. With the Genesis Guild's current scale, it was impossible for the guild to lack Blacksmiths...

"Ah..."

She suddenly remembered the Blacksmith department was busy confirming her nonsense report.

Now this all makes sense.

But no, perhaps there are deeper secrets to this matter.

For example, the metal used to complete this task will likely come from local markets. Completing this task was equivalent to depleting the city's metal supplies, and as a result, temporarily weakening the city's military strength.

And with the timing of the exam period, around 30-40 percent of the Pioneer Players consisting of students will certainly be offline at that time. As for Lifestyle Players, their power was insignificant and could be ignored.

Hecate, who had been in the Genesis Guild for a long time as one of the Seven Stars, could of course more or less predict what her guild leader, Leon, would do in this situation.

At that time, there will be an opportunity for him to attack and launch a coup!

"...It seems like I'm involved in a big conspiracy."

Perhaps after the exam period is over, ownership of the Rosenweil Kingdom will change hands to the Genesis Guild.

♠♠♠

 

[Ornus Town]

Astrid looked at the transparent screen in front of her.

In that screen, the face of her cousin, and her guild leader, Leon can be seen clearly. She was in the middle of video chat with him, discussing several matters regarding business and other things.

"Okay, just now the gold has been successfully deposited at the International Bank." (Leon)

"Thank you, cousin, I owe you this one." (Astrid)

The gold that Leon said was of course the gold bars that Hecate sent to Astrid last night as payment for building her house. But since the gold bars most likely came from an illegal source, they had to be laundered, and Astrid wasn't very good at this.

Thus, she simply handed the problem over to Leon.

Leon only smiled.

"Don't worry about that, in the end this transaction also benefits our Tenz and provides a lot of finances for our goals. But still, I didn't expect Hecate is so rich. Astrid, you have to make sure to give her a good house." (Leon)

"You don't have to tell me about that." (Astrid)

Even without Leon's reminder, Astrid naturally will do that.

But still, Leon's extra care was not unsurprising for her, since the amount of money involved in this transaction was not small. This profit was more than enough to cover the losses due to the recent Black Phantom's attack.

Of course, the loli who has the wealth to initiate this transaction must be properly hugged to their care.

"Two days ago, our Blacksmithing department was in an uproar due to Hecate's continuous +10 upgrade, and since then they have been busy trying to replicate her success based on her reports. But then, the Prominence Guild found out about this and tried to do the same." (Leon)

“Their spies are pretty fast as usual.” (Astrid)

Their talk suddenly turned to the serious topic of spies but the two talked casually as if they didn't care.

It was normal for large guilds to have spies and send them to join other guilds to obtain their information, and vice versa. Of course, with the scale of the Genesis Guild, there were many spies from other guilds, not just one or two guilds, but many, and they were almost impossible to track.

"You know, actually, I didn't care about them, but after I heard about your deal with Hecate yesterday, I suddenly had an idea. This is actually an opportunity for our guild to rise and claim the Rosenweil Kingdom." (Leon)

"Oh, tell me the details." (Astrid)

And so, Leon told Astrid his plans.

Basically it was similar to Hecate's prediction with only slight differences, but the essence of the plan was the same, namely launching a coup during the national exams.

Leon took the opportunity to 'invest' the profits from the transactions with Hecate into the guild's military, and he used his relationship with the Holy Order as a means to hide this 'investment' from all the spies.

Not only they commissioned every Blacksmith in the city, they also emptied the market's arsenal, leaving nothing behind except for those in the Auction Hall.

Hearing Leon's explanation, Astrid frowned.

"You do understand that this is a major decision, right?" (Astrid)

She couldn't help but get agitated.

"Many things will be affected, especially relations with Natives in the capital city. Many of our members do business with them, are friends with them, and some even marry them." (Astrid)

As the person most involved in the guild's management, she knew how deep the guild's relationship with the Natives was. Quite a few guild members formed families with Natives, especially in the capital city, and many industries in the guild also employed them or their family members.

If a war were to happen and killed those Natives, the impact caused by their death will certainly not be small!

"What you are about to do will most likely make you a public enemy!" (Astrid)

But Leon remained calm at Astrid's response.

"Of course, I have considered about that risk, but my explanation isn't finished yet. Long ago, I have consulted this with Hecate about the possibility of attacking the castle without causing any casualties." (Leon)

"Oh, Hecate-chan?" (Astrid)

Astrid didn't expect Hecate's name to be mentioned.

Leon then told about past events, almost one year ago where the Genesis Guild was still in its early stages before Brynhildr Fort became their base and Leon had just recently been promoted to Templar and joined the Holy Order.

One day during his casual strolling, he encountered Hecate who was standing in the top of building. Curious as to what she was doing there, he went over to where she was standing and greeted her. It was a pity that Hecate was very taciturn and didn't talk much, so he never knew what was on her mind at that time.

But it doesn't prevent him from finding a topic to talk about and chatting with her.

– "Security in this city is quite good. The Knights patrolled here and there quite often and they were quick to react to control the situation if something happened. I can't seem to find any loopholes in their security."

– "Hmm? Why do Leon-sama want to find a loophole in their security?"

– "Well, if I can find a loophole in their security, it could increase my chances of taking this city, right?"

And so, Hecate just nodded expressionlessly.

There was nothing more to talk about after that because it was getting late, and they just parted ways. But he didn't expect that the next day, Hecate would give him a surprise gift.

"At that time, I was just joking at first, but it seemed like she took it seriously. And then, you know what? The next day she sent me a detailed layout of the secret passage to the castle!" (Leon)

"Is that true?" (Astrid)

Rather than explaining with words, Leon simply sent the document he had prepared to Astrid.

There were a total of 15 secret passages in the Rosenweil Capital City they were all connected to the city's only dungeon called the Rosenweil Waterway. And of the 15 secret passages, one of them directly connected to the castle where the royal family lives.

The details of each passage are clearly depicted in the document that Leon sent.

After seeing the document, Astrid immediately understood what Leon was planning and couldn't help but think that his plan could be implemented. Attack the castle directly through the secret passage, fast and swift, without causing any disturbance.

The people wouldn't realize what was happening, but once they did, their Kingdom had changed owners!

But even if they realized something was wrong, with the metal shortage in the city, the guild's Knights still had a huge advantage over their Knights.

"Then, what about the aftermath? Once we get the Kingdom, won't Prominence Guild attack us? And what about the church? Will they crusade us after that?" (Astrid)

What Astrid was worried about was very reasonable.

The plan of launching a coup itself was fine with a high probability of success, but once they do that, they will really make enemies with a lot of people.

Regarding this, Leon simply laughed.

"Don't worry, the church side doesn't care who the king is. As long as they benefit, they will still support me wholeheartedly. With their support, Prominence Guild won’t dare to do anything to us." (Leon)

Not only that, he could also try to make Prominence Guild their vassal when the time came.

But there was no need for him to say this, both of them understand.

"Okay then, I'm convinced. But, what about the opinions of the other Seven Stars? Did they also agree?" (Astrid)

"Let's not bother them with this and let them concentrate on their exams for now, besides... Oh well, we can just treat our success as a surprise later." (Leon)

Besides, Kazu was somewhat untrustworthy to keep secrets.

But this was not something he could say out loud, nor did he need to.

"Still, we should also discuss this with Grim. I forgot to tell him yesterday, but as one of the founders of the guild, he needed to know what we were trying to do." (Leon)

“Got it... Oh, it looks like he's online, so let's call him now." (Astrid)

And so, they still have a long day today.