Thundering Fa
「Pendulummm?」
「This.」
Galbas tilted his head. I took out the hidden weapon with string attached from my Storage and showed it to him by lightly swinging it. Then Galbas’s eyes lit up like a kid who saw a toy.
「Hoo……is this a stabbing weapon? Or a weapon tied to string?」
「I use it for both. Originally I used blunt weight for it. At tis I swung it around to cut, but its power dropped with that way, so I want to do sothing about it.」
「The drop in power is due to the problem with the center of gravity. It’s important to make it balanced so that it’s not too heavy and not too light. What’re you thinking for its material?」
「I don’t have any preference but, sothing that blood won’t easily stick on will be good.」
「In that case it’ll be better to use magic iron as expected. Using mythril will be too expensive in case you lose it. Magic iron also isn’t cheap but……oi, Victor! Do you have so magic iron ore at hand?」
Victor……? When Galbas shouted that na, the general store’s old man grinned while watching the hidden weapon in amusent.
「There isn’t anything in this city that I can’t get-! Ash covered, this isn’t a weapon from this country huh. A weapon from the west is it……unusual.」
「This thing, it’s a weapon from Justa Empire huh……oi, ash covered-, looks like that brat Viro isn’t with you anymore but, do you still have my knife?」
「Of course.」
I handed the black knife that was attached on my back waist to Galbas together with the sheath. He pulled out the knife from the sheath and frowned slightly.
「It looks like you’ve been taking care of it but, you must have gone through so flashy battles……. Magic steel weapon ain’t as good as mythril but, it can regenerate bit by bit using the owner’s magic power just like monster material. Yet this thing, it got so deep scratches and even nicks on it.」
「Sorry……」
「Stupid idiot-, it’s a weapon so it’ll obviously get scratched-! This thing only has sharpness going for it and not enough “power”, a half-baked weapon. From what I see, you’ve gotten really strong ain’t you? It should be a good ti for you to get an exclusive weapon of your own.」
「Exclusive weapon?」
This black knife was a half-baked product that Galbas created when he was young. He gave it to because it was “just right” for . That was why it seed he thought that this knife didn’t suit anymore.
But, that wasn’t it.
「No. This thing suit my fighting style. Even if nobody else can use it properly, this knife exist to be used by , and I too have gotten stronger to be able to use this knife.」
Even so the knife got nicked because my technique was immature. After I said that, Galbas placed the knife in front of him and quietly crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
It wasn’t in my personality to be fixated with weapon but, this knife had continued to remain in my hand even though it had been almost lost several tis. It made thought that it suited really well.
Galbas pinched two large golden coins from among the coins that were scattered on the table and tossed them. Victor caught those coins that were flying at him.
「Victor-!! Get materials using those-. I’m going to draw the weapon design.」
「Ou, leave it to .」
「……You’ll make weapon?」
I asked the two who suddenly started getting heated up. Then Galbas only took one more large gold coin for himself and pushed back the rest to .
「Leave it to you stupid idiot-, ain’t no way I can do other things when a job this interesting ca my way-!」
「But, just that much won’t be enough for weapon made of magic iron……」
Viro told before. A knife made from magic steel cost five golden coins at the market. He also ntioned that even Galbas’s amateur work cost more than twenty gold coins.
「Kid shouldn’t concern herself with that kinda thing-! Ain’t that right, Victor-」
「That’s how it is. Sothing like this is like hobby for old like us. Hahaha-」
「……Thank you.」
I bowed to the two. The two laughed in amusent and Victor patted my head as though I was his grandchild.
「Ash covered, co here again after one month. Also leave behind that knife. I’ll fix it together with the new weapon.」
「Yes, got it.」
One month huh. It seed fast for making a new weapon and also fixing a weapon. And so I left behind the black knife with Galbas.
「Then, I’ll take a sip of this alcohol for energy……」
「Youu, you’re going to buy magic iron while drun? I’ll sock your teeth in if you buy iron scraps.」
「What, it’s just a glass. You also want to drink right?」
「Well yeah……」
「Keep it in moderation.」
I smiled slightly at the exchange between two old n who were like grandfathers. Then I thanked the two once more before moving to leave the smithy, but Galbas stopped in a hurry.
「Oi, ash covered-! Are you planning to leave without even bringing any substitute weapon-? What’re you gonna do for this one month-」
「It’s not like I have anything in particular that I want to use other than that knife. Besides if it’s weapon that I still have so more with .」
I lifted the slit of my skirt and showed the knife holster attached on my thigh. When I did that, Galbas and Viktor spewed the alcohol they drank and they held their heads as though they got a headache.
「That equipnt……Gelf huh. That guy created damn strange thing……」
「……Oi, listen well ash covered. It doesn’t matter for old n like us but, you’re a young woman, so don’t show your leg so easily in front of like that-!」
「Nn? Got it.」
Young won liked to show their legs in the city based on that woman’s “knowledge” though. I don’t really get it but, certainly a hidden weapon wasn’t sothing to be showed off.
「……Wait for a bit.」
Galbas held his head again for so reason seeing nodding with a quiet expression. He stood up and went to the back, then he handed an item that was wrapped in leather.
「Take this with you for now. This weapon is just right for the current you.」
When I opened the leather wrapping, I found a magic steel dagger with strange shape inside.
The blade’s length was about the sa with the black knife. It was a weapon with only sharp tip for thrusting and no blade at its sides, but it looked really robust with how it was a thick square at the bottom which got pointier the further above it went.
*Byun-!*
「……Amazing.」
I tried swinging it a little and then thrusting it with a step forward. It was slightly heavier than the black knife but, it felt like this weapon could pierce even the thick skull of monster or the joint part of armor without turning crooked.
Galbas looked in satisfaction at swinging the weapon. Then Victor who had just finished wiping the alcohol he spewed muttered with an exasperated face.
「What are you saying, you eccentric old man. Isn’t that the thing that you laboriously created right after you handed that knife to the ash covered?」
「Shut your trap, you drunkard eccentric old man-!!」
The two started fighting again for so reason. I didn’t say anything and just bow once more to them.
.
I equipped the black dagger in exchange of the black knife and then headed to the adventurer guild right away.
Although this place was a remote region that was near the border, it was close to monster habitat and also dungeon. The adventurer guild of this town boasted the biggest scale in this area. It was a guild with a lot of skilled adventurers.
The number of adventurers that constantly ca in and out was more than a hundred. Usually an adventurer guild would only have twenty percent of its mbers rank 3 or above, but in this town it was said that thirty until forty percent of its mbers were rank 3 or above, so even the baron who governed this territory couldn’t really be forceful with the guild.
*Giiii…….*
『…………』
The door opened with creaking sound as I entered inside the guild while still wearing my hood. There were around twenty adventurers inside with several n sending dangerous gazes toward .
It wasn’t like this was the first ti I experienced this. Before nothing happened because Viro was with but, if a kid who wasn’t of age yet was entering here with equipnts of considerable quality, there would be those who weren’t amused by it. Such tendency would be especially striking the more half-baked of an adventurer they were.
Based on experience, if I took off my mantel and showed that I was a “woman”, the place’s atmosphere would change sowhat but, either way so people would still try sothing with , it was only their reason that would be different, so I continued walking until the counter like that. The receptionist lady’s eyes slightly widened when she saw .
「Oh, you are……」
「Long ti no see. I want to update my registered rank. Change it to close range adventurer “Rank 3”.」
The familiar receptionist seed to be the woman who processed my registration as adventurer if I rembered right. It looked like she also rembered from seeing my face that was visible from the hood.
The reason I ca to adventurer guild was to increase my 『adventurer rank』.
Until now I kept my rank at rank 1 because other people would pointlessly pick a fight with if my rank was mismatched with my age, and also because it was useful to make my opponent let their guard down. But with my current appearance that had growth to look like a thirteen or fourteen years old, I judged that the derit of that outweighed the rit.
Rank 1 could co in and out for free only at the city where they registered. But rank 2 would have the toll fee waived off at any city in that territory, and for those who reached rank 3, the toll would only have to be paid when crossing to another territory, but the toll fee for entering a city would be waived off for any city everywhere.
But as expected, there was soone here who got offended by that.
「A brat claiming to be rank 3!? Keep it low key when you try bullshitting!」
One of the adventurers who seed to be in the middle of discussion with another receptionist nearby suddenly yelled.
.
▼Male Adventurer Race：Human♂
【Magic Power：75／75】【Stamina：２１８／２６５】
【Overall Combat Strength：１６５（With Body Strengthening：１８５）】
.
「…………」
Overall combat strength less than 200. Male human at the middle of his twenty. Judging from his stamina and magic power paraters, he seed to be a typical rank 2 vanguard who trained his body strengthening.
If his base combat strength was more than 200 it was possible he could be barely counted as rank 3, but with this number, he must have worked hard to train up several skills and increased his combat strength, but he was unable to reach rank 3.
If this experienced man faced a rank 3 who had only leveled up one or two skills, then he should be able to fight in advantage. That must be exactly why this man felt that a child like reaching rank 3 was 『cheating』 and couldn’t tolerate it.
But……what does it matter for ?
「An adventurer’s rank is decided by the guild! Please don’t say whatever you like-」
The receptionist lady who was dealing with stood up from her chair and argued like that.
But that only brought the opposite effect in this situation.
「Even I should be a rank 3 if a brat like this is rank 3! The adventurer guild’s Appraisal is mistaken-, I’ll decide whether this brat is really rank 3!」
I myself hadn’t said anything to provoke the man, but when the enraged man’s hand reached for the sword on his waist, the adventurers remaining inside the guild cheered and jeered as though a festival was going to begin.
These are rowdy adventurers. Sothing like this happening inside the guild must not be unusual at all.
As expected it would beco a problem if he really pulled out his sword, even so the other adventurers didn’t do anything to stop him, and the other staffs except the receptionist lady were backing away with faces of resignation, so perhaps they were resigned thinking that so bloodshed couldn’t be helped…….
The man’s teammates also didn’t try to stop him and looked like they would let him do as he pleased with exasperation. They even surrounded so that I couldn’t run away.
The number of opponents including the man was five people. Based from their expressions, they might be planning to stop the fight from devolving into murder as long as the man had vented out, but…….
If the blade was unsheathed and pointed to soone else, then simply the death of five people should be within acceptable degree wasn’t it?
*Clink* The tal fitting of my mantel snapped and fell on the ground. The “ash” illusion that was lightly sprinkled over my hair that was hidden by the mantel’s hood slightly glittered.
The presences of several people wavered when they noticed that I was female and furthermore a child. Among them a smirking man who seed to be scout instantly turned pale when he saw my face and hair. He started sweating in abnormal amount from his face.
「……I, I ain’t involved-!! This guy’s picking a fight on his own! I ain’t related at all with this guy anymoree-!!」
The scout scread with a heartbreaking tone before backing away while tossing down his weapon.
「O-oi?」
「What’s wrong with you?」
The ghastly pale scout’s teammates called out to him with bewildernt, but he slapped away the hands that were reaching out to him and scread.
「Stop-! I ain’t getting involveddd-! I got no animosity with you! That’s why please, leave alone-! “Our guild” isn’t gonna……pick a fight with the 『Ash Crowned Princess』–!!」
「…………」
The scout scread and ran out of the adventurer guild while almost tripping on his feet several tis. Several jeering adventurers inside also turned pale and ran out of the guild. An awkward atmosphere drifted in the air.
……Aa, I see. That scout wasn’t an adventurer of adventurer guild, but a “thief” of the thief guild in this baron territory.
The Ash Crowned Princess thing that scout spouted off was a “nickna” that thief guilds started calling with since my body grew to be like the present.
Normally sothing like nickna would beco inconsequential when leaving to another area, but I didn’t know what kind of contact network they had, but the mbers of the thief guild anywhere would call with that nickna. Because of that the adventurer guilds and assassin guilds were also starting to call like that recently.
That scout was acting like that most likely was also influenced by the destruction of the “militant thief guild” of Kendras territory that was as feared as the thief guild of Dandall even in this northern frontier.
Just what kind of wicked rumor was spreading about ……. Most likely that scout didn’t fear just , but he also feared the purging of the thief guild in this area that had decided to not 『oppose』 . Anyway, it looked like the thief guild of this area wouldn’t pointlessly pick a fight with .
「……tsk」
Even though it was puzzling, the male adventurer who picked a fight with seed to be affected by the awkward atmosphere and clicked his tongue before walking away from . His teammates also looked at with conflicted expressions before hesitantly lowering their heads in apology and followed behind the man.
After they were gone from the guild, I heard an apologetic voice talking to .
「My apologies. Can you please forgive him if possible? Actually sothing a bit troubleso has happened to his hotown, so he is on edge like that. ……Even so」
The receptionist lady said that while staring fixedly at . Then her shoulders dropped.
「So you’re……a “girl”.」
「……Yes.」
I was dressed like a boy that ti, so it couldn’t be helped for her to think that.
Even so, just what was going on in this baron territory? There was the warning the soldier at the gate said, and then there was what happened with the man just now.
「I heard a dangerous monster appeared, can you tell what’s actually going on?」
「That’s……」
「──You, are you Aria?」
A voice that seed to co from a boy interrupted our talk. I turned around and saw a boy who seed familiar staring at with a dumbfounded face.
Behind him, on all fours on the ground with a face that looked even more shocked than the receptionist lady just now──
「Aria……is a girl」
……was a depressed girl who seed to be ten years old. Her words finally made rembered. They were the orphan siblings who I first t at the slum when coming to this town.
「Long ti no see……Gil, Shuri.」
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