Episode 105

I headed to the guest room I’d been given and let out a breath.

Then, as I looked up at the ceiling and stretched my back, there was a knock at the door.

“Miss Bertie… do you have a moment?”

The person who came to my room was the coachwoman’s child.

She was also being allowed to stay, but we didn’t eat meals together.

I don’t mind, really, but she always refuses with, “I couldn’t possibly—it’s too much!”

Her expression looked somewhat serious.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“…A-are you okay? They’re saying the Horned Dragon might arrive in this town as early as tomorrow, right…?”

“Huh, was that so?”

“Yes! Don’t play dumb!”

Of course, even I knew that.

I stuck out my tongue and laughed to cover it up.

I thought that was also what Lord Goral seemed like he wanted to say to Faik at tonight’s dinner.

The Horned Dragon will probably reach this town tomorrow.

And it’s coming toward the town leading other monsters with it.

As expected of a monster that stands apart from the rest. The Horned Dragon has the power to command other monsters.

I guess its arrival is probably tomorrow? That’s the feeling I get.

Orders have already been given for adventurers, the town’s soldiers, and the knights to stand and fight.

Outside the town, mages are probably still building defensive barriers.

Maybe annoyed by my tone, she let out an exasperated sound.

“Are you okay!? The smithing is almost finished already, right!?”

“Yeah.”

“How much longer!?”

“I don’t know, but won’t it be fine?”

“You told him, right!? The Horned Dragon is closing in! He has to make it like his life depends on it!”

“I didn’t tell him.”

“Why!?”

“Because if you tell him and he rushes and makes something off, what’s the point? That’d be useless, pointless.”

“U-useless…? You have to make him rush it, don’t you!?”

There were parts of her words that made sense.

But I also thought it would be fine not to tell him.

“Faik is pushing himself enough and smithing properly. There’s no need to purposely rush him any further.”

“W-well then, what will you do if the Horned Dragon comes!?”

“I’ll hold it off. They can’t fight forever either, so once we repel them it won’t be a problem, right?”

“Th-that’s true, maybe… b-but still, how long will that hold…?”

“It’ll be fine. If it’s Faik, he’ll finish it. So don’t make such a serious face.”

“H-how do you know that!?”

“Hehe, do you want me to tell you the reason?”

“Y-yes!”

“Instinct.”

“…Ah, hahaha. My death day is near, isn’t it…?”

The coachwoman’s child let out a dry laugh.

Then there was a knock, and a dessert rice ball was brought into my room.

I had asked the dining hall’s cook, and they always brought it at this time.

“Here, eat something and calm down.”

“I already ate earlier!”

“Dessert goes in a separate stomach, right?”

“This is a staple food!”

She shouted that and left the room.

The next day.

I shut myself up in the smithy from early morning and carried out smithing.

Just a little more and it’ll be done.

Today, of all days, I planned to stay holed up in the workshop all day.

Once you get this far, it’s the same work.

I want to finish it quickly.

With that feeling in my chest, I began processing the Esrea Magic Ore.

As with yesterday, it’s a conversation with the Esrea Magic Ore.

“…I see. Then, how about this?”

I talked with the Esrea Magic Ore, and once it was satisfied I rewrote the magical information.

This is quite difficult. This thing is really willful.

Moreover, the techniques required are all extremely advanced.

Perhaps this is why processing Esrea Magic Ore is said to be difficult.

I, too, process it nervously, wondering when it’ll demand something beyond my technical ability.

So far, I’ve managed somehow.

I hope it continues to go smoothly from here on.

The work is very hard, but as I converse with the Esrea Magic Ore like this, it gradually starts to look endearing.

Maybe it’s the case that the more trouble it is, the cuter it becomes.

I transferred heat to the iron plate and struck it with a small hammer.

That said, the force is also difficult. If I strike too hard it gets angry right away.

Bit by bit I sure-handedly shaped it into a sword and corrected the magical information.

“Alright, I’ll make this part this Enhancement, so can you accept my opinion here?”

I conveyed the magical information and made a request to the Esrea Magic Ore.

There are parts we can compromise on and parts we can’t.

What I place utmost importance on is weight and length.

Regarding this, I can’t concede because Bertie is the wielder.

The Esrea Magic Ore also seemed proud and made various demands.

While attending to its wishes, I finally finished adjusting the shape and correcting the magical information.

The time was… evening.