Warmth of the Heart

48th floor of Aincrad June 2024

The workshop was filled with a pleasing sound: the slow churning of a giant water wheel.

It was a modestly sized home for a crafter, but the water wheel made it expensive. When I first spotted the house in the initial rush into Lindarth, the main town of the forty-eighth floor, I thought, This is the one! Then I saw the price tag and my jaw dropped.

From that point on, I worked myself to the bone, even taking out multiple loans at once. In just two months, I raised the three million col I needed. If this were happening in real life, I’d be covered in muscles, and my right hand would have thick calluses from swinging a hammer so much.

But it was all worth it when I beat out my rivals to purchase the deed, turning this little watermill into Lisbeth’s Armory. It all happened three months ago, on a chilly day for spring.