“No one else could claim that, Master Takebayashi. It won’t be an issue while you keep this incense for personal use, but I believe there would need to be careful consideration before putting them on the market,” Sebas said.
“Understood. I’ll definitely seek your advice if I decide that’s what I’d like to do. I can always substitute something else for the heatwood too. For now, I’m just experimenting with it.” Speaking of the market... I turned to Rosenberg. “As for the rope I hexed, about how much should I price it at, if I were to sell it? Even if it’s just a ballpark figure.”
“Value for objects like that vary, depending on the prowess of the warlock and the effect of the hex... A rope with the hex you demonstrated would easily sell for ten times the cost of the materials.”
Did I hear him right?
“Some warlocks require expensive tools and materials, as well as a long time to create a single cursed object. Commissioned objects like that are naturally expensive, in part to protect the warlock’s livelihood. Ten times the cost of ordinary rope would be a bargain for a cursed object,” he explained.
“Clients don’t want to haggle and bruise their reputation either. Most of them are loaded nobles,” Hudom supplied.
That all made sense, but I was still caught up with the fact that a single incantation from me could make a spool of rope ten times as valuable... This feels more like alchemy than Alchemy.
“When you put it that way... Ten times the cost it is. I’m sure there are other factors to consider, so I’ll leave the details to Eleonora,” I said, deciding to wholly delegate the process rather than stick my nose in halfway.
“Understood.”
“How is the west side?” I asked the scouting team.
“Almost done. It’s been taking us a little longer to navigate the steep inclines, but we should finish this afternoon.”
“Perhaps because of the cursed energy, we found less life overall compared to the east side. That means no dangerous animals as well, so you could say it’s safe.”
“Other than that, there were these weird trees.”
The lack of animals made me somewhat concerned for the mountain’s ecosystem. At least it didn’t seem like it was on the brink of collapse or anything. Hudom explained that the “weird trees” Miya mentioned were called pugipogi—a tree filled with eyeball patterns that sounded like nightmare fuel for those with trypophobia.
“It may look creepy, but it’s not poisonous or anything... Oh, you can’t use it for firewood, though. It burns well, but with a whole lot of soot. Horrible stuff to fuel a stove with, especially indoors,” Hudom added.
“That leaves us with fewer options for utilizing the lumber cleared... But let’s tackle that another day. Please continue your scouting for the rest of the day,” I said.
That concluded our mutual debriefing. The adventurer team and Hudom returned to the west side while Eleonora and I took the goblins to continue setting up the mountain path, and Rosenberg went to explore ways to improve the lost magic.
A few hours later, we’d made it down to the foot of the mountain, having completed the retaining wall on one side of the path. After a short break, I planned to backtrack up the path and finish the walls on the other side...when I noticed Sebas walking down the mountain.
“Welcome back!” I greeted him.
“Thank you. You’ve made quite some progress here.”
“I think so too. After setting up retaining walls along the other side, we’ll cut down all the trees in the way and haul them out. The goblins have already started on that, and once I’m done paving the path, I can speed things up with Space magic. I expect the path to be usable after another day’s work. How did things go on your end?” I asked.
“Some are new stock, and some are old, and they range in quality, but I secured three hundred spools of fifty meters each, which would come to about fifteen kilometers in total length.”
That’s a lot of rope, I thought, as Sebas produced a letter from his Item Box—one addressed to me from Reinhart.
Sebas explained how he took the liberty of buying the ropes with the duke’s money. He went through the trouble of returning to the duke’s manor afterwards just to fill Reinhart in on the purchase.
“His Grace showed great interest in these ropes,” Sebas said.
I opened the letter and first noticed the very formal language that oozed nobility, from customary seasonal greetings to a lengthy thanks for my work, all sprinkled with poetic language. I read through the letter, raising an eyebrow at how differently the letter read from how Reinhart normally spoke to me.
“Sebas... This reads like he wants to buy the ropes I hex. Specifically, after I test them out here, he wants to roll them out in the development by Gimul,” I said.
“You read it correctly. That is also what I have been told in person,” Sebas clarified. Things were moving way too quickly.
“Master Takebayashi,” Eleonora cut in, “the king has announced the arrival of a monster age this year, which played no small part in motivating His Grace to seek out your ropes. Even though its applications are more limited, it would be far more cost-effective than magical items that set up barriers. That means we can protect more sites.”
“Exactly as Miss Eleonora said,” Sebas continued. “There have not been any sightings of monsters that warrant sending in high-ranking adventurers, but there are more and more reports of small, beast-like monsters and goblins—the kind that multiply fast. Just a handful of goblins can pose a threat to civilians, so a sighting of them would stall any construction work. Even the thought of monsters lurking around the corner could make workers nervous and less productive. His Grace hopes your ropes will help alleviate these concerns.”
The pieces were all coming together now. Sebas had been so interested in the project and went as far as buying up so much rope because he knew the conundrum Reinhart and his fiefdom were facing. I’d heard people bring up the monster age more than a few times now, which made me wonder if things were worse than I thought.
“Okay. I never planned on turning him down, so I’ll try my best not to disappoint him. Luckily, we’ve gotten to a good stopping point with the path... I’ll pick up the project tomorrow and spend the rest of the day hexing ropes,” I said.
If the adventurer team finished their scouting today, I could have them set up the rope around the mountain with Rosenberg tomorrow morning. The goblins and I could take care of the mountain path in the meantime.
And so, I hurried back to the cottage and began mass-producing the repelling rope.