Chapter 140

I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 140 [Salamander Furnace (1)]

“Go away, we’re not open for business now.”

This was the first thing we heard from the half-dwarf when Ethan and I entered the blacksmith at the innermost part of Grainstone Village, which we had crossed.

“Pardon?”

“I said we’re not open. Come back another day, or just leave.”

“……”

“……”

The half-dwarf craftsman looked us over once and responded with a cold answer.

At first glance, it seemed like he didn’t like something about me or Ethan.

However, a dwarf living among humans rather than in the Obsidian Mountains wouldn’t particularly dislike humans, and last year, he had already forged the dual swords Ethan was currently using.

So, it wasn’t because he disliked me or Ethan that he wouldn’t work.

“It won’t be as complicated a request as last time. This time, you just need to forge one dagger. If money is the issue, I can pay as much as…”

“Money isn’t the issue. We’re not open for business now.”

“If it’s not money but something else you want…” [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

“…You can’t make weapons even if you want to right now, can you, mister?”

“…Lilith?”

“How can we help you so that you can make the dagger, Mr. Dwarf?”

“……”

Ethan looked at me, slightly surprised as I spoke, while the half-dwarf silently fixed his gaze on me.

I had somewhat expected this when we entered this strange village, but it seemed this story corresponded to a ‘side quest.’

Of course, I couldn’t be certain that this story was a side quest, as I didn’t know all of the side quests in Luminor Academy.

If it really was just that, solving it as quickly as possible was the way to complete my and Ethan’s business.

In the game, I mainly progressed through the main story, and even for side quests, I didn’t progress through them much unless they centered around a heroine.

It’s probably reasonable to think I’ve just encountered one of the hidden quests I don’t know about.

“…The furnace.”

“Pardon?”

“The furnace won’t light. It’s been like this for two weeks.”

“The furnace?”

“It’s in the workshop up the mountain; follow me.”

With those words, the half-dwarf craftsman opened the door and headed towards the workshop in the mountain with a waddling gait.

Instinctively realizing that the quest had officially begun, I quickly followed behind him.

Ethan just followed behind me, still wearing a puzzled expression.

“This is the furnace I just mentioned.”

In the workshop, there was a furnace that looked like it hadn’t been used for several days.

There was no hot air or dry air typically associated with a dwarf’s workshop; it just felt like a cold space.

As if to confirm that he wasn’t refusing the request because he didn’t want to work, the half-dwarf briefly pointed outside the workshop and spoke to Ethan and me again.

“You understand now? I can’t do it even if I want to until the furnace returns to normal. So come back when it’s back to normal.”

“…How long will it take to return to normal?”

“How would I know? Probably when the fire spirit dwelling in the furnace is in a good mood.”

“What?” [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

“Anyway, just know I can’t accept your request until it returns to normal.”

With those words, the half-dwarf watched as Ethan and I exited the workshop.

Leaving aside Ethan, who had been confused and unable to follow the conversation since earlier…

Wondering if I could find something out by examining it up close, I approached the iron and brick furnace.

“You think something will change by looking at it up close? I’ve already tried everything I could for two weeks.”

“But, if there’s a spirit in the furnace, shouldn’t we ask how to improve its mood?”

“If that were possible, I would have…”

Creeeeak.

As the half-dwarf grumbled at me disapprovingly, the lid of what looked like the furnace’s fuel input suddenly creaked open.

Immediately after, something of mixed red and orange suddenly jumped out towards me from inside.

Whoosh!

“Eek?!”

“Lilith!”

I turned my body to dodge the unidentified something that suddenly lunged at me, but the bright red something that had sprung from the furnace’s fuel input had already disappeared.

Eventually, as I shifted my gaze to the faint heat I felt on my right arm, I could see something about the size of a fist clinging to my arm.

{Mana, it’s mana…! Maaaanaaaa…!}

“……”

Wait, could this be…

As I was surprised by the small flame-like form that suddenly clung to my right arm, Ethan had already drawn the sword at his waist. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

This time, the dwarf who owned the workshop reacted, surprised at Ethan’s action.

“Lilith, stay still! I’ll get that thing off you right now!”

{Maaaanaaa…. Eek…?!}

“Y-Young Master Ethan! Wait a moment!”

“S-Stop right there! What are you trying to do to the fire spirit?!”

“Spirit…?”

While holding the salamander *1 clinging to my right arm and panicking, I first calmed Ethan down.

Hearing the half-dwarf mention a spirit, Ethan quietly lowered his sword, seeming to have calmed down for now.

“Did you say spirit?”

“Don’t you know that fire spirits dwell in dwarven furnaces to light the fires?!”

“Salamanders are basically harmless spirits to humans. There’s no need to be so alarmed, Young Master Ethan.”

“…I apologize. I was out of line.”

Why is he in such a hurry to swing his sword at this small spirit?

Of course, since a salamander is just a simple spirit, a normal sword wouldn’t have harmed it, but just now, Ethan had unconsciously channeled magic into his sword to try to cut it.

Depending on the circumstances, he could have significantly damaged this furnace’s spirit. Of course, being a spirit, it couldn’t be completely destroyed.

{S-Scary! That human is scary!}

“It’s okay. He just got hasty because he didn’t recognize you as a spirit, but he’s not a bad person.”

{You seem like someone I can talk to easily! You have a lot of mana, and it’s delicious!}

“Mana?”

{Yes! I’ve been starving for two weeks!}

Two weeks, huh?

Come to think of it, the half-dwarf craftsman also mentioned earlier that the furnace hasn’t been working for about two weeks.

It seems the furnace hasn’t been working until now because this salamander had no mana left in its body.

The salamander was a small girl who looked like she was wearing clothes made of blazing flames.

In a way, it’s only natural, but most spirits in this world took this form.

As I always say, Luminor Academy was a dating sim eroge disguised as an academy game.

It was designed to cater to men’s preferences, even in the small details.

“Then, when you suddenly clung to my body just now…”

{It’s because I felt mana from you! A lot of it! It’s leaking out even when you’re standing still!}

Well, my maximum mana had long since exceeded 2,000.

As my mana cap increases, the mana regeneration rate also tends to increase, and this generated mana usually leaks out of the body unless consciously contained.

While talking to the salamander clinging to my right arm and absorbing the mana leaking from my body, Ethan carefully asked me something as if he didn’t understand the situation.

“Um, Lilith.”

“Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“…I’m just asking, but are you talking to the spirit right now?

“…Can’t you tell by looking?”

“Well… I can’t really tell just by looking…”

…Come to think of it, in this world, only high-level mages could talk to spirits.

To be precise, it wasn’t necessarily high-level mages, but mages with a lot of mana. However, since a lot of mana was essential to becoming a high-level mage, it wasn’t that different.

After all, these spirit beings have a close relationship with mana, so only those with a lot of mana could see their form and understand their language. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Those with less mana couldn’t see the spirits’ form properly or understand their language.

Of course, thanks to the protagonist buff, the main character could understand spirit language even at low levels with low magic.

“If I may ask, how do I look to you right now, Young Master Ethan?”

“…It looks like you’re talking to a fireball stuck to your right arm.”

“……”

“I-I’m just saying what I see! It’s not that I don’t believe you’re talking to a spirit!”

…This would be perfect for being treated like a crazy person if I talked to spirits in crowded places.

Anyway, this furnace couldn’t be used because this salamander hadn’t been able to eat mana and was starving, so if I fed it a lot of mana, this should be resolved.

Thinking I could solve the problem faster than expected, I asked the salamander attached to my right arm.

“Spirit. Do you need more mana?”

{Huh?}@@novelbin@@

“The furnace isn’t working properly because you were hungry, right? How much mana do I need to feed you so you can operate it again?”

If it’s just a matter of feeding some magic and being done with it, that would be the easiest way to end this. It meant I didn’t necessarily need to solve the unidentified lethargy that had occurred in the village. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Also, unlike the other people in the village, that half-dwarf didn’t look particularly tired or sluggish, and he would surely start his work once the furnace was working properly.

With that thought, I was preparing to channel magic to her, the salamander, but unfortunately, her response wasn’t very positive.

{Hmm~ I can’t operate it!}

“Pardon?”

{Even if I’m full, there’s no mana in the air~. I light fires by gathering mana from the air into one~!}

“……”

“…What’s wrong, Lilith? Is your mana alone not enough? If you need my mana too…”

“No, that’s not the problem…”

She can’t operate the furnace because there’s no mana in the air…

To quote the salamander, it ultimately meant that, to operate the furnace, we’d have to solve the abnormal phenomenon in Grainstone Village first.

It would be a bit difficult to ‘do nothing’ and move on from here.

________________________

Hello! Axiomatic here.

The notion that salamanders are spirits of fire is attributed to the Swiss physician Paracelsus. Generally, however, some cultures see salamanders as having an affinity with fire. This link probably comes from how many types of salamanders sleep in old, rotting logs during cold seasons.

New arc incoming! It looks like the second semester will happen after this issue is resolved.

Also, I’ve decided that I CANNOT commit to daily chapters for this novel during my break. Since I plan to use the time to finish translating my other TL’d novel, Genius Wizard, I highly doubt I’ll have time to publish quality translations for Lout Prince while I have momentum for Genius Wizard. For context, I plan to do 5 chapters per day just to finish translating that novel, and I know I won’t have time to work on Lout Prince given that schedule. However, I’ll find time to translate if someone donates bonus chapters despite the price increase. Apologies for this inconvenience, but I’d like to give Genius Wizard its own spotlight as well. On the bright side, once I do complete that novel, I won’t have any more distractions and will be able to fully commit to this novel.

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!