A Meeting — Artificing Artisans

A Meeting — Artificing Artisans

When it became known that Luciel would return to the Holy City, it was obvious that Lionel, Ketty, and Kefin would accompany him. Dhoran, Pola, and Lycian, however, were to stay behind at their workshops in Rockford as the Research and Development branch of Luciel and Co. At least, that was the plan until Pola and Lycian voiced their desire to travel to Shurule.

“We must do reconnaissance,” Pola claimed.

“Mister Luciel, you are in possession of numerous inspired magical creations,” Lycian said.

“And there might be even more where those came from,” Pola remarked.

“It is our duty as your R and D team to investigate this matter further. Thus, we should join you!” Lycian proclaimed.

“Also, we’re out of magic stones and there’s no Adventurer’s Guild to buy them from here,” Pola added quickly.

Luciel kicked himself for expecting their reasoning to be anything else. Foolish of him to assume that they would have simply been lonely with everyone gone. His smile was filled with self-scorn.

“As long as Dhoran’s okay with it,” he told them.

At once, the two girls whirled around to the dwarf.

“Hm,” Dhoran grunted. “Could be good for ya both. Humans aren’t so good with their hands, but those folk come up with some crazy ideas sometimes. And with Luciel, we’ll be in safe company. Aye, think I’ll tag along too.”

It was decided. But what awaited the pair of young artificers in Shurule was not what they had anticipated. In their minds, Luciel was to squire them to different stores, introducing them to various crafters. But as it turned out, the life of an S-rank healer was a busy one. Soon enough, Luciel had given Dhoran a budget, and then he was gone, leaving them to their own devices.

The girls felt betrayed, though they knew he had responsibilities. Still, neither were blessed with the social skills their employer seemed to have, and with no other recourse, they turned to Dhoran for their extroverted needs.

“What am I gonna do with you girls?” the dwarf grumbled. Yet, behind his gruff words, he was happy to be relied upon. He accepted the role with a smile on his face.

Truth be told, Dhoran had never set foot in the Holy City before, but worst-case scenario, he could ask for directions at the Adventurer’s or Commerce Guild. How hard could playing chaperone really be?

The answer? Very hard.

The next day, the trio made their way to the city’s business quarter. What they hadn’t accounted for was how rare it was for dwarves and elves to walk the streets, and they were constantly the center of attention.

Petrified and afraid, Pola and Lycian were in no state to be calmly browsing the market’s wares. It was everything Dhoran could do to not make a scene, and he might have done just that if not for the repercussions it would have had for Luciel.

Then, their savior arrived. A young, strapping man who looked to be an adventurer clapped his hands and stole the attention for himself.

“Keep your eyes to yourselves, folks,” he announced. “They’re with Saint Weirdo, so watch it.”

Just like that, the crowd dispersed, muttering his name as they went about their business. The trio watched in awe as the man turned to them this time.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“No harm done,” Dhoran replied. “I, er, didn’t get your name, lad.”

“Elitz. A-rank adventurer and one of the many people who owe their lives to Saint Weirdo. Also, what the rumor mill won’t tell ya is I taught the kid how to use Physical Augmentation.”

“Well, thank ya, Elitz.”

“Like I said, lots of us owe our lives to the Saint, even some of the people who were just bothering you. A whole lotta families didn’t get torn apart thanks to him. So anyone else gives you trouble, just drop his name.”

“I knew the lad was big, but this is somethin’ else,” Dhoran murmured.

Elitz grinned. “The guy’s got no idea how much he’s done or how many people look up to him.”

“That he does not.”

They chuckled together.

“So, what’re you all here for?” Elitz asked.

Dhoran told him, and Elitz became their guide for the day—for just one silver, just like the man he owed everything to. With his help, the trio toured the Holy City, hopping from shop to shop. Pola and Lycian regarded the man cautiously at first, but after some time, they warmed up to him enough to be able to ignore his presence and focus their eager minds on the various magic items on offer.

This went on for several days until finally Elitz’s help was no longer necessary and the three could enjoy their trip in peace. Eventually, this would lead them to Luciel’s own favorite store: Commedia.

“WELCOME TO COMMEDIA ARTIFACTS.”

The trio jumped at the golem’s mechanical voice. But the surprise was quickly replaced with a professional curiosity for the mechanism producing it.

“The eyes are made of magic stones,” Pola deduced. “They must trigger the voice when they recognize a person. Interesting.”

“Simple but very commercially viable,” Lycian agreed.

“Never seen a golem used for somethin’ like that,” Dhoran remarked.

They proceeded to eye every product in the store with the same scrutiny.

The staff was a bit confused. They wanted to tend to the customers, but none of them had ever interacted with a dwarf or elf before. So they called for the shop’s owner, Rina. That wasn’t to say she was any more experienced—she could count on one hand the number of elves or dwarves she’d met—but her customers needed her. So she composed herself and mustered her courage.

“Has something caught your eye?” she asked politely.

“Everything,” the dwarf girl replied.

“What I would like to know is what manner of genius you possess to come up with these ideas,” the elf girl added.

Pola and Lycian didn’t even meet Rina’s gaze. Their eyes were fixed on an item.

“Just the hope that the things I create can make someone’s life a little bit better,” Rina answered at once. Her reply was practiced because the question was hardly a new one. In this case, though, she found the repetition relieving. Their races were different, but they really weren’t that different.

That realization, at least concerning these two girls, would not last long.

“A lot of these items are based on novel ideas,” Pola mused. “But they’re not made like it. They’re totally polished products. Something’s fishy.”

“Indeed,” Lycian concurred. “They’re far too refined, especially given that they’re commercial products. It’s simply ingenious.”

“Um...”

Rina was at a loss for words. She had been reincarnated from Earth, so the products she made weren’t so much the fruits of her incalculable intellect as they were replicas of the standard appliances she was used to. Of course, she didn’t go around telling people that. But she also didn’t have the nerve to tell two clearly professional craftswomen that her creations were simply the children of her own boundless inspiration.

“Don’t mind them,” Dhoran interjected, much to Rina’s relief. “They’re artificers. I tried to tell ’em you humans are an inventive folk but here we are.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Rina laughed nervously. It was, in fact, not okay. Oh god, I’m an artificer too. What do I even...

“You wouldn’t mind showin’ us a few things, would ya?” he asked.

“You’re in the...crafting business?”

“Yeah? Oh, yeah, suppose so. Don’t worry, I’m not in the business o’ pilferin’ ideas that aren’t mine.”

“May I, uh, ask where you do business?”

“Yenice. Name’s Dhoran, head o’ Luciel and Co.’s Research and Development team. Those two’re with me. They specialize in magic items.”

“Yenice. I see.”

The conversation swiftly died.

Pola and Lycian had finally had their fill and were saying their goodbyes.

“You’re creative, I’ll give you that,” Pola admitted. “But your routing needs work.”

“I might deem you worthy of being our rival once your technical skills catch up to your inventiveness,” Lycian said haughtily.

“Ignore the twerps.” Dhoran quickly shoved the two out of the shop.

Once they were gone, Rina left the floor in the charge of one of her employees, escaped to her workshop, and promptly collapsed onto the bed.

“God...” she moaned in exhaustion.

Dwarves and elves, she thought. Those two were cute. And that Dhoran guy was kinda grizzled and cool. She hoped she’d see them again one day. There was just one thing on her mind. I don’t remember a “Luciel and Co.” in Yenice when I escaped...

The answer to this riddle would come in just a few short hours.

Meanwhile, the trio had finished their romp around Commedia.

“Human minds are scary,” Pola said.

“Agreed, but her establishment was frankly the only one worth seeing,” Lycian answered.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

“In which case, we’ve no time for bigotry when there are inventions to be outdone!”

The girls were burning with both a respect for humanity and a newfound professional rivalry.

“Let’s go back to Rockford, grandpa,” said Pola.

“After we acquire some magic stones from Mister Luciel,” Lycian added.

“Hush. You know that lad ain’t stingy,” Dhoran scolded them. “Less beggin’, more gratitude. Understand?”

“Said the pot to the kettle,” his granddaughter replied with a pout.

“Well said,” Lycian agreed.

Dhoran refused to entertain them with a reaction.

And so, Luciel left them with their funds and magic stones, and their short time in Shurule came to an end. The sky was the limit for the trio and Luciel’s enterprise, and Rockford was calling their name.