Sorry About That, Somehow
Once we had gone far enough that the three girls were out of sight, we stepped onto the road.
“Alriiight, first battle in a while.”
Angela pulled out her staff.
“You should’ve had that out from the start.”
A mage could use magic without a staff, but having one made spellcasting faster, reduced mana consumption…
And above all, increased power.
“Weren’t you supposed to protect me, Eric?”
Right. That was the deal.
“Fullface Maskman, actually.”
“I am extremely dissatisfied with that answer.”
I’ll go with you next time…
“From now on, I’ll come alone. Angela, watch the shop.”
“You’re still planning to spy on them…? No, I’m coming too. Fullface Maskman alone is a bad idea. Winnie would definitely stop you at the gate.”
Well, yeah. Stopping suspicious people was a gate guard’s job.
“That’s true.”
“I’ll allow the shop to stay closed for about an hour. More importantly, what’s your weapon, Boss? I know you’re amazing, but is it really just knives?”
Even Angela, who knew about my past, only knew the combat techniques I’d taught and the knife trick from before.
“I don’t have one fixed weapon. In the covert division, you used whatever was there. A stone, a stick… either was enough to kill enemy soldiers.”
Bare hands too, of course.
“Oooh… I don’t really get it, but I get that it’s impressive. So what, are you fighting with some branch lying around?”
“That wouldn’t be cool, would it? I am Fullface Maskman.”
“Boss… so you did think that looked cool…”
I mean, I think it does.
Of course, I also understood that women didn’t agree.
“I can use swords, spears, axes, and I’m skilled with a bow too. But still, the star of the show is the sword.”
“Probably. It’s the most standard one. There are Sword Saints, but no Axe Saints.”
An Axe Saint would be pushing it…
Even if one existed, they probably wouldn’t be popular.
“Well, exactly. So I chose a sword. But an ordinary sword would be boring, right?”
“The kind of guy who’d lecture young people for saying that is saying something weird right now.”
I would lecture them…
Work isn’t a game, and you only get one life…
“I’m fine! Even if every monster in this forest attacked me at once, I’d survive.”
I didn’t say I’d defeat them all.
Probably impossible stamina-wise.
“The scary part is that it doesn't sound like a joke… So what kind of sword did you pick?”
“This.”
Ta-daaah~ I pulled out a stick about twenty centimeters long.
“What’s that? It’s just a stick.”
“Looks like one, doesn’t it? However, this is a new product.”
“Oho~… what kind?”
“Swords require maintenance no matter what, and even then, if you cut something hard, they can break. That’s their weakness.”
Then you couldn’t fight, and you had to replace it.
Dangerous, too. And expensive.
“That’s not really a weakness. That’s just how weapons are.”
“True enough. But this is different. This… eliminates those flaws. This is the, uh…”
… Hadn’t thought of a name.
“I don’t really get it, but show me already.”
“Right. You pour mana into it, and it activates.”
I fed mana into it.
With a bwoooom sound, blue light burst out and formed a blade.
“What the heck?”
“Don’t touch it. Just watch.”
I lightly swung it at a thin tree.
With a BWOOOM! the tree was sliced clean through and toppled over.
“Huh? What the heck is this?”
“This is a mana sword. Suppress the mana, and it retracts. Feed it mana again, and it comes back.”
The blue light vanished, then reappeared.
“Hoh~… this is amazing.”
“Right? It can be used for self-defense too. The scary thing about defensive weapons is that if someone takes it from you, it becomes a threat against you. But this needs good mana control, so only mages can use it properly.”
To a warrior, it was just a stick.
“Heh~... lemme try, lemme try.”
“Sure, but be careful. It’s dangerous just to touch.”
I handed Angela the light… sword.
She poured mana into it.
With a BWOOOM! a blue blade extended.
“Ooooh… it came out. Why’s it blue?”
“I was thinking of selling different colors.”
Green, red, purple…
“What’s with the bwooom sound?”
“That’s just how it is.”
Yep.
That’s just how it is.
“Huh. It really does seem suited for mages. More than anything, it’s light.”
Since only the hilt had weight.
Not even one kilo.
“Mages tend to be physically weak, so it’s perfect.”
The concept was that even Angela could equip it.
“Yeah… are you planning to sell this?”
“I was wondering if it’d sell.”
Useful, and above all, cool.
“Hmm… would it~? I think it’s amazing, but isn’t the demand super narrow for a close-range weapon only mages can use?”
………… It is narrow.
“No good?”
“I think it’s nice in its own way, but it uses mana, right? Then wouldn’t mages just use magic? And there are really few mages who can use swordsmanship.”
I tried imagining Angela swinging a sword around.
Somehow, I pictured her tripping.
Might not sell after all…
“Cost-wise, I was thinking a retail price of one million mild.”
“Rejected! Rejected under the authority of the assistant manager!”
Angela was the assistant manager?
“No good, huh… It’s a fine weapon, though.”
“I know that, but the demand’s way too narrow. Use it as a hobby item. Honestly, only someone like you or Mary, people who can do both, could use it.”
Arvin could too.
“Don’t want one, Angela?”
“There will never be a situation where I need this. Weren’t you going to protect me?”
Right… well, she hardly went outside in the first place.
We ran a magic tool shop, after all.
“Guess I won’t sell it.”
“Please do that.”
Angela handed the sword back.
“Well, I’ll keep this for personal use. So yes, this is my weapon.”
“You suddenly remembered to stay in character…”
“So, shall we hunt some goblins?”
“Let’s. Once I kill two or three, we’ll head back. Angela, look for medicinal herbs or something.”
No need to use Angela’s magic for this.
“What? We’re splitting up? Weren’t you going to protect me?”
“No matter where you are, I’ll rush to you by teleportation. Fullface Maskman, that is.”
“I wanted Eric instead…”
I’ll go with you next time…
Read Chapters 14-16 in Advance on Patreon
What do you think about this chapter?
