The guild was very close to the inn.
　A five minute walk.
　It's not an exaggeration to say that it's a stone's throw away.

　Well, since the inn is located in the center of the city, or rather the most prosperous place, it's only natural that the facilities are densely packed to some extent.

'Da...... Danna, do you have business in that building by any chance?'

　He was the boy from earlier.
　When we started walking towards the guild, he made a roundabout way with a scary look on his face.
　By the way, the guild is across the square from the inn. It's also very close.
　It's not such a large city, so the main facilities are probably gathered in the center.

That's right. ''I'm just going to ask for directions.''

　When I replied that, the boy made a blatant "not good" face.
　It's the kind of thing that shows on your face every single time. He should learn to put on more of a poker face.

Yeah, that's right. It's none of my business!　I'll see you tomorrow!

　The boy says that and runs off.
　This one might not show up again tomorrow. Is this the end of our relationship with him?

　Guilds have things they don't want me to see, I guess.


　Luclaera's guild was much different from Elishe's.
　The first thing that surprises me when I enter is its ground floor area, which is about 100 p.m. It's divided into several compartments.
　It's divided into several compartments, and seems to do more than just general office work.
　There is a general entrance and an entrance for traders, and in the corner there are bags of ores, as if they were bringing in minerals from the mountains.
　At a table near the entrance, men dressed in dirty clothes were sorting through what appeared to be ores at the same time.
　And more...

Oh, isn't that an elf in there?

　There was an elf in the guild. He's wearing a priest's uniform.
　That means it's the first time I've seen an elf priestess other than the priestess.
　He has flaxen hair cut short, exposing his long, bamboo-ear shaped ears. Unlike the elves at Efta's place, who had long hair, he is a bit of a wild elf man, more like a mine specimen. Well, he must be handsome, but I wonder if all elves are beautiful. I wonder if some of them are ugly if you go to an elf village: .......
　But, well, I don't really care if it's a male elf or not.
　If it was a female elf, it would have been a crane in a cesspool in a mining town like this one.

　If you look closely, you can see a small altar in the back.
　It's smaller in size, but it's in the same style as the one in Elishe's temple.
　If it's ......, it must have a temple and a guild attached to it, or it's rented between them.

'What do we do?　Deanna, since we're kindred spirits, why don't we go say hello?

　I'm not sure about the kindred spirit in this world, but elves are rare.
　Perhaps, "Yo, where are you located? Or maybe you want to talk about that. Or maybe we could talk about the local (elf village) and have a good time.

　But," said Deanna, "it's not necessary.
　You don't take much with you. Deanna is a princess, so she might be the one who wants to come over and say hello. In the beginning, the priestess was called out too.

　But a priest, huh? I wonder if there's always one resident priest in every town. Even though there aren't many elves, they still do a lot of work, such as giving blessings and releasing the special power of spirit stones. At the very least, you need at least one person in the city. Rather, it might be a miracle that a city as big as Elishe is run by a single priestess.
　Priestess. Priestess .......
　Hmm ......?　
　Speaking of priests, something you forgot to mention: ......?

　What was it?　Did he have something to do with the priestess? At least, the priestess here shouldn't have any other business to attend to.
　Or is it something Diana-related--

'Ah!　Yes!　I remember!

What's going on?　Master. All of a sudden, out loud.

'It's not what's wrong with you, Deanna. When you defeated the bear last time, the priest said something about class-up or class-changing, so what happened? Actually, there is some guidance that says, 'Let's class up. I completely forgot about it in the mess of the trip, but you said you were going to take care of that or something.

"Ugh ......, you don't have to remind me of anything at this time. ......

'No, I'd completely forgotten about it. I remembered when I saw that priest over there.


　That's right, that's right. Class up.

"Classed up" is what it is, right?　It means your vocation is going to be classed up to the next level, right?

　I used to see that in games, so I understand. I know that kind of thing.
　But I don't know which vocation is going to class up. After all, I have 8 vocation (9 if you count my unique vocation).
　Judging by the timing of the guidance, I'd say I'm a swordsman.
　I guess the fight with the bear was the catalyst.

''Your master knows a lot of things. There aren't many people who can sharpen their studies enough to change classes, and they should be almost unknown to you.''

Well, you better get on with it. I can do it now if you want.

'Well, um, ....... When I get home!　Let's wait until we get home!　We have a lot of preparations to make over here, too.

　Deanna replies in a panic. I wonder if it's true, I doubt it~.
　But it's also true that I'm not actually in a hurry.
　If you want to wait until you get home, that's fine.


　Okay, that's right, let's just get this thing over with.
　I called out to the guild member and asked him for the location of the dwarven blacksmith's workshop that I got a letter of introduction from the old man from Meeker Trading Company.
　The location was easy to find. But he still nailed it, "The master won't hit you at first glance, there," he said. Even if it was an introduction, he said, it would be difficult. But blacksmiths are also in the business. I heard that his apprentice could do it.

　Well, even an apprentice wouldn't be a bad skill, and worst of all, it wouldn't have to be the one that the master struck. I don't like to be a stubborn old man. I'm not a pushy guy myself. I'm not a pushy guy myself, and a dwarf is probably too hairy and stubborn. I'm just scared.

　When I heard about the blacksmith's place, I decided to ask him about the items he bought from the boy while I was at it.

...... I don't want to change the subject, but do you know about this metal?

　I take out a few grains from the bag, thinking it would be quicker to ask a guild member.
　Of course, they are the white metal grains that I bought from the boy just a few minutes ago.

　The guild member took one look at the metal and answered smoothly without changing his expression.

''It's white. What did you do with so many of them?''

　White?　It's a name that sounds like a dog or a cat.
　In the Mirror of Truth, there was something called "Lethia Metal Group": .......
　It's like a nickname?

　Before I can tell him what's going on, the guild member quickly pales as if he's come up with something and leans over the counter and asks in a whisper.

'--Perhaps you were bought ...... from a child on the road there?

　Was the boy a celebrity?
　Or is it just a common trick around here?

You are correct. It's just a common practice around here, isn't it?

How much did you get for it?

One silver coin. Just this one bag.

'Oh ....... I'm sorry. We just haven't been able to keep up with it. ......

　A guild member bows his head.
　It's a bit surprising. Is he related to the guild?

No, he's-- his name is Marco, and he's a gold-digger under contract with us.

　Wow. It's a mining town, but they even mine for gold.

I didn't know they can get gold dust. Do they get it from the river?

　I saw it on TV once. It's like a river in South America, they scoop out the soil in the river like a basket, and when they shake it, only the heavy gold remains, or something like that.
　When I was in the Black Trade Association, I dealt in gold rather well, but I don't have much knowledge about gold sand.
　Come to think of it, when I saw this metal in the Mirror of Truth, it was listed as "from the Luc River" or something like that. I wonder if it's a river in Lucraera, so it's a Luc river.

'Yes. So the white is a grain that can be collected at that time: ....... No, it would be quicker to see it in person.

　A guild member leads me to a section of the guild.

　A group of men in grimy clothes are sifting through something as if they were biting into a table. It's a table near the entrance.

You'll be able to find the same metal that you were, well, made to buy.

　A guild member who stagnates and explains things to me. There's no need for him to feel responsible, though. Maybe he's an unusually responsible man in a world like this.

　The men who are working enthusiastically, I see, indeed, they all have the same burnt skin and muscular body as the boy just now - Marco.
　The work seems to be to select with their fingertips while staring at the fine grains, just a millimeter or so, on a black mount.

　The golden or ochre-colored grains are probably gold dust.
　The large ones are about 5 millimeters in diameter. The smaller ones are really less than a millimeter.
　They are separating it from the white grains, that is, the white metal grains like the ones I bought from Marco. It looks like it's going to make my eyes hurt.
　It seems to be a daunting task, but it doesn't seem to take hours because they can't get that much gold or gold dust. Still, it would be a troublesome process.

I can't help but notice that White gets mixed in with the gold dust. I have to sort them out like this after I'm done digging for gold. This takes a lot of time and effort, and it's a real headache for us, too.

　Hmm. I see.
　Because the specific gravity of the gold is close to that of the gold, it remains together with the gold.

　The amount of white mixed in is probably less than 10% of the total, but it can't be used as it is, though, can it?
　If you use it for goldsmithing, but gold coins are pure gold.

What are you doing with that white stuff?　No, what is white, anyway?　What's the use?

　I throw one question after another.
　Well, seeing as Marco had such a large amount of it, I guess there is no use for it. If there is, there is no need to sell them fraudulently on the street like that.
　The mirror of truth said there are various uses, and the one from the river can be used without refining or something like that, but ...... I wonder what's going on.

"Huh?　No, ....... Well, I'm sorry about the fact that you bought a lot of it, but White can't help but melt it, so ....... I heard that the Priest's Hall is also out of control of any metal that hasn't had its refining magic transmitted to it.

What do you mean?

As of right now, nothing.

What do you mean by that?

Will it be: ......

　You're throwing it away.
　That's too different from the rating in the Mirror of Truth.
　With that one, it had various uses, and it was given a rarity A or something.

　Well, a metal that can't be melted down, what can we do about it?
　I guess there's no use for it in such a grainy state .......
　But the fact that it can't be melted, I wonder what it is.
　I don't know anything about chemistry or anything like that, but it's a high melting point.

　But the fact that it's currently useless and worthless is probably gospel for me.
　I'm the only one who knows that there's actually a use for it in Rarity A, and if you reserve it for some day ....... It's not that I can't find a use for this, but if it's free, it's not worth the loss.

''No, I'm really sorry. The guild will give Marco strict instructions. That thing, though, is still a good sandpaper picker and a good family-oriented guy. ......

'Oh, no, no. I bought this one myself, knowing half of what I was buying, so it's okay.

　To be honest, a single silver coin is not a lot of money.
　Just knowing that there is this kind of metal was probably a rather good buy, considering that I paid for it as an amount of information.

''So, is this white that you're throwing away, do you dump it all together somewhere?　If it's still there, I'd like it.

'What!　What do you use it for?

...... I thought it would be just right for the weight.

　I lied about the right things.
　Metal with a heavy specific gravity is a very possessive feeling.

'Weights and ......?　No, I'm sorry. White doesn't even buy them from the guild, you know, we don't have them here.

Yeah. So...

　I glanced over at the men working on the selection process.

'Yes, they are. They should be disposing of it themselves.'

　Wow.
　I don't know how many sand and gold pickers there are in total, but if they are disposing of it on their own, it must be pretty messy to collect it.

　Hmmm .......
　Oh well.
　If you want, you can call on the guild to buy it for you, but I'm not that stubborn.
　Marco said he still has it, and for now, I'll just buy all of that guy's, and we can think about the rest again.


　◇◆◆◆◆◆.


　A large amount of minerals were brought into the space where the guild's simple temple was located at about the same time as we were leaving the guild.
　Ore loaded on a cart. They seemed to be roughly the same kind of stone, but it was quite a lot. Five carts' worth. I don't know how much it weighed, but I wondered what they were going to do with all those stones in such a place.
　The men who brought in the stones and the guild members neatly pile up all the ores of various sizes. A priest watches the scene. What on earth is going to happen?

　A large quantity of ore was piled up in the space in front of the altar.
　The guild members seem to be familiar with the situation, and they chase away the onlookers and put a rope around the enclosure.
　Inside the enclosure, only the priest remains, and he is exchanging some words with the guild members.

　I asked a man nearby who looked like a merchant a question.

What is this? What's going on?

Hmm?　Is this your first time in Luclaera?　It's magical silver refining.

Refining?

　Refining, it's in the guild.
　No, the guild members said something about the refining magic in the Temple of the Priest.

You can find mithril ore at Mount Luklaera. Sometimes, when I've accumulated a certain amount, I refine it here.

'I see ....... But why would you refine that much at once?　It's too much, isn't it?

　It's a bit of a small mountain. Even if that's the ore from which the mithril is derived, it's overkill.
　No, or does it mean that you can finally extract a small amount of metal from that much ore?　If that's the case, though, no wonder Mithril is so expensive.

Look at that.

　When I looked at the man shaking his chin, I saw a guild member returning from the back room with a small box.
　He then takes out a green stone from the small box and hands it reverently to the priest and bows his head.

''Is that a spirit stone?''

''That's my answer to your question before. The refining of magical silver requires spirit stones, so we have to refine an amount just short of the refining limit all at once.

　I see. Indeed, if you're going to use a spirit stone, it's more efficient to refine it as much as possible at once.

　The priest who received the spirit stone places it on his right hand and stands in front of the mithril ore.
　Apparently, he begins to refine it.

　The priest mumbles something in a whisper.
　The same is true for Priestess, and also for Deanna, but that mumbling seems to be the chanting of spirit magic.
　As if in response to the priest's mumbling, the spirit stone becomes a particle of faintly shining light and drifts around the priest. The particles are then sucked into the mithril ore along with the priest's spell, as if they were melting into the mithril ore.
　As soon as all the particles are sucked in, the ore glows so strongly that you can't help but close your eyes.

　When I open my eyes, there's a smug-looking priest and a plate-like mithril silver plate.

　Wow, seriously.
　As expected of spirit magic, is the magic amazing, or is the system of this world amazing, the mithril is not only refined, but is already in a state where it can be used as a product as it is.

　There are about 100 shiny, blue-white, shiny metal plates about five millimeters thick. They are about the same size as a tatami mat. If you can refine this much for a single spirit stone, it's a pretty good deal.
　To be able to skip the middle from the material and get to this state is magic in the truest sense of the word!
　It's not a refinement, or, how should I put it, it's more of a different kind of nanika.

'Wow!　Spirit magic all around.

It is indeed amazing. It's a pretty high level of magic.

Wow. Doesn't it work on Deanna?

'I can't do it now, can I? If not, I can't use magic I don't know about.

It's all right.

　It's true that the magic Deanna used so far might not have been very complicated. She said that she used the spirit stone to heal her wounds, and that she was forced to rewind time (which was also awesome).

　It seems that no one but Rebecca knew that this was how Mithril was made, and everyone else was surprised, except me. If you don't want to know how to make mithril, you don't know how to make it, right?
　It's like most people in Japan don't know much about how to make plastic, even in Japan.

　However, it's a bit of a shock to learn that mithril was literally made from magic.
　Even if you can make that much at once, you have to use spirit stones, so no wonder it's so expensive. The original ore might be commonplace, often obtained in reverse.
　Oh well. Just to see this, this trip may have been a success.

　With our excitement still lingering, we went out of the guild once again, mithril awesome mithril awesome.

　Next up was the dwarven blacksmith.