Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

Chapter 138 - The Second Button (2)

“Hahaha, don't worry about that! I will do my best since you’ve been so considerate of me!”

“Then I’ll leave it up to you.”

Just as Henry expected, Count Oscar accepted Henry’s Pink Swamp with open arms, as his situation was far worse than Count Terion’s.

Oscar waved farewell until Henry left the mansion.

‘There’s no need to worry about Oscar at all.’

Henry had been worried that Oscar would be offended by the offer of a business transaction, but dealing with a military officer in need of money was as easy as dealing with a hungry child.

Henry had successfully produced the Pink Swamp and set the first trap. Now that he’d secured the distribution of the cigarettes, he’d set the second one.

‘Those two will be adequate as salespeople. If there are too many, the value of the product will decrease.’

Rumors were bound to spread much faster if the product was given only to a few important people rather than a bunch of insignificant ones. After handing out the samples to his new employees, Henry moved on to his next location to complete the things he still hadn’t finished, such as installing more gates.

Henry snapped his fingers and Teleported.

Henry arrived at Monsieur to purchase the items Iselan had ordered before heading to his next destination, the Caliburn Fortress.

After purchasing all of the items, he headed toward city hall to meet Vulcanus.

* * *

The soldiers guarding the entrance saluted Henry.

“Where is the mayor right now?” asked Henry.

“The mayor is currently at the blacksmith shop.”

Vulcanus hadn’t changed. Even after healing from the poison, he wielded a hammer more often than a pen. Henry headed toward the blacksmith shop to see Vulcanus aggressively pounding iron.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Henry waited patiently for Vulcanus, who was so focused on hammering that he didn’t even realize Henry had arrived.

After a while, he put his hammer down with a satisfied expression. Henry said, “Are you done now?”

“Huh! Lord Henry! Why didn’t you let me know you were here!” He quickly greeted him with a surprised expression.

Henry smiled humbly and said, “How could I bother you while you were working so hard? I have plenty of time anyway, and I was able to witness a rare sight.”

“Haha, how could hammering be a rare sight? Anyway, you came just in time! This morning, I finally finished your commission.”

“Oh, really?”

“Seeing is believing. Why don’t you take a look first?”

Vulcanus looked confident and took out a small jewelry box from an ornate safe in the back.

Clack!

He opened the jewelry box, revealing a plain necklace made of white gold.

Henry asked doubtfully, “...A necklace?”

“Haha, I have a plan, so don’t worry and try it on for now.”

Henry put the necklace around his neck as the best craftsman in the empire recommended.

It fit perfectly. The necklace didn’t feel heavy at all even though the chain was made of thick white gold.

Vulcanus made a satisfied expression and said, “How is it? Does it feel like your necklace is part of your body?”

“Yes, it feels great.”

“Say this after me: armor on.”

“Armor on.”

Zing!

“...!”

An amazing sight unfolded. White light emanated from the necklace and poured like a wave toward his toes. By the time the light reached his toes, Henry’s body was fully covered in shimmering white gold armor. Henry was surprised. It reminded him of a white knight.

A blood-colored cape fluttered from his strong, broad shoulders.

‘It’s so comfortable!’

It was surprisingly comfortable, as if he were wearing ordinary clothes.

As Henry inspected the armor with dilated pupils, Vulcanus wore a big smile. He looked even more satisfied.

Vulcanus politely put his hands together and said, “How is it? Although it took a long time, I’m really proud of this piece. I might consider it a Masterpiece.”

Indeed, this idea was worthy of winning the Masterpiece for a fifth time. Henry had never seen a knight putting on armor this way before.

“This is amazing! It’s more than just an innovation,” said Henry in genuine admiration.

“Haha, of course it took a lot of trial and error, but it’s only possible because it’s made out of iron colt.”

“Did you add magic to the necklace by any chance?”

“That’s right. I don’t know why you asked me to make armor out of iron colt, but the Colt Armor is probably the only product in the empire that can equip the wearer in armor in this way.”

It seemed that the name referred to both the armor and the white gold necklace.

Henry had to learn about Colt Armor’s strengths and weaknesses from Vulcanus for quite some time. The more he listened, the more amazing he realized the Colt Armor was and Henry couldn't help but think that this was the perfect armor.

At the end of his explanation, Vulcanus smiled awkwardly and said, “Anyway, I sincerely apologize for the delay. I should have completed this a lot sooner as per our plan, but I became too focused on tweaking it and ended up missing the deadline.”

“Haha, it’s alright. The results are exceptional, so I’m completely satisfied.”

“I feel much better knowing you think that way.”

Because the manufacture of the armor had taken so long, Vulcanus could only give the Colt Armor to Henry long after the subjugation was over.

However, it was worth the long wait.

“Have you completed the others?” asked Henry.

“Yes. It would be disrespectful to prolong the date, so I completed 3 Colt Armors.”

“How much iron colt is left?”

“About half of the amount you gave me. Would you like to take the remaining iron colt with you?”

“No. I will leave it with you. Oh, by the way, have you finished the other thing I’ve requested?”

“Of course, I already completed that as well.”

Vulcanus held out a small jewelry box to Henry.

Clank!

Inside the box was a small white gold ring that reminded him of the Colt Armor.

“Is this similar to the Colt Armor?” asked Henry.

“That’s right. Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Henry tried to take off the Colt Armor gauntlet on his hand to put on the ring, but Vulcanus grabbed Henry’s hand and said, “Lord Henry, as I said earlier, you don’t have to take off the armor.”

“...Right. I forgot as I’m not used to the Colt Armor yet.”

He had tried to take his gauntlet off out of habit, but all Henry had to do was to use his will to order the Colt Armor to remove it.

Zing!

With a pure white glow, the gauntlet on his right hand disappeared and revealed his bare hand.

Henry put the ring on his index finger and visualized the gauntlet back on his hand.

Zing!

The Colt Armor’s glove regenerated on his hand with a white glow.

“This really is convenient.”

“Now you’re just saying the same thing over and over! When I was making the Colt Armor, I focused on convenience as much as possible. Now! Let’s try summoning the Colt Sword by saying ‘sword on.’”

“Sword on.”

Zinggg!

Henry’s eyebrows rose at the weight in his right hand.

The black hilt with its intricate golden design contrasted against the pure white armor. Even the length of the blade was tailored to Henry’s specifications… Every aspect of the Colt Sword was meticulously crafted to his preferences.

“How is it? As you requested, I put extra Col Swords and daggers made of iron colt in the ring.”

“As expected, it’s amazing. I’ve always felt uncomfortable carrying around a sword, but thanks to you, I no longer have to.”

“I’m glad you like it. By the way… Are you sure you’ll be okay? Iron colt can amplify mana, but other than that, it isn’t a particularly useful metal for armor, isn’t it?”

“It’s perfect. There’s no other metal that suits me better than iron colt.”

“Hmm, if you insist…”

Henry had chosen not to reveal to Vulcanus that he was a wizard just yet. It wasn’t the right time.

Snap!

When Henry snapped his fingers, the Colt Sword and Colt Armor scattered with light like a mirage.

Vulcanus said in admiration, “Are you already used to it?”

“I got used to it quickly thanks to their high quality.”

“Haha, I’m glad you like it. Here, I’ve prepared a gift for you, please accept it.”

“There’s one more thing?”

“It’s not anything big, but I made it because I had some free time.”

Vulcanus held out a sword in a black sheath with golden designs.

Shing!

Henry took the sheath and pulled out the sword to check the blade. It was a dark, matte blade that didn't reflect light. In fact, it released a gloomy aura. Henry had never seen a sword like that before, but there was something strangely familiar about it.

“I finally finished it. The poison gold that I will use for my 6th Masterpiece.”

‘Poison gold!’

It was the alloy that had caused Vulcanus’ illness and part of their agreement.

Only then did Henry understand why the sword looked familiar.

‘A sword made from my poisonous blood, huh…’

Henry’s blood was said to be the most powerful poison in the world. In fact, Henry’s blood already had a history of defeating even intermediate Sword Masters. Even an ordinary person might be able to defeat a Sword Master with this sword if they had a bit of luck. It would be a huge, unexpected spectacle.

‘This is an incredible sword indeed.’

The mere fact that this sword contained Henry’s blood meant that it had tremendous power. “As you know, poison gold is a metal that’s innately powerful. Of course, there’s an antidote, but… It’s still a metal that can be misused,” said Vulcanus.

“Are you giving me a sword that’s made out of poison gold because you trust me?”

“Of course. If I can’t trust my savior, then who can I trust? As I’ve said before, I will be presenting poison gold as my entry for this year's Masterpiece.”

“I already know that, but do you remember the agreement you made with me?”

“Of course. You mean the agreement that all new technologies created after the agreement belong to the Million Corps for a year?”

“That’s right and also that if the technology is judged to be extremely dangerous, it cannot be subjected to the terms of the agreement in the first place.”

“Haha, why does it seem like we’re saying things differently now? Yes, as you’ve said, we decided to consider whether or not there was going to be an agreement for dangerous technology.”

Vulcanus developed technology for the purpose of convenience, not war or killing, and poison gold ran counter to that approach.

“However, I intend to give you the manufacturing process for the poison gold according to the agreement.”

“...Aren’t you trusting me a little too much?”

“Haha, it’s alright. I’m trusting you, Lord Henry, and not anyone else, right? I’m handing it over because I think that you will certainly not misuse poison gold.”

“This… I have nothing else to say other than thank you for trusting me.”

“I also made a dagger from poison gold, but these 2 swords are the only poison gold swords in the empire.”

“Thank you. I will make sure to be careful not to misuse your technology.”

“Haha, they are in your hands now. Anyway, now I’ve really given you everything.”

“Thank you so much for your hard work. I will make sure to put your technology to good use in the future.”

Henry finished his business in Monsieur.

In gratitude for Vulcanus’ gift, Henry handed over a few bottles of Shahatra liquor and headed to the Caliburn Fortress.