After that, Lyra left on a carriage with twelve knights scouting her. Actually, there were three carriages; I didn't know what was in the other two.
Honestly, I keep forgetting that she is the daughter of a baron and quite rich.
I also left to go find Jack and Joey. They lived near the town's giant watchtower. When I reached their place, I knocked firmly on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming!" a voice called from inside.
The door was opened by an old lady who had visible wrinkles and used a walking stick to balance herself.
"Who are you, dear?" the old lady asked after looking at me.
I removed the mask. "It's Darcy!" I said, while wholeheartedly praying to God that she wouldn't have a sudden heart attack from seeing my face.
"Oh~ Darcy."
To my surprise, she didn't scream.Instead, she smiled even wider.
"Come in, dear, come in," she said smoothly upon seeing my face. She turned her back to me and began moving deeper into the house.
"So, you must be here to meet Joey and Jack, right? They are in the back making furniture."
"Yes," I said, following her.
She pointed toward the back of the house before taking a seat on one of the chairs in the hall.
"Just go on in. In the backyard, you will find them," she said as she took a seat on a chair in the main hall.
"Thank you."
As I walked through the house, I couldn't help but look around.
Wow, I didn't expect their house to be this big. And weren't they mages? Why the hell are they making furniture?
Now that I remember, didn't they mention they were out of town when the curse hit Dunford? They did say they went to collect wood… or maybe not. I don't really remember.
Also… who is she? Their grandma? So they really are biological brothers, huh.
As I walked through the hall, I noticed the hallway itself was decorated with beautifully carved wooden sculptures and handcrafted wall frames.
The deeper I went, the stronger the smell of fresh timber became.
When I stepped into the backyard, the space was piled high with wood planks, blocks, saws, chisels, and countless woodworking tools were scattered around the workshop.
In one corner, Joey was placing a thick block of wood onto a chopping stand while Jack raised an axe above his head.
"So, what are you guys doing?" I asked to catch their attention.
Jack stopped with his axe frozen mid-air, Joey dropped the wooden block, and both of them turned their heads toward me at the same time.
"Oh, Mr. Darcy! What are you doing here?" Jack asked.
"Yes, you should have just called for us!" Joey added, picking the heavy wooden block right back up to position it on the stump again.
"Nothing major. I just need your help with something. So…"
I glanced at the mountain of wood surrounding them.
"Are you two free right now?"
Hearing that, Jack threw his axe to the side and Joey tossed his block away. "Of course, Mr. Darcy! What do you need us for?" they asked, their eyes practically beaming with light.
Calm down.
It's not like I'm recruiting you to defeat the Demon King.
"…Ah… first, would you two like to go on your first official adventure?" I asked, getting a little overwhelmed by their sheer muscle-headed energy.
"YES!!" they both shouted in pure excitement.
"Alright, but before an adventure, we need to prepare. It's common knowledge that even a novice would know, and keep in mind, I'm an ADVANCED adventurer," I explained. I took five dramatic steps to the left and sat down on a stray chair that was sitting there.
The two of them immediately nodded with expressions full of admiration.
"So..."
They both squatted in front of me like attentive students listening to their master.
"What do we need to prepare, Mr. Darcy?"
"First… do you guys know about lead?" I asked cautiously. I was a bit scared because while iron and steel existed in this world, which was a pretty big technological deal if you think about it. I wasn't entirely sure about lead. And even if they had it, what was the guarantee it went by the same name?
I only knew iron was iron because I had tested its sound, its magnetic properties, and the rust forming on the town's outer iron fences.
But lead?
That was another matter entirely.
Jack immediately nodded.
"Of course, It's commonly used for water pipes, plumbing, children's toys, cosmetics, roofing materials, utensils...and many more things…The list goes on," Jack explained.
"So, what about it, Mr. Darcy?" Joey asked.
…
…
…
"You use it in WHAT?!"
The two looked confused.
"I mean..."
I quickly corrected myself.
"Can you specify its characteristics? Like, why do we use it for so many everyday things?" I asked aloud.
"Oh- if my knowledge serves me right, it's quite soft, dense, easy to shape, and most importantly, it's corrosion-resistant and way cheaper than iron!" Joey answered.
Alright, looks like it's the exact same lead from my old world… and they are following the exact same terrible health trends. They are seriously going to regret using it this much.
Well… at least they aren't using it for pencils… or are they? Now that I think about it, even we didn't use real lead in pencils back home; it was just a big historic misunderstanding of graphite. I don't know the exact history, but all I know is lead is toxic as hell if used like this.
Should I tell them to stop using it? But how would I explain how I know about lead poisoning? Ah, why am I overthinking this? These two are idiots. I don't need some perfectly convincing explanation.
As I sat there completely lost in my thoughts about heavy metal toxicity with my eyes closed, the boys were visibly confused, probably trying to figure out what was so deep about lead.
"…Mr. Darcy?" Joey ventured.
"Is everything alright?" Jack added.
I opened my eyes and looked at them. Wondering how to handle this, I stood up from the chair after a moment and took a squat right beside them. Now, we had formed a perfect equilateral triangle, with each of us sitting at one of the edges.
"So, as I was saying… don't use lead for those household things anymore," I whispered conspiratorially to them.
"Why not?" they whispered right back.
"…Because it's really bad for your health," I whispered again.
"But we have been using it for many years. We don't think it's that dangerous for our health," they countered reasonably, still maintaining the whisper.
"Because it gradually destroys your health from the inside out. From now on, stop using it," I whispered back sternly.
"But Mr. Darcy, your own house's water pipelines and roof are probably made of lead too," Joey whispered.
…
…
…
"I will change them as fast as humanly possible," I replied in a low whisper.
"But Mr. Darcy, how do you even know all this?" Jack whispered.
"Because…"
Shit, I don't know what to say.
"...I conducted deep research after receiving a divine revelation. I discovered that people who stay in close contact with lead for a long time die early and suffer through mysterious internal problems," I explained, nodding solemnly while whispering.
"You get divine revelations?!" they both asked, their voices spiking in absolute shock and surprise.
"Shh—lower your voices! I don't want anyone to know this. Since childhood, I have always received secret revelations from the divine," I said, keeping the whisper tight. "Got it? Don't use lead, and do not question the divine. It's a sin."
"We got it!" they whispered back intensely. "Also, can we please stop whispering now?" Joey added.
"…Yeah," I replied.
After that, we broke the huddle and stood up. My legs kinda hurt from holding that squat position for so long, but it was fine. Some daily exercise is necessary for the body anyway.
"So, the main point is, where can we get a large amount of lead?" I asked.
"Any blacksmith should have it," Jack answered immediately.
Then he frowned.
"...Wait."
"Are you planning to warn them too?"
"No."
"I want to buy it."
…
…
…
Both of their faces blanked out in sheer confusion.
"What? But you just said it's evil and to stay away from it!" they yelled in unison.
"When did I say it's completely evil? Look, is fire dangerous?"
"Yes," they replied.
"But we still use it in our daily lives to cook and stay warm, right?"
"Yes," they agreed.
"In the exact same way, we can utilize lead!"
"But how?" Joey asked, while Jack looked completely lost in the philosophical reasoning.
"…To protect ourselves from the lethal curse of Decayspire!" I declared.
"Decayspire?! Why?!" Jack asked, suddenly gaining full awareness.
"Because..."
I smiled.
"That's where we're going."
"What?! Why?!" they both gasped in absolute shock.
"It's your first official adventure location!"
"WHAT?? Why are we going to a cursed land?!" they asked down in unison.
"Because I'm planning on buying the land."
"Why would you buy a cursed wasteland?!" again, synchronized shouting.
"I believe it's not actually cursed, just heavily misunderstood. It holds massive utility and importance if we can unlock its true potential, and I intend to prove it. And as for what lead has to do with it…" I paused for dramatic effect. "It will completely absorb the very thing that gave Decayspire its fearsome reputation."
"But Mr. Darcy… I really don't think it's a good idea to go there," they both said, their muscular frames suddenly looking a little smaller as genuine fear crept into their eyes.
"Don't worry, I will make the expedition completely safe. But to do that, we are also going to need a few more specific supplies."
..Well, at least I hope so.