Zongman: Start with the shooting of Hayasaka Ai!

(The pictures in the previous chapter and the chapter before that have been modified once. If you don’t like them, just pretend they don’t exist~)

"Ah...ah?"

Esdeath opened her mouth twice, but was blocked by An Xue's words and couldn't say anything.

"Be careful when you walk, it's not good to fall and get hurt~"

He shook his head and ignored the girl in front of him with an abnormal expression.

An Xue continued walking on the street, looking for the blacksmith shop.

------

"I've never seen him in the Empire... Is he from outside..."

Esdeath touched her red face and looked deeply at An Xue who was leaving.

He can't escape! She will definitely get him!

He put aside the idea of ​​killing Asuna and turned his attention to An Xue.

------

An Xue was walking unsteadily on the street.

After looking left and right, I finally found a blacksmith shop before dark.

"Boss~Are you still there?"

As soon as he entered the room, he felt a heat. An Xue squinted his eyes and looked inside.

There was a two-meter-tall, muscular blacksmith who was hammering iron with a hammer.

Ok?

The craftsman glanced at An Xue and said nothing. Instead, he pointed to the stool next to him and asked him to wait.

Half an hour later——

The blacksmithing process finally stopped, and something like a long iron rod was inserted into the water.

The blacksmith stretched his muscles a few times and finally turned towards An Xue.

"What do you need forged, little brother? Kitchen tools? Farm tools?"

The craftsman raised his eyebrows and had a bad feeling when he saw the military uniform An Xue was wearing.

"A sword... a sword that kills people... can that be done?"

An Xue didn't waste any time and directly stated his request.

“You…”

The blacksmith laughed awkwardly: "Don't tell me whether I can make it or not. You have to see who in this imperial capital dares to make weapons for people other than the emperor?"

"Young man, take a break. No other craftsman shop will take this order."

The blacksmith shook his head. Today was another slow day for business.

"Aren't there often people walking around with weapons on the streets?"

"It can't be possible that they built it themselves?"

An Xue expressed his disbelief, always feeling that the blacksmith was just being perfunctory.

"Don't mention it, it's true!"

The blacksmith continued: "Most of them are made by ourselves, and some are purchased privately from the ministers' private shops."

Suddenly, the blacksmith slapped his mouth and said, "Don't tell anyone that I told anyone."

"You know so much?"

An Xue suddenly became interested. People who know secrets are usually not ordinary people.

"The shop is inherited from our ancestors."

When it comes to his own shop, the blacksmith becomes interested.

"I don't know when the shop was passed down. I only know that the way my family forges iron is a little different from others."

"Unfortunately, the old man refused to tell me why and just told me to do as he was told."

Speaking of his old man, the blacksmith shook his head helplessly.

The old man likes to go out and have fun at night. His body has become as thin as a bamboo pole over the years.

"Hey! If I tell you, won't you reveal everything?"

A rough voice came from behind, and a sturdy old man, nearly two meters tall with gray hair, walked in unsteadily, holding a wine gourd in his hand.

"Hey bro! Forget it. We can't sell weapons privately in our small shop!"

"If you're alright, leave now!"

The stout old man, who was staggering, ordered the visitor to leave immediately.

"Hey! No! Wait!"

The blacksmith immediately stopped the old man.

"Old man!!! If we don't have business, our store will go bankrupt!"

The blacksmith had a sad face. Finally someone came who wanted to make something for him. Even if he didn't sell knives, he had to at least sell something else, right?

"What?! What a joke! I..."

The old man was silent.

"How much do we have left...?"

The old man seemed to be stumbling as he tightly grasped the wine gourd in his hands.

"Three ingots of silver..."

The blacksmith made the number three with his thick, long fingers.

"Three ingots of silver are enough for us to eat for six months...but if we add the thing in your hand..."

"Six days...enough for you to drink for six days..."

...

The old man's eyebrows began to twitch, and he looked deeply at the pot of wine in his hand.

"I... can quit!"

The old man suppressed his pain and placed the wine jug on the table. Then he swallowed his saliva and stared at the wine jug on the table reluctantly.

"Do you believe what you said..."

The blacksmith's mouth twitched. Their family has been poor for more than a day or two. Only the villagers would come to them to make some farm tools.

If it were just a meal, it would be enough, but the main thing is the wine in the old man's hand. He can't get used to it if it's not this kind.

"Hey~"

"Brother, if you want to forge other things we can help you, but weapons are really not possible!"

The old man sighed. His family had been messed with by the empire once. If he forged weapons for others again, his family might be wiped out by the ministers.

"Is it really not possible?"

An Xue took out a large gold brick and added bloodstone to tempt the blacksmith.

In novels, there are scenes where a blacksmith comes across a rare treasure and then agrees to forge it for the protagonist.

? !

The old man's expression changed.

"What's this?!"

With a whoosh, he snatched the bloodstone and held it in his hand.

"Very powerful force, very pure!"

The old man's expression suddenly changed: "I need this, if you can use this as a reward! I can help you forge weapons!"

"Why?"

The blacksmith suddenly raised his mouth.

boom--

He slapped the blacksmith on the forehead: "What do you know, little kid?"

"If I had one of these things back then, I would have a 30% chance of creating an imperial weapon!"

This is imperial tool material!

The most important thing in making imperial tools is not the ability of the blacksmith, but the materials!

In the past, even a single hair of the Dragon King could be made into an imperial weapon: the Thousand-Change Cross Tail.

And that pool of unknown demon blood can be used to make the most powerful imperial weapon: Demon God Appearance: Devil's Essence

"pity..."

The old man's tone relaxed: "I am old now. I can only make a servant with this treasure..."

"As long as we have the tools, even if the minister wants to wipe out our family, we will have some power to protect ourselves!"

He has had enough of the frustrating life these years!

As long as he gives the tools he makes to his children to practice well, his family's blacksmithing skills will definitely be carried forward!

"Ministerial equipment?"

An Xue was stunned for a moment. Could this old man also create imperial tools?

Thinking back to what the blacksmith said before, this shop should be the descendant of one of the 48 blacksmiths who forged the imperial weapons, right?

He casually threw out ten blood stones.

"Are these enough to make an imperial weapon? If not, there are more."

An Xue said generously.

The old man was also stunned for a moment and looked at An Xue deeply.

"How much are you going to pay us..."

The old man looked at the bloodstone on the table with excitement.

But he didn't dare to take it anymore. Just because An Xue looked so confident, the old man didn't dare to act rashly.

After all, maybe in a few seconds his family would turn things around.