Reincarnation Of Audemars

"Aye Audemars, my young man. What can I do for you." the moment Blake enters the Great Hall he greeted me and patted me on my back. 'It's been such quite some time since you had entered my smithy, ya? What have you got in store for us?" he continued as I returned the gesture by patting his shoulders too.

Bruce that had entered didn't know what was it all about and seeing Bruce is quite acquainted with me, somehow had brought a smile on his weary face. He had last seen me when I entered his store asking if he had seen a triple bolt crossbow names Avelyn and until now he had not managed to produce the item for me.

"Gentlemen, I heard that your businesses had not been doing very well so far and it had been rumoured that you might be closing up soon. Is that true?" I asked after I had thought the best way to address these senior tradesmen.

"Aye, it is true, Audemars, my young friend. First, the iron plates had been robbed from NoOne who had been our merchant for so long. Then after that, it was retrieved by you after entering the goblin's hideout. You had been a good friend, Audemars, and a trusted one."

"Aye, business had been bad and the apprentices that were employed by me had been laid off work because there were no more orders from the adventurers anymore. So Far you had been the only one we knew, Audemars," replied Blake as he sat there, looking mournfully at his unlit pipe. He was wondering if he could smoke his pipe or not.

"Aye, matey... Me business is not doing very well too. You had been the last person to buy the 2500 credit light crossbow and that's it. There had not been any purchase and I had not been making any more crossbows, Light bows or even the blunderbuss. It seems as if this is going to be a dying trade."

Bruce looked pitifully at me through his sunken eyes as if he had been losing sleep for several weeks due to his dwindling business.

"Sigh... It is so sad to hear from you tradesman whom I was also a Blacksmith as well as a bowsmith. Ok, I have a proposition for you. This is what that been arranged by the owner of the atelier and me much earlier."

I soon narrated to him and even demonstrated the slicing and stabbing of my tunic to show how I had also been an atelier and somehow had developed a new product. Now I would like to use their products to actually sell it is that they would have a steady income.

All I need from Bruce is a light crossbow, a light bow, a quiver, some bolts, arrowheads and some arrows. I reassured to Bruce that this would be a purchase. As for Blake, I need a short dagger, a short sword, a long sword as well as an Assassin karambit or a talon dagger. Bronze or Iron it doesn't matter, I said.

"A light bow cost 1100 credits, light crossbow costs 2500 credits, those broad arrowheads and 50 Arrows with quiver costs 500 credits. Altogether it would be 4,100 credits," said Bruce to me and I knew he was selling those at his base price to me. I nodded as I agree to his price and asked his assistant to gather the items for me.

"A short dagger costs 500 credits, a talon dagger costs 900 credits, a short sword and long swords cost 1200 and 1700 respectively. They were all low-grade iron, my friend. I hope you realised that these weapon grades are lesser than your lowest armour right now. That's a total of 4,300 credits, my good friend."

"Alright Blake, get your assistant over and bring them to me. We are both in this trade, but only Blake can quote for me the price for his tools now. Here, how much would you think this iron dagger and blade costs?" I said as I presented my iron pommel Cross and Victory blade on the table.

"This dagger alone would be 1500 credits, a talon dagger might cost 2000 credits. The long sword would cost at least 5500 credits. As for a short sword of this quality, it might be 3500 credits." answered Blake as he handled the sword and admired its Level 4 Iron quality. Bruce handled the dagger and was surprised that it could be forged with a higher iron material not found elsewhere.

At last, my secret as a Blacksmith and forger had been exposed and Bruce was taken aback and he thought I was just a nerdy Adventurer out looking for some kills and then that's it. No more than that and he didn't realise I was the one that singlehandedly took out the band of thieves that call themselves the White Hand.

Actually, Prius was the one who leaked the information to them after he had returned from his task of getting the painters and gathering the new merchants for their debrief. The other 15 delivery boys were in standby too and would enter once the travelling merchants had gone through their initial briefing.

"What I need from you is to advertise these weapons with the atelier. I had 2 sets of classes that would be displayed on the glass storefront. One is an Assassin and the other is a Ranger. If anyone wanted to be a Warrior Class, they would be heading to the respective stores."

"Bruce will settle with me for the prices later on since it would be enhanced with iron pieces. The light now would be called composite bow, the light crossbow would be a heavy one and all the Arrows and Broad arrowheads would be of a higher grade Iron."

"Give me a few days and once it is ready, I would call upon you. Keep the new stock with you once it is ready, and please make use of Keating's coat of arms on the hilt of the weapons, as well as the quiver, the stock of the crossbow and also the bow."

"These new weapons would be called Keating's Enhanced Weapon Supplies, KEWS for short. You may stop what you are doing at the moment for your current weapons and instead, stock these up and sell them accordingly."

"Your stores would be our storefront for this moment and for the trouble, you would take 60 and we would take 40 instead. Would that be alright, gentlemen?" I asked as Blake and Bruce calculated their takings.

"You don't need to pay a single credit to me now, I would collect it at the end of 30 days. Pay only that you had sold and even if any of the representatives from the House of Keatings came to collect those weapons, they would still have to pay the base price, understood?"

"I understood you, my young friend. So at the end of the month, I would pay you 40% of the sales amount, right? I do not have to fork out any materials or credits for all these, is that right?" Blake asked as to ensure he is not being snared into some kind of scheme.

"The same goes to me too, right? And if let's say Prius comes to the store to get a few bows, he would be paying the same price as stated and I would only set aside the 40% later for you. I don't have to take out a single credit for the stocks but if anyone wants to purchase them, the price would still be as stated?"

Bruce inquired as he finds that it was a pretty good darn deal. He was wondering what I could do with a single bow and crossbow at the moment but since Blake acknowledges that I am a Blacksmith, Bruce had no choice to acknowledge that I am a bowsmith as well, even though he had not seen any of my works. He is now relying on fate and his trust in me.

"That would be all gentlemen, I would call upon you once the products are ready to be collected. Thank you for the time and accommodating to our requests in a short while. Don't forget to forge the Keating's coat of arms when you get back." I said as I bade them farewell and hope to see them in a lighter mood when the time comes.

....

"Blake, do you trust in this young man's capabilities to boost our sales and also alleviate us of our hardships now?" asked Bruce as they ambled back to their stores.

"Aye, we are now representatives of the House Of Keatings. We no longer are the same tradesman as we used to be. Times have changed and I trust this young man with my life, Bruce."

"He is a low key person but he could simply work wonders. His KAFA tunic is a wonder and same goes to his Level 4 Iron dagger and sword. I wonder what kind of surprises he had in store for us soon." concluded Blake, as he knew that his day's being a Blacksmith, is close to nought and he had to be an employee instead of his own boss anymore.

"If that's the case, even if we are under the House of Keating's, one thing for sure, it puts food and grog on the table. Since the Atelier is involved, it would not be easy for him to let go of his establishment just for the House of Keating."

Bruce replied to Blake, as one thing for sure, he felt that his future right now, even though seems a bit restricted, but he does not have to worry as there's a glimmer of hope for the both of them.

"Aye, my friend... Amen to that," answered Blake and for the first time in many months, he felt as though a tremendous weight upon his shoulders had been miraculously lifted away.