And so, with the legendary sword finished, which we aren’t actually going to show off, the day of the weapons show came.

My original plan, when I heard about the competition, was to move HomeBase up north so that it was close to the city where the competition will hold place, but with all the dhampirs now temporarily living on HomeBase, I decided that it would be a bad idea. International kidnapping or something like that. Sure I have a Royal decree allowing me to keep the dhampirs here, but it is only for the Kingdom. I’m not actually allowed to take the dhampirs out of the country.

So instead Wilma, Karl, Unika, Molly, Cina and I headed for Smorog in B.E.S. Big Core MK-2. 

 

As to why that exact lineup, well Karl and Wilma should be obvious. Unika will be their guard, not that they really need one. And Molly and Cina just asked to come, so I brought them along.

Admittedly, I was a bit worried. I mean, just look at our group. Two evolved dwarves with both Legendary Weapon Maker and Legendary Bladesmith titles. Two centaurs, one Flame fox-kin. And then there is me, but I’m not really worried for myself. If someone actually overpowers me, then there would be some major trouble.

So because I was worried, I got some help from Iris so I could make emergency teleport devices. They’d basically use a mix of HomeBase’s dungeon founder/master emergency teleport and Space Magic to instantly move someone back to HomeBase. It is a bit mana costly, as it takes between 8,000 and 12,000 mana, depending on the distance, but that is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

So I added an emergency teleport magic circle to the magic circles HomeBase is constantly keeping active and then just added a small addon to the HomeBase access devices that would let them teleport home whenever they needed. I even linked it to the emergency defenses that the access devices have, so if the emergency defense device is activated, after 15 seconds, the teleportation will automatically activate. 

Unless the wearer disables it. I wanted that short countdown in case there was an emergency that didn’t require a teleport, like if the defense system already dealt with the threat and it was better to apprehend the attacker. 

 

---

 

The city was quite busy, so it took us a while to get anywhere and find an inn. Yes, we could just travel to HomeBase, but we should still have an inn so we aren’t overly suspicious. 

And it isn’t like money is a big problem. Yes, this place uses its own currency, but for one, I can just exchange some money, and two, I have a Storage full of monster materials that I can sell. And with all these people in town for the competition, there are plenty of merchants willing to buy materials for higher ranked monsters. 

So I got rid of about 20 treants worth of wood. All from B-rank elemental treants. So with that, we have more than enough money for whatever we might need to buy this trip.

 

Getting a room at an inn was a bit more difficult though, mainly because of Cina and Molly. Not that I blame the locals for the fact that most rooms don’t account for centaurs.

Eventually we did find a place with large rooms and beds which could house them, but I’m not so sure the owner actually liked us beyond the fact that I had money to pay him with. I think he assumes Cina and Molly will shed or something and that he will have to have someone clear away piles of horse hair.

… and in case you were wondering, they do shed. But only really when they brush their bodies. They don’t just leave piles of fur everywhere.

And lastly, we did have to get multiple rooms. Three in total. I was sharing a room with Karl, Molly and Cina had their own room and Unika and Wilma were sharing the third.

Could I have paid for more rooms? Yes. Was the innkeeper already questioning my money use? Also yes.

I do wonder why though. I mean, he is the one making the money off of me. Maybe because he was hoping to get more variety with his quests? We do have to pay for our meals separately, so it is possible.

 

---

 

The next day, we went to sign up for the competition. It was just myself and the two dwarves. The centaurs, after transforming back into horse girls to get less attention, and Unika went shopping somewhere.

 

There was a bit of a line at the signup, but no more than 6 people. But because the signup itself was a bit time consuming, it took us a while to get our turn.

After paying the entrance fee, 2 smorags or about 1 gold and 2 small silver in the Heroic currency, we, well Wilma and Karl, had to fill in a form about their weapons. And because I was their sponsor, I had to sign and stamp the papers as well. 

Oh by the way, I suppose I never talked about that. I did pick what is basically family insignia for myself a while ago. Back when we were in the capital. I just never mentioned it because … I don’t really know.

And because I wasn’t very creative, I just picked the swirly thingy on the back of Yugioh cards to act as my insignia. Is it somewhat boring and generic? Yes. But also, all of my cards have it, so I think it is appropriate. It is my unique skill after all, and no other noble family has anything like it. 

I did also consider using a tree of some kind, you know because my last name is Wood, but trees are quite common in family emblems, so I didn’t really want to use it.

 

The whirly dirly, and no, I don’t mean that episode of Rick and Morty, also kind of became the mark of ‘Made on HomeBase’ as I put that mark on most HomeBase made things.

It is also etched into the weapons … well, sword and shield, that Karl and Wilma are putting up into the competition. The sign is right next to where they carved their names. And yes, the two have been marking everything they’ve made post me coming up with the idea with the mark. I told them they don’t have to, but they say I’m the one getting them the materials, so they still do.

And yes. That does mean that Errelitea has that mark, alongside the names of the two dwarven makers. The sword does also carry a bit from each of the superior spirits that helped make it, but you have to know Spirit Magic to be able to ‘read’ that information.

 

Anyway, back to the signup. We ran into a bit of an issue with Karl’s sword, mainly because they didn’t believe that it was made from vampiric steel. I mean, it is basically a lost metal that can’t be made anymore, so all that is left of it is something that was made before the great war.

They ended up bringing in an appraiser, who confirmed the story with the vampiric steel. They also asked if I was the one who had sold some vampiric steel tools lately, and after I confirmed it, they asked if I’d learned of a new way of making the bygone metal. 

I naturally answered that I hadn’t, and that maybe they should ask dhampirs for help in making it, but they didn’t seem to like my answer. Even though it is technically the truth.

I mean, I can use True Blood Magic. I could probably make vampiric steel. … I say probably because I’m not sure my TBM skill is quite there yet, but in about a month and like 3 or 4 Level Ups to the skill and it will be.

But in the end, we were able to sign up, so the three of us headed to look at the weapons that would go up on the auction, but that wouldn’t be taking part in the competition.

 

---

 

“Oh? Some of them are just for sale?” Wilma noticed as we were looking over a lot of the weapons on show. “... Brian. How big is our budget? I want to know how many weapons I can buy.”

“... I won’t say infinite, because it isn’t, but I think you can buy whatever you like. As long as they accept Heroic currency for it. I have a lot of that, but not so much in smorags.” I told her.

Honestly speaking, I don’t mind spending money. I still have my infinite money cheat running, thank you Goblin overlords. With the current 1077 copies of Upstart Goblins being activated daily, I get around 2200 gold coins each day.

That is about as infinite as you can have with money, considering that other than the wages I pay my employees, I really don’t use a lot of money. Sure there are some spices and other stuff that Lawrence buys costs some money, but HomeBase is basically self sufficient. 

 

“... so I can buy everything if I want?” Wilma asked.

“Yeah. … okay, how about as long as it fits into your Item Box? That can be your hard limit.” I told her, just because I didn’t want Wilma buying all the weapons just for her to put them up in HomeBase’s showroom.

Yes. HomeBase has a showroom for weapons, armor and all of that stuff. Why wouldn’t it have one?

 

Wilma actually ended up buying less than I assumed, only picking up six weapons. That with the three Karl wanted brought us up to a total of nine. Which might seem like a lot, but I was honestly expecting Wilma to buy like 20 weapons.

 

---

 

After checking out the rest of the weapons, mainly the ones that would go up on auction which made me realize that the reason Wilma didn’t buy too many yet is because she was planning on picking up more from the auction and she assumed that the same limit will apply there, we headed for some other stores.

Mainly clothing stores, since both Karl and Wilma are originally from around here and they wanted to get some clothes from close to home.

Sadly that was a bit of a challenge form Wilma, as she is quite tall for a dwarf, so most pre-made clothing doesn’t fit her. Karl had an easier time, because he is more … standard size.

I personally really appreciated the fire-resistant fabrics they used, so I purchased some. Because while I can make fireproof clothing, this stuff will be a nice reference to have, as it is a bit different from the usual stuff I make.

 

We also stopped for some local food, which ended up being deep-fried pork cutlets. Which I found interesting, as deep-frying isn’t really a cooking style that is used in the Ruiso kingdom. 

But they tasted … fine. Not amazing, but not bad either. I think they need a bit more spice.

 

The local alcohol was also nice. Apparently stereotypes about dwarves liking liquor does apply. Though Wilma doesn’t really drink, so … I don’t even know.

I did buy some, but I’m honestly not sure if I can really get drunk anymore. My stats should be way too high for any regular alcohol to actually affect me. Maybe some 95% absinthe if we can find some.

 

Eventually we caught up with the horse-girls and Unika. They had also bought some amount of stuff, but they were limited because none of them have storage skills. Sure they all have their personal magic fanny packs, and even gave all of them a magic backpack, so they did have plenty of room. But it isn’t Storage.

And because some unnamed horse-girls decided that it would be a good idea to purchase themselves saddles, those took up a lot of space in the backpacks.

But hey, I gave them money to use and they used it, so I won’t question why the two want to have saddles for themselves. If they want to have someone ride them, that is their decision.

 

---

 

In the evening, after the girls had already headed for their own rooms, Karl and I headed back out into the city. He wanted to go out for some drinks, and I felt obligated to go with him.

 

As we were just enjoying some drinks, a group of dwarves approached us. I saw one of them raise their hand, before bringing it down in a line towards Karl’s head.

Naturally it never reached my blacksmith, as I took a hold of the arm with Telekinesis. 

 

“... what do you think you are doing?” I asked. I didn’t even bother standing up or anything, but I did try to make my voice sound cold.

That made Karl realize that something bad was going on so he turned around and saw the arm stopped just a bit away from his head.

“Hugo!” Karl called out. 

“Hmph. I didn’t know they let criminals into town. How did you cheat the guards? Did you pay them with your non-existent money?” The dwarf, whom Karl identified as Hugo replied.

“Criminal? Karl is suffering his punishment for his crimes, being my slave.” I calmly answered, even though that was a complete lie. He hasn’t been a slave for a while, but that is the punishment that was handed to him for the crimes he … well okay, he did technically commit. 

For those that don’t remember, Karl had a blade of his stolen before he could finish it. He then tried to steal it back, but the dwarf who stole it had already carved his name on the blade, so in the end, Karl was blamed and he was made a slave as a punishment.

And I feel like I might have an idea on who stole his blade. … you know, just a hunch.

 

“So I will ask you this. With whose permission are you trying to put your hands on my property?” I asked Hugo, still trying to sound as cold as possible.

“Who the fuck even are you?!” Hugo responded.

I stood up from my seat and easily towered over the dwarf. Sure he may weigh more than I do, but having a good 40 cm of height on the dwarf must be intimidating. … not to mention the likely over 100 levels I have on him.

“My name is Brian Wood. Honorary Baron of Ruiso Kingdom.” I introduced myself. “So again, with whose permission are you trying to put your hands on my property?”

“... I …” I don’t know if it was because of the pressure I was putting on him with Telekinesis, or maybe because of my title that Hugo didn’t answer. He just ended up falling onto his knees before he finally got himself together.

“I … I am very sorry, Lord Wood.” He said. “... I didn’t mean to offend.”

 

Since he apologized, I decided to let off the Telekinesis I was oppressing him with. He seemed to visibly calm afterwards.

“I shall let it go this time, as long as you don’t approach Karl while we stay in town. And do not worry, we won’t be here for long. We will leave after the auction.” I told him.

“Y-Yes, my Lord.” Hugo said, as he got off the ground. He then took his group of dwarves and practically ran off into the night.

 

---

 

“... was he the one?” I asked Karl after Hugo ran off.

“... yes, he was.” Karl confirmed.

“I see. … sorry I called you my property, like you were still a slave. It's just …”

“Don’t worry. I understand. They think I must still be a slave, so it was a good way of allowing you to use your title to defend me. In the first place, I should be thanking you, Master.”

“You know you can just call me Brian.”

“And I do, most of the time. But this moment calls for a different title, I feel.” Karl said.

“... alright. Thanks.” I honestly thanked Karl. “And when the show comes, everyone will see the smith they sent away with their short sightedness.”

“Yes. Yes they will.” Karl agreed, before getting us another round of drinks.

 

And as he did, a System screen popped up for me.

 

Dragonmaid Changeover, huh. The Dragonmaid fusion spell. It is nice and all, but not all that necessary for me for any reasons other than Collection. But collecting is the second most important reason anyways, so I will happily take it. 

… In case you were wondering, the most important thing is how cheaty it is for helping my life in this world. Cheaty cards are always the best. Just look at Upstart Goblin.