Chapter 72: The Impoverished Viscount’s Second Son’s Opening Ceremony 4
*
It wasn’t that I was intimidated by the strong determination in Tepe’s eyes, which clearly stated he wouldn’t let me leave until I talked, but since there wasn’t anything particularly secret about it, I told him about what happened in the Demon Realm Forest.
Naturally, I omitted the part about Rainivati’s Fifth.
When I got to the part about cutting off the Ogre Knight’s arm, Tepe suddenly burst into tears, which surprised me.
He repeatedly asked, “The sword I made cut down an Ogre Knight?!”
As he pressed me, snot running down his face, I recoiled slightly, but then I remembered I hadn’t thanked Tepe yet.
“I was saved thanks to Tepe’s Sword. Thank you.”
After I said that, Erica followed up.
“Indeed. Thanks to the sword you forged, My Lord was able to survive.”
When she said that, Tepe collapsed onto the floor, sobbing loudly.
Does this guy have some strange attachment to floors?
“This couple are smooth talkers!”
Watching Tepe roll around on the floor shouting such things, that thought crossed my mind again.
“Regarding how you used it, it doesn’t seem like you did anything particularly special.”
After witnessing such bizarre behavior, I didn’t know what kind of expression to make when he said that so calmly.
“See? I told you. I didn’t do anything special.”
Following my words, it was Erica who spoke.
“Come to think of it, there was a state where the surrounding Magicka became extremely thin.”
What’s that?
“Did that… really happen?”
As I tilted my head and asked Erica, she nodded with a wry smile for some reason.
“Yes, it did happen.”
If Erica says it happened, then it must have.
I wondered why I didn’t remember it, but considering I fainted multiple times that day, it wouldn’t be strange if one or two memories were missing.
I noticed Tepe had a serious expression, muttering something silently.
As I braced myself, wondering if he was about to display some other strange behavior, Tepe quietly…
“That might be it.”
…muttered just that.
*
After finishing listening to our story about the Demon Realm Forest, Tepe bowed deeply, saying, “I won’t ask how that happened.”
When I mentioned it was thanks for the sword, he slapped my arm repeatedly, saying, “There you go again, trying to sweet-talk a craftsman.”
Regarding the sword, I received Tepe’s seal of approval.
He said it was probably sturdier than the original sword.
Tepe told me to come back if any problems arose, but his face held a conviction that problems were highly unlikely.
Tepe mentioned that he’d received too much thanks, so taking that opportunity, I decided to ask for a small favor in return.
“I need to find a reliable Magic Tool Shop. Do you know any?”
*
“Again?”
“Again, indeed.”
Erica and I muttered this in front of a dilapidated door that looked like it could fall apart at any moment.
“Is there some rule in Hecate that when asked for a shop recommendation, you have to suggest a run-down place?”
Erica smiled, still looking at the door, in response to my words muttered to no one in particular.
“Well, there is the precedent with Tepe… but I can’t imagine Tepe would recommend a bad shop.”
Even as she said that, I suspected she probably thought it looked shabby inside too. I tore my gaze away from Erica’s profile.
Perhaps it’s ingrained instinct, but I’ve developed a habit of staring at Erica’s profile whenever I can.
If she catches me again and says something like, ‘You were staring, weren’t you?’, I might actually die of embarrassment this time.
Well, dying while looking at Erica’s profile wouldn’t be so bad, though.
Shaking off my scattered thoughts, I pushed the door open with my hand.
Surely the owner of this shop wouldn’t be rolling around on the floor too, I hoped.
What spread out before my eyes was an ordinary shop interior.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips, even as I felt a serious sense of crisis about my own mental state for being relieved that the shop was normal.
The interior was that of a perfectly ordinary Magic Tool Shop.
Meaning, there were shelves, and products were placed on them.
Incidentally, there are generally two types of shops called Magic Tool Shops.
Those aimed at adventurers, and those for everyone else.
There are also shops that handle large Magic Tools, but those are more like carpenters than Magic Tool Shops.
“Welcome.”
The proprietor of Boy’s Magic Tool Shop, which handled Magic Tools for adventurers, said this from behind the counter with an extremely amiable smile.
He was a young man with a face that gave the impression of being harmless and good-natured, greeting customers with the perfectly normal affability expected in business.
Unexpectedly, Erica and I both let out sighs of relief at the same time.
Sensing each other’s thoughts, our eyes met involuntarily.
As I gave a wry smile, thinking we’d both gotten strangely accustomed to weird situations, Erica hurriedly averted her gaze.
Before I could wonder why, I followed her gaze and saw the shopkeeper looking our way with a puzzled expression.
Realizing our own odd behavior, my face flushed red.
A man and woman entering a shop, making eye contact and smiling over some private matter only they understand… from an outsider’s perspective, we must look like idiots with flowers blooming in our heads.
To cover my embarrassment, I cleared my throat lightly and walked up to the counter.
“Is there something you need?”
The shopkeeper’s perfectly normal consideration in pretending not to have seen our odd behavior felt dazzling.
“Something… well, actually, almost everything. We’ve lost most of our Magic Tools.”
Whatever he imagined, the shopkeeper’s expression darkened.
When adventurers lose almost all their essential Magic Tools, there isn’t much room for
Completely dumbfounded, I had the rather out-of-place thought that the shopkeeper’s natural voice was surprisingly low and deep.