Ronald (1)

In the radius of Adventurer's Guild, one building stood out, but, not in a good way. This was a workshop that stood out for not having a single person near it as if people were avoiding it on purpose.

This was of course the workshop of the infamous Flaresmith that was known to be a B Rank adventurer that had conspiracy theories made up about him. Many people thought that he was a criminal from the capital that was exiled instead of being locked up or killed. This story had a lot of holes in it which also made it even scarier.

Why? It's because there is only a certain group of people that can get away with murder in this world. This caused a lot of villagers to speculate that he was secretly a noble, as for what family he belonged to, no one had a solid answer. Again these were all the baseless assumptions that the villagers had made about the Blacksmith.

*****

*Knock* *Knock*

"We have been waiting for a good 5 minutes for someone to come. Maybe he isn't home?"

Nelson had started to get annoyed as he was with his son outside of someone's house just waiting for any sort of response to his knocking. Actually, he would have never wanted to come forward and visit the blacksmith if not for Noah, Noah as a young child was very reluctant in showing interest in any activity.

As a child, Noah would just do what was asked of off him, he wasn't interested in playing with kids either and rather just enjoyed reading as a pass-time. This was the first time that Nelson's son had shown any curiosity to the outside world, so to him, it was very important he granted his only request.

Of course, this didn't mean that Nelson wasn't nervous, the father and son duo stood out like sore thumbs as they were standing outside of a workshop that was intentionally avoided by others. There is always the part that Nelson as someone who disliked rumors wanted to know for himself if this blacksmith was really the person the village perceived him to be.

Just as Nelson was thinking about leaving the workshop with Noah, the door was slowly opened. What greeted the duo was something they didn't expect, it was a young man with a child-like face and golden blonde hair.

"How can I help you?" asked the man politely.

This was not the response that Nelson had expected, he thought it would be some cocky blacksmith adventurer with an attitude but someone expected greeted them instead. It was a well-dressed individual who looked like he knew how to dress properly and also had very profound etiquettes in talking.

'Maybe he is an apprentice?'

"Umm, we were looking for Mr. Flaresmith, could we meet him?"

"Oh, that's a surprise, may I enquire what you are searching me for?"

The words that came out of the proclaimed blacksmith's mouth boggled Nelson's mind.

'Wait what, how is he... no way he can be this young, he is older than the Priestess but looks like a young adult?'

"Oh I apologize for not recognizing you, I wanted to thank you for saving the village from the monster yesterday."

"Actually, I don't blame you, this is one of the few times I have interacted with someone without my cloak on. Also, you don't have to thank me, it was a perfect opportunity for me to get some good crafting material, well only if I didn't mess up."

'That selfishness. That's him for sure, the guy that killed the monster just to ruin the leather.'

"Haha, there was also something else, my son Noah was interested in blacksmithing and wanted to ask you something."

"Wait for a second, the kid wants to ask me some questions about Blacksmithing? Hmm, interesting, don't mind if I do, go ahead."

This reply prompted Noah to speak up, but the problem was that he had no idea how he should ask the man to help him get stronger in the presence of his father, wouldn't this hurt his father's pride? But after a minuscule pause, Noah actually spoke up.

"Ca- CAN YOU TEACH ME PLEASE?" This reply was unexpected to both the blacksmith and to Nelson. Noah had just randomly asked a blacksmith to take him in as a student, well more like an apprentice.

"Kid you know who you are talking to?"

"OH, I am sorry of his actions Mr. Flaresmith, I didn't know he would do thi-"

"I didn't mean it that way, so relax. I meant that isn't he afraid of becoming the apprentice of the Blacksmith that is rumored to be a criminal?"

"I didn't mean it that way-"

"Don't worry, I don't blame you, of course, I know what the rumors say about me, I have been here for long enough, it's not like I am deaf. Hey kid, why are you interested in becoming my apprentice?"

The back and forth conversation had put Nelson on edge, he had never expected Noah would outright request to be a blacksmith apprentice. This was not a small decision to make, Noah was 9 and was only strong enough to kill a normal beast, how the hell could he defend himself against a B Rank adventurer if the rumors turned out to be true.

"I apologize for his actions Mr. Flaresmith, we will lea-"

"It's because you are strong!"

Nelson looked back after hearing Noah's reply just to see the determination in the child's eye. This made Nelson freeze as he start thinking about Noah's previous interactions, the kid was really awkward socially and had a hard time speaking to strangers, he also was never interested in anything and was different from the other impulsive kids. This was the first time Noah actually showed such great determination in wanting to learn something and could Nelson as his father really turn the kid down if he was so determined to learn something.

'This could actually work out, this workshop is in the vision from the guild, he could come with me in the morning and we could go back home together. Hmm, I can make this work but I need to be sure to find out more about the Blacksmith.'

Just as Nelson was thinking about how to make it work, he heard a laugh come from the man in front.

"Haha, this really is the most interesting interaction I have had this complete year, this even tops my brother's visit. Hey kid, you would be my 3rd apprentice if I accepted you so before anything you need to show me your stats and introduce yourself. My name is Ronald, most people know me as Flaresmith."

This was a reply that Nelson never expected, the Flaresmith had just declared his name. This was big news as he had heard in many conversations that even the Church wasn't aware of the Blacksmith's name, what surprised Nelson was that the Blacksmith wasn't really being secretive and was actually very gentlemenly, meeting him no one would expect this guy to be a criminal.

'I still need to make sure.'

"Go on Noah, stretch your arm out and tighten your first so he can view the stats."

Noah did as his father said, actually Nelson wasn't worried about showing off Noah's stats as he knew that the blacksmith would probably have some item to do that even if he disagreed and he was just showing a kind gesture by allowing the child to show him his stats by choice rather than force viewing it.

*****

Name: Noah

Race: Human

Class: Non

Strength: 6

Agility: 7

Endurance: 4

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 9

Charisma: 8

"Oh wait, 9 intelligence? Isn't that high for a kid?"

"Ah Yes, all he does is read books and train."

"PAAAA, don't go off telling people stuff like that."

"So kid, what's your name?"

"My name is Noah!"

"Okay now, Noah, I hope you understand what the duty of apprentices are, they do minor chores and watch the blacksmith do the crafting, I hope you understand that it's not easy as after some time I might get you to pick up the hammer and make some components for me, it may sound easy to be a blacksmith but in reality, it is something very taxing on the body."

As Ronald said this Nelson's ears perked up, it actually seemed that the blacksmith was being honest and genuine towards the father and son. Today Nelson's perception of the rumored criminal B Ranker had completely changed, but in any case he was still going to go and scavenge more information about Ronald.

"Also, I should point out that you will only pay you 2 bronze coins every day, I don't want to spend too much money on a kid that I don't even know would stick around for long or not, the first apprentice of mine gave up after a few months because he couldn't handle the body aches he got from working with high tier materials."

"Wait, you are going to pay him?"

"Of course, did you think I am some heartless beast that would force kids interested in blacksmithing into child labor and destroy their interests?"

As he heard what Ronald had said Nelson looked back towards Noah and started to wonder what he could do to make sure that his son was safe while also making sure to keep the fire of determination that his son showed burning.

Unbeknownst to him, the fire that his son showed was because of Nelson. This is because when Nelson had defended Noah and got hurt by the spike, even though the spike didn't exactly hurt him that much because of his vitality stat, in Noah's perspective Nelson had gotten a life-threatening wound just trying to keep Noah safe.

Noah was determined to become stronger to make sure that he could protect his father while also making sure that his father never had to put himself in any danger to defend him.

"Actually Mr. Ronald, if it's possible, could I talk to you after my duty about this, as Noah's father I have some concerns but I also don't want to limit my child." After some thinking, Nelson muttered these words. He just wanted to make sure he knew who his son was going to be an apprentice under.

"Pa..." Noah froze after hearing his father's words as he realized how hard it must be to accept such a request for his father, actually, it wasn't really Noah's fault as he was never exposed to the theory of Ronald being a criminal, maybe if he knew those rumors, he might have never approached the blacksmith.

"Sure, we can talk over some drinks if you want, just come over when you are free, it's not like I have some big project at hands right now."

"Ah, that sounds good then, thanks a lot!"

Just as they finished with their conversation, the father-son duo took their leave with Noah going back home and Nelson going back to his guard duty.