32 Blacksmith

Austria, January 3rd 1792

5:38 PM

Lukas and Herman were dueling once again in the garden of the mansion. Since Lukas was five minutes late for that session, Herman decided to expand the time of the session by ten minutes.

Lukas had gotten much nimbler now, he was even being able to push Herman back, of course, the bulky man was not serious in the fight, but it was still very impressive.

After two more hits on Herman's sword, Lukas managed to find an opening and decided to thrust the sword forward, however, Herman leaned backwards, managing to dodge it.

After that, Herman leaped backwards and thrusted his sword forward, hitting Lukas's stomach, making him fall to his knees.

"Time's up! Excellent job today, Lukas," Herman said.

After clinging to his stomach for a while, Lukas finally stood up, panting. Lukas now was working very hard in the training session, and that was visibly paying off.

"Alright," Lukas said, after that, he raised his head to look at Herman. "Can I make a request?" he asked.

Herman shrugged his shoulders. "First tell me about your progress so far," he said.

Lukas nodded his head. Herman was referring to Lukas's research about the screams that often resounded in the mansion.

Lukas then told everything to Herman. "And now I only need to find the material to make the key," the blonde boy said.

Herman nodded his head. "Well, I am impressed by your progress. I hope you are not slacking off in your physical training because of this," he said.

Lukas shook his head. "Of course not! I may have a lot of defects! I may be smug, proud, spoiled, but I'm not a slacker!" he said.

Herman chuckled. "You convinced me. Well, you want to ask me something, don't you?" he said.

Lukas nodded his head. "Yep! Could you take me to a blacksmith?" he asked.

Herman frowned. "What?!"

"Take me to a blacksmith so I can make the key! Please, I don't have any other option!" Lukas pleaded.

Herman sighed. "Okay, I'll see what I can do, I guess you deserve it. You have been doing very well in the training sessions lately."

Lukas showed a proud smile. "I know."

"Do you have the money for that? I will not pay it, you know," Herman said.

Lukas nodded his head with pride. "Of course! I have my savings!"

"Where do you keep them?" Herman asked.

"I have secret spots in my room," Lukas answered.

Herman laughed. "I'd be surprised if you didn't! However, why didn't you keep those documents about your possible wives in those secret spots?" he asked.

Lukas had also told Herman about that. He was feeling so proud for his discovery that he had to tell someone, other than Olivia, about it.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Well, as long as it's possible, I always prefer not to take risks. There's always the chance that someone could find my secret spots," he answered.

"Makes sense," Herman said with a nod. "I'll just talk to your father about it. I'll give him the excuse of "teaching you how weapons are made," or something like that," he said.

Lukas nodded his head. "Great idea, thank you for all your help, Herman," he said.

Herman shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay, brat! I hate to admit it, but I kinda like the way you deal with things," he said.

Lukas smiled. "Thanks, so do I," he answered.

Herman chuckled. "Now I'll speak to your father," he said.

Lukas nodded his head. "Okay."

So, Herman asked a servant nearby to talk to Elias and she asked him to wait for a while. After that, she came back and said that he didn't want to talk to anybody.

Herman sighed. "Please, let me in," he asked.

The servant shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't let anybody in without permission."

"It's okay, Olga, you have my permission," Lukas said. "No problem. I'll take the guilt for anything," he assured.

Then, the servant slowly nodded her head. "Please, accompany me," she said.

Herman nodded his head and Olga took him to Elias's room. "Please, call me if you need anything,"

Olga said.

Herman nodded his head and Olga walked away. The bulky man started knocking on the door. When nobody answered, Herman decided to speak.

"Elias, it's me! Herman!"

Herman heard a loud sigh on the other side of the door, after a while, Elias opened the door of his room. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Well, I'm thinking about taking Lukas to the blacksmith tomo-" he was interrupted by Elias.

"Do whatever you want. The boy knows how to take care of himself. Do you need anything else?" Elias asked.

Herman took a while to answer, but he soon started speaking. "Huh... no, I don't. Thank you," he answered.

Elias then promptly closed the door in front of Herman. Soon, the bulky man could hear the door being locked on the other side.

Herman sighed. 'You shouldn't be acting like this, Elias. I know it's not easy, but...' he thought.

Then, Herman walked away and went to meet Lukas in the garden. "He accepted," he said.

Lukas smiled. "Great. When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Tomorrow. At the time the training session usually starts. Don't be late this time," Herman said.

Lukas nodded his head. "Of course. Don't worry about that," he answered.

After Herman left, Lukas ran into the forest and, after a few minutes, he arrived to the river. He quickly found the clay mold he had found.

Since it was already dried, the blonde boy kept it in the pocket. 'Okay, I gotta replace the key I have right now by the key of my room,' the blonde boy thought.

Then, Lukas slowly walked to the mansion. 'How can I find the keychain now? I can't ask Olivia for it again. However, this is not going to be so easy. I don't even need to take it with me,' he thought.

Lukas entered the mansion and took a bath. After that, he checked if the key that opened Karl's room was still in his pocket. 'I'm glad it didn't fall while I was coming here,' the blonde boy thought, relieved.

Lukas headed to the first floor of the mansion.

There, he saw Petra, the daughter of one of the servants in the mansion, crying.

Lukas raised his brow. "Petra? What's wrong?" he asked.

Petra gasped and turned back to look at Lukas. She seemed to be around Lukas's age. "Y-Young master! I'm sorry for making you see me like this!"

"Huh... it's okay. Just tell me what happened. Maybe I can help you," Lukas said.

Petra gathered her hands. "Huh... I don't want you to get involved in this," she said.

Lukas shook his head. "It's okay. I really wanna help you," he said with a smile.

Petra smiled back as her cheeks blushed slightly. "T-Thank you, young master! You are very kind!" she said.

'Actually, I just want you to tell me where the keychain is. You probably know it,' Lukas thought.

Petra started fidgeting. "Huh... well, I found a stray dog in the garden and my mother didn't let me have it," she said.

'Oh, I know how you feel,' Lukas thought. "You don't necessarily need to have the dog in order to take care of it. Just keep feeding it and it'll come back and will eventually create some affection towards you," he said. 'Perhaps I already know the dog,' he thought.

Petra thought a bit about it and then nodded her head with a smile. "That makes sense! Thanks a lot!"

'It actually is quite simple, if you weren't just three years old, I would call you an idiot,' Lukas thought.

The blonde boy smiled. "Well, it's nothing. Look, I'm looking for the keychain of the first floor of the mansion. Do you know where it is?" he asked.

Petra gave it some thought. "Oh, yeah! It is kept in some kind of storage! Please, follow me," she said.

Lukas nodded his head. "Thank you," he said.

So, the two children arrived to the storage. "Here it is. It's hanging up there. You have to climb up this ladder and then take it," she explained.

Lukas nodded his head. "Thanks a lot, Petra. It was of great help," he said.

Petra blushed once again. "W-Well, it was nothing."

Lukas smiled one last time at Petra and climbed up the ladder. He picked the keychain and carefully sat in the ladder. After that, he replaced the keys.

"Huh... if you allow me, why are you doing that?" Petra asked.

"Huh... well, yesterday I picked one of the keys of the keychain to paint it, but I messed up and put the wrong key in it," he explained.

"Oh, I see!" she said.

When Lukas was finished, he quickly climbed down the ladder. Then, he turned to Petra. "Can I ask you not to tell anybody about this?" Lukas asked. "I don't want anybody to know that I messed up like this," he said.

Petra giggled. "It's fine, young master. I will not say a thing," she assured.

Lukas nodded his head with a smile. "Thank you."

Then, the both kids walked out of the storage.

-----

Austria, January 4th 1792

3:30 PM

"So, Lukas, do you have the mold?" Herman asked.

Lukas nodded his head. "Yes, it's right here," he said as he lightly tapped the pocket of his coat.

Herman nodded his head in approval. "Good. Be careful not to break it," he said.

"Yes, I know," he answered with a quick nod.

"Great, now get on the horse. I don't have a carriage, so this will have to be enough," Herman said.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine, I don't mind," he said.

After struggling to convince him, Herman helped Lukas to get on the horse and the animal started galloping.

-----

After a while on the horse, both Lukas and Herman arrived to the place where the smithy is. "It's here, Lukas. Let's get down," the bulky man said.

The both of them got down of the horse and Herman tied his horse to a fence nearby, so the animal wouldn't get away.

"Let's go," Herman said.

The both of them entered the smithy. There they found a man who seemed to be between 30 and 40 years old.

The old man was hammering a sword. "Hey, Ludwig! It's been a while!" Herman said.

Ludwig turned to Herman and widened his eyes. He immediately abandoned his work and slowly walked towards Herman. "Herman! I haven't seen you for... very long!" he said.

Soon, he looked towards Lukas. "Who's this brat?" he asked.

Herman put his hand on Lukas's shoulder. "This is my pupil, Lukas Von Neumann Hügel," he said with a smile.

Ludwig raised his brow. ""Von Neumann... Hügel?"" he murmured. "Is he THAT child?" he asked Herman.

Lukas raised his brow. 'What?' he wondered

Herman sighed. "Yes," he said as he nodded his head.

Ludwig sighed and went back to work. "I told you that the child that came from that marriage would be cursed! Why are you training him?!" he asked.

Herman sighed. "Stop with those superstitions, old man!" he said.

"That's true! He's what's left from that incident! He was born in devilish circumstances!" Ludwig insisted.

"Huh... can you explain what you mean by that?" Lukas asked.

Ludwig stared at Lukas for a while and then kept doing his work. "This is not a conversation for kids, boy! Go back home! I heard what happened to Mrs. Von Neumann! You must be destroyed," he said.

"This is a subject that has to do with me! Answer my question!" Lukas ordered with a serious tone.

Ludwig just ignored Lukas's request.

Herman sighed. "Look, we don't want any problems! We are here looking for your work!"

Ludwig looked at Herman. "You could have said it before! What is it?"

Herman looked down at Lukas. "Boy..."

Lukas nodded his head. "Alright," he said.

Lukas took the mold out of his pocket and gave it to Herman. "We want you to forge a key," Herman said.

Ludwig grunted in annoyance and looked away from Herman. "It's not a weapon nor a piece of armor! I don't want to!" he said.

Herman sighed in annoyance, but it was Lukas who stepped up. "I'll pay you a lavish value for that!"

Ludwig went silent for a while as he kept working, but he ended up by speaking. "Nobles being nobles, they think they can buy the whole world with money."

Lukas clenched his fist. "You don't want money?" he asked. "Then what do you want? I'll do anything!" he said.

Ludwig suddenly stopped working and then smirked. "Hehe, now we're talking."

Ludwig headed towards Lukas and pulled a bench where he sat on. "Let the bargaining begin!"