It was already May, so they seed to be planting various sumr vegetables. I walked a bit further and found a field with sprouts that looked familiar
Huh? Hmmm? Huh? Seriously? Ah I see, thats how it is No, yeah. What I found was rice. Rice in a field, not a paddy field, but in a regular field upland rice.
The rice circulating in this country, even though it was a short-grain variety, had a sowhat weird taste, and this was probably the reason. Upland rice, unlike paddy rice, tended to suffer from insufficient water during its growth stage, making the seed part that is used for consumption harder and less palatable.
Its kind of strange to have solved a long-standing question in such an unexpected way, huh? But Im not exactly thrilled.
But upland rice, huh Well, managing paddy fields is a real hassle, after all
After making the discovery about upland rice, it was already around noon, so I decided to head back to town. I thought about grabbing sothing to eat from a stall; cooking seed like too much trouble.
I wondered if there was anything delicious available. While browsing the stalls, soone called out to .
Oh, its Ren?
Huh? Nell?
eting in a place like this was unusual, and it had only been a day since we last t.
Whats up? Are you taking the day off from work today?
Ah, well Thats more like what I was going to say, or how should I put it
Huh?
What does she an?
Well, can you co with for a mont? Theres sothing I want to talk about Um, its about the room in that inn over there, the one were renting
She pointed to the inn where we had stayed when we first ca to this town. But what does she want to talk about? Hmm Could it be related to buying the magic sword? Im not sure about selling it, though
Um, its not lunchti yet. Would you like to eat sothing first?
Oh, sorry! I wasnt considerate But if thats the case, can I treat you to sothing? Lets go over there!
I was led along as if being dragged, and we ended up at the high-class restaurant where we had lunch on the day we arrived in town. Could this be so form of hospitality?
We eventually discussed what she wanted to talk about while having a al. As expected, it was about buying the magic sword.
Apparently, Rad really wanted the magic sword I had loaned out. He thought that since I already had several of the sa sword, he might be able to persuade to part with one if he gathered enough money and begged for it.
From then on, they took on special quests to exterminate Goblins and earned a substantial amount of money. The party mbers agreed that having a stronger weapon for Rad would improve their overall combat capabilities, so they worked hard together.
Recovering almost all of the equipnt that had been stolen by Goblins was also significant. It allowed them to bounce back from their quest failure without a significant financial burden. They managed to gather 2,000 gold coins, combining Rads personal savings with a portion of the partys shared assets.
However, simply bowing and begging wouldnt guarantee that I would sell the sword to them, and building up trust and credibility would also take ti.
So, what they ca up with was to use a Contract Sorcery1 to make a formal contract.
To briefly explain, in broad terms, magic referred to using only ones own magic power for casting spells, while sorcery encompassed a wide range of practices that involved using a catalyst.
However, the distinction here was quite fuzzy. For instance, ritual magic that required a catalyst or high-level spells was sotis referred to as sorcery, and disposable magic scrolls were not typically called sorcery. Its a bit nebulous in that sense.
Among these, Contract Sorcery involved imbuing a blank magic scroll with specially processed magic power and inscribing it according to predefined formats. This allowed the effects written in the contract to be enforced on the contract participants. Naturally, these scrolls used for contract sorcery were quite expensive. They must have worked really hard to save up for it.
In the case of violating a contract made with contract sorcery, the person in breach may temporarily lose their voice, beco immobile, or be prevented from taking actions contrary to the terms. Even attempting to go against the contract may cause excruciating pain throughout the body, and in the worst-case scenario, it could lead to death.
In other words, youre saying you will use the contract sorcery to swear that you wont disclose my information?
Yes. I understand that building trust gradually is the best approach, but ti is of the essence If youd like, we can even include a clause stating that we wont beco hostile toward you.
Ah, well, including that clause might be a good idea to ensure we dont end up accidentally hostile to each other without realizing it. Yeah, I did receive help from Rad yesterday, and well, maybe its okay to sell it.
Understood, that sounds fine. I will let go of it.
Are you sure?! Really?! Thank you so much!!
With that, we headed to the inn where Nell and her party were staying to finalize the contract. Rad, who had been feeling down in his room, beca ecstatic when he heard that I was willing to sell the sword. He rushed off to find the other mbers of his party. His emotions are quite intense!
The contract we agreed upon had the following terms:
You shall not disclose my (Rens) information, directly or indirectly.Unless unavoidable circumstances arise, such as being deceived or unknowingly becoming hostile, you shall not beco hostile toward (Ren).All mbers of Rads party shall strictly adhere to the above terms.
With all mbers of Rads party and signing and sealing the contract with blood, it was officially established. And this contract scroll will be in my possession from now on.
Ohh! Finally, this sword is in my hands! With this, I can beco a Swordmaster! Thank you! Thank you so much!
Well never forget this favor! If you ever face any trouble or need an extra hand, please dont hesitate to ask. Im sure we can be of help!
Hmm, theyre expressing their gratitude so intensely that its making feel a bit uncomfortable Just to clarify, not only Rad and Nell but also the other mbers of their party were incredibly thankful. So were shaking my hand vigorously while others had tears in their eyes. In the midst of it all, Rad was literally crying.
After things cald down a bit, Rad ntioned that his savings had taken a huge hit due to the purchase of the magic sword. He was determined to go Goblin hunting tomorrow to replenish the funds, and hed need to make up for the withdrawal from the partys assets as well. So, it looked like hed be quite busy in the near future.
By the way, it turned out Rads party was actually a harem party. All the mbers were in romantic relationships with him. Their party funds were also savings to account for their future Soone should just tear his thing off.
And once again, they asked to na the sword, which put in quite a bind. Asking to na things, huh? Dont regret it later!
So I gave it the na Evercut.
Just to clarify, its not a kitchen knife, its a magic sword. I did consider nas like Solid Slash, but I was concerned about copyright issues, you know?2
Evercut, huh It has a unique ring to it, but its not bad at all.
Seriously?!
The word for used here is instead of . Normally they are both translated as magic but since its specifically differentiating them, Im going to use Sorcery instead.Evercut is a Japanese kitchen knife brand. Solid Slash is a magic sword from a fantasy franchise called Record of Lodoss War. Ren slightly altered both terms in a way thats indistinguishable in translation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)