Smithy & Armory

The Capitol is the heart of the Aether Kingdom. The place wherein the current king/queen is resided with his/her councilmen, under the roof of the King's Castle. Other establishments of the land are Markets, Taverns, Treasury, Tourney Arena, etc.

The primary location of where armors and blades are being forged. Located next to the Village Market.

Elisábeth could not say her family's blacksmith was anything spectacular, or even stood out through the cloud of soot and dark smoke that seemed to cover the area like a blanket, eerily enough not dare trailing into the market area as if it were to taint it. There were a plenty more buildings that provided the same services; which, with the armory and weapon trade, was fairly basic outside the metals of which they could be made out of (iron seemed to be a popular selection- unfortunately, also pretty expensive and thus not something she could offer for the time being).

But even through all that, with the afternoon's heat and humidity sticking to her skin like a leech and refusing to lessen, the brunette continued to pound and cool what could only been assumed as the handle of a sword, the elegant lines that would soon be carved into and forever sealed within the steel grip already pre-written for later reference. Although, at the sound of someone stepping into the doorless enter entrance of her workplace, she didn't bother to look up from her work as she greeted the assumed stranger, " Is there something I can help you with ? "

Gilbert should have known that his sword would eventually break but he certainly did not expect for it to happen during a duel that was simply supposed to show off his fighting skills. However, despite the knowledge that his favourite sword was being forever destroyed in front of a group of semi-drunk men that were hardly able to follow his quick movements he was also glad that it did not happen during a fight.

Because of Gilbert's habit, which many people claimed to be pure stubborness, to always stick to the sword he had learned how to fight with he was desperately in need for a new one, preferable one that was exactly like his old one. This is why he walked around the market area of the Capitol, knowing that they made the best swords in the entire kingdom, and entered the first blacksmith's workshop he could spot. Gilbert raised an eyebrow when he saw a feminine figure and heard a voice that confirmed his thought about this being in a fact a woman. "Yes, can you tell your father or whoever owns this place to come? I need a new sword," he replied to the question being asked earlier, still thinking that the woman in front of him that was clearly doing the work of a blacksmith would never be able to help him with his problem.

" My father is taking the rest of the day off, I'm afraid, " She replied nonchalantly, setting the handle aside as she spoke and shrugging off the thick mits that protected her hands. She was fairly used to whatever the day brought in by now, especially those who assumed that she was no more qualified to craft swords than any other. Every once and a while it would tend to irritate her some, but most of the time she was relatively thick-skinned about explaining herself. Huffing a bit, she now found the time to look over to the customer and wipe a hand over her face, trying to clear up whatever soot happened to remain before crossing both arms over her chest. She recalled recognizing him from somewhere, but the place was lost to her.

  " If it isn't a bother before anyone else happens to come in, would you explain exactly what you're looking for in particular . . ? I'm sure I could assemble it within a few hours, if not more - "

 He obviously still didn't seem to catch on despite having stood there and watched her work, and she could only vaguely question what kind of intelligence he held, if any. She'll, of course, keep the comments to herself for the time being.

Gilbert could not help himself but to huff a bit after hearing that this woman was the only person available in here to help him. He would have just left if it were not for her to turn around and revealing her face covered with sweat and soot that refused to leave her completely even when she let a hand run over her skin to wipe it away, all of this was evidence for hard work. Gilbert was curious what it would be like to make swords and be near hot metal all day, always facing the threat of getting burned. This woman seemed to deal with it so easily, or she was just good at hiding it in front of him, whatever it was it made Gilbert consider allowing here to create his new sword that was supposed to last through many battles and bring wealth to his region.

"I need an exact replica of this sword here," he explained and removed aforementioned sword from his belt and revealed a longsword. Its hilt did not show how old it truly was, the gold that decorated some parts was still shining brightly and the letters that were supposed to always remind him of his origin were still readable. It was the blade that showed how old it was. Despite the sword being rather thick and heavy deep scratches were all over it and sometimes caused the thinner parts of the blade to crack. The most prominent damage being done to this sword and therefore making it useless was the fact that the upper third of the blade was missing. It was a weapon that was supposed to hit a target with a huge amount of force, precision was not its main aim, but despite that Gilbert had managed to destroy it.

"This is what happens when real men fight," he suddenly added, feeling like he needed to explain what had happened in a pretentious manner, and a smug grin appeared on his lips before he held out the sword for her to take, "do you think you can do this or do I have to find someone else?"

" If this is supposed to prove anything, you've only shown that you must have done little to take proper, if any care of it. It looks like you haven't cleaned it for ages. " She retorted, eyes flickering from the sword to the man's face. He seemed to look at her with a somewhat respectful gaze, despite his attitude, and it made the decision to accept the work a bit easier. The hilt would be fairly easy, dare she say effortless to reincorporate into the newer version of the sword. If exact was what he would be looking for, she could probably separate it from the blade and simply slide the new one into it, with maybe a few touches to keep it looking shiny and such. He would think it to be a task that not even the most skilled could tackle, but he'd be proven sourly otherwise.

 " Of course ! And  if you aren't satisfied, I'll even give your payment back-- if you're so confident of your tastes. " She smirked, seemingly delicate but calloused hands sliding underneath the weapon before swiftly removing it from him, holding the sword's hilted end with one hand while a finger traced across the jagged cut that marked where the rest of the blade was snapped at. It was almost a shame; surely it would've been quite the sight if it had been fully there.

 " If I may ask, where did you happen to obtain a longsword of this elegance? I'm sure no average swordsman would be carrying such a weapon around whilst in battle. " She could make out 'Unire' within the golden lettering that lined the top, square area of the hilt, but the hot air within the smith, along with the ashes that linger in the air made her eyes sting if opened normally or widened for too long.

"You have a very loose tongue for a woman," was the only thing Gilbert replied to her accusation of him not taking enough care of his sword. Despite it being true and seemingly a hidden hint for him to take better care for his new sword it still bothered him to be lectured, especially by a woman. He never had to deal with a strong female figure in his family and therefore he lacked even more the ability to listen to her critique than he normally already did.

"This sword means a lot to me," Gilbert said after she had taken his sword, keeping an eye on her like a hawk would do while she let her fingers run over it. Her offer of giving him his payment back if he was not satisfied sounded fair and it made him think of this smith being the best choice among all the others that were situated in this area.

When he was suddenly able to hear the question of where he had gotten this sword Gilbert was finally able to stop staring at her movements with his red eyes and lifted his gaze a bit so he could look at her. "I'm surprised you don't know me," he answered with a smirk and bowed before her like he was taught to do when introducing himself, "my name's Gilbert Ritter, heir of the throne of Unire and able to make your life a living hell if my sword does not turn out to be perfect," he could not help himself but to add the last part, his grin never leaving him.

" Oh ? " She was fairly surprised that, out of all titles, he had relations within a royal family; especially a heir, out of all things. She had seen the king within the Capitol a rare few times while he happened to be roaming about with the area, but many crowds and fans of him would tend to, nor often than not, made it relatively boring. Though he wasn't quite a king, and no doubt to her, he didn't quite act like it either. Barely, actually, if there was even a way to ride that line properly.

 " I was born in Unire myself- I recall that he had two grandsons, but it's been many years since I've been back. More important things here, y'know. "

 He certainly took after his grandfather upon closer inspection, minus the strange red eye coloring, of course. For a future leader, he seemed far more suited to be a jester instead, and she almost caught herself saying such a comment out loud with her absentness. Scanning him over for a moment, she finally retrieved the nerve to curtsy back in a similar action; it felt beyond weird, like a foreign gesture almost, but nonetheless she nodded respectfully to the higher up,

 " Elisábeth Hedervary.
                      If you expect to be a likable figure, threatening anyone would not be the best path for which to go by, especially someone who comes from the same land as yourself. Of course, I mean no offense to you, your highness. "

 The last of her words had a hint of bitterness to it, hands still idly trailing the weapon as she, with still strong feelings, kept eye contact with Gilbert. She wasn't going to stand around and disrespect anyone of which had royal ties, especially in her father's shop, which would no doubt suffer from the bad word once it got around. She kept her head on though her tone said something slightly different, and she somehow found it just his luck that he wasn't just anyone-- the results would have been much different, to say the least.

Gilbert was sure that she was rather impressed by his royal blood, the gesture she made while introducing herself was proof of that, however, there were still hints in her words that indicated what her true opinion about him was. It was not like Gilbert cared, after receiving his new sword he had no intention in meeting her again and there were other people that showed him the respect he sometimes needed. The young man loved being on his own but even he caught himself feeling lonely sometimes, especially since that moment where his younger brother Ludwig had stopped adoring him.

"Whatever," he replied to her introduction and chuckled a bit. He could tell how forced her words were and the least he could do to annoy her even more was to not respect the effort she made. Gilbert enjoyed doing that, a trait even the toughest teachers of Unire were not able to make him get rid of.

"Just make sure my sword will be ready for the upcoming ball," he then added, obviously getting bored of the whole conversation and trying to get back to business so he could leave, "I have to impress some women there after all," he explained even further and reached for his breast pocket to retrieve a small bag filled with gold coins and threw it at Elisábeth. "If you do a good job I might double the amount I've just payed but for now this should be enough."

When the sun was just about so set Gilbert returned to the smith only to be pleased with his new sword already finished. “She did a good job … for a woman,” he muttered to himself and grinned at the way his blade looked like it was ready to be soaked into blood for the first time.
However, it would have to wait a bit until he could use it a battle. Tonight was the ball in the King’s castle and he was looking forward to see familiar faces. He already wore clothes that were appropriate for this kind of event and when he was finally able to attach his new sword to his belt he felt like he was ready and before this feeling faded Gilbert decided to leave, but not without leaving a good amount of money in order to honor the great work this mysterious woman did.