The Famine Sword Carestia
I sat in the chair by the workbench.
Matillo tidied the parts scattered across the surface in front of me, then set Disastro's materials on the bench one by one and looked them over in silence.
What was he thinking?
Before long, he turned to me.
"The sword we're making is the Famine Sword Carestia."
The Famine Sword Carestia.
The name of the new friend that would replace my Bloodhorn Sword.
He really comes up with this stuff, doesn't he.
Curiosity got the better of me.
"When did you think of the name?"
"Just now."
What a mind. Naming was a talent of his too, apparently.
I gave a rough nod and watched him work.
"How are you going to do it?"
"Simple enough. Same as always."
Matillo spread a sheet of paper across the workbench and sketched out lines with quick strokes of his hand.
From here on, it wasn't my job.
I stretched, leaned back in the chair, and folded my arms. I watched Matillo work in silence, but as usual I had no idea what any of it meant.
Once he'd roughly settled on the weapon's design, Matillo nodded to himself.
"Mm. Good. There's something I need you to do."
"What."
"Get out. I can't concentrate with you staring at me."
"……."
I fixed him with a long, flat look.
"And while you're out, go fetch Colpo."
I dug through my memory for the person Matillo had named.
Colpo……
The name didn't ring any bells. I tilted my head.
"Colpo?"
"The blacksmith next door. The one with the bandana."
"Ah."
The bandana guy.
I nodded and stood. Matillo had clearly been waiting for that — the moment I was up, he snatched the chair out from under me and sat down himself.
Did he give me the errand just for this?
To be fair, I was the one in the wrong for hogging the chair while doing nothing.
I left the workshop to handle what Matillo had asked.
Outside, I trudged through the snow. Sunlight poured down from above, melting some of it, but the cold itself wasn't going anywhere.
Colpo's workshop was right next door. I stopped in front of the firmly shut door.
His place had a fair number of hunters browsing. I looked over the iron armor and leather armor set out on the display racks. The craftsmanship looked solid.
A few of them greeted me.
"Ah, hello!"
"……Yeah."
I gave a rough nod to the ones who recognized me. Some who didn't know me asked their companions,
"Who's that? You know her?"
"You don't? She's the new Master Hunter who just came out of Antico."
"Oh… that one? Really?"
I was more than a little flustered. I never much liked being stared at, and the reverence in those looks was something I still hadn't gotten used to.
I wasn't here for them. I was here for the owner of this workshop. I wasn't thick-skinned enough to linger under that kind of attention — I just wanted this over with.
Colpo was at a workbench with the other craftsmen, hammering away at something. The bandana still on his head seemed to have become part of his identity.
I walked over and waved.
"Bandana."
Colpo turned at the sound of my voice. When our eyes met, his went wide.
"Ah, Hunter Alice. What brings you here?"
"Matillo wants you."
"What for? I've got work of my own right now."
What would a craftsman want to hear?
I rubbed my chin and thought it over, eyes rolling this way and that, until I found the right answer.
"We've got Supreme-grade monster materials—"
"I'm on my way."
Dangle rare materials and he folds instantly.
Colpo was on his feet at once. He left the shop in the hands of the craftsman working behind him, and I brought him back to Matillo's workshop.
Matillo waved as if he'd been waiting for us.
"Hey, Bandana. Faster than I expected."
Colpo answered in a voice thick with excitement.
"Old man, where are the Supreme-grade materials?"
"Figured as much. So that's how you reeled him in."
I shrugged. Matillo held up Disastro's shell and waved it like bait. Colpo drifted to the workbench as if entranced.
He pulled off his gloves and ran his bare hands over the shell.
"I've never seen anything like this. This is quality. Completely dried out — not a drop of moisture left. What kind of monster is this from?"
"Disastro's shell and teeth."
"…Disastro?"
"Yeah."
Colpo tilted his head at Matillo's words.
"Why is Disastro coming up all of a sudden? That monster died ages ago, didn't it?"
"Well, yeah. The Association's going to start talking about it soon enough — about the situation we're in right now."
"……Is this one of those Anomalies?"
"More or less. Just a piece of it, though."
Matillo looked at me.
"She brought it in. Killed Disastro herself."
"What? No wonder I heard the rumors about her becoming a Master Hunter…… So she took down a Supreme-grade monster. That's incredible."
Colpo's eyes lit up as he looked at me.
It wasn't that big a deal.
I smacked my lips and scratched my head.
"So, did you call me just to show me this?"
"No. I want you to work on it with me."
"……."
Colpo looked at Matillo with an expression that said he'd seen this coming. Matillo frowned under the weight of that stare.
"What. I'm giving you a good opportunity here. You think chances to work with Supreme-grade monster materials come around every day?"
He wasn't wrong. Materials from a Supreme-grade monster were rare. Would Colpo even get to touch something like this again in his lifetime?
Colpo swallowed hard, then shook his head firmly.
"Old man, you think I'm going to fold over something like that?"
Matillo nodded without hesitation.
"Yep."
"You're right. Aigoo, just look at the grain on this shell. There's a beauty to something this thoroughly dried out, isn't there? I can't wait to work with it."
Colpo was an easy man.
Then again, what craftsman would throw away a chance like this?
I watched the two of them with a blank face. Matillo and Colpo had already sunk into a world of their own.
Looking at them, something occurred to me.
What am I supposed to do here when I don't even know how to swing a hammer?
I was the most useless person in the room.
I asked Matillo,
"You need anything?"
"Don't think so. If something comes up later, I'll get in touch. Go rest. Materials this rare take time."
I blinked, then nodded.
Whenever I felt hollow or left out, I usually killed monsters to get my self-esteem back.
That's a little trashy of me.
But my muscles still ached from the fight with Disastro. Hunting right now was out of the question. That meant avenging Crete would take a little longer too. For a while, I'd have to make do with other weapons.
I started thinking seriously about where to explore next. That was how I ended up at the Association — I wanted the Branch Chief's opinion on the next survey site.
The Association branch had been spruced up for the first snow. Inside, a brazier kept the air warm. Hunters who had been sweeping the snowy paths often came in to warm their hands. The staff were bundled up more warmly than before, too. The thicker clothes made them look oddly cute.
I walked over to Selene, who was sitting idle at the counter.
"Selene."
"Ah, Hunter Alice."
She stood and greeted me the moment she saw me.
"Hello. Are you here to take a request?"
"No, not that."
"Then what can I help you with?"
"I want to see the Branch Chief about the Anomalies."
"The Branch Chief? Could you take a seat and wait a moment?"
"Sure."
I went over to an empty spot and dropped into a chair, chin in my hand, waiting for Selene to call me again. In the meantime, I watched the people around me.
Winter had thickened everyone's clothes. Even the hunters wore bulky layers under their armor. The weather was still manageable for now, but it would get much colder as the days wore on. Layering thick clothes wasn't practical, though — bulk got in the way of a hunt.
We had ways of enduring that kind of cold. In summer we lived by dusting ourselves with Cooling Powder; in winter, there was Thermal Powder. Made from materials harvested from fire-breathing monsters, it released and radiated heat, good for weathering a bone-deep chill.
Guess it's about time to stock up on Thermal Powder for hunting……
Then Selene came over.
"Hunter Alice."
"Yeah."
"As it happens, the Branch Chief was looking for you as well. You can go on up."
"Is that so?"
What now?
I stood with a small flicker of anticipation. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be ordinary. Something tied to the Anomalies, or something expected of a Master Hunter.
The Branch Chief was waiting for me in his office, elbows planted on the desk for no good reason, hands steepled in front of his mouth as he tried to set a mood.
The whole performance was so ridiculous I had to ask.
"What are you doing by yourself?"
"……I was trying to project the dignity of a Branch Chief. Something I failed at last time."
Apparently he was still hung up on the fact that he'd been face-down on the desk when I visited before. Had he been sitting like that the whole time waiting for me?
I offered him a silent round of applause for the effort.
He cleared his throat, reset the atmosphere, and spoke.
"I'll get straight to the point."
He spun a sheet of paper on his desk around to face me. I stepped closer and looked it over.
A new Supreme-grade monster has been confirmed in the survey zone.
A land of Anomalies, like a wasteland. A highland where the snow never melted.
There, another omen of destruction had appeared.