After leaving the palace, Kyle and the others immediately headed to the smith shop. Their goal was to get back their repaired weapons and armors, and to buy certain consumables to replenish their stocks.

【”Welcome.”】

The shopkeeper Fespa went outside his store and deeply bowed to greet Kyle and the others as they came towards him.

【”I know It’s a little late, but congratulations for your medal.”】

【”Oh, thanks. The story didn’t spread much though.”】

Said Kyle while shrugging his shoulders somewhat bitterly. Fespa answered him with a similarly bitter smile.

【”That’s only because your timing was a little bad.. However, I’m sure you and your friends will get a new achievement in no time at all.”】

Fespa spoke with a radiant smile. That was probably mere lip service, but his smile had the ability to give people a good impression.

The truth was that Kyle and the others were very important customers for Fespa.

Normally, the repairs would have taken a little more time, but, since he was in a big hurry, Fespa had considerably pushed things in order to finish sooner.

That unreasonable workload had been compensated, but in addition to paying Fespa extra money for the extra efforts, Kyle had also ordered large amounts of magic medicine and magic stones, making the profits enormous.

Moreover, Kyle had paid for all of that in advance. It was only natural for a shopkeeper to become more courteous when faced with a good customer who paid this much.

Of course, that did not mean that Fespa did not care or wonder about Kyle’s true identity.

Even though his identity was still unknown, Kyle was extraordinarily rich, he had saved the princess, and had even been given a medal.

It couldn’t be helped that Fespa’s curiosity was stimulated by those events that were like the start of those heroic tales that the minstrels would usually sing about.

【”Now then, I’ll give you the items you ordered and the ones I repaired, come with me, please.”】

However, no qualified merchant would arbitrarily investigate his clients’ backgrounds.

(As long as I can make money, that’s plenty enough, I should value this relationship.)?Thinking that, Fespa guided the group towards the second floor, into a room that he would use when receiving someone special as a customer.

After getting back his repaired leather armor, Kyle tried it on to check its feel.

Urza and Lize were checking the different types of magic medicine and magic stones the group had bought. As for Sildonia, she was merrily eating some sweets that had been given to her earlier.

【”So, how is my sword?”】

As he said so, Seran picked the sword that he had left for repairs and checked its blade.

【”There were a lot of small scratches and dents on it, but it was still repairable. The craftsman who fixed it said that the sword looked like it been used for years.”】

Fespa smiled as he recalled the shock that appeared in the craftsman’s eyes when he was told that the sword had been used for less than a month.

【”Yeah I might have overused it a bit.”】

Seran couldn’t tell Fespa that he had fought against 30 heavily-equipped royal knights and had sliced the armors of each one of them.

【”Anyway, this sword is not bad, but don’t you have a slightly better one?”】

【”I am very sorry, this is a sword of the highest class and it’s the best our store has to offer..”】

As he said so to Seran, Fespa seemed sincerely apologetic.

“Do you have a better sword?” ―― This was something that Fespa heard on a daily basis from customers wanting to buy something that was above what they could handle just so that they could show off.

But, as a merchant, there was no way he would refuse to sell his products, even to those kinds of customers. Still, every time, Fespa would think to himself that those customers were throwing away their money.

However, objects could not lie.

From the damaged condition of the sword, it was clear that it was not good enough to keep up with its owner’s capabilities.

However, it would have been very difficult for him to prepare a sword better than the one he had given to Seran. Therefore, as a merchant who was unable to provide his customer with what he was really seeking, Fespa apologized from the bottom of his heart.

【”I see.. Then, I guess I’ll just have to manage with this one for now.”】

“It can’t be helped” Added Seran before putting his sword back in its scabbard.

In this shop, this sword was considered to be of the highest quality, and Seran knew that this meant that, in short, he was not going to obtain anything better here with money alone.

Had this been an average sword, it would have ended up being bent or broken in the middle of his fight, but this one had held on until the very end. Therefore, it was not a bad sword by any means.

However, it was also true that Seran would be able to fight with more ease if he had a sword of the same equality as Sildonia.

【”I’m sorry.. I cannot make any promises, but I will use all of my connections to try to find a sword that suits you, sir Sera. And then I’ll add it to my stock.”】

【”I’m looking forward to it.”】

Said Seran while wearing his sword and its scabbard at his side.

【”Our next destination is Calan, is there anything you can tell us about it?”】

Having received and checked everything he had ordered from the shop, Kyle asked Fespa for some information.

Even in his previous life, Kyle had never been to Calan. He used to think that he would like to visit it if an opportunity ever presented itself, but the big invasion happened before he could do so.

Calan was known for making weapons and armors of superior quality, even this store was selling arms that came from there. Hence why Kyle figured that Fespa had to know at least a little bit about that place.

【”About Calan? Well, that place is..? kind of complicated. It has an old history coupled with isolationist policies, and its traditions don’t have much to do with the rest of the world.”】

Although his face had slightly clouded over upon being asked about Calan, Fespa still continued speaking after cautioning Kyle to keep the conversation between themselves.

【”The real ruler of Calan is the blacksmith guild, and the head of the guild is also the head of the whole city. To put it gently, most of the people of the blacksmith guild are very confident in themselves and their skills, and to put it in harsher terms,?they are very arrogant and look down on others.. I’ve had problems with them many times.”】

“In the past, it was very hard to enter the city, and I had a lot of trouble doing business with them.” Added Fespa with a wry smile.

【”However, it seems like they had no choice but to change after they became a vassal city-state of Jirgus. Since then, they have been trying to change their customs, they’re now making the younger generation put more emphasis on interacting with the outside, and the city as a whole has also been increasing its exchanges with other countries, especially with Jirgus. I personally think It’s evolving in the right direction.”】

【”I see.. Thank you. I think I’ll come here again in the future, but until then, you have my best regards.”】

Kyle expressed his thanks before leaving the store, followed by Lize and the rest of the group.

【”Oh, sir, if you’re also going there, then..”】

As Seran started heading outside the store, Fespa called out to him.

【”Due to Calan’s very nature and its old history, it has plenty of stories about weapons and the like. So you might be able to find out about a sword that fits you there, sir Seran.”】

【”Hmm.. This will be my first time going to that city, so my priority will be to look for pretty girls, I don’t know if I’d be able to bend my convictions to go look for a sword instead..”】

Seran had a serious expression on his face despite the ridiculousness of the words he had muttered. Then, he suddenly realized something and proceeded to ask Fespa a question.

【”Are you really okay with me getting a fitting sword from elsewhere? I mean, if you do find one and put in your stock like you said, it will end up being useless.”】

【”If that happens then that would just mean that my business luck does not want me to make that sale. I’ll have others opportunities to make up for that loss.”】

After wishing everyone good luck on their trip to Calan, Fespa saw them off with a smile.

◇◇◇

Merely two days after they had left Marad, the city soon came to the sight of Kyle and his friends.

Normally, this would have taken several more days, but the trip was shortened quite a lot thanks to Urza’s magic spell “Wind Walker”.

【”So that’s Calan... Seems like the rumors were true.”】

As she looked at Calan in the distance, there was both amazement and admiration in UIrza’s voice.

The surrounding area was a plain which was long and wide enough to be able to see the horizon line, but that view had been broken by a solitary mountain that suddenly appeared in the group’s sight.

The peak of the mountain reached above the clouds and was perpetually covered by snow. There was a place in the right side of the middle of the mountain that seemed like it had been cut off from above to form a giant platform, which was where the city of Calan was located.

With the steep surface of the back of the mountain behind it, and the giant walls in front of it, the city as a whole was worthy of being called a fortress.

Even though the gate of the city was halfway up the mountain, there was an uphill road that led towards it. The road was on a gentle slope and its starting point was far away from the base of the mountain. It did not seem difficult to come in and out of the city.

【”I heard that it was in the mountains, but I didn’t think that it was literally in the middle of a mountain, or rather, it’s a part of it.”】

Even Seran showed amazement in his voice.

【”How in the world did they make a city in the middle of a mountain?”】

The more she looked at the city, the stranger it seemed to Lize. This had heavily stirred up her curiosity and wonder.

【”It’s actually the opposite. The city wasn’t built in the middle of the mountain, the mountain was made at the same place as the city.”】

Explained Sildonia, as if it was a trifling matter, leaving everyone astonished.

【”They made.. a mountain?!”】

Lize unintentionally kept switching her gaze between Sildonia and Calan.

【”Mhm, to begin with, isn’t it unnatural there there is one huge mountain in the middle of these wide plains? Originally, that city was made during the Zares era as a front-line base against the demons, but we also used this location to try a certain large-scale magic experiment.”】

【”Was this mountain the result?”】

【”Exactly. We knew that there were many veins where minerals of a great quality could be mined underground in this zone, but they were too deep for us to get on our hands on them. So we changed the whole topography of the area. We gathered the veins that were deep underground and we pushed them above the ground. In other words, that mountain is like a mass of high-quality minerals.”】

“I didn’t expect that there would be so much that even a thousand years wasn’t enough to dig them all up.” Laughed Sildonia.

【”The ancient magic was.. really amazing.”】

【”I’d heard from the village elder that there was large scale magic in the old times that could change the topography of a terrain.. I didn’t think it was true.”】

As Lize and Urza said so, they looked in amazement at the mountain that pierced the clouds.

【”Yeah, and as you gathered the veins, it must have made it harder to attack the base. So you ended up also raising your defense in the process; that’s like killing two birds with one stone.. It’s really incredible that the Gargan empire was able to bring a city that’s so suitable for defense to the brink of destruction.”】

Seran’s thoughts on the matter were different.

One small look at Calan was enough for anyone who was knowledgeable about the subject to understand that the city was impregnable.

The road that led to the city was too narrow to deploy a large army on it, so having an advantage in numbers would not have been of much use here. Moreover, for the same reason, it was also impossible to use large siege weapons against them.

Naturally, the city should have already had enough provisions to hold for years, and the more numerous the enemies were, the faster said enemy’s provisions and supplies would have run out. Therefore, bringing numbers would actually have been a disadvantage.

【”Of course, but there are many other factors to take into account. There is a clear difference in military strength between them, the empire has a few elite squads, and it seems like they had also brought a great mage with them. The many special troops that were deployed by the empire played a big part, too.”】

Explained Kyle, who knew the Gargan empire very well.

【”What do you mean by ‘special’ troops.. Wait, what the hell is that?”】

Seran saw a silhouette fly from behind the mountain towards Calan.

Its shaped looked like that of a bird, but it was too big to be one. Whatever it was, there was several similar beings flying in a flock, coming from the east.

【”Those are.. wyverns?”】

With her good eyesight, Lize was able to see through the true nature of those creatures.

The monster called wyvern was a subspecies of dragons.

However, it was weaker in battle than normal dragons, and its intelligence was low. Still, the wyverns were great when it came to flying, and they were a sort of model among the flying-type monsters.

【”There are people riding on them.. And that is definitely the crest of the Gargan empire.”】

Said Urza, referring to the flags on the backs of several of those wyverns, which had a crest that showed a golden snake entwining itself around a shield.

That was undoubtedly the crest of the Gargan empire. And that could be confirmed by looking at the people who were riding those wyverns.

【”.... They are from the wyvern knight order, which the empire takes much pride in. There is no other group that would ride on wyverns like so.”】

Kyle also looked up at the sky, with a frown.

【”Taming wyverns is a pretty great feat.”】

Said Sildonia in admiration.

There was nothing unusual about riding monsters instead of horses, but wyverns had a rougher temperament than other monsters, making it almost impossible for humans to tame them.

There were some adventurers who could ride wyverns, but that was very rare, and so far, it had been considered impossible to tame wyverns for military use.

However, the Gargan empire had established a technique which allowed them to do so. They had succeeded in using wyverns as a tool to boost their military strength.

Not only did the wyvern units have far more mobility than normal cavalrymen, but, when faced with an attack from the sky, the normal techniques to deal against a siege were useless. This was one of the reasons for the fast growth of the empire’s strength.

【”Were you referring to them when you talked about the empire’s special troops?”】

Kyle nodded in response to Seran’s question.

【”I see.. The question is, why would the empire’s so called wyvern knight order come here at this time?”】

While looking at the wyverns enter Calan, Seran asked Kyle for his thoughts on the matter.

【”..I’d love to say that this has nothing to do with our objective here, but that would probably just be wishful thinking.”】

After muttering so with a sigh, Kyle reorganized his thoughts and stepped towards Calan.