Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth’s eyes widened in welcome surprise as he read the contents of the letter. He had already expected it to be political. The Gamma Resistance was a group that intended to go against Arget Nore, while Minas Mar was currently in the talks to remain at least neutral.

The bard had expected some idealistic gibberish, similar to what the hero Ben Harker used to spout. Unexpectedly, it was not idealistic or political in nature, but a simple business request. The sender was Gallwell Ropartz, the leader of the Gamma Resistance, a warrior who had become a chosen a few weeks after the first wave of elections.

Chosen by a god called Tyr from the Asgardian Pantheon. As his chosen he gained great power as a commander and leader of a group or army, explaining how the Gamma Resistance was able to grow so quickly without the backing of a major force. The reason for the letter was actually a quite fortunate one, for Seth.

Like Mike, Gallwell had gotten a quest from his god to find a specific ore in the Abyss of the Holy Land. After finding it, it was blessed by his god and now he needed to find a craftsman who could make a piece of special equipment. Although they had not even started spreading their name in making legendary items, Minas Mar was already the first place on his mind.

Seth had not expected his plan, to grow his path by profiting from chosen like Mike and this man would already come to fruition before he enacted it. This was the power of their good reputation, which was nurtured and maintained mostly by Mary and the decisions of the others in the administration. Of course, his own skills and those of his colleagues also played a role.

Originally, Seth would have been idle for a while. Now that the shield was finished and delivered, the only thing left of the legendary materials they brought back from Y-City was the wind orb now. Once Seth processed it, he intended to spend his time leisurely with Fin and Mina and slowly research the <Mad Ithildin> and the synergies of materials.

Part of his research on synergy would be items for the souls of the demons and the ones he had gotten from Tano'Mol. He had chosen quality souls with very one-sided properties and wanted to attempt and tailor at least relic-rated sets specifically for these souls.

It would have worked out, the plans for the tournament were already settled, and there was no need to do anything more, but this created a new possibility since they would be able to advertise their skill in creating legendary equipment even before the tournament without any cost to himself.

Not only could he start farming Power of Existence, but if he helped the Gamma Resistance like this, it would soothe the queasy feeling in his stomach, when coming to an arrangement with Arget Nore. After all, it wasn’t like he didn’t feel anything when hearing that they were using people as slaves. Like actual slaves, not corporate ones.

If Seth supplied their leader with a legendary weapon, it was quite clear who they were going to use it against, if things went south. There was nothing wrong for an arms dealer to have a good relationship with both sides. It might even be part of the profession.

“Thank you, Jonah. I will talk to Mary about this.”

Before he decided this, he wanted to talk with their PR people and the others, to see if they agreed, too. After all, they would have to deal with most of the aftermath, not him.

...

“No, I think that simplifies a lot of things and improves the trust in the grand prize. I am glad you asked me before you accepted this deal. But the time I really wish you had consulted us was when you decided to pick a fight with a Demon King,” Mary said bitterly.

Even if the demons had no clue who killed Bragmomal’s subordinates, they had set up Tano’mol in their embassy. It was clear that they were backing the soul trader, so if not for the murder of his people, they would pick a fight for harboring the goat.

“I’m sorry, Mary, but that was a necessity. I need Tano’Mol’s supply of souls, or else I would have to go out and collect them myself. You wouldn’t want me to go out there and do it myself, would you?” the blacksmith asked honestly.

Mary imagined the consequences of the blacksmith going for a walk, specifically to collect souls. At this point, the products that would be able to make Seth move had to be at least the level of the demons he recently harvested. With that in mind, how many more potential enemies would they have by the time he came back?

“Alright, alright, it’s not like I was really blaming you for this. But it would have been nice to let us know in advance.”

“I will keep it in mind if it happens again.” “Let’s hope it doesn’t”

Afterward, they kept talking about the changes to the preparations of the tournament. They would have to make sure to advertise the items they would be making for the leader of the Gamma Resistance.

In this matter, there was also the question of Arget Nore. Mary had already collected the votes on the matter from their members, the guardians, and of the elected leaders of the different Tree Stations. The general consensus was that they were not against it.

Some had their concerns, and the current leader of Little Gamma was against it, but overall, the vote was in favor of a non-aggression treaty. This also solved the possible strain in their relationship with Arget Nore, once they advertised that they made a piece of legendary equipment for their opposition.

But since they would also be able to supply them with Golems, that would probably calm their tempers a little. He would be fairly supplying both sides with weapons like any upright and self-respecting arms dealer would.

“On that note, maybe we could try and de-escalate this situation a little bit”, Mary suggested.

“How would we do that?” the blacksmith asked. Did the scribe have an idea of how to bring peace to the lands?

“Could we just make it a condition of the non-aggression treaty that they have to release the ori huma slaves they caught on Urth? At least those who wish to leave. We could offer them a discount on the golems in exchange. A small one,” Mary suggested.

“Do you really think the undead would agree to give up their slaves?” Seth asked doubtfully. Personally, he had not put much thought into the treaty, yet. As such the idea of adding a condition had no been present in his mind.

“Even if they don’t agree, it won’t hurt to try, right?”

She was right. Suggesting the condition was worth the try. If they succeeded it would be even better. If not, it didn’t matter. Some people may think that bringing peace is not the job of an arms dealer and it would hurt their business.

However, peace was just the silence before the next war as they said. Arget Nore was not afraid of the Gamma Resistance, they were preparing for Spatia. Sowing peace here would just improve his reputation for later deals.

“But what do we do with all the people?” Seth asked, a little worried. Just freeing them wouldn’t be enough, they also had to make sure they had a place to go to. Seth had experienced too many refugee situations to forget this point.

“Did you already forget about the Starta Village at the edge of Gamma? I set it up during the first wave of refugees from Gamma, on the way back from rescuing you.”

“Attempted rescue, I managed to flee myself. On that note, why are they still people in Gamma, when Chrona’s condition back then was to let all the natives go?” the blacksmith asked, suddenly remembering this detail.

“The districts of Urth are big and the people of Gamma had already gotten used to hiding and distrust because of the Zarkists. I never expected everyone to trust us and come along to Delta. The people who stayed, either because they were afraid, or wanted to fight for their home, it should be those people,” Leana stated her opinion.

“Anyway, we can use the Starta Village’s System Church and Minas Palan to teleport them to Delta and if they wish, they could then still try to migrate to Minas Mar. I know the new representative in Delta, I’m sure they would be happy if some more people decided to stay in Delta, the district has been rather empty lately.”

“Alright, at least we have a rough plan, in case Arget Nore accepts our conditions;” Seth completed their conversation. They would agree to meet Gallwell, the leader of Gamma Resistance, and approach Arget Nore for the non-aggression treaty.