Chapter 26 026

"Everyone, gather here! Here!"

"I'm telling you, he's different! He's not like any other adventurer!"

"Just hear and give it a thought. Huh? I'm not asking for much…."

The once empty, bleak street of Berne was completely different now. The lifeless residents were more enthusiastic than motivational speakers and there were no more empty stands.

The most active one among them was the smithy.

"That's not how you do it, man! Stronger, but always see where you hit! It's not just about beating the iron!'

Blacksmiths were busy forging equipment under Redrix's leadership. Embers were rekindled, irons were melted, and hammers were swung.

The weapons and armor piled up in the corner of the workshop were of decent quality, even at a quick glance.

"Hey man, what kind of teaching improved your skill that much?"

"Master's teaching, son. Even passing words of him are valuable."

Redrix laughed vigorously at a fellow blacksmith's question.

Seojin chose Mac Gray over Redrix as the representative for a reason, even though Redrix was the first to favor Seojin.

"A blacksmith should grab a hammer, and a bar owner should be winning people's hearts. Leave the village to Mac and please pay a visit to the capital."

Seojin sent Redrix to Ferguson, the master blacksmith to give him a chance to learn the master's skill.

It was kind of like studying abroad, and it was very effective.

"Wow, there's a huge difference in how many times you use the bellow."

"You even care about the angle of hammering! No wonder he's called a master!"

There were ten blacksmiths, including Redrix, and they could all be said to have grown to at least two levels.

Of course, Redrix, who studied technology himself, made much more progress than that.

Thanks to this, the quality of any equipment exceeded the work of any nearby villages despite being mass-produced.

This is what Seojin said about Berne's "Specialty."

'It was worth sending him to the capital.'

In the beginning, every manpower was crucial. The reason he sent Redrix to the capital despite that, with an apprentice to boot, was for this moment.

"Redrix!"

Redrix, who had been ordering the work for a long time, stopped.

When he turned his eyes and checked Seojin, he made a hearty smile all over his face.

"…Hey, I missed you!"

Redrix almost threw his gloves and hammers and strode toward Seojin

His red face was telling Seojin how excited he was.

"Hope you didn't have much trouble."

"What do you mean, trouble! It's all thanks to you. How many of us hammermen can have this kind of precious experience?"

"Only talented and capable blacksmiths, which means you. Ferguson wouldn't have taught you if he didn't see anything in you."

"I-Is that so? Hahaha! By the way, Master Ferguson asked me when you would be visiting him. He said that the gift he saved for you is getting rusty."

"You know adventurers can't just move as they want. Restrictions and regulations"

"Yeah, guess so. But make sure to stop by if you have a chance."

Redrix couldn't hide his joy.

Seojin briefly caught up with Redrix and checked the situation.

"How's your condition now?"

"Yeah, I now make rare-grade weapons or armor occasionally. Sometimes I can feel my fingertips tingling. That's when the magic happens, one hundred percent!"

"What about the percentage?"

"One in ten. Not an exact figure, though."

'…That high?'

Seojin dropped his jaw.

Usually, equipment available at this level was common-grade at most, with most of them even below that, which were named "ungraded." Those with lot of money on their hands could buy stuff from the auction, but for free players, rare-grade items were extremely hard to come by.

'But now it's going to be available at a town smithy.'

Of course, with the chance of forging a rare-grade equipment only around one in ten, the price would be considerably high.

Still, that was more than good enough for most players. It meant they could buy it at a reasonable price after saving up some in-game currency.

"Keep it up. From now on, your role is the most important."

"I know. I'll do my best."

"You aren't short on materials are you?"

"We have plenty, but…" Redrix scratched his head. "We're running low on… No, it's more like we could use more hands. I could make weapons much faster with more helping hands."

"You're the only one who was taught the techniques though."

"I can raise people to a certain level even with my half-baked teaching. Even though I feel like I couldn't deliver a tenth of the teaching."

The title of a master alone was enough to raise an ordinary blacksmith to the level of an expert. This was indicative from how Redrix could forge rare-grade items one in two times if he worked on everything from the beginning to the end.

The 10 percent figure was based on those who learned their skills from him.

"…Being decently strong won't cut it, right?"

"Strength can be nurtured over time. I'm fine with anyone dextrous. I wish I could have an adventurer for my student…"

For a moment, Seojin stumbled at his word.

"An adventurer?"

There was only one case where NPCs mentioned "adventurer as their students."

'What, Redrix is a class instructor now?'

Class instructor—this was a term referring to an NPC that could change player's class.

Most of them were in the general guild of each profession and in only one case an instructor was in the other place.

'Oh, my God. Seriously…?'

It meant that instructor was a hidden class instructor.

'Studying under Ferguson alone was enough to fulfill that condition?'

Redrix smiled awkwardly at Seojin.

"That's what I'm saying, who am I to ask for that, anyway? I'm thinking because Ferguson asked me to. 'If you see a decent guy, send him up to the capital.' He said."

"Send him… oh, I see."

Seojin understood. The instructor was master Ferguson, not Redrix. Redrix was a bridge to the class change quest.

'But that's pretty much the same thing. The hard part is finding the instructor, doing the quest is easy.'

"Redrix."

"Why?"

"Leave the seat empty for now. I'll get you a good adventurer. Got it?

"I'll be happy if you could bring one! A candidate you recommend? Man, I'm wondering who that'll be."

Redrix's trust in Seojin was already hit the ceiling. Seojin nodded and hurriedly looked for Mac.

"Gray!"

"Yes, adventurer. How may I help you?"

"You've gathered all the townspeople, right?"

"Everyone who supports you, yes." It was nearly 300.

The reason for gathering them together was simple.

'I need to inspire them.'

While they believed in Seojin, not everyone was like Mac or Redrix.

Seojin was going to show them exactly how far Berne had reached.

"I'll go right away. And you… Oh, go to Redrix. I told you last time, right? You'll see what he brought from the capital."

"I've seen it this morning, though."

"Oh, yeah? How was it?"

Mac laughed. "I was surprised. It felt so surreal. Redrix was diligent, but he wasn't that capable blacksmith."

"What did you think after seeing it?"

"At this rate, Berne might really regain its former glory… no, I thought Berne was only an inch away from the prospect. I guess I was anxious, too."

Mac let out an awkward smile.

It wasn't surprising. He believed in Seojin and followed him, but there must be still a bit of anxiety in his mind.

Seojin wanted this kind of reaction.

"Everyone else must be feeling the same too, if you're like that."

"I think so. Maybe even more so than me."

"I'm looking forward to it. By the way, do you remember BunnyRabbit?"

Mac nodded. "You mean the woman who visited you before?"

"Yes, if she comes, take her to the bar and tell her I'll be there as soon as I'm done."

There were no players around Seojin to receive the gift of hidden class, as Merhen who already developed his character well was his only connection.

But BunnyRabbit was different.

She had to keep her eyes on Seojin and Seojin played a huge game nerd.

What if she was given a gift in this situation?

'It doesn't matter if she takes it or not. She'll think I don't have any ulterior motives. That's enough.'

No one with a sane mind would give such a gift to his enemy.

Jeong Seyeon would judge Seojin as just a guy mad for games.

Seojin muttered with his mouth curled up.

"And that's when the game of tag begins."

* * *

Berne's central plaza was crowded with several times more townspeople than usual.

They all had a similar look on their face: a mixture of Joy, a sense of accomplishment, and pride that they made the right choice.

And in front of them…

"Yes! Thanks to your hard work, this land, Berne, is on the verge of its past glory!"

…was Seojin, making a speech with a passionate face.

He was talking about what the people of Berne got and what they'll going to get.

He was like a CEO listing all the achievements he had accomplished so far.

"So a knight is coming?! I have heard of Sir Craig!"

"Seojin did it!"

"The lord has not abandoned this land!"

"Thank you, thank you! Adventurer!"

Some even shed tears.

Even if it was dim, Seojin showed them hope and they felt it by their bone that the hope was coming true.

"High-quality equipment that neither Ilynea nor Altagon can compete with. That will be Berne's edge above others."

Seojin finished listing his achievements and mentioned the direction Berne should pursue.

High-quality iron ore supported by Baron Bolton, as well as smithing techniques taught by the master Ferguson, and to top it all off, how to run the town based on those.

"We need to gradually raise the level of service of the village. Berne will be on the track once adventurers find the merit they can't find elsewhere."

It was not an overwhelming advantage considering all of them were low-level equipment. However, what if the townspeople change their attitude as well? It could be a decent advantage.

'The key to that is advertisement and how Robert behaves in response.'

The quality of the cooking didn't decide the success or failure of a restaurant. Advertisement played a huge factor as well. This was especially important for a place like Berne, which the players viewed negatively.

Moreover, Seojin was currently estimating that Robert would not retaliate big time, but what if he did?

'…That's not bad either.'

It might be hard to win easily, but Seojin had another card.

'Character information. I can see everything that Robert is hiding."'

Either of the route was fine. It would be thrilling if Robert were to put up a fight, and it would be just fine too if he were to give up.

"You'll be busier for the time being! Being busy is good, right?"

Seojin relaxed her voice and shouted cheerfully.

Crowds laughed.

The residents responded enthusiastically to Seojin's cry.

"Of course, adventurer!"

"It's much better to have work to do!"

"All right, by your own hands!" With all his might, Seojin shouted as loudly as possible. "Berne will return to the right track!"