The World Dragon's Heir-Chapter 144: Trouble In The Forge

Dominic went to the coffee pot and made sure that it was full before pouring himself a cup.

"You know, this whole conflict has been a mess. Everywhere in Cygnia has been infiltrated with Dagos spies and loyalists, to the point that I wouldn’t be surprised if half the ones turning in the traitors were actually also working for a Dagos Noble on the side.

How much money have they dumped into Cygnia to make this possible?" He asked.

Pops chuckled. "Probably more than they could afford, now that it looks like they’re on the losing side of the war. War debts are known to cripple a losing nation for a generation.

Now, what Cygnia is asking for isn’t large, compared to most such situations. The region they want has three major cities, but it’s an unstable region that takes a significant military force to keep under control.

Being able to retreat from the province will probably be the difference between Dagos collapsing during the succession struggle and thriving within a decade."

"Then why would Cygnia do it? Just for a clean ending to the conflict?" Dominic asked.

Pops shrugged. "I suspect that there is more to it. But that’s above my pay grade.

Perhaps not yours, though. You’re a Royal Advisor now, so if they make it common knowledge among the Royal Family, it will make it to you first. For now, it is a decision by the King, and he isn’t willing to accept any questions on the demand."

A brisk knock at the door was followed by the sound of someone entering, and Pops’ expression turned from annoyed to nearly murderous.

"Master Smith, we need you in the forge, there has been an incident." The young forge worker pleaded.

Dominic got to his feet. "I will go with you. If there are issues in the forge so serious that the Journeymen on duty can’t take care of it, that is probably something that I should know firsthand."

Dominic followed Pops and the worker out of the suite, and noticed that a pair of the Royal Guards followed them down the hallway.

Whatever their orders were, they included not leaving Dominic unattended.

Or perhaps Pops.

Pops burst through the front doors of the forge, ignoring the wave of heat that slammed them in the face, and the fact that there was broken stone and scattered tools everywhere.

Two figures were grappling on the floor in the middle of the room, which showed clear signs of combat, as something had broken not only portions of the forge, but also chunks out of the wall.

The old Dwarf didn’t hesitate as he pushed past the ring of workers at the edge of the room, and then forcefully pulled the two men apart.

"What the fuck do you think that you’re doing?" He shouted, his voice echoing off the stone.

"That Sonofabitch stole from me. Again!" The man on Pops’ right shouted back.

"I didn’t steal a damned thing, and you know it. If you could turn out a Rare blade of any type, you wouldn’t still be a junior Journeyman working as an apprentice." The other man retorted.

Both were heavily injured, and Dominic noticed blood on a pair of swords, plus a dagger laying on the ground.

Dominic turned to the Royal Guards who had followed them in, and they simply shrugged. This was Pops’ forge, and they wouldn’t take any action without solid proof, or a request from the master.

"Someone get a healer before these two idiots bleed out in my forge. Now, explain to me why you think that he stole from you?" Pops demanded.

"This is the second time in two weeks that I’ve come back to my station from a break, only to find my work missing. And just like last time, an hour later, he turns in a Rare Grade item identical to the one I was finishing." The accuser insisted, his speech slurred by a swollen face and missing teeth.

He was also bleeding heavily from his side, but that didn’t seem to concern him nearly as much as the missing item.

The workers would get profit from Rare items that they produced, so there was a huge financial incentive to make Rare Grade items. But finishing someone else’s work was a tricky process if you hadn’t watched them to see exactly what stage they were at.

You also needed to know what they were making, but that was a smaller concern here, as most of the Journeymen and Apprentices in the forge would know the same recipes. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Pops sighed. "Do we have the weapon in question?"

One of the other Journeymen nodded. "It’s still in the armoury. Once the fight started, we locked everything down and sent for you."

Pops nodded, and stomped over to the armoury cage where all the Journeyman made items were kept.

"Dominic, keep an eye on them. If they keep fighting, just blast them and put them out of my misery." The old Dwarf insisted.

A few of the Apprentices chuckled at what they thought was a misspoken phrase. But Dominic knew what he meant. Pops was sick of dealing with their nonsense, and he didn’t care if it ended with them fired or dead.

Pops came back seconds later with a Rare Grade weapon in his hands.

It was beautifully crafted, an energy blade in the same design as Dominic had made for his first demonstration right here in this forge. But one thing that Dominic noticed was that it didn’t have a visible maker’s mark.

It was complete, and presumably functional, as they would have tested it when it was turned in for credit. So, it made no sense that the identification of the crafter wasn’t carved into the weapon anywhere that Dominic could see.

That definitely wasn’t normal, and it didn’t bode well for the chances of solving this without more drama.

Pops held up the sword so he could inspect it, then dropped a burlap sack over the sword.

"Now, as you both claim that you forged this sword, tell me something about it that the other wouldn’t know. Write it on a paper sheet, and then I will ask each of you a set of questions.

You tell me if they’re true or false." Pops instructed.

Well, that was not what Dominic was expecting.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m