Chapter 187, About Raising a Dog (1)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

Gix, the owner of Roten Smithy, had been rather idle these days.

 

To begin with, Roten Smithy only made swords and nothing else, which meant there were few customers and not much work to be done. Unlike other smithies that would at least make and sell iron goods or even create horse tack to sell to the Pollun Trader’s Guild, Gix’s stubbornness would not allow such things.

 

He had lived his entire life thinking that as long as he did what he wanted and made enough to eat, there was no reason for a person to be busy making money.

 

Therefore, there was no reason for a sword maker to be busy in the Capital, Cyriesus, where there were no wars and no foes nearby.

 

“A customer is here!”

 

On one such idle day, a child he had been keeping around for errands and pocket money came in excitedly with this announcement. When Gix saw the person following behind the child, his eyes widened.

 

It was a girl who was quite tall for her apparent age, wearing a black leather vest, white shirt, and dark brown pants. Up to that point, nothing particularly caught Gix’s attention, but the sword hanging at her waist was different.

 

If nothing else, Gix knew how to properly examine a sword. At a glance, it was a very heavy sword of excellent quality.

 

The girl stepped forward and stood before Gix.

 

Though Gix had nothing to do and knew nothing but work with iron, he still had some sense. If there was a girl with bronze-colored curly hair who could carry such a heavy sword so casually in Cyriesus, there was only one person. There could not be anyone else.

 

“Could you possibly be the Lesser Duchess of Siegfried?”

 

So he carefully asked.

 

“That is correct.”

 

The moment Gix saw the girl nod quietly, answering in a somewhat low voice that suited her expressionless face with prominent round eyes, his waist bent in a bow.

 

He did not know why such important figures kept visiting this small corner shop in this iron-smelling alley, but in any case, this was someone he would find difficult to speak with even once in a lifetime. Was she not the heir of a Duke, the highest status after Royalty?

 

Moreover, leaving aside the nobility of her status, there would be no one among those who made weapons on this street who would not want to meet the Lesser Duchess.

 

Being the heir of Siegfried alone already made her an object of admiration, and she had recently become the protagonist of a tremendous romance that had shaken all of Cyriesus. She had detained the Second Prince and pressured Beurisen to find her fiancé. Her courage, initiative, and confidence were truly sky-high, were they not?

 

Such a figure worthy of being Gix’s idol was now standing before him.

 

“It is my family’s honor to meet you, Lesser Duchess.”

 

Therefore, Gix offered this greeting filled with sincerity.

 

In fact, when he had learned of Kalian’s identity, who had visited about a month ago, he had been so surprised that he could not properly remember whether he had greeted him. But at least now he had offered a proper greeting.

 

Dmirea, who answered by nodding silently, looked around once before opening her mouth.

 

“The blade has deteriorated somewhat, and I heard I should visit this place, so I came.”

 

It was respectful speech.

 

Dmirea did not speak down to anyone unless they were subordinates of her household. Of course, Ian, who had received the same education from Seri, was the same.

 

However, Gix, who had no way of knowing this, became even more humbled and stammered his reply. He even forgot to think about who might have told Dmirea such a thing.

 

“Yes, yes. I will take a look at it.”

 

At these words, Dmirea unfastened her sword and handed it to Gix.

 

Because it was exactly as heavy as he had expected, Gix briefly stopped breathing. No matter if she was a Siegfried, it was an unbelievable weight to have been hanging at the waist of a still-youthful girl.

 

Gix carefully drew the sword to examine it and tilted his head. Then he raised and lowered the sword several times, gripped the handle, and examined something before asking.

 

“Excuse me, Lesser Duchess. Did you perhaps remove the original blade and is using a new one?”

 

“That is correct.”

 

Dmirea smiled slightly as she answered.

 

She thought it was great that she had remembered Kalian’s words, to visit this place if her sword ever got damaged.

 

Had she not recently increased the weight of the sword considerably, as Gix had said? However, that sword had been reassembled so perfectly that even Dmirea could barely feel the difference. To notice it immediately showed he truly had a discerning eye.

 

After examining the sword for a while, Gix opened his mouth.

 

“Excuse me, I do not know if I should say this, but more than the damaged blade, the center of gravity between the blade and handle does not match, so it must have been somewhat uncomfortable to use.”

 

This too was accurate.

 

Part of the reason various injuries had appeared on her hands after increasing the weight was because of this. As she kept readjusting the sword that kept shifting in her hand and tried to handle the sword’s slightly misaligned movements with force, it had turned out that way.

 

Gix, who spoke as if he had seen with his own eyes that such a thing had happened, spoke again to Dmirea, who only nodded quietly.

 

“If I am repairing the blade anyway, would it be acceptable to attach a new handle as well?”

 

It was a question asked because he thought there must be a reason she had continued using the original handle.

 

After thinking for a moment about Gix’s words, Dmirea nodded and answered.

 

“Yes. I will request that as well.”

 

In fact, she had been reluctant to discard a handle that had functioned well so far, so she had continued changing blades while keeping the same handle, but at this point it seemed it might be good to try a new one.

 

After hearing those words, Gix bowed his head slightly before speaking.

 

“It will take about a day, Lesser Duchess. When it is finished, I will bring it to your residence.”

 

“Would that not mean leaving the shop unattended? I will return at this time tomorrow.”

 

Gix, learning that the Lesser Duchess who was impressive, capable, of status comparable to Royalty, and who used respectful speech to her inferiors was also overflowing with consideration. He truly did not know what to do and said:

 

“I have nothing to do, Lesser Duchess.”

 

In that moment of being too flustered but happy, an overly sincere statement came out.

 

Dmirea, watching Gix’s face turn bright red, smiled quietly once more. Then she looked around the shop once more and picked up a nearby blade to examine it before speaking.

 

“Do you make all the items in this place by yourself?”

 

For a moment, Gix nearly showed a smile without realizing it. It was because Kalian had asked the exact same question when he had visited this place.

 

“Yes, Lesser Duchess. I made them all.”

 

Dmirea watched Gix for a moment, who was skilled and had nothing to do, then nodded silently before speaking.

 

“Tomorrow, I would be grateful if you would come to me with the sword.”

 

She had changed her mind about coming herself.

 

Since he had nothing to do and would also get to see the Ducal residence, Gix answered with a pleased face that he would do so.

 

And the next day, he heard a suggestion about whether he would like to take on work exclusively making and repairing swords used by the Knights of the Siegfried Ducal Family, who had become extremely busy with sword work. Gix shouted his thanks on the spot.

 

It was a moment when his life goal of doing what he wanted while making enough to eat changed slightly.

 

* * *

 

Bets.

 

He made them not so much because winning or losing mattered, but because they were fun. He won almost all of them and received money for almost none of them. It was because a certain violet-eyed Crown Prince who lived somewhere kept using the excuse of forgetting the terms of the bet to avoid paying even a single coin.

 

In any case, at some point long ago, he had made bets about whether it would rain or about Kyrie’s height. And recently, he had made a bet about the height of Ian as well.

 

Thanks to this, whether a certain Baby Elephant born into the bloodline of one of Cyries’ Two Knight Order Families, who was growing well, looked at his slightly growing height each morning with a tearful face.

 

“If you just graze me, I will teach you one technique that Duke Siegfried used. However, if you fail, you will go to the fifth floor, older brother.”

 

Like this.

 

He was proposing a bet that was not quite a bet to Plants.

 

Was Plants not the one who had taken this kind of talk with Kalian and lost an entire black horse, the finest horse on the continent? Therefore, Plants frowned somewhat after hearing Kalian’s words.

 

No matter if Kalian had said he would not manifest Aura, as long as the Aura was contained within, their physical abilities would clearly be different, no? Therefore, it was obvious that accepting would be disadvantageous, but refusing meant giving up the technique Kalian had offered to teach.

 

Plants, who briefly weighed facing Randel against Sleiman’s technique, opened his mouth shortly.

 

“Fine.”

 

As if he had expected this, Kalian grinned. At the same time, Plants swung his sword.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

It had always been Kalian who made the first attack.

 

He would disappear silently and then suddenly emerge from the front or back and thrust his sword.

 

Plants, who had not forgotten this, attacked first, and Kalian, still not having erased his smile, twisted his waist to dodge the sword.

 

The ink-colored sword that had not lost its sharp momentum changed direction. Then it scattered sharp wind as if to graze Kalian’s side.

 

*Whoong!*

 

After avoiding two attacks, the crimson sword created only with Mana without Aura manifested. Kalian, who had smoothly extended his arm to push away Plants’ sword that had been aiming for his waist, kicked off the ground.

 

Though he had said he would not use Aura, that did not mean he would go easy on Plants, so Kalian’s figure created the illusion of rippling slightly as he accelerated.

 

Plants, who had twisted his sword to retrieve it, put his body into the continuing rotational force and changed direction. In an instant, while standing in the opposite direction, he extended one foot and thrust out his sword.

 

*Clang!*

 

Kalian’s sword, which had already moved behind to attack, was blocked and made a sharp sound.

 

The crimson sword dripping darkness, the ink-colored sword that reflected no light at all. Between the two crossed swords, red eyes and green eyes shone with a light that seemed similar yet different.

 

The moment the touching swords separated, a sharp thread of killing intent cutting through the wind and an ink-colored blade rushed together. Kalian raised his sword and struck at both without avoiding either.

 

*Claang!*

 

Then he rushed forward toward Plants and swung his sword. Kalian’s voice reached Plants, who hastily twisted his handle to block the sword.

 

“Do not show your killing intent in front of the Knights.”

 

It was said because it would not be good for the Marquis to learn of Plants’ skills, how advanced his swordsmanship was, whether he could handle killing intent or not.

 

Instead of answering, Plants’ killing intent became one layer thicker. It meant he was annoyed that he could not do anything as he pleased.

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

When he blocked the downward strike, the sword returned to slash horizontally. Feeling that considerable edge in that energy, Kalian smiled slightly and kicked off the ground.

 

Wind rose at the tip of the sword swung without a target to cut. Kalian’s figure, which should have been standing before the wind, disappeared in an instant. Plants, now accustomed to this level of speed, twisted his returned sword and thrust it toward the right.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

But this time too, Plants lost track of Kalian’s movement. Kalian, who had already turned direction again, was behind Plants trying to raise his sword to strike down. Feeling that energy, Plants quickly twisted his waist and lifted the ink-colored sword horizontally to block the sword falling above his head.

 

Plants, who had retrieved the raised sword and taken a step back, drew his sword down toward Kalian’s shoulder.

 

*Claang! Clang! Clang!*

 

Kalian, feeling that his sense was certainly quite good, struck his sword upward from below. At that attack that felt lighter than Dmirea’s but sufficiently heavy, Plants gripped his hand with force and readjusted his sword.

 

At the same time, the sword disappeared from Kalian’s hand.

 

Just as he had done when facing the Wolves of the Great Dunes, instead of struggling to overcome the force of the rotating sword, he simply eliminated the sword.

 

*Whoong!*

 

The sword he created again this time extended in reverse toward Plants’ side. Plants, who had quickly moved his feet to avoid the sword, focused a bit more on the sword tip instead of becoming annoyed at Kalian’s attack method he was seeing for the first time.

 

Plants, who had struck away Kalian’s retrieving sword with a long push, kicked off the ground. Then he lowered his head slightly to pass under the radius of the swinging sword and, gripping his sword firmly and holding it horizontally, tried once more to cut Kalian’s waist.

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

Kalian, who had stepped back, blocked the attack with his vertically held sword. At the quite bold attack penetrating into the opponent’s attack radius, the corner of Kalian’s mouth drew an arc once more.

 

When Plants, who had passed Kalian and turned behind, tried to strike upward diagonally while lifting the sword he had been holding downward.

 

Kalian, who had clearly been standing with his back turned, kicked the ground once in place with a thud. And he disappeared before his eyes once again.

 

[Left!]

 

A sound of footsteps, tap tap, came from the left. And a sound of clothes brushing came a little from behind.

 

Plants, who had slightly narrowed his eyes, thrust his sword toward the front. At the same time, he had a slightly regretful thought.

 

[Damn it. I should have blocked rather than attacked!]

 

Kalian’s sword, extending a bit faster than Plants’, slashed across Plants’ neck as if grazing it. He felt as if blood was beading from the slightly cut wound. And then,

 

*Rustle.*

 

One of the decorative string ornaments fastening Kalian’s sleeve fell to the ground, sharply cut.