The Runesmith

“Did I overdo it with this one?”

Roland was looking at what was his new golem. At this point in time, the golem was walking around and performing some simple tasks. Its two hands in the front were picking up wooden blocks and bringing it over to another location. While the robotic hands only had a three-digit design they could grab various objects.

In the middle of this hand, there was a focus point. That would dispense spells along with some other ones spread over its spider-like body. This golem would be considered a higher quality product due to how many runes were on it but this didn’t mean that it would sell. This only depended on the use it had for the person buying it.

When it came to the market the best model wasn’t always the one that was popular. Most people wanted the cheapest version that satisfies the given problem that they wanted to solve with the product. The golem that he produced could carry around items, mine minerals, and also protect itself.

Yet with more that he crammed into it, the more it would cost to make. Would a mining company need their golems to have attack spells inscribed on them? Most of the time the specialized products won out over the multi-purpose ones. Thus after this one was assembled he was slowly wondering if he made the mistake of not focusing on one thing.

‘It’s too late to make adjustments now…’

Roland frowned a bit after looking at the slightly larger spider golem that he had made. The more he worked on it the more improvements he wanted to give it. In the end, he produced a multipurpose spider drone that could fight monsters, mine, and be used to transport various items.

‘I might have to bite the bullet and lose some money on this one…’

This made him think of all the resources he used to build this thing. Luckily most of them came from the mining spot he discovered so even if he sold it under the market value he wouldn’t go out of business. But thanks to all of his work he did manage to improve the operating system even further.

In his hand, he was holding a control rod. It had some buttons on it but he decided to make this remote control more similar to what the people in this world were used to. It didn’t need much mana to run so it didn’t require any mana fluid. The person just needed to inject it and then speak the commands out to make the golem perform tasks. Now, what remained was to give it a nice paint job and then do the presentation at the auction house.

“Are we done, boss?”

“Mostly…”

“So if I go by this design, you want me to paint it blue?”

“Yes, just don’t paint over the eyes.”

After performing many tests to see if this prototype was working correctly it was all done. Now he just needed to fasten the bolts and hope that there would not be any problems during the auction house visit.

“So, decided on the name?”

“A name?”

Roland replied to Bernir’s question as he was moving things around to get to the blue paint. Normally a craftsman would give something like a golem a designated name. It was a new custom variant of a preexisting creation but it was different enough to even be called a new model entirely.

“Well… it looks like a spider… how about Arachnea-1?”

“Arach... what? Isn't that some kind of monster? You sure come up with interesting names, boss.”

While arachnids existed in this world they were not classified as ones. There of course were spiders but the more scientific names that were more prevalent in his old world were different. It didn’t seem that the people from his world cared as much or perhaps they funneled most of their funding into things that could aid the war effort or battling monsters.

“Oh be quiet, don’t forget to put it in the crate when you are gone.”

“Aye.”

The painting process wouldn’t take much as it was magical in nature. The various alchemic concoctions just required a droplet to change the whole outer layer of the metal it touched to change color. What Bernir only needed to do was touch it with the minimal requirement of this liquid for his job to be done. While there was regular paint here this was much easier and at this point, Roland didn’t care about saving a few silver coins by going with the traditional paint job.

With most of the work being done now came the part that Roland was not looking forward to. He would need to inform the lord that he was finished and go down to the Auction house along with his product. Roland was fine working for long hours but when it came to socializing he just lost all of his energy.

While he had been an introvert even in his past life, his reclusive personality had gotten worse. Probably if he didn’t meet up with Bernir or Elodia he would have been living the life of a shut in. Luckily his unwillingness to work with others forced him to start his own business which he could not really do on his own. So while he did dislike it, he was aware that it was a part of life that could not be avoided.

Thus while Bernir was giving the spider golem the finishing touches he decided to pay the city a visit. His robe was in the usual spot along with his half-plate armor that he wore under it. Ever since achieving his new class he had not left his house. Elodia was busy working at the shop and Agni was with her as well.

“Are you going to the lord like that?”

Elodia was the person that gave him the better set of clothes when he met his new ‘partner’. But he didn’t feel that well wearing regular clothes that would put him at a disadvantage. Without any armor that he could inscribe runes on his capabilities to protect himself dwindled significantly.

Perhaps if he figured out the spatial runes he could somehow compartmentalize his armor into a smaller bracelet. How he would get it to spring up on his body would probably be the tough part of the design.

“He didn’t feel like the type that cared about those things that much, the deal has already been made, my clothes shouldn’t matter at this point. I'm also probably not going to meet the lord, I don't think he spends all his time at the auction house.”

“If you say so, just try not to get into any trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not Armand.”

Elodia burst out into a chuckle while Roland felt a bit more relaxed at the expense of Armand’s reputation. Soon both of them said their goodbyes, Agni as always was unwilling to leave his master alone after noticing that he had finally left the workshop. But he had become too large for the city, a large Dire Wolf like him would scare the horses and people.

It was refreshing to finally get out of the workshop. Even though this was supposed to be a volcanic region they were far enough to not get any smoke. The air was nice, clean, and without any volcanic ash or sulfur mixed into it. The people at the gate were letting in merchants as usual.

‘The town sure has grown, not sure if I can call it a town anymore.’

People were now everywhere, while the rush to get a footing in Albrook had died down it only became rowdier. Everyone was working, the power structure had been established which made the workflow more streamlined. But while this might have looked like the right road towards progress he knew otherwise.

Just like in all the other cities that he had seen, the gap between people was increasing. The workers with worse classes or ones just saving up for a class change crystal were down on the bottom.

They were forced to sign lesser than stellar contracts to cover their expenses and became trapped. Then even when they regained their freedom there would be no spot on the market left for them. To gain freedom they would need to do what he did and try to establish themselves in another growing city. If not they could just bargain with the current business owners for a better contract.

While the big bosses at the top were busy with counting money, the people that they were using were too busy to care. If they made enough money to fill their bellies and spend a bit to get drunk it was enough.

Roland was convinced that a lot of these people took this as the norm. Without anything similar to a union they didn’t have much leverage so they adapted to their circumstances. If they managed to haggle a few coins for themselves? That was more than enough.

In others eyes, he was the strange one. First of all, becoming a human runesmith with no master was difficult, even more so when a person was stuck in a city with a big dwarven presence.

Signing a contract with them would not be that outlandish and seen as the normal thing to do. Roland on the other hand was assured that a contract like that would just set him back by many years, or put him on a one-way road where he became nothing more than a rune crafting slave.

While his mind was clouded by thoughts of others he continued to observe. The streets while being busy weren’t that well kept. The slums in the distance was also generating a lot of poverty-stricken people that had no way of producing food. The people that decided where the taxes went lined their pockets while others suffered.

Now Arthur Valerian appeared out of nowhere. He could somehow steer the budget that he was given to make the lives of the citizens easier. But he could also take it and invest it into the rich merchants or areas that generated more income.

Roland was not sure what the right decision would be. On one hand, if the city was cleaned up it could attract more potential investors. With more poverty, there would also be more crime along with the Thieves Guild’s presence. Contenting with that element would be difficult but if done correctly could offer the city a better path in the future.

The easiest method would be to stick to the old tried route. This would keep Arthur in good faith with all the rich merchants and nobles that had invested in them. Perhaps the people at the bottom would somewhat suffer but he would continue to gain money and power.

It was the safer choice but it would also not gain him much favor from the citizens. There was a certain limit of the one-sidedness that a city lord could go through with. A thriving city still needed able-bodied people to continue working. If their morale dropped or if they were too hungry to do their jobs the city would go under.

The tough part was to balance both sides so that they remained content. If the working force left then the city would suffer but if the business owners didn’t profit enough they could do the same. Luckily for Arthur, he did have the dungeon which was a gold mine.

‘Heh, I wonder what he would do if I told him about the tier 3 passage…’

Roland’s little secret grinding spot was unknown to others. He still wanted to at least reach level hundred fifty before he ever considered speaking out about it. This information was one of the biggest assets he had at the moment. Though without that much personal strength nor contacts he would be signing his death certificate if he let it slip. There were ways of getting information out of people in this world and a secret entrance to a potential B rank dungeon was worth smashing some heads in.

Finally, after walking for some time and thinking about his new partner in crime he arrived at the Auction House. This was the place where he first started out in the city. The sales of his scrolls were doing great before he signed up with the adventurer guild. They would still fetch a pretty penny and he only became more proficient at making them.

His only gripe with making more scrolls was that he felt that his talents would be better spent elsewhere. The scrolls didn’t feel that useful when he could inscribe the same spells on almost everything. Pumping them out now wasn’t as lucrative as in the old days.

With Bernir and Dyana working for him now, he could put much better runes on proper equipment. But there was an idea floating in his mind to streamline the process and that was to make a printing press for magic scrolls. With his current knowledge about runes and golems, he might be able to create a program that could transfer his rune smithing ability into a stamp.

‘It would be quite the money maker if I could make some sort of factory to produce scrolls…’

While making everything by hand would be out of the question, if he could create a prototype to do it for him then it was another thing. The hard part would be to copy over the rune smithing skill into a runic structure yet there was a way now open for him. With his new Runic eye of truth skill it could be possible but if he could copy a skill that might not be magic still remained to be seen.

“Stop, this entrance is reserved for special guests.”

While thinking about new possibilities he waltzed over to the VIP entrance. The guards here were quick to stop him as he did look somewhat suspicious in the black robe that he was wearing.

“Here.”

“What are you…”

Before the guard could continue shouting Roland pulled out his golden supplier card that Arthur gave him.

“This should be enough, can I go in?”

To not look too suspicious he removed his hood while showing his face to the guards. This card was proof that he was an important business associate. Yet they couldn’t just let him through like that.

“P-please wait a moment, Sir.”

The card needed to be seen by someone that could actually identify it as the correct product. This hired muscle certainly didn’t have any skills like that and Roland was still a new face. Probably after this day, they would remember his face.

“I understand but please hurry.”

Just as he had expected, another employee appeared along with the guard. They quickly bowed their heads before Roland while he just hand waved it off. With this card in his possession, he would be able to get first class service. No more waiting in lines or for his items to get checked by the person with the identification skill. He would be able to just directly hand whatever he brought over and it would be prioritized by everyone.

“Is the Auction House Manager there?”

“The manager? Yes, please come this way, Mr. Wayland.”

While his face wasn’t that known around here they needed to show him respect. Not everyone could get that card that Arthur gave him. After passing the guard he was led to the Auction House Manager’s office that was not the same as the one that Arthur greeted him in. It was smaller and on the inside, he found someone that he had never seen before, a plump-looking old man.

“Welcome Mr. Wayland I have been expecting you, please sit down, would you like to have a drink?”

The old man had a bright smile on his face and he urged the lady that was probably his assistant to pour them both some alcohol.

“No, that is fine, I won’t take long. I just wanted to report on the item that I was supposed to supply.”

“Ah? Is it ready? The lord has been curiously asking for its arrival!”

“Did he… Well, I’ll be able to deliver it for the coming auction if that’s possible.”

“That’s wonderful!”

The old chubby man seemed ecstatic at the revelation. Before the auction started the young lord would probably inspect his new investment, if he for some reason disliked the design Roland would probably be set back by many months. Thus the time to present himself to the city merchants once more was on the horizon.