"Thank you for these. It seems like these will last us for some time. I'll visit you again if we need some new ones."
"You're welcome. Let me know if you find any problems. This is the first time I made something like this."
"It's also our first time requesting these. I didn't even know if it would have worked. We will contact you if we find something."

I successfully finished the request of this village's defence force. The amount they requested isn't much and the metal used was easy to work with, so I finished making it in a couple of days.

I would have finished sooner if I used magic but I wanted to start off my new workshop with the good old fashioned metal and brawn. Well, that and I also overused my magic by filling the water tower with cold water since I thought that it would be cooling in this volcanic village but only to change it to hot water to bath then later changing it back to lukewarm water then the shouse started to feel like a sauna. I can withstand both scales of the temperature just fine but the comfort level is still there for me. Quality of life is higher on the priority scale inside your own home after all.

"Let me know when "Well then, I will be going on ahead. If you have any needs then drop by my workshop."
"Thanks, we will."

With that done, my first job here in the village is finished. I don't really have anything else to do now.

My food situation is still good since I have some stockpiled in my storage. I don't need to go grocery shopping in some time.

Water is not a concern for me with magic.

My material stockpile hasn't received so much as a dent from that adjustable training weapon job.

I guess I am free to do whatever I want. Should I start my passive training of building different weapons, armours and contraptions in hopes to progress my skill? I guess I could do that but I can't help but feel that doing that blindly would just waste my materials pointlessly.

If I want to go down that path then I should probably have some bit of renown. At the very least I need to have some of the villages and towns nearby know who I am and what I do. Why? Because when you start doing endless practice without a goal, you lose sight of time and do it endlessly.

If I did that with only the village which doesn't have much of a demand for my service as customers, I won't have any income for a long time and would send me into the negatives.

That is why the first thing I need to do is visit the city and sell some ordinary stuff. It doesn't matter if I barely sell anything because as long as someone bought my wares, they would do the advertising themselves.

I'm not saying my skills as a blacksmith are the best but considering that this is a remote corner of the continent, I will be assuming, hopefully, that my skills are somewhere above average.

I will do it for about a week until the people are used to seeing me. If I receive some work then I will extend my commute to the town. If I didn't then I would let my wares simmer a bit on the users until they start getting curious enough to find me.

In the meantime, I will continue working at the workshop. That is the time to do the no-goal-no-end smithing grind while waiting for curious customers.

Anyway, since I'm going to be doing that, I need to start making some stuff to sell. I guess the general kitchen set would be alright but I'll put some weapons and a couple of armour for the extra intrigue.

"Unnggghhh....!!"

Good morning, me! That was a very comfortable sleep I had. My body is starting to get accustomed to living here.

The only thing that is a problem is that I haven't actually made a real homemade meal, except the one where the village chief took me to the only restaurant here in the village. I do wonder if I can call that a restaurant or just an eatery, since it's not that big of a place.

I won't have any proper home-cooked meals until I burn up my supplies. However, I could save some of them for emergencies but those close to expiration needs to be consumed as soon as possible. This means that I still have around half of my supplies that I need to burn through.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Yeah, I need to make that 'I am busy working, do not interrupt' sign as soon as possible too. I can't have the village chief knocking on my door every morning.

"Good morning village chief. Are you doing your patrol again?"
"Yeah, I haven't visited for some time since you said that you were busy doing some work for the defence force. I already went to the construction and farming family."
"I hope that everything has been well."
"Yeah, they are busy but that is always good news for a business."
"I am going to be busy for a few days since I will be trying to sell some of my wares at the nearby town."
"I see, that certainly is a good way to establish your business. Well, I won't take up your time, go and make those wonderful knives. I'm sure it will be a hit in town."
"Thank you, village chief. Take care during your patrols!"
"Bye!"

Finally, that went rather well and I think I bought myself some time until the second visit. I can't wait to be 'busy' enough that I won't have time to answer the door whenever the village chief comes by to visit.

Busy might not be the right word since I will try to finish every job fast. I want to give off the impression that I am putting everything in my work. That is why I will add some extra time when someone is commissioning me for work.

Well that, and I want some allowance in case I mess things up and need to start over from the start again.

Anyway, I need to start making the things I will bring to town. I also need to make a list of things I might need to buy.

Now what kind of items should I sell? Of course I will put forth my kitchen utensils set but it typecast me as a kitchen knives smith if I don't have enough of a variety.

I'll make a few standard sets with the cheapest metal I have and as a spotlight on that area, I'll try to add some cleavers, and knives made out of slightly more expensive materials that can't be found near here.

If I just dump out some of the metals I bought at the central island then it would certainly make me famous. Famous enough that some people might have some unsavory ideas about some unknown blacksmith in a remote corner of the dwarf continent.

Also, it would gain attention but no one is capable of buying the item from me. They might try to haggle but I can't really see them paying it at the price I want it to be.

For the armour and weapons, I'll make sets the same as the kitchen tools. A few normal ones with some slightly, albeit barely, exceptional things mixed in to be a highlight.

It won't sell that high but compared to the amount of effort I will put into making it, it should be enough to break even.

This is the trouble when you are just starting out. Everything you sell needs to be lowered to attract attention. However, once you are famous, you can sell everything with an added value because of your fame.

Well, I don't have that much need for money right now. Also, if I ever need more money, I could just visit the central island and contact the human continent royalty to ask for more. I'll just sell them a couple of cheap products I currently have.

It would be something like a progress report. A little something to give them some prospects for the future. It won't cut through a dragon's scales but it should be able to retain its sharpness with whatever they need to slice in the kitchen.

At least it would save them some money from buying new kitchen knives.

Speaking of kitchen knives, it's time to put in some effort in order to 'wow' the nearby town. After my first commision, I'll be doing my first large order. Things are looking good in this new village.