Chapter 63
Orichalcum (2)
Regardless of the era, humanity has obtained countless resources from nature.
Wood, water, stone, animals, plants, soil, minerals, and so on. There is practically nothing humanity has not obtained from nature.
Among them, if “wood” could be called the alpha and omega of human civilization, then “minerals” were the resources that made humanity even more prosperous.
From iron, commonly used to make weapons, to luxury materials such as diamonds and gold.
Wood may have been overwhelmingly more important, but minerals also contributed enormously to the advancement of civilization.
Especially as technology advanced, previously useless minerals had their properties rediscovered and found new applications.
The potential value of minerals continued to be reevaluated with the passage of time.
Title) Guys, look at this lol
(Photo of a stock market board covered entirely in blue)
Has the mining industry been doing badly lately? What the hell happened? Haha.
└ What the hell happened to that? lol Did something happen?
└ I heard a mine shaft collapsed?
└ Why did it collapse? Aren’t those things built sturdy?
└ An earth dragon popped out. It caused an earthquake and the mine collapsed.
Title) What the hell is this thing? ;;
(Photo of a goblin wearing a diamond crown)
An abandoned mine turned into a goblin habitat, so we went to subjugate them, and one of them was wearing a diamond crown ;;
It’s not like the goblins mined it themselves, so what the hell?
└ You found a golden goblin lolololol
└ Who gets to keep that?
└ Obviously the group that carried out the subjugation. It’s established by law.
└ Imagine if it turns out to be fake lol
(Photo of a rock painted green)
Selling mithril. It’s real.
└ If you’re going to scam people, at least put some effort into it ;;
└ Lololol it’s so half-assed I’m speechless.
└ How much? I’ll buy it for 1 gold.
└ 1,000 gold.
└ Your conscience is fucking dead lolololol
Title) Is there anything Setan DOESN’T have?
It has gold. It has diamonds. It has mana stones. It has coal. It has basically everything else too. What the hell DOESN’T it have?
└ PraiseTheSun) Mithril. Adamantium. Orichalcum. Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron. Water.
└ Those don’t exist in other countries either lololol
└ If even those came out of there, that would just be shameless lololol
└ Is that why it doesn’t have much water? Because it has a conscience?
└ PraiseTheSun) No? It really just doesn’t have much water.
Title) Selling mithril.
As such, minerals were a frequent topic of conversation.
People would talk about diamonds being discovered in some mine, or some rare metal being unearthed, and so on.
Since minerals were directly or indirectly tied to wealth, they could even give someone a chance to strike it rich overnight.
Title) Question about the world’s three great metals
The world’s three great metals are mithril, adamantium, and orichalcum, right?
If you find even one of them, can you become filthy rich?
└ Did you find one?
└└└ I’m going to find one now.
└ Let’s talk after you actually find one.
└ Okay...
└ Him getting all dejected is kinda cute lol
└ Which one of those is the most expensive?
└ They’re all around the same, but orichalcum has gotten fucking expensive lately.
└ Why? Isn’t orichalcum just a mineral that’s sensitive to mana?
└ That mana sensitivity has made it useful for all kinds of things. You know relay magic? Orichalcum is used in that.
└ Using such a rare mineral just for relay magic seems like a waste ;;
└ That’s why substitute materials exist, but not only is the technology complicated, they can’t hold a candle to orichalcum.
└ Doesn’t having orichalcum massively increase the range of relays?
└ The problem is finding the stuff.
└ Heavenly Demon) How strange. Why is Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron not among them?
└ Grandma. Do you even know what mithril is?
└ Heavenly Demon) This Lady is not well versed in the language of the Western Lands.
└ Then do you know what true silver is?
└ Heavenly Demon) Is it not a metal lighter than steel, yet equal or superior to it in strength?
└ Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Orichalcum is true gold, and adamantium is cold iron.
└ Heavenly Demon) Then ultimately, all of them are inferior to Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
└ Forget it. I’m done talking to you ;;
└ This is suffocating ;;
Mithril is far lighter than steel while being just as strong, if not stronger.
Adamantium weighs roughly the same as steel, but its strength is on an entirely different level.
And finally, orichalcum.
Orichalcum was a somewhat unusual mineral.
It was weaker than iron in terms of strength, but it possessed one extremely distinctive property.
It was highly sensitive to mana.
That alone might not have been anything extraordinary, but as more and more ways were discovered to utilize that sensitivity, it became increasingly valuable.
Title) Things you can do with orichalcum
Increase the range of relay magic. Increase communication range. Run air conditioning and heating indefinitely. Increase airship speed. And so on.
But you need orichalcum to do any of that lol.
└ Isn’t that material just fucking broken?
└ I wouldn’t call it broken. Substitute materials exist. They’re just fucking expensive to make.
└ Basically, anything related to mana gets upgraded by several levels.
└ Then where do you get orichalcum?
└ Somewhere with lots of mana lol
That was roughly the gist of it.
There sure were a lot of uses.
After someone kindly explained all the applications of orichalcum to me, one thought came to mind.
‘Is it something like a superconductor?’
Or perhaps it served a role somewhat similar to a semiconductor.
Semiconductors required various materials, whereas orichalcum could apparently fulfill such functions all by itself.
And it did so at a superior level.
It truly was a material that could almost be called versatile —
No.
It truly was a near-universal wonder material.
└ Wild Grylls) Can I trade this for candy?
└ Passing Dwarf) Wanna trade it for my beer?
└ Wild Grylls) Fuck no.
└ Lolololol that’s harsh.
└ A dwarf is willing to give you beer for it...
└ Is that really orichalcum?
└ Wild Grylls) Dunno. And it wasn’t just this piece. The entire cave was basically this color.
└ ??? The entire cave?
└ At least say something believable ;;
└ Then again, you also found a habitat full of mature Mandrakes, so... ;;
└ Orichalcum is different from other minerals. As long as there’s enough mana, it can form.
└ Hurry up and show us.
└ Wild Grylls) Pass for today. First of all, how do I prove this is orichalcum? Do I have to give it to someone?
└ Passing Dwarf) The easiest way is to channel mana into it. If it starts glowing brighter when you put mana into it, it’s orichalcum.
└ Wild Grylls) That simple? That’s it?
└ Passing Dwarf) You also need to see how long the glow lasts. If it remains for at least twelve hours, then it’s confirmed.
└ Wild Grylls) If that’s all, I’ll just give it to you. It’s not like you’re gonna brew alcohol with it, right?
└ Passing Dwarf) Are you fucking insane? ;;
I decided to give the chunk of rock suspected to be orichalcum to the dwarf.
I needed to initiate a trade with him soon anyway, and it wasn’t as though I planned on immediately taking a pickaxe to the cave and mining it.
It was simply another valuable item I could trade, just like the mature Mandrake.
Moreover, unlike an herb, this was a mineral—and a peculiar one at that—so I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it.
‘Are the dwarf and Allfather the only two people I could realistically trade it with? PraiseTheSun seems interested too.’
Since it was a rare mineral, it was obviously worth a fortune.
But I didn’t need money.
Wouldn’t it be more useful to have a weapon made out of orichalcum instead?
Once that thought occurred to me, I became curious and made a post.
Wild Grylls
Can you make weapons and stuff out of it?
└ Most of its uses are magic-related, so it’d probably be useless to you.
└ It’s really useful in cities, but not so much in the wilderness?
└ If it were mithril, you could make armor or something, but since it’s orichalcum...
└ Honestly, trading it for candy is probably your best option.
└ Wild Grylls) Tch.
So it really was basically a solid chunk of semiconductor material.
I smacked my lips in disappointment.
I asked whether it was possible to make something like a refrigerator or washing machine using orichalcum.
If I had those, the amount of time I could devote to hunting or Wonmo would increase dramatically.
└ It’s not some perpetual-motion machine. Where are you going to get the mana to power it?
└ Wild Grylls) From my body?
└ Passing Dwarf) Just wash your clothes by hand.
└ Wild Grylls) Okay.
Title) What can you make with orichalcum?
If even the dwarf was that adamant about it, then there really was no way.
I was about to put off deciding what to do with the orichalcum when—
└ PrincessCheonggu) Would you perhaps consider selling it to me?
It was PrincessCheonggu.
An unexpected person had made an offer.
She was someone who had done nothing but give things to me until now.
After a moment of curiosity, I asked PrincessCheonggu what she wanted it for.
└ Wild Grylls) You gave me clothes, so I’ll give it to you for free. I’ll just confirm that it really is orichalcum first.
└ PrincessCheonggu) Okaay. I’ll wait.
└ Wild Grylls) What are you planning to use it for?
└ PrincessCheonggu) Relay magic. After enough time passes, the connection starts cutting out.
└ Wild Grylls) Can orichalcum prevent that?
└ PrincessCheonggu) Yep. It stabilizes the waves and prevents overheating too.
└ Wild Grylls) Magic can overheat?
Magic could overheat?
That struck me as a little strange.
I’d thought that as long as you had the appropriate spell formula and enough mana, you could keep firing off magic endlessly, but apparently not.
└ PrincessCheonggu) Of course! Most magic is single-use, so that gives people the wrong impression.
└ Wild Grylls) That’s interesting. I thought you could just spam magic endlessly.
└ PrincessCheonggu) You know Starlight Princess, right? She couldn’t use magic because her body was too weak. It’s something similar.
└ Starlight Princess) I can spam it now!
└ Wild Grylls) Oooh.
I didn’t really understand the details, but I learned that magic could apparently suffer from overheating as well.
And orichalcum was a mineral that could mitigate that phenomenon.
Either way, the fact that it was an excellent material remained unchanged.
└ Wild Grylls) Anyway, I’ll give it to you after I finish trading with the dwarf. Starlight Princess, do you want one too? I picked up a few pieces.
└ Starlight Princess) Then could I have just one reasonably sized piece? My workshop is old, so it could use some maintenance.
└ Wild Grylls) That’s the workshop where you make elixirs, right?
└ Starlight Princess) Yes. I’m also planning to make some protein supplements while I’m at it.
└ Wild Grylls) ;;
└ She’s become a total gym rat lol
└ Well, she used to be sick, so...
Since things had turned out this way, I might as well hand some out to the others too.
I only had enough on me right now to give one to Starlight Princess, but the stuff was scattered all over the cave.
I ended the conversation there and started preparing a meal.
Instead of smoking anything, I planned to cook the fish that had been caught in the fish trap.
‘I’ll eat one, give another to Wonmo, and clean the last one before giving it to the dwarf.’
As for the inner core...
I planned to keep it for the time being.
The Heavenly Demon had advised me to wait at least another week before consuming it.
By then, I should have completely adapted to the internal energy cultivation method, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
The question was where to store it until then.
I’d heard that the longer an inner core was stored, the more of its mana dispersed into the air.
‘I’ll put it in an empty bottle for now.’
I still had the glass bottle left over from drinking the elixir.
Maybe storing it in there would preserve it a little longer.
After putting away the inner core, I immediately headed up to the river.
Wonmo was still awake, so I had no choice but to take him with me.
He didn’t wander off along the way, so there weren’t any incidents.
Splash! Splash!
“Kyuu! Kyuu!”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s our lunch.”
Wonmo became extremely excited when he saw the fish caught in the trap.
He looked like he was dying to eat them immediately.
I retrieved the entire fish trap and returned to the shelter.
There were three fish in total.
A plentiful haul.
It looked like I wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while. It felt as though a single fish trap had transformed my quality of life.
“Chompchompchompchomp!”
Just in case, I plucked out the inner core and gave the rest to Wonmo.
He’d clearly eaten a snake already, yet he was still devouring the fish with gusto.
A glutton really was a glutton.
‘Wasn’t honey and salmon supposed to be a bear’s favorite foods?’
I entertained that pointless thought as I began my own meal.
Namu-Ppareumbo’s meal could simply be handled with a fasting pill.
Once everyone had finished eating, I cleaned the remaining fish for Passing Dwarf.
[Wild Grylls has registered items for trade.]
[Wild Grylls: Put the cleaned fish and that ori-whatever thing in there. It’s okay if I give you the crab tomorrow, right?]
[Passing Dwarf: Yeah, yeah. That’s fine. I’ll just eat one a day.]
[Wild Grylls: Thanks. Do you need an inner core too?]
[Passing Dwarf: I’ll try making liquor with it.]
[Wild Grylls: ;;]
He had to be the only bastard who would think of brewing alcohol with an inner core.
After finishing my trade with the dwarf, there was only one person left.
Allfather, the man I’d given the saber-toothed tiger’s heart to yesterday.
He had been unusually quiet.
‘Is he still researching it?’
Maybe.
There was nothing wrong with waiting until Allfather made a post.
Considering everything he’d done for me so far, this much was nothing.
‘It’d feel wrong to rush him, too.’
Besides, the tiger’s heart wasn’t particularly useful to me.
After deciding that I’d trade with Allfather once he returned, I suddenly remembered something I’d forgotten.
‘Ah. Right. The door.’
I looked over at Wonmo, who was sprawled comfortably on the mat, fast asleep.
He might escape again while I was gone, so I planned to install an iron barrier at the entrance.
‘Something big enough to block the entrance, but still small enough for me to move easily.’
Wondering whether something like that even existed, I searched through the auction house.
The owlbear’s rampage had widened the cave entrance, so I needed something fairly large.
‘There’s an iron gate instead of a barrier.’
This should be enough.
As luck would have it, the size was perfect too.
I repeatedly shifted and adjusted the iron gate until it was properly positioned at the entrance.
I didn’t forget to make wooden supports to secure it either, since Wonmo might knock it over by body-slamming it.
‘Hmm. Perfect.’
Seeing the iron gate completely blocking the entrance filled me with satisfaction.
There would be no more runaway incidents.
Now all that remained was to wait for the dwarf’s post.
If the ore I’d found was confirmed to be orichalcum, I could give one piece each to PrincessCheonggu and Starlight Princess.
‘But that bastard didn’t forget because he’s busy drinking, did he?’
***
And just as Grylls feared...
“Kyaa! This is damn good! It practically melts in your mouth! Where’d you get it?”
“Burp. It wouldn’t be any fun if I told you. Here, have some Mandrake-infused liquor. Let’s drink ourselves to death tonight.”
“I’ve never had liquor like this before. The more I drink, the more strength I feel surging through me.”
“You know what’s even crazier?”
“What?”
“That’s not just your imagination. The more you drink, the healthier you actually get.”
“Oooh! It truly is the liquor of the gods!”
In Mountain, a dwarven drinking party had been raging since broad daylight.
It was an exceedingly dwarven slice of everyday life.
“Ow... Why do I suddenly hurt?”
“D-Did I drink too much? Burp.”
They came down with a fever after eating the fish that had contained the inner core.