Leave a comment

No way. I’ll be troubled if you suddenly ask me that kind of thing.

Ah… How should I answer… I definitely shouldn’t say ‘I can make it’. How about ‘I can make a rubbish one‘? But I’m still going to be troubled if he tells me to give it a try. Or I can just go with ‘I can’t make it’, right?

…No, wait. Master’s line of sight turned from puzzlement to conviction. My pause when thinking for an answer was the same as saying that I could make it… I made a mistake.

Ahh, it couldn’t be helped.

“… It’s not like I can’t make it. But it’ll be hard for me to meet your expectations.”

If I’m going to fool him, I should say something like this.

“So you can make it, huh… No, I was just asking you to make sure. It turns out you’re capable of it… Then, hmm…”

Hey, Master!? You were tricking me!? Wasn’t that a bit too awful!? No, I was also a fool for falling into his trap! Nah, I was a real fool for forgetting to just deny on the spot…

I glanced at Vector. He had a surprised look. Of course, he would have that expression. It’s unthinkable that a kid like me could forge a mana sword.

“…Can you forge a mana sword? How skillful are you?”
“As I said earlier, I won’t be able to meet your expectations. So I refuse.”
“Ah, um… Right, I should explain the situation before making a request. Actually…”

Hey, no one asked that, though?

Plus Master was lost in thought after hearing my answer. Looking at his condition, he was probably convinced that I was lying.

However, I had no intention of taking this request. Even if they explained their circumstances to me, that wouldn’t change.

This was an opportunity to deal with rare materials, considering the trouble that may occur after getting involved with a royal family member. Only trouble will await me if I accept it.

If I showed my ability to forge a mana sword to royalty, he might want to monopolize me. Even if that didn’t happen, dozens of troubles would come once he knew that I could make a mana sword amazing enough to be used for defeating a Master of Winter. I flatly refused all of that.

I didn’t have to rush to take the opportunity to handle rare materials since I would have many in the future. I think I have enough money to buy it.

Boss, could you please not say anything unnecessarily at times like this too! I glared at him, but he averted his eyes guiltily. The heck!

“Actually, the current Master of Winter is the same monster I chased off three years ago. I managed to wound him last time, but I couldn’t deal a finishing blow. But it didn’t show up again next year. Everyone concluded that it died somewhere. Then it appeared last year. It probably didn’t show up the previous year because it saved up the energy to heal its wounds… Half of the people who went to subjugate the Master of Winter when it appeared last year were crushed. Most of the survivors were injured and suffered after-effects.”

Hmm. How can I say this? It sounds pretty bad. But even if he told me that, this was not my problem.

…In the first place, this was high-ranking adventures and knights’ duty to get rid of such dangerous creatures. And the adventurers should have expected that they would get injured when they chose this occupation.

Well, you might say that I should cooperate to maintain the peace of my homeland, but I paid taxes for this kind of situation. Thinking about it, I paid a lot of taxes from the income of my patent fees.

However, telling me to lend them a hand after knowing that I would give myself troubles by doing that was a bit too much. Am I heartless? Hey, hey. I’m not a saint. My peace is my top priority.

“With the experience, I got from the fight three years ago and the information I received from those who survived last year, I have a rough estimation of its strength this year. I start to bring supplies to the guild in a nearby town surrounded by walls. I’m also building a front line base at the farm town that got destroyed last year. Even so, I’m worried about the equipment of the personnel that will fight the monster directly. The Knights’ Order will also participate in this subjugation, but it’s the norm for adventures to prepare their weapons. I’m not bragging about it, but I was the one who injured that monster before. Then they will place me on the front line to fight directly with it. If possible, I want to prepare as much as I can.”

I see. This was the large-scale subjugation that the guild messenger told me before, right? And last year’s heavy snowfall that forced me to seclude myself in the forest was the Master of Winter’s work. Since some villagers in the front line got destroyed by the monster, there should be some other villages that fell into ruin… But that wasn’t enough to convince me to forge him a sword.

“… I’m sorry, but I will most likely not live up to your expectations.”

I feel somewhat apologetic, but I’m not moved at all. I also understand that I’m heartless, but I’m also betting on my life here. I have been making many blunders until now, so I don’t want to step on such a clear landmine.

Perhaps Master also sensed my unwillingness after I glared at him before. He didn’t say anything, his face awkward. Master, you’re not a bad person at all, but you’re kind of stupid… Well, I shouldn’t say anything here since I was also stupid.

“Can you please give it a try?”

Hey, why did he sound like he was sure I could forge a sword that satisfied his needs? I’m telling you it’s impossible! Even if you know I’m lying, read the air!

I shook my head.

“And I’m only renting a room here, so I’m not this blacksmith’s craftsman. Since I forcefully asked Master to let me use the smithy, I couldn’t just be ungrateful by using his kindness to gain profit.”
“That’s…”

Yes, being grateful was important. Even if I actually paid to make him let me use the smithy, I didn’t have to say it. I didn’t intend to forge a sword to sell it in the first place. It’s just for my use.

“No, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Master said something unnecessary, so I glared at him to shut him up.

“In the first place, why are you going that far? You’re just an adventurer, aren’t you? You should leave such a dangerous thing to the adventures with rank A or above and the knights, right?”
“…I can’t abandon people who are suffering now that I know it. I want to help if I can. Is that strange?”

No, I know what you mean. If there was a person in trouble right in front of you, you would think that it would be nice to help them, right? But I wouldn’t go so far out of my way to help people. It’s fine if I only had to help kids falling right in front of me, but I couldn’t bet my life and safety on strangers. The story would be different if they were my relatives and friends.

“Given its expected ability this year, the Master of Winter might even do something to the town walls constructed by the headquarters. If we couldn’t defeat it this year, the townspeople might die from the cold in towns within its influence. I wanted to defeat it to prevent that. There was an orphanage in that town, and it wouldn’t be strange for the orphans to die with how the town couldn’t accommodate outfits for cold weather to everyone… I don’t want anyone to die.”

…Orphanage? Then in the first place, why didn’t they make a base in the royal capital?

“The Master of Winter appeared in the northwestern mountains of the royal capital, right? The Master of Winter appeared in the northwestern mountains until three years ago, so shouldn’t you be making the base in the royal capital?”

The Master of Winter appeared in the same place every time. Therefore, building the subjugation base was relatively easy. Even if it would take some time to defeat the monster, it would only appear once a year. And since the Master of Winter this time was the same monster as the last time, its residence should be located in the northwest side of the royal capital again.

“No. Last year, it appeared in the mountainous area to the west side of its previous location. It’s near the north mountain of O’Neill. The scout told me that there are signs that it will appear there again this year.”

Wait a minute, O’Neill? Did he say O’Neill? Did he say that there was an orphanage there? Then, the town called O’Neill was the same O’Neill where I used to live?