The World Dragon's Heir-Chapter 49: Delivery Wagons

Pops supervised the apprentices and Journeymen for a few hours, as there were no orders for Master crafted weapons at the moment, and then went to collect lunch for himself and Dominic, who was still mumbling about spears in his sleep.

The lucky oil bucket in question was sitting next to the forge in his room, still laden with mana and suspiciously shiny. Pops kneeled next to the bucket for a closer look and realized that he had dumped a bit of core dust into the oil for added effects, and then included some of his own mana to improve the efficiency.

It was a devious measure that he wasn’t sure even the old armourer had fully appreciated.

"Dominic, wake up, it’s time for work." Pops shouted from right beside his bed.

"Five more minutes, I paid for the full night." he mumbled as he snuggled deeper into his pillow.

"They’re going to take your oil bucket if you don’t get up." Pops tried.

That made him open his eyes a bit, and magic flared at Dominic’s fingertips before the bucket seemed to disappear as the stool shifted across the floor, and his eyes closed again.

"Did you just cast invisibility on the oil bucket?" Pops asked.

"Sleeping. I’m sleeping." Dominic complained as he slowly realized that it was Pops speaking, and that he wasn’t at a hotel with soft beds.

He rolled to an upright position, then stretched his arms over his head and rolled his neck to get the stiffness out.

"It’s not invisibility, it’s just a minor illusion, I made it look like the work stool. Serves them right if they sit in the bucket." Dominic grumbled.

Then the smell of roasted meat wafted into the room as the staff brought in lunch, and the exhausted Dragonkin began to look more awake.

"Get dressed to go for a walk through the city. There should be a uniform for that. Once you’ve had lunch, you will go deliver your spears." Pops informed him with a smile.

"Oh yeah, spears. How did you like them? It took me nearly all night to finish."

Pops patted the short blonde Sorcerer on the head. "They’re excellent. I’m sure the spearmen will love them. That’s why you’re going to deliver them personally.

Now, get some food in you, they will be needing those spears. I heard that they’re seeing more large monsters along with the Goblins again. Something strange is going on out there, and it looks like it will get worse before it gets better."

Dominic thought about the Ogres he had seen fighting alongside the Goblins. That wasn’t normal, the Ogres didn’t take Goblins as slaves or workers, so they shouldn’t have much to do with each other. Someone or something else must have been organizing them.

They made their way back to the forge after lunch, where they found the whole weapon smith’s area in shambles, with tools scattered all over the floor and the bundle of spears thrown everywhere.

The area was suspiciously empty, except for the old armourer working in the corner.

"That failed apprentice of yours sure has a temper." The old armourer noted as they walked past him.

"What’s his problem today?"

"Seems like he wanted to get his money back, so he made a wager with Deckard that your boy wouldn’t get done before noon today." The old man replied with a smirk.

"Well, as long as he didn’t break the weapons, They all need to go out to the front lines right now." Pops sighed.

"Nah, he wouldn’t go that far. He didn’t have the guts to get written up by the Lord General for damaging Royal Guard property, so he just made a mess and stormed off.

If you see him, tell him that Deckard is looking for him and wants his money." The old man added.

"Will do. Dominic, collect all your spears and get them to the front lines along with any other enchanted weapons that the apprentices turned out last night. The ones from the Journeymen will be brought to the guard officers here in the Palace." Pops explained.

That made sense, the officers got the good stuff, and the rest of the guard got the leftovers. Well, most of the time. There were numerous Uncommon Grade spears in the batch today, and that didn’t seem to be the norm for these weapon deliveries.

In fact, out of the entire wagon that they loaded, there were only two other Uncommon Grade magical weapons made by the apprentices.

The two - wheeled cart was pulled by a mechanical donkey, and had a spring mounted seat in the front, like the stereotypical farmers’ carts of children’s stories. Mostly farmers couldn’t afford mechanical donkeys, and had larger wagons, but the stereotype continued.

"I will see you all soon." Dominic laughed as he vaulted up onto the seat of the wagon.

The donkey came to life as he tapped the reins, walking through the palace grounds, while Pops and the old armourer laughed at the excited Sorcerer.

Dominic bounced along the cobblestone roads with everyone moving out of the way of the Palace Wagon, knowing that it had the weapons for the guard who were out fighting right now. The donkey wouldn’t go faster than a slow trot, but it was still fast enough on the bouncy seat of the wagon.

He left through the Noble Quarter gate, the closest to the forge, and the moment that he passed the gates, the stench of dead Goblins in the sun assaulted his nose, and the sounds of battle doubled in volume.

"What are you delivering, Apprentice?" A guard Sergeant yelled from near the line, struggling to be heard over the din of battle.

"Royal Weaponsmith Apprentice, Dominic, with today’s weapons. I’ve got plenty of Uncommon spears and a collection of blades and axes." he yelled back.

"I’ll take them. The Hobgoblins are breaking weapons faster than we can replace them. How many spears do you have?" He asked at a more normal volume as the wagon covered the hundred metres to the front lines.

Dominic fired an [Arcane Blast] into a Hobgoblin that was gaining an upper hand on a pair of guards and pulled the donkey to a stop.

"I’ve got fifty spears, mostly uncommon." he replied.

"Well, ain’t that sweet. The Journeymen did something nice for the enlisted for a change." He muttered.

"Oh, I wouldn’t count on that. Their gear goes straight to the officers. I made the spears yesterday. See, they’ve all got my mark on them." Dominic explained. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"Uncommon weapons in bulk from the new Apprentice? I must say, we got the best end of the deal when they hired Pops." One of the guards joked as he began to ransack the wagon for a new weapon.

He had a broken short sword on his hip, so Dominic found him a replacement, and the guard ran off.

"How do we do this? Do I just roll along the line, handing weapons out like candy? Or are you coming with me to get them out the way you like?" Dominic asked.

"I will walk beside the cart. Hand me what I ask for, and I will be sure that it gets delivered." The Sergeant agreed, then gestured for a runner to come to them.

"Boy, give the weapons out as I hand them to you." He instructed the errand boy.

Dominic threw out more spells as they talked, picking off the wounded monsters, or the ones that looked like they were getting the advantage.

"Do you always cast spells at everything you pass?" The Sergeant joked.

"Only the ugly things. You have no idea how hard it is not to cast on some of the nobles." Dominic replied with a wink.

The man’s smile highlighted an old scar that ran the length of his face, then he whistled, and threw a whole handful of spears toward a unit beside them.

"Treat for you gents from the new apprentice. Try to take good care of them." He instructed.