Chapter 28
Even after Eck left, the lingering trace of him continued to drift through the air.
Rebecca leaned back against the sofa with her arms folded and legs crossed, rolling the empty potion bottle Eck had returned with her finger.
Eck's lip marks remained on the glass around the bottle's mouth.
She licked it with her tongue.
"Eck..."
Rebecca slowly rose from the sofa.
She turned her gaze toward the window.
The plaza in front of the guild was visible below.
She could see Eck's back as he headed toward the inn-style restaurant attached to the guild.
"So it was love at first sight. You're surprisingly romantic?"
Eck had never once seen a woman as a person.
He had viewed women as tools for pleasure or discarded them when they became troublesome. That man, who had only ever seen women in one of those two ways, was now 'raising' a woman.
Moreover, he had even sent himself into dangerous places by traveling back and forth through the Red Forest.
"Even after I drugged him, he neither became violent nor shouted at me."
If he were his old self, he would have thrown a punch first, but he had become surprisingly mild.
But,
"Even like this, you're cute."
A woman's name came to mind for Rebecca.
"Elena."
A promising newcomer rapidly rising through the guild, a giant killer who had slain only monsters at least her own rank, and a beautiful female adventurer who had recently become the hottest topic among adventurers.
The woman Eck was raising with such care.
Rebecca repeated the name to herself.
***
"I should have hit her once."
If I'd beaten that crazy bitch Rebecca senseless, she'd have laughed with delight.
"No. I have no reason to give her what she wants."
I forced down my rising irritation and returned to the guild dining hall.
I had been too flustered by my reunion with Rebecca to think about it, but once the tension eased, a headache began to pound. I couldn't tell whether it was a hangover or the drug's aftereffects.
"E-Eck, are you all r-right?"
"Jeina."
When I dropped into my assigned seat, Jeina stood before me with her hands trembling as she held them politely together, like a child awaiting punishment.
"Bring me a drink."
"Huh? Yes!"
Blaming her would do me no good.
...No.
'Should I use the fact that she drugged me as an excuse to teach her a lesson?'
Eck certainly would have.
I shook my head from side to side to clear the thought away.
'No, that won't work.'
Eck's way was convenient.
Honestly, it was cathartic, too.
But it came with plenty of losses.
Most of all, now that I had become Eck, Eck's influence would only grow weaker from here on.
This incident alone proved that.
When I drank the spiked drink, I should have reflexively flipped the table, but I had simply let it slide.
Even after noticing that the taste of the alcohol had changed, I hadn't thought to be suspicious.
I couldn't become as sensitive as Eck.
I didn't have Eck's suspicion of others.
I knew nothing of the deaths Eck had faced.
Even though I had inherited Eck's experiences, I still fell far short of understanding their depth.
At this rate, something would eventually go wrong, and someone would exploit the weakness.
If what had been mixed into the alcohol had been poison, today would have been the day of my funeral.
Eck had many enemies.
Eck knew that fact well, while I had merely been aware of it.
That seemingly small difference was actually enormous.
'So I really can't do this.'
I pressed my fingers to my temple.
'What a headache.'
Looking after Elena alone was already hard enough, and I had left myself defenseless.
"H-here you go."
"...."
"It wasn't spiked this time. Hehe."
"...Go."
Jeina carefully set down the drink, bowed deeply, and fled back to the kitchen.
I thought as I drank.
The cheap drink's rough aftertaste and lukewarmness.
It was the taste of the alcohol I knew.
I had been ready to break down any poison immediately, but Eck did this every day.
No wonder he had been so sensitive.
'There was nothing useful among Eck's connections. I should exploit them one by one someday, using them as stepping stones for Elena's growth.'
But if things went smoothly, they'd have no choice but to bow their heads before me.
The connections I had made this time alone consisted entirely of people who were either influential themselves or connected to influential figures.
I counted them off on my fingers.
'Barie, Fila, Dorea, Bordeaux, and... Rebecca.'
I could count them on one hand, but Barie was a noble, Fila was a mage, Dorea was an alchemist, Bordeaux was a blacksmith, and Rebecca was the guildmaster.
Each of them could wield considerable influence in the city.
The only person I could call on right now was Barie, but mobilizing Barie's resources alone would wipe out several bandit clans entrenched in the back alleys.
"That's reassuring."
I folded down the fingers I had spread, one by one.
As I thought of Barie, I folded down my thumb.
Though Fila looked airheaded, she was quick to calculate her interests like any proper mage, and her talent was exceptional.
If I provided research materials, sponsorship, or experimental assistance, Fila would present my opinions to the Magic Association, and there was no reason for Fila to refuse.
"The only downside is how unpleasant it is to have her around, I suppose."
I folded down my index finger.
Dorea was an alchemist cast out by a noble, but the Apothecaries' Guild coveted his knowledge.
I had formed a connection with him this time through the troll materials, but I needed to set aside our personal relationship and deal with him strictly on an official basis.
"An opponent like that is actually easier to deal with."
I folded down my middle finger.
Bordeaux's very status could serve as a challenge to the other blacksmiths.
"Every one of them is so damn proud."
I folded down my ring finger.
And Rebecca....
"Tsk."
I couldn't afford to leave the guildmaster's position unused.
A guildmaster held a position even nobles had to heed.
I folded down my pinky.
'I should lay the groundwork with these people before the dungeon appears.'
As soon as I finished lunch, I headed first to Bordeaux's smithy.
***
Bordeaux's smithy was hotter than ever, and the heat was suffocating.
The moment I entered, sweat beaded on my cheeks. I wiped it away with my sleeve as I headed farther inside.
Bordeaux was crouching in front of the anvil.
He wasn't making equipment.
He was admiring a finished object placed before him, his arms folded and his face filled with satisfaction.
The commission Barie had entrusted to him.
Red veins spread across the surface of the darkly gleaming ingot like tree rings.
The alloy made by combining adamantium with the red material had been hammered by Bordeaux into a keen-edged blade.
A rare item that would later be called the 'Red-Black Sword' and briefly be wielded by Elena.
It was complete now.
"Bordeaux."
"Oh, you've come. Take a look."
Bordeaux raised his head.
It wasn't his usual grumbling expression.
It was the face of a man who had accomplished something.
"I've finished Lady Barie's commission."
With a proud smile, he lifted the completed blade and held it up to the light of the furnace.
"I'd only ever seen adamantium at my master's smithy, but this was my first time hammering it myself. Heating it was a job in itself. Heh-heh. Reproducing what I had learned by watching over my master's shoulder wore me out completely."
Though he claimed to be exhausted, the corners of his mouth couldn't hide his joy.
"I did cut a few corners, but isn't this excellent? I planned to show it to Lady Barie when she came, but what do you think?"
"Hmm..."
The Red-Black Sword did not have a hilt yet.
Only the blade rested in my hand.
I knew how the Red-Black Sword would end up, and Eck's innate instincts as a swordsman let me understand how it would end.
"It'll be rejected as it is."
Even a high-grade rare item was merely an ordinary sword to a noble.
If a different blacksmith recommended by a noble presented an inferior yet comparable sword, this one would lose out and be left to gather dust in a warehouse.
It would become a failed work haunted by Bordeaux's trauma before being passed cheaply on to Elena.
"W-what?"
Bordeaux glared at me and protested.
"That will be the finest work of my life. I haven't made the hilt yet, but even judging only the blade, it can hold its own against anything!"
"If you look only at this, then yes. What you're lacking is name recognition."
"What? You son of a bitch."
"This is the first time you've ever presented one of your swords to a noble, isn't it? If you think your name means anything to nobles, then keep shouting."
Bordeaux opened his mouth wide, but his pride wouldn't let him say anything.
A craftsman's pride was the same everywhere, even if he owned only a lowly smithy.
"It's unfortunate, but hand this job over to another smithy."
"B-but this is the lord's commission. Lady Barie personally asked me to do it, and you want me to give up this opportunity?"
"Yes."
I coldly stated the reality.
"Clinging to such a paltry opportunity will only waste your time."
"E-Eck... Even you... I... No, you... You've watched how hard I've worked, haven't you? And yet you say such nonsense..."
"You bastard."
I looked down at the dwarf's short frame with contempt.
Bordeaux shrank back in fear, but his pride had been pricked, so he kept his gaze fierce.
I chuckled.
"Just make my equipment."
"....H-huh? What did you say?"
Bordeaux blinked.
"Your equipment?"
"What you're missing is name recognition. I'll give you that."
"Can you really do that?"
"You think I can't?"
"...."
A-rank. That rating alone proved it could stand alongside a noble's.
"Don't cling to some contest. It's nothing more than an event arranged by those at the top so they can exploit you cheaply. If a work can win a contest, it can stand on its own without being entered. So don't cling to it. It makes you look pathetic."
I lifted the Red-Black Sword.
The black-and-red blade had been crafted to a quality suitable even for a noble to wield.
"As far as I can tell, your skill isn't the problem."
"I-is that so? Hearing praise from you... It's... strange."
"What did you think was the reason I've only ever used weapons you made?"
"Hmm..."
Bordeaux scratched his cheek, embarrassed by his outburst and shifting awkwardly.
"Is it because of Elena?"
"Why are you bringing up Elena all of a sudden?"
"How could I not mention her? I'm telling you this as someone who knows what you're normally like: you're honestly frightening. Are you something else wearing Eck's skin?"
"Hmph."
I laughed without meaning to.
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"....Tsk."
Perhaps embarrassed by what he'd said himself, Bordeaux took back the Red-Black Sword I had held out to him.
Bordeaux folded his arms.
His gaze changed.
The look of a convenience-store clerk who'd run into a troublesome customer gave way to a serious one.
"So? What should I make? Armor is out, I assume. Don't tell me all that praise was just nonsense because you wanted my masterpiece?"
"Bullshit."
I studied Bordeaux's expression.
"You let go of it faster than I expected."
"Well... Thinking about it coldly, I realized there was no reason to think nobles would recognize a work with no reputation behind it. I wonder why I didn't notice while I was making something this simple."
When greed blinds you, even the obvious becomes invisible.
I shrugged and left him with an order for my equipment.