Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 48

The mansion was bustling from early in the morning.

This was because it was the mansion of Timothy Ellamein, a nobleman with a manor, although not a high-ranking nobleman with a title.

Timothy, who was supervising the servants busily packing various things into wooden boxes, ended up hearing his wife’s nagging as she came out of the room.

“Hey Timothy. We’re just going to stay at an inn for one night. Why are you preparing so much?”

“Penny! Still, a nobleman is going on a trip, so some preparations…”

“Timothy! We’re not going for days or weeks. We’re just spending one night at an inn by the lake within our small manor. We don’t need such preparations.”

Timothy was about to burst out in anger at his wife Penny’s words, who had her arms crossed, but swallowed it down.

He had persuaded Penny, who didn’t want to go on this trip, with great difficulty. Timothy, thinking that it would be useless to provoke her further, took a deep breath.

“Alright. I’ll reduce the luggage.”

“No need to reduce it. I’ve already packed the luggage.”

Penny called a maid, and the maid brought a rather large bag, struggling to carry it, and placed it on the floor.

“This is enough. It’s your clothes, mine, and Kara’s change of clothes.”

“But… still, isn’t it too little…”

“Ti. Mo. Thy!”

When Penny glared and spoke, Timothy gulped.

“We’re not taking the maids either.”

“What? Without any attendants?”

“What kind of grand trip do you think this is? You said we’re going to eat and come back anyway. Leave the soldiers too. Just the three of us are going.”

“No soldiers either! What are we going to do if something happens?”

When Timothy shouted, Penny smiled and approached him, stroking his chin, and opened her mouth.

“Oh my. Is this handsome knight so incompetent that he can’t even protect his wife and daughter?”

“N-No!”

When Timothy puffed out his chest and spoke, Penny smiled brightly and nodded.

“Then let’s relax and have fun, just the three of us, for a change. I’ll go wake Kara up.”

Timothy sighed deeply and lifted the heavy bag.

***

“Welcome.”

Shellen bowed and greeted the Timothy family as they got off the carriage.

“Thank you.”

Penny politely replied to Shellen’s greeting.

“Please take good care of us today.”

Unlike Penny, who was smiling, Timothy’s face was heavily frowned.

He had intended to break the strangely impertinent boldness of the black-haired man. He was determined to crush this shabby inn that couldn’t even pay its taxes properly.

However, the inn looked quite different from when he had seen it last month.

“The inn is very pretty. The white walls and the blue roof. It’s truly beautiful.”

“Thank you. We renovated it recently.”

The inn, which had been just old wooden walls, was neatly painted. Just by painting it, the atmosphere seemed completely different.

“Then I’ll show you to your room. It’s a wonderful room with a panoramic view of the lake, so I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Good. Timothy, carry the bag. Let’s go see the room quickly.”

“I want to see the lake too.”

When Kara, holding her mother Penny’s hand, also smiled brightly and spoke, Timothy awkwardly lifted the heavy bag.

Following the path paved with crushed stones, walking slightly between the trees, a cabin with a view of the wide lake came into sight.

“I like the small stone-paved path. The rattling sound is very pleasant.”

“Yes. We paved it with the stones left over from the quarry. Everyone likes it because even when it rains, the mud doesn’t stick to your shoes.”

“Hmm… Yes. Is business going well?”

Timothy subtly joined Penny and Shellen’s conversation, and Shellen replied with a smile.

“Yes. We couldn’t do business until last week because we were painting and paving with these stones, but we’ve had a lot of guests this week. It just so happens that we have a group visiting from Yeongdo Polchis today as well.”

“That’s good.”

“Wow! It’s the lake!”

Kara shouted as the lake came into view between the trees.

“Oh my! It’s wonderful!”

Following Kara’s exclamation, Penny, who looked in that direction, also let out an exclamation of admiration.

The lake, sparkling between the trees under the sunlight with the mountain in the background, looked like a landscape painting.

Among the green trees, the white and blue painted houses further enhanced the beauty of the scenery.

“You didn’t tell me there was such a wonderful place in our manor, Timothy.”

“Well… That… It’s just a lake.”

“You really are a man without any mood.”

Penny looked at the lake from the front yard of the cabin.

“Mom! Let’s go to the lake.”

“Alright, Kara. Let’s change our clothes first.”

“Then please rest comfortably. If you need anything, you can come back to the place where you saw me earlier and find me.”

“Thank you, innkeeper.”

After Shellen politely bowed and left, the Timothy family went inside the cabin.

******

A short while later, the Timothy family came back out of the cabin, changed into clothes that commoners wear, suitable for activities, instead of the expensive and fancy clothes of nobles.

“You brought these clothes?”

“It’s better to wear these to move around comfortably. Are you comfortable, Kara?”

“Yes. It’s easy to move around. Can we go to the lake now?”

“Yes. But be careful not to fall into the water.”

Kara nodded and ran towards the lakeshore.

“You too… These clothes…”

“What’s wrong with them? When I first met you, you were wearing clothes even worse than these.”

“That was during the war…”

Penny smiled and stroked Timothy’s chin.

“That’s right. The person in front of me back then was a young and lively knight. Not this old man.”

“Old man?!”

“Hahaha! Then let’s go to the lake too.”

Penny laughed and walked ahead, and Timothy scratched his head, looking at his wife’s back. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his wife so free-spirited.

“Mom! The water is warm.”

“Oh my! It really is?”

Penny, who dipped her hand into the slightly waving lake following Kara’s words, spoke in surprise.

Timothy, who approached the family, threw a pebble into the lake and said,

“Mount Philos over there is a fire-breathing mountain. There’s a hot fire inside that mountain, so all the water around here is warm.”

“Wow! There’s fire inside that mountain, Dad? Like a stove!”

When Kara spoke in admiration, Timothy smiled and threw another pebble. The pebble skipped across the lake.

“You know well.”

“Well, it’s my hometown where my ancestors have lived for generations.”

“Dad! Mom! Something strange is coming this way!”

While Penny and Timothy were talking, Kara pointed somewhere with her finger and shouted.

Seeing his usually quiet daughter excitedly running around made Timothy feel awkward yet happy.

Timothy, looking in the direction Kara was pointing, spotted an Orc pulling a wheeled cart.

“It’s an Orc.”

“An Orc… Ah! There were civilized Orcs living in our manor.”

“They weren’t civilized, but rather Orcs that my grandfather allowed to live here. Well, they can communicate and they’re decent fellows.”

While Timothy and Penny were talking, the Orc who had brought the strangely shaped cart stopped and took off the straw hat he was wearing, greeting them.

“Hello. You must be guests who came to the inn.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you. Do you live near here?”

“Yes. I live in the Orc village over there. Ah! If you’re guests of the inn, would you like to ride a rickshaw? It’s one silver coin for a course that goes around the lake and to the Orc village.”

“A rickshaw?”

Timothy asked, and the Orc stepped out from behind the cart’s handle and introduced it.

“Yes. It’s a riding cart. I pull it and run. It’s quite wonderful to ride around the lake in this.”

“Wow! You pull it, mister, not a horse?”

“That’s right, little miss. I, Krafong, pull it. It’s better than being pulled by a horse.”

Kara turned her head and looked at Timothy and Penny.

“Let’s ride it!”

“Th-This…? Wouldn’t it be better to just ride a carriage…”

“What’s wrong with it, Timothy? We can ride a carriage anytime. Besides, I’m curious about the Orc village too.”

When Penny also said that, Timothy, with an expression that he had no choice, took out a silver coin from the pouch tied to his waist and handed it to Krafong.

“Thank you! Then please get on.”

Krafong put the silver coin in his pocket and quickly pointed to the cart.

Penny got on with Timothy’s help, and Kara climbed up after her. Once Penny and Kara sat on the seat, there was only a small space left.

“It seems a bit cramped for three people…”

“We can have Kara sit on my lap.”

Penny quickly had Kara sit on her lap, and Timothy nodded and sat next to them.

“I want to sit on Dad’s lap.”

“You want to?”

Penny quickly handed Kara over to Timothy, and Timothy awkwardly had Kara sit on his lap. Come to think of it, Timothy couldn’t remember the last time he had held Kara like this.

“Then let’s depart!”

Krafong started to pull the rickshaw.

“Woooow!”

Kara cheered as the rickshaw started to run at a fairly fast pace. Timothy thought the ride was a bit strange, different from a carriage.

“The lake is truly beautiful.”

“Yes. Thanks to this lake, this area is very fertile. Do you know the legend of this lake?”

“Oh my. Is there a legend?”

Penny asked, and Krafong, continuously moving his feet, explained.

“A very long time ago, it’s a story from the time when humans hadn’t even come to this place yet. It was the time when the great Orc chieftain Malfongkof ruled the Orc tribe. One day, fire started to erupt from the ground. The fire burned the forest and started to kill countless animals. In the end, the great chieftain Malfongkof, unable to bear the sight any longer, wrapped himself in a lot of wet leather and went to the burning fire to cover it with soil to extinguish it.”

“Why did he wrap himself in wet leather?”

“It was to block the heat coming from the fire, little miss. He covered it with soil, and covered it, and covered it again, but the fire continued to sprout out from the soil. However, the great Malfongkof did not give up. Even when he piled up as much soil as a small hill, even as much as a small mound, the fire continued to gush out. Before long, all the wet leather dried up and crumbled, and Malfongkof’s skin, hardened from countless battles, began to get burned. But Malfongkof still did not give up.”

“And then? And then?”

Kara, completely absorbed in the old tale, urged him to continue, and Krafong, after quenching his thirst with the wooden water bottle hanging from his waist, continued the story.

“As he continued to pile up the soil, and pile it up more, a mountain as high as the clouds was created. And in the end, the great Malfongkof collapsed. Malfongkof, who collapsed into the center of the huge pit he had dug, breathed his last breath.”

“Oh… Poor Malfongkof. Why didn’t the other Orcs help?”

“Because if they weren’t as great as Malfongkof, their whole bodies would have burned before they even got close to the fire. Malfongkof was an Orc who inherited the blood of an ancient spirit. Malfongkof’s last breath summoned the ancient spirit. The spirit saw the dead Malfongkof, the burning mountain, and the pit, and understood everything. The ancient spirit, seeing that sight, gathered and gathered the smoke. The smoke gathered like that became dark clouds and poured down a tremendous amount of rain, and only then did the burning mountain and forest die down. And the rain that poured down like that gathered in the huge pit that Malfongkof had dug, and became this lake.”

The story ended there.

It was a story that even Timothy had never heard before, a truly legendary tale of the Orcs.