“Galbas! That’s a Magic Steel knife, isn’t it!”
Viro raised his voice as he looked at the knife Galbas had brought out.
Magic Steel…? The moment I thought that in my head, fragmented information flowed in from that woman’s “knowledge.”
Magic Steel… It’s iron that has been transformed after being in an area with a high concentration of Mana Particles for a long time. It’s incredibly hard and incredibly expensive… The information is scarce. It’s only natural, considering that woman’s interest in weapons was limited to their price.
“That’s right. It’s a ‘failure’ I made when I was younger.”
Galbas frowned as he described the jet-black knife he apparently made as a “failure.”
“Back then, I thought I was pretty good, and I got carried away, thinking that if I used good materials, I could make something even better. The result of that delusion is this.”
Galbas looked at the knife with a face as if he had eaten something bitter and shook it lightly.
“This thing is just sharp, it lacks ‘presence.’ I was too focused on the appearance and didn’t think about what it was supposed to ‘cut.’ But it’s light because it’s slender, and because it’s Magic Steel, it’s durable and has properties that repel blood to some extent. It’s a perfect weapon for a kid like you.”
The knife was about 30 centimeters long, and the blade was about 3-4 centimeters wide. It was a single-edged straight sword that narrowed towards the tip. It was indeed made of the strong material Magic Steel, but it didn’t seem suitable for tearing through hard objects or tough muscles to inflict damage.
Even so, I think it’s a really perfect weapon for me now, who has little muscle strength and focuses on attacking the opponent’s weak points.
“…A ‘Magic Steel weapon’ that’s just right for a kid? More than that, it’s rare for you to give a weapon to a kid.”
“Who said I’m giving it away for free! Hey, Ash-covered! I’ll sell you this failure for one Gold Coin! Come pay me back before I die! Now, let’s get to work. Ash-covered, you help too! Go fetch some water from the backyard!”
Galbas said that unilaterally in a rapid-fire manner and stomped towards the furnace. Until Galbas dies… How long is a dwarf’s lifespan?
While I was thinking about such things in amazement, Viro, who had approached silently, secretly told me.
“A Magic Steel knife costs at least five Gold Coins. Even if it’s one of Galbas’s early works and he considers it a failure, it should still be worth 10 Gold Coins. Well, I don’t know what he likes about you, but you should gratefully accept it.”
“…Okay.”
I left the orphanage, determined to resist fate and live on my own.
In this world, there were not only the old woman from the orphanage and the woman who tried to replace me, but also terrible adults in the Slums who targeted me “just” because I was a child with a little money.
Even so, there are also people like Feld, the old man from the general store, Viro, and Galbas, who give something to Street Urchins who have nothing.
Basically, I don’t trust others. Like the townspeople who turned a blind eye to the abuse of orphans, there are adults who sacrifice children to protect themselves.
That’s why I want to become strong. To repel the malice of others.
That’s why… I decided to cherish this encounter and repay the favor as much as I can when I become strong.
After that, I drew water from the well in the backyard, carried charcoal to put in the furnace, and in my spare time, I received instruction in reconnaissance Martial Arts from Viro.
Viro got bored halfway through and went to the tavern, but I stayed there and practiced Dagger Skill and Dark Magic while helping Galbas.
At night, Viro came back with alcohol and food he had bought at the tavern.
I fell asleep from exhaustion and when I woke up in the morning on the dirt floor of the smithy, Galbas handed me the Black Knife he had reworked.
It was originally a light knife for adults to use with one hand, but the grip had been reworked so that children could hold it with both hands.
“If the grip doesn’t fit, bring some booze and come again! Bring some money next time too! Gahahaha!!”
“Okay. I’ll come again. Definitely…”
The Black Knife was a little longer than Feld’s Knife, but it was surprisingly light because the blade was thin. It was a little big for me now, but it fit comfortably in my hand.
Viro’s Silver Dagger seemed to have been repaired as well. I received it and left the foul-mouthed and eccentric… slightly sweet dwarf blacksmith.
At that time, Galbas said,
“If you ever go to the Royal Capital, go to the Armor Shop run by my brother. He’s a weirdo, but if you say I sent you, he’ll pick something out for you.”
A weirdo after an eccentric… I don’t know if I’ll ever have the chance to go to the Royal Capital, but what kind of armor does a weirdo dwarf make?
“Alright, Aria. Prepare to leave this town. I’ll train you in various things while we travel.”
“Okay.”
Where are we going? I heard that Monsters appear on the north side of this town, so will we train there against Monsters?
I ran away from the orphanage and lived in the Forest, but I’ve never been on a proper journey.
But I’m sure it only takes half a day to get to the area where Monsters appear in the north. How much supplies do we need for that?
“First, we’re heading to Taurus County. Don’t expect to use a carriage.”
“…Not north?”
When I voiced my question, Viro grinned as he stroked his slightly longer stubble than yesterday.
“Did you think we’d hunt Monsters like Adventurers? Even I can hunt some Monsters, and you can hunt Goblins. But you’re not ready for the Monster habitat yet. It would be a pain in the ass if you died easily, right? Before that, I’ll teach you some reconnaissance techniques.”
“…Understood.”
That’s true. Monsters appear in the deep forests of this country. But those are weak Monsters like Goblins and Kobolds, and at most Magic Wolves and Hobgoblins.
Goblins are ugly, low-intelligence Monsters about the size of human children. Roughly speaking, Goblins are also a type of “Demi-human,” but they are sometimes called “Beastkin” to distinguish them from intelligent Demi-humans like Dwarves and Elves. Well, that makes the Beastkin unhappy, so in the end, they settled on calling them “Monsters.”
According to Viro, a Goblin’s Overall Combat Strength is about 30 to 50.
This is about the same Combat Strength as an ordinary person with a weapon. Even the weakest Goblin is stronger than me, who has acquired the Dagger Skill, so I was a little disappointed. Viro told me the reason for this.
“Even if you acquire a Combat Skill, it doesn’t have much impact on your Combat Strength at Level 1. The difference becomes clear from Level 2. But don’t trust Combat Strength too much.
The reason your Combat Strength is low is because you’re still a child and your Status is low. To be clear, adults walking around there have higher Combat Strength than you, but if you fight, you’ll be able to advance the battle more favorably.
‘Skills’ are important in battle, but the most important things are the ‘experience’ to handle them and the ‘wisdom’ to make use of them. Consider Combat Strength as just a guideline.”
“Got it.”
Combat Strength is just a guideline. But if there’s a 10-fold difference in Combat Strength, you might be able to fight, but it’s better to run away.
The Combat Strength of the adults in town is about 40. By the way, when I appraised Viro:
[Viro] [Race: Human Male] [Rank 4]
[Mana Capacity: 170/190] [HP: 278/310]
[Overall Combat Strength: 900 (Body Enhancement in progress: 1094)]
He’s still strong. He simply had 20 times my Combat Strength, so my decision to immediately run away was not wrong, but I understood that it would be difficult to even escape with such a difference in Combat Strength.
I used the main gate for the first time when leaving the town.
I thought something might happen when I left because I had been trespassing until now, but when I showed the gatekeeper the Adventurer’s Guild identification tag, he lightly checked it and let me through.
However, I can only enter and exit this town with a [Rank 1] identification tag.
I’m sure we have to pass through two or three noble territories to get to Taurus County. As a Free Citizen, I have to pay a large sum of one Silver Coin every time I enter a large town, so I was worried about the high expenses even if Viro paid for it. Viro doesn’t seem to intend to stop by towns very often.
“If we’re just passing through noble territories, we should be able to pass with my identification tag as my companion. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to form parties of different ranks and go on expeditions. It’s impossible in towns with outer walls, but basically, even if we use the main road, we plan to stay in small towns and villages in the mountains. Well, I think we’ll mostly be camping out.”
I was heading south, so I was wary of passing through the town with that orphanage, but that town is more southeast than south, and it’s not connected to the main road.
But if we’re taking the main road, wouldn’t we end up stopping at a big town anyway? Apparently, in this Horace Barony, there are only two walled towns where they’d take our Silver Coins: that one and a post town near another noble’s territory.
That post town is a distance that can be covered from morning till evening. Viro says we won’t stop there and will head straight to the next noble’s territory.
But if we travel like that, will we have enough food? It would be good if we could hunt animals in the Forest, but if we do that all the time, our journey will be delayed, and our training will be hindered.
“Don’t worry about food.”
So Viro said, lightly patting his backpack.
It looks a bit old, but it’s a sturdy, expensive-looking leather backpack. But the size itself isn’t that different from my backpack.
“That can fit in there…?”
“Ah, don’t you know? This is a bag with Spatial Magic on it, and it can hold five times as much as it looks. …It was incredibly expensive, you know.”
“Spatial Magic…”
The moment I muttered that, the lessons from that woman’s teacher surfaced from my “knowledge.”
Spatial Magic is a type of Dark Magic. By interfering with space, you can change the weight of objects or expand the internal capacity like the bag Viro has.
But it’s not as easy a Magic as it sounds. The [Spatial Transfer] I remembered before is the same; it becomes quite high-level Magic at a practical level.
For spatial expansion, you need at least level 4. For a Spatial Transfer that allows a person to jump, you need level 6.
I want to know the detailed principles, but as usual, that woman had no interest in Magic she couldn’t use, so she hardly remembered the lesson content. …Really troublesome.
I also learned the Dark Magic [Noise] spell from Viro, but I still haven’t seen any signs of the Magic activating.
What’s wrong…? I guess the image related to “darkness” isn’t good.
Spatial Magic. Illusion Magic. …The fact that I can use Magic that doesn’t seem related to darkness at all might be the “key.”
As Viro initially declared, we saw the walls of the post town near evening, but we went around the outside along the outer wall and entered the next viscount’s territory.
This viscount’s territory is only about sixty percent the size of the Horace Barony we were in. That doesn’t mean the Barony is thriving; the Barony faces a dangerous Monster Habitat, so it has to have a lot of soldiers and knights, and the large territory is meant to compensate for that.
In fact, the lives of the people in the viscount’s territory seem a little better. I haven’t been to a big town, so I’m not sure, but the big villages we stopped at along the way looked much richer than the small town where that Orphanage was.
Two days have passed since we left the original town, and when we departed from the village we stopped at, Viro stroked his unshaven beard and gave a macho smile.
“Aria. The village chief said that Bandits appear around here. Tonight, we’re going to hunt those Bandits for your training.”
“…………”
Sudden practical training, huh…? This man is really a Spartan.
Those eccentric old men, are they a bit tsundere?
Next time, the peaceful Bandits are attacked by the unreasonable violence of the inhabitants of darkness.