The next morning, Loa had just finished a round of sword practice when someone knocked at the courtyard gate.
It was Hika.
Wot's personal butler still wore his dark gray uniform, his hair meticulously combed. Two burly men followed him, carrying a wooden crate. It was not large, but it looked heavy, and the two men were struggling a little.
"Mr. Loa." Hika bowed slightly. "Young Master Wot sent me to deliver something to you."
He motioned for the men to carry the crate into the courtyard. It landed with a dull thud, kicking up a little dust.
Hika opened the lid.
Inside was an irregular chunk of ore, roughly half a meter long, grayish black all over, with a pitted surface. But from certain angles, tiny points of silvery-blue light shone from deep within it-like stars in the night sky.
Raw Star Iron Ore.
"Earl Tibu said he purchased this ore from a northern caravan thirty years ago. It has been sitting untouched in his storeroom ever since." Hika stepped back. "Now that it has been delivered, I shall take my leave. Young Master Wot asked me to tell you, 'May your sword forging go smoothly.'"
"Thank Wot for me," Loa said.
Hika bowed and left with the men.
Loa closed the gate and crouched down to examine the ore.
It was indeed only raw ore, with plenty of impurities. But those scattered silvery-blue points were unmistakable-the "starshine" unique to Stariron. This metal was precious not only for its exceptional properties, but also for the demanding conditions required for its formation: a meteorite had to fall into a particular kind of mineral vein, then undergo hundreds or even thousands of years of geological processes to produce even a tiny amount.
Getting a fist-sized piece of pure Stariron out of