“What? Did it really get stolen?”
“… …, sort of.”
That day at noon. Tia asked with a puzzled look on her face, and My master mumbled a few words as he lightly turned away from her. The fact that the sword had been stolen was not important, but the fact that it had been stolen so soon after that conversation seemed to be a little embarrassing.
“Tch! Don’t worry about it! They’ll get caught soon anyway, and I have a little idea who might have stolen it.”
“You had an idea of who might steal, and you did nothing …?”
“Shut up, shut up! It’s fine if I say so! Oi Ed, hurry up, eat and continue!”
“Y-yes!”
I was yelled at rather unreasonably, and I hurriedly stuffed my lunch into my mouth. Then Tia gently touched my hand.
[Hey Ed, did you know the sword was going to be stolen?]
[No, I didn’t know.]
With Tia’s [Missing talk] We could have a normal conversation while eating. And in the first round, I never heard of any swords being stolen.
Although, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that My Master simply took care of the problem without my knowledge, so I don’t know if it was stolen as a result of a change in the flow of events. ……
[What do we do? Shall I look for one on my end?]
[Hmm… no, I don’t think you need to do anything unnecessary.The sword that was stolen was not a special sword, it was just a common item sold in a store and the town guards should be able to handle it. If Master has an idea of who stole from him, I’d hate to complicate things by doing something stupid.]
[I see. I understand.]
Tia’s hand moved away from mine, and when we both looked at each other instead, there was a particularly high-pitched sound of an iron being struck. I smiled bitterly at my Master’s silent complaints as he turned his back on me, the day went by uneventfully… and five days later. As he said, the culprit was caught early, so My master and I went to the town’s guardroom..
“I knew it was you.”
“……………………”
Behind the cold iron bars was the self-proclaimed Hero who had argued with My Master on the first day. Facing us, beside him, was a guard with an apologetic look on his face.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you, Dalton-san. I couldn’t treat him like just another thief this time. …”
“Yeah, I don’t care. And, It’s been a long time, My Hero friend.”
“…You knew?”
The Hero, who had been slumped down, looked up as he said this in a low voice. His eyes were bloodshot with hatred as he grabbed the iron bar separating them and shouted loudly,
“What do you mean, “I knew it!”? You mean to say that you knew I would steal your weapons if you didn’t give me a decent weapon!? You want to humiliate me, a Hero, to that extent!?”
“Oi, Oi, you’re being very disrespectful. Why would I do that?”
“I don’t give a shit! If you had followed through on your agreement and given me a decent weapon, we could have been done with this! Shit, shit! You’re wrong! Ordinarily, I would be on that side, and you, who broke your promise to the country, would be on this side!” ”
“Hah … Hey Guardsman, how did this guy get caught?”
Ignoring the fussing Hero, My Master scratched his head and asked the guard.
“Well, … it looks like he went out to sharpen the sword he stole. The store reported it, so they took him down just as this guy was coming to pick up the sword.”
“I see. So you used the sword you stole from my store, right? How was it?”
“Huh!? It was a piece of shit! What the hell was that sword, it was so hard to use! Ah okay. You don’t actually have skills, right? That’s why you didn’t forge a sword for me so that it wouldn’t be found out! Oi, Guard! Get me out of here now! If not, call the Kingdom of Aktar and tell them this man is a fraud of the highest order!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way Dalton-san is a fraud!”
“Even you are on this guy’s side!? Don’t tell me you’re fooling the whole world with this town!? You’ve got to be kidding me! The whole world is united against the Demon Lord, and you’re going to betray humanity for your own selfishness!?”
“……………………”
The Hero was just lashing out at the guard, who was filled with bitterness. My Master, who sighed heavily at the sight of him, spoke to the guard again.
“Guard-san, where is the sword that this guy stole? If possible, can you bring it to me right now?”
“Ah, yes. I will bring it to you now.”
He said, and the guard who went to the back of the room immediately brought a sword. Master took it and slowly handed it to me.
“Oi, Ed. Look at this sword for a second.”
“Huh? Yes. …. …. Wow.”
Looking at the sword handed to me, I involuntarily let out a groan. I see that no wonder it was called a good for nothing sword.
“Hey, you! If you’re making that kind of noise, it means you know it’s terrible, right!? Then let’s talk together!”
“No, well, it’s ….not that it’s terrible, it’s more like it’s poor. ….”
“Gaahaha! Then Ed, use that sword to cut through the iron bars over there. You can do it, right?”
“Wha! Hey, Dalton-san!?”
“Sorry, Guard. I’ll take full responsibility, so just go along with me for a bit.”
“Uhm… are you sure?”
“I am not. It’s not good …. but if Dalton-san says so, I believe him.”
I ask, to which the guard replied with a frown that couldn’t be any clearer. Ah, seriously, I’m allowed to cut it off? I mean, going by the flow, do I have to cut it?
“Oi, you. Back up a little bit.”
“T-There’s no way you can do it! You can’t cut these iron bars with such a….”
His voice trembling, the Hero still took a few steps away from the bars. Seeing that Master and the Guard have also moved away from my side, I drew my sword and readied it.
“Then, Let’s do it…. HAH!”
Exhaling shortly, I stepped forward with force and swung my sword down at an angle.The sword sliced through the bars with no problem, although it felt a little stuck, probably because the blade had not been sharpened properly.
Then, having grasped the pattern, I made another horizontal flash. Then, with a rumbling sound, three broken bars fell to the floor.
“As expected of Dalton-san’s sword. It’s incredibly sharp.”
“Ridiculous!? It’s impossible! When I used it, it couldn’t even cut skin properly, let alone the shell of a rock turtle, so how could it cut iron!?”
“Ed, how did you like using that sword?”
Asked by my master, who folded his arms with the two contrasting opinions of the guard and the Hero intact, I replied, looking at the sword in my hand again.
“I think this is to achieve both sharpness and durability, but the area that can be cut properly is very narrow. Unless you are very skilled, it’s just an iron rod.”
Yes, this sword was almost impossible to use to cut unless the blade was perfectly aligned. Although it had the ability to be called an excellent sword if one had the skill, for the majority of people it was nothing more than an “iron rod in the shape of a sword,” a very troubling piece of equipment.
“That’s the way it is. The sword I forge is for the right person. This one is the best of them all. And you, my dear hero, your skill is not yet at the stage where you can use it like that. So I sold you a sword… that anyone can use. Even If I forged a sword exclusively for you, honestly, it would just be the same kind of sword. Train your sword seriously for another 10 years. Then, when you’re good enough, …. I’ll forge you a sword, just like I said that day. A sword that only you can use.”
“…………………….”
On the other side of the bars, the Hero crumbled. Was it anger or remorse that made his clenched fist tremble?
“Then this case is closed. If you say it’s too much trouble because of his title of Hero, you can let him out, okay? I’ll withdraw the report on my part. So, I’m going home.”
“Y-yes.”
“No, no, wait a minute! That’s not going to happen!”
As Master was about to leave, a guard hurriedly called out to him. Master turned to him and had a blatantly unhappy expression on his face.
“What? What’s wrong with you, when I said it’s okay for me to have my sword stolen!?”
“Of course, but we have a lot of paperwork to do! There’s also the matter of the slashed iron bars, so I have to ask Dalton-san to stay here and handle the paperwork.”
“…… Ah, okay. You can do those things, as you see fit――”
“That’s not going to work! If you’re careless, you won’t be able to go home tonight!”
“I’ll close up the store, then.”
“Oi, Ed!? You’re not leaving by yourself! You’re the one who cut that thing!?”
My master stared at me with a terrible look on his face, but I was not intimidated by that. If I stayed here, I would have to deal with endless complicated documents. I would not go along with such a hell, even if my master asked me to.
“No, it’s a problem in my Master’s store, and my master said he would take responsibility for the iron bars. Well, then, that’s that!
“EDDDDDDDDDDDD!?”
“Come on, Dalton-san. This way, please.”
I quickly left the guardhouse, leaving the master with his arm firmly caught in the guard’s grasp. Let’s at least pray for his safety. ….Good luck, Master.
When Master came home late that night, he looked at me with intense resentment, and for the next three days, he became even more silent than usual and kept putting pressure on me, but that was a story for another time.
(T/N: My Mouse decided to die on me, hence the delay)