The Weapon Is Finished (1)
The request for weapons to the weapon shop Dandada’s lizard beastman, Mr. Giren, was made at the start of the final week of the first month of the Fire Season.
On the way home after yesterday’s academy classes, I ran into Mr. Giren in the plaza, and he told me the weapons were finished.
About two weeks to finish them, that’s fast, isn’t it?
Even though he said it would take longer since I’m so small and they couldn’t just adjust the grip of a ready-made piece but had to make everything from scratch.
According to Dad, Dandada was a shop started by Mr. Giren’s grandfather, and Mr. Giren is the third generation. There are several blacksmith workshops and weapon shops in the village, but Dandada’s weapons have the best performance.
The other shops aren’t weapon-specialized workshops, they also handle cooking tools and household goods, so their weapon lines are more like shops for walk-in customers from the village or adventurers passing through from elsewhere.
That makes sense. If you were a walk-in, you probably wouldn’t even think Dandada was a weapon shop, and since there’s no sign, you wouldn’t even think it was a shop at all.
"It's already gonna get late today, so let's mosey on over tomorrow mornin'. We'll likely do some test swings tomorrow and then make further adjustments."
Ah, yeah, that’s right. There’s no way it’s really finished in just two weeks.
But I’m excited! The whip uses special materials, so there’s no way that one’s done yet. Maybe just the dagger?
“Hehe, I’m looking forward to it. Once I can use them properly, can I use weapons for training in the back forest?”
"Yep, of course ya can. That's why I beefed up the durability and made the targets sturdier. Once it's all finished, you get used to handlin' the weapons, and you reach Copper rank… let's see… by the end of this month, maybe we give huntin' a Horn Rabbit or a wolf outside the village a try."
Eeh!? I never thought I’d be able to go on an outside hunt that soon.
Sure, I slammed the brakes on point-gaining by making cards, but I set it up so that on weekdays I only make materials usable for class, and only submit them as permanent requests on weekends. Even so, I was panicking because I’d still hit 100 points by the end of the month.
Once you hit Copper rank, you graduate just like Kathe, and I thought going outside was impossible since I still didn’t have enough basic training with Dad.
"If ya ask whether it's slow or fast, it's fast, sure enough. But you learn quicker by soakin' things up in real combat, don't ya? You're startin' to keep that barrier armor up for a full day now, too.
I can't spar with ya myself, that'd be pushin' it, but I've been askin' around for folks who might be willin'. If we try a different kind of special trainin' on the weekends this month, we can also check the barrier armor's strength more thoroughly."
Dad and I are way too different in height, and he’d be on edge the whole time anyway.
But someone I could spar with? Maybe Ren and Hachi? Those two train with weapons too. Lately they’ve been completely obsessed with the athletic course, but build-wise, they’re just right.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
The next morning, I woke up way too early because I was so excited, but I still did my morning stretches as usual.
Even then, it was too early for the shops to open, so I decided to make today’s delivery batch of card boards first.
Just as I finished two delivery sets, I was told, “Alright, let’s go,” and that’s now.
“Dad, do you think the whip’s done too?”
“Well now, I reckon the dagger’s done, but the whip? Hard to say. Those materials are tricky to handle, so it might not be ready yet.”
Yeah, that figures. Talking like that, we arrived at Mr. Giren’s shop.
When we went inside, there were some familiar, burly macho types there.
“Oh my, it’s rare to run into you in a place like this.”
“Ohh, it’s been a while.”
“Vio! What are you doing here?”
“Kathe! I had Mr. Giren make me some weapons, and I heard they were finished today, so I came to see!”
By “they,” I meant the four of them including Kathe. Kathe’s mom looks just like her, tall, sharp-featured, and beautiful.
It’s probably not that Dad and her mom haven’t met in a long time, just that it’s been a while since they ran into each other here.
While I was explaining to the surprised Kathe that I was having weapons made, Mr. Giren came out from the back.
“Ohhh, you’re early. Well, everything’s done, so go ahead and check ’em out. I’ll have you swing ’em for real and then fine-tune.”
Mr. Giren disappeared straight into the backyard. Maybe the weapons were already set out there? If Kathe’s mom is returning to adventuring, maybe she had new weapons made too? Is it okay to look?
But if it wasn’t okay, someone would stop me here, right? No one’s stopping me, so that means it’s fine, right? Exciting!
When we entered the backyard, several targets had been set up, and on a table that hadn’t been there the other day were weapons, boxes, and other items.
“Who’s checkin’ theirs first? Taddy and Gars, your repairs are done. Wanna do a test cut?”
“No need. We’ll confirm it by hunting in the nearby forest.”
“Thank you. Oh, I maintained it myself, but when a professional sharpens it, it’s completely different.”
Answering Mr. Giren as they checked their weapons were Kathe’s dad, Taddy, and her older brother, Gars.
They look rough, but her brother’s actually a nice, wholesome guy.
“I’ll go first. Alke, is that alright?”
"Yep, go on ahead. Next up'll be Kathe, I reckon. Vio, you'll go last. Thea, is it alright if my little one watches?"
Over here, Kathe’s mom was talking with Dad. She even got permission for me to observe, as expected!
“Oh? Those aren’t your weapons, Alke’s?”
“Nah. Alke asked me to spar with that little one there and Kathe. You don’t mind us watchin’ yours too, do ya?”
“Eh!? Me sparring with Vio???
Vio hasn’t done any weapon training yet, has she?”
“Yeah. For now it’s only barehanded, and I’m just about to start weapon training. I didn’t know my partner would be Kathe either, so I was surprised too.
Taddy, observing is totally fine. It’s my first time using them, so I don’t really know what I’m doing either, though.”
Because Kathe’s dad, no, Taddy, brought up the sparring, Kathe got really surprised. I never expected my partner to be Kathe either, so we both ended up shocked.
READ CHAPTERS 90-119 IN ADVANCE ON PATREON (8$ TIER)
What do you think about this chapter?
