Magical Tool Master Dahlia Never Compromises ~ Starting Today: Life as a Freelancer ~

"We saw him in the cave during the subjugation. He warned us, 'Get out of here if you want to die!' His voice was terrifying. Luckily, the high priest was there that time, and it only took five minutes to purify him."

"It's only been five minutes... I feel a little sorry. What does he look like? What's in that armor?"

"It was a massive suit of black armor, without a helmet, and holding a long sword. The equipment on it looked very high-end, but the armor was empty. After the priest purified it, the city's magician carefully took the equipment back, but they found no mechanism in the armor or the sword, and the magician seemed disappointed."

"Is that so..."

Dahlia understood the magician's feelings very well. People like them wanted to crack the mechanisms and structures.

Is the source of its power the soul, or is it a purely impersonal "Headless Horseman" created by magic?

Even if only the armor and sword were left, Dahlia would want to disassemble them all and look at them from beginning to end, and if possible, she would also like to carefully examine the materials used.

"If I were high enough, I could show you that armor..."

Seeing her lost in thought, the young man felt a little sorry.

This was the second time Dalia lost her composure today, and she shook her head vigorously.

"That's okay. Just hearing your description is interesting, and I appreciate it. It helps me with my work, too."

Only then did she come to her senses.

They were busy chatting, but considering the condition of Wolf's eyes, it would be better to see a doctor as soon as possible.

"It's almost time to go. It's still a long way from here to the capital."

"Sorry, I was just too busy chatting."

"I'm sorry, we talked for too long."

After Dalia completely extinguished the bonfire, she covered it with a layer of soil.

Then, after restoring the ground to its original state, the luggage was quickly piled back onto the carriage.

Wolf's clothes were not completely dry yet, so Dahlia hung them on the carriage to let them air out, and the armor was piled at the back of the carriage.

They sat down on the coachman's platform, and Wolff stretched himself. He hadn't slept for a long time, so he must be very sleepy.

"It'll take some time to get back to the capital, so you should get some sleep. I'll call you when we get to the city walls, and you can change back into your clothes then."

"It's okay. I'm not that sleepy. It might be the effect of the potion. If you don't bother me, can I talk to you for a while?"

"sure."

When Dalia grasped the reins, she suddenly thought of the white wine she drank on the way here.

She opened the bag, and the white wine inside was bubbling from the shaking of the carriage. She felt a little regretful. If she had known, she would have drunk the white wine at lunch and given all the red wine to Wolff.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot there was a bottle of white wine I had drunk."

"Can I have a sip?"

Dahlia had just given Wolf some water and wine, but he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days, so he might still be very thirsty.

"I'm sorry for making you drink what I drank! It's okay if you're thirsty."

"I'm sorry for always asking you for things! Actually... I have no resistance to liquor at all."

He said this seriously and drank the white wine from the bottle. Seeing this, Dahlia couldn't help laughing.

After that, they talked about magic tools and magic swords all the way.

Dahlia talked about the magic tools sold to civilians in the royal city, while Wolfe talked about the magic swords and magic tools in the royal city.

The two happily introduced things that each other didn't know, and time passed in the blink of an eye.

As they approached the capital's gates, Dahlia stopped the carriage and asked Wolfe to change his clothes on the platform. Unfortunately, his clothes were still wet and a bit cold, so Dahlia asked him to keep his coat on.

As a result, Wolff didn't close his eyes the whole time.

Dahlia deduced that due to his knightly instincts, even while happily chatting, he was still paying careful attention to his surroundings and didn't fall asleep.

Wolff said there was a building on the inside of the gate where soldiers were stationed.

He had to go there to verify his identity before entering the royal city.

Commoners' carriages probably couldn't drive into the royal city so openly, so they had to say goodbye here.

After the carriage stopped in front of the building, it suddenly started to rain.

Wolfe got off the coachman's platform and was about to take off his coat when Dahlia quickly stopped him.

"Your clothes are not dry yet. If you catch a cold, it will be bad. You should continue to wear it. This coat is made of sand lizard.It can keep out the rain."

"Then I'll borrow your coat. Thank you for helping me today. You really helped me a lot. Tell me where you live and I'll come back to pay you back later."

"No thanks. Just help us defeat monsters, and consider this as a donation from the common people."

"At least let me buy you a drink."

He made this invitation probably because he wanted to be friends with Dalia.

Dalia had a very pleasant chat with him and wanted to chat with him again if possible.

However, even though she had legitimate reasons, it was still rude to pretend to be a man and deceive the other party.

Although it's a shame, they should stop here.

"If you see me on the street one day, please stop me and I'll let you treat me."

Dahlia said in a deliberately cheerful tone.

The capital was so huge that it was almost impossible for Wolf, a noble knight, and her, a commoner, to meet again.

"..."

The rain grew heavier and Wolfe said something, but she didn't hear it.

At this time, a carriage came from behind.

"I'm afraid of blocking the cars behind me, so I'm leaving now!"

Although she felt a little embarrassed towards Wolfe, she ended the conversation with the excuse of the carriage and drove away on her eight-legged horse.

"...See you next time, Dally!"

This was the only call she could hear clearly.

Wolfe's beautiful smile was deeply imprinted in her mind.

She had a fulfilling holiday.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

The Royal City, located north of the capital, is surrounded by a vast, towering white stone wall. While not imposing in appearance, it prioritizes defense and convenience, giving it a cutting-edge feel.

"Wolf! You're lucky you're still alive!"

"Lord Scafarot, are you okay?"

"You're not a ghost, are you?"

Dozens of members of the monster-suppression force waited in the rain behind the royal city's massive stone gate. As soon as Wolfe passed through the gate, they swarmed over him, surrounding him, and one took advantage of the chaos to kick him in the back of the knee.

The monster-suppression force includes both noble knights and commoner knights.

Despite their different roles, they always had to carry out life-threatening missions, so the whole team was very united. Most people were not just pretending, but were truly worried about their teammates' safety like family members.

There were some knights, soldiers and maids behind the team, watching Wolf from a distance.

It seemed like those people came to make sure he was okay.

"I'm sorry for making everyone worried!"

Surrounded by his teammates, Wolff raised his voice and apologized to those around him.

He was captured by Feilong for two whole days.

I heard that some members of his team have been searching in shifts for the past two days and are almost giving up.

They were even planning to hold an honorary funeral for him in the Order of Knights three days later, and upon hearing this, Wolf could only apologize repeatedly.

"Wolver, how did you get back?"

His teammate asked, grabbing his shoulders firmly.

He drank Dali's potion and the wound on his shoulder completely disappeared.

"I stabbed the dragon in the stomach and fell from the sky."

"How reckless! Don't say such things so lightly! What happened to the dragon later?"

"After I made sure it was dead, I strengthened my body and ran to the road, where I was rescued. They kindly let me drink a recovery potion and sent me back to the capital."

"That's great! Everyone was so worried about you... They thought you were dead this time..."

The friend with dark blue hair sniffed and looked up suddenly.

"Anyway! I'm glad you're safe!"

"Really, it wouldn't be funny if Lord Wolffrid and Feilong committed suicide together for love."

"When I saw you being kidnapped, I thought to myself, you're so pitiful even though you're so handsome."

"If that dragon is a female, it would make sense."

The teammates told some boring jokes and laughed together.

Teammates around him patted Wolfe on the shoulders and head.

"I'll have someone inform the search team that you're back. By the way, Wolf, have you contacted your family yet?"

"not yet."

"You were captured by Feilong. They must be very worried. I'll send someone to your house to inform you."

"Thank you for your trouble."

When Wolfe expressed his gratitude, he realized that he had been thinking about other things and had completely forgotten to contact his family.

"You look okay, but are you really not hurt?"

"The monster's blood is blurring my vision. I plan to report to the captain and then go to the infirmary. Then I'll take a shower and get a good night's sleep."

He had bathed in the river, but because he hadn't used soap, his hair still smelled fishy. His clothes, washed only in clean water, still stank of blood.

"...Shit, my coat seems to be stained with the smell of monster blood."

"Why don't we just take it back to the city and send it to the laundry... Hmm? This coat isn't part of the rations, right?"

"Yes, I borrowed this. I heard it's a sand lizard coat."

"Sand lizard? The folded collar doesn't look like one. Let me take a look."

His teammate narrowed his eyes, took off Wolfe's coat, turned it inside out and looked at it carefully for a while, then sighed deeply.

"...Sand lizard skin on the outside, but dragon skin on the inside. How luxurious! Usually it's the other way around, right?"

"The Scafarot family is different."

"No, I borrowed this from someone else."

"Where did you go before returning to the city? Well, if I had a girlfriend, I'd go to her place first, too."

"You clearly don't have any, so saying that will only make you feel more empty."

As the topic drifted further, a member of the team who came from a business background looked at the coat inside and out and said to Wolff:

"I think you'd better give them a thank you gift. This is made from chopped dragon skin and pieced together with magic. It's quite high-end."

"Is that so..."

"Wolver, did a woman lend you this coat?"

"No, the guy who brought me back to the capital lent it to me. He said it was his father's coat."

"Hey, is this okay? Be careful of that 'father' taking revenge on you."

"Did the person who brought you back not know the value of this coat?"

"It's possible..."

The blurry image of Dali's face appeared in Wolfe's mind.

Dali rode not an ordinary horse, but an eight-legged horse.