Chapter 897 Chapter 896: Back to Custodia (2)
"Wow... That... that is a LOT of crates... you were only down there for what, a week total?! How did you manage to get ALL of this?! That's..! That's insane!"
Mary was looking over the various crates we had unloaded into the main hall, the older human woman staring at the hundreds of ingots and tanned pelts with wide eyes as she tried to mentally calculate just how much we had brought into her city, before those eyes turned towards us and stared at us in awe as Jahi said "And we have around two shipments more waiting inside the Dungeon. Come Leone, let's get going. The quicker we transport everything, the better..."
We had discussed what would happen when we returned, and the conclusion we came to was a simple one; Anput, Leraie and I would remain back at the city, the two who were already here would take some horses and make haste towards the Arx Impius to deliver the letters that Satanya was currently drawing up, whilst the remaining Demons and Leone would head back into the Dungeon to grab what we had left behind.
"T-Two..? T-Two more... j-just like this one..?"
Blinking hard, Mary rubbed her eyes and stared at the crates some more, causing all of us to chuckle quietly as we nodded, making the human woman take a step back and turn away as she muttered "I... I think I should focus on something else... yes, dinner... we need to get dinner sorted, right..? Yes, dozens of pounds of meat... why is that more believable than hundreds of ingots..? Oh..."
The absentminded bewilderment on her face was amusing, and Leraie chuckled some more as she followed behind her, the Demoness taking on the role of aide to Mary while Anput and I got to work right away, wanting to make as much use of whatever time we had to churn out the armor and weapons that we wanted for this upcoming delve.
Weapons and armor that needed to be of enough quality to withstand the battle against not one, but two separate Fiends, which was what felt like a monumental task, but it was a monumental task that Anput seemed to be more than willing to tackle head on.
And the best place to start was where we left off inside the Dungeon; preparing the materials to be of use before separating them into the piles that would be used for each person, which Anput had already mentally calculated so that we could work smoothly, the Jackalkin placing ingots, pelts, leather and a few other things - bones, tendons, and other monster parts - into piles for the armor she was going to make as well as for the weapons.
There was still a lot of prep work that needed to get done - some of the metals needed to be further worked on, the pelts needed to be tanned and treated, the leather needed to be cut... things that would usually take an absurd amount of time needed to be done within the next two days, maybe three, and while that was a lot of work, we could do it.
For now though, I let my mind rest as I picked up the leather and began to help my mate in what I was familiar with - using a knife to cut things into shapes - as I began to trim and shape the leather sheets into what she wanted, which had been marked out by her own knife.
I was creating the different shapes she would need to work with for different things; larger rectangles for cuirasses, smaller rectangles for bracers, long strips for extra workings... there were a lot of things that needed to be shaped, and that was my current job.
Meanwhile, as I was shaping everything, Anput began to refine the rest of the materials into what she needed, mixing monster parts with ingots to create the alloys she wanted for each person before placing that alloy to the side to start anew.
The entire time, the humans watched us from afar with curious and greedy eyes, some of them almost salivating as they saw the sheer wealth residing in the crates around us, and I had to hold back a snarl as I glanced over at them all, wondering if any would be stupid enough to make a move.
On one hand, I wanted to believe that they weren't that stupid to try and steal from those stronger than them, but on the other hand I wanted them to so that I could have an excuse to have some fun with my knives...
Leather was satisfying to cut - what with it being treated hide - but it wasn't as satisfying as harvesting that hide from the monster it came from, and I was just itching to return to some of those monsters already... which was something I had to deal with soon, I guess, since I could tell that that lust was only impairing me whenever I actually got into a battle.
Though... that meant controlling my urges even inside of a battle, which would be harder to do than I ever really wanted to, so... was it worth it?
Probably yes... which only made me sigh before taking my knife and gently gliding the honed tip over the resilient material, following the line I needed and ensuring I had control over my hand and my blade so that I wouldn't need to go back and clean up after myself.
Doing it right the first time cut back on SO much time, so I concentrated on my work again, only stopping when I heard the others return to drop off even more crates, which made the humans eyes bulge as they saw more and more materials being stacked up in the corner of their hall.
More wealth than they had likely ever laid eyes on was being so casually stacked up nearby, and that would make anyone feel a little greedy... all that remained was hoping someone wouldn't be stupid enough to make a move on it, and considering the way the Demons all subtly flaunted their blades to the humans, I was praying that the message came across.
For their sakes, not ours.
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