I Have An SSS-Rank Service System: Hire Me For Anything!-Chapter 22: The Night Before Iron Making [1]
[Rudimentary Metallurgist Package Purchased!]
[-2,000 Service Points deducted]
[Skill Unlocked: Thermal Vision]
[Skill Unlocked: Kinetic Precision]
Dory felt a dual sensation hit him like a physical wave. Behind his eyes, a sharp, stinging heat flickered for a split second before settling into a strange, crystalline clarity. He immediately accessed the package and checked the skills.
[Thermal Vision (Active): Allows the user to perceive heat signatures and temperature gradients.]
[Kinetic Precision: Enhances hand-eye coordination and muscle memory. Every physical action, from swinging a hammer to slicing a plum, is performed with 99% efficiency, reducing waste and physical fatigue.] 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
It was just as he had thought. These were superhuman abilities, and that was exactly what he needed now. Superhuman abilities could not help with things that lacked a foundation, but they were useful in increasing the speed of workmanship.
It would soon be nighttime, and the girls would be back with clothes and ingredients for the snacks. In the meantime, he would learn the first few steps in making an iron ingot and prepare for work tomorrow. Learning this would also help him find ways to implement his new skills, as he was still hesitant about purchasing higher-tier packages.
He turned to Horg and took a seat on the floor beside him. "How exactly do you make iron?"
After an hour of explanation, as the sun began to dip lower, casting long orange shadows across the smithy floor, the sound of the handcart returned. The girls were back. They were carrying bundles of clothes and small sacks of spices. Their voices were loud, breaking the heavy, industrial silence of the forge.
They announced their parents’ approval and decided to prepare dinner for everyone. Soon, the forge was closed, and everyone moved to the house at the back.
The transition from the soot-heavy air of the smithy to the warmth of Horg’s house felt like stepping into a different world. The living quarters were built separately, connected only by rows of wood in the open space. Inside, the main room was a cramped but cozy space filled with heavy oak furniture, hanging bundles of dried herbs, and a massive stone hearth that acted as the heart of the home.
Lola and Maya did not waste a second. As soon as they crossed the threshold, they reclaimed the kitchen area as their territory. They had brought more than just bedrolls; they had small sacks of onions, a slab of salted pork, and a jar of rendered fat. Their parents had given their grunting approval, mostly because the copper Dory had already distributed was enough to pay for two weeks of grain.
"Liam, move that bucket of grease," Maya ordered, pointing to a corner near the washbasin. "We aren’t cooking dinner next to blacksmithing supplies. And someone get me the water; this pot won’t fill itself."
Dory sat at the long, scarred wooden table in the center of the room, watching the chaos. The five girls moved with a practiced, domestic rhythm. Unlike the technician roles he had planned for them in the forge, here they were in their element. They chopped, stirred, and joked with a speed that made the small room feel alive.
"My dad thinks I’m joining a cult," Lola laughed, tossing a handful of chopped leeks into a bubbling iron pot. "He saw me packing my best tunic and asked if I was planning to marry the blacksmith’s apprentice."
"In his dreams," Liam muttered from the corner, though he could not hide the red creeping up his neck.
"Careful, Liam," Dano teased, nudging him with her elbow. "Lola’s dad has a very heavy shovel and a very short temper. You had better stick to hauling water."
Horg sat at the head of the table, looking unusually small in his own home. He was a man of the forge, a man of silence, and having five talkative teenage girls in his kitchen was clearly a new experience. He watched them with a mix of confusion and a rare, hidden spark of amusement.
Dinner was served in heavy wooden bowls, a thick, salty stew of root vegetables and pork that smelled of woodsmoke and home. As the steam fogged up the small windows, the group huddled around the table. For a few minutes, the only sound was the scraping of spoons against wood.
"So," Maya said, wiping a drop of broth from her lip. "A thousand ingots. Dory, do you actually know how big a thousand of those bars looks? It will fill half this house."
"I know," Dory said, taking a piece of dark bread. "That is why we have to be smart. We aren’t just going to be working harder; we will be working together. If Horg spends all his time fetching coal, we lose. If you girls spend all your time guessing how long the plums need to dry, we lose. This week, we have to be like the gears in a clock."
"A clock?" Lisa giggled. "I have only seen one of those in the magistrate’s office. It ticks and never stops. Are we never going to stop?"
"Not for seven days," Dory replied, his voice dropping its playful tone. "The furnace takes hours to get to full heat. If we let it go cold at night, we waste half the next morning just starting over. That is why we rotate. Two of you will sleep while two of you work the drying racks. Liam and I will take turns on the bellows."
The girls exchanged looks. The reality of the one-week contract was finally sinking in. This was not just a fun job after all.
"We can do it," Lola said, her voice firm. "Better to sweat for a week and have twenty coppers than to sit at a stall for a month waiting for a traveler who never comes."
"Twenty coppers is a lot of ribbons," Lila whispered, her eyes bright with the thought.
As the meal finished, the atmosphere remained light but focused. They joked about who would fall asleep on their feet first and teased Liam about his inevitable clumsiness when he got tired. But beneath the laughter, the blueprint for the week was being laid.
