Bab 94: Prelude to the Centennial War (Part 4)
"Hey, have you tried the newest device?" A big muscle man which was holding a hammer stopped his movement as he opened a conversation with the person behind him.
"Which one, Big Hu?"
"The one that is capable to explode."
"Nah, the principle is not hard to imitate. the only problem for us is the inability to mass produce it like the other."
"How about that mask one?"
"Mask? what the heck is that?"
"How can you not know? That mask one, the one which is capable to send a message within radius one kilometre."
"Oh, that one. That is the older model, the Water Association Merchant House has released another new model!"
"Really? Isn't the one I mentioned was released out around ten days ago?" Another person chimed in as Big Hu turned around.
"That is from the Cui Merchant House, old San. This newest model comes from the Water Association Merchant House, the one from Cui Merchant House cannot beat it whether it is the transmission distance or the shape."
"Heck! Is that even better?" Old San completely stopped his work and joined in the conversation
"Tsk, tsk tsk, of course. Not only the transmission range is a hundred metres longer, even the device's design is exquisite. Unlike that mask which covers almost the whole face, this one only covers half of the face. It will not cover your eye, nose, and even mouth."
"What? Even mouth? Then how the f*ck we will use that f*cking device? Talking to the air?"
"But the voice will be transmitted." A woman's voice joined the conversation from their behind.
As the three sweaty men turned their head toward the voice's direction, they saw a little girl. Her hairs were covered in a piece of cloth and sweat covered her face, but it couldn't hide his feminine charm inside her strong stature. Her body was tanned thanks to her job near the kiln, making her used to the heat most of the time. Her body had some muscle and her stature was good, much better than her peers of the same age.
She was the pride of the Blacksmith Guild, even though her age was only twelve.
"What is it, little Fang? You have seen it?" The three men went closer toward the little girl.
Nodding her head, the little girl replied, "A few days ago, my good friend from the Academy come and I hear a lot of interesting story from her."
"Damn you girl, you know some nobility?" Big Hu's expression grew sourer as he finished his sentence. It was not weird for him to hate the nobility since a small civil war became something usual. That was not the biggest source of his hatred, but rather some nobility's army were raiding some small village on purpose. And his family's village was one of the victims.
Carrying his hatred toward the nobility of the Fire Kingdom, he planned to leave the Kingdom for good. He was not willing to give benefit for the trashy nobility and he wanted to forget his sorrow.
Knowing what was on Big Hu's mind, little Fang shook her head and explained, "No. Rather than knowing some nobility, it is more precise to say that my friend is pulled into one of the nobility."
"Sigh. So many good things are taken by those nobilities. What a load of bull nobility." Old San scowled.
Big Hu didn't expect Old San's reaction, thus he asked, "Ho? Some problem with them?"
". . . My fiancée was kidnapped and raped."
Silence filled the atmosphere as no one could predict what Old San was talking about.
Seeing no one asked, Old San mocked himself as sorrow filled his eyes, his body. "After that, my fiancée was thrown into a wolf's den wearing army's uniform. All I received is only a mess of meat with blood and many disgusting things."
Taking out a wineskin from somewhere, Big Hu offered it to Old San. He didn't say anything as he handed the wineskin, and Old San was grateful of Big Hu's consolation.
(Author's Note: Wineskin, the wine version for waterskin.)
"Sigh. So, this is the end of this Blacksmith Guild, isn't it? I, Dong Shang, the Guild Master of this place has failed all of us." Dong Shan gazed at the ceiling as a drop of water slid on his cheek. He was agonized by the current situation of the guild.
"Guild Master, don't be sad. It is not us losing the guild, but the Kingdom give up on us. We will move to a better place, right?"
". . ."
Seeing the desolate atmosphere around the three men in front of her, she, Fan Linfang was also influenced by their mood. Even if she had no complaint about the current situation of the Kingdom, many were antagonized by the Kingdom.
Or more exactly, the Kingdom had changed, not a small one but a complete change.
Two years ago, the first piece of big news was circulated around the Kingdom. The rebellion of General Xia, along with the destruction of the Xia family's domain.
No, it was a massacre.
The land became a wasteland, a land of the dead because no any living thing was able to live above the red-coloured ground.
Following the destruction of the Xia family, the Royal Family bestowed a nobility title toward the big and dominant families. Not only that, rich people could even buy the title from the Royal Family.
It was the beginning of the nightmare.
Killing, plundering, arson, people could be sold as a commodity, death of commoner didn't mean anything, even the Academy became the exclusive pawn for the Royal Family.
The Kingdom became a mess.
Civil war everywhere, kidnapping and abduction is the norm, the crime rate increased many times, and even the Blacksmith Guild was affected.
Her smiling friend, Linlin also disappeared at the time the Fourth Prince rebelled against the Royal Kingdom. It was a weird story as many knew that the Fourth Prince was someone without any gift, with the exception of his diligence. Thus, how was it possible for that kind of person to plan a rebellion?
Her chatty friend, Xiao Lin was the only one keeping her contact with herself. But every time they met, Xiao Lin grew indifferent and less chatty than before. Most of their conversation was centred in her new life, every new and extravagant thing. She became as proud as a peacock while forgetting everything about their old friendship, pure relationship.
Xiao San was disappeared without a trace. No one knew and not even one of her friend wondered about it.
Dahuang, her fellow blacksmith apprentice at the Academy pledged his allegiance toward the young master of the Shi family, no, not Shi family anymore. Shi Dukedom's Second Young Master, Shi Tianfeng. Ever since then, she never heard any news about him.
Her old friend, Xia Mingyue had disappeared at the Academy day. Many believed that she was assassinated. At that time, the Academy was a peaceful place and Fangfang was pursuing her career in blacksmithing, thus she always disregard everything else.
[I thought she was bluffing, attracting attention everywhere and every time. But who knows that the Xia family was the first offering. Getting close to the people like that is indeed dangerous.]
She was reminiscing about the memory of a handful, high maintenance little girl. A frail existence which was thrown by her.
But even so, she didn't feel any remorse at that event. That little girl was nothing more than a fleeting memory.
She was alone here, to chase her dream.
Fangfang gazed around the room. It was a dirty and messed place, but now most of the things were moved out. It was only a dirty and empty room. Even though she was not here for a long time, she had grown fond of this place.
This place should have been her dream, her future, but now it was only the shell of the previous glory. Nothing left in this place, in this desolate place. Looking at the drunken blacksmith in front of her, she picked the wineskin and washed her throat with the wine inside in one valorous swing.
"Gulped, gulped, gulped, ohok. . ." Half of the swallowed wine was thrown out as she was not strong on alcohol. Her face reddened as her eyes were blurry. Her head was spinning as she couldn't differentiate between top and bottom.
She was knocked down.
As she fell, Big Hu caught her on time. No, he was trying to catch the fallen wineskin. He couldn't afford to let the important wine was wasted.
Looking at their intoxicated apprentice, the three men sighed.
"At least, she knows how to drunk. It is good as you can forget the hard thing in life." Shaking his head, he said to the other two, "Let's leave earlier. The earlier we depart, the earlier we arrive."
Old San didn't say anything as he brought his personal equipment toward the wagon in front of the building.
Looking at the bunch of people wearing a variety of armour, the ex-Guild Master asked at the bearded man, "We will depart a little earlier. Is that okay with you guys?"
"We are already prepared for this morning. Depart a little earlier or later is fine." Looking up at the rundown building without its former glory, the head mercenary sighed, "It is our goodbye, isn't it? The biggest Blacksmith Guild has disappeared from today onward."
"We are not needed because we are not willing to bend our back toward those nobilities. As long as we stay here, we will only become an eyesore for them. Assassination is no possible."
Looking at the intoxicated little girl in Old Hu,s embrace, the head mercenary paled as his legs were trembling.
"Yo-you. . ."
"Hm?" The ex-Guild Master was puzzled as he didn't know what made him scared.
Calming down his heart beat a little, the head mercenary whispered with a serious expression, "Even though the three of you are saddened, that doesn't justify the three of you to g*ng-r*pe a little girl! It is a crime!"
"F*CK OFF! SCRAM FOR THIS DADDY!" The ex-Guild Master wanted to cough out blood as he heard such accusation. He gritted his teeth as he shot a death glare toward the head mercenary.
[R*pe? Gang-r*pe? Seriously? That is what in your mind?]
[Do you believe that I will smash your Winnie until it is hidden forever? I have a hammer, anvil, and many things! You can choose!]
…
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
FrostDream193
FrostDream193 1/10
0/3 bonus for last week's power stones XD
End of book 1, growing up.
I hope you enjoy the story :D
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