Milton Decision

The stonemasons were surprised when they arrived at the forge, which was situated quite close to the village square, they first thought that it would be an easy task to expand the place, but, they were surprised to find that the forge was just a small stone room, with barely enough space to fit the two furnaces that already existed.

-" How are we supposed to expand this?" Jack felt that the man was playing a prank on him.

-" Well, I just need a slight expansion of this forge." Mathew scratched his head as he saw how furious the man was. " Just three furnaces are enough for this place, the rest should be built in another location."

-" Just three?" Jack approached the old building and sneered. " I fear that it won't be possible to even build another one."

-" Huh? Don't tell that this building is too old?" Mathew felt bitter, he knew that problems would eventually arise when building things, he just didn't expect that it would be so soon.

-" Not to mention the age of the building, the person who made it was a complete buffon!" Jack could tell just by looking that taking out even one stone of this building would make it fall like a tower of cards. " You only have two options, build around it and incorporate this building, or destroy it and completely rebuilt."

Mathew sighed, he had already talked with Milton a few days prior, and it was clear that the old blacksmith had too much emotional attachment to his forge. -" Just build around it, the owner of the forge will never agree in destroying it."

-" Aren't you the magistrate? Just order it!" Jack shook his head, the man had many lofty dreams, but, it seemed that he wasn't capable of doing harsh decisions. " Besides that, a forge right in the middle of the city is no good, the noises and fumes will scare away anyone who is looking to live around here."

-" I can't do that... A magistrate should respect his citizens." Mathew quickly shoot down the man's suggestion and gave a firm reply. " Just build around it, there is no other way."

-" That's quite an upstanding belief." Ronald gave Mathew a nod and continued to study the building. " Three more furnaces here... each of them would take at least five square meters, so the new building will have at least 25 square meters." Ronald took out a small rope and began to take measures of the area.

-" It's okay to build things around here?" Jack asked as he saw his companion getting to work, a tinge of annoyance filling his voice.

-" Yes, you can use this area to build without any trouble." Mathew had already begun to zone the village area, and he already planned to make a commercial section in this area, with Milton's forge and the village plaza, that would be a market in the near future as its center. " To be truthful, I expected the area needed to be somewhat bigger, so twenty-five square meters aren't that much."

-" You don't have to worry, this I more than enough space for the forge." Unlike Jack, who was constantly snickering, Ronald was happy to be working, especially on such an interesting job as this. " We can, even more, one more of the furnaces to the new forge, I bet that small smith is quite crowded with two furnaces there."

Mathew thought about his suggestion and decided that it was better to consult Milton, he was the owner of the forge, and his opinion had to be factored in. -" Let me bring the owner of the forge here, he should be the one answering that."

Jack sighed as he saw Mathew leaving the area and inquired Ronald in an exhausted voice. " So? What do you think?"

Ronald, who was still busy measuring the area, didn't understand his question. -" What do I think? About what?"

-" You know! About this place, I didn't eat his excuse of seizing the funds of the previous baron... Something feels fishy around him."

-" Jack... You are just acting like this because you didn't like the man." Ronald couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. " You should separate your personal feeling from the work, besides that, I still don't understand what the man has done to make you so grumpy."

-" He is a bureaucrat for goddam sake! They are corrupt, and it is clear that something is wrong here." Jack cursed as he felt irritated that Ronald wasn't taking his side. " Whenever did you see a village like this having so much land? Even more iron mines? It is clear that he is using the village's resources to develop the land for his own interest."

-" Jack... Are you still mad about the time that bureaucrat scammed you?" Ronald finally began to realize why the man was so upset. " Not every bureaucrat is corrupt."

-" Tsk! Aren't you seeing what he is doing? Building a new forge for one of his friends!" Jack shouted in anger and threw the pouch he was carrying on the ground. " How this isn't corruption?"

-" We don't know his agreement, it's better not to speculate." Ronald would be lying if he said that he didn't find the situation a bit puzzling, but, he knew better than to judge others with so little information. "

Jack was about to throw another fit, but, he calmed down as he saw Mathew approaching with a group of people.

-" Let me introduce you guys, this is Milton the owner of the forge, and those two are the leaders of the stonemasons guild that came to work on the village." Mathew quickly introduced them and returned to the important matters at hand. " So, Ronald thought that your smith is quite crowded with two furnaces here, so he had the idea of taking one out, and putting on the new building."

-" It's true that the old forge is quite crowded, but, won't moving it cause too much trouble?" Milton didn't want to give Mathew any more problems as he already had helped him so much.

-" What do you think about, Ronald?" Mathew didn't have much to say about this as Milton would be the owner.

-" Moving is the wrong word, we will just dismantle it, if the materials are in good condition we can even use them to build another one, saving a little money." Ronald had just finished taking the measurements and was now setting up some string in the area. " There are a few more things to discuss like the height of the roof and materials for the walls and floors, but, I can already estimate the total cost of the materials."

Mathew was impressed by the man's work, as it wasn't even thirty minutes since he had arrived in the area. " That's great to hear! So? How much do you think this would cost?" Mathew was anxious as he finally could put the final details in his plans.

-" 25 square meters would take around five hundred building stones, with a cost of 15 gold coins, but, the most expensive part will be the clay for fixing the stones and fixing the gaps." Ronald calculated the cost in his mind and sighed. " Around 20 pieces of gold, without the transportation cost of course."

-" You should forget about building anything if this is too expensive." Jack stared profoundly at Mathew and waited for his answer.

-" Humm... What do you think? This is your forge after all." Mathew threw the question to Milton, as in the end, he would be the one having to pay off the building.

-" Isn't 35 gold too much? How can I pay that?" Milton felt terrified of owing the prefecture so much.

-" Remember that you still have the prefecture contract, at least for now." Mathew planned to build the prefecture's own forge, as the industry he planned to develop would require plenty of metal tools and components. " If my calculations are right, we will need to depend on your work for more or less a year."

Milton froze in fear, having such a great smith was one of his dreams, and of course, it would do wonders for his family also, but, this was too much of a commitment. " I'm not sure... I didn't expect this to cost so much."

-" It's your call... Remember that you still have the payment of my weapon, if you are succesful, of course." Mathew smiled as he patted the man on the back. " I was going to pay you two gold coins if the weapon was a Low Stage Human Realm Weapon, and four if it was higher than the Mid Stage."

-" You don't have to pay me! YOu already gave me this opportunity! How can I receive money from you?" Milton quickly refused payment, he knew that Mathew took a risky bet trusting him, and the least he could do was not request payment for the weapon.

-" Well, it wouldn't sit well with me getting a spiritual weapon for free, so of course, I will pay for it." Mathew shook his head and continued to speak. "Besides that, two to four gold is a small price for this weapon, even if I was the one who gave the materials."

Jack and Ronald watched in puzzlement as the two of them talked about a supposed spiritual weapon, and after some time holding back their curiosity the two of them couldn't help but ask.

-" Excuse me, but, is this blacksmith a Spiritual Blacksmith?" Ronald asked in awe, as he never thought that someone like this would be living in this small village.