The Runesmith Chapter 183: Strange noble

*Cough*

Mary covered her mouth with her hand while giving out an obvious fake coughing sound. Arthur looked to her and then back to Roland that had a confused look on his face. It took a few seconds for it to click but soon he did realize that he picked the wrong words.

“Ah, by ‘mine’ I ant that I wish you to beco one of my retainers, of course.”

Arthur turned his head to the side, Roland could clearly see the young man blushing after making an awkward comnt. While for any normal person being given an opportunity to work for a noble as a proper retainer was a big deal, for Roland it would not be anything that he desired.

The whole reason that he left the Arden estate was to be self-sufficient. Even in his previous life, he bounced around because of the whims of others. Parents, teachers, perhaps even the society that he was in, he felt as if he just followed a paved road that others just told him to tread on.

But as much as he wanted to refuse instantly he suppressed this urge. Arthur might have asked him to beco a follower but this didn’t an that he would be sothing similar to the maid or the guards outside. Instead, he could just be sothing more like an exclusive blacksmith that gains so rewards for prioritizing his lord’s orders.

Thus before he could make a decision, he needed to figure out the details of this deal. Roland had already gone through several contracts and was not against signing others depending on the deal. By this point in his life, he had already co to terms with this part of this world.

“You wish to beco one of your servants?”

“In short, yes but not quite what I had in mind, let clarify. First of all, I’m aware of the problems you have faced, the dwarves and rchants must not have made it easy to survive in this city. But, even though they have tried you have managed to claw your way up!”

Roland looked to the noble that turned away from him and started monologuing about his achievents. It seed that Arthur Valerian was impressed with what he was able to do in this short amount of ti.

“And then there is this golem, it would be very disheartening if such a talented craftsman like you would be able to reach his full potential, thus I am willing to offer you an opportunity Mr. Wayland, beco my personal blacksmith!”

“Personal Blacksmith?”

Roland parroted the statent of the lord as everything was moving fast. He was sowhat expecting to get so kind of offer but becoming the main smith of a lord was not that simple. It carried a degree of responsibility towards that noble, in so cases, these craftsn could be accused of purposely making faulty equipnt which could spell death for them.

If he was responsible for making so personal weapons, he would be also responsible if they broke during battle. Even if it broke for good reasons so nobles would take out their rage on these craftsn, punishing them in various ways. So, while the title would probably be quite the boost to his prestige in the city, it would also carry with it so drawbacks.

“Oh, is it such a surprise? or are you dissatisfied with the offer?”

Arthur asked while also looking away from the magical glass that was showing him the auction house beneath. It would be sowhat rude for Roland to turn down the offer, thus he was not sure what he should do now. The person here could make things really difficult for him if their relationship turned sour.

“Well, my Lord...”

“Speak freely, I can clearly tell that you have so reservations, I would not force the position upon you, I realize that working for such an insignificant noble like might not be sothing that such a young and aspiring Runesmith would want to do...”

“Uh, my lord?”

Roland raised his brow while looking at Arthur that for so reason was comnting about his own low birth. While he knew that the noble was probably a bastard son that was sent here to get rid of, it wasn’t confird before he spoke out.

“Lord Arthur, why did...”

The car girl that was listening on the side raised her voice after hearing the ‘insignificant’ part. She quickly stopped as Arthur raised his hand up though.

“It’s fine Mary, I’m not looking for mindless lackeys, it’s best if Mr. Wayland knows what he is getting himself into.”

Roland just looked between the two while not saying anything, during this whole conversation he wasn’t really able to give much of his own input. It did seem that this young man valued Roland quite a bit and the only reason that he could co up with, was a lack of power. Perhaps the one with the leverage here was not the lord but him instead.

While the noble continued to talk Roland noticed so oddities in his tone and mannerisms. Arthur seed sowhat nervous when he tried to ask so questions and for so reason, he was being overly truthful.

At first, it looked like it would be so kind of negotiation between them but suddenly the young man dropped the noble act. It was as if he wasn’t looking for an employee but a partner instead.

It also didn’t seem as if this noble had a good opinion of himself as he continued to talk down about his own standing. He was sowhat getting emotional as well, it was as if Roland was a piece of wood that he was trying to cling to after his ship had sunk.

“Excuse my Lord... can I be frank?”

Finally, Roland gathered up so courage after hearing the man blunder about without getting to the point of it all. After the question, Arthur just nodded his head before he finally sat back down on his chair.

“Please go ahead.”

“I am not interested in becoming a part of any noble house. I am still in training, I’m also part of the adventurers guild which does take up much of my ti, I don’t think I would be able to continue bettering my craft if I settle down as a personal blacksmith.”

Roland replied quickly, for normal craftsn it was probably the ticket out of poverty. The nobles would supply them with materials and they could just craft away while progressing further with their craft.

Bettering himself as a runesmith was only a part of his future plans, this also included gaining levels and being able to protect himself from others with his own two hands. For that, he needed to fight monsters and create new items for that purpose.

“But... I am willing to hear your offer, I’m sure we can work sothing out. The lord already knows my situation with the dwarves and how they organized my removal from this auction house.”

Arthur nodded.

“Ah, yes the dwarves, of course, you will be free to present your wares to the public at my auction house, I wanted to save it for later but it does seem that you have made up your mind Mr. Wayland.”

Arthur moved his hand towards his desk and brought out a small stack of papers. At first, Roland thought it was just another contract but after seeing the first page he noticed that it wasn’t his na that was on it, but it was Elodia’s.

“I see that you are surprised, I hope that it won’t sour our relationship but my people have looked into your personal matters.”

“These are... papers for the Orphanage?”

What he was looking at now were docunts that stated that Elodia could keep the orphanage that she had bought a couple of years ago.

“Yes, the city official that signed off on the inspection has been removed from his position, he had been clearly taking bribes and didn’t cover his tracks well enough.”

This wasn’t all as besides them he also received a permit to sell items in the auction house. There was even a special card that was similar to the adventurer card which would give him so special privileges.

“Is this a golden supplier card?”

“I see that I want need to explain then, yes this was part of the offerings I wished to hand to you Mr. Wayland.”

The golden supplier card opened up the auction house to anyone having it. People with it wouldn’t need to bother with waiting in line, they could drop off their wares whenever they wanted. They would also pay smaller fees for their wares which sotis went up to 30%.

Now with those two gifts presented Roland wasn’t sure what to do. Would Arthur snatch them away, he really wanted to help Elodia with the orphanage. If he stayed on Arthur’s bad side he could easily reinstate the old inspector and do the whole thing again.

But if he joined him, the rchants in the city would probably get the ssage that Roland had so backing. While he couldn’t force them to sell materials to him directly, he could indirectly pressure them in other ways.

Just like that, one city official gave a bogus inspection to Elodia’s orphanage, so could he order the sa. The dwarves might find themselves with their materials being held up for many weeks by the guards.

Normally a city lord would not go against the dwarven union as they were paying a lot in tax money. But if he could sowhat replace them with his own people, then he would. Back in Edelgard, there was one bloodthirsty noble in particular that went with that option.

“You have my thanks but I’m not sure if I can just accept these...”

“Nonsense, I insist.”

“You would give these? But I already refused your main offer...”

“I see it more as an investnt, I’m sure with ti you will see it my way, Mr. Wayland.”

“My Lord you are very...”

Roland stopped himself before continuing but Arthur decided to finish the sentence.

“Generous?”

“No,... naive.”

He sowhat quickly blurred out what he was thinking. The noble was investing in soone like him without any contracts or promises. This would normally spell disaster, there was nothing keeping Roland from moving out of the city.

“How dare you!”

After blurting out the word the cat maid that was to the side raised her voice. Roland turned his head to the side to eyeball her as it seed that she could attack him at any mont. But before a brawl ensued the two heard a joyous laugh coming from behind the desk.

“Hahaha, naive he said? I think I like you even more Mr. Wayland, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? I can’t offer you much in money but I can lower the margins for any auctions you take part in!”

It seed that he wasn’t offended, which was good for him.

“Did you work for a noble before? You don’t seem intimidated by my na at all, the way you conduct yourself is also peculiar...”

While Roland was noticing elents about Arthur, he was doing the sa to him. Roland was brought up in the modern world and also in the Arden estate. He did not conduct himself as a commoner that would probably be panicking at this mont if they were in his shoes.

“Ah... well, I apologize for being rude.”

He perford an awkward bow but this only made Arthur burst out in laughter even more. The maid that was on the side seed to do the sa as they both started laughing together.

‘Does this guy have a screw loose or sothing? It seems that instead of a runesmith he is looking for a friend or sothing, I don’t get it.’

If Arthur wanted to make a good impression on a potential retainer he had failed miserably. He was talking in a casual way and also just gave out the only bargaining chips that he had. Normally he should have made Roland sign a contract before giving him the papers for the orphanage.

‘Well, I don’t feel like he is lying to at least.’

The person he was talking to was behaving strangely but this only made him seem more genuine. Was Arthur just good at acting and was hiding so kind of ploy that he would regret in the future?

“As I said before, I’m open to doing business with you my Lord, if you wish I will treat you as a priority custor.”

“Priority custor?”

Artur rubbed his chin while thinking before slamming his hand down on the desk.

“I guess that will have to do, for now, I’m sure you’ll co around soon enough. Now, let us talk business, Mr. Wayland.”

It seed that even though he had refused the proposal, Arthur Valerian was still willing to do business with him. This ant that he would keep the auction house privileges and also get the legal papers for Elodia. In return, he would be getting a new business partner that would probably ask him for so favors.

What ensued after was just regular business talk between the two n. Arthur was mostly interested in presenting Roland’s golems on display. In his mind, this was the most unique product that he could offer and he wanted to maximize on the monetary gain.

“Thus I would like to propose this divide...”

After so back and forth they agreed on a certain percentage. During the conversation, Roland was sure to ntion his displeasure in the rchant’s way of dealing with him. He did not ntion that he was getting his materials from the thieves guild but even without asking, Arthur probably had a suspicion.

This was sowhat dangerous, Roland didn’t really save much money on buying from the black market but the city lost money in untaxable wares. If this was known, he would quickly be thrown into jail. Luckily his new associate was willing to help him out with that.

“I don’t think that would be a problem, Mary.”

“Yes my Lord?”

“Mr. Wayland, this is Mary, my personal maid, if you give her a list of the goods you require she will be able to get them for you, of course you’ll cover the cost of the transaction.”

It was a very simple solution. While Arthur could potentially threaten the rchants into selling to Roland, there was no need to. Instead he could use Mary as a middle man. The rchants would not be able to deny services to the lord’s personal maid, even if they knew that she was just dumping off everything at Roland’s house instantly after.

“Isn’t this deal sowhat one-sided?”

After everything was said and done, Roland asked this question. When sothing seed too good to be true, it mostly was. Either he was getting himself into sothing that could backfire dramatically or he was receiving a deal of his lifeti.

Even after refusing the main request of becoming the lord’s retainer, he was still getting all the things that he wanted. Access to the auction house, the right to Elodia’s orphanage, and being able to receive materials at the market price through Mary’s help.

There were also no binding contracts prepared, Arthur was just giving out gifts that were almost free. Not like he wouldn’t be working and creating more items either way, now he just had a better venue that could probably gain him more money and prestige.

“It might seem one-sided to you, Wayland but I think I’m a good judge of character.”

Arthur just smiled while Roland was handed the paperwork. The eting was over and for the ti being, they agreed on helping Roland present so runic items when he was ready. He needed so ti to figure out what the best model to sell would be as he would be opening himself up to a new market.

“Is that so, well then... I’ll see you when I have the prototype ready.”

With no binding contracts, Roland had ample ti to work. But, even though the promise was made with words he intended to work diligently with this new noble. This was his chance to finally stick it to the dwarves and after three years of being kicked around by them, he was eager to out stage them.

...

“That didn’t go as well as I hoped for Lord Arthur, are you sure we can trust him? I did prepare a proper contract...”

After Roland left, Mary and Arthur were left alone in the room. The plan was to convince the runesmith into signing a contract with them, but for so reason, Arthur decided to go off-script.

“Didn’t you notice? That man is hiding it well but... I’m sure of it...”

“Hiding sothing? No... what is it?”

“Haha, well it doesn’t matter, I’m sure he will deliver on his part of the agreent.”

Arthur shrugged while walking back to the magical mirror, from it he continued to stare at the beginning of a new auction with a faint smile covering his face.