Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28
“Yes, Tae.”
The girl’s eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence.
Tae decided it was time to dangle the carrot in front of her.
“That’s sound thinking. Good. I was planning to tell you all this when the moment was right, but now’s as good a time as any. Go fetch Daisy, Miron, and Telra.”
Miron and Telra.
Slaves he’d purchased to manage the mad ones and handle the household tasks.
They arrived.
Tae began to speak.
“I am a merciful master, and I value efficiency above all. You are my slaves, but if you generate profit for me that exceeds both the price I paid for you and everything I’ve invested in you, I will grant your wishes within reason.”
Daisy, Miron, Telra.
All three looked taken aback.
But Lant alone remained calm and composed.
“This includes granting you freedom, should that be your wish.”
Tae didn’t particularly hate the Slavery System.
He’d been born with the memories of living on Earth in the twenty-first century intact, but he wasn’t the sort to be a living embodiment of law and order either.
Still, he understood one fundamental truth: the Slavery System was inefficient.
There was a measurable difference in output and work efficiency between willing slaves and unwilling ones.
Even in Roman times, they’d given slaves a modest wage, which could accumulate until the slave could purchase their own freedom. Such a system had existed.
Though the odds were slim and few actually achieved freedom that way, the mere existence of that possibility mattered.
“Daisy, Miron, Telra—as long as you avoid mistakes, each of you will receive one Goldmanta Coin per month as wages. Save them and pay your purchase price, you’re free. Or if you distinguish yourselves through deeds beyond the ordinary, I’ll reward you accordingly.”
The three’s prices varied slightly, but averaged around five hundred Goldmanta Coins.
One coin per month in wages, spent not at all—
Would mean freedom in roughly forty-two years.
That was the base calculation, but bonuses could accelerate the timeline considerably.
Or they could simply spend their monthly wages however they wished.
In that case, they’d remain slaves forever.
“And Lant, the same applies to you. From now on, whenever you march into battle beside me, you’ll receive a stipend. However, in exchange, the Dark Magic and other arts I teach you will accrue as debt. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes, Tae.”
“Good. I think you all understand. Any questions?”
Daisy hesitantly raised her hand.
“M-master.”
‘This is unexpected. Quiet Daisy asking a question?’
“Go ahead. Speak.”
“Is it… is it not possible to simply remain a slave?”
“So you prefer slavery, then.”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
‘I can see why, actually.’
Daisy.
According to what he’d gathered, some gambler of a father had sold her off without hesitation.
Growing up in such a household, she’d naturally lived in poverty from childhood.
By comparison—
Tae was a harsh master in name only. He didn’t treat his slaves cruelly.
Food was always plentiful; she never went a day without meat at all three meals.
Moreover, Daisy had learned cooking, reading, and mathematics—skills that made her valuable, commanding a higher price.
At least double what uneducated slaves like Miron and Telra fetched.
This had been Tae’s practical decision, born of simple arithmetic and household budgeting.
But having received even modest education, she now viewed her current life as something approaching satisfaction.
“Then do as you please. What you do with the wages I give you is your own affair.”
“I’m grateful for your generous offer, master.”
“Very well. Then…dismissed. Starting this month, I’ll provide your wages. What you do with them is entirely up to you. And Daisy—”
“Yes, master.”
“You stay behind.”
“Yes.”
Daisy’s cheeks flushed noticeably.
‘Whoa, no—not like that. Put those thoughts away. Put them away.’
* * *
What he wanted from Daisy was nothing scandalous.
Merely more detailed instruction.
He’d simply ordered her to compile and report on household expenditures for the coming month—food, necessities, and the cost of scrap bone for crafting the Bone Spear, among other things.
You have to pay accordingly.
Daisy turned back with an expression of vague regret, but Tae paid it no mind.
After tidying up the household system in that manner, however modestly,
Tae decided to act on Lant’s advice.
He went straight to find a mercenary guild.
The mercenary business was still booming—as mentioned before, Harundel had several mercenary guilds.
You might wonder why a profession that dealt in sword-work was doing so well,
but in this world, for reasons unknown, monsters periodically spawned, thrived, and bred on their own.
Monster subjugation. Or escort contracts to protect against monster threats. These never ceased coming in.
The Sewers themselves were still teeming with all manner of low-grade monsters despite what had happened before—it was a place of truly remarkable vitality.
Perhaps the hypothesis was right: some mad Dark Magic user kept summoning them from somewhere crawling with monsters.
Otherwise it made no sense at all!
Regardless of the reason, Tae headed for the Silver Shield Guild.
Unlike the Black Spear Guild, which accepted every miscellaneous request, the Silver Shield was a mercenary guild that specialized in escort and security work.
“I wish to contract for a mid-sized escort operation. Is that correct?”
Mark, one of the executives of the Silver Shield Guild, posed the question to Tae.
Beneath the Guild Master who owned the guild, there were five Sub-Masters.
Mark was one of them—a 4th Class Rank mage in his own right, and also the chief financial officer responsible for the guild’s operations.
He was an intellectually-featured middle-aged man who, despite being a mage, carried a remarkably muscular frame.
Even judging by magical ability alone, he appeared to be more than Tae could yet handle.
“Yes. I intend to pay one thousand Goldmanta Coins per month.”
“One thousand Goldmanta Coins……?”
In Korean terms, a billion-won-level major contract!
This was…… substantial.
It was a sum that even a knight with an estate would find difficult to produce—well worth the shock.
On an annual basis, that came to twelve billion won.
At this level, it was enough to even invade a small territory.
This is why Mark was staggered.
His expression remained impassive, but internally, beads of cold sweat were forming.
“I’ve heard that you earn quite substantially. But I had no idea you were earning on this scale.”
He truly hadn’t known.
That a consumable magical artifact like the Bone Spear could generate such sums?
“I earn rather well. And when you make money this quickly in such a short span, you inevitably attract pests. So I came to the Silver Shield Guild to apply preventative measures in advance.”
“Wise indeed. In that case, you’ve come to the right place.”
The Silver Shield Guild had the highest reputation for reliability in Harundel.
Part of it was that the Guild Master came from a noble family to begin with, but it was also because he was a Paladin.
This world was polytheistic, with many gods.
And the Guild Master was renowned as a Paladin of Fides, the god of promises and contracts.
Given that he served such a god, he could only be thorough when it came to contracts.
Because of this, the Silver Shield Guild naturally became specialized in escort work.
“And separately, there is one more favor I wished to ask……”
“A favor, you say?”
“I would like to apply some greasing to those above beforehand.”
As just mentioned, the Silver Shield Guild’s Guild Master came from a noble family.
The third son of some Viscount house, if memory served.
Duke. Marquess. Count. Viscount. Baron—among these five Noble Ranks, Count and above were called Great Lords or High Lords.
Under the Empire’s nobility law, from Count rank upward, one could grant positions of Viscount or Baron to those under one’s jurisdiction.
However, such titles could not be granted without limit—there were boundaries.
Thus, high nobles of Count rank and above often granted such titles to their own children.
Or when recruiting an exceptionally talented retainer.
But what of Viscounts and Barons themselves?
What happened to their families?
They were designated as Quasi-Nobility, and after a generation or two, they became commoners.
Only one member of a family could inherit the title.
The Silver Shield Guild Master was one such case.
Not being the heir, he had struck out on his own to forge his path, and became renowned as he is now.
With his current strength, he might well enter the service of a high noble and receive a title.
“Indeed…… You truly are a person of great wisdom.”
Mark’s eyes gleamed.
“Wisdom in life is terribly important, after all.”
“What are you planning to do about the taxes?”
“I’d appreciate your help with the tax collection as well.”
Tae had secured an excellent business partner in the Silver Shield Guild.
* * *
They say taxes are inescapable.
But medieval taxes worked rather differently.
Because.
The very act of collecting taxes was difficult.
And so in the medieval era of Tae’s previous life on Earth, there existed a class of people called tax collectors.
This was during the transition from the Dark Ages into the High Middle Ages, when urbanization was in full swing.
The population had swelled and the economy was growing explosively, yet administrative capacity lagged far behind.
Lords hired tax collectors to gather their revenues.
They offered a sort of incentive—the collectors kept a portion of whatever they brought in.
Naturally, the more harshly they squeezed the people, the richer they grew themselves, (and naturally, it was all the easier to pocket a cut before passing the rest along), so tax collectors earned a reputation as villains so depraved that even demons would weep.
Dark Magic is Too Easy for a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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Editorial Department
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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