Where I Should Be Heading
… How did it come to this?
The scene had shifted to the front of the weapon shop.
For some reason, I'd ended up serving as the witness for the duel between the knight and the thug.
Why me...?
"You lowly brute. If I win, you will apologize to them."
"Ohhh, sure. I'll get down on my knees if that's what it takes. But if I win, you're gonna strip naked, dance with your belly hanging out, and march around the whole town! GYAAHAHA!"
Certain of his own victory, the thug roared with laughter.
The commotion had started attracting attention, and before long a crowd had gathered.
Ahh~ whatever. I don't even care anymore.
As I stood there blankly, Lufen poked me on the shoulder.
"Hey, what are we going to do? At this rate, the duel's really going to start...!"
"No idea. Neither of them is going to back down now."
This was exactly why communication sucked. Nobody ever actually listened.
The two men readied their weapons.
The knight held a double-edged sword. Probably one of the standard-issue models given to knights.
The thug, meanwhile, wielded a massive axe. It had the intimidating presence of a solid lump of iron.
The thug grinned fearlessly and rested the axe on his shoulder.
"All right, all right, all right! Here I come!!"
Charging like a raging bull, he brought the axe crashing down.
Fast! Even while carrying an axe that huge...!
The knight must've been caught off guard, because his reaction was just a split second slow.
But he moved immediately afterward, narrowly dodging the axe.
Having lost its target, the axe smashed into the stone pavement and gouged a deep crater into it.
(I'd rather you weren't quite so rough with meee~) The great axe said.
Huh. Even weapons thought things like that.
The knight held his sword low at his side and slashed horizontally at the thug.
It was a sharp strike, but the thug dodged it with room to spare.
Even to an amateur like me, that guy was seriously strong.
"What's wrong!? That flimsy little sword of yours isn't even gonna leave a scratch on me!!"
He swung down with all his strength.
Realizing he couldn't dodge in time, the knight swung his sword to block the axe…
At that moment...
(Ahhh... I'm gonna breaakkk~)
Those were the last words I wanted to hear from a sword.
The sword and axe collided, and a dull metallic clang echoed through the area.
The next instant, shattered pieces of the blade scattered across the ground.
The onlookers gasped.
"H-Hey... you've got to be kidding me...! It really broke...!?"
At this rate the knight was definitely going to lose, and Lufen would get dragged off by that guy...
No. No! That can't happen!
A sword. A sword, a sword...! Another sword...! Ah!
I looked down at the sword I was still holding.
The one I hadn't gotten around to returning earlier. This one could...!
"Can you beat that axe...?!"
(Ten outta ten. Easy peasy~)
All right!
Just as I was about to call the knight over, the thug raised his axe high overhead.
That bastard… he was going in for the finishing blow...!
"Hey, Knight! Use this!!"
There was no time to worry about appearances anymore.
I hurled the sword toward the knight.
Spinning through the air, the sword flew toward him.
Even though it happened so suddenly, the knight didn't hesitate for a moment.
He leaped sideways, avoiding the descending axe while catching the sword in midair.
The acrobatic feat drew an awed murmur from the crowd.
"Th-this sword...!"
The knight's eyes widened as he glanced at the blade.
But the thug was already swinging his axe again.
"Die, you damn knight!"
"Hah!!"
The sword flashed.
Once again, it collided with the axe.
The same dull crashing sound rang out. The sword hadn't broken. Without so much as a nick in its edge, it had stopped the axe.
"Heh. Looks like this one's a little better than your last… huh...?"
A creaking noise echoed through the air, and the thug's expression darkened.
It wasn't the sword. Cracks spread across the axe… then it exploded into pieces.
The thug froze as he stared at his shattered weapon.
In an instant, the knight slipped inside his guard and swept his legs out with a spinning kick.
As the thug hit the ground, the knight leveled his sword at his throat.
"... I... I surrender."
O-Ohh! He won… Against someone that much bigger than him...!
The crowd erupted into applause.
Lufen and I found ourselves clapping too.
Wow… that was something. You don’t get to watch a real fight like that every day.
After apologizing to us, the thug disappeared into the crowd.
As he left, the knight walked over to us.
"Thank you for this sword. It saved me."
"Ah... uh... sure."
I wasn't used to talking to people. Put a refreshing, handsome guy like this in front of me, and I just shrank up.
I took the sword back from the knight.
Well, he'd already used it once. Guess I'd have to buy it now.
I sighed at the unnecessary expense.
The knight, however, couldn't take his eyes off the sword.
"Excuse me, young man. This sword... could it be one of the famous blades?"
"Ah, no. They were selling it here for ten copper coins..."
"What? This was!?"
I guess people with a trained eye really could recognize quality.
To me, everything looked the same unless I could hear its voice.
The knight examined the sword carefully, then gave a firm nod, as if making up his mind.
"... Forgive me, young man. I'd like you to sell me this sword."
"Huh?"
"Of course, I won't ask for it for free. I'll pay what it's worth. Though I don't have much on me... how about this?"
He pulled a small coin pouch from his pocket.
When I opened it… s-silver coins...!?
"There are thirty of them. It may not be enough, but what do you think?"
"N-No way! That's more than enough... actually, it's way too much...!"
"I see. I'm glad to hear it. My name is Asro. I'm normally stationed as a knight in the royal capital. If you ever come there, I'd be happy if you looked me up."
"Well then."
He flashed a refreshing smile, handed the shopkeeper ten copper coins, waved goodbye, and left.
All that remained was the pouch containing thirty silver coins.
One silver coin was worth about a hundred copper coins.
A sword that cost ten copper coins… had just turned into thirty silver coins.
Lufen, who'd been silent the whole time, let out a long breath as though all the tension had finally left her.
"Whew... T-that was incredible. I never imagined we'd get this lucky..."
"... No. It wasn't luck."
There was a pleasant tingling in my head.
It felt as though something was being released inside me. A warm, floating sensation… it felt good.
I clenched the coin pouch tightly, and before I knew it, a grin spread across my face.
"Lufen... this can be a business."
"A business?"
"Yeah. I'll use my skill to find cheap, high-quality goods and sell them for a profit. If I do that, I can build an enormous fortune."
It felt as though a bright future had just opened up before me.
So this was what people meant when they said their heart was dancing.
"I'm going to become... a merchant."
What do you think about this chapter?
