TBAGM Vol. 2 Chapter 5 Part 3

The day of the Guild Showdown between Greenpeak and Azure Sea Whitecaps.

At Twinwing Smiths and Twinwing Alchemists, they were about to hold a large meeting with all the members.

“No way! I’m going to watch the Guild Showdown!”

“Nick. Today is the meeting where we decide our direction going forward. You’re not allowed to run off.”

“Come on, Kiria. Just today!”

“No means no! Honestly, Nick—you completely change the moment it involves Mr. Lloyd!”

“Of course I do! It’s Mr. Lloyd, you know? My number one priority is always Mr. Lloyd!”

A week had passed since Kiria, Georg, and Rose joined Nick’s blacksmiths’ guild.

The reason Nick was trying to slip out like this was to go watch the upcoming match between Greenpeak and Azure Sea Whitecaps.

And, as if to follow Nick’s lead, another man tried to sneak out as well.

“I’m with Nick! I got a whole week of instruction from Lord Lloyd, you know!? If Greenpeak puts on a pathetic match after that, there’s no way I’m forgiving it!”

“Georg. I’m not telling you to go back to how you were at the start, but aren’t you worshiping Mr. Lloyd a little too much?”

“The me from then… I really want to kill him. Doubting someone like that… it wouldn’t even be strange if I deserved the death penalty.”

Georg ignored Kiria completely and spat curses at his past self.

Why had the man who once doubted Lloyd ended up clinging to him this hard? Because Lloyd had seen Georg’s true potential.

It had been about three days earlier.

After slipping away from Greenpeak’s training, Lloyd had shown his face at Twinwing Smiths just once.

Apparently, he’d come after assigning a half-day training regimen to the mage participating in the Guild Showdown.

And the first thing he did upon arriving at Nick’s guild was, naturally, offer advice to its members.

The first target was Georg, who had picked a fight with Lloyd from the very start.

“You don’t have talent for armor crafting. Why not try making weapons instead?”

“…Huh?”

To Georg—who had done nothing but produce armor—Lloyd’s words felt like they trampled on every ounce of effort he’d poured in so far.

Naturally, Georg had exploded, roaring at Lloyd with everything he had, even though Lloyd was effectively his superior.

“Don’t screw with me! You don’t even know how hard I’ve worked making armor, and you act all high and mighty—”

“I do know your effort. I even know you’ve been making armor every day until late at night.”

“Huh? How do you know that…?”

Just as Lloyd said, before joining this guild, Georg had done nothing but make armor.

Every night, late into the hours, obsessively crafting armor alone—something even his family hadn’t known.

“I’m an Advisor, after all. I know how hard you’ve worked.”

“Then why would you—”

Why would he say something that trampled his effort, something that crushed his feelings?

Lloyd answered with a serious expression.

“Because I want you to feel your growth. Besides, armor crafting and weapon crafting aren’t unrelated. Even if you train weapon crafting first, it won’t be too late to master armor crafting afterward.”

“……”

“So, from here on out, I want you working on weapon crafting. Kiria, you’ll handle armor crafting. And we can leave Metal Shaping to Nick.”

“Huh? Me—armor crafting?”

Lloyd told them that within minutes of stepping into Nick’s guild.

To someone who didn’t know Lloyd’s ability, it would sound like arrogant orders from someone who didn’t understand anything.

In fact, both Georg and Kiria had felt distrust toward Lloyd’s attitude at the time.

“I get how you feel. That’s why this plan only needs to be for one week.”

““Only one week?””

“Yeah. If you don’t feel any differently after one week, you can go back to training your own way like before. But if even a little of how you feel changes, then I want you to accept my guidance.”

After he put it like that, neither of them could argue anymore.

Just endure it for one week. That was the conclusion they reached.

“And lastly, Rose. I want you to go to Orgus and learn negotiation skills.”

“Yes!? The chairman!?” That’s impossible for me!”

“If you tell him ‘Mr. Lloyd told me to,’ he should be happy to teach you.”

“U-Um…?”

At the unbelievable suggestion, Rose tilted her head.

And it made sense she would.

Lloyd made Orgus do all kinds of work whenever trouble arose, but Orgus was, in essence, the king of adventurers—a heavyweight figure ordinary adventurers or craftsmen couldn’t even speak to.

“You’ll be fine. You’ll all grow into something truly admirable.”

—

That had been what happened three days earlier.

And then, under Nick’s guidance, the three newcomers spent three days carrying out the training regimen Lloyd had devised.

This was the result.

Georg, like Ellis and the others, had become a believer in the ‘Cult of Lloyd’, and Kiria’s distrust of Lloyd had vanished without a trace.

“I never would’ve thought I had talent for Weapon Crafting, and Kiria had talent for Armor Crafting. Lord Lloyd is truly incredible to have seen through that.”

“He really is. Now I understand why even Nick respects Mr. Lloyd.”

Watching the two of them, Nick’s cheeks loosened into a smile before he knew it. He was happy as if it were his own accomplishment.

“Yeah. I was saved, too.”

A beat later, Rose entered the conversation.

The reason they hadn’t been able to start the meeting was because Rose still hadn’t arrived at the guild. For the past three days, following Lloyd’s instructions, she had been undergoing training at the Adventurer’s Association under Orgus.

“Rose, you’re back. Well? Did you grow too?”

“Yes. Lord Orgus treated me kindly. From now on, if it’s negotiations, leave it to me.”

Rose had changed so dramatically she looked like a different person from three days ago.

The childlike air about her was gone, and she seemed like an adult woman now.

Or rather, she had become more beautiful, more captivating.

Orgus must have put a great deal of effort into teaching her.

“Alright then, with that settled, I guess I’ll go watch the Guild Showdown.”

“Nick? I know I’m the one who came late, but today is the day you were instructed by Mr. Lloyd to hold a meeting and decide your direction going forward. If you ignored that and went to watch the Guild Showdown, what do you think Mr. Lloyd would think? He might be disappointed and think, ‘So Nick is the kind of guy who can’t even keep a promise.’ Anyone who refuses to hold the meeting—”

“S-Stoppppp! Hah, hah… pulling out Mr. Lloyd is just unfair… Looks like you really did learn negotiation skills.”

Even though he knew Lloyd wouldn’t actually say that, the damage still hit. Nick clutched his chest, breathing hard.

A week ago, everyone would have been thoroughly put off by that excessive reaction. But no one was making a normal response anymore.

Kiria watched with a weary look, but it seemed she understood Nick’s feelings a little.

As for Georg, it went without saying. Even though it had nothing to do with him, his face had gone pale.

“Fine! If that’s how it’s going to be, we’ll finish this meeting fast!”

Nick hurried the members along and shoved them into the meeting room.

Once he got them seated, he immediately began the meeting. Of course, at a rushed pace.

“Alright, let’s start the meeting.”

This meeting was important, meant to set their course going forward.

There were thirty minutes until the Guild Showdown began. If they focused, they could wrap the meeting up in ten.

Nick and Georg had whined that they wanted to be on standby before the match even started, but Kiria ultimately didn’t allow it.

“Georg is in charge of weapons, Kiria is in charge of armor, and Rose is in charge of negotiations. That good with everyone?”

“““Yes.”””

At Nick’s words, everyone nodded.

The three of them from a week ago would have argued for sure. But after three days of training, they had come to understand their own aptitudes.

.

[Name] Kiria (17)

[Skills] Special Coating E→D

[Attribute] Armor Crafting E→C

.

.

[Name] Georg (25)

[Skills] Special Polishing E→D

[Attribute] Weapon Crafting E→D

.

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[Name] Rose (21)

[Skills] Negotiation Manipulation E→C

[Attribute] No change

.

Because this had been Lloyd’s indirect guidance, nobody had achieved explosive growth this time.

Kiria, through Georg’s instruction as someone who had spent years in the trenches, had reached the point where she could produce average-quality armor.

Georg had felt a bit of jealousy at Kiria’s rapid improvement in Armor Crafting over just a few days, but after realizing he had a different talent of his own, he was now pouring his efforts into Weapon Crafting instead.

Rose, too, had learned negotiation from Orgus and shot up to C class.

“Our goal is to surpass the One-Eyed Workshop.”

When Nick declared it, Kiria raised her hand.

“I’ve heard that you received guidance from Abaddon, Nick?”

“Yeah. He was so incredible I couldn’t even compare.”

Nick spoke as he chewed on both admiration and frustration.

Nick had been growing quickly himself, but only within a single field. He was fully aware he still couldn’t catch up to Abaddon, whose mastery extended across everything at an advanced level.

That was why he intended to make use of his talent as a manager, and have his comrades cover one another’s weaknesses.

With a serious expression, Nick continued.

“First, I want us to decide what this guild’s strong point is. If we don’t create some distinctive feature that sets us apart from other blacksmith guilds, we won’t survive.”

That was the main topic of today’s agenda.

It wasn’t as simple as, “If we improve quality, it’ll sell.” The blacksmithing industry wasn’t that forgiving.

Which meant Twinwing Smiths needed something like an exclusive specialty that belonged to them alone.

“And that’s why I’m going to leave it to Kiria and Georg.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Me? Even if you say ‘distinctive feature’…”

The two of them were caught off guard, unable to hide their confusion.

“You two have Special Coating and Special Polishing. If we combine those, we should be able to grant powerful buff effects for weapons and armor.”

Kiria’s and Georg’s skills granted buff effects to the target weapon or armor.

Those skills were rare, and other guilds couldn’t replicate them.

If this plan caught on and took hold, Twinwing Smiths should be able to become the next guild after One-Eyed Workshop.

“This is the standard weaponry and armor that One-Eyed Workshop sells. For mass-produced gear, I’d say the quality is outstanding.”

Nick placed the weapon and armor he’d bought last night on the table.

If even their mass-produced line for D-rank and C-rank adventurers had this level of quality, it wasn’t something you could reproduce so easily. Every craftsman involved would have to be at least C class.

“We’re short on manpower. That’s why we’re aiming for a Partnership Contract.”

A Partnership Contract meant trading preferentially with a specific adventurer guild. If they secured one, the other side would purchase weapons and armor from them steadily. Since it was centered on made-to-order requests, they wouldn’t need mass production, either.

“Can we really land a Partnership Contract? I feel like they won’t sign with anyone who isn’t well-known.”

Rose spoke as she tilted her head. Nick answered, as if to reassure her.

“This is the best move we’ve got. And we’ve got Mr. Lloyd backing us.”

They were small in headcount, but strong in ability. What this guild needed was a Partnership Contract.

They would have partners use their weapons and armor individually, and in doing so, advertise Twinwing Smiths for them.

Once they gained popularity, they would bring in new artisans and expand their influence. That was their strongest play at this stage.

“With Mr. Lloyd’s 【Appraisal】, we can find customers with real promise. After that, it’s up to Rose’s negotiation skills, and your Special Coating and Special Polishing.”

Nick declared it with a grin, the corners of his mouth lifting.

“Alright. Let’s show them what we can do, the strength that’s been buried all this time.”

—