Harem System In A fantasy World-Chapter 214: The Eccentric Young Crafter

After leaving the arena, Elion and the four girls hurried through the evening streets and found a busy restaurant before the crowds filled it.

They ordered a large spread of food. The table quickly filled with roasted meat, bread, vegetables, and sweet desserts.

Aria immediately claimed most of the sweets while Mira laughed at her. Tessa ate like she had not seen food in days, and Isolde mostly smiled while watching the others talk.

They stayed there for a while, eating and talking about the tournament and the fights they had seen.

By the time they finished, the sun had gone down, and the streets outside were already glowing with lantern light.

Eventually, Elion stood up.

"Alright," he said, stretching slightly. "I’m going to call it a night."

Mira tilted her head.

"You’re not coming back with us?"

"I’ll catch up later," Elion said. "There’s something I want to check first."

Aria narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You’re not going to find another girl, are you?"

Elion laughed. "Haha... No."

Isolde also blushed, because she felt like the accusation was discreetly directed at her as well.

Though she had not spoken about the kiss the other day, and since Elion did not make a point to pursue the matter, Isolde was sure of her feelings now.

It was just that she was inexperienced in these matters, so she did not know how she should act around Elion now.

Should she stay exactly as she was, or should she be more proactive like Aria? These questions weighed heavily on her mind.

"Good," Aria said, pointing at him. "Because if you do, we will find out."

Well had already found a few already, but now was not really the time to tell them yet. It would be better if he introduced all his women when they met.

Just thinking about Aria’s reaction brought a small smile to his face.

Elion smiled as he gave her a small peck on the lips. After saying goodbye to the girls, Elion took a small detour through the city.

What he wanted to do was simple. To commission a new sword.

He had been thinking about it ever since watching the battles earlier. If he was going to focus more on swordsmanship, he needed a proper weapon to serve as his main blade.

At first, he had thought about just buying one from the system store like before.

But after thinking about it, he decided to check what the city had to offer first.

’No harm in comparing options,’ he thought. Besides, there was nothing wrong with owning a collection of swords.

After walking for a while, he reached the market district.

The place was still lively despite the late hour. Lanterns hung above the streets, merchants shouted over each other, and the smell of cooked food and metalwork filled the air.

As soon as Elion stepped into the market, several merchants noticed him.

"Hey, young master! Fine daggers here!"

"Looking for armor?"

"Come see my blades!"

Hands waved, voices called, and people tried to pull his attention in every direction.

Elion maintained a calm expression and kept walking.

Eventually, he spotted the familiar sight of a blacksmith’s stall.

A tall, lanky man with bronzed skin stood behind a rack of simple weapons. Sparks occasionally flew behind him from the small forge burning beside his stall.

Elion walked up. "Good evening."

The blacksmith looked up. "Evening," the man replied. "Looking for something?"

"A sword, if you please," Elion said.

The man nodded and pulled one from the rack.

"This one’s a decent steel blade, with a balanced grip. Good for everyday fighting."

Elion held the weapon for a moment, testing the weight. It was... fine. But nothing special.

After talking with the blacksmith for a few minutes, Elion quickly realized something. The man was just an ordinary blacksmith.

Nothing wrong with that, but he clearly didn’t deal in high-quality enchanted weapons meant for serious mages or fighters who would want to reinforce their weapons with mana during a fight.

Still, the conversation was useful.

"So what’s the usual price?" Elion asked.

"For something simple like this?" the man said. "About ten bronze coins. That’ll get you a steady sword that won’t break on you."

Elion nodded.

That at least gave him a baseline price.

Before leaving, the blacksmith scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"If you’re looking for something better, like an enchanted sword," he said, "there’s a grade one crafter a few streets down."

Elion looked up.

"Oh? What’s their name?"

"Name’s not important, and no one really knows," the man said. "People just know where his shop is."

The blacksmith pointed down the street.

"But I’ll warn you," he added with a chuckle. "He’s expensive."

"How expensive?"

The man shrugged. "Depends on his mood."

Elion raised an eyebrow. "That doesn’t sound promising." What kind of person decides the price of their services based on their mood!?

The blacksmith laughed. "He’s also a bit... eccentric." The blacksmith explained the location of the store and described the general look of the exterior.

Elion nodded slowly. "Well," he said, turning toward the direction the man pointed, "I do hope that just makes it more interesting instead of difficult."

And with that, he headed deeper into the market to find this mysterious crafter.

The best-case scenario would have been if he had found a grade two crafter at least, but he knew how rare they were, so a grade one was not too bad either.

Well, considering that this was Grimholt, he might actually manage to find a few with the right connections, but he just didn’t know his way around this place.

’Maybe I really should have brought Mira with me.’ Perhaps she knew someone.

After walking for a while through the busy market streets, Elion finally reached a place that matched the blacksmith’s description.

Or at least... he thought it did.

In front of him stood what looked like a run-down little shack squeezed between two slightly better-looking buildings.

The wooden walls were uneven, parts of the roof sagged slightly, and a crooked sign hung above the door.

Elion stared at it for a moment.

"...This is it?"

He pushed the door open anyway. The moment he stepped inside—

Clank!

His foot kicked something metallic on the ground.

Elion looked down. There were chunks of metal everywhere. Literally everywhere.

Broken blades, bent rods, old gears, half-finished weapons, and strange metal objects that he couldn’t even identify.

"Uh..."

He stepped forward carefully, trying not to trip over the mess.

"What the hell is this place..."

The inside was surprisingly spacious, much larger than the shack outside suggested. A large furnace sat further inside the workshop, but it was currently cold and dark.

"Hello?" Elion called out.

There was no answer.

He walked further in, stepping around scattered tools and pieces of scrap.

"Hello!"

This time, he raised his voice.

Then suddenly—

BANG! CLANK! BOOM!

Something crashed violently in the back of the workshop.

It sounded like multiple objects falling over at once.

Then came the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!"

The voice sounded young, and oddly... feminine.

"Ete—tete—tete..."

Someone was definitely scrambling around back there.

Elion walked toward the noise and leaned over a large metal divider that separated part of the workshop.

On the other side, he could hear someone hurriedly getting up. Then he finally saw them.

A young man stood there awkwardly.

He wore thick glass goggles and a baggy black shirt tucked into a strange, grey jumper-like outfit. The straps of the jumper were tight around his waist, and his sleeves were rolled up.

But the most striking thing was his face.

It was completely covered in black soot.

So much soot that Elion couldn’t clearly see his actual features.

Still...

He definitely looked young. Very young and also handsome.

Elion raised a hand awkwardly.

"Uh... hello, are you the owner of this..." He looked around awkwardly, as if thinking of an appropriate word for the place, "Establishment?"

The soot-covered figure looked extremely embarrassed for a moment, as if he had just been caught doing something stupid.

But then he quickly straightened up and brushed himself off. The embarrassment disappeared almost instantly.

"Depends who’s asking," he said.

He stepped forward and walked into the open part of the workshop. On the way, he reached up and flipped a switch on the wall.

The overhead lights flickered on. Now Elion could see the place clearly. His lips twitched slightly.

’Is this person really a crafter?’

The entire workshop looked like a metal graveyard. Scrap everywhere. Half-built tools. Strange experimental objects.

Even a few weapons lying around that looked like they had been abandoned halfway through construction.

It honestly didn’t even look like a place someone would willingly live in.

Elion cleared his throat.

"I’m Elion," he said. "From the academy."

The soot-covered man tilted his head slightly.

"I’m looking for a crafter to make a new sword for me," Elion continued. "Something I can use in the tournament."

He glanced around the messy workshop again.

"I heard there was one here."

Then he looked back at the young man.

"So... are you a crafter?"

[...]