My Beloved Christina
“…You need a new weapon?”
Cecilia roughly wiped the sweat trickling down her cheek with her wrist and asked in pure disbelief.
“Yes!”
“What about the sword I gave you not that long ago?”
“Well, about that…”
I glanced at her face for a moment, then unhooked the dagger from my waist—sheath and all—and held it out to her.
She took it, eased the blade a short way free of the scabbard, and revealed an edge that was still sharp… yet so thoroughly chipped it no longer looked half as threatening as before.
I kept my eyes wide open, staring hard at the dagger so she could borrow my sight and see the damage for herself. Cecilia let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Haa… Just how do you manage a perfectly good sword to wreck it this badly?”
At that, I pushed my lips out in a little pout.
It wasn’t like I’d wanted to ruin it!
The fights I’d been through in Mudwell had simply been far more intense than anything I’d imagined.
Like the time I’d coated the dagger’s edge in crystal and swung it around like a longsword.
Even though the layer had been thin, attacks capable of punching through a blade made of my own crystals weren’t exactly common…
But when you take hit after hit of power that even the crystals can barely withstand, the dagger edge underneath doesn’t stand a chance of staying intact.
In truth, the only reason it still looked usable at all was because I’d been restoring the crystal edge at high speed; that crystal blade had shattered to pieces more than once.
I felt a little regretful myself.
After all, Cecilia had told me this dagger was the work of an extremely skilled blacksmith.
They’d clearly made it with me in mind—the grip felt perfect in my hand.
Looking back, the way Cecilia had been turning my hands this way and that a few days before she gifted me the dagger… maybe that had been for exactly this purpose.
The blacksmith had even seemed to take my tastes into account; the design was outstanding.
Even if it looked pretty ugly now with all those chips…
The clean, refined look—elegant without being overly flashy—had been exactly to my liking.
“Sniff… Christina……”
“Christina? Who’s that?”
“That’s the name of the sword you’re holding, Teacher. Her nickname is Tina.”
“…You even gave it a name?”
“Masterpieces from great smiths usually get cool names, don’t they?”
“…People don’t usually give them human names, though.”
Why not? It’s pretty.
As if she’d already predicted what I was thinking, she cut me off before I could even voice the question.
“At this level, it should still be fixable, right?”
“Really? So my Christina can still be saved?”
“Yeah… I’ll need Lee Bi to take a proper look before I can say for sure, but…”
So the blacksmith’s name was Lee Bi.
Cecilia made a slightly awkward face, slid Tina back into her sheath, and held her out to me again.
“Well… while we’re at it, you should come along too.”
“Where to?”
“To meet that Lee Bi kid. Her personality’s a little weird, but her skills are solid, so I’ll introduce you.”
“Okay!”
Still… was it really all right to drop by at this late hour?
I didn’t think Cecilia would be the type to ignore basic manners, but…
We’d been training hard together almost every single night, so maybe she’d just lost track of the time a little.
“Is it okay to visit this late? I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. She sleeps during the day and is usually up around now anyway.”
“Ahh, got it.”
Of course Cecilia wouldn’t make a bad call.
I hadn’t doubted her for a second—I’d believed in her the whole time!
Cecilia shot me a mildly annoyed look, then shook her head and muttered under her breath.
“You two might actually get along…”
After about an hour’s drive we arrived at the back hills of a remote village.
It was more of a gentle rise than a proper mountain, but still.
For the record, Cecilia’s driving was excellent. …How does she even do that when she can’t see?
Following her lead, I climbed the slope at a leisurely pace until we reached a forge that looked like the flat face of something or other.
It was more cute than scary, honestly…
But the heat pouring out from inside and the bright red flames that occasionally burst through the “eye” sockets of that face really amped up the atmosphere.
“Oh… ooooh…”
“Stop spacing out and let’s go in.”
Cecilia had already pulled out one of those same magic herbs she’d smoked back in Mudwell and stuck it between her lips; she strode straight toward the forge.
“Ah! Wait for me!”
I scrambled after her and had just reached the entrance when—
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
—a sharp, ringing sound cut through the air at perfectly regular intervals and drilled straight into my ears.
I’d never done blacksmith work myself, but just hearing that sound was enough to tell me her skill was anything but ordinary.
Hammer blows falling at a perfectly even tempo, not a single miss.
And through that sound, the raw power packed into every strike.
Cecilia opened the “mouth” of the building first and stepped inside; the interior came into view.
The hammering on metal grew even louder, battering my ears, and the heat was so intense that sweat started pouring down my face the moment I entered. Flames rose and danced, stirring my emotions higher and higher.
I stood there staring, completely entranced, until Cecilia beside me started walking deeper in.
She moved with the easy familiarity of someone who knew the place well; I trotted after her, and at last the blacksmith herself came into sight.
“…Good heavens.”
I couldn’t help the gasp that slipped out at the sheer spectacle before me.
Naked overalls! Naked overalls!
Every time she swung the hammer, her enormous breasts—barely contained by the overall straps—swayed dangerously.
And every time those heavy breasts swayed, my mind swayed right along with them.
It was pure, overwhelming violence…! The kind of violence that struck at the most primal human desires!
On top of that, because of her work she was always sitting in front of the flames, so her skin looked tanned and healthy, only emphasizing her vitality.
Her white hair was roughly tied back as if it annoyed her; it might have looked messy on someone else, but combined with her small frame it only made her seem more pure and simple.
Whether she noticed us or not, her bright yellow eyes stayed locked on the lump of metal resting on the anvil.
And the expression on her face… it didn’t look like someone doing hard, grueling labor at all.
She looked as happy as a pure child playing with a toy.
If you followed those thin but healthy-looking arms upward, you found thick gloves and the hammer gripped tightly in her hands.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
Judging by the sound of that swinging hammer, she had to be at least fifteen times stronger than me.
And the heavy weight I could feel radiating from that small hammer…
“…?”
Just now, the hammer seemed to have gotten a tiny bit bigger.
Maybe it had something to do with her ability.
“Hm?”
At that moment the woman in the naked overalls—clearly a highly skilled blacksmith—noticed we were standing right beside her and lifted her head.
“Cecilia?”
“Yeah.”
Both of them spoke in flat tones, yet a subtle warmth of greeting still came through.
Cecilia looked at me and pointed at her.
“This is Lee Bi. A really good blacksmith I somehow ended up becoming friends with.”
“Hi.”
Lee Bi flashed a bright grin as she greeted me.
Her teeth were so white they almost seemed to sparkle.
This time Cecilia looked at Lee Bi and pointed at me.
“This is Elysia. My student—she’s the one using the dagger you made last time.”
My turn to greet her, then.
I politely placed both hands over my navel and bowed at the waist.
“Hello.”
Lee Bi looked at me as if she found me adorable…
But since she was so small she barely came up to my chest, even that gaze only made her look cuter.
Of course, her chest was anything but cute!
Lee Bi pulled off her thick gloves and held out one hand for a handshake.
It was a small, cute hand… yet the moment I took it, I felt it.
“Ah.”
Rough and calloused, completely different from how it looked. And her grip strength was no joke either.
Just from clasping hands I could feel how solid and reliable she was. This woman…!
I lifted my other hand as well and wrapped both around hers.
Lee Bi flinched in surprise and looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
She looked a bit like a squirrel full of questions… but I had something more important to say.
“Lee Bi…! Please save my Tina…!”
“Huuuh…? Tina?”
As she tilted her head at my words, I held out Christina, still hanging at my waist.
“Her full name is Christina.”
“Ahh… You gave her a pretty name.”
“…Ehh. That’s pretty?”
Cecilia asked from the side in pure disbelief, but Lee Bi casually ignored her and drew Tina from the sheath to examine the edge.
“Hmm, well. At this level, fixing it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Ahhh…! Thank goodness! Thank you so much!”
I dropped to my knees right there and made a show of sobbing with gratitude; Cecilia’s face said she couldn’t believe kids like me actually existed.
…But sometimes that kind of behavior is exactly what moves someone’s heart.
“You…!”
Looking deeply moved, Lee Bi planted a hand firmly on my shoulder and put on a resolute expression.
“Your Christina. I will definitely fix her…!”
“Thank you…!”
“…Hoo.”
Cecilia spat the magic herb from her mouth onto the ground and crushed it out under her foot.
From behind her came the lively sound of Lee Bi and Elysia chatting away inside the forge.
“…I figured they’d get along, but…”
I never expected it to be this bad.
Those two were already a handful when you dealt with them separately…
Cecilia let out a deep sigh, scratched her head, and started walking back toward the forge.
“Bringing Elysia here was my own fault…”
She’d brought her because Lee Bi would probably be a big help to Elysia often enough…
But the hassle was still unavoidable.
When she opened the forge door, the noisy chatter of the two of them talking poured out.
“This spear’s name is Black Dragon Super Ultra EX!”
“It looks incredibly powerful!”
“Right?! And this holy sword’s name is Arthur Pendragon!”
“Is there a reason you gave it a name like the person who’s supposed to wield the holy sword?”
“Wouldn’t it be fun if Arthur Pendragon swung a holy sword called Arthur Pendragon?”
“Lee Bi, you’re a genius…!”
“Heheh!”
“…….”
Click.
Cecilia closed the forge door again and stepped back outside.
…She had the feeling that if she stayed in there any longer, she’d start getting just as dumb.