And on the next regular holiday, Garnet and I decided to head to the blacksmith's place that Travis had introduced us to as planned.

　Our mode of transportation was a horse we borrowed from Green Hollow.
　As long as we didn't have too much time to run errands over there, we could leave early in the morning and be back not long after sunset.

There are several different ways to run a horse. "There are several ways to run a horse," he said. If you're going to move your horse over a long distance, it's best to have it run as fast as a human runner.
Well, they say that humans are like that, and wolves only run as fast as they can in the final stretch to bite their prey.

　As we descend the well-maintained mountain road, Garnett and I chat about horses to pass the time.

　Garnett's day job is to be a knight, so he knows a lot more about horses than I do.

　And I never get tired of seeing his happy face when he's talking about these things.

We've got a lot of water and food on board, so we're going to tire ourselves out. Unless you have to change horses all over the place, you'll have to take breaks.
But in this case, it's not a half-day's drive each way, so there's no problem.
"I'll let him walk for two hours on a parallel footing, give him a thirty minute break, and then another two hours ...... and then we'll be there.

　It takes four and a half hours one way and about nine hours to travel there and back.
　We are planning to leave early in the morning and return home around sunset, so we can stay in the city over there for a few hours.

　If this were a trip, it would not be enough, but the purpose of this trip was to have a meeting with the blacksmith.

　Not only do I want to use them for the base of the sword I'm making for Garnett, but I also want to stock up on high quality stock by regularly stocking up on a coherent number of swords if I can.

　At the moment, the business situation of the White Wolf Store is stable and good, but if we continue to cling to the status quo, I don't know how long that stability will last.

　In the same way that they started dealing with new products such as Noir's magic items and Erica's potions, they should also have to incorporate new elements into their current mainstay armor.

　--and so we passed through the four and a half hours of outbound travel and arrived at our destination, Tri-Brook City.

''It's called a city, but it's still busier than Green Hollow.
It's a bit more rural than King's Landing. Well, White Wolf, have you ever been to King's Landing?
No, never. The only adventurers who travel across the country are the A-rated ones.

　We left the horses with a specialist and let them rest slowly until it was time to return.

　Then we walked down the main street of Tri-Brook City to the blacksmith's shop that Travis had introduced us to.

It's a good idea to take a break from blacksmithing and come to the capital when you're done with the castle. You'll have no trouble finding a place to sleep.
'That's the Knight Commander's mansion. By all accounts, it's too upscale to be comfortable with?

　For some reason, until we reached our destination, we got into a lot of chatter that wasn't the main topic of our conversation.

　Of course, because of the content, they didn't shout and scream, but kept their voices low so that only each other could hear them.

　From the side, does it look like a redneck adult and an urban boy walking shoulder-to-shoulder and having a private conversation?

　If I were in the position of a passerby, it's a combination that makes me curious about the relationship.

''I mean, isn't the mansion in your territory?
'It's in both. A reasonably large knight's house is supposed to have a mansion in his estate and a mansion in King's Landing, respectively.
"Wow, ...... that's kind of awesome.
It's a pain in the ass for my family members. "My family is obliged to spend at least a few months in the royal capital, so I used to get depressed every time we moved. I used to be so bored in the carriage that I was bored to death.

　Although Garnett spoke of it as a memoir with exaggerated gestures, the content of the system itself was quite interesting.

　Originally, the Knights were an army of forces that existed during the era of the swarm.
　They are obligated to maintain their old territory after unification and contribute to the kingdom with their military and economic power.

　On the other hand, as Garnett said with a lot of emotion, the leading knights and their families are supposed to live in the royal capital for a period of time that is not a small amount of time.

　Perhaps this serves both to deepen their sense of belonging to the kingdom and as a kind of hostage in case of an emergency.

　If they come to think of King's Landing as their second home, the risk of rebellion will be reduced, and having the families of their fellow knights in King's Landing will be a powerful deterrent.

''...... hmm?　If you're obligated to spend time in King's Landing, then you're going back to King's Landing for a few months too?
No, I'm not going back. It's just a 'duty to move your home to the capital' to put it simply. There are some knight commanders who don't stay in the king's capital for the entire period of time, putting in long-term missions.
Heh, ...... is it more of a family custody thing?
''On the contrary, there was a knight commander who spent all year in the royal capital and left the management of the estate to his relatives. Maybe that guy was getting too much work for his lord.

　As they exchanged chit-chat as no one but Garnett could do, they came near the address given to them.

'The White Wolf's. I'm sure you remember the name of your destination right.
Of course. Tri-Brook Blacksmiths Guild: ...... and you're just in time.

　The sign for their destination, the 'Tri-Brook Blacksmith's Guild', was proudly displayed in a large building facing the wide main street.

　As expected, it wasn't as large as the Wakaba-Tei in Spring, but it was several times larger than Green Hollow Town's guildhouse.

It's not like a blacksmith shop. It's more like an inn.
'I suppose it's just like a union office. You don't do blacksmithing here, do you?

　In that sense, it's probably the same kind of organization as the Hunting Guild in Green Hollow.

　For now, I enter the Blacksmith's Union building and tell the receptionist my business.

''Excuse me. My name is Luke from the White Wolf Forest, who is scheduled to meet with Alan-san.
Please hold on a moment: ...... Do you have a referral letter?
'Yes. Mr. Travis from Black Sword Mountain sent me.

　As I complete the clerical and tasteless formalities and wait near the reception desk for my meeting partner to arrive, I see a young man hurrying up from the back of the building.

　He's a little younger than me, with a big smile on his face, with a trace of charcoal stains on it.

'Sorry for the delay!　Mr. Travis has told me about you!　Come to the common room over here!
'Yeah, yeah, ......'

　I move to the common room as prompted, pressured by the momentum of my meeting partner - Alan the blacksmith - and move to the common room.

　As I sit down with Garnett on the visitor's quality sofa, Alan fidgets and breaks up the conversation.

'So, let's get right to it, but ...... the thing you asked for is ......
'Of course I have. It's just a hand-me-down to say hello.

　I pulled a dagger out of my bag and handed it to Alan.

　Alan nervously pulled it out of its scabbard and stared at the silver blade.

'Oooh ...... here, this is mithril ......!　And if you'll excuse me, what is the alloy ratio?
"It's 70% steel and 30% mithril. It's the same ratio as the standard specs we supply to the Golden Fang Knights.

　In the past, there was a request from the Golden Fang to create swords with multiple ratios, and to adopt the one that best matched the requirements of the field as the official equipment.

　The result was that a half-and-half alloy is excellent for the balance of performance, the higher the mithril ratio the better if it is used in conjunction with magic, and the higher the mithril ratio the higher the cost, so if it is to be mass produced, seven to three is best.

　The dagger that was given to Alan was a substitute that was synthesized with the same ratio as the Golden Fang standard specification for this time.

''It's a wonderful shine ...... really wonderful ...... Oh, I never thought I'd get to hold the original Mithril in my hands!

　I decided to wait for Alan to regain his composure while Garnett gestured next to me, trying to say, "What's up with this freak?