The Guild was located very close to the inn—a mere five-minute walk. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was right under our noses.

Since the inn was in the heart of the town—the most prosperous area—it made sense for all the major facilities to be clustered together.

"M-Mister... by any chance, do you have business in that building over there?"

It was the same boy from earlier.

As we started walking toward the Guild, he looked startled and did a quick about-face.

For reference, the Guild is directly across the plaza from the inn. It's that close.

Since the town isn't very large, the major facilities are probably concentrated in the center.

"Yeah. Just going to ask for directions."

At my answer, the boy's face openly screamed, "Oh crap."

This kid wears every emotion on his sleeve. He really needs to work on his poker face more.

"I-I see! Not that it has anything to do with me! Well then, see you tomorrow!"

Leaving those words behind, the boy ran off.

At this point, there's a good chance he won't show up tomorrow. Is our connection destined to end here?

There must be something at the guild he really doesn't want me to find out.

* * *

The Guild in Lucraella had a completely different atmosphere from the one in Erische.

The first thing that stood out upon entering was the sheer size of the first floor—it was roughly 330 square meters. The area was divided into sections, handling not just standard paperwork but all sorts of other business.

There was a general entrance and what looked like a trade delivery door.

In one corner, sacks of ore were casually piled up, presumably brought in from the mountains.

At a table near the entrance, men in grimy clothes were single-mindedly sorting what looked like raw ore.

Furthermore—

"Whoa, isn't that an elf over there?"

There was an elf at the guild, dressed in priestly robes... which meant this was my first time seeing an elven priest besides Priestess-chan.

His light brown hair was cut short, exposing his long, bamboo-leaf-shaped ears. Unlike the long-haired elf from Efta's place, this one was a slightly wild-looking male elf, suited for a mining town.

Well, he's undoubtedly handsome, but are all elves good-looking? If you go to an elven village, are there ugly ones too...?

Well, whatever. Male elves don't really interest me much.

If it were a female elf, though, that'd be like finding a crane in a garbage dump in a mining town like this.

Looking more closely, I noticed a small altar in the back. It was modest in size, but the style was the same as the one in Erische's temple... which probably means the temple and guild share the building, or one is renting space from the other?

"What do you think, Diana? Since he's one of your kind, want to go say hello?"

I don't really understand how strong racial solidarity is in this world, but elves are rare. Maybe she'd want to do the whole "Hey, which village are you from?" thing. Talk about home, reminisce about the elf lands—that sort of thing.

"It's unnecessary nodesu," Diana replied.

How cold.

Since Diana is a princess, maybe she expects others to approach her first? Now that I think about it, she tends to summon Priestess-chan whenever she wants to.

Still, a priest, huh... I suppose every town must have at least one.

Even if elves are rare, there's plenty of work to do—like granting blessings, unlocking spirit stone abilities, and so on. At the very least, one per town seems necessary. Honestly, a town of Erische's size being handled by just Priestess-chan almost feels miraculous.

Wait, a priest... priest...

Speaking of priests, I feel like I'm forgetting something related to them... What was it?

Did I have business with Priestess-chan? At the very least, I shouldn't have any particular business with the priest here... Or maybe it's something related to Diana—

"Ah! That's it! I remember now!"

"What is it, Goshujin-sama? Suddenly shouting like that."

"Don't 'what is it' me, Diana! Remember when we took down that bear? Priestess-sama mentioned something about a 'Class Up' or 'Class Change.' What happened with that? My Guidance actually told me to 'Class Up' too. I completely forgot about it in the chaos of the trip, but you said you'd handle that whole thing, didn't you?"

"Ugh... you didn't have to remember right now of all times..."

"No, I'd totally forgotten. Seeing that priest just jogged my memory."

That's right—Class Up.

"A class-up means your vocation advances to the next level, right?"

Games often have that, so I know. I just know these things.

But it's unclear which vocation will class up. I have eight vocations, after all... wait, I have nine to be precise if you count the unique one. Given the timing of the Guidance, I'm betting on [Swordsman], probably triggered by the fight with the bear.

"Goshujin-sama, you are quite well-informed nodesu. Very few people ever reach the level of mastery required for a Class Change; it is a secret rarely known to the public."

"Then all the more reason to do it quickly. I'm fine doing it now, even."

"E-Eh, um... after we return! Let's do it after we return nodesu! I need to prepare various things on my end too."

Diana sounded flustered.

I wonder if she's telling the truth? Kinda suspicious... Still, I'm not in a particular rush either. If she says after we get back, that's fine.

Alright, putting that aside—let's get our business done quickly.

I spoke to a guild staff member and asked for the location of the dwarf blacksmith's workshop—the one Meeker Trading Company's owner had written a letter of introduction for.

They gave me directions easily but added a warning: "The Master there doesn't forge for first-timers. It'll be tough even with an introduction." That said, blacksmithing is still a business. An apprentice might be willing to take the job.

Well, even an apprentice's skill shouldn't be bad, and worst case, it's fine if it's not a piece made by the master himself. I'm not good with stubborn old men anyway, and I'm not exactly pushy myself. Especially not against a hairy, burly dwarf. Frankly, they sound intimidating.

Having secured the directions, I decided to ask about the item I bought from the boy.

"Changing the subject—do you know anything about this metal?"

Asking a guild employee seemed the fastest way, so I pulled a few grains from the pouch.

Of course, it was the white metal grains I had just bought from the boy.

The guild employee glanced at them once and replied casually, without changing expression.

"Oh, that's Shiro. That's quite a lot you have there."

Shiro (White)?

Sounds like a dog or cat name.

The [Mirror of Truth] called it "Resia Metal Group"... I guess "Shiro" is just the local nickname.

"Wait... by any chance... did you buy this from a kid out on the street...?"

So that boy’s famous, huh? Or is this just a common scam around here?

"You're quite perceptive. So, it's a common thing around here after all?"

"Um, how much did you pay?"

"One silver coin. For this one pouch."

"Oh... my apologies. This is due to our lack of oversight..."

The guild employee bowed his head.

A somewhat unexpected turn. Is that boy affiliated with the Guild or something?

"No, it's just that boy—Marco... he's a gold panner under contract with us."

Huh? Gold panning? Here in a mining town?

"You actually pan for gold here? It's from the rivers, right?"

I'd seen something like that on TV once—somewhere in South America, scooping river sediment into a basket and shaking it so the heavier gold remains.

Back at my black company, we handled gold often, but I didn't know much about panning. Now that I think about it, the [Mirror of Truth] did say "Sourced from the Luk River." Probably the river running through Lucraella.

"Yes. 'Shiro' refers to the grains found alongside the gold dust... actually, it would be faster to show you."

The guild employee guided us to a section inside the guild.

The grimy men I saw earlier were hunched over a table near the entrance, meticulously sorting through something.

"What they are sorting is the same metal as the 'Shiro' you were, um, sold."

The guild employee explained hesitantly. He doesn't need to feel responsible, though. In this world, he might be an unusually responsible man.

The men working intently indeed had tanned skin and sturdy builds, just like the boy Marco. Their work seemed to involve staring intently at tiny grains about 1 mm in size on a black sheet, sorting them with their fingertips.

The golden, or rather yellowish-brown, grains were probably gold dust. Even the largest were only about 5 mm, while the smallest were less than 1 mm. They were separating those from the white grains—the same metal I bought.

It looked like a job that would ruin your eyesight. It seemed like endless work, but since you can't find that much gold dust, it probably only took a few hours a day. Still, it looked tedious.

"Shiro always ends up mixed with the gold dust. We have to sort it out like that after panning. It takes a tremendous amount of labor, and it's a real headache for us."

I see.

Because its density is close to gold’s, it remains mixed together.

The amount of Shiro mixed in is probably less than 10% of the total, but you can't exactly use it mixed in. Gold coins have to be pure gold, after all.

"So, what do you do with that Shiro? I mean—what is it, exactly? Does it have any use?"

I fired off questions one after another.

Seeing as Marco had so much of it, it probably had no use. If it did, he wouldn't need to sell it like a scammer on the street.

The [Mirror of Truth] said it had "various uses" and could be used without refining... but what's the reality?

"Well... um... I'm sorry you bought so much, but we haven't been able to melt Shiro at all. Even the priest-dono here said he's stumped because there's no Spirit Magic that has been passed down on how to refine it."

"Meaning?"

"As it stands, it has no use."

"No use... as in you throw it away?"

"I suppose you could say that..."

They throw it away? That's the complete opposite of what the [Mirror of Truth] evaluated. It labeled it 'Rarity A' with 'various uses'.

However, the fact that it's currently "worthless" is a godsend for me. Only I know it's Rarity A and actually has a use. If I secure it now for the future... well, even if I never find a use for it, I haven't lost much if I buy it for next to nothing.

"Again, I am truly sorry. The Guild will be very strict with Marco from now on. He's actually a very skilled gold panner and a good kid who cares for his family so..."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I bought it halfway knowing what it was."

Honestly, one silver coin isn't that much. Just finding out this metal exists was worth the price of admission. It was a good investment for the information alone.

"So, when you throw this Shiro away, is there a specific place you dump it? If there's more, I'd like to have it."

"Eh? What would you use it for?"

"...As a paperweight, maybe."

I made something up on the spot.

Well, heavy metals do feel nice to own.

"A weight...? No, I'm sorry. The Guild doesn't buy the Shiro, so we don't have a stock of it here."

"Oh. Then..."

I glanced toward the men doing the sorting work.

"Yes. They likely dispose of it themselves."

Ugh.

I don't know how many panners there are total, but if they're all tossing it individually, collecting it will be a pain.

Hmm...

Well, whatever.

I could ask the Guild to act as a middleman for buying it, but I'm not that desperate.

Marco said he had more; for now, I'll just buy out his stock and figure out the rest later.

* * *

Just as we were about to leave the Guild, a massive load of minerals was brought into the space housing the Guild's simple temple.

It was a mountain of ore loaded onto carts. They all looked like similar types of stone, but the quantity was staggering—five full carts' worth. I had no idea how much they weighed, but I wondered what they planned to do with all those rocks in a place like this.

The men who brought the stones in began stacking them neatly alongside the guild employees, creating a large pile of various-sized ores. The priest stood nearby, watching the process. I couldn't help but wonder what was about to start.

A massive pile of ore was stacked up in the space in front of the altar.

And then, with practiced motions, the guild staff chased away onlookers and roped off the area. Only the priest remained inside the cordoned-off space, exchanging a few words with a staff member.

I decided to ask a man standing nearby, who looked like a merchant.

"What's going on? What's about to start?"

"Hm? First time in Lucraella? They're refining 'Magic Silver.'"

"Refining?"

Inside the guild?

Oh right, the guild staff did mention something about the priest's refining magic earlier.

"Lucraella Mountain produces Mithril ore. Every so often, once they've gathered enough, they refine it all right here."

"I see... but why refine that much all at once? It's an unusually large amount."

It was a literal mountain of stone. Even if that was the raw ore for Mithril, it felt excessive.

Or was it that they could only extract a tiny amount of metal from that much ore? If that were the case, the high price of Mithril would certainly make sense.

"Take a look at that."

The man jerked his chin toward a guild staff member returning from a back room carrying a small box. He pulled a green stone from the box and respectfully handed it to the priest with a bow.

"Is that a Spirit Stone?"

"That's the answer to your earlier question. Refining Magic Silver requires a Spirit Stone, so they refine as much as possible in one go—right up to the limit."

I see. That made sense. If you're going to use a Spirit Stone, it's far more efficient to refine as much as possible at once.

The priest placed the Spirit Stone in his right hand and stood before the pile of Mithril ore. It looked like the refining was about to begin.

Just like Priestess-chan or Diana perform magic, the priest muttered something quietly under his breath... that muttering was apparently the incantation for Spirit Magic.

In response to his words, the Spirit Stone transformed into faint, glowing particles of light that drifted around him. Then, guided by the priest’s spell, those particles were sucked into the Mithril ore as if dissolving into the stone.

The moment every last particle was absorbed, the ore erupted in a light so brilliant I instinctively closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, there stood the priest with a smug expression—and before him lay plates of Mithril silver.

Whoa... seriously?

Spirit Magic is incredible—or maybe it's this world's system... It wasn't just refined; the Mithril was already in a state where it could be used as a finished product.

There were roughly a hundred metal plates, each about five millimeters thick, gleaming with a pale blue-white light. Each plate was about the size of a tatami mat. If all of that could be refined with a single Spirit Stone, it was incredibly cost-effective.

Skipping all intermediate stages and ending up directly in this form—this was magic in the truest sense!

Calling it "refining" almost felt inaccurate. This was something else entirely.

"Amazing! Spirit Magic really is all-purpose."

"It is indeed impressive nodesu. That seems to be an extremely advanced form of magic nodesu," Diana noted.

"Huh. You can't use that, Diana?"

"Impossible in my current state. Even if that weren't the case, I can't use a magic I don't know nodesu."

"I guess that makes sense."

Thinking about it, none of the magic Diana had used so far was especially complex. Even when she healed injuries with a spirit stone, she described it as forcibly rewinding time—which is amazing in its own right, but still a simple concept.

Apparently, aside from Rebecca-san, none of us knew that this was how Mithril was made, so everyone was just as shocked as I was. Well, unless you make a special effort to learn, you might not know how materials are made. It's like how most people in Japan don't really know how plastic is made.

Still, learning that mithril's production was literally magic-based was a bit of a shock. Even if you can make that much at once, the fact that it requires a Spirit Stone explains the price. The raw ore itself might actually be quite common.

Man... just seeing this alone might have made this trip worthwhile.

Still buzzing with excitement over how amazing Mithril was, we finally stepped outside the guild again.

Next stop: The Dwarven Blacksmith.