Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 53

Summer had arrived in Polchis, the city in another world.

Although cooler than the hot and humid summers of Korea, it was still summer, and the intense heat baked the entire world.

When the scorching midday sun began to bake the world, the city dwellers would lock their doors, sprinkle water in front of their houses, and wait for the heat to subside.

And in Polchis, in the courtyard of the metal workshop, the most peculiar workshop in the city, the sound of water being sprinkled and a small rainbow appeared.

Illia was sprinkling water in the backyard with a rubber hose near the faucet.

The lettuce and cabbage growing in the small vegetable garden were absorbing the moisture and showing off their freshness, and the water falling on the crushed stone was changing its color.

After sprinkling water for a while, Illia turned off the water and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief tied around her sleeve. It was a really hot day.

As she entered the back door of the workshop, a sword hanging on the wall spoke to her.

-Why were you outside on such a hot day?-

“I was just trying to sprinkle some water. And it’s just as hot inside the building.”

Illia glanced at the corner of the workshop.

“Ughhhhhhhhh…”

Channing, wearing only a T-shirt, was standing in front of a large electric fan in the corner, being blown by the wind with a dying voice.

“The air conditioner is on too. What’s so hot?”

“I’m dying from the heat because of the heat coming from the machines. But I can’t take off my work clothes because I’ll get hurt if I work without them.”

Channing grumbled at the Factory Manager’s roar, and the Factory Manager sighed and looked at Tehez, who was sitting next to him.

Tehez was also holding a frozen plastic bottle with a tired expression.

“Ugh… you guys have no guts. Go into the office, turn on the air conditioner, and rest!”

The Factory Manager shouted with a defeated expression, and Channing and Tehez, who were looking half-dead, jumped up and hurriedly ran into the office next to the kitchen.

Seeing them, the Factory Manager, who was taking out a cigarette, spotted Illia standing by the door and shouted.

“Illia! You’re hot too, go inside and rest! It’s almost lunchtime anyway!”

Illia nodded and went into the office.

Inside the office, Tehez and Channing were fighting for the seat in front of the air conditioner on the wall.

“Move over a little! I can’t feel the wind!”

“Neither can I! Hey! Channing! No stopping the wind direction!”

Seeing the two of them fighting for the cool air in front of the air conditioner in their T-shirts, Illia sighed and sat down on a chair.

“There’s plenty of cool air here. Why are you guys doing this?”

“Because it’s hot right now.”

Channing said in response to Illia’s complaint, flapping his shirt, and Tehez also shook the neck of her T-shirt, blowing air into her body.

Once their sweat had subsided, Tehez and Channing also came to the sofa and lay down.

“Summer is really tough…”

Channing, after gulping down the ice water in the plastic bottle, let out a deep sigh and said so.

“The air conditioner is on in the workshop too.”

“The heat from the machines is stronger than the cool air from the air conditioner.”

Tehez replied to Illia’s words and took the plastic bottle from Channing’s hand.

“It’s a fascinating machine that blows cold air.”

“I know, right? Other workshops don’t have that, so they say summer is hell. We’re lucky that we can cool off during breaks.”

While Tehez and Channing were talking, Illia got up from her seat and walked towards the office door.

“Where are you going?”

Tehez asked, and Illia answered as she opened the door.

“I’m cold. I’ll be outside.”

Illia went out of the office and headed for the back door.

The Factory Manager, who was smoking, put out his cigarette, took off his work jacket and the undershirt he was wearing, and went to the faucet. Illia also headed there.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to wash my back. It’ll cool me down if I wash myself with cold water.”

The Factory Manager turned on the faucet, and water started to come out of the rubber hose connected to it.

“Let me do it for you.”

“Alright.”

Illia said as she took the rubber hose, and the Factory Manager leaned on his arms next to the faucet and lay down. Illia slowly brought the hose to the Factory Manager’s back.

As the cold water poured onto his back, the Factory Manager strained his arms and made a sound.

“Ooh! That’s refreshing!”

The coolness suddenly rushed into his heated body as the cold water touched his back. The Factory Manager turned his body this way and that, wiping off the sweat.

While he supported himself with one arm and used the other hand to stroke his back and sides, wiping away the sweat, Illia moved the water from the lower part of his back to his neck.

“Huu… sprinkle some on my head too.”

“Yes.”

Illia raised the hose and sprayed water on the Factory Manager’s head.

While the Factory Manager was washing his back, someone entered the backyard and spoke.

“Are you there?”

The person who came in looked at the Factory Manager who was lying down, and the Factory Manager got up, pulled out the towel tucked into his waistband, wiped his body, and looked over there.

Two men were standing there. One was the priest who had visited before, and the other was an old man he had never seen before. Thinking that he might be around the same age as himself, the Factory Manager looked at the old man.

His slightly long hair was brown with streaks of gray here and there, and he had a long beard the same color as his hair.

He was wearing a simple shirt and pants, but he had a fairly well-built body, and he was wearing a long sword at his waist, indicating that he was not an ordinary old man.

After glancing at the old man, the Factory Manager wrapped a towel around his neck and said,

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s been a while. We’ve come to request an item.”

The priest, recognizing the Factory Manager, said with a bright smile, and the Factory Manager nodded with a sullen expression, putting on his undershirt.

“Come inside first. It’s hot outside.”

The Factory Manager said so and went inside the workshop.

***

The Factory Manager, after settling down in the office, offered the two men seats as well. They sat on the sofa in the center of the office, looking around curiously.

“It’s… cool here.”

“It’s so cool in this weather…”

“Well, don’t mind it. So, what do you want to leave with me? That ornament thing from before?”

Seeing the two men looking curious about the air conditioner, the Factory Manager tried to change the subject.

It was because he was tired of explaining to Channing and Tehez how it was cool, and he didn’t want to explain it to other people again.

Whether they understood the Factory Manager’s intention or not, the two men stopped looking around and continued speaking.

“Ah. No, it’s not that.”

The old man next to the priest said and took the sword from his waist and placed it on the table. It was a sword the Factory Manager knew.

“This is the one that was broken and you fixed it…”

“That’s right. You fixed it. My grandson asked you to fix it and brought it back.”

“Ah. You must be the grandfather of that little kid. You have a good grandson.”

The Factory Manager said, and the old man smiled and continued.

“So, I’d like to ask you for another sword.”

“A sword…? If it’s a sword, the blacksmith across the street is better at making them.”

“I want to ask you specifically. After seeing how splendidly you restored this friend’s sacred object, I wanted to ask you even more.”

The Factory Manager scratched his chin, and the three men stopped talking for a moment.

Meanwhile, Illia brought paper cups on a tray and placed them in front of the three men. It was iced coffee.

The old man, without thinking, took a sip from the paper cup and looked at it in surprise.

“Ice?! In this summer?!”

“Huh… My goodness…”

The old man and the priest looked at the ice in the cup with surprised expressions. The Factory Manager crunched on the ice and looked at them.

“Is it magic?”

“That… It doesn’t feel like magic…”

“It’s not magic or anything, so don’t worry. I made a sword before, but it wasn’t a very interesting item. You’d be better off going to the blacksmith shop over there.”

The Factory Manager said to the two men who were fascinated by the iced coffee, and the old man smiled at him.

“How can I do that? I want to give my granddaughter a good sword as a gift.”

The Factory Manager stroked his chin.

The old man, realizing that his words were working on the Factory Manager, smiled and continued.

“I’m saying this because I’m her grandfather, but my granddaughter has quite a talent for swords. Of course, since she’s a girl, she can’t wield a proper sword and uses a practice sword for children. But she’s turning 16 now, so it’s not appropriate for her to use a child’s sword anymore, so I decided to get her a long and good sword.”

The Factory Manager nodded slightly.

It’s working! Thinking so, the old man smiled again and continued his attack.

“Then, I found out that the person who fixed my sword and the person who fixed the sacred object of my old friend here, the priest, are the same person. I thought that a blacksmith with such skills would surely make a sword suitable for my granddaughter. Hey, Factory Manager! Can’t you do it?”

The old man pleaded lastly, and the Factory Manager sighed.

“I’ll pay you whatever you ask.”

“I’ll need at least 10 gold coins. Anything less than that is not possible.”

Tehez and Channing, who were enjoying the air conditioning next to them, were startled and looked sideways at the Factory Manager’s words. It was because the amount was too absurd.

Channing and Tehez looked at the Factory Manager in surprise when he asked for an amount that could buy a house. However, the Factory Manager’s face was firm.

Channing realized that the amount was the Factory Manager’s way of refusing. However, he couldn’t stop the chills and cold sweat running down his back. It was a huge sum of money that he would rarely see in his life.

The old man looked surprised for a moment, then slammed the table and burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! I like your straightforwardness! Good! I’ll give you 15 gold coins!”

The old man opened the pouch at his waist and poured gold coins onto the table. Round gold coins fell onto the table.

“15 Holy City gold coins! This should be enough!”

“15 Holy City gold coins?!?!”

Finally unable to hold back, Channing screamed as if in shock. Tehez forgot to breathe and stared at the gold coins on the table. However, only the Factory Manager showed no reaction.

Silence fell for a moment, and the Factory Manager sighed.

“Damn… No refunds even if you don’t like it.”

“Good!”

The old man smiled and held out his hand, and the Factory Manager shook it with a sullen expression. After some more conversation, the old man and the priest left the workshop.

******

After the old man and the priest left, the workshop staff gathered around the table.

“Holy City gold coins… I’ve never seen them before.”

Tehez said admiringly, looking at the gold coins. The Factory Manager picked up one of the gold coins and examined it. It was a quite elaborately made gold coin.

Compared to the commonly seen gold coins, which were roughly rounded pieces of gold with a pattern stamped on them using a metal mold and a hammer, the Factory Manager judged that the Holy City gold coins were properly made by being cast in a proper mold and then stamped.

“Are they that valuable?”

“Of course! Holy City gold coins are worth three times more than the gold coins we usually use!”

Channing shouted emphatically in response to the Factory Manager’s question.

“As you can see, they are also twice as heavy as the kingdom gold coins we commonly use, and they have a higher gold content. They are almost made of pure gold. Although the exact ratio is unknown.”

Tehez also explained the value of the gold coins. Hearing their explanations, the Factory Manager realized that these gold coins had considerable value.

The Factory Manager nodded and tossed one of the gold coins to Channing.

“Whoa!”

Channing was startled and fumbled, dropping the gold coin on the floor. He then threw himself off the chair as if falling and picked up the gold coin.

Channing, squatting on the floor and holding up the gold coin with both hands, looked up at the Factory Manager and said,

“You scared me! What was that for?!”

“Take it. It’s a bonus.”

Channing’s eyes widened in surprise, and the Factory Manager ignored him and handed one to Tehez as well.

“You too. Illia, take one too.”

Tehez, receiving the gold coin, looked at it.

“A Holy City gold coin… I’ve never touched one before.”

“That’s right. We get 50 silver coins a month, so how many silver coins is a Holy City gold coin worth?”

“It would be worth more than 150 silver coins. The exchange rate fluctuates.”

While Channing and Tehez were talking, Illia returned the Holy City gold coin to the Factory Manager’s hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have anything to use this much money for… I haven’t done anything to deserve it.”

The Factory Manager thought for a moment and nodded. Then he gathered all the gold coins on the table and went to the safe in the corner of the office and put them in.

“Alright. You’ll have something to use it for when you grow up. I’ll give it to you then. And you guys stop fiddling with the gold coins! I don’t know what I’ll do if you lose them!”

At the Factory Manager’s roar, Channing and Tehez quickly and carefully put the gold coins into their work clothes pockets.