I'm Not That Old

"That—that can't be! I definitely delivered it!"

"But I never got a reply."

I tilted my head, looking at a thoroughly flustered Haring I hadn't seen in nearly two—maybe three?—weeks.

Send a letter, and you always get a reply back.

Whether by carrier pigeon, magic orb, or finding someone to deliver it for you the way I had—he always sent a reply. This time should have been no different.

Did he get too old to remember to write back?

A lot of time had passed since those days, so it was possible—but still. He was a former emperor and a former hero. He couldn't be so frail he couldn't manage a single letter. If he didn't have the strength to write, he would have at least sent word by mouth.

Haring shook her head hard, her face full of wounded injustice.

"It's true… I really, really delivered it!"

"To Bahamart?"

"Uh, well. To the Knight Commander! She said she could get an audience with the Emperor…"

"What? So you didn't even deliver it yourself."

"She said she'd deliver it to the former Emperor. For real. I swear."

"Hmm."

Tap. Tap.

I sat on the golem's left shoulder, swinging my legs up and down.

A Knight Commander would have the standing to meet the former Emperor. But getting an easy audience with a retired one was another matter—so there was a real chance the letter had never arrived.

Maybe it got shredded.

"What's her name?"

"Uh… Adel… hang on."

Haring stared blankly into midair. After about a minute of furiously rolling her eyes, she swallowed hard and answered.

"Adela Measis. That's what she said. She's a lady knight…"

"Measis? Is she that one's daughter? Or granddaughter?"

"Huh?"

"What does she look like?"

"Uh, blonde hair, tall and slender, and incredibly pretty. Green eyes."

"Age?"

"Around mid-twenties…? I think."

"So granddaughter, then."

Adela was a name I'd never heard, but the surname Measis I knew well.

Airi Measis.

One of the members of Bahamart's hero party—a former hero herself—and a human who had fought the Demon King's army. Her swordsmanship had been solid enough that even the higher-ranking legion commanders found her a genuine headache.

I'd heard she married after retiring and was living a quiet life. Never expected to hear of her like this. More precisely, even if news had come, I'd been too lazy to care.

Granddaughter? Or maybe great-granddaughter?

Enough time had passed that granddaughter might not quite fit age-wise…

Well. Measis is Measis.

It wasn't a common surname, and for her to serve as a Knight Commander in the royal palace, Bahamart's influence had almost certainly been involved. The odds of someone like her shredding the letter or failing to deliver it were extremely low.

I kept swinging my legs and nodded.

"Alright. I'll give you a reward."

"Oh! Really?!"

"Yeah. Pick one thing you want."

Thud.

I hopped down from the golem and walked toward the treasure vault. Haring whooped with joy and scurried after me, while behind us a cluster of heroes watched with open envy. I sent the golem back toward them to shoo them off, then opened the vault door.

Creeeak…

Treasures so vast they couldn't fit inside my polymorphed field of view. Gold coins, jewels, ornaments, weapons—countless riches piled into mountains. A mountain of treasure that had existed since before I was born. I'd stacked half of it myself.

"Um… Fire Dragon."

"What?"

"This is rude, but your age…"

"……"

"No—I mean, you look incredibly young, but I just heard something shocking…"

Smack!

I'm not that old, you know?

"Ow ow ow…"

"Hurry up and pick. Take too long and I'll just toss you a single gold coin."

"Yeees…"

Haring rubbed the swollen lump on her head and took her first step into the mountain of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠treasure.

Clack.

The vault she'd only ever watched from afar—now she was finally inside.

Should I not have asked after all?

But how was she supposed to not ask when granddaughter this and that came up? Was it just a dragon thing—that years, even decades, were nothing more than an instant?

Haring found herself curious about the history held inside that tiny little girl, but for now she decided to focus on choosing her treasure.

"Hooah…"

Even taking just one of these could flip the entire meta. Haring left the mountains of gold, jewels, and ornaments behind and inspected the weapons first.

Clatter.

Just looking at the ones littering the floor at her feet…

"Holy crap."

Common weapons topped out at ten to twenty attack no matter how high, and epics sat at thirty to fifty. Uniques maxed around eighty to a hundred—but this legendary had triple that attack power. A once-in-a-generation broken item packed with bonus effects and skills, and both magic and physical attack on the same piece. Weapons like these were scattered around in such numbers you practically tripped over them.

Haring's hands trembled as she examined every weapon and piece of armor that came within reach.

Spear of the Flame Soul, Crimson Brand, Blooming Blossom, Glacier Lord's Armor…

Whatever they were, equipment with ridiculously grand names filled her vision. Their effects matched or exceeded the Moonlight Blade she'd first looked at.

"What do I pick?"

They were incredible items—so incredible she had no idea what to choose. She wanted to grab about five, honestly, but…

"Not picking?"

"I… I only get one, right?"

"Obviously."

Lea was watching her steadily. Her gaze never left Haring, as if telling her to cut the nonsense and hurry up. Haring shelved her greed and resolved to pick just one.

After a long search, she lifted a small sword from among the weapons. A hilt covered in dark crimson scales, and a red blade that looked quite sharp. It was a sword, but by size alone it was closer to a dagger.

"A dragon sword? But it's only epic?"

A dragon sword from a dragon's nest—her heart did race a little—but it was merely epic. There was zero reason to pick this over legendary weapons so broken they could slap uniques across the face three times over.

Pretty clean for something supposedly old.

It kind of felt like a quest item…

Snatch.

"Not that one."

In the blink of an eye, Lea took the sword from Haring's hand. When Haring held it, the length had been an awkward dagger—but in Lea's grip it became a perfectly sized sword, as if it had been forged for her alone.

"Why not?"

"This one's not great."

"Didn't you say I could pick anything?"

"There are way better ones. Take just one of the things you were rummaging through and you'd be treated like a proper knight."

"……"

Haring watched Lea casually spin the sword, thinking. Except for when she was beating up players or eating cookies, this girl barely showed any emotion—and now she was reacting this strongly?

Something's up.

It was clearly an epic with mediocre stats, but there was something here. Surely it was a key connected to a future hidden quest, or a weapon that evolved into legendary upon awakening. Maybe even beyond legendary!

No way. Dragon Knight class change?

She had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get this.

"That's not fair. You clearly promised to give me one thing from the treasure vault. You didn't put any restrictions on the choice."

"That's… well."

"Yes. So suddenly changing your mind is a problem. I spent almost three weeks busting my ass delivering that letter. I nearly died halfway through."

"Mmngh…"

"I can't back down on this one."

Haring poured out her grievances at full volume. Then she briefly considered grabbing a legendary weapon first, beating the golem, and getting the dragon sword as a bonus—but quickly shook her head.

This might only be valid this one time.

With hiddens like this, the first choice was usually the most important. If she failed to persuade her now, she might never get the dragon sword. Maybe it was already registered as selected, and another player could take it.

After listening to her complaints for a long while, Lea shook her head as if it were a shame.

"You won't regret it? Even if you ask to swap later, it won't do any good, y'know."

"Of course not!"

"Then take it."

Haring hopped up and down as she took the sword back from Lea's hand. The Ancient Dragon's Sword, gleaming with a vivid red luster. She cradled it carefully against her chest, beaming. It wasn't legendary, but she'd get a hidden class change even better than that, so it didn't matter.

Or so she believed.

"Let's go, then."

"Yes… Whaaat?!"

Clatter-crash!!

Until she saw the dozens of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ancient Dragon's Swords lying in front of her after she tripped and fell.

"Uh…?"

The swords scattered across the floor were completely identical to the one she'd just carefully tucked against her chest. Not a single difference. Haring looked up at Lea, trembling at the unbelievable truth.

"What is this…"

"Ah, so that's where I left these."

"Huh?"

"Come to think of it, I gathered all the training swords in this box… looks like one went missing, huh."

"Train…ing?"

"Yeah."

Lea picked up one of the Ancient Dragon's Swords.

"They're training swords Mom made a long time ago. They broke a lot, so she made a bunch of them. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't use them anymore, so I've just been storing them."

"…There's more than one?"

"Yeah. About a hundred of them."

Lea stacked the swords neatly back into the box. Seeing them piled full inside, they definitely looked like junk.

No—were they junk from the start?

"Can I swap—"

"Want to swap?"

"Please…"

"Hmm."

Grin.

"Nope."