I Have An SSS-Rank Service System: Hire Me For Anything!-Chapter 16: Anthracite Coal? And Five Beauties?!

Horg finally shook off the shock and took a seat on the stool.

"I didn’t even sit while they were haggling?" he muttered under his breath.

Dory sighed and sat on the floor, shifting his broken glasses. ’I need to get these fixed.’

He took Horg’s palm and placed the bag of coins on it. "You already have the money, now let’s get to work."

Horg shook his head. "Don’t you think we need to get the laborers before starting?"

Dory smiled.

Horg immediately shook his head frantically this time. "No, no. Don’t you dare say it. It scares me when you give me that warm smile, son."

Liam blinked a couple of times.

Dory pressed his lips into a thin line. "The three of us are enough. I’m sure of it. Do you really want to waste more money? You’ve gone to the Foothills to get materials beforehand and also given the village a sum amount of money. There’s no risk in taking a risk by not employing laborers. Laborers, workers, they’ll be employed, but not now. Say, how much is left in the money we earned from the market square?"

They had earned three hundred and sixty-five coppers the other day. Horg had given ten coppers to Dory, spent one hundred coppers on the materials, and gave the village’s tax fund fifty coins, bringing them back to a total of two hundred and five coppers.

"Two hundred and five, exactly."

Dory placed his hand on his chin. "We still have that much?"

He then turned back to Liam. "Go to Maya and collect apples and tart plums. Tell her I sent you. And also tell her, I’ll definitely fulfill my promise."

Liam rolled his eyes. "The last part wasn’t necessary, you know?"

Dory smiled sheepishly as Liam rushed out of the shop.

Horg wanted to say something, but Dory beat him to it. "You gave me twenty coppers as my first advance. Ten coppers at different periods, which means you still owe me fifty-three coppers."

Dory was saying all of this while pacing back and forth, leaving Horg in suspense.

When Horg noticed he had paused, he opened his mouth again to say something, but Dory cut him off again, unknowingly.

"Elian has given us five hundred coppers. Seven days. One hundred iron ingots. Hmm, think, Dory. Think."

He looked at the dirty wall of the forge, mentally overlaying a spreadsheet.

"Seven days for the first batch. One hundred ingots. That’s roughly 14.2 ingots every twenty-four hours. If you and I take twelve-hour shifts at the anvil, and Liam handles the bellows and material feeding," Dory paused, his eyes narrowing. "Wait. You said two hundred and five coppers left from the market, plus the five hundred advance. That’s seven hundred and five. Horg, stop clutching the bag and listen."

Horg blinked, snapping out of his trance. "I’m listening, I’m listening!"

"We aren’t hiring laborers because we don’t have the time to train them without losing focus," Dory explained, his finger tapping against his temple. He stood up, his posture straight and authoritative.

"We use the seven hundred coppers for three things. One, high-grade anthracite coal from the merchants in Agusta, it burns hotter and cleaner than the local charcoal. Two, a second set of bellows so Liam can use his feet and hands simultaneously. Three, a mountain of food. We aren’t leaving this shop for the next week."

"And the plums?" Horg asked, confused. "Why send Liam for fruit when we’re about to work ourselves to death?"

Dory looked at him as a wolf’s grin spread on his face. "We might not hire laborers, but we sure will hire five kids who are good at carrying, sweeping, and assisting at a certain level."

Horg’s confusion worsened. "Huh?"

Just at that moment, Liam rushed back in with a bag of dried apples and tart plums. He dropped it on the wooden floor and took shaky breaths.

"Wow! Who knew Maya’s shop was actually this far?" he said, panting as he fell flat on the ground, staring at the ceiling while breathing heavily.

Horg ignored his son’s antics of looking for excuses not to work and turned back to Dory.

"Soooo?"

Dory squatted in front of Liam. "I can see you’re really tired. But I still need your help for a few things."

Liam groaned. "No. Thank you very much."

Horg wanted to say something, but expectedly, Dory beat him to it.

"Oh, I just thought you’d love working with five teenage girls our age for the next week, including Lola."

Liam sprang up. "Really?"

Horg hissed at his son’s nature and finally got the chance to speak. "What exactly is your plan, Dory?"

Dory stood up. "You’ll understand soon enough. Liam, collect ten coppers from your dad and go to five different grocery stores in the village, including Maya’s and Lola’s. From each, get one of these items: ground pepper, a jar of bitter-vine juice, two pouches of coarse salt, a small bottle of honey, and a crate of the sourest lemons you can find."

Horg stared at Dory like he had started speaking a foreign language. "Pepper? Lemons? Vinegar? Dory, we are smithing iron, not making a salad! Why are we wasting coppers on groceries when we need every copper available?"

Liam was already at the door, his fatigue forgotten at the mention of Lola. He snatched the coppers from the bag in his father’s open palm before the big man could even close his fist.

"Pepper, vinegar, salt, honey, lemons, and the girls. Got it!" Liam shouted over his shoulder, disappearing into the morning light.

Horg slumped back onto his stool, looking at the empty space where his son had been. He looked at the bag of silver, then at the dirty wall, then finally back at Dory.

’What is he thinking?’

Dory picked the bag of dried apple slices and tart plums from the ground and checked it.

"Looks like Maya packed enough today."

He then turned, walking toward the house. Before he went out, though, he turned to Horg.

"Don’t you think you have to go and get the anthracite coal from Agusta now?"

Horg sprang up. "Yes. Right. But there’s just one question."

Dory took a step further back into the shop. "And what might that be?"

Horg scratched the back of his head. "What is anthracite?"