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As soon as she saw Damian, Diel glared at him with an exasperated expression.

Suddenly, without any preamble,

“How could you suddenly ask for Amantatium out of the blue? How do you expect me to get something like that?”

Watching Diel approach with a face full of frustration, Damian couldn’t hide his apologetic look.

“…I’m sorry. You’re the only one I could turn to for something like this. But… did you manage to get the Amantatium?”

A few days ago, right after his conversation with Torrel, Damian had contacted Diel to ask her to procure Amantatium.

He hadn’t expected her to come all the way to Miltobern in person after just a few days.

“Sigh… really.”

Diel let out a big sigh.

What was she supposed to do with this utterly reckless person?

But then she gave a small nod to the merchant employee standing behind her.

A middle-aged man with a long mustache stepped forward toward Damian and opened the box he was holding.

“Here’s the Amantatium.”

“Oooh…!”

Damian’s eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at Diel with a mixture of astonishment and gratitude.

“I’m really sorry. I know you must be busy, and yet… I made such an unreasonable request.”

In all honesty, he hadn’t expected Diel to come in person.

Just when things were wrapping up in Erkal, he had thrown another impossible task at her by requesting supplies directly for the 6th Legion.

Recently, there had been talk of the 6th Legion’s supply quality improving significantly, which had, in turn, boosted the scale of Hamel Trading Company.

And now, she had even managed to procure Amantatium and brought it herself.

Diel looked at Damian and asked,

“I’m so curious about what you plan to do with this. What are you up to?”

“Well… it’s a bit complicated to explain…”

How should he explain the situation with Torrel to her?

Damian decided to tell her the truth about what had happened.

He figured that making up a half-hearted lie would only arouse more suspicion.

“…So, we’re going to have him smelt the Amantatium and make a weapon.”

“And who exactly is this Torrel?”

“He’s the most promising blacksmith I know.”

“…Really.”

Diel shook her head.

What should she do to prevent Damian from getting into such absurd situations?

But still…

‘Everything he’s done so far has had a reason…’

Diel looked at the Amantatium she had brought.

A mineral many times more expensive than gold of the same weight.

And yet, he was using it to clear one person’s name.

‘Just who is this person?’

Diel felt that coming to Miltobern was a good decision.

If Damian was willing to go this far for someone, then this person was surely no ordinary individual.

Diel spoke to Damian.

“Alright then. Let’s go meet him.”

Damian nodded.

* * *

“What did you say?”

“Torrel is going to smelt Amantatium himself?”

“That crazy bastard. Where the hell did he get Amantatium from? What kind of scam is he trying to pull now?”

“It has to be a scam. It doesn’t make sense otherwise, does it?”

The dark-skinned apprentice blacksmith with nothing to his name.

People thought he wasn’t satisfied with stealing the credit for the masterpiece his master had made and was now trying to pull another scam.

Naturally, all the artisans in Miltobern gathered to condemn Torrel.

But then,

“…But just imagine.”

Someone among the gathered blacksmiths spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention.

He spoke cautiously under the scrutiny of the others.

“What if Torrel actually manages to smelt the Amantatium and create a weapon… What happens then?”

“……”

The hall fell into silence for a moment.

No one had considered such a possibility.

The sudden hush filled the room as they all turned to look at Torrel, who was stoking the furnace.

* * *

Fwooosh!

Inside the temporary forge they had rented just for this test.

Although it wasn’t his usual workspace, Torrel was completely focused on raising the temperature of the furnace.

‘The heat is the most important thing.’

To smelt a metal as tough as Amantatium, a high temperature was crucial.

Torrel added a secret mixture of his own to the furnace, intensifying the heat even further.

And then…

“Whoa… that’s an incredible heat… Is this alright?”

“Yes, this is necessary for smelting Amantatium.”

“…Are you sure you can do this?”

“Of course. I’ve done it once, and I can do it even better this time.”

Although he had thought the first attempt was quite a masterpiece, in hindsight, there were areas that could have been improved.

At Torrel’s words, Damian chuckled and handed him the box he was holding.

“As promised, here’s the Amantatium. It’s not much, but it should be enough for the spear I requested.”

“……”

Torrel opened the box Damian handed him and looked at the Amantatium.

His eyes were filled with a whirlwind of emotions.

The scorn he had endured, the determination to prove himself, and his tangled thoughts all crystallized into one clear resolve.

“…Thank you. I’ll make this work.”

“You’d better. That stuff… is incredibly expensive, you know.”

Damian said with a playful tone.

He was trying to lighten the mood, but…

‘He doesn’t seem to be listening.’

From the moment Torrel laid eyes on the Amantatium, he had already begun his work in his mind.

Soon, Torrel took the Amantatium out of the box and walked over to the crowd of onlookers outside the forge.

He looked at the people and spoke.

“I will prove my innocence by smelting this and creating the finest weapon.”

But at that moment.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

A group of people pushed their way through the crowd, and the man at the center shouted at Torrel.

“You ungrateful wretch! How dare you pull such a stunt after everything I’ve done for you! I offered to forgive you if you just admitted your fault and returned, yet here you are with another scam!”

It was none other than Meister Wiltron, the renowned blacksmith known for his exceptional skills in Miltobern.

But Torrel shook his head at his words.

“I only want to prove my innocence. Master, you saw it yourself… You saw me forge that sword with Amantatium.”

“Shut up, you lying scoundrel! I was willing to forgive you, and yet you dare to stage another fraud like this?”

Wiltron hurled insults at Torrel.

A blacksmith standing beside him yelled out,

“Yeah, you lying bastard! And how do we know that’s real Amantatium?”

“It’s probably just some convincing counterfeit. No way a nobody like him could smelt real Amantatium!”

The surrounding blacksmiths joined in, showering Torrel with curses. But then,

“I am Diel, Vice Chair of the Hamel Trading Company.”

Diel suddenly stepped forward and announced herself.

The Hamel Trading Company had recently gained significant prestige, and many among the crowd recognized her.

Diel addressed the crowd.

“That Amantatium was procured directly by the Hamel Trading Company. I can confirm that it is genuine.”

“…Is she really from Hamel Trading?”

“Yes, I’ve heard their vice chair is a young woman.”

“Our forge does business with Hamel Trading! That’s the vice chair!”

The 6th Legion’s supplies included a considerable number of weapons, and some of the forges that supplied those weapons were in Miltobern.

Naturally, many people here were familiar with Diel.

As her identity became clear, the crowd’s expressions shifted dramatically.

‘So that really is Amantatium?’

‘They trusted such valuable material to this kid?’

Everyone wore looks of disbelief.

Wiltron, biting his lip, glared at Diel.

But Diel ignored him and turned to look at Torrel.

“This is a very precious material. Please… do your best.”

“Yes!”

Torrel responded with determination as he walked back into the forge.

The stage was set.

There was no turning back now.

Standing before the roaring furnace, Torrel picked up his hammer.

“I can do this… I can do this.”

Recalling the sensation of his previous success, Torrel began his work.

Fwooosh!

As the prepared material was placed into the hot furnace and began to heat up, the onlookers’ gazes grew more focused.

Over the coming days, people would take turns watching Torrel’s progress.

As Torrel started his work, Damian turned to leave.

Diel asked him,

“Leaving already?”

“Yes, I need to contact my unit, and besides… this will take a long time.”

Smelting Amantatium was no small feat.

It wasn’t something that could be finished in a day or two.

It would take several days, so what mattered most was creating the best conditions for him to work.

Damian spoke to Diel.

“If you don’t mind, could you assign a few guards here? I don’t want any trouble to happen at night.”

“Don’t worry. This is Amantatium we’re talking about. I’ll personally ensure its safety, so you can relax.”

“…Aren’t you going back?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I’ll leave once the weapon is completed.”

As Diel said, this was Amantatium.

Missing the moment when a weapon forged from it was completed would be foolish.

Moreover, Torrel was still considered an apprentice blacksmith.

If, by some chance, he managed to create a flawless weapon from Amantatium…

“We’d be witnessing the birth of a new master.”

Yet, Diel was still skeptical.

Could an apprentice really handle Amantatium properly?

She was only willing to bet on it because Damian had chosen him.

‘Perhaps…’

She thought that maybe this man could become a future colleague.

Diel’s expectant gaze remained fixed on Torrel, who was hammering away.

* * *

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each powerful strike of the hammer sent sparks flying off the Amantatium.

The material was so hard that an ordinary hammering would leave no mark.

But Torrel remained calm as he observed the Amantatium.

‘First, I need to remove the impurities.’

To do so, he had to heat it and hammer it repeatedly to filter out the impurities.

It was a simple but grueling process.

To fully refine the Amantatium, he would have to strike it thousands of times.

Most blacksmiths would be exhausted long before completing this step.

Bang!

With a powerful strike, sparks flew from the Amantatium.

The onlookers couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

“…He’s been hammering for six hours straight without a break.”

“When is he going to quench it? Does he have to hammer it all day?”

“Even if he’s smelting Amantatium… at this pace, he’ll collapse soon.”

Everyone shook their heads, clicking their tongues.

No matter how strong a blacksmith’s stamina was, hammering like this without rest was impossible.

Pacing oneself was an essential skill for a blacksmith.

But…

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sweltering heat seemed to sear everything around him.

His right arm, swinging the heavy hammer, appeared numb to sensation.

But…

A grin spread across Torrel’s face.

It was when he entered this state of total immersion that he felt most alive.

‘I can do this… I can do even better…!’

There’s a moment in every piece of work when you get a feeling.

A sense that tells you what the outcome will be.

Torrel was certain.

This time, this creation…

‘This is the masterpiece of my life…!’

For the person who believed in me.

“Haaah!”

Bang!

Torrel’s hammering didn’t stop until dawn.