The next day, I was finally free from his exhausting bear hug. I went my separate ways from Damian. He seemed a bit sad about it but didn’t complain, at least as he continued his day with his old stoic self.

  Meanwhile for me I returned to the blacksmith’s shop to retrieve my new weapon. The blacksmith seemed to have been waiting for me as he already had it in his hand as he presented it to me.

  “Here you go kid, hope you enjoy your new sword. I gotta say I never thought I’d ever work with metal so pure before. You were really lucky to find such a material.”

  I’d have to make a mental note to be more careful about who I showed my created work to in the future. For now, I have decided to inspect my new weapon and check out all the details.

  Interesting, it seemed he went out of the way to forge a different style of a sword, not that I don’t mind he must have a reason for it. He then started to explain the weapon.

  “As you can see it’s a bit different to what you used before, I made sure to adjust it to your size and I figure something with a bit more weight to it would help add some strength to your swing. As you can see it’s a bit broader at the tip of the blade with a bit of curve at the edge giving you some more options for slashing or thrusting. As for the hilt, I used some wood reinforced with some of the copper I had left over, I even made sure the handle is properly designed to make it easier for you to grip while adding a knuckle guard. Why don’t you try it out?”

  I did as he asked and took the sword in my hand. Indeed, it felt a bit heavier than the ones I’ve been using, but as I took a few swings with it I could feel more force out of it. Not only that but both swinging and thrusting felt easier for me despite the added weight, I thanked the blacksmith after sheathing it.

  “Hope to have you again, let me know if you want a new weapon made later.” The blacksmith nodded as I left.

  Once that was done it was time to leave town and return to base, besides I wanted to test other tricks I could do with this new sword. I made sure to store my old weapons into my [Dimensional Box] just in case I needed them in a pinch.

  Once I was out of sight, I decided to test out how well this sword would work with my [Material Forge] skill. I first tried by having it extend its length, testing both how far I can have it go as well as how fast I can do so. Luckily it was just as easy as before. Afterwards I tried with changing its shape to make it look more like a hammer than a spear, finding it easy to do so like before. I managed to return it to its original shape, made easier from the fact I can see which parts were my handiwork and which was the blacksmith’s.

  Once I was done messing around with my new blade I continued back to base. I needed to get started in my preparations and for that I’d need V’s help. The journey back didn’t feel as long as before and I was greeted by my followers, who were all engaged in their daily routines. I noticed that my fellow kobolds and goblins were continuing their training and luckily for me they were actually able to do it more seriously. It seemed Mordred and the orcs learned their lesson after all.

  No sooner did I return; I immediately began asking for V. It didn’t take too long as they came rushing in and were happy to greet me. “Mr. Vlad you’re back! Did everything go alright?!”

  “All’s well V in fact I got a very important job for you are you ready? ~” I replied with a smile on my face.

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  They seemed excited to hear that as they began jumping for joy. “Yay! I get to help!”

  After waiting for V to calm down I told them what they needed to do “Now I’m going to need your help in searching up some bad people and see if they start to come close to that town I’ve been going to, think you can do it?”

  The young goblin enthusiastically nodded as they began to concentrate, though the struggled look on their face told me they weren’t getting the results they wanted.

  “Sorry Mr. Vlad, the town’s just too far away!” V shook his head, feeling disappointed.

  That’s right, I had nearly forgotten. V’s [Map] ability only extended to hundred meters, that’s barely enough to cover the town itself. I was lucky back then that my base was really close to the goblin’s old village.

  This forced me to change strategies a bit; in order to more effectively use [Map], I’ll need to provide V some mobility. The wolves should be able to provide that, but for extra measures I’ll need to provide them with some protection, the wolves are strong on their own, but I worry they would have some difficulty to fight while needing to protect V. I couldn’t send the orcs or Mordred, they would stand out too much, plus I need them for something else.

  “Uhm… sir….”

  Just as I was deep in thought, I was interrupted by one of the goblins calling me. “Yes… what is it?”

  The other goblins and kobolds came together, they seemed rather fidgety, more so than usual. “We noticed you were planning something, and we thought we could try to help.”

  “Yeah, I think we’re ready to be useful this time!”

  I’ll admit, it feels a little unusual to see them actually motivated in my conquest plans. Most of the time they would be reluctant, so I usually don’t include them in it. But since this time they were offering~

  “Veehahahahaha well there is something I could use you guys for. ~ Don’t worry, I don’t plan to send you directly to battle yet, you guys just started training a few days ago. Buuuutttt”

  I then pointed towards my stronger minions, “I’ll need you to cooperate with everyone, think you can handle it?”

  They all looked at Mordred and the orcs, who gave a rather intimidating smile as they towered over them. “W-We’ll manage…. We do all follow your lead after all.”

  I smiled as I answered them. “Good, now here’s what we’re going to do.”

  I then started to explain their roles and what they’d need to do. For my smaller minions, I had a few of them assigned to guard V who I have stationed a decent distance from the east of town. They were instructed to regularly check their [Map] for any signs of large concentrations of hostiles coming in the town’s direction. Once they do one of them would go ahead to warn me ahead of time, it should only be in a few days at most. As for the rest, mainly Mordred and the orcs, I’d need them to camp out from a safe distant waiting for my signal.

  Considering the venture we’d be taking; I took the liberty of testing a few things with our regular stock of meat the wolves have worked hard in gathering. It was going so well we had extra stocks, so it was the perfect chance for me to try to preserve them. I had remembered looking up in my old world in methods of drying meat to have it last longer so tried to imitate the process, with a little help with my skills.

  Removing the water content from the meat was easy enough with [Material Forge] as a replacement for salt. I’d have to figure out a way to solve that issue in a later date, it would be nice to actually enjoy my meals for once outside town. Once the meat was properly dried, I then used a bit of fire magic to test cook a piece of meat and tried it. I recoiled a bit, as expected without any seasoning the meat was just tolerable, still better than my times in the cave when I lacked wood to make a fire to cook my meals. At the least this should be enough to ration to everyone.

  The only matter left was to change my outfit a bit, after that incident with Damian I would need to slightly alter the look to better differentiate from my adventurer persona. I had heard that flowers were the usual materials needed to make dyes for cloth, so I instructed V to use [Search] to find me some. They happily complied and managed to gather me a few types of flowers. I took some time pick out the right colors, opting for a purple color, and reforged them into dye and had it mixed to the outside of my [Wolves’ Trench Coat], while leaving the inside black, helping to give it a more intimidating appeal to it.

  This should be enough to fool them. It looked so good though I just couldn’t but show it off to everyone. They all clapped though Mordred, the orcs and V showed more enthusiasm than the rest.

  “Looking good boss! ~” Mordred praised me, pumping his fist to show his excitement.

  V themselves had such a look of awe that it was infectious. “You look soo awesome Mr. Vlad. I want an outfit just as cool as yours!”

  As usual the trio of kobolds, who I liked to call the three stooges, were whispering among themselves.

  “The chief is being full of himself again…”

  “It’s just a color change….”

  “Every day I question my life choices with him….”

  With preparations made, it was time for the setup, everyone went to their designated locations. It won’t be long now, soon this town will be mine! ~

  “Veehahahahaha! It’s time for a conquest everyone! ~”