Mentis stepped out of his shop, cradling a cup of chilled blueberry Moonshadow Drink he had just taken from the Magic Icebox.
The moment he stepped outside, the scorching sunlight poured down on him. His body, cool and comfortable beneath the Magic Air Conditioner until then, instantly broke out in a fine sweat.
"This damned weather..." Mentis muttered. He hurried into the shade beside the road and followed the line of trees toward another open shop a short distance away.
The midday sun blazed down, and the temperature was staggeringly high. Not a soul could be seen on the road. Apart from the ceaseless chirping of cicadas in the roadside trees, the normally bustling street was unusually quiet.
Only when Mentis reached his destination did he hear the clanging coming from inside the shop.
Mentis stepped through the doorway, glanced inside, and shook his head. "Come on, Laien," he called. "It's bad enough that you aren't taking a nice nap at noon, but why have you picked up these old tools again?"
Hearing his voice, the shop's owner, Laien, turned and saw Mentis. He laughed, set down the red-hot iron in his hand, and casually dropped it into the quenching solution. A thick cloud of steam immediately burst out and filled the room.
Laien and Mentis had both been blacksmiths in Karamay City, earning their living by making ironware all their lives.
Their lives should have continued that way, but neither had expected the Xinfei Merchant Guild to appear a few years earlier. Magic Machine Tools had replaced the work of almost every blacksmith's shop, nearly putting them both out of work.
Fortunately, both men were adaptable. After learning that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had launched its Small Merchant Guild Support Plan in Bunta City, they had approached the guild