The Runesmith

“Oh, are they doing something with the old clock tower? Are they going to finally fix it?”

“I don’t know, they started bringing in those large slabs… what are they trying to do?”

“Are they removing the old clock? Maybe some rich merchant finally decided to buy it?”

“Why would they, there isn’t really anything here, and it’s not close to the marketplace or any of the districts…”

“Those look like city guards, this must have been ordered by the City Lord… and isn’t that the new Knight Commander? What is he doing here?”

A group of confused people were looking at a large group of craftsmen. They were working on an old clock tower that was inside the city. It was in a somewhat bad location away from any trade or entertainment districts. Not far from it was the city hall which most people hoped to avoid due to the large concentration of soldiers and bureaucracy. Officials for cities were known to have a stick up their rear, so everyone wished to limit the interaction if it was possible.

There wasn’t really much here but for some reason before their eyes, the large structure was being turned into something new. After a while, everyone went on their way but from time to time some of them returned to take a peek at the progress. It didn’t take long as the changes weren’t that extensive, instead, they were kind of strange to the onlookers.

The clock tower remained mostly the same but something was placed on top of it instead. It consisted of a large shaft with three blades attached to it. Only after they started moving did people realize that it was somewhat similar to a windmill. Yet it didn’t seem like the insides of the tower were changed to accommodate the true use of this construction, it was spinning but no grain was being transported inside to be turned into flour.

“What is this supposed to be for? Decoration?”

“Was our city lord this strange? He seemed like a regular noble…”

“Aren’t all nobles strange? But didn’t this all start ever since that Knight Commander showed up? Wasn’t he supposed to be a rune smith?”

“Didn’t that turn out to be a lie?”

Residents of the city didn’t know what to make of this thing. It wasn’t the only strange change that was implemented. Right as this blade tower was being assembled many ditches appeared in the city. They were placed on each side of the road and even caused some trouble with carts and merchants. Some strange black rods that were able to bend were placed inside and then covered up. They could even see them being connected to this clock tower for some reason.

This process was quite interesting as some magic was involved. At first, it was the Knight Commander who displayed earth magic to help create and cover those ditches. After a week some mages appeared to take over and continued filling up the holes with those strange things that were apparently called wires. The purpose of this alluded the populace until they brought in another strange device.

“What are they doing now… why are they placing those poles into the ground?”

“They aren’t made from wood? Are they hollow on the inside?”

The workers brought out a strange hollowed rod through which they started shoving those black wires. One side of this thin iron pole was then connected to a thicker base. Some of the onlookers noticed that this thing was getting assembled near the previously dug-out ditches. Others also saw the workers connecting the two wires with each other by some type of strange clasp.

On top of this thing, there was a glass rectangle that started to get wider when arriving at the top. The four sides were covered by regular cheap glass that wasn’t anything hard to produce even in this world. Then when trying to peek into the inside they saw some strange plate with an even stranger symbol on it.

“Is that some kind of rune?”

The day was almost over so the area they were placing this thing in was becoming darker. Usually, the only thing that lit up the night streets were the torches the guardsmen carried with them. Sometimes when an important guest arrived at night some temporary lanterns could be set up but they could not burn forever.

“It looks like a lantern but not like any that I’ve seen before, it’s more similar to magical lanterns.”

“A magical lantern? But why would they just put them here out in the open?”

“I have no idea.”

Lanterns existed in this world but they were usually costly to produce and even costlier to care for. They required constant refills of mana fluids or mages. They usually found their way into the homes of rich merchants or nobles that had ample amounts of money to spend. Even the ones in richer cities were only placed in rich districts or points of interest. This one on the other hand was near a common road that led to the marketplace.

“Okay, that should be enough, we are going to activate the construct.”

“Oh, they are doing something?”

While the onlookers were contemplating this strange lamp the people that were assembling it, started to back away. To the side, there was another strange box with some switches. It was constructed before this lamp was placed here and the main technician was now about to activate it. After a resounding click, the rune on the plate started responding and quickly a bright yellowish light appeared.

“It is a magic lamp… are they going to place them along the street?”

A commotion broke out again, the light was bright and illuminated the usually darkened street quite well. To everyone's surprise, they could see more of these hollow rods and glass lamps at the side of the city workers. It quickly became clear that they were going to place more of them throughout the city.

Within the span of a few days, the main road had a row of these lanterns. The first time they were all activated the people were baffled by the improvement. Everything was so bright and they could easily traverse back home even late at night. With this amount of illumination another boon was noticed, the street had become a lot safer than before. Thieves and pickpockets could not use the shadows to their advantage anymore, the improvement to safety during the night had been expanded.

Luckily, this wasn't all. Soon an announcement coming from the Town Hall informed them about the future plans of the new lord. These runic lanterns were set to be placed throughout the whole city. They would also reveal a series of new quality-of-life improvements later on and they would be even allowed to test them out for a period of time. No one was sure what to make of it but as long as their life was improved through these magical devices, they were willing to give it a shot.

…….

“The people seem to like the new lanterns but…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes, I’m not sure how they will take the increase in taxes later, what did you call it again, magical power bill?”

“Don’t worry, after they get used to the magical devices they won’t be able to go back again. The tax won’t be that high which shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hm… I hope you’re right my friend.”

Roland Along with Arthur were looking over some paperwork in the villa office. There were mostly records of the material costs for the current project. With the help of Arthur it became possible to create the first wind generator inside of the city. As it was generating magical power he created some street lights that used cheap metal plates.

These could be made even from iron which was easy to come by. With his current level and tier, he was able to copy lesser runes without losing much mana. The runic light spell was very power efficient and would allow these plates to shine for many months without burning through the metals.

They were similar to modern light bulbs and were also easily replaced even by a person with no manufacturing profession. There was a simple clasp within the lantern that could be spread and then clamped back down on the reusable piece of metal. While the work just started he expected the city to be lit up within a few weeks. However, this was only the start of his plan as what happened next was more important.

Lighting up the city would first make it a lot safer and easier for the guards to spot criminals roaming at night. Then after all wires were spread through the city as a net, he would go to phase two. The people in this world lacked a lot of modern-day necessities. After gaining a cheap light source it was time for heating and water.

Plumbing existed but as with everything else, it required a lot of busy work and also magic. He was no plumber but creating a sewage system and runic spells that created water was possible. His own home had a bath that could be heated up by simple runes and soon everyone in the city would be able to do the same.

Even though they were in a region close to a Vulcan during the nights the temperature would decrease. With power being supplied they could create heaters for the night and simple fans for the day if things got too hot. With his runic generators in place and some help from the mana crystals from the mine, they had enough juice to jumpstart this revolution.

“We will offset some of the cost by selling the precious metals for now, while we are on the topic of metals, there were some people that could be useful but you’ll have to judge them by yourself?”

“Oh? Are they from outside of the city or from within?”

“From outside, I think some of them can be useful but how about we ask the Union for some help? I’m sure everything would go smoothly if we get their craftsmen involved.”

“The union huh…”

“I know that you don’t favor them but this is just business.”

Roland frowned a bit but he also needed to look at the bigger picture. He was the only runesmith in the city that would go through another population increase soon. Now that tier 3 monsters appeared in the region, craftsmen on his level would appear here. Even the Union of Dwarves would have someone like that appear. This new person would probably become the new chief there and replace the dwarves that tried to kick him out of the city.

‘He might be worse than them but I can’t keep making lamps and home appliances…’

The biggest problem when allowing others to look at his creations was getting them copied. There were no patent laws in this world, anyone could just take an existing design and copy it if they were able. At most, he could keep others from investigating his wind turbines which were the heart of it all. The only thing he could do was make everyone sign a contract of no disclosure to slow down the process or introduce some sort of self-destruction process into the runic structure.

‘Sooner or later someone will figure it out… but by that point, I should be self-sufficient again.’

“I’ll take a look at their new Chief Craftsman, I think he should be arriving in a couple of days.”

“I see that you are well informed.”

Both of them continued to discuss the city before finally parting ways. Roland had gained a lot of duties. He was the Head Knight and also the Chief of Arthur’s craftsmen. A group of them had been assembled and given residence in one of the watchtowers. It seemed that working under a tier 3 Runesmith as a lure had worked out. Some Enchantsmiths had taken the bait that didn’t belong to the dwarven union.

While that faction was large there were other smaller ones scattered over the whole kingdom. With some help from them, he would be able to progress somewhat faster and focus more on his own work. Now he just needed to nab himself a proper runesmith apprentice and all would fall into place.

‘Those three should be somewhere in the dungeon, their levels are close to being maxed, I wonder what they will choose as their classes but I also need to make a choice…’

After a day of hard work, Roland was returning back home. He found himself in a bit of a predicament after his canine companion had reached his next evolutionary point. The choices he received were quite good but one of them looked somewhat problematic. To confirm his worries he decided to head to one of his acquaintances.

“Sir Wayland, I’m glad that you have come. Let us pray before the Goddess together while she goes into slumber.”

“Ah yes… the sun is going down… right.”

When he arrived at the church a sermon was taking place. Sister Kassia was there along with the old priest that he encountered during the Abyssal Cult larvae debacle. Apparently, just like with the Union when tier 3 monsters appeared next to the city a new leader would appear. With strong undead-type monsters in the dungeon, it was important to have someone around that could dispel greater curses.

“I see that you are busy, I’ll just wait here for a moment I wanted to ask you something…”

Roland needed to wait to the side while Kassia along with the Priest performed their task. Even though this religion was different it had similarities to modern-day Christianity. The only difference here was that miracles could actually be produced by the priests. Godhood was a lot more palpable which increased the number of people of faith. He wasn’t even sure if any atheists existed here as magic was a daily occurrence.

“Praise the Sun, Sir Wayland, you wished to ask me something.”

“Ah yes, praise the sun… I was wondering… are there any divine beasts related to the Sun Goddess? Like um… perhaps a Phoenix or something like that?”

“Divine beasts? The Goddess Loves all creatures that live under the sky, the Phoenix is a creature born of secret flames and has a close relation to our Goddess that is true. Would you like to hear its tale?”

“No that’s fine… are there any wolven creatures that you know of?”

“A wolf birth of secret flames? I don’t recall any legends related to them, hmm…”

“Is that so…”

“There are many divine beings blessed by the goddess. Have you come across one of them? Oh my, could it have appeared in the dungeon?”

“Oh… no nothing of the sort, I was just wondering what the church would do if a monster that was ‘blessed’ appeared in the wild.”

“The church tries to not involve itself with such beasts, we believe that the Goddess has a plan for everything. Of course, it is forbidden to hunt such blessed beings.”

“It is forbidden?”

“Yes, one must not harm a being blessed by the Goddess. If you find yourself discovering such a being, please report it to us immediately.”

“I need to report it?”

“Indeed, heathens target these magnificent beings born of the sun! If it is possible, we must protect them from harm.”

“I see, I think that will be enough. I have to leave.”

“Ah already? How about we pray together for a while Sir Wayland, I’m sure everyone from the flock would love the Head Knight to join us.”

“Ah, you’ll have to excuse me, I’m very busy and need to resume my work…”

He was quick to distance himself from the sun fanatic and the cult-like stares that he was getting. While these people looked harmless on the surface, they could be quite scary. The inquisitors that could judge people on the spot were one problem and when one was judged to be a heretic, then their life would be practically over.

‘Hm… they don’t capture monsters born of the sun but instead, protect them…’

While going back home Roland glanced at the status screen that belonged to his tamed beast. There he could see the possible choices for his next evolution. He had been conflicted on what to get but after having a talk with Kassia, his mind was shifting towards the surprise last one.