48th Floor, Lindarth.
Lindarth was the 48th Floor’s Main Settlement. The city was characterized by its abundance of canals and waterwheels.
Unlike Granzam, Lindarth was a medieval village-town themed city with a rural and tranquil atmosphere. The spacious city has stone-paved roads with large trees planted in regular spaces along with it.
The court was covered in grass and canals threading the road. Due to the waterways and canals running beside the houses, quite a few buildings in the town had waterwheels, some even had more than 1, which made the town ideal for support-class shops, like bakeries, tailor shops, and smith shops, as the waterwheels could be used to power large-scale devices, like flour mills for bakers, looms for tailors or bellows or a sharpening wheel for a smith.
Most of the buildings within the town have thatched or ceramic-tiled roofs and the city itself was surrounded by gently curving castle walls.
That was why the sound of metal being hammered was often heard during the daytime, which was one of this town’s characteristics and selling points.
As Asuna suggested, Rozen followed her along to this city.
“That friend of yours is here?”
Rozen said, looking somewhat surprised. In response, Asuna simply nodded.
“Her name is Lizbeth. She owns a quite well-known smith shop here. She also hires an NPC to help her at the store. In any case, she is a first-rate blacksmith.” Asuna looked at Rozen and said, “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Rozen shook his head and said, “I am a little relieved, that’s all.”
Even though the person Rozen was about to meet was an acquaintance of Knights of the Blood’s vice-commander, he didn’t know how good she was as a blacksmith.
The more skillful a blacksmith was, the better weapon they could forge, so it was important to know how good a blacksmith’s skill beforehand.
Needless to say, Rozen wanted the best weapon he could get. Even if he couldn’t get a stronger weapon than Kiritos elucidator, he needed at least one as strong.
That was another reason he was reluctant to go to a blacksmith; it was because he didn’t know how good their skill was.
Now that Rozen knew Asuna’s acquaintance owned a shop here, at least half of his worry was gone.
“A blacksmith who owns a shop on this Floor is undoubtedly a good blacksmith.”
A Player house with a waterwheel may seem convenient, but it was crazy expensive. Rozen estimated that a house on this Floor would at least cost 3000K (1K = 1000 Cor).
In other words, the Players who owned a shop on this Floor was either a really rich Player or really skillful support because obtaining that much Cor was no easy feat.
Meaning, being able to open a smith shop there alone was more than enough proof of the blacksmith’s skill, and that was why Rozen was a little relieved.
“Lizbeth?” Rozen muttered the name that Asuna mentioned and immediately said to Asuna, “Okay, please lead the way.”
“Yeah.” Asuna nodded again and took the lead.
A moment later, they arrived at a house with a plaque written “Lizbeth Smith Shop,” and surely the house had a waterwheel.
Asuna went straight and pushed the door open, and by the next second…
“Welcome!”
A lively voice was heard inside the store. Rozen, who was behind Asuna, saw the source of the sound.
It was a very cheerful and energetic girl.
The girl seemed to be around 15 or 16 years old with pink-colored hair and a pair of dark blue eyes.
She wore a waitress-like uniform, a dark red top with puffed sleeves and a flared skirt of the same color, combined with a pure white apron on top of it, as well as a red ribbon atop her chest.
She seemed to be checking the displayed weapons on the counter, and when Asuna came in, she immediately smiled, which made Rozen think that she was an NPC waitress, partly because of her clothes.
However, after her heartbeat, movement pattern, and even cell’s activities, Rozen realized that she was a Player, not an NPC.
Asuna, who always seemed like a cold and prickly girl, smiled when she saw this Player, and it was an honest and pure smile, a smile that you wouldn’t show to anyone but your best friend.
Rozen never thought that Asuna would be able to smile like this, but the surprise continued as he saw how Asuna talked to the girl.
“Hello, Liz, It’s been a while.”
Asuna’s friendly greetings caught Rozen off guard.
The girl in front of Asuna’s reply was even friendlier.
“Wh… Asuna!”
The light smile on the face of the girl called Liz suddenly changed into a natural and carefree smile.
The two of them immediately shook hands. It was obvious that they seemed very close.
“What happened?” Liz said with a frown, “I thought there’s a strategy meeting for the 60th Floor’s Field Boss today. Don’t tell me you skip out?”
“I brought you a customer.” Asuna said helplessly, “My acquaintance said he wanted a good weapon, so I referred him to you.”
“Thanks for coming all the way here.” Liz said with a smile, and then she added, “So, where is that precious customer of mine?”
Liz then stuck her head out and saw Rozen behind Asuna.
“Hello there.”
Rozen nodded as his pleasantries.
However, after seeing Rozen, the big smile on Liz’s face suddenly disappeared, and her eyes suddenly widened.
Rozen was puzzled. He wondered if that blacksmith named Liz already knew him.
While Rozen was puzzled, Liz dragged Asuna, turning both her and Asuna’s back against Rozen.
“Li… Liz…?”
Asuna was shocked by Liz’s sudden move.
But Liz had a surprisingly serious look on her face.
“This… what’s going on, Asuna!”
Liz said in high spirit.
“You brought a guy with you?!”
That question alone expressed just how surprised Liz was.
