The process of enhancing weapons was quick.
In the past, it would have been a matter of breaking down the enhancement stones through repetitive labor to unlock the power within.
This was not possible for the average blacksmith, but only for those who had mastered the aura of fire and were more than adept with a hammer.
For Eldin, this was of no concern; she was more dexterous than most dwarves.
There was no need to repeat the process. With the advancement of science, it was easy enough to crush any amount of reinforced stone.
As Eldin placed the stone on the anvil, a fire elemental in the form of a lizard appeared and breathed fire upon it.
This was no ordinary flame, but the pure fire of Mother Nature, a flame that purified and destroyed many impurities.
The tools the elves crafted with the help of the spirits were not named elven for nothing.
Thinking that this was enough, Eldin immediately brought the drill and placed it against the reinforcing stone.
-Kagagagagak!A terrifying burst of fire erupted. It was such a dangerous sight that even Eldin could have been burned all over.
The flame elemental gathered the flames together and shielded Eldin's body.
Heated by the spirit's flame and struck by the technologically advanced drill, the reinforced stone was pierced without a trace.
“Sword.”
The Eldin commanded, and a rock elemental no bigger than her waist brought Osian's sword and placed it on the anvil.
Eldin picked up the reinforcing stone with steel pincers and slowly poured the mysterious power from the hole over the sword.
A thin, even layer of pure white liquid drizzled over Osian's sword.
The pure white liquid melted into the sword's surface. It was like applying cosmetics to the skin.
“There. That's it. This is the first time I've actually tried it, but I think it worked better than I thought it would.”
Eldin handed the sword back to Osian with a satisfied look on her face.
Taking the sword, Osian examined it carefully. The tempering should have changed something.
“It seems to have changed a little.”
If it were a game, it would probably say [Elven Longsword +1].
Now that I couldn't, I had to rely on what I could see. It's subtle, but there is a change. For now, it was the translucent ripples that hovered over the hilt.
Osian gripped his sword and tried his stance.
Sure enough, it felt different in his hand than before, and he could tell it was sharper.
“Let me know if you need it again.”
“If I bring it, will you do it?”
“Of course I will. But I'll charge you from then on, because this is the first process, and you only need a single enhancement stone, but later on, the materials will be more expensive.”
According to Eldin's explanation, it is said that a stronger energy must be added to the existing energy to make it effective.
This isn't surprising, given the number of enhancement stones and other materials required as you progress through the game.
I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to improve my weapon even if I had the enhancement stones, so I was glad to find someone who could do it.
With his weapon enhanced, Osian returned to the Violet Fox with a lighter step.
As he opened the door and stepped inside, his nose caught a familiar scent.
It was the smell of blood.
Osian followed the scent up to the second floor.
Diolan and Ronan were standing in the doorway, talking.
They spotted Osian and were about to say something, but he beat them to the door with a brisk step.
“Uh-oh. Mr. Osian.”
Ena greeted him.
The room smelled strongly of blood and disinfectant.
The source of the odor was Lorraine, sitting on the bed with her bandages on.
Lorraine looked at Osian, and her face turned pale.
“What happened?”
It had only been a short time ago that she had left to go on a mission.
He knew that being a fixer was dangerous, but knowing Lorraine's skills, he had his doubts.
Besides, Lorraine's wound was clearly a gunshot wound. She knew more about guns than anyone, and she lost against a gunman?
He couldn't help but think there was something wrong with Lorraine.
“Just a bad job, bad luck. No, I guess I let my guard down.”
Lorraine said it with a smile, but it was clear to anyone who looked at her that she was being coy.
Osian glared at her, then opened his mouth.
“If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I didn't mean to pry.”
“That's nice of you to say.”
“Everyone has things they don't want to tell anyone, and it can be hurtful just to bring it up.”
Lorraine's expression turned bitter. So he'd noticed.
“But I'll tell you this, I'm your coworker. You ask me to help you, I’ll never turn away.”
“.......”
“So sometimes it's good to lean on someone, isn't it?”
Ronan shrugged with an irresistible smile on his face.
Lorraine was at a loss for words. A strange feeling of shame washed over her as she listened to Osian's words but the nightmare crouching in the depths of her mind washed it away.
“......Yes. I'll take it to heart.”
Lorraine could only smile helplessly and say so.
Osian left the room, saying that was enough.
*
Ena, who had changed Lorraine's bandages, also left, leaving Ronan and Diolan in the room.
“Diolan. Can you give us a moment?”
“......Okay.”
Diolan realized Ronan was about to say something important and stepped aside.
When they were alone, Ronan picked up a piece of apple that Ena had carved for him to eat.
“Recently, I came across some news. There's a group in Tirna that's been targeting only the wealthy and robbing them of large sums of money.”
“Why are you telling me about that?”
“I want you to hear it and judge for yourself. They are supposedly well-trained elite soldiers, and they retaliate in some way against those who refuse their offers. Most commonly, they will target their family.”
Blackmailing a wealthy man and targeting his family.
Lorraine's mind flashes back to the painful memory of her encounter with Fade.
“I don't know where they came from. They're like ghosts. They've only been active for a short time, and they haven't done any bloodbaths yet, but it's only a matter of time, they're so brutal in their hands.”
“They're, what the hell are they doing this for?”
“I told you, for money.”
“You said it was for money, but they didn't even take hostage, they just killed them right away. Are you sure it was for money?”
Lorraine asked, and Ronan took a bite out of the apple.
After a long pause, he swallowed the apple and spoke his thoughts.
“I've wondered about that myself. When you look at what they're actually doing, money seems to be just a means to an end. If I had to guess, I'd say their true motives are probably......more like wanton revenge.”
“What do you mean, revenge.......”
“It's nothing new, the abandoned or marginalized turning against the world, guerrilla groups, terrorists, revolutionaries. The difference is that this time it's organized, disciplined, and well-trained people.”
“.......”
Lorraine bit her lip hard.
Fade Wilson's words came back to her.
Her old comrades were dead.
Lorraine hadn't been told that.
Vaguely, she'd assumed they were doing well somewhere.
-Is that true?
A voice spoke from somewhere in her mind.
It was a voice that spoke to her true feelings.
-You know it's not true, it doesn't matter what happens to them, it doesn't matter what happens to you, because you ran away.
Images of her old teammates flashed by.
They used to laugh and joke, shoulder to shoulder, helping each other through the toughest missions and then their smiling faces turned to bloodied corpses.
Lorraine's head tilted lower and lower.
No. I didn't run away. I.......
“Lorraine?”
Ronan's voice brought her back to reality.
But in that brief moment, Lorraine's face looked ashen, as if she'd been through a lot.
‘This won't work.’
Deciding that this was no longer the time to talk, Ronan stood up.
“Alas, I'm afraid I must have spoken too much to the wounded. Get some rest.”
Lorraine had no response to Ronan's departure.
*
Once back on the ground floor, Ronan had to face the curious stares directed at him.
“Hmm. I guess we have a lot to talk about, huh?”
“What kind of bastards made Lorraine like that?”
Osian asked, and Ronan sat down in a chair in front of the round table.
“They're called the Ghost Army. They only target wealthy people, demanding money and inflicting brutal retribution if they don't comply. Judging by Lorraine's reaction......they were likely ex-military.”
Ena asked in surprise.
“Uh, Lorraine, was she ever in the military?”
“You didn't know?”
“No, I didn't know, because her usual behavior was.......”
Ena realized her mistake and quickly backtracked.
However, no one denied her words. Ronan nodded with a bitter smile.
“Ms. Lorraine was a soldier, I'm sure she was elite, very good at what she did.”
“If she was elite, why is she working as a fixer now? Is it something to do with her past?”
“I don't know because she didn't tell me. What I do know is that whatever's going on, the ghost army that's on the loose right now is most likely ex-military, someone Lorraine knew.”
“They can't be in the military. They're either dishonorably discharged, or they've been expunged from existence, and they're just wreaking havoc.”
But it's a little weird. These are people who have nowhere else to turn, so they take out their hatred, but they go around killing rich people?
Rich people always have a lot of bodyguards. They have expensive and very sturdy cars that can't be taken down by outside gunfire.
If you wanted to kill them, you had to be prepared to fight an equivalent force.
But they were one-sided. Lorraine, who was with them, barely survived the rush to escape.
It would take more weapons and firepower than they had to take them down. It was not something a group with no connections could do.
“There must be someone in the back.”
“Yes. I think so, too. They wouldn't do something this crazy without a backer.”
Ronan drummed his fingers on the table.
“Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with us. It hurts that Ms. Lorraine failed in her commission, but let's just be thankful she's alive.”
When it rains, stay out of it.
He's right. When you're faced with people who just want to burn the world to the ground, it's wise to hold your breath and take cover.
*
It was a dark night, with clouds obscuring even the moon.
Lorraine, lying in bed, slowly opened her closed eyes and sat up.
Lorraine checked her shoulder. The bullet had not lodged, but penetrated. The wound hadn't healed yet, but she didn't care.
Pulling an ampoule from her favorite pocket, Lorraine forced the injection into her wounded shoulder.
The pain was excruciating, her head turning white as it boiled and her teeth rattling.
It was a dangerous substance that, instead of forcing healing, would force her metabolism and senses to spike, causing her to feel pain.
Lorraine was mentally driven to the point of needing to use it.
She endured the pain for a moment, then wiped the sweat from her brow.
The pain of the wound was still agonizing, but her mind was sharper than ever.
She gathered her things and slipped quietly out of Violet Fox.
As the rain pattered down, she looked back.
She wanted to go back now, to tell him to help her but she couldn't.
‘Thank you for everything.’
This was a remnant of the past that she had to end.
Her current coworkers are all good guys and she couldn't let them carry the weight of this.
Lorraine pulled the hood of her poncho deeply over her head and walked slowly through the darkened streets of Tirna.
“Are we going?”
Lorraine stopped in her tracks.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Osian standing still under a dim streetlight with an umbrella.
“Why would you.......”
“Because I knew you couldn't stay still and would come out.”
“How did you know?”
“I could see it in your eyes. You had a determined look in your eyes, like you were trying to untangle a tangled knot. Like you were ready to die.”
Lorraine smirked.
“To be seen through by a junior. I'm not even worthy of seniority.”
“You can ask for help. I'm not stupid to turn down a favor from a senior.”
“I'm disqualified as a senior at the point where I ask a junior for help. I want to be a cool senior.”
“Is it cool to go to your death?”
“.......”
Lorraine bowed her head, speechless at Osian's stinging point.
“You know what, do you want to hear my story?”
Lorraine was going to tell Osian her old story.
She felt like if she didn't do that, she wouldn't be able to leave anything behind in this world.
Osian glared at her and replied.
“No.”