All of It
On the way down to the lower level, Samuel asked, “I heard you were looking for cold weapons. You want a sword?”
“I’m also thinking of picking up some firearms while I’m at it.”
At James’s words, Colt glanced over as if to ask what he was thinking, but James ignored him and kept descending the stairs.
“Really? Then should we check out the guns first? That’s my area of expertise.”
“Sounds good.”
Sam touched his fingerprint to the basement door, and when it slid open automatically, he led them inside. Beep. Whirr.
“We’ve got a wide range. There’s everything from the ever-popular AR-15-style assault rifles to sniper rifles and shotguns, all sorted by type, and Glock models in every version… You do know how to use them, right?”
“Yeah, just let me take a look first.”
James was still taken aback by the sheer number of firearms stocked in an illegal arms dealer’s shop. Sam gave a rough explanation of the weapon types, but in reality there were military-grade weapons lying around all over the place, including howitzers. With the weapons here, it felt like he could start a war on the spot.
What’s the difference between a legal place and this one?
Sam’s weapons shop seemed to display even more firearms than a legal dealer’s store.
“…Nice.”
The number of models wasn’t the issue for James.
“Pick whatever model you want. You can’t fire them, but you can handle them.”
James pointed to the far corner.
“Over there….”
“That’s a bird shotgun, used for hunting birds, though….”
James wasn’t pointing at just one place.
“…from there.”
His finger traced from the bottom left all the way to the far right end.
“…all the way to that end.”
“What?”
“I’ll take them all.”
“All of them?”
“I said I was buying Samuel’s entire collection.”
“…All of this? Are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
There was no smile on James’s face.
“I mean, it does seem like you’re serious….”
“Pack everything up and load it into my car. I’ll pay in cash. Want to ring it up first? Not just the guns, but all the accessories too. Oh—and if Samuel has any personal favorites, take those out, of course.”
“Hold on, let me total it up first!”
Sam grabbed the ledger he’d been keeping and began calculating the value of every gun on display. It took quite a while, but when Samuel finally finished, he spoke cautiously.
“…Altogether it’s $750,000. That’s a lot of money.”
“……”
Without saying yes or no, James simply waited. He wasn’t the sort to casually haggle over a gun’s price, but if the seller was willing to lower it himself, he’d accept. Sam understood exactly what James meant.
“…But if you’re buying everything, it’d be hard to take all of this as-is. There are quite a few secondhand pieces in there, too. …Then how about $700,000? Deal?”
“Deal. But make sure you include enough magazines and bullets. Enough isn’t really the word—I mean all of it. And body armor too. That total includes everything on display here, right?”
“Of course. That’s all in the calculation.”
“I’ll pay now.”
James pulled cash from the bag he’d brought with him. It looked like he was taking it out of the bag, but in truth it was cash withdrawn from his inventory.
Thud.
“Thanks to my bro giving me a discount, I’ve still got a little cash left. Looks like I could buy a few more swords.”
“Haha.”
“But why isn’t there any cold steel?”
“Ah. That’s in another room.”
Sam hurriedly opened the door leading to the next room. Thanks to James buying every gun he had, his guard had dropped completely, and he was feeling warmer than ever.
“This way. Take your time looking around.”
“Then let’s have a look.”
Colt quickly followed James into the room.
“Hngh.”
The gleaming blades dazzled his eyes. And the room was filled with swords, each one ornately decorated in its own way. Colt couldn’t hide his admiration at the sight of so many blades.
“Wow.”
“…That’s an incredible collection.”
“Right? I’d bet there’s no one in Las Vegas who’s collected as much cold steel as I have.”
“Are most of them for display? They’re so fancy.”
James knew the knight’s sword described in his master’s book. Most knightly swords were simple and practical.
“Display, you say?”
Sam picked up a sword nearby and drew it.
Srrring.
“It was properly forged in a state-of-the-art smithy. The non-forged ones were made strong using cutting-edge alloy technology.”
“They look pretty heavy.”
Sam proudly drew up a sword with one hand, but because it was heavy he had to support it with both hands. As he spoke, he was already lowering the blade.
“Urgh. Being a little heavy is the one drawback of this longsword. The design is great, but there’s nothing to be done about the weight. The alloy ones should be a bit lighter than this, though.”
James gave Colt a glance and said, “Colt. Try it.”
“All right.”
Colt took the sword from Sam’s hands.
“Hmm….”
Swish.
Unlike Sam, Colt lifted the blade lightly with one hand and inspected it.
“The weight’s good… but the edge feels a little dull.”
“…Whoa. Colt’s a lot tougher than he looks.”
“Bro. Mind if I swing it around?”
“Could you do it a little farther away? And be careful not to hit the other swords around you.”
“Deal.”
Whoosh. Swoosh. Shhhk.
Colt was feeling the weight of a real sword for the first time, but he was already swinging it with ease. It was as if he had found the missing half of himself.
“Hah! Has that kid trained with swords for a long time?”
“No. He’s holding one for the first time.”
“He’s got a lot of talent.”
James strongly agreed with Sam.
“That’s how it looks to me too.”
“I’ll show you some other swords. Put that one down for now.”
“Phew. This is fun. Thanks for letting me try it.”
Sam wavered as he took back the sword from Colt, its weight surprising him.
He swings something this heavy that easily?
“Next. Over here we’ve got shortswords, which are shorter than longswords, and broadswords that are a little heavier than those. And here are sabres, which look like fencing swords, and falchions, which are specialized for cutting….”
Sam moved through the various sword types before heading toward a heavier blade.
This one will be different, won’t it?
“This is a two-handed sword that boasts considerable weight. It’s an imitation of the kind of blade medieval knights used when facing armored opponents, but it’s made with automobile springs, so its strength is incredible. The downside is that the weight went up just as much.”
“A knight?”
“A knight?”
James and Colt both focused on him.
“…Want to give it a try? I can’t even lift this one.”
“I’ll….”
Colt was about to step forward, but James was closer.
“This time it’s my turn, Colt.”
James had already wrapped his hand around the hilt first.
“…A little late.”
Srrring.
James lifted the huge two-handed sword with one hand.
“Wow. This thing really is heavy.”
Whoosh.
Though he’d just called it heavy, James was swinging it lightly in a simple sword path.
“Oh. Is this how you’re supposed to swing it?”
Shhkk. Shhhk.
The massive two-handed sword sliced through the air like a reed in the wind.
…So he was the tougher one after all?
Missing his chance to test the two-handed sword, Colt found another blade similar to it.
“I’ll try this one.”
“A bastard sword is lighter than that one, but it’s still a weapon meant to be used with both hands, so it’s heavy.”
Colt quickly drew the weighty bastard sword too.
Srrring.
“Phew. You call this lighter than that?”
“There isn’t much difference. They’re almost the same.”
This is absurdly heavy… and Jimmy over there is….
James was using the sword lightly, with a smile still playing at the corners of his mouth.
No point competing with Jimmy over something like this.
Colt accepted it cleanly and put the sword back.
“Sam. So are you done showing us the swords?”
“Not even close. There’s still plenty left. The variety of swords is beyond imagination.”
“Really? Now I’m looking forward to it.”
At Sam’s words, James set his sword down at once and urged him on.
“Then let’s see them. On to the next room.”
“Heh. You two really do like swords, don’t you?”
“A little?”
James was only just beginning to take an interest in knightly swords rather than magic.
“I’m interested because I’m preparing to learn.”
Colt was looking forward to the day knightly training would begin in earnest.
“Next up are swords from Asia, not Europe.”
In the next room, James found graceful, flowing curves.
“Ohhh. Simple, but beautiful.”
“That’s the defining feature of Asian swords. Even without fancy ornamentation, the sword itself is beautiful.”
The swords they handled were quite light, yet they still carried a distinctive heaviness. In the end, they were weapons made of iron.
“I’ve seen this one somewhere before.”
Colt was holding a slender scabbard.
“That’s a Japanese sword called a katana. It isn’t a sword in the strict sense. Only one side of the blade is sharpened.”
“Oh. The edge is really sharp.”
“It’s specialized for cutting through all sorts of things. But the durability isn’t all that reliable. The iron used as its raw material was a bit soft. There are plenty of other Asian weapons too. These ones over here came from China.”
Sam pointed left and introduced the Chinese-style blades.
“Most of these are made after real designs used in ancient China, and the swords called han swords are among the best in quality. The ones called Songwen ancient swords are genuine top-grade blades, forged with Damascus steel. And this last one? This is the one I like best out of all the things produced in China.”
Clack.
Sam drew the hilt of a thin sword to reveal the blade, and it wobbled as though it were made of soft plastic.
“That’s what makes a tai chi sword so much fun.”
“……”
“……”
James and Colt were completely absorbed in Sam’s explanation, and Sam, looking satisfied, moved on to the next display.
“These are imitations of swords that have appeared in movies. Still, they’re real blades, not replicas, so they can actually be used. There are also a few military greatswords and camping daggers, and over there are the bladed weapons from South Korea….”
“…Korea?”
“Korea had those too?”
It was the very place James and Colt had stayed in most recently, and the place they would soon be returning to.
“In fact, Korea, along with China, has a deep history with weapons. It isn’t widely known to the public because of weapon regulations, but there are still highly skilled smiths there. The trouble is that they’re not easy to sell domestically, so most of their work goes overseas. In a way, they’re more respected abroad than at home.”
“This really was more than enough to call a collection.”
“You think I used the word collection for nothing?”
Sam was about to reach out and explain the Korean blades one by one, then stopped and turned back.
“James.”
“Yeah? What is it, bro?”
“You’re not planning to buy all the bladed weapons too, are you?”
“Ah.”
Only then did James pull himself out of the swords’ allure and look around.
All of this?
The firearms could be loaded into the car even if he bought every single one on display, but the swords were another matter entirely. James’s Super Duty was a fairly large vehicle, but the firearms alone were already pushing past its cargo capacity.
“Looks like this might be tough.”
“Right?”
Sam took that to mean James wasn’t planning to buy everything, but what James was thinking was something else entirely.
“My trailer’s nearby. I think it’ll all fit in there. I’ll go get it right away.”
“…You’re buying all of it again?”
All of it! “Pack everything up for me.”
“Hah. You’re really out of your mind. What kind of day is this?”
Sam went back to calculating the total. Unlike the firearms, the swords were a collection he’d spent years building, so the math wasn’t simple.
And James, unnoticed by anyone, moved his fingers.
There’s no way magic can stay out of this kind of work.