Fele lounged in a wooden chair, lazily waving a fan. Summer had not yet arrived, but the sun was already showing its strength. With no trees nearby, its rays beat straight down on the city gate, making it rather hot.
"Sir, Aoduo is here!" A city guard came to Fele's side and woke him quietly.
Fele lifted his eyelids, spotted Aoduo standing in the distance, and beckoned him over.
Aoduo hurried over and bowed his head. "Sir Fele, I brought the portrait." He held up a scroll. He had commissioned it from an artist, describing Dole while the artist drew. The likeness was remarkably close.
Fele unfurled the scroll, glanced at it, and handed it to the guard beside him to pass around. The guards knew what it meant.
After a moment's thought, Fele said, "I can help you look for him, but I can't promise we'll find him. Not everyone goes out every day. If we do find him, I'll let you know."
Aoduo nodded respectfully. "Sorry for the trouble, sir. Here's a little something for your efforts." He reached into his clothes, pulled out a purse, and handed it to Fele.
Fele chuckled. "You know how things work. Your father and I go back a long way. I'll count this as payment for the men's hard work."
With a flick of his hand, he tossed the purse to the deputy captain. The men immediately brightened.
Once they took the money, they had to do the job. That was how it worked.
Of course, the guards would not keep all of it. Half had to go to the company commander, or Fele's position as squad captain would become difficult.
Aoduo soon left. As far as he was concerned, that lackey had nowhere to go but the mines. Coming to Fele at the gate had been the right move.
He had lost two capable underlings and paid out a hefty sum besides. Aoduo hated Dole to the bone. If he caught the bastard, only beating him to death would satisfy him. He had not seen Dole in dozens of days, and his patience had run out.
As the weather gradually warmed, business at Old Ke Smithy picked up. Demand for everyday farm tools, weapons, and all manner of iron blades and implements soared, keeping Dole busy at the forge.
Not long after becoming a level-one blacksmith, Dole had been given a forge of his own. But helpers were scarce, so unless he wanted to make something for himself or work was pressing, he usually assisted Verek and only occasionally forged things himself. By then, he had his own weapon: a short, narrow sword, light and easy to carry. He no longer needed to take a hammer home at night.
As the weather warmed, weapons wore out much faster at the barracks outside the city, among the city guards, and in the police and military departments. Old Ke Smithy received orders almost every day, and soldiers from all quarters came through constantly.
Before long, though, Dole noticed that after a visit from the city guards, someone had begun paying him inexplicable attention. The man even asked the other blacksmiths about him. Something felt wrong.
I haven't offended the city guards, have I?
That group of guards soon left. Shortly afterward, Harley called Dole into the back and asked:
"Dole, you haven't offended that officer, have you?"
Dole was baffled. "Brother Ha, I haven't even left the city in a while."
Harley looked puzzled. "Someone just told me a squad captain was looking for you. He's found you now."
Dole thought it over. He had no enemies—unless Aoduo counted. But what connection did Aoduo have to the city guards?
After a moment, he told Harley what had happened.
Harley considered it and seemed to understand. He patted Dole on the shoulder. "I see. Don't worry. You're a contracted blacksmith at Old Ke Smithy. Nothing will happen to you."
Old Ke Smithy was backed by the military department and the city lord's faction. It had official support. The city guards also fell under the military department's authority. If a mere squad captain wanted to cause trouble, he would have to reckon with Harley. Even a company commander would be no different.
After sending Dole away, Harley prepared to take inventory. Business had been busy lately, and their stock of raw ore was running low. He needed to arrange another shipment.
With the weather warming, the military department planned to train its troops and mobilize every available soldier to clear the road to the commandery capital. Weapons, armor, bows, and arrows would inevitably suffer heavy wear. He had to prepare for that now, or things would turn chaotic when the time came.
Only Old Ke Smithy, with the city lord behind it, had access to such information. Other ordinary smithies knew nothing about it.
Duomeng City was rich in mineral resources and was one of the empire's most important cities. Large numbers of troops were stationed outside its walls. Though they belonged directly to the imperial army, they were administered by the military department. Only businesses owned by the Link Family, whose ties to the military department ran through the city lord, enjoyed such ready access to resources.
The person Harley needed to see was the Link Family's third son, Sainton Link. Old Ke Smithy fell under his oversight. Besides Old Ke Smithy, the Link Family owned three other smithies, all medium-sized or larger. One was a large smithy with three level-three blacksmiths. Rumor even had it that a level-four blacksmith worked there, a master capable of forging level-four weapons.
Having sounded out Harley, Dole relaxed a little, but he also felt a powerful sense of danger. Damn Aoduo had connections among the city guards. That was no small matter.
Even growing up in the slums, Dole knew about Duomeng City's two law-enforcement bodies: the police department and the military department. The military department oversaw the army and the city gates, while the police handled public order and patrols. The city guards might only watch the gates, but they held considerable power. If Dole wanted to leave the city, he would have to pass through them. That was trouble.
Duomeng City backed onto the mountains and had only two gates; the side facing the mountains was completely sealed off. One gate stayed closed year-round, leaving only one open. Dole knew he was in serious trouble. Getting out of the city would be difficult from now on.
So despite Harley's promise, he could not feel happy. Damn it. Damn that Aoduo.
For the first time, Dole felt genuine anger toward someone.
He stayed busy all afternoon, but his mood remained dark. Once he finished his work, he left the smithy and slipped quietly back to his little room.
Aoduo's shadow had hung over him all afternoon. Dole had no idea what to do when faced with the power of the authorities.
He was restless.
He practiced his punches in the room for a while, then worked through the basics of swordsmanship. After that, he forced himself to calm down before finally beginning his meditation training.
He had practiced the meditation method for three days and could now visualize a copper coin in perfect detail. According to the book, that was enough. After all, he had chosen the simplest thing to visualize. But Dole knew it did not show how strong his mental power was. He could not even feel it growing. The book said that visualizing a single object completed the first step of meditation, but was that really the end of it?
Surely not. After thinking it through, Dole decided to visualize a second copper coin. The idea came from Naluye's book, though there it had only been a concept. Dole intended to put it into practice.
Visualizing one object was nothing like visualizing two, let alone three. The difficulty increased exponentially. Dole considered it carefully and concluded that if he could fully visualize a second copper coin, his mental power would surely grow substantially.
Though still agitated, he soon found a way to quiet his mind and began visualizing the second coin.
A copper coin was small and easy to outline with mental power. With the mental power Dole currently possessed, visualizing one completely was simple. But he had no spare mental power left to form the second coin as he had formed the first—sketching out its overall shape, then gradually filling in the details. This time he could only build it bit by bit. The difficulty was far greater.
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