When You're Broke, Connections Are Everything
The terrain jutted up violently, two jagged cliffs glaring at each other across a dark, deep gorge. It was a brutal canyon. Fierce winds clawed through the sand, whipping up clouds of dust, and even the bridge linking both sides swayed dangerously in the gusts. And of course, the orc settlement was on the far side.
“I-it’s not going to fall, right?”
“It won’t.”
“What if it does?”
“Then we die.”
In other words, there was no reaching the village without crossing this flimsy bridge.
“I… I…” Laverre glanced back, clearly terrified. But we were already halfway across, so going forward or back made no difference. And since she was at the front, she couldn’t even retreat.
“Goddammit. Why’d you say you were fine? I told you to speak up if you were scared!”
“If I’d known you’d be this scared, I would’ve left you behind…”
I could understand why Karena and Jian were chewing her out. We’d already walked for thirty minutes and had only reached the halfway point.
“Let’s just drop her and go ahead. We can come back after she revives… Shit. Of course she’s the priest.”
“L-let’s just get across as fast as we can. And on the way b-back, let’s take a long detour.”
“There is no detour longer than this.”
WHO DARES SET FOOT IN OUR SANCTUARY!
The powerful voice cut cleanly through the sharp wind. Moments later, two orcs emerged from the sandstorm on the opposite side. They carried axes larger than their own bodies and crossed them in an X.
“I-I-I t-this i-is w-w—”
“Hey! Laverre! Stop shaking the bridge! It’s wobbling!”
“I-I-I-I-I—”
By now it was impossible to tell whether Laverre was shaking the bridge or her own legs were shaking it.
“Want me to answer?” I asked Jian, but he shook his head and said he’d handle it.
As the voice began counting again, Jian bellowed across the gap.
“Archimon! We’re here to see Archimon!”
A short silence fell, then a small, flustered voice drifted back.
“Uh… hey. What do we do?”
“…What now?”
The earlier bold tone had completely vanished, replaced by pure panic. Then the loud voice returned, slightly more polite this time.
“Yeah! Tell them Brother Jian came because he has business! He’ll know what that means!”
Jian answered without missing a beat. Soon the two guards at the far end disappeared, and we kept moving forward. Another thirty minutes.
The moment Laverre set foot on solid rock she collapsed on the spot. The rest of us stretched our stiff bodies after standing for so long. Then a green-skinned orc stepped out of a stone building in the back.
“It’s been a long time! Brother Jian!”
He bowed deeply in front of Jian.
“Yeah. You been well?”
“I’ve been great! Oh, and it’s good to see you too, Brother Henry!”
“Long time no see, Archimon.”
His name was Archimon. He was the orc Jian and I had helped back when we were still a two-man party.
“Those Kanf bastards haven’t shown up again, have they?”
“After the lesson you gave them, they haven’t shown their faces once.”
The request Archimon had given us back then was to deal with the elves invading the village territory. We accepted faster than lightning. The second we saw the posting, we ripped it off the board, shoved it in our pockets, and ran straight here. We captured the elves without any messy negotiations.
Looking back, it was a little hasty, but I don’t regret it. Even if we went back in time, we wouldn’t have had the patience for anything else. The two of us had been burning with rage.
The truth is, until a month before that request we had been a five-person party. Then three members left overnight. The reason was common. And because it was so common, it cut deep. The female elf archer had started acting like the queen bee of the party. It was a catastrophic incident for us.
Just remembering it makes my mind stutter with white-hot fury. So I’ll save the full story for another day. It’s not something I can get through quickly.
“But what brings you all the way out here, hyung-nim?”
“Ah, sorry. I should’ve contacted you first. Things were too urgent.”
“It’s fine. You’re always welcome here.”
Jian hesitated, then spoke.
“…It’s nothing special. Could you make me a weapon?”
“Pardon?”
Archimon asked again, but he had clearly heard. Jian sighed deeply and explained his situation.
“Sigh. I don’t know. I’m not sure if it suddenly got sulky and ran away, but no matter how many times I call it, the holy sword won’t come out.”
He dramatically opened his palm in the usual summoning pose. As expected, nothing appeared.
“This is unbelievable… Has this ever happened before?”
“Not that I can remember.”
Archimon rubbed his chin in thought. Then his gaze drifted from the ground over to the rest of us.
“Why don’t we talk inside? This might take a while to explain out here.”
“Yeah, that’s better.”
Archimon led us into the building.
“I don’t recognize the two behind you. Are they your wives, hyung-nim?”
“As if. They’re just party members.”
The building was a modest stone house. The interior wasn’t large—just a few chairs, a desk, and a small side door.
“…I’ve kept thinking about the holy sword, but nothing comes to mind. I’m afraid I can’t offer any advice there.”
“It’s fine. Even the kingdom’s lifelong holy sword researchers say they don’t know, so whatever. That doesn’t matter anymore anyway. The real problem is I don’t have a sword to use right now.”
“I may not know about the holy sword, but I can help with any other blade you need.”
After that the conversation sped up. Archimon started asking how he should make it, but the terms that followed were completely lost on me. I barely caught pommel, grip, and blade. Everything else was professional jargon I couldn’t follow.
Yet the other two kept nodding along with comments like “Hmm~ Yeah, it should at least be that much.” Karena using daggers herself made sense, but how the hell did Laverre—who had never once held a sword—know any of this?
“…Hey, Laverre.”
“Yes? What is it?”
I asked in a small voice, embarrassed that I couldn’t follow the discussion.
But Laverre, completely unaware of my feelings, answered cheerfully.
“Haha. Of course I understand. The pommel is that bead-like thing on the back of the sword, right?”
I didn’t ask any more questions. That was enough to realize her knowledge level wasn’t much different from mine. Thanks to that short exchange, the shame of my own ignorance vanished.
Of course, the fact that Laverre was pretending to understand everything right beside me ended up being even more embarrassing.
“And is it okay if I pay in installments? I don’t have the money right now.”
“Come on, hyung-nim. How could I take money from you after everything you’ve done for us?”
“Thanks, man. Really.”
Normally Jian would have insisted on paying anyway, but the fact that he simply expressed gratitude without argument showed just how much he must have lost on that ship investment. I couldn’t even guess the amount.
“Hmm… Then I think the final design will look like this. What do you think?”
Archimon showed us the blueprint. Naturally, I understood none of it.
“Hmm~” Laverre chimed in without the slightest idea what she was looking at. Did she have no shame at all?
“Perfect! I love it! Make it like that. When can it be ready?”
“You can take it today. At the latest, around six this evening.”
“Thanks, Archimon. Is there anything we can do for you in return?”
“Yeah. Since he’s not charging us, put this guy to work.”
At first Archimon laughed comfortably and said, “Haha, no, not right now.” But his words gradually trailed off. It looked like he’d changed his mind halfway through.
“If there’s something, go ahead and ask. We don’t have any tight schedule right now.”
“Right. Once we get busy later, we might not be able to help even if you ask.”
Spurred on by our encouragement, Archimon finally spoke.
“Then… Brother Jian, Brother Henry. Could I ask you to train our militia members?”
I couldn’t answer right away. Looking back, it seemed I’d unconsciously developed a reluctance toward the word training itself. That made sense—given my current condition, it was fair to question whether I was in any state to teach anyone.
Of course, my worries turned out to be pointless.
“Sure! Of course that’s possible!”
Jian accepted the request without even glancing at me.