Epic Of The Demonic Sage

The blacksmith and the two metalworkers approached the table on which the arrows and the bow were kept before taking a look. 

The Blacksmith Milo first picked up the bow and examined it. He scanned it from end to end while also checking the string of the bow. 

"Hmm… this is just a common cedar wood bow. Nothing unusual about it. It's a pretty common design as well and can be found in nearly any shop." The Blacksmith Milo said confidently.

He checked the quiver as well, but found it to be normal as well. "This is nothing special either and can be found in any weapon shop." 

Milo and the two metalworkers finally picked up the arrows and observed it closely.

"This… how can it be?!" Brain said while holding the arrow tip close to his eye.

"Leavanite?" Elmer guessed while looking at the blacksmith Milo.

"Indeed… this is tempered Leavanite." Blacksmith Milo confirmed.

"What is that?" Lucius questioned, not recalling ever having heard or read of this material.

"This is one of the metals that us blacksmith dread to work with. But it is also a mark of respect for any blacksmith that manages to master this metal." Milo answered.

"What makes this metal so special, blacksmith Milo?" Lucius asked, now getting even more curious.

"Leavanite is very hard to work with and has a narrow temperature range below which it hardens quickly. This makes it hard to work with and even harder to temper sufficiently. Mostly this is used to make objects that don't have very specific uses and is used as fixtures for things like safes, strongboxes and even cages.

Making weapons with it is very difficult since sharpening it needs a long time and tempering it is even tougher. It can be used as a blunt weapon as well, but its mass is far lighter than other metals that are much easier to work with, thus making it a bad choice for that.

But if a blacksmith has the skill to work with Leavanite going so far as to temper it multiple times, it can be turned into one of the best weapons outside of Artifacts." Blacksmith Milo explained.

"I see…" Lucius nodded. "Are these arrows very strong?" he continued.

"Oh, of course! Its hardness allows it to hold the sharpness and points for long periods of use without much problem. In arrow tips like these, they will have a very good penetration power despite not having much weight." Blacksmith Milo answered. "But this these arrows are strange…" he added.

"Why do you say so?" Lucius questioned.

"There is no signature of a blacksmith on it." Blacksmith Milo replied.

"No signature? Is that something that should be there?" Lucius asked, narrowing his eyes.

"For normal weapons like this bow, it would be common to not have a signature of some kind on it. But for a very high quality product such as these arrows, a signature is a must. No blacksmith that is skilled enough to make tempered Leavanite will let his work go unrecognized.

Not only is it a mark of quality, but it is also a mark of respect for that blacksmith. In fact, in the entire Grantz kingdom, there are only two qualified blacksmiths I know of that can make weapons with Leavanite.

One of them is the royal Blacksmith of King himself, while the second one is the famous blacksmith Bane." Milo replied.

Hearing all this, Lucius narrowed his eyes as a few thoughts appeared in his mind. 

'All of this is only getting more suspicious.' Lucius thought to himself.

"Where did you find these arrows, my lord?" Milo asked.

"That's the thing. We got this from a thief but he had managed to escape. We would have just let the guards find out the owner of this thing, but when they found the peculiarity of the arrows, they sent this to us." Lucius made up an answer.

"I see… this is quite unusual, though. Usually, the reason for a weapon not having a signature is if someone tried to get rid of the signature. But they would not be able to do so without also causing significant damage to the weapon.

This would end up defeating the use of the weapon itself. The only person who would be able to do so would be another skilled blacksmith, but at that point, they may as well make a Leavanite weapon on their own.

It's not like Leavanite is expensive either. Sure it's a bit uncommon, but still not that expensive that people would have a hard time buying it. It's the difficulty in working on it that increases its price this much.

If you were to buy Leavanite ore, it would cost you only a few hundred copper coins." Milo spoke further.

Hearing all this, only made Lucius more confused.

'With only two people able to make something, it narrows down the relation to the culprit by a very narrow link. Even if the blacksmiths didn't have anything to do with the assassination, they must have some link with the person who set out the contract for it.' Lucius thought to himself.

"Say blacksmith Milo… if someone were to ask for a custom request that the blacksmith was not to put his signature on a Leavanite weapon, would that be possible?" Lucius questioned.

"Impossible!" Milo replied right away.

"No blacksmith worth his salt would damage his pride like that. This would be the same as paying someone to beat their child just because you asked them to do so." Blacksmith Milo spoke.

"So the royal blacksmith and blacksmith Bane would not take a request like this?" Lucius questioned.

"First of all, the royal blacksmith won't take requests from anyone other than the king. As for Blacksmith Bane, he would not do it either. He is a very repeatable and prideful man. He would never let his work be demeaned like that.

No matter how much someone pays him, the blacksmith would never take a request like that. In fact, if someone asked that to them, they would only be signing their lives away. If that ever got out, no other blacksmith would let that person be their customer and do business with them.

And if an influential person like blacksmith Bane with whom even the artificer guild collaborates regularly with, denounces a person, many other businesses would shun them as well." Blacksmith Milo answered in detail.

Hearing all this, Lucius wondered if it was someone other than these two blacksmiths who could have been behind this. While there was a small chance that the royal blacksmith could do this upon the request of the king, it would still be very minuscule.

After all, if the King really wanted to get rid of a count, even if it were a loyal and long serving count, he would have no trouble to do so directly. There would be no need to do it so covertly.

Lucius's main suspect was actually none other than their most recent foe, Viscount Drew. They had an established enmity now and the only reason they were not in direct conflict was because the laws of the kingdom restricted something like that.

Whoever attacked first would be the losing party instead. Though taunting and picking on others would still be allowed, as long as it was not taken too far. Lucius wondered if this was viscount Drew's method of doing it.

But then Lucius's thoughts went beyond that.

'Viscount Drew isn't the only person who wants him dead though… there are bigger enemies outside the kingdom.' Lucius thought, recalling that Gabriel held the rank of a colonel in the Grantz kingdom army, which made him a rather high value target.

Not to mention that he was a feared soldier on the battlefield as well.

"What about outside the Grantz kingdom, blacksmith Milo? Are there other blacksmiths who can work with Leavanite like this?" Lucius questioned.

"Outside of the Grantz kingdom?" Milo narrowed his eyes and placed his hand on his chin while thinking.

"Hmm… there are definitely more blacksmiths in the other kingdoms, of course, but I don't know any particular ones or their names." Milo replied. "Though… I think I've heard that the kingdom of Gisir has a famous blacksmith who is very skilled as well. While I don't know if he works with Leavanite, but if he is that famous then there is a chance he could work with Leavanite as well." He added.

Hearing this, Lucius almost felt like he had confirmed the identity, though there were still several doubts in his mind. Even if the arrows came from outside the kingdom, it didn't particularly mean that it was actually the kingdom of Gisir that was attacking the count.

It could still be someone else that got these commissioned from outside the kingdom and then shipped them here to be used by the spy.

The cogs in Lucius's mind started to turn as more and more ideas popped into his mind. 

'This is definitely way bigger than I expected it to be.'