The Dwarf Blacksmith's Misery (Seeking Rewards and Recommendation Tickets)

And so, with the exception of Goddess Priestess, who found Lin Yun's words a bit strange, and Lin Yun himself offering no opinion, Lin Yun successfully joined the party.

Due to the death of Female Fighter, and the near-total destruction of Lin Yun's and Young Warrior's equipment, Lin Yun and his companions, who had originally planned to clear two more Goblin dens, took a long rest in the village. After all, Lin Yun, being extremely cowardly, didn't dare to travel at night with a Priest whose spell slots were all depleted, a Female Mage whose spell slots were also all depleted, and a Goddess Priestess whose spell slots were also all depleted... leaving only a Young Warrior at full health and a Bard in decent condition.

While the main road was generally safe, it depended on the world.

One had to remember that this world wasn't just populated by Goblin; there were also magical beasts, demons, and... bandits, where everyone else was getting beaten while the bandits were showing off. Although in the real world, bandits did most of the beating, or rather, killing.

And so, a peaceful long rest passed. Although the Bard had joined the party, it was clear they were wary of Lin Yun's presence. Lin Yun could feel that the Bard always tried to stay at the edge of the group, and would silently keep their distance if Lin Yun approached. Clearly, the Bard didn't fully trust Lin Yun.

Or rather, it wasn't just Lin Yun; apart from a simpleton like Young Warrior, this Bard didn't trust anyone else.

And so, driving the four-wheeled carriage they had rented earlier, Lin Yun began a new legend of speeding.

"D20+4+2+2=10, success." Should I be glad it's a main road? It was relatively flat. The horses pulling the carriage in front seemed to be in bad shape today, or perhaps Lin Yun was pulling the reins at the wrong angle. This whole journey made the four people in the back roll around in the carriage like candied fruit. Fortunately, it was a carriage with a tent; at least... they didn't roll out.

Thus, in a whirlwind of activity, Lin Yun drove the carriage back to the border town.

The moment the carriage stopped, the Bard jumped off and practically face-planted onto the ground, making very friendly contact with Mother Earth. Fortunately, there wasn't a Earth Goddess here... Oh, right, Goddess Priestess was a follower of the Earth Goddess. Well, good thing she didn't mind too much, as Goddess Priestess was currently leaning against Female Mage, looking like she'd been through something. And Female Mage, though pale, was at least... alive.

As for Young Warrior? Young Warrior had collapsed on the carriage, and it was clear the two girls Nature wouldn't carry him.

"..." If Lin Yun's main body were here, he would probably put on an awkward yet polite smile and try to bluff his way through with a laugh. But with Silent, Lin Yun could only walk on the ground in the incredibly awkward atmosphere, pulling the horse's reins, and slowly advance back to the carriage rental shop. Since the carriage was rented, Nature had to return it and got the 20 gold coin deposit back.

Looking at the person at the carriage rental shop staring at the carriage with a confused expression, as if sensing something was amiss, Lin Yun broke out in a light sweat. Fortunately, there wasn't a natural 1. Lin Yun figured that if there had been a critical failure, it wouldn't be strange for the carriage to fall apart.

Although it was technically his now, the feeling was... somewhat peculiar.

From the carriage, Lin Yun took out the weapons he had thoroughly looted from the Mine, along with some hastily assembled armor pieces. It was a shame about the armor on the Goblin Chieftain; it had been melted by Female Mage's prismatic ball into a gooey mess fused with the Goblin Chieftain's flesh and blood. Disgusting. The Goblin Chieftain's weapon was a giant wooden club, not worth anything, so he didn't take it.

Lin Yun took stock: about 16 spears, 4 longswords, 3 Battle Axe, 13 pickaxes, 7 Dagger, 4 shortbows, and armor fragments that could yield about 34 metal ingots. Based on Lin Yun's blacksmithing knowledge, he knew the answer just by thinking about it, without even needing a check.

Since the Dwarf blacksmith was working for Lin Yun for free and working overtime, the shop only had the little apprentice Nature.

Facing such an "important figure" as Lin Yun, the poor little apprentice Nature couldn't refuse and had to buy these items at full price, holding their nose. It was truly tragic.

Not only was Lin Yun ripping them off financially, but he was also exploiting their labor. In another world, this might have led to a lawsuit, but here, the Dwarf blacksmith seemed to think, "I'm working overtime, I'm happy! To be able to observe so closely, even forge equipment with a Clan Craftsman, is simply too blissful." It was said that the Dwarf blacksmith even slept with two iron plates that had already begun to take the shape of a Breastplate, which was terrifying.

This made Lin Yun, who had an obsession with cleanliness, almost not want to wear the Breastplate.

And so, Lin Yun obtained a grand total of 408 gold coins. Indeed, "killing and arson bring golden belts," although it wasn't killing people, but killing Goblin.

However, speaking of which... these weapons were basically all in disrepair, being items used by Goblin. In theory, a shop would only buy them back for about 10% of their value, and some shops would outright refuse to purchase them. This was why most adventurers didn't want to take Goblin quests; partly because it was troublesome, and partly because the profit margins were actually quite low. Only a scoundrel like Lin Yun could make money from it.

Although, in theory, this was Lin Yun's private money, as it was only because of Lin Yun that they could be sold at such a price. However, Lin Yun wasn't a miser like Harpagon. Besides, Young Warrior had saved his life, and the Dwarf blacksmith was currently making him new armor. One couldn't be too greedy. He was a noble, after all; elegance, not vulgarity.

While waiting for the armor to be completed, Lin Yun took over the blacksmith shop and refurbished all these semi-scrap weapons.

"D20+2+5=12, success." Fortunately, they were all ordinary items, and with Lin Yun's Clan Craftsman effect reducing the DC, Lin Yun didn't screw up directly.

Even though Lin Yun was helping to refurbish them, resource consumption still existed. The price of these weapons originally included the base price, material costs, and labor costs. Lin Yun had only removed the labor costs. So... the Dwarf blacksmith had actually lost money. Truly tragic.

Since it was just refurbishment, Lin Yun didn't need much time. And with this time available, Lin Yun took out an ordinary Steel Plate Scale Armor from the Dwarf blacksmith's shop, of course, after paying 150 gold coins for it.

Steel Plate Scale Armor is a type of plate Scale Armor. It is made by stringing together many small armor pieces of various materials with fine cords and weaving them together. The materials for a plate Scale Armor could be tanned leather, animal horns, or even stone—though steel plate Scale Armor is much more common. Plate Scale Armor can also be woven into various forms: a Breastplate, greaves, or full-body armor.

This piece was a nearly full-coverage set, retaining a certain degree of mobility while providing Young Warrior with sufficient defensive capabilities.

Yes, this set of armor was for Young Warrior. His previous set of armor, well, it was just a piece of steel plate, and it was also heavily damaged. So Lin Yun figured he'd get him a set of armor.

Forging a full set of armor now would take too much time, as his own set wasn't finished yet. And besides, that guy wasn't as obsessive as Lin Yun and preferred equipment he forged himself. So, buying a set and just adjusting the size would suffice.

Adjusting the size didn't even require a forging check. The last time he helped Goddess Priestess adjust her Chainmail, it required a forging check because time was tight, and they had forcibly increased the DC by 10 to speed up the modification. But this time, with careful and slow work, Nature didn't need to take such risks. And if anything, he'd find an opportunity to have Goddess Priestess bring that Chainmail over as well.

It wasn't that Lin Yun wanted to sniff for any strange odors on it, cough cough, but rather, after such a hasty modification last time, Lin Yun was worried that the Chainmail might have issues. So this time, he'd do it properly. At worst, he'd just replace the whole thing.

Meanwhile, watching Lin Yun leave silently with a large bag of items, Goddess Priestess seemed to want to say something but was stopped by Young Warrior behind her, who shook his head.

"Mr. Silent must be very sad too, after all, she was killed in front of Silent by Goblin," Young Warrior said with some bitterness.

"Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Silent probably doesn't want to go to the Adventurer's Guild to collect money stained with her blood," Female Mage said, adjusting her glasses.

"Um, what happened?" Perhaps sensing some unfolding drama, the Bard curiously leaned in and asked in a low voice, while maintaining a certain distance.

And Young WarriorNature recounted some of the events that happened in the Mine to the Bard. However, because Young Warrior... he was a child who grew up in a tavern, so his story inevitably contained some exaggerations and things he simply imagined.

Since Young Warrior believed what he was saying to be true, the Bard couldn't get accurate information. From the young warrior, the Bard learned that Lin Yun, also known as Silent, was a very silent but benevolent and kind Priest, who charged forward in battle and was full of wisdom in non-combat situations—a respectable person.

This world is truly wondrous. Smart people are not easily deceived, yet they easily believe the words of those who appear unintelligent... Alas, wait, someone's intelligence seems to be only, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.