Chapter 87: Huskarl

"Well, I think that you are overestimating their value by a fair bit. There is plenty of those stones on the market, so even if you could bring an entire bag of them, all you could get is some gold. Even polished ones, although far more expensive and effective in use, can be bought in a market of a random city. In other words…"

Taking a momentary pause, Ayda sighed lightly with a slight disappointment before finishing her sentence in a pretty obvious way.

"No matter how many of those stones you could bring, it wouldn't turn you into a powerhouse of any sorts. If you are really that interested then I'm quite sure that some of our allies dabbled in stone-crafting. You could ask them how this thing work, as I only know the general hearsay."

Shaking her head in a slight disappointment, Ayda seemingly lost her hopes in that plan of mine even before she could hear it. But rather than giving up just like her, I was already planning how would the potential production lines of those magic stones look like.

"Thanks. That will actually help a lot. Just one more thing, what would be the value of an already crafted stone? What if I could obtain a huge amount of those?"

At first, I had the idea of using the precious stones from the earth that I could obtain in relatively huge amounts now that I was basically a leader of a faction. Exchanging them for the already crafted ones could on the other hand pay back the cost on earth… But now that I thought about it, it would be the same as giving the technology I couldn't operate myself to someone else.

Because according to Ayda's words, there was some rule towards crafting the magical stones. If I were to just buy them here, I would have no idea how the entire thing would work. On the other hand, as soon as a true power on a far greater scale than some local factions would take notice of those stones, it would be only a matter of time before they would crack the idea behind it. Honestly speaking, a matter of a rather short period of time.

But now that the girl already claimed that my initial idea wasn't feasible, I had no other choice but to think about the other possibility. As long as there was a way to learn the local methods of carving the stones and then use earthy technology to replicate it on a massive scale, I could not only be able to make it harder to crack the idea behind them but would also become essentially a monopolist in terms of their trade on earth and supply in Ayda's world!

As long as there was a way to replicate the craft by using machines, the possible payback from just the first batch would be enormous. Most likely greater than the numbers necessary to expand the production across the entire plot of land that I carved out from the city for my faction!

"Huh? A whole bunch of the already working stones? Hmm…"

Taking a moment to think about it, Ayda suddenly shivered. Lowering her previously raised eyes, she looked at me with a tense, serious face.

"What do you mean by huge amounts? A few? A handful? A bag? An entire chest?"

Hearing the response of this lovable girl while noticing the changes going on her face, I could already tell the answer.

"Hey, I know that it's quite sudden to act like that… But do you think you could bring me to one of those people now? I need to confirm something about the details of the craft. I don't want to grow your hopes before I will know whether realising a certain plain of mine is possible or not."

Instead of throwing the industrial number of possible output for anything that could be automated in its production, I decided to keep silent about the crafting possibilities of earth. 

"I see… Okay, let's go."

Jumping out of the bed, Ayda quickly threw a simple set of clothes on her back. Contrary to what was told about the general female side of the earth, by the time I was done donning my clothes, she was already standing by the doors. Maybe it was the urgency of the situation or just her character, but it was still surprising to see a woman getting ready so quickly.

I followed the girl without any further ado. Marching through the corridor of the devastated Inn, I could finally see the full scope of the damage that occurred during the attack. Even though I could pretty easily tell the reason for that, it seemed as if the entire town was now taken by Ayda's students. From the few moments that we spent on the streets, we could see this entire small village transforming into a war-camp.

That forcefully reminded me how pressed for time I still was. While things on earth now took a slightly calmer tone with everyone sitting down on their gains and only starting to digest them, the matters in this world were still rushing forward at an astonishing pace.

But as soon as I would get my hands on something that I could exploit on earth, the insane amount of wealth of any kind that I could pour into Ayda's world would quickly turn my role from the leader of the two factions to nothing more than a logistic worker. Even though the perspective of spending the rest of my days hauling the goods between each of the sides wasn't all that bright, I couldn't really tell that I would despise this kind of slow, peaceful life. 

"Hey, where is Huskarl?"

Stepping without any hesitation into one of the relatively well-kept buildings, Ayda instantly made sure that everyone would know who was the new boss of the place. In one instant, one of the place's inhabitants already fell on its ass, unable to hold the pressure of my girl's aura.

"Ugh… He left for the workshop, my lady…"

Putting himself at the front and shielding the rest of his family with his own body, the ancestor of the household answered Ayda's inquiry. Even though he was clearly tense and anxious, none of those emotions appeared on his face or in his actions.

"Woah, they already set it up? Great!"

Once again exhibiting her habit of dragging me around, Ayda nodded with thanks to the old man before pulling me out of the house and nearly sprinting towards the central point of the village. Obediently following her steps, I couldn't help but smile when noticing how she got pretty curious herself.

"Huskarl! Where the heck are you?!"

Instead of directing her steps towards any set location, Ayda simply stopped in the middle of the central plaza before shouting from the bottom of her lungs.

"Woah, what happened to you? I don't care if you are on your period so shut the fuck up!"

Before I could even as much as blink, a similar shout reached our ears from one of the ends of the plaza. Instantly directing my eyes towards the creator of the rude response, I suddenly froze.

From how Ayda asked about Huskarl, I was near perfectly sure that I would stare at an enormous, mountain-like Viking. I expected a horned helmet to cover his scarred face with a ginormous axe sending a threat from his hand.

But what I saw, was actually a pretty small, thin girl, furiously slamming a way oversized hammer on top of a red-hot, iron in front of her!