"Make weapons for the Eber Marauders?" I considered aloud, thinking over Mordred's suggestion. "Hm. Quite the proposal."

  "But I mean, Gunther's trustworthy, isn't he?" the dragon argued. "He's helped out so much in figuring out how this place works. And he's kept by his word, hasn't he? So we should totally help him out a bit!"

  "Calm down," I motioned with Kuch's hand. "I'm not arguing against those points. I'm mostly considering the logistics of it all."

  "Huh? What do you mean?"

  "Putting it bluntly, I don't have any more iron," I told with a straight face. "And I can't get any from that abandoned mining town. Over the winter, a certain fight had buried most of it when a very sore loser collapsed the side of the mountain. Frie would need to be digging for a long while to unearth anything."

  Mordred blinked, then scowled. Another grudge to add against that crimson dragon in her books, probably. "And you can't use anything else?"

  "Not in the necessary quantities you're asking. I could make down with copper or bronze, but I'm not exactly flushed with plenty of the materials used for those." My eyes narrowed when I considered I did have a few dragon fangs left, but that would probably also cause lot of uncomfortable questions. "The only thing we have plenty of is wood and leather at this point.

  "But let's not give up yet." In my inquires about, I had found there were a few blacksmiths around Gabion. "Let's ask Hans tomorrow to introduce us to one of them and see if we could get anything like their scraps. I could work with those."

  "Oh, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could even make a sword for him in exchange?"

  "I suppose that would be a fair bargain for involving him in this. Let's ask in the morning."

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  Unfortunately, Hans had bad news for us when we made our inquiries. "I'm sorry, but all the blacksmiths in the city have been put under temporary direct management of House Cordis in order to rapidly rearm our troops following the tide we faced last winter," the guard captain apologetically told. "Your potions helping to get our guards back to their feet actually exacerbated the issue- we have too many bodies, but not enough arms and armor to go around even with all the blacksmiths working overtime."

  Mordred shifted to look at Kuch, who just shook their head with my input. As worth a challenge it would be, rearming an entire city of soldiers wasn't something I was willing to do. I was only one crafter. "Is there anything we could do to help at least?" the dragon tried anyway, earning a small smile from Kuch beneath the helmet. She was learning well on how to become an adventurer.

  And true to form, Hans actually did seem to think about it. "If you were to perhaps become a trusted mercenary band like the Eber Marauders, then I could plead your case to Lady Petula, who has been assigned to manage the temporary takeover," the guard captain suggested. "Maybe I could even ask for a direct meeting. How does that sound?"

  "Sounds better than nothing," Kuch agreed, there was an additional little inquiry to make. "Would she happen to know anything about the flock of dragons that helped break the tide?"

  However, instead of the easygoing answer, Hans' face hardened and he looked between the two quite seriously. "Both of you, don't mention dragons at all," he warned with a shake of the head. "House Cordis has issued a tight crackdown on any mercenary band that makes mention of them."

  "What? Why?" Mordred voiced, perplexed. "It happened, didn't it?"

  "I can't say, it's just an order from the top. I'm just guessing that there were too many charlatans pretending otherwise." He took in a deep breath and looked at the adventurers. "I'm giving you a warning because I know and trust you, but if you do anything like push that you've worked with them to boost your reputation, then I officially am barred from issuing you any contracts."

  ...That sounded bad, and was quite frustrating truth be told. While we knew we had to be careful with Mordred's secret, it sounded like unless we were completely sure that we were talking to somebody of higher rank who already knew of the secret agreement between her mother and House Cordis, we had to keep it under wraps.

  A pity, but it was good that Hans told us now. If we let it slip to this Lady Petula and she didn't know, then Mordred and Kuch would've been in hot water. "Thank you for the word of caution. We'll be sure to mind what we say. Right Mordred?"

  "...Yeah, I guess so," sourly grumbled the actual dragon.

  "Good. Now, if you wish to become a trusted mercenary associate, then there are a few exploration jobs about going outside the wall and hunting whatever is lurking about in those woods..."

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  Hm. So the best way to become trusted mercenaries was to kill some woodland beasts? No, no. That was far too simple and easy. Mordred wasn't going to be challenged or properly stimulated by just another bear hunt. It might also just be lost in the reports, as there were other mercenary bands like the Eber Marauders going out there often. Sure, by virtue of Mordred and Kuch being likely stronger and thus able to survive, we'd win in the long run...but I also did want to speed things up.

  Let's go a little deeper then, and see what big game might lurk in the deep woods. A perfect chance for them to stop by my manor and resupply themselves too. And maybe drop some goodies for me too!

  Before the agreement was struck, I was already walking out to the west with Frie. Before winter and everything that had occurred during, it was my least explored direction as I purposefully remained wary of whatever laid within. With the player dungeon defeated though and a much better body now, in addition to [Doll Maestro] giving me some very handy skills, I now had the confidence to go deeper and see what I could find.

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  I could sense it in the air as I stepped forwards, how much more heavier the air was. This was an area that I knew could never be truly tamed, an actual monster zone where the world couldn't have ever expanded to back in FLOW. Of course, since the world was not a game now, maybe it was possible- but it would require a sizable effort that would take years, even if I were to champion the cause. Better to just respect it and leave it alone, especially when in such areas, the true bounty was actually the unique monsters that made it their habitat.

  Such as the dire wolf that came charging at me the moment I apparently crossed into its territory, going past where the player dungeon had once been. Ah, I suppose that explained why the wolves here were so aggressive- if they were crossbred or descended from a dire wolf pack that settled in the forest, then they were naturally going to be very feral. Or at least more so compared to other species.

  All this I calmly noted, then casually activated a skill to counter. "[Tiger Stance]."

  My body shifted into a prepared counter that caught the lupine monster when it lunged and, in a single easy toss, redirected into a nearby tree. I think I heard its skull crack upon impact and it slumped, definitely unconscious. I was tempted to kill it for its materials, as a dire wolf pelt was very quite valuable, but that'd mean I would already be returning to process the body. No, best leave it be for now, and head deeper in.

  Hm, I don't see any territorial markings that would indicate a goblin tribe roaming the forest. Pity, I would have liked some ogre blood to better improve my health potions, especially now that I know they could be in very high demand. Though goblins, I suppose, would be a flat negative. In FLOW, roaming goblin raiders sometimes had coin taken from them, the implication being that they were taken from nearby settlements or poor travelers. In this age, this far out from what was apparently the reach of 'civilization,' they probably would have nothing.

  Sveg would've probably been disappointed and called for them to already start a farming civilization in the face of such freedom. He had always enjoyed stories about uplifting peoples.

  But as if to make up for my grand disappointment, I felt an excited thrill when I noticed larger and thicker cobwebs appearing around the trees. Oh my, is this what I think it is? My excitement grew and I watched my step, making sure to avoid the growing webbing. Then I saw it and almost wanted to shout in joy.

  A colony of giant spiders! My oh my, this is quite the exciting find, and makes this little scouting trip all worth it!

  Giant spiders were of course a staple in any fantasy world, but in FLOW, extra detail had been given to them. There were said to be entire colonies of varying types and intelligence. And, true to form, a lot of care had been given to what one could harvest and craft from them. Spider venom, naturally, was a big one that a lot of more underhanded player builds loved. But do you know what I loved even more?

  Spider silk!

  Normally, spider webs were quite sticky and unpleasant to the touch. But that was because they, according to the lore, been infused with monster energies for their purpose of catching and securing helpless adventurers. Should one harvest the spider thread instead and then infuse it with their own magics, the material is quite literally the closest thing one could achieve to proper silk taken from the far eastern lands.

  Meaning that I could have a wonderful delight in expanding my wardrobe and fashion options!

  I was just ready about to leap in and start pummeling them when I caught myself just in time. Right, I really should confirm a few things, then leave them alone. Because I imagine Mordred and Kuch bringing back a few giant spiders where others came back with just bears and wolves would flabbergast the people of the duchy, which was the ultimate goal of all this. It'd also be a suitable way for the dragon to push herself in beating an unfamiliar foe, so I couldn't beat them here and now.

  Also importantly, I needed to check something because some giant spider colonies were very smart, almost to a human-like level to a point where a certain anomaly could be born among them. It would be wrong for me to not at least make sure that wasn't the case here, as those were actually considered near-civilized enough. So I directed Frie to intake a sharp breath, then step on a web to purposefully draw their attention.

  The mere sensation of my foot touching a single strand immediately turned many of them on alert and they all looked the way of my doll, who cleared their throat. "Beg pardon," I began, "But would there happen to be an Arachne among you- woah, [Flash Step]!'

  The skill's timing cut it close when a spider nearly chomped into me. Due to the unique targeting system of this skill, I appeared behind another spider and studied their reaction. Just...kind of staring at where I used to be, no object permanence. Only when I cleared my throat did it react, and as if it was the first time it saw me. Yep, these ones were near-feral and probably weren't much smarter than their smaller, natural counterparts.

  A shame. Arachnes were quite intelligent anomalies that many had hoped would become part of civilization, or even a player race option in time. I idly wondered if there even were any of the more intelligent spider species out there anymore. Oh well.

  The innate speed boost from [Flash Step] with a perfectly [Crane Stance] allowed Frie to escape the spider lair without much trouble, so my scouting was complete. Kuch and Mordred could hunt a few of them and bring the bodies back to the city. And should they be missing one or two parts like their spinners in the process, then what a happy little coincidence.

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