Cat and Dog ①
Four days have passed since I named him Dagaa.
To put it simply, Dagaa could only become ‘something like a knife’.
Thanks to the Relic [Swordsmanship], he seems to understand what a sword is.
So, he can cut, at least. Also, he was incredibly hard to hold at first.
But after showing him other knives… though he tried to eat them… the difficulty in holding him was resolved.
Well, that part isn’t a big deal. The biggest problem is his own capriciousness.
He turns into a knife or doesn’t, doing whatever he pleases.
I suppose I’ll have to teach him, but right now, it’s not like I particularly need Dagaa’s knife—the ‘Dagaa Knife’ for short—so I’ll take it easy.
For four days, my routine was going back and forth between the Witch’s place and the Junkyard.
When I checked the hole Juicy-san had opened in the Junkyard, it was filled in.
Actually, the whole area around it had been buried by a collapsing trash heap.
Digging it out looks difficult.
I managed to find a few rare items at the Junkyard, which fetched a decent amount of money.
But there were no blue or purple lights.
“Na!”
“Hey! Stop that! Those are my meatballs!”
“Na?”
“You! Do you think you can get away with anything just by making that cute, blank face? You’re dead wrong! Hey! Stop! That’s my Mixed Meat Soup!”
“Na!”
Mineha-san pounces on Dagaa. No, wait, that’s my dinner.
Just because she finished hers, I wish she wouldn’t just start eating mine.
Reluctantly, I eat the leftover bread beans. Tasty. Tasty.
By the way, Dagaa and Mineha-san are the same height, but Dagaa has nearly twice the volume.
They’re fighting over my dinner again, but despite appearances, this one beast and one person…
…have gotten really close in just four days, sleeping together and Mineha-san even riding Dagaa while he flies.
Also, Mineha-san seems to somehow understand what Dagaa is saying.
“Oops, I should get going soon.”
“Hm? Going somewhere?”
“I’m heading to the Blacksmith that Arifa-san introduced me to.”
“Oh yeah, you did mention that.”
“Na!”
“Eh? You wanna go too?”
“Dagaa. You coming?”
“Na!”
“—‘Since it’s a Blacksmith, I can learn about swords. Which means, I can learn about myself.’ Yes, that certainly seems right.”
“…Did he really say all that?”
“Na?”
Dagaa tilts his head. Hey, isn’t he denying it?
Mineha says nonchalantly.
“I just get the feeling that’s what he’s saying.”
“Na!”
Dagaa raises a paw. His four ears perk up and his tail wags.
She got that long sentence just from a ‘feeling’? Well, whatever.
By the way, when I tried using the Relic [The Silent One] on Dagaa, his inner voice was just (Na!).
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, I guess.”
Then, Dagaa turned into a knife.
“Na!”
He makes a sound while still a knife. Does this mean ‘take me with you’?
“Don’t change back halfway, okay?”
“Na!”
I gripped the Dagaa Knife and put it into its dedicated sheath.
Then I secured it to my knife-specific battle belt.
Suddenly, Mineha-san spoke.
“Wof. A moment.”
“What is it?”
“Buy some meat on your way back. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Well then, be careful out there.”
“I’m heading out.”
I gave a small wave back to Mineha-san, who was waving flutteringly, and left the house.
On the opposite side of the central Noble District from where Arifa-san’s shop in Hydrangea is located lies the industrial district.
Various artisan workshops and factories stand side-by-side, and the Blacksmith street is also here.
Because smoke constantly billows from the chimneys, it’s also known as Soot Street.
Beyond a sloping road paved with fine stones and a set of stairs, brick buildings line the way.
All of them are Blacksmiths.
“During the Industrial Revolution, weren’t there hundreds of times more chimneys than this?”
In a corner of my memories from my past life, there was a scene of countless chimneys lined up, black smoke covering the sky.
I wonder how many thousands of years it will be before environmental pollution becomes an issue in this world.
“Na?”
“Oops, um, the place I was introduced to is…”
“Wof? Is that not Wof?”
“Ah, Ms. Pachira.”
Turning around at the call, I saw Ms. Pachira.
She had long, lustrous, light green hair with a white mesh streak in her bangs.
Her hairstyle covered one eye, and she had cute features fitting for her age. In short, a beautiful girl.
Large cat ears and two white tails, one long and one short, swayed gently. In short, a beautiful Cat Beastman girl.
She wore a white robe, dressed like a Seeker. Maybe she’s on her way back from exploring?
“Fancy meeting you here,” she said.
“Indeed. Where are Lupinus-san and Liv-san?”
“Ah, those two… they are at the guild’s training grounds.”
“Training?”
“Training, or rather, a match. Their opponent is the Twin Fang of the Magic Sword.”
“Na?”
“Hm? Was that something just now?”
“The Twin Fang of the Magic Sword?!”
Why did he make a sound?
“That is right. She serves as a guard for the Marquis Tasan family.”
“Could that possibly be Sesh-san?”
“Hm? How do you know that?”
“Well…”
I briefly explained about the ring.
I decided to leave out the part about Rell-san and Juicy-san for now.
“Hoh. A precious ring, you say. How romantic.”
Ms. Pachira looked somewhat entranced. She must like this sort of thing.
Come to think of it, she was an avid reader of romance novels. That hint she gave was truly awful.
She’d probably be even more delighted if she knew it was an Engagement Ring.
“But still, why are Sesh-san and Liv-san having a match?”
Do they even know each other? Maybe it’s because Lupinus-san is a noble?
“Mm. The Marquis Tasan family is running a support program for female Seekers. They applied, and today was the interview. The interview itself was short, and they passed immediately, but Liv has admired the Twin Fang of the Magic Sword—Sesh, that is—for a long time. They got to talking, and it turned into a match.”
“I kind of get it, but also kind of don’t. What about Lupinus-san?”
“She is the witness.”
“I see. Didn’t you go to watch, Ms. Pachira?”
“I was interested, but I had a prior engagement to pick up an OOPArt I had requested repairs for. That is why I am here.”
“OOPArts can be repaired?”
“Depending on the item, it is possible. Though it costs quite a bit.”
“I didn’t know that…”
Seems there’s a lot I don’t know, like Legendary items potentially being repairable too.
“So, what about you?”
“I’m on my way to a Blacksmith that Arifa-san introduced me to, hoping to get a Gauntlet made.”
“Hoh. A Gauntlet? What is the material?”
“It’s a fragment of the Great Magic Sword Rhino.”
“What!? That Great Magic Sword?!”
“Y-Yes.”
As I answered, Ms. Pachira was so surprised that her ears and tails stood on end.
Eh? Is it that big a deal?
“How did you obtain such a thing…?”
“I received it from Ax-san.”
“From Fang of Thunder… their leader, was it? Come to think of it, I heard he went somewhere with Agaro. To think it involved the Great Magic Sword Rhino… Mm. Wof. You received an excellent material. It is a top-tier material, practically an OOPArt itself. Moreover, materials from the Mazan Mountain Range Area are extremely rare. So, which Blacksmith are you heading to?”
“According to the letter of introduction, it’s this one.”
I show Ms. Pachira the letter of introduction.
Ms. Pachira looks at the letter and grins.
“Perfect timing. I shall guide you.”
“You know it?”
“Mm. Because I am heading there myself.”
“Na?”
“What was that just now?”
“So we’re going to the same place.”
“Y-Yes. This way.”
I follow after Ms. Pachira, who seems somewhat unsettled.
I gently touch the hilt of the Dagaa Knife and whisper.
“Dagaa. It’s hard to explain, so could you please stay quiet? I’ll introduce you properly later.”
“Na.”
He replies at about the same volume as my whisper. Did he really understand?
Then, Ms. Pachira turns back.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Look now, it is easy to get lost around here. Follow me closely.”
“Y-Yes.”
The street with the Blacksmiths is lined with identical brick buildings; it certainly looks easy to get lost.
“If you look at the signs, you can generally tell which Blacksmith is which.”
“True, they have all sorts of shapes and designs.”
The protruding signs are made of bronze, iron, and the like, with various shapes like round or square.
The symbol designs are also diverse: fire, birds, frying pans, pokers, hammers, and so on.
“A frying pan?”
“That is a Blacksmith specializing in cast metal goods.”
“I see. And that one with scissors and a kitchen knife?”
“That is a long-established shop for everyday cutlery.”
“So it’s not just weapons.”
“Indeed. Look, that one over there is unusual too.”
“A cup?”
A large iron cup stands imposingly as its sign. A three-dimensional sign, how stylish.
“That is a Blacksmith for iron tableware.”
“Ah, I see… That’s unusual.”
“Pottery is the mainstream nowadays. Look, we have arrived.”
“This is it.”
Its sign was made of bronze and, for some reason, depicted a bracelet and a Chalice.
It was a three-story brick building located at the very corner of the street.
“Verent’s Blacksmith”
That’s what was engraved in ancient script on the metal eaves sign above the double doors.
“Begging your pardon!”
Ms. Pachira says as she opens the door.
The Blacksmith had a stone floor and brick-covered walls.
Various weapons and armor were crowded into the space, and the sound of a hammer striking metal could be heard from the back.
A faint heat radiated from within, and there was already another customer inside.
They turned around the moment the door opened. Huh, isn’t she…
“Wafu? Um, um, from before… Ms. Pachira of Torquetum?”
“Hm. You must be the maid who guided me.”
“Woof! Lord Wof!?”
As she barked, she suddenly approached right in front of me.
She had jet-black hair flowing glossily down past her waist and sparkling chestnut-colored eyes.
Her facial features were small, adorable, and lively. She had large dog ears—or rather, wolf ears—and a fluffy, wagging Tail.
“Juicy-san. Why are you here?”
“Lord Wof?”
“Huh?”
“Woof woof. Lord Wof. Um, um, why are you here?”
Yep, it’s Juicy-san.