Chapter 130: Maria's Gift
A hundred percent... that's not an investment, that's a total takeover!
Arthur pressed a hand to his forehead. Zoltan was suffering from a classic case of the nouveau riche acting without a lick of sense. "There are dozens of smithies in the North City. If you'd approached a human shop, the deal would likely be done by now. But no, you had to try and buy out a dwarf don't you always say a forge is a dwarf's lifeblood?"
Zoltan scratched the top of his head and gave a cheeky grin. "I just thought I'd keep the wealth within the family, so to speak! But you've got a point. I'll try it your way tomorrow!"
Arthur shook his head, no longer paying mind to the dwarf, who was clearly intoxicated by the prospect of "owning his own forge." He quickly polished off the dinner on his plate, intending to head upstairs. After a full day at the anvil, his arms were aching, and he desperately needed a good night's sleep.
However, he had barely taken two steps when he heard someone hurrying after him.
It was Maria. Her face was flushed as she spoke: "Could you... come to my room for a moment later?"
!!!
Arthur's pupils dilated.
What was happening? Maria was inviting him to her room? Should he expect this kind of directness from someone who had lived among the dryads? Was he finally going to shed his status as a "maidenless" youth today? Would this affect his magical aptitude?
Arthur admitted to himself that he harbored a genuine fondness for Maria; otherwise, he wouldn't have lost his composure when he heard she was to have her mind wiped. In terms of pure facial features, Maria couldn't match the top-tier refinement of a sorceress, but her charm was something Arthur hadn't seen in anyone else.
The sheer competence forged from years of traversing primeval forests, combined with the lightness and vitality in her movements, made her seem like a leopard in human skin. One only had to touch her to know that the incredible elasticity within that exquisite frame was something no body-shaping magic could ever replicate...
Only then did Arthur realize that the stair landing where he had stopped was already narrow, made even tighter by a massive standing planter. Their bodies were almost completely pressed together.
His face heated up, and his words came out stilted: "Is... is something the matter?"
"Ah, it's like this..."
Stuttering seemed to be contagious, as Maria began to falter as well. "Counting the giant centipede, you've saved my life twice now. I've been thinking about how to repay you all this time, and today, I finally found the opportunity..."
Arthur's mind had just begun to clear when buzz it went foggy again as Maria led him by the hand up the stairs. It wasn't that he lacked composure, but a high-energy beauty like her was exactly Arthur's type. Maria's current actions were like a piercing bodkin arrow driven straight into his weakness.
The moment she closed the door, Maria lifted the hem of her tunic and began fumbling at her belt.
"Don't you think we should... get to know each other better first?" Arthur's eyes scanned the room frantically, looking for something to drink, but he found nothing.
"Do we not know each other well enough already?" Maria replied. With a firm tug, she pulled two arm-length, translucent white slats from her belt and held them up excitedly before Arthur's face.
"Look at these! What do you think?!"
"Uh... what are they?"
The sudden shift in tone left Arthur momentarily unable to pivot. He reflexively took the white slats, finding them so light they felt almost weightless.
"These are horn plates made from a Chort's antlers! They're the perfect material for a bow riser!"
Excitement flared in Maria's eyes as her small fists rained down on Arthur's chest like hailstones.
"Do you have any idea? I was passing by a general store today, and the moment I turned my head, I saw these on the shelf! Luckily, the merchant didn't know his stock. I walked away with them for less than a hundred crowns!"
Listening to Maria's exuberant chatter, Arthur felt a bit dazed. He let out a sigh, looked at the bow slats in his hand, and replied mechanically, "Oh. That's a real bargain then."
"Right?!"
Maria was so thrilled she looked ready to leap to the ceiling. "The moment I settled the bill, someone else walked in looking for materials to make a riser! Five minutes later, and someone else would've snatched this treasure right out from under me!"
She added, "I was so worried someone might have ill intentions that I wrapped them in cloth around my waist just to get them back here!"
Arthur gave a flat "oh," picked up a glass of juice from the table, and took a slow sip. His emotions felt like a spring wound far too tight; it was becoming difficult for him to react to such minor stimuli.
But Maria remained immersed in the ecstasy of her find. "Your current bow is rubbish, isn't it? I bet you feel like you can't pull off half your techniques."
Arthur nodded. The bow he was currently using had been scavenged from the Night Crows' equipment. Its sluggish, limp draw weight always made him worry it would snap at any moment.
Maria laughed. "Actually, the Night Crows' bows aren't half bad; it's just that you're so strong they feel like toys. But now it's perfect you've found a new master smith, haven't you? Take these two horn plates, add that giant centipede's sinew, and you can forge a heavy bow of the highest quality!"
Arthur's brow furrowed slightly. "How did you know I found a new smith?"
It wasn't that he resented Maria for following him, but it struck him as strange. Bolstered by his Ancient Nord heightened senses, it was practically impossible for an ordinary person to tail him without being detected. Where had she gotten her intel?
Maria leaned in, pressing her nose toward Arthur's chest, and took an exaggerated breath. "You reek of steel and forge-fire. You ate like a starving ghost at dinner, yet your face was glowing with excitement. Anyone could tell you'd found a master to guide you."
So that was it...
Arthur shook his head. He'd thought he had become much more composed lately, but it seemed the moment something good happened, he still couldn't hide it. He looked down at the horn plates in his hand, hesitating. "Are you really giving me something this valuable?"
Maria let out a sharp, clicking tsk. "Of course they're for you! I can't use them! Give them a flex and you'll see the elasticity is staggering. Only someone with your strength could ever hope to draw a bow made from these."
Arthur applied a bit of pressure. The feedback was as rigid as if he were trying to bend an iron bar. He increased his strength further, pushing until he was using nearly eighty percent of his power before the slats finally began to curve and deform.
Maria's eyes were brilliantly bright. "I can't wait to see the finished bow. I bet the arrows it fires will be too fast to even see!"
Arthur stowed the horn plates and the sinew, offering Maria a thank-you that carried a complicated weight. He turned to leave, but was caught by the gentle tug of a soft hand.
"What is it?"
Arthur stopped. Maria's hair, which had been pinned up behind her head, was now cascading down her shoulders. In the dim light, her eyes shone like stars.
"It's a rare treat to stay in an inn like this. I want to take a proper bath... would you be willing to stay and help?"
.......
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