Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Assassins
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Today's MVP.
Popcorn.
Not Luna's Haste buff, not the Iron Horn that provided me with a spectacle, but the true hero that kept my mouth from getting bored during the long hour of auto-hunting.
The only downside was my parched throat from not finding any cola; I couldn't find any carbonated drinks in the Empire, so I didn't bring anything to drink.
But I haven't given up yet.
That somewhere in this world, carbonated drinks must exist.
"Sir Luke, what are you thinking so hard about?"
"I'm thirsty."
"...You thought to bring popcorn, but why couldn't you think to bring water?"
"Water with popcorn?! Waaaatttterrr?!"
Popcorn goes with soda! Cola! If not, sparkling water is an acceptable alternative.
But water is absolutely out of the question.
I'm not a water-hater, but water with popcorn is just wrong, no matter how I think about it.
"I didn't raise you this way. This master of yours is sad."
"It was my parents who raised me, however..."
A slave... talking back!?
I shot Luna a look that clearly conveyed that thought, and she just shook her head.
"Anyway... I was just trying to tell you that we've almost arrived."
"Ah... finally. Freedom from this carriage hell."
I don't get motion sickness, but it feels like the wood is spanking my butt.
If it were a woman, maybe, but I'll pass on having my butt spanked by the floor of a carriage driven by some random old guy.
Right after arriving in the Empire, I got off the carriage and paid the driver his fare.
Then, to loosen up my stiff body from the long journey, I immediately stretched.
"Kiyaaaaaaaaah━━━━━!!!!!!!!!"
"......Could you please not do that."
"Now I can't even stretch."
What are you, a dictator? Trying to restrict my movements, even my stretching?
"People around us are staring..."
"Let them stare."
"Hah... Let's hurry and make our request to Mr. Smith, then head out for dinner before it gets too late."
"Smith?"
In response to my question, Luna's gaze was so blatant I could tell exactly what she wanted to say.
'You're unbelievable...'
It was clearly that.
"I am pretty unbelievable."
"I didn't say anything, though."
"So who's Smith? An ex-boyfriend?"
The name sounds like someone who'd be good with a hammer. Was her ex-boyfriend a blacksmith or something?
Why bring me along to find her ex?
"How can you not even know the name of the blacksmith you frequent..."
"Ah~ that old guy?"
I always just called him 'old man,' so I thought his name *was* 'Old Man'.
"I never asked, so of course I wouldn't know."
There was no need to know, right?
Especially not the name of a lumpy, muscular old guy.
"Yes, yes. Let's get going."
As if deciding further conversation was pointless, Luna started pushing my back, and I let myself be dragged along.
Just as Luna said, we needed to get a move on before it got too late.
We left at noon, so with the round trip and the time spent hunting, the sun would set soon after we dropped off our request at the smithy.
Dusk was already beginning to fall, and lights were starting to flicker on one by one along the street, so we had to quicken our pace.
***
-Tinkle.
The sound announced a customer's arrival in the empty smithy.
"Mister~ We're here~"
"What, do you break a weapon a day? Why do you keep coming and going from my smithy like it's your own house?"
"Aw, mister. Don't be so harsh. You'll hurt my feelings."
"......So, what do you want this time?"
"You're the one who told me to get materials."
"And you found them and brought them back in a single day...?"
A day is more than enough. This guy must have lost his sense of time with only flies buzzing around his shop.
It's not like I was on an expedition to a new continent. There's no reason it should take days of camping and carriage rides.
"So, where are these amazing materials you got in a single day?"
"Hehehe... Try not to be too shocked, mister. We've brought something incredible."
-Clatter!
The same sound that had filled the reception area when I took out the War Wolf filled the smithy.
But the difference this time was that the old man didn't let out a shrill scream like "Kyaaaah!!" the way Adela did.
"Boring."
"I don't know what you were hoping for, but it's not going to happen."
I thought it would be funny to see a guy with those bulging muscles scream like a little girl.
"More importantly. What is this?"
"They're Rhino Horns. You don't know what they are?"
"Rhino Horns... Aren't those from a herbivore monster?"
"Tsk, tsk. What's a weaponsmith to do if he doesn't even know the basics?"
"A blacksmith isn't an adventurer, kid."
True, just like how a shut-in's world is limited to what they see on the internet, this smith's world is probably limited to the materials adventurers bring him.
He probably just hammers iron most of the time.
"Then I guess I've provided you with information, too. Normally, I'd charge an info fee, but since it's you, mister, I'll do it for free. Spe.cial.ly."
"Right, right... Thanks a lot."
In this day and age, information is such an expensive asset, and I'm giving it away for free?
He should be crying tears and snot, thanking me over and over while offering to make the weapon for free. That would be an acceptable response.
After that, the old man, seemingly intrigued by the new material, picked up one of the horns and began to examine it intently.
"Hoh... So large, yet this weight... The hardness is also quite something..."
He tapped the horn with a hammer and lifted it up and down with one hand to gauge its weight.
Seeing the focus of a craftsman who sees nothing else once he concentrates, I thought to myself that I'd found a good smithy.
'As expected of me.'
As I was nodding and praising myself internally, the old man put down the horn and spoke.
"Hmm. I can make a good weapon with this. Even a herbivore monster has considerable value as a product. But kid, why'd you bring so many?"
"With greatswords, the bigger the better, right? I want to pack it all in and make a combat-compressed weapon."
"Well, I'll admit it's a material I've never seen before, but it's a little lacking to be called 'incredible' like you said."
"Hahaha. Who do you take me for? I knew you'd say that, so I prepared another surprise gift."
I quickly thrust my hand into my inventory and pulled out that big, hard, and long thing.
A horn that resembled a Rhino Horn in appearance, but was a slightly darker, glossy gray, almost like steel, rather than the usual dark gray.
At its distinctly different appearance, I could see that this time, even the old man was taken aback.
"Do you see it? This magnificent form?"
"Definitely. Just like you said, kid, this is incredible..."
Of course. This thing was so fierce and vicious.
If this isn't incredible, I'll have to drag a Behemoth here next time.
"Is this... perhaps a named variant of a Rhino Horn...?"
"Hehehe... How about this magnificent form? That's right! This is the fearsome beast that single-handedly shattered all those other Rhino Horns over there. I'm temporarily calling it the Iron Horn."
"Well, I'll be... You got me."
Hey, hey, mister. You can't just find suuuuuper high-grade materials like this anywhere. Especially from a named monster.
"So hurry up and make me an ultra greatsword."
"Alright... What the hell, I'll give it a shot. Come back to pick it up tomorrow evening."
"Huh? Tomorrow?"
I've never made a sword so I don't know for sure, but does it really take a whole day to make one?
On YouTube, they whip them out in a few hours.
"Kid. This isn't iron, it's a material I've never seen before, I need time to forge it, and you're not asking for a greatsword but an ultra greatsword. Isn't it a bit shameless to expect it to be done in a few hours? I'll have to pull an all-nighter just to get it finished."
"If that's what you say, mister, then I guess it can't be helped."
The guy making it says so, what can I do?
"See you tomorrow, then~"
"Yeah."
I'd gotten the materials and commissioned the weapon; my work was done. I left the smithy with Luna and headed straight for dinner.
***
On the rooftop of a building, a place where even the brilliantly lit streets could not chase away the darkness.
A man in a hood and mask raised a hand, signaling to another man beside him.
Dressed head to toe in black, with hidden weapons concealed all over their bodies, they looked for all the world like they were announcing, 'I am an assassin.'
They were the hunting dogs raised by the Berkeley family, and on the orders of the family head, Dain Berkeley, they had investigated the person who attacked the carriage.
Normally, an investigation with no information takes time, but this time, they were lucky.
They saw a woman with ears sprouting from her head, indigo hair, and silver eyes, walking with a man in an academy uniform.
The woman's appearance matched the information Dain Berkeley had provided about the escaped slave.
Thus, they knew at once. The man over there was the one who had attacked the slave carriage.
The trio, who fit the description of masked assailants, took up positions on the roof of the inn the man had entered.
They were waiting until all the streetlights went out and they were certain their target was sound asleep.
And so, as midnight passed and the early hours of dawn approached.
'End this quickly.'
The man who gave the signal with his eyes carefully opened the window and slipped into the room.
And there, he confirmed it. The man, sleeping like the dead with the blanket pulled up over his head.
The assassins silently drew the swords from their waists and simultaneously thrust them into the blanket.
'......?'
However, instead of the sensation of piercing a person, they felt a strange texture, and a sense of confusion struck them all at once.
But they didn't know.
In the dark room, where only moonlight barely managed to sneak through the window.
That from a corner of the wall, a pair of blood-red eyes, emitting a crimson glow, was watching them.