Chapter 33
“Hmm, I still can’t get used to this...”
A few days had passed since the rookie adventurers’ training and the battle against Zeno Grayble, a Specially Designated Subjugation Target.
After finishing breakfast at my usual inn, I stepped outside and found my fingers reaching for my waist without thinking.
Now, what should I do?
Well, I’m planning to continue instructing the Knights’ Order, and it seems the Adventurers’ Guild’s requests for assistance have settled down for now after what happened the other day. So I can get back to my regular duties... Duties?
Though Guildmaster Nidas hadn’t said it outright, I could tell he wanted to find some way to keep me around.
There must be plenty of rookie adventurers besides Porta’s team, and if what Surena said was true, I could understand why they’d want more people to help with rookie training.
But, man... having an old guy like me supervise dungeon expeditions...
I’d been on edge during that fight with Zeno Grayble the other day. Without Surena, we definitely would’ve failed. Even if Specially Designated Subjugation Targets don’t usually show up so readily, I’d rather not go through anything like that again.
As an old guy, I’d prefer a somewhat more peaceful life.
In that sense, being an instructor for the Knights’ Order hadn’t been such a bad fit after all.
“...No, I’m getting off track.”
I shook my head lightly, pushing my thoughts about the Adventurers’ Guild aside.
For now, I wanted to get a replacement for the sword that had snapped in two as soon as possible.
I could still train with a wooden sword, but a swordsman ought to have a sword at his side. I’d spent so many years with one that having nothing at my waist just didn’t feel right.
“Well, the obvious choice is... a blacksmith’s shop, I guess.”
The blacksmith’s shop I’d visited with Allucia before had some good swords, and my weapon of choice was a longsword—a straightforward type that even a small-town smith would carry.
I wasn’t traveling all over the country as an adventurer, so I didn’t need anything especially high-quality. Still, I couldn’t help thinking I might as well get something better than the last one. My pockets weren’t exactly overflowing, though.
Surena knew, of course, that my sword had broken, and she’d offered to arrange a replacement through the Adventurers’ Guild.
But I turned her down.
I suppose I just didn’t want to owe the Adventurers’ Guild a favor. It wasn’t that I had any hard feelings toward them; Nidas and Meigen both seemed like decent people.
Somehow, the very idea of being in their debt made me uneasy.
They weren’t bad people.
But unlike the Knights’ Order, the Adventurers’ Guild had a clear business mindset. They looked at things in terms of profit and loss. Honestly, I’d rather not attract the attention of people from that kind of world.
“I wonder if the blacksmith’s shop is open this early.”
I murmured as I walked through the streets of Baltrain.
Last time, Lucy had cornered me around this time, but today there were no such surprises. I could stroll through the quiet, nearly deserted streets of the capital and enjoy the early morning.
“...Huh? Isn’t that Sensei?!”
“Hm? Kurni?”
As I walked along, I saw a petite woman running toward me from up ahead.
Once we were close enough to make out each other’s faces, she—Kurni—beamed at me and called out.
“What brings you out so early?”
“I’m out for a run! The Knights’ Order depends on us being in shape!”
Kurni laughed, already sweating quite a bit despite how early it was.
...Had she run all the way from the East District, where she lived? That was the sort of distance people usually took a carriage for.
“...Did you run all the way from the East District?”
“Hm? Yeah, I did!”
“Haha... You’ve got a lot of energy.”
Man, I couldn’t imitate that if I tried. Youth sure is something.
“What about you, Sensei? What are you doing out this early?”
Kurni asked, her bright blue eyes wide open.
She still had a girlish air about her, but Kurni was a pretty woman in her own right. Given our age difference, I couldn’t possibly harbor any impure thoughts about her, but her unguarded nature did worry me a little. It almost made me feel like her parent. Not that I have any children.
“Just taking an early-morning walk, more or less. And I thought I might stop by a blacksmith’s shop.”
“A blacksmith’s shop...?”
“That’s right. I have my reasons.”
As I spoke, I tapped my waist.
That was where I usually wore my longsword.
“...Oh, now that you mention it, you aren’t carrying a sword!”
Seeing my gesture, Kurni seemed to figure out what was going on.
“It broke, so I need to find a new one.”
“I see! Right!”
Kurni gave an emphatic little grunt of agreement, but was this really something worth getting so worked up about?
Still, choosing a sword was certainly a major event for any swordsman. I could understand getting excited about it. I was just used to it by now.
“For someone of your caliber, Sensei, wouldn’t you get a custom-made sword?”
“No, no, I wasn’t thinking of going that far.”
I figured she’d reached the end of her run.
She fell into step beside me, and we continued walking together at an easy pace as we talked.
A custom-made sword is exactly what it sounds like: you order it from scratch, choosing everything from the material and blade length to its balance and the material used for the hilt.
Of course, everyone’s built differently. The size of their hands, the length of their arms, the position of their waist—none of it is the same.
So the weapon that fits one person best will naturally differ from what suits another. Personal preference matters a great deal, of course, but it’s not unusual for a serious swordsman to have a sword made to order.
Naturally, ordering a sword from scratch costs a fortune. One meeting isn’t enough, either; you have to work out every detail carefully with the blacksmith over several consultations. A custom-made sword takes an enormous amount of time, effort, and money.
“Aww, what a waste!”
“I hear you, but I don’t have that kind of money.”
After being kicked out of my family home—the dojo in Beden Village—I’d been paying the innkeeper every day.
I’d heard he was giving me a bit of a discount for staying long-term, but I still didn’t have money to throw around.
Not that buying a sword could really be called a waste of money.
“Anyway, I’m planning to visit a few shops and see what they have.”
“I see. I hope you find a sword you really like! ...Oh.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Kurni had been chatting along cheerfully, but then let out a sound as if she’d just remembered something.
“I forgot—I need to get my sword sharpened, too...”
“Haha, you’re as forgetful as ever, Kurni.”
Even back when she was at the dojo, she was always forgetting things and getting flustered.
It warmed my heart to see that she was still the same at heart after all these years. Though, as a knight, she might do well to pull herself together a little more.
“Oh, right! You should come with me after today’s practice, Sensei!”
“Hm? Do you know a good place?”
Allucia had shown me a blacksmith’s shop that the Knights’ Order recommended, but I wondered if there were others, too.
“It’s the one run by Balder-san!”
“...Balder? You mean that Balder?”
“That’s right!”
Well, well.
That was certainly a name I hadn’t heard in a long time.