Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 49

While listening to Krafong’s story, the rickshaw left the lakeside road and entered a forest path. Sunlight streamed down through the tall trees on either side, creating a mystical atmosphere.

“It’s like a road from a storybook.”

“You’re right. The sunlight is beautiful.”

Penny looked at the road at Kara’s words. Seeing his wife and daughter looking at the road with bright faces, Timothy smiled involuntarily.

The rickshaw left the forest and entered a wide clearing. It was an Orc village with fields and houses made of tents in the distance.

“They built houses with tents.”

“Those are traditional Orc tents. The Orc mercenaries I met on the battlefield used to carry those kinds of tents.”

Timothy answered Penny’s words and looked at the village.

Krafong stopped the rickshaw as they reached the entrance of the village.

“Well, we’ve arrived at the Orc village.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Penny replied and got off the rickshaw with Krafong’s help, taking Kara in her arms. Timothy also jumped off the rickshaw.

Once everyone was off, Krafong moved the rickshaw to the side of the road and said,

“I’ll be here while you look around, so please take your time.”

Timothy’s family entered the village. There were fields on the outskirts of the village, and the circular tents inside were an uncommon sight.

Penny and Kara entered the village with curious expressions, and the Orcs working in the fields greeted them warmly.

Kara waved to the Orcs and started to run towards the village, and Penny smiled at her.

“This is my first time in an Orc village.”

“It’s my first time too.”

“Yours too? But this village is in your territory?”

Timothy answered his wife Penny’s question while watching Kara running into the village.

“Well… the Orc village is like a self-governing district, with the Lord’s permission. It’s not really part of my territory, so I haven’t given it much thought.”

“That’s right.”

“Mom! Mom! There’s a market here!”

While the couple was talking, Kara, who had run ahead, waved and called out to her mother.

“A market? Is there such a thing in an Orc village?”

“Let’s go and see.”

Timothy expressed his doubts, and Penny led him.

In the square located in the center of the village, there were wooden stalls where Orcs were selling various goods.

There were already human women who appeared to have arrived earlier, browsing the goods.

There were merchants selling agricultural products and Orc ornaments, but one particular shop was crowded. It was a shop selling traditional Orc cloth.

“This is pretty. It’s a flower pattern.”

“Is this a bird pattern? This is nice too.”

The women were chatting while looking at the cloth, and Penny joined them.

“Oh my. It’s really beautiful.”

Penny exclaimed in admiration as she looked at the colorful cloth hanging on one side.

Various patterns were embroidered on a white background with diverse colors such as red, blue, yellow, and green.

“How did they make these patterns? Did they draw them?”

Penny asked, and the Orc woman guarding the shop waved her hand and explained.

“No. We insert colored threads in that part beforehand when weaving the cloth.”

“Oh my… So that’s how they make such unique patterns. It’s amazing.”

“Any Orc woman can do it. That cloth is woven from the inner bark of a tree we call Kechalwato. It’s very cool and comfortable to wear. The clothes I’m wearing now are also made of that cloth.”

The Orc woman took down some of the clothes hanging on the tree and showed them to the women who were looking around. They were loose-fitting, dress-like clothes.

“These are traditional Orc clothes. We call them Tutz, and they’re women’s clothing. You wear them like this, from the top, and put a decorative belt around your waist.”

“Oh my, oh my! It looks comfortable.”

“You’re right.”

“This is a bag made of that cloth. And this is a decorative pouch.”

“The bag looks pretty.”

The women were busy looking at the items made of cloth, chatting with each other, and Timothy sighed as he watched his wife Penny and Kara looking at the goods.

Meanwhile, he made eye contact with a dwarf who was sighing next to him, and they exchanged greetings.

A sense of camaraderie arose between the men in the same situation.

“Women are crazy about clothes like that.”

The middle-aged dwarf spoke first, and Timothy nodded.

“It seems so. Well, I can’t tell them not to buy what they like…”

“Hahaha! You’re right! It’s a hundred times better than nagging them!”

The middle-aged dwarf laughed heartily, and an Orc man approached the two and offered them a tray.

“Sirs, would you like to have a drink? It’s traditional Orc liquor.”

“Oh!”

The dwarf gladly picked up the wooden cup on the tray, and Timothy carefully lifted his cup as well. It was a cloudy liquor with a fragrant aroma.

“Oh, this smells good.”

“Is it fruit wine?”

“Yes. It’s a fermented liquor made from wild raspberries and grains.”

The Orc answered Timothy’s question, and Timothy took a sip of the liquor in his cup. It had a slightly cloudy and wild taste, different from wine, filling his mouth. It wasn’t a bad taste.

It was a nostalgic taste, like the cheap beer he used to drink at inns during his time on the battlefield. No, rather, it was a wild and rough pleasure, different from the wine he usually drank.

Timothy quite liked the liquor.

“Wow, this is better than I thought.”

“Thank you.”

The Orc smiled at the dwarf’s words.

“Really. It has a unique flavor. It’s excellent. Do you sell this too?”

“Yes. A large bottle is one silver coin.”

“I’ll buy two bottles. Hey! Karwutz! Come here. This liquor is quite good!”

The dwarf took out a silver coin from his pocket and called out to a man who seemed to be his friend. The man, who was looking at Orc ornaments, approached, and the dwarf pointed at the liquor bottle.

“Try this! It’s Orc liquor!”

“Orc liquor?! Wow, this is another interesting item.”

Karwutz, as the dwarf called him, received a wooden cup from the Orc. He gulped it down and exhaled deeply with a bright smile.

“Ohhhhh! This is good! Good! Let’s buy a bottle too!”

“Yes! It’s one silver coin.”

The Orc handed over a bottle of liquor with a bright smile.

And then a dwarf woman walked over and shouted loudly.

“Oh my! This man and his liquor again! He’s already had a drink while I wasn’t looking! And he bought more liquor too?!”

“Whoa! No… what’s wrong with that! We came all the way here, so we can buy a bottle of traditional liquor! You bought that cloth bag too!”

“I bought this to use for grocery shopping! Oh dear. Don’t get drunk again!”

The dwarf man and his presumed wife bickered, but both of their faces were bright.

Timothy could tell that it wasn’t a real fight, but rather a part of their daily lives as a couple who had spent many years together.

“Well! Let’s go then. Everyone’s heading to the inn now.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

The dwarf man and woman said so and started walking. Timothy, watching the two of them walking away with smiles, glanced at his wife.

Penny was holding a traditional Orc dress against her body and talking with Kara, smiling brightly.

Timothy tried to remember the last time he saw his wife smiling so brightly. He couldn’t remember properly. He felt a little bitter, thinking that he had been too indifferent to her.

“Would you like a bottle, sir?”

Timothy thought for a moment at the Orc man’s words, then remembered Roger. He thought it wouldn’t be bad to bring him a bottle as a gift.

“Give me two bottles.”

“Yes! Thank you.”

The Orc handed him the bottles. They were made of roughly glazed pottery, sealed with a wooden lid and tied with a thin rope. It was a rustic but quite charming appearance.

As he received the bottles and turned slightly, Timothy was startled.

Penny was standing next to him, frowning slightly.

“Are you buying more liquor?”

“Ah… well… they said it’s traditional Orc liquor… I bought it to bring a bottle to Roger too.”

Penny chuckled and patted Timothy’s shoulder.

“Well, why not? You should buy something like this when you come here. Now, let’s continue looking around. I heard they sell traditional Orc food over there. Let’s have lunch with that. Is that okay with you, Kara?”

“I want to try it.”

Kara replied, and Penny started walking ahead. Timothy smiled at his wife’s back and followed her.

******

Timothy, carrying the pottery bottles tied with string over his shoulder, followed the two into a shop.

A large tent was tied with poles and ropes to create a roof, and inside the tent, there were several seats with straw mats and small tables.

As Timothy’s family entered the tent, an Orc woman sitting on a chair in the corner stood up and greeted them.

“Welcome. Please sit wherever you’re comfortable.”

Penny looked around and sat at a table, and Kara sat next to her.

“Come and sit down, honey.”

At Penny’s words, Timothy sat down next to her.

“A straw mat on the floor with a thin straw cushion. It’s fascinating.”

Penny commented while running her hand over the floor, and Kara, also curious, picked up the cushion and examined it.

“They’re very skillful.”

“You’re right. It’s meticulously made.”

“Haha. My husband and son made it. Would you like to order some food?”

While Penny and Timothy were talking, the Orc woman approached the table and placed a small wooden board on it.

Timothy picked up the wooden board. Various things were written on it in black letters.

“Grilled lamb, grilled pork, grilled vegetables… Are these dishes?”

“Yes. You can choose from those and order.”

The Orc woman smiled and nodded as Timothy read the letters and asked.

Next to the names of the dishes, the prices were written.

Penny reached out and took the menu from Timothy’s hand, read it, and said to the Orc woman.

“We’ll have the grilled lamb and grilled vegetables. Do you have any bread?”

“Yes, we do. But it’s not the kind of bread you eat. It’s the bread that we Orcs eat.”

“Then we’ll have that.”

The Orc woman nodded and walked to one side of the shop, and Penny watched her.

“I wonder what kind of dishes they’ll bring. Will it just be grilled? Or will it be grilled on an iron plate?”

“We’ll find out when we see it.”

Timothy also looked at the Orc woman, seeing Penny’s curious look. He was also curious.

As if aware of the customers’ gazes, the Orc woman walked to a long furnace and picked up a pottery plate and a knife.

The furnace was long vertically and narrow horizontally, with a red fire blazing inside. Next to the furnace, a brown object stood tall.

“I guess that’s the meat.”

“It seems so.”

“It’s huge.”

Penny, Timothy, and Kara each expressed their admiration while watching the Orc woman turn the meat. The long, brown object standing vertically next to the long furnace was a lump of meat.

“It doesn’t seem to be a whole piece, does it?”

“Hmm… It looks like they’ve skewered pieces of meat onto a long wooden skewer in multiple layers.”

“They’ve placed it vertically. It’s a fascinating method.”

While Penny and Timothy were talking, the Orc woman turned the meat standing next to the furnace, sliced off the cooked parts with a knife, piled them high on a pottery plate, and threw something into the furnace.

After a while, she inserted a long skewer and pulled the object out. It was bread.

The Orc woman put the bread in a basket and brought it to the table along with the plate of meat.

“Here’s the grilled lamb and bread. I’ll bring the grilled vegetables in a little while.”

Timothy’s family leaned forward, looking at the food that was placed down.

“The bread is thin.”

“You can tear off a suitable amount and wrap the meat in it. You can dip it in this sauce.”

Penny nodded at the Orc woman’s words and tore off a piece of the thin, large bread. Then she used the bread to pick up the meat piled on the plate.

“Here, try it.”

“Oh… okay.”

Timothy received the bread that Penny handed him and carefully dipped it in the red soup. Meanwhile, Penny handed the meat wrapped in bread to Kara and picked up one for herself.

Timothy carefully put the bread and meat into his mouth. The slightly chewy bread, which wasn’t seasoned, and the spicy taste of the sauce spread throughout his mouth along with the taste of the meat.

“Oh my. The bread is very chewy. And the meat is quite flavorful, as if it was marinated before grilling.”

“It’s a little spicy. But it’s delicious.”

Penny and Kara also seemed to like it, chewing the bread with bright smiles, and Timothy took another bite of the bread.

“Here’s the grilled vegetables. Let me know if you need more bread. I’ll bring you more.”

“It’s really delicious. The bread is especially delicious. Please bring us one more.”

Penny quickly said, and the Orc woman smiled brightly and walked back to the furnace.