A month had passed since my arrival in Vistcourt. My work at the blacksmith shop had been going smoothly, and there was a clear increase in the number of customers. As expected, news of Airena and her companions in White Lake coming here to equip themselves brought a flood of new customers. I suppose an elf working at a dwarf’s shop was rare enough to also bring some curious people by.
My progress in learning blacksmithing was moving slowly. Since I could see the fire spirits, my main job was to manage the temperature of the forge, but over time I was able to help out with more and more tasks. Beyond my ability to borrow the powers of the spirits, Master Damned Dwarf had also recognized my skill with my hands, so I suspected he would soon start teaching me for real. I had originally planned to spend ten or twenty years learning blacksmithing, so I wasn’t especially concerned if we started off slowly.
But although my work and training with the blacksmith was going well, not everything went so smoothly for me. For example, I got lost on my way to pay the tax for visitors staying more than a week in the city. Also, I felt bad making Airena put me up for a whole month, but she simply wouldn’t allow me to rent my own house. There were plenty of problems that left me feeling helpless like that.
By the way, Master Damned Dwarf was paying me two silvers a day to work for him. Since I took one day off a week, my total weekly pay was one small gold and two silvers—more than the average pay for a working man in the city. For someone being kept on as an apprentice, my situation was apparently rather unprecedented.
However, the place I was staying at cost five silvers a night, meaning a full week was three small golds and five silvers, far outstripping what I was earning. Airena insisted she was fine paying for it as I was teaching her about Spirit Arts, but that meant I was receiving a salary from my teacher while my student paid for my living expenses. Never mind being a high elf, anyone would find that situation a little uncomfortable.
“And that’s my situation. Honestly, I have no idea what to do.” I grumbled out my pent-up feelings, downing the last mouthful of ale from a wooden mug.
My partner in gripes was the first person I had met in this town, or in more dramatic terms, the first human I had ever met in this world, the guard Rodna. He was kind enough to take the same day off and introduce me to a restaurant with cheap but good food.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do about that. She’s your guarantor, right? There’s plenty of reasons she can’t leave you on your own.” Rodna laughed, biting another chunk of sausage off his fork. There was no malice in his smile; he seemed to honestly be enjoying his time chatting with me over some food and drink.
That said, this was a great restaurant. Though the building and furnishings seemed rather old, it was all kept quite clean. The tables were sturdy, so you could lean on them without worry. The sausages were rich and flavorful, and the ale had no hint of sourness to it at all. The waitress was also quite fetching by human standards. Just watching her carry food to the customers with her charming smile was enough to lift your spirits.
“Speaking of that elf girl, she really treats you like royalty, doesn’t she? Airena of White Lake is pretty notorious for refusing to so much as bow her head to nobility.”
Waving to the waitress as she passed by, Rodna stared intently into my face. He seemed to be looking for something...or maybe he was just curious. Airena’s behavior had been fairly conspicuous, so there were probably plenty of people who had the same question. She showed no respect to the nobles that demanded it, and she showed incredible respect to me, who asked for none of it. She was a complicated person.
Holding up my empty plate, I called over the waitress. “I’m exactly what I look like, though people call me weird pretty often. Oh, two bone-in steaks, please. Do you have fried potatoes here? Ah, guess not. Then another plate of sausages and another round of ale, please.”
The waitress flashed a bright smile before taking my order back to the kitchen, shaking her rear as she went. I really would have loved some fried chicken and potatoes to go with this kind of ale, but unfortunately it seemed this world, or at least Vistcourt, had no culture of deep-fried food.
I wonder if Master Damned Dwarf could make a fryer for me? I’m sure he’d be interested if he saw what we could pair with his drinks.
On the topic of what I’d said before, “I’m exactly what I look like” meant something entirely different to a human compared to an elf. Any elf would clearly be able to see that I was a high elf, but humans couldn’t tell the difference. So to Airena, I was a high elf, just like I appeared, but to Rodna I was just a simple elf. So technically I hadn’t lied.
“Really? Well, fine. If you’re set on moving somewhere else though, we can find you a good safe place to stay. That should help her feel a bit more at ease.”
I nodded. I would probably need to rely on him. I was happy enough just to have him listen to my complaints, but the fact he was willing to offer a solution without trying to force it reminded me of how kind and reliable he was.
Between Airena, Master Damned Dwarf, and Rodna, I really felt blessed with the friends I had made.