Chapter 40 Business Proposition

At first light, Azi awoke from his slumber and deftly moved out the bed. He wanted to quietly move so that Shizu would continue to sleep soundly. While he did not mind being cuddled in the morning, he did have his own matters to attend to this morning.

Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful since Shizu had unconsciously grasped his shirt tightly during the night which made it impossible for him to get out of bed without waking her up.

Wanting to not wake Shizu, Azi carefully took off his sleeping shirt with Shizu still firmly gripping it. Now free from his shirt, he moved to a nearby closet in the room and grabbed a change of clothes.

He gathered his blacksmith attire, tool belt, goggles, a forged spear head, and his 2 apothecary satchels half full of his equipment. He exited the room to go change in the bathroom, but before he left, he saw Shizu hugging his sleeping shirt close to herself.

Azi smiled at the sight, but his expression changed to a wry smile when Shizu began to audibly inhale to smell his shirt. It seems that after sleeping together for so long, Shizu had become accustomed to his scent.

This made Azi feel as if Shizu was turning into more of a cat as every day passed. Her antics kept escalating but thankfully Kajima was able to reign her in after multiple stern scoldings.

Azi chuckled when he remembered how Shizu looked so dejected after receiving one of Kajima's scoldings.

Azi would always have to console her by pampering her like a spoiled cat. From his memories, he instinctively scratched behind her fluffy ears as it seemed that it felt enjoyable to Shizu. He had to at the more extreme times, have sparring matches with her so that she could vent her frustrations.

He felt a noticeable chill when he remembered his recent sparring match with Shizu, it reminded him to not piss her off too much in the future.

Securing the last of his attire and bags to his person, he moved his dirty clothes into a nearby hamper. Today, Azi needed to make a few rounds in the village to stock up on supplies for the forging process to remake Shizu's weapon.

Grabbing some hard crackers, black bread, and cheese from the kitchen, Azi ate a quick breakfast before exiting the house. He met Kajima outside the house as he was chopping wood that would be made into charcoal for the forge.

Kajima noticed Azi's early departure and asked.

"No morning training today?"

"Not today, I plan to rest and gather the last of what I need for Shizu's weapon today. I'll be heading into the village for a while so I will be back before dark. Can you let Shizu know? Also a guard will come by to pick up his spear, mind giving it to him?

"Sure thing boy, just be sure to come back before dark or else you'll miss dinner. And you better not miss it, tonight I got that dessert you like coming in." Said Kajima as he gave Azi a knowing smile.

An excited light in Azi's eyes began to glimmer as a small amount of drool began to form on his lips.

The dessert Kajima was referring to was one of the first foods Azi ate when he began living with Kajima. It had the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate and was considered a luxury item in Shisayama.

Azi had only been able to eat it one or two times the past two weeks, so hearing that he could enjoy it again had him take a serious mental note to come back on time.

Kajima's chuckled at Azi's reaction, he shooed off Azi to get him to get going.

Both said a brief farewell to each other and went on their way with their own business.

Azi's first stop was to Ben and Bail's shop. He needed to show off the new metal he created and finalize the details of his personal project with them.

After 2 weeks of living in Shisayama, he had become proficient at navigating its roads and quickly made his way to the pair's shops.

Azi called out as he moved away the curtain that blocked the entrance of the shop.

"BEN, BAIL, YOU HERE?!"

"YEAH!!, WE IN THE BACK AZI." Said a voice coming from behind the front counter.

"ALRIGHT I'M COMING IN!"

Making his way behind the front counter, Azi opened the door located behind the counter and stepped inside Ben and Bail's work area.

The backroom was enormous as multiple kilns, anvils, and forges were spread across the large room. There was enough equipment here for 5 blacksmiths to operate in comfort which is what occurred here as Ben's apprentices used this backroom as their workshop.

Bail had agreed in the past to allow Ben's apprentices to make weapons for his shop, so he created a workshop for them in his weapon's shop. Ben still had his own personal workshop in his own store, but he spent most of his time teaching his apprentices since he planned to retire in a couple years.

Today the workshop in Bail's shop was somewhat empty as the apprentices had the day off. The room was only occupied by Azi, Ben, and Bail.

Pulling up a few chairs and a table, they all sat around the table and began to talk about their mutual project.

Ben started the conversation.

"So how's the new hammer holding up? Is the metal any good?"

"No complaints, the durability and strength are similar to that of refined steel. After I examined it yesterday for any strains or cracks, I found no issues from the tests I performed the day before. Here. Take a look." Azi then took out a brown notebook from his bag.

Flipping to a specific page, Azi showed the notes he took down concerning his observations and experiments.

Ben and Bail looked over the notes and their eyes began to widen as they were amazed by what they read.

"Is it true, can it really replace refined steel?" Asked Bail, his voice tinged with excitement.

"Not completely, it makes for a cheaper and easier to make alternative to refine steel, but it lacks a few of the qualities of refined steel. For the new metal to be on par with refined steel, the user must be able to manipulate a small amount of magical energies to bring out the latent properties of the new metal." Responded Azi.

"Even so, well done lad. You seem to be making a name for yourself already, but with this I think everyone in the Empire will want your new metal.' Added Ben.

"Well, that is the plan, which brings me to my next point." Said Azi as he took out the spare spear head he had forged yesterday.

"I made this for you both to test. While the metal works well as a hammer, we need to test the metal when it's made into different weapons and shapes. I'm giving this to you so that you can test it yourself. If you are interested in what you find, let me know and we can come to a deal on how we can sell it." Explained Azi.

Bail picked up the spear head and began examining it as he said. "I'll run a few tests, but I'll let you know when I've come to a decision. But are you sure you want to give this to us? We could steal the credit from you?"

"Not to worry, I plan to inform Kajima about today's conversation. So, unless you want beef with him, I suggest that you don't do anything rash." Said Azi with a grin on his face.

Ben and Bail stiffened up at the thought of facing a pissed off Kajima and they nodded their heads in agreement. Wanting to change the topic away from Kajima, Ben asked.

"So what are you going to call it, you made the dang metal so now's you'r chance before someone else names it for you."

Azi then pondered on what name he should give the metal. Remembering that it took a combination of iron, nickel, gengiri carapace, and beowolf claws. He decided to call it blood steel due to how much blood he had to drain from monsters so that he had enough materials to make it.

It was also to represent the tiny crimson red channels in the metal and from his previous knowledge of how iron is found in the blood of most animals.

"Why blood steel? Why not black steel?" asked Ben.

Suddenly, Bail smacked Ben in the head with an open palm as he retorted.

"JUST LET THE LITTLE LAD NAME IT. COME ON, HAVE SOME TACK BROTHER."

"OUCH, alright alright I was just making a suggestion. Do not gotta be so aggressive Bail." Whined Ben.

Bail sighed at Ben's whining and asked. "So is there anything else you need Azi?"

At Bail's question, Azi wrote up a list of items he needed delivered to Kajima's.

He would need more materials to make a few more items he had in mind for the future but what was imperative was he had enough material to remake Shizu's weapon.

Using the money he made from doing small commissions from Ben and Bail, such as making knives or doing some maintenance on some weapons. Azi had made a small amount of money for his own personal use.

In the two past weeks, he was able to save up 2000 Minos, which was about 2 months' worth of funds a single peasant needed to live. He used up 3/4 of his total cash, so he was left with 500 Minos to use for other items he needs to buy from the market.

After a bit more chatting about business and some bantering about good food and drink found around the village. Azi said his farewells and made his way to his next destination