“Hm? Did you just say something?”
“Huh!? No, no, no, no! It’s nothing!”
The man in the luxurious black robe looked at me suspiciously, and I hurriedly shook my head. Dangerous, dangerous, ordinary people don’t often get involved with knights. I don’t want to play the fool who says unnecessary things and puts himself in danger.
“What do you mean, “Give me the sword”? Who the hell are you people anyway?”
“Oops, excuse me. I am Hauman, the man who was ordered by His Majesty the King to retrieve the “Hero’s Sword”. They are my guards, the knights of the kingdom. So, Dalton-sama. Please hand over the sword to me according to our agreement.”
In response to the words of the black robed man who called himself Hauman, master replied with a puzzled expression.
“Wait, Wait! I don’t understand? The agreement was “If a Hero comes, I’ll forge a sword for him”. It ain’t like you can just snatch any sword I forged unconditionally, you know?”
“I know. But there is no problem. The other day, a hero belonging to our Kingdom of Aktor should have come here
“….Did he ask you to get this sword?”
“I don’t care what the hero wants. We have come to retrieve the sword that the hero should have as a matter of national policy, and that’s all.”
“……………………”
Hauman and Master looked at each other silently. The master’s power at a glance was overwhelming, but the enemy, too, was a high ranking person sent by the country, and he did not seem to budge an inch. Such an exchange of gazes and spirit continued for a while… Surprisingly, it was my master who broke first.
“…… ……Ha, all right. Then, wait for a moment.”
“Eh, Master!?”
My Master glanced at me when I raised my voice in surprise. Looking at his eyes, … yeah, I guess I should shut up and follow him here.
“If only you would hand me the sword here and now?”
“What? Are you an idiot? We’ve been testing this blade, and if it’s not taken care of properly, the blade will be damaged! Or what? Do you want me to hand it over to you covered in blood and grease?”
At Master’s words, Hauman slightly backed away. A knight near his ear whispered something into his ear, and Hauman let out a small sigh and continued.
“…I understand. I will accompany you to the workshop.”
“Che, do what you want. Come on, you two, let’s go.”
“Yes”
“Y-yeah. ……”
As Tia and I followed our master who started to walk away, Hauman came up behind us with his knights in tow. The sensation that pierced my back was like trying not to let a criminal escape.
[Hey, Ed…]
I[t’s all right. Let’s keep quiet for a while.]
[Understood.]
I responded to Tia in my mind, who laid her hand on top of mine with a slightly worried expression on her face. Soon after, we reached Master’s workshop, where Master turned around and called out to Hauman again.
“Okay, wait here”
“Why can’t you let me inside?”
“Huh? I don’t care if you go inside the store, but you ain’t going in the forge, okay?”
“That sounds as if there’s something you don’t want us to see?.”
“Of course there is! It’s a craftsman’s workshop! Or do you want me to disclose my knowledge and skills as well!? If you demand that much, I’ll break the contract right now, even if I have to pay a penalty.”
“Guh… I understand. Hey, you guys, guard the area around the store. Don’t let a single mouse escape.”
“”Ha!””
“…… Che, Let’s go.”
As the knights surrounded the store, Master led us into the store. Then we made it to the forge, where he finally relaxed and complained loudly.
“Urghh!! What a pain in the ass!”
“Hey, Master!? If you shout that loud ….”
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. This is a forge, you know? You can’t see anything from the outside if you shut everything, and you won’t hear anything even if you shout out loud.”
“Yes. It’s always quiet outside when I come here.”
“Oh, really?”
I’ve always worked here, so I didn’t realize it, but I see what you mean, blacksmithing is very noisy. I thought the reason we didn’t get any complaints from the neighbors was because they were so understanding, but I guess he did have noise reduction measures in place.
“But what’s up with those people! Coming out of the blue and saying, ‘Give me the sword,’ so disgusting!”
“I’m sure that the movements of the Hero must have been reported to the country, even though he was acquitted of all charges. However, how did they know about the sword?”
“I have a permit from the government to mine sunshine stones. They must have known that I was going to forge a sword different from the ones sold in stores. As for how they came to know exactly about it…. Perhaps that Adventurer’s Guild yesterday? The story leaked out from there and those guys who were standing nearby came to retrieve the sword in time.”
“So they were staying nearby?”
“I guess so. I’m sorry for the trouble. Ed, give me that sword.”
“Y-yes”
At my Master’s request, I removed the [Dawnbreaker] from my waist by its sheath and handed it to him. Master immediately begins to clean the sword, and the beautiful blade was further polished to be even more beautiful.
“Master, what are you going to do now?”
After the first trial cut, I talked to the master, who was checking the blade in detail.
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“The sword. Are you going to give it to them?”
If this was a threat from a thug in town, I could just punch him and be done with it, but if it was an official request from the government, it would be difficult to kick him out. People like me and Tia without any background could handle it, but my Master who has settled in this town would not be able to refuse the request.
“Yeah, I’ll give it.”
“Well, I see. ……”
“Ehhhh, ain’t that too easily? Is it really okay, Ed!?”
“There’s no such thing as good or bad. There’s no way we can break through their surveillance…and escape with the sword.”
At Tia’s questioning look, I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. If I had to say whether or not I could do it, I could easily do it, but if I did, I would be putting both ourselves and my master in a very difficult position. If a person’s life was at stake, we have no choice, but if the master himself does not want to go that far, we can’t.
“Yes, but … but is it okay with you, Dalton-san? I mean, You put all that effort into making this sword for Ed.”
“Huh? Hey Jo-chan, are you misunderstanding something?”
“Huh? Misunderstanding?”
“Yeah, I did say I am going to give them a sword, but I didn’t say it will be the [Dawnbreaker], right?”
“Huh? Huh!? Wh-What are you talking about! Ah, you mean handing over another sword!?”
“No, Master, no matter how much you want to, wouldn’t that be immediately obvious?”
This was the Master’s store, so naturally there were a number of swords struck by him. However, the items sold in the store and the [Dawnbreaker] are too different. We only showed the scabbard, so we could probably cover it up on this occasion, but if they examined it properly later, they would soon find out that the sunshine stone that we had permission to dig out was not used.
“The materials used for the swords sold in stores are completely different, aren’t they? Even if it’s your sword…”
“Hey, Ed, don’t you get it? There’s a sword made of the same material.”
“……, N-no way!”
“That’s what I meant.”
“Eh, what!? Why do you two look like you know something!? Don’t leave me out!”
“Fufufufu, this is going to be interesting to watch.”
“Yeah, hehehehe.”
“There’s that evil face again! Mou! Tell me about it! Hey, Ed!”
With Tia frantically tugging at my arm, Master and I had wicked smiles on our faces.