Chapter 69

Chapter 69: The Use of the Gold Ingots - Part 3

After returning home to the castle, I headed to the shower room to freshen up before going to see Princess-sama.

On the way there, I ran into Chloe, who had just finished her training.

"Welcome back, Jin-kun. Surprisingly, you came back quite quickly."

"Yeah, even the blacksmith was amazed at how quickly the things I requested were done. So, I'm thinking of going again next time. Would you like to come with me, Chloe?"

"Sure, I'll come next time. I want to know what kind of person the blacksmith you've been looking forward to, Mr. Jin, is."

I said, "I'm looking forward to it too," to Chloe's excitement.

After that, we finished showering and headed to Princess-sama's room.

Princess-sama, seeing me enter the room, asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I've prepared everything safely. When you see this, I'm sure you'll be amazed, Princess-sama."

"Heh, you're pretty confident coming here... Well then, can you show me the thing that's going to amaze me?"

When Princess-sama asked, I replied, "Of course," and took out the pickaxe that Lisa had made for me.

Upon seeing the pickaxe, Princess-sama frowned and asked, "What's that?"

"It's a pickaxe. But it's not just an ordinary pickaxe."

Saying that, I asked Princess-sama to take a closer look at the pickaxe, and she inspected it carefully.

Princess-sama continued to frown as she looked at the pickaxe, but gradually, her expression started to change as if she was recalling a blacksmith's work she had in mind.

Heh, as expected, even the princess of this era knows about Lisa.

Of course, she would. There's no way Princess-sama would ignore Lisa, who has such remarkable achievements.

"No way, it can't be true... Hey, Jin-san, the creator who made this?"

"Yes, just as you're thinking, 'Lisa Gafka.' She made it in the Gafka workshop."

"Wha—?! No way, no way, no way! That person only creates things for people they like? Even with royalty, they'd reject the request if it's impossible!"

Upon hearing that Lisa is the creator, the princess said with a surprised and anxious expression. This face of the princess, I've never seen it before, even counting my past life.

"Princess, do you remember the request Lisa made a little while ago?"

"Come to think of it, Lisa wanted a gold ingot... but it had to be a special one... Oh, I see!"

"Yes. The gold ingot I showed you yesterday was the 'extra-large size' ingot Lisa was looking for. I took it to Lisa's shop and had her make this pickaxe for me."

As I answered, the princess was initially surprised and stood up, but then she took a deep breath and sat down.

"I can't believe I didn't realize even though I had such an important hint... Jin, you've been trying it since you showed me the gold ingot, haven't you?"

"I thought you might know, Princess, but you seemed unaware, so I took a gamble. Julius told me in advance whether you cared about Lisa or not."

"You have quite a personality. Especially when dealing with royalty."

"But it was a bit fun, wasn't it? Since you're always bored, I thought maybe once in a while it would be okay to try and annoy you. Did I cause you any trouble?"

When I asked, the princess replied with a satisfied expression, "No, I had fun."

Chloe, who had been silently waiting for our exchange, tugged lightly at the hem of my clothes.

"Hey, Jin-kun. You keep mentioning Lisa, Lisa, but who are you talking about?"

"Oh, Chloe, you didn't know, huh? Well, to put it simply, there's an amazing blacksmith who won't take on requests unless they like the person, even if it's royalty. I had this pickaxe made by that person, so that's why the princess was so surprised earlier."

As I explained to Chloe, she reacted with surprise, saying, "There's someone that incredible?"

"Even so, we were played right into it. Jin, you were provoking so much that I decided to go along, but I never thought I'd actually be surprised like that."

"I did have some reservations about provoking royalty, but lately, I've been running out of material for our conversations and I thought maybe I could entertain the princess. I wondered if there was something I could do, and that's how it ended up. I apologize for the provocation yesterday."

"It's fine. I also joined in. But let me give you a piece of advice: it's better not to do this with anyone else in the royal family except me. I took it lightly and didn't say anything, but other royals might react differently."

"Understood. It's something only the fun-loving princess would enjoy."

As I said this with a smirk, the princess happily replied, "I'm looking forward to the next one."

After that, the princess mentioned that she hadn't seen Lisa's work in a while and asked to examine the pickaxe further.

"That's fine, but please don't hold it or anything dangerous. If you get hurt, I can't guarantee my life, Princess."

"I understand. I won't touch it, so you can relax."

Saying that, the princess began to examine the pickaxe closely.

Later, we weren't allowed to leave until the last possible moment before bedtime, and the princess asked to see it again tomorrow.

"For the princess to be so captivated, that blacksmith's work must truly be amazing."

"Well, I've been asking for it for years, but apparently Lisa keeps turning down the requests from royals."

Chloe responded to my words, "That person must be incredible," and commented on Lisa's unchanging attitude towards royalty.

"...Just between us, Lisa says she only makes things for people she likes, but apparently she's even stricter in judging royals. It seems she's only made things for a handful of royals so far."

"Wait, so then the princess having Lisa make something for her..."

"I think it's quite challenging."

Saying this, Chloe looked back at the door to the princess's room with a pitiful expression.

After that, we returned to our rooms, bid each other goodnight, and entered our respective rooms.

"I've finally obtained Lisa's pickaxe. With this, I can start collecting ore... Once I gather the necessary items, I'll need to start preparing to disappear from the capital soon."

Even though there are three years until the main story begins, if I'm not careful, I might run into the major characters again.

Ideally, I'd like to leave the country, but I've probably already established various connections, so I doubt I can go too far.

"At the very least, I should put some distance between myself and the capital..."

Thinking this, I formulated my plans while lying in bed and drifted off to sleep.