The Blacksmith and the Mage, Birds of a Feather (3)

"Please! Make me your apprentice!!!"

It was during my third week of smithing here in Odine that a young man in robes clung to me at the blacksmiths' guild.

At first, I thought smithing would only be in demand for things like household goods, but, surprisingly, the guild kept asking me to make weapons and armor.

Apparently, both the Military Magic Academy and the Anti-Monster Tactics Academy taught combat with weapons, so it wasn't as if there were no demand.

They said that if I took over the production of household goods, the town's blacksmiths would starve.

Thus, although there wasn't a huge demand for weapons and armor, there were no other skilled blacksmiths around, either, so now that a master blacksmith had come to town, they wanted me to make as many high-quality weapons and pieces of armor as possible.

Ah, yes. That made sense.

Naturally, being relied upon like that put me in a good mood, so I happily completed and delivered weapons one after another, starting with swords, axes, and spears.

But that day, as soon as I entered the blacksmiths' guild, a young man who had been pressing one of the employees—judging by his appearance, he was a mage—came rushing toward me, dropped to one knee, bowed his head, and uttered the words above.

Not knowing what he was talking about and overwhelmed by his momentum, I instinctively tried to take a step back, but the young man clung to my leg as if to say he wouldn't let me escape.

If he had been acting out of hostility, I would have kicked him away and been done with it, but although he was desperate, the feelings he directed at me were by no means malicious.

Though I was inwardly recoiling, I decided to calm down for now, soothe him, and find out what was going on.

Looking back, whenever I had asked someone to take me on as an apprentice, I had always stepped forward as far as the other person retreated, forcing my way into an apprenticeship.

Without realizing that he was doing the same thing, I reflexively backed away, then reached out a hand and asked him what was going on.

And so, perhaps my defeat had already been decided by that point.

Meeting the young man, Kaushuman Fiedel, was truly a twist of fate, though it was a little frustrating that he, rather than I, had drawn that fate to us.

Kaushuman was a full-fledged mage with his own laboratory, or atelier, here in Odine.

He wasn't on the level of the magi who lived in the spires, but becoming a full-fledged mage before the age of twenty was more than enough to make him outstanding.

And there was only one reason why this outstanding mage had gone out of his way to bow his head and ask me to teach him smithing.

He wanted to make magic swords—magical tools with spell formulas engraved on weapons.

Apparently, until a few years ago, Kaushuman, who was still an apprentice at the time, had been the disciple of a certain mage.

That mage's name was Rajudor.

A dwarf mage, something exceedingly rare even in Odine.

Yes, he was one of the dwarves with magical aptitude whom I had heard about from the man at the town hall.

Rajudor had an atelier in this town, where he researched magical tools, engraving spell formulas on the weapons and accessories he made.

Thus, Kaushuman, who had made such a dwarf mage his master, naturally pursued magical-tool research after learning magic himself.

But several years ago, Rajudor received a request from the dwarves' homeland to return, and he left the town.

Fortunately, Kaushuman had thoroughly learned the fundamentals of magic, so Rajudor left him with instructions to hone his skills on his own...

From then on, Kaushuman continued researching magical tools by engraving spell formulas on ready-made tools, eventually becoming recognized as a full-fledged mage in Odine.

Yet Kaushuman agonized as he compared himself to his master.

Unlike his master Rajudor, Kaushuman did not possess the skill to make accessories or weapons himself.

Rajudor had returned to the dwarves' homeland before passing on those skills, so Kaushuman could not forge magic swords.

He struggled and struggled, but still couldn't see any way to solve the problem... Then, at one point, he happened to see a sword I had forged.

Yes, a sword forged using techniques inherited from the dwarves.

Apparently, Kaushuman sensed fate in it.

Though he lacked the skill to forge one himself, he had an eye for judging quality thanks to having studied under a dwarf master.

At first, he assumed that a dwarf master smith had come to town. He asked the blacksmiths' guild to introduce him, only to be stunned when he learned that the sword had been forged by an elf.

However, the fact that my master was a dwarf was listed on the master blacksmith's certification I had shown the blacksmiths' guild. Kaushuman accepted that explanation, and apparently thought that an elf who had learned from dwarves and acquired their techniques might be able to pass those techniques on to him as well.

That was why Kaushuman visited the blacksmiths' guild every day, determined not to miss this opportunity, and waited for me to arrive.

Oh, what a disaster.

My personal information was spilling out all over the place.

Well, given that the concept of personal-information protection is hardly developed in this world, I suppose it couldn't be helped...

"Please. I'll do anything. I'll pay you, too. I'll even do menial chores, so please, teach me those skills as well."

To be honest, I understood his feelings as he pleaded like that all too well.

More precisely, after hearing the whole story, I learned that Rajudor had left this town at almost exactly the same time I parted ways with Azvardo and my damned dwarf master, and I couldn't help feeling that there was fate in that, too.

Yes, I empathized with him.

That was precisely why I thought...

Kaushuman was being unfair, wasn't he?

After all, if I taught him smithing, ... well, it would probably take close to ten years, but Kaushuman would eventually be able to forge magic swords.

And yet, the fact that I couldn't forge magic swords myself was obviously unfair.

Rather, yes, if he needed magic swords, it would surely be far more efficient for him to teach me magic instead.

It had to be.

...Probably?

But even if I thought that, the me I had been until recently would have blurted it out and picked a fight.

I'm clever now.

The journey I'd taken after leaving the Kingdom of Rudoria had shown me many things and taught me that blindly charging forward wasn't the only way to achieve my goals.

Just because I wanted to achieve my own goal didn't mean I had to deny his.

After all, Kaushuman had just said he would do anything.

"Right. Then, if you really mean you'll do anything, could you teach me magic? I'm very interested in magical tools... magic swords, in particular. If so, I think our terms would probably be fair to both of us."

When I said that and held out my right hand, Kaushuman, who had been bowing his head, looked up in surprise. He blinked repeatedly, looking back and forth between my face and my outstretched hand.