The next morning James put on his gambeson, chainmail, and took up his war hammer in hand. He was growing used to city life, and he had noticed that some people treated him differently when he had his hammer in hand. More cautiously.

Precisely the people he would want to be more cautious. It was always the ones with a rough air about them, and a mean look in their eye.

But he was feeling an itch, an urge, an impulse.

Nothing he wore was enchanted.

His Smith Class had been getting quite the workout the last three weeks. Not to the point of gaining another level—granted, at level sixteen, he wasn't sure he'd ever get another level in his classes bar entering another Dungeon—but at least his Skills had seen great improvement.

Smith Class Skill [Smelting] has reached level 6.

Smith Class Skill [Forging] has reached level 6.

Smith Class Skill [Forging] has reached level 7.

Smith Class Skill [Sharpening] has reached level 3.

Smith Class Skill [Sharpening] has reached level 4.

Smith Class Skill [Joinery] has reached level 2.

Smith Class Skill [Joinery] has reached level 3.

Smith Class Skill [Appraisal] has reached level 2.

Smith Class Skill [Appraisal] has reached level 3.

Smith Class Skill [Fuel Identification] has reached level 2.

Smith Class Skill [Inspect] has been acquired.

But for all that, he hadn't Enchanted since the Dungeon.

More and more idle thoughts of how he would enchant his gear filled his mind. He had mostly settled on something like [Basic Air Enchantment: Rapid Blow] for his bastard war hammer. The thing was heavy enough that it was a threat even to Knights wearing High Quality armor, but if he couldn't land a strike, it was all for naught. James had learned, from the Steward and the city guards he spoke with each day, that most people chose combat classes with a focus on speed and dexterity, which aided in avoiding blows as well as landing them.

Somewhat like the bat monsters he had faced in the Dungeon.

As Meridox had advised him so long ago, the unexpected application of an enchantment mid-strike could be quite effective.

But as yet James still had no access to enchanting materials. He had not even had the chance yet to learn any new enchantment patterns.

The chainmail and gambeson occupied more of his thoughts.

How to enchant chainmail? The wire that made up each link was distinct from the whole, and tiny, and tube shaped.

It was an interesting puzzle.

The gambeson had been a dead end for several days, James unable to imagine etching into the cloth without tearing it, until he overheard two Knights discussing whether enchanting gambesons was worthwhile.

Something about stamping, which the other Knight had derided telling his peer to either get the enchantment embroidered or not to bother.

Enchanting by… sewing?

Much like the Smithing Guild and the independent smithies, there was an Enchanting Guild, as well as independent Enchanting workshops throughout the cities that took commissions and produced products for market.

James had yet to see the Enchanting Guildhall; it was located some distance from the Smithing Guildhall, and he didn't exactly go exploring all over Cordova, given his need for an escort at all times.

In the first week of being escorted by city guards, the guards had been heckled fiercely by the shopkeepers lining the street between the Knight's Order Headquarters and the Smithing Guild, especially so in the area that the gang under Captain Flores' protection had been terrorizing. They might have taken out their resentment upon James, had he not been so sincerely appreciative of their escort and interested in what they had to say about the city; and had it not been for the Aspirant Knight's efforts to restore the City Guards' honor after conducting his fast and furious purge of their corrupt leadership.

In the second week, James had gotten to know the shopkeepers by name, and they him. His blonde hair was unusual in Cordova at that time, and children often wanted to touch it. That he let them and was kind and gentle with them went a long way to endearing him to those children's parents and older siblings.

And by the end of the third week he had even started to get to know the city folk who were usually in the area during the times when he walked through, and they all knew him by sight if not by name, and that he was a Knight's retainer, and generally a mild, if sometimes twitchy, good sort of fellow.

So it was that James with all his gear; the Aspirant Knight wearing his dress armor, polished to a mirror-like sheen; the Steward in his finest suit, impeccably tailored to his frame; and an escort of three Royal Guard Knights also in their dress armor, strode down the middle of the road from the Knight's Order Headquarters to the Merchant's Guildhall, the Lost Legendary Bag of Holding contained within an ornate wooden box inlaid with gold and jewels and painted scarlet.

Everyone with a value-detecting Skill turned to look as they passed, and everyone with a danger-sensing Skill quickly looked away at the sight of the three Royal Guard Knights walking with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

It was only the unclassed children who stared, mouths agape, basking in the aura of wealth and power, and several of the most self-assured neighborhood gossips who boldly looked, taking in every detail to share with their compatriots over the next few days.

James himself, lacking in broad perception skills, simply smiled in greeting as he passed various people he recognized.

The Merchant's Guildhall, it turned out, was a large, blocky building with glass windows spaced regularly along the outer facade. The exterior was remarkably plain, save for the large door and, at the top and center of the facade, a very large and ornate painted wooden carving of the seal of the Merchant's Guild of Iberteria: a balance, a stack of coins, a quill, and a scroll. It was next door to the Royal Bank, a much more eye-catching building, yet separated by a narrow, dark alley gated off with wrought iron.

One Royal Guard entered first, the doors held open by apprentices, and announced their arrival. Once acknowledged, they entered in single file: first, another Royal Guard, then the Aspirant Knight, then James, then the Steward, and finally, the last Royal Guard, who took up a guard position facing the door, which was closed and locked.

Surrounded, James couldn't see much of the entry hall, but the ceiling was surprising low. The second floor was arranged like a balcony wrapping around the outer wall, with stairs leading up to that level on either side in the corners. In the center was a circular desk, large enough for a dozen merchants and scribes; yet today there was only one. An elder of the Merchant's Guild, wearing plush, lavish blue robes with gold trim, and an odd hat in the shape of a square on his head, armed only with a quill, inkpot, and a ledger bound in leather. He dipped his head in greeting.

"Welcome, Knight Cortez and esteemed members of the Royal Guard. I, Merchant Filipe, am at your disposal today."

"The Royal Guard of Iberteria is here today to witness the removal and sale of personal items from the Bag of Holding, and to take possession of the Bag of Holding and return it to its rightful owners, the Royal Family of Iberteria," the lead Knight announced. He then turned to the Steward. "Present the inventory of personal items."

The Steward produced his own bound ledger, and started to announce to the mostly empty room the items that James had placed in the Bag. The Royal Guard and the Merchant's Guild elder already had copies, of course, but it was still an important formality. Anyone present could object that an item was either missing from the inventory, or had been added erroneously.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The Holy Tiger Claw and Holy Magic Stone were not included in the inventory. James planned to feign total ignorance if they were discovered today.

He would blame everything on the slaver merchant who had held the Bag before him.

The Steward finished his inventory. "Are there any objections or questions?"

Tension swept through the room as James raised his hand.

The lead Royal Guard Knight glared down at James imposingly. "You object to the inventory, Smith James? Now?"

"Er, no, sir Knight," James said, quailing under the Knight's gaze. "It's just, it's going to be a lot of stuff, and, er, it might be a good idea to have a cart, or at least put something down so the floor isn't damaged?"

The Steward ground his teeth, and the muscles in the Aspirant Knight's neck tensed though is face remained neutral, still holding the box as he was, but the Royal Guard Knight narrowed his eyes, searching James' face, and then abruptly turned to Merchant Filipe, who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully and eyeing the smooth, clean wooden floor of the Guildhall.

"That is, hmmm… thoughtful of the Smith to suggest. If I may?"

The Knight nodded, and Filipe beckoned one of the apprentices over from the wall where they had been waiting since the door closed. "Christopher, fetch as many tarps as you can carry. Quickly now."

A few minutes later, the entire floor of the Guild hall was covered in sturdy cloth tarps.

The lead Knight turned to James once more. "Will this suffice, Smith?" he asked, daring James to disagree.

James gulped. "Uh, yes, sir Knight."

"Then let us proceed. Sir Cortez, present the Bag of Holding to the Merchant's Guild for identification.

"Yes sir," the Aspirant Knight replied, and he set down the box on the desk before Merchant Filipe, and opened the lid, removing the dirty, rather worn looking leather bag with its fraying strap from the box that far outshone it, and placed it on the desk.

The elder of the Merchant's Guild shuddered visibly, and with trembling hands, picked up the bag and inspected it from every angle.

"This is indeed, to the best of my knowledge, the Legendary Artifact known as the Bag of Holding."

The man's eyes shone, and the muscles in his hand twitched, but he placed the Bag down on the desk and stepped back, waiting for the lead Knight to continue.

"Then let it be known that Sir Cortez recovered the Bag of Holding during an expedition on the frontier, and that pursuant to a ruling by the Magistrate of Corto, representative of Count Corto, the contents of the Bag of Holding matching the previously given inventory are to be sold by the Merchant's Guild by consignment, and the proceeds less handling fees are to be paid to Sir Cortez in lieu of an outstanding debt."

As practiced beforehand, everyone intoned, "So it is known."

"Merchant Filipe, begin the withdrawal."

And so it began. Line by line, down the inventory, Filipe would reach into the bag and withdraw the items that James had listed.

His Green Iron anvil.

His forging and enchanting tools.

Crude jugs of Pure Water, which got a slight reaction from the old merchant.

His enchanted war hammers and armor, which got a much larger reaction. Even one of the Royal Guard Knights turned and eyed the Light and Dark armor sets more closely.

The [Blind] Helmet, which was set aside from the rest of the armor.

James nearly spoke up again when they got to the Ice War Hammer, but Filipe reached under the desk and withdrew a set of set of blue fur-lined gauntlets and a blue metal box. He set the box down on the desk, and put on the gauntlets and activated their enchantment.

[Enchantment Analysis]: Ice Nullification (87)

Still, the Merchant moved exceptionally fast, withdrawing the hammer and immediately placing it in the box without any attempt to test the enchantment. The lid of the box was closed, latched shut, and then even a piece of paper was affixed to the front, with an enchantment pattern drawn on it, though James couldn't tell what enchantment it was from where he stood. He got the sense it was similar to the Silence Amulet, but different…

His various amulets came out as well, and were placed next to the silver ingots he had collected from the Dungeon treasure chest.

The sealed scroll was a Scroll of Martial Technique, and the seed was a Breezetree Seed, though James didn't know what that was.

The shackles came out next, and the proceedings halted and the lead Knight turned to look at James. "These are the shackles you were bound with, that prevented the use of magic?"

"Yes, sir Knight," James answered humbly.

The Knight turned to Suero.

"The shackles and the original warding stakes will be confiscated as evidence, and will not be returned to be sold. Do you object?"

"No, sir. I only pray that the criminals are found and punished swiftly."

The warding stakes came out next, and the originals were separated from James' imitations and placed in yet another box with the shackles. The stakes were then placed next to the amulets.

Next were the tubs of clay and sand. Well over a dozen of each. By the end sand had started spilling out onto the tarps, and the merchant was giving James a look.

A look that intensified when a dozen crude buckets joined them.

James had never seemed to have enough buckets, back in the Dungeon.

Then came the ore and the ingots. Regular Iron, and all the Colored Iron he had collected on his way out of the Dungeon. The cart was filled, taken away and emptied, returned, and filled again over and over as more and more ore and piles of ingots were taken from the Bag of Holding.

This was finally done, and then the coal James had collected.

Coal dust got everywhere, but mainly stayed on the tarps.

The Merchant left to wash his hands once all the coal was out, though his poor apprentices were left looking a mess.

Several cartloads of tree-monster wood followed.

And then the monster materials.

The Jewels from the boss monsters were placed in a special, velvet lined box.

The Magic Stones, numbering well into the hundreds, were placed into large glass jars.

It turned out that the stones James hadn't been able to identify in the Dungeon were Poison Magic Stones, from the bat monsters; Wood Magic Stones, from the tree monsters; and Disease Magic Stones, from the rat monsters.

The mole monster claws were cataloged without comment, but the Fire Dragon materials drew a collective gasp.

The Steward looked down at James with wide eyes and eyebrows raised, but James simply shrugged in silent response.

Suero, on the other hand, was silently growing nervous.

He hadn't quite grasped that James had been trapped in the Dungeon and collecting materials for over a year, and exactly how limitless the capacity of the Bag of Holding truly was.

There was truly a lot of valuable materials being withdrawn to be sold, and applied to his Smith's debt.

Several more odds and ends followed. A number of shovels and pick-axes and, lastly, James' bat-wing fan was the last item on the inventory.

"That completes the inventory," Filipe announced. "I can confirm there are more goods inside the Bag of Holding."

Filipe paused, and James started sweating.

"But I will respect the Royal Family's privacy, and shall pry no further," he finished, and set the Bag back into the ornate box and stepped back, clasping his hands in front of himself. "The Merchant's Guild is pleased that we could be of assistance to the Royal Family in this matter, and as always, stand ready to assist further upon request."

The lead Knight stepped forward, closed the box, and affixed another enchanted paper to the box before taking it in hand. The other Knight moved to stand next to him protectively, and the Aspirant Knight and his retainers stepped back to give them space.

"The Royal Family thanks the Merchant's Guild for their assistance, as well as Sir Cortez." He turned and looked the Aspirant Knight in the eye. "You should expect a summons to an audience with a representative of the Royal Family at a later date."

The Aspirant Knight bowed formally. "As always, I am at the Royal Family's disposal." The Steward and the Smith both copied his bow, as befitting his retainers.

With only a little more pomp and formality, the Royal Guards left with the Bag of Holding. James sighed quietly as it left his sight, his hand trailing through the air where it used to sit on his hip.

He missed that frustratingly arbitrary Magic Bag. Annoying as it had been at times, it had been what kept him alive the most down in that Dungeon.

"Well!" the Merchant Filipe said, cutting through the silence left in the wake of the Royal Guard Knights' departure. "That was quite a bit more than I was led to expect. Come, let us finalize the consignment."

James turned, eager to see how much of his debt would be covered.

Sebastian turned, eager to see how much wealth his lord would receive and how much of his financial woes would be alleviated.

Suero turned, nervous that his golden ticket to success in next year's Tournament was about to slip through his fingers.

The Smith's total debt to the Aspirant Knight: one hundred thousand Iberterian Gold Dollars.

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