Chapter 23

Chapter 23. Seria (2)

Even though Balun seemed to know absolutely nothing about her, Seria did not feel offended in the slightest. If anything, it was such a new experience that it felt refreshing.

How many humans had come to her over the years asking her to make arms and armor for them? They had all been the same sort of people, humans willing to use any means necessary to win her favor just to obtain a single piece of equipment from her.

After dealing with nothing but people like that, seeing Balun, who knew nothing about her at all, felt strangely refreshing.

“So, does that Ego Weapon thing take a long time to make?”

“Of course it does. It takes at least two months.”

“Gah. That is too long.”

“Do you have any idea how difficult and demanding the process of placing an ego into a weapon is? Of course it takes a long time.”

“That is a problem.”

“What is?”

“Balun wants a weapon soon. Could you just make an ordinary axe instead?”

Look at that. He said it as though he did not need an Ego Weapon at all.

She truly had never seen a reaction like this in her life.

“Do you not have any greed? Do you not want an Ego Weapon? Everyone else is desperate because they cannot get one, so what is wrong with you?”

“Even so, is it not just a fingerprint-recognition weapon anyway?”

“Finger... what?”

“Balun never locks phone in the first place. It is annoying. Balun does not need a fingerprint-recognition weapon.”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“Besides, it sounds arrogant. A weapon that chooses its master? Balun does not need a tool with that kind of attitude.”

“Pfft.”

In the end, she burst out laughing. It was such an unexpectedly original answer.

Arrogant? Who in the world described an Ego Weapon that way?

“You do realize that is a rude thing to say, do you not? I am an elf who makes Ego Weapons.”

“Ah, I see. Sorry. I did not think of that.”

A deep interest lit up in her eyes.

Her motivation surged. She wanted to show this ignorant Barbarian the true worth of an Ego Weapon.

For the first time in a long while, the spirit of the artisan that had lain dormant in her chest awakened.

“All right. Then I will do my best to shorten the completion time as much as possible. Three weeks. How about that? I will finish it and give it to you within that time.”

“That is good for me, but will it not affect the quality too much?”

“Why are you worrying about something so pointless? I am Seria. A Grand Smith.”

Seria thrust out her chest proudly. Balun nodded. Since she was saying it with that much confidence, it seemed safe to trust her.

***

After leaving Seria’s smithy, Balun immediately found a suitable inn near Workshop Street and rented a room.

After paying a month’s lodging fee in advance, Balun went upstairs, unpacked his belongings, sat down on the bed, and fell into thought.

‘What am I supposed to do while I wait?’

Balun’s original plan had been to receive his new weapon and then practice Enhancement Art with it.

He had thought he would only need to wait three or four days at most, but now that it would take as long as three weeks for the weapon to be completed, he suddenly had a great deal of empty time on his hands.

And even those three weeks were only the minimum. It could take even longer.

‘Maybe I should take on some mercenary work in the meantime.’

Since he could not just loaf around, he decided to earn some money instead. If they were short-term requests, he felt like he could handle as many as he wanted.

“Hey, innkeeper.”

“Yes? Yes! What is it, sir?”

“Where is the Mercenary Guild?”

“Ah! If you go straight west along the main road from here, you will find it!”

Leaving the innkeeper, who for some reason sounded frightened, behind him, Balun headed off. Following the innkeeper’s directions, he soon found a familiar-looking two-story building.

‘Oh, this one is made of stone.’

The Mercenary Guild branch in Milford had been a wooden building.

Just as its exterior looked more impressive, the inside was also larger and packed with more people.

And, of course, all the stares came with it.

People whispered and snickered about savages and barbarians, but by now, that sort of discrimination did not even seem worth reacting to.

Balun did not so much as answer back. He had learned through experience. No matter how much they mouthed off, they were not going to attack him.

“What brings you here?”

“Take this.”

The first thing he did was update his mercenary rank.

When he handed over the recommendation letter he had received from Marco, the clerk’s eyes widened.

“Gah! This is...!”

“When will the Silver Badge be ready?”

“Uh, I would have to check, but I think it may take about three months.”

“That is insane.”

Balun clicked his tongue. Three months just to make one Silver Badge that was smaller than the palm of his hand? How did that make any sense?

“Well, we would have to coordinate schedules with the craftsmen, and then also...”

The guild employee started rambling, so Balun quietly slipped ten silver coins into his hand.

The man’s eyes went round.

“We will complete it as quickly as possible and deliver it to you! Please do not worry. Hehehe!”

“How long is ‘as quickly as possible’?”

“I think it can be done within a week!”

“Good!”

As expected, bribes were the best. Just look at that. His attitude had changed completely.

He really needed to make a lot of money. The thought struck him more strongly than ever.

There was no other way to make up for this maddeningly slow administrative process.

“So until then, do I have to carry my Wooden Badge around?”

“Yes. I am afraid so.”

“Is there no such thing as a temporary mercenary badge?”

“Uh, well... I do not think there is.”

“How primitive!”

“Pardon?”

“What a pitiful bureaucracy!”

Balun grumbled. Why was their work process so terrible?

Even when you reapplied for an ID card, they gave you a temporary one, so why did this place have nothing like that?

But of course, the employee had no idea what Balun was thinking, so from his perspective, this was simply absurd.

How could a Barbarian call someone else primitive?

“All right. Keep up the good work.”

Balun moved to the large bulletin board set along one wall. It was covered in request notices from top to bottom.

‘Wow. There are so many.’

As he read through the notices with widened eyes, someone approached and tapped him on the shoulder.

Balun turned around. It was a man in a black robe, with the hood pulled down low over his face. Judging by the sword at his waist, he appeared to be a swordsman.

“What is it?”

“Did you happen to visit Workshop Street today?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Answer the question. I asked whether you visited Workshop Street.”

A look of caution entered Balun’s eyes. The man immediately struck him as suspicious. Why on earth was he asking about that?

“Did you go to Workshop Street in order to meet Seria?”

“Were you following me?”

“As if. I do not know you. How could I have followed you?”

“Then what is this about?”

“Let us talk outside. There are too many eyes here.”

“No. Talk here.”

Balun shook his head firmly. Why would he follow some suspicious man outside? What if he got kidnapped?

“Well then, so be it.”

The man pushed back his hood. His face was covered in scars from sword wounds.

Still expressionless, the man continued,

“What did you do after meeting Seria? Did she agree to make arms and armor for you?”

“What if she did? And what if she did not?”

“If she did, you die. If she did not, you live.”

“What?”

Balun’s eyes narrowed instantly. What kind of ridiculous death threat was this all of a sudden?

“You would prefer the latter if you want to live. Judging by your reaction, I would say it was the former.”

“You are wrong. I am closer to the latter.”

“The latter...?”

“That is right. I never placed an order with Seria to make me any arms and armor.”

Balun lied through his teeth.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Hmm.”

The man stroked his chin. There was a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

He had never expected Balun to claim it was the latter.

This had strayed outside the scenario he had anticipated.

“So is that enough? Will you spare Balun?”

“Hmm. Probably.”

“What do you mean, ‘probably’? Does that mean you still might not spare me?”

“My apologies for the intrusion. I will take my leave now.”

“Why are you not answering? I asked what you meant by ‘probably.’”

The man never answered in the end.

Watching the man walk silently out of the building, Balun clicked his tongue.

Why did he have to make a person curious and then leave like that? A bastard like that was a real piece of work.

“Whew...”

The moment the man left, sighs burst out from all around the room.

“I thought I was going to die.”

“No kidding. That killing intent was no joke.”

“If he had stayed even a little longer, I would have pissed myself.”

Hearing those remarks, Balun was puzzled.

He had noticed that the robed man had released killing intent too.

But it had not seemed all that overwhelming to him....

“Hey, Barbarian. Was what that man said true? Did you really go meet that crazy bitch from Workshop Street?”

“It is true.”

Balun nodded. That part, at least, was true.

But then people started sighing all over the place.

“Hah.”

“There goes another poor victim.”

“Soon enough, they will be carrying out another corpse.”

Everyone was saying the same thing, and Balun could not help but ask.

“Who is he, for everyone to react like this? Is he someone important?”

“Important? He certainly is. He belongs to Wolf Blade.”

“Wolf Blade?”

“That is right. The largest swordsmanship guild in Pordel. They are one of the powers that be in this city. Surely you have heard of them?”

“I am asking because I have not.”

“Hah. To not know them. You really are a country bumpkin.”

Balun nodded.

Because he really was a country bumpkin.

Since it was true, it did not even make him angry.

“They are famous for being obsessively fixated on Seria. Because she refuses to make arms and armor for them. So they hunt down anyone who goes to see her.”

“I see.”

Balun clicked his tongue. What narrow-minded bastards. It was childish beyond belief.

“Still, you are lucky. Since you did not place an order with her, they will probably let you off. Though you likely will not avoid getting roughed up a bit.”

“What happens if someone did place an order?”

“Well, then it goes like this.”

The mercenary explaining it drew a finger across his throat.

“Are they strong?”

“Of course they are. If they were not, how could they go around acting like tyrants?”

“That makes sense.”

“And there are a lot of them too. Why do you think they are called Wolf Blade? They move in packs, like wolves.”

“I understand.”

“Well, you do not need to worry. It does not apply to you. You did not place an order, after all.”

‘But I did....’

“No matter how much those bastards act like tyrants, they cannot harm people with no connection to Seria. Even if the Lord shields them, he does not let them go that far. So you do not need to worry too much.”

‘Mm. I am completely screwed.’

So the Lord was covering for them.

It was enough to make him lose his mind.

‘Ha, what a life.’

It was depressing.

Why could he never have even a single moment of peace?

“Then again, there is no way that crazy bitch would agree to make arms and armor for someone anyway. Would that prideful elf really make absurdly expensive artifacts for bottom-feeders like us? Not a chance.”

‘She did agree, though....’

She had even said she would not take any money.

“Anyway, do not worry too much. At worst, you get beaten up a little and it is over. Just think of it as life experience. Right?”

“Exactly.”

The mercenaries nodded in agreement. Balun turned away with a dark expression and left the building. He did not feel much like taking on any requests anymore.

How was he supposed to feel like working when a giant gang backed by the city’s ruler was after him?

On his way back to the inn, Balun thought it over.

‘Should I just run?’

It was a fairly serious question. This felt like a whole different scale from the fights he had been through so far.

They would discover soon enough that he had lied. Then all hell would break loose.

It was not an easy decision to make, because it was the very weapon he had wanted so badly.

A weapon that could endure Enhancement Art. Where else would he ever find something like that?

If not through a chance like this, getting one would be nearly impossible.

How else was he supposed to meet another great craftsman like a Grand Smith?

And even if he did meet one, how would he ever get something like this for free without a connection like this?

‘Even so, would it not be better to give up on the weapon than die?’

Balun’s heart slowly began to lean in one direction. In the end, he made a major decision.

‘Run.’

He would run.

‘As for the weapon... I will find a way to get one eventually. Life is long.’

Balun was sixteen years old. He still had many years left to live.

And Balun did not want to die.

He did not care if people called him a coward and pointed fingers at him.

Who was going to save his life in his place?

He had to survive on his own.

‘It is a shame about the lodging fee I paid in advance, but there is nothing to be done.’

Balun headed back to the inn. He would gather his things immediately, leave the inn, and make for another city.

They might try to pursue him, but how were they supposed to do that? It was not as though this world had police cars or helicopters.

‘I have not settled down anywhere yet anyway, so it does not matter where I go. I will travel around, choose a place I like, and build my career there.’

But the moment Balun entered the inn, he froze.

The robed man was there on the first floor.

A man with a face full of sword scars.

The man looked at Balun and spoke.

“So you have finally returned. I have been waiting.”

“....”

“So you did lie. I truly did not expect that. Are you a Barbarian who has thrown even honor to the dogs?”

Balun thought silently,

‘Mm. I am really screwed.’

There was no way around it now.

He was going to have to fight.