On my way to the Adventurer's Guild after leaving the Commercial Guild, I was suddenly curious about what was going on with the coke.
　It hadn't been long since I started making it, and it was only natural that I wouldn't get any patent money, but I wanted to see what was going on.
　There are still a few hours left in the evening, so I'm going to take a quick flight.
　The guild can wait, there's no hurry.

　You fly over the road to Herrera and look at the scenery.
　The height of the sky is only 50m or so due to the magic, so the scenery is flying at a very high speed.
　When I came here, it took me about a week, but at the current speed, it will take me at most three hours.
　It is much longer than Desibatore, but from this time, we should arrive in the evening.

　After about 20 minutes of flight, I saw a field away from the road.
　I hadn't noticed it when I was coming, but at my speed, 20 minutes and 200 kilometers or so away is a long way from Phothren.
　Maybe it's a demon thing like sugar cane.

　I didn't find much on the rest of the flight.
　It took me about two hours to see Herrera.
　Perhaps it was because I took a shortcut by entering from above, instead of going down the mountain honestly when I came.
　As I was about to enter from the air, I remembered the gatekeeper and rushed back to the gate.

　When I landed in front of the gate, the gatekeeper looked surprised.
　Even the innkeeper routinely leaps over the outer wall, so why should he be surprised by someone appearing from the sky?
　Even when I approached him with my guild card in hand, he didn't even bother to check my identity, let alone alert me.
　I have no choice but to call out to him to bring him back to reality.

"Hey, gatekeeper, work work work.

"Oh, yeah, ......, okay, you're free to go. 　Is that flight magic or something?

Yeah, it's just flight magic.

...... Oh, so you're 'only' flying after all that.

　I quickly walked through the gate and headed for the charcoal shop.
　I think I heard the gatekeeper say something, but I'm sure he'll stop me if he needs to, so it probably doesn't matter to me.
　Compared to the last time I left the city, not much has changed, so there's no reason to get lost.
　The only thing that has changed is that the percentage of blue-ish weapons in the weapon stores has greatly increased, and the town has become more lively.
　In particular, there are more swords with colors between silver and blue on display than iron.
　The same is true for armor, except that armor itself is less numerous than swords.
　Has there been an outbreak of metal-grabbing monsters like the Metal Lizard?

　While I was thinking about this, I arrived at the charcoal shop.
　Well, to be precise, I arrived at the place where the charcoal shop used to be, but the shop had changed.
　Or rather, there was no charcoal shop.
　It seemed that the building of the charcoal shop had been demolished and a new huge building was being constructed.
　Stones and other building materials are piled up on a huge site that seems to have overtaken the former plot.
　Did the charcoal shop go out of business?

　I looked around and saw a small wooden sign.
It read, "If you have any questions about the charcoal shop, please contact the Coal Mining Association.
　It seemed that both the coal shop and the association were safe.

　When we went to the place where the association used to be, we found that it was also very different from before.
　There was much more activity than before, and smoke was rising from the buildings in the back, which were not there before.
　As I watched, a cart carrying coke came out from the back and hurried away.
　The coke seems to be useful.
　The coke seems to be useful, though it seems to be overpowered by the blue metal.

　I showed my guild card at the counter near the entrance, and was taken to Mr. Gainta.
　I sat down in a good quality chair and waited for about five minutes before Mr. Gaither came out.

"Hello, Coke, how are you doing?

"Very profitable. 　Now that we have a little more equipment, we've made three months' worth of sales in one week.

That much? 　I don't think we have enough iron for that. Do you sell it in other cities?

Iron?　What are you talking about?

Huh?

Oh, I guess I didn't inform you. 　We found out that we can refine mithril much more cheaply with coke than before, so we raised the price of coke and sent the entire amount to mithril refining. 　I've taken the liberty of raising the price, but I can't wait for the maple to change so much in a week.

　So that blue metal was mithril?
　When I think of mithril, I think of it as a rare material, like holy silver. ......
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot more than you think.
　I'm not an expert in smelting, but I don't think there are that many ores.

I don't have a problem with the price increase, I'd do it too. 　By the way, I heard that mithril is easy to refine, but where do you get the mithril ore from?

I've heard that it's easy to refine mithril, but where do you get the mithril ore from?" "There's no such thing as getting mithril ore, you can just throw a stone and it will hit mithril ore, in fact, there's even a story that even the stone you threw was mithril ore. 　It's more rare to find a place without mithril ore.

　What? There's that much mithril ore?

But they didn't make that much before, did they?

　You didn't see many blue swords before.

You can't make a lot of mithril ore if you spend a lot of money to refine only the high-grade parts of it. 　And that's only natural if you're going to burn it directly.

　Direct burning of magic stones: ......
　So you've been refining them that way, no wonder there are so few.
　I'm not sure what to make of this.
　No, but as long as they say they burn, they do.

I didn't know that. 　By the way, have you heard from other cities that they want to use your coke production technology?

"Yes, there are many. We've only decided on two locations yet, but we've had more than one merchant association from one city come to negotiate with us.

I'm glad to hear that, but do you want to give it to all the ...... that seem to be in trouble and have them compete?



　It doesn't matter who wins, we'll still make money.

No, if the competition gets too fierce, there's a good chance someone will do something wrong, and if one of them goes under, we won't get paid for it.

In other words, if we focus on one of them...

No, after all, we need coal to make coke, so at this point, we've decided to only provide the technology to organizations that have their own coal mines.

　"No, after all, we need coal to make coke.
　This time, there is a possibility that there will be a competition for coal mines, but it will be different from the procurement competition that will occur permanently, because it will end when it is settled.

I think it's good. 　It's only a matter of time before the capital investment is completed and the patent fees start pouring in to me. 　Any other problems?

The Kingdom of Basis is willing to act as an intermediary to sell this technology abroad, free of charge.

This kingdom?　Since they're not asking us for money, are they planning to use it as a diplomatic card?

Yes, because it's an extremely useful technology against demons. 　And I have some bad news.

　What kind of bad news?

My lord's drummer son. ......

　The story is that the eldest son of the lord of this place is trying to raise taxes on the lucrative mining industry.
　This kind of mining is essential to fight demons, so the tax is greatly reduced.
　It seems that the lord's eldest son doesn't like that, and is insisting on paying more tax.
　The lord and his second son are sane, but the lord is currently in the capital and will not return for about a month, and the second son has less power than the first son, so he cannot stop him.
　Isn't he an idiot? What is he thinking, a son of a lord defying the decision of the country without the approval of his parents?
　I'm sure he's not thinking about it.

All right, I'll go smash it. 　I can snipe it from a distance with pressure magic.

Wait, wait.

　They won't do much good if we leave them in peace.
　If the heir of the lord of the city that is the foundation of the coke business is like that, we can't do business with peace of mind.
　He's like a bandit. He should be eliminated.

"No?

It doesn't matter if he's the undisputed son of a drummer, if the lord's eldest son is assassinated, it's a big deal, he'll become a bandit.

　Hmm, I see.
　So we should just do it fair and square without assassinating him.
　I think there is a duel system in this world.
　That wouldn't make me a bandit.

"All right, I'll take care of it. 　I'll beat you up in a duel.

"I don't think so. 　He's been trained as a knight, and including his expensive equipment, he's probably a D-rank. 　There's no way he'd accept a duel from a higher rank.

　Is that so?
　Well, I was careless.
　I forgot to raise my rank in the Photoren guild.
　So now I'm still rank E. Oh, no.

"What do you think my rank is now?

"What's that all of a sudden?　Aren't you supposed to be a C or B?

No, I'm actually an E.

"What's ......? ......?

　And this is how I ended up challenging the lord's drummer son to a duel.
　So I asked him not to reveal me to people who know my ability, and then I made a plan to make him accept.
　The plan goes like this.
　Tomorrow afternoon, my eldest son (Radomkos or something like that) will probably pass by the square to tell me to pay my taxes here.
　The square is very crowded in the morning, with many people making small talk before work.
　In the midst of all this, I challenge Radomkos to a duel in the most condescending manner possible, asserting in a high voice that I am an E rank.
　Radomkos is said to be proud and high-minded, so if he is challenged to a duel by an E rank in public, it is unlikely that he will refuse.

　If you let him accept, all you have to do is beat him up in the most humiliating way possible, and your mission is complete.
　Since Radomkos has a bad reputation with the people of the city, no one will complain if you do it.
　You'll get what you deserve for making me your enemy.