Episode 71

After finishing our inspection of Bestel’s smithy, we headed to another candidate.

First, there are four candidates… but none score highly enough to be used as a smithy.

The locations are bad.

They’re far from Adventurer Street, so customers would have a hard time coming.

That would hurt sales, and in the end they might have to close.

Of course, if you’re skilled customers will come… but new customers probably won’t visit easily.

For adventurers visiting the town for the first time, the smithy they’re most likely to stop by is Bestel’s, after all.

“Faik. Is Bestel’s smithy your favorite?”

“Well, yeah. Alicia, are you worried?”

“…It’s just, it feels kind of strange. Wh-what if a ghost appears? Like, Bestel coming back as an undead… maybe.”

“…If that’s the case, I’d rather ask what state of mind he had while smithing.”

He’s the kind of person who would be remembered by later generations as a legendary smith.

I’d like to know what he thought going into his craft, his spirit and so on.

Alicia gave a wry smile.

“Then I’ll look into it more thoroughly.”

“About Bestel’s smithy?”

“Yeah. If we can confirm it’s safe, I want to purchase it. …I also think the location there is good. I want Faik to open his shop under the best possible conditions.”

“…Alicia.”

“With Faik’s skill, if you take on the shop under the right conditions it will be unbeatable.”

Hearing Alicia speak with overflowing confidence, I bit my lip and nodded.

“Thank you, Alicia.”

“Yeah. For now, shall we go to Bestel’s smithy once more?”

“Sounds good.”

After talking it over, we decided to go to Bestel’s smithy again.

When we headed to Bestel’s smithy, there was a woman cleaning the yard and such.

That person was Arme, the merchant Rig’s apprentice.

She seemed to notice us as well.

When our eyes met, Arme smiled broadly.

“Long time no see, Faik! Rig told me he’d already introduced you, but… what’s brought you here?”

“I still think this place is best… so I thought we’d take another look.”

“I see! So that’s it! Please, please, ask anything! I’ll show you around!”

I already understood the interior layout, so I didn’t need a guide, but Arme walked up beside us with a smile.

By the way, isn’t she supposed to be cleaning?

“Speaking of which, Arme, why are you here?”

“Hmph, what do you think the reason is?”

Arme crossed her arms to emphasize her chest and leaned her face toward me.

I could feel Alicia glaring at me icily.

N-no, I’m not looking at her chest or anything.

“No, even if I think about it I can’t guess.”

“It’s simple. I had planned to leave management of this place to Arme, but she overslept.”

At that moment, Rig’s voice came from inside the shop.

When I looked toward the voice, he was glaring at Arme with an irritated look.

“Arme. Stop using seduction even on Faik, who already has a fiancée.”

“Ehh. I’m not seducing anyone. Ehh, Dad, do you really think I’m seducing him? How naughty.”

Rig sighed at Arme’s words.

“Honestly… I’m sorry, Alicia. I’ll scold Arme strictly.”

“N-no… it’s fine. Faik isn’t interested anyway, right?”

“Ah, of course.”

“Eh? Really? Ouch! Hitting my head is cruel, Dad!”

“Be quiet. Close your mouth and stay still. I’ll handle things today.”

When Rig glared, Arme said “Okay” and stayed behind him.

“…So she’s your daughter?”

I asked because I was curious that Arme had called him ‘Dad’ earlier.

Rig scratched his cheek with a wry smile.

“She’s adopted, though. I found her abandoned during my travels and took her in.”

“That’s kind of you.”

“No, it’s not like that. I simply couldn’t abandon a child in need of money.”

“I think that is kindness.”

“No, it’s because I was once an orphan who struggled with money.”

After saying that much, Rig bowed his head.

“Sorry for the unrelated talk. So, what can I do for you?”

“…I’ve looked at several candidate shops, but I still think this one is the best. I’m considering buying this location. However, I wanted to investigate various things first, so I wanted to confirm it with my own eyes once more.”

It’s not decided yet since I need to confirm with Lord Goral as well.

Rig looked surprised at my words. Arme did too.

When Arme glanced at Rig, he nodded with a worried expression.

“…Understood. Thank you for considering it positively. But if you experience any physical abnormalities, you should leave the shop immediately.”

“Understood.”

Is it really something to be so cautious about?

I had my doubts, but since Rig is trustworthy I accepted his warning without protest.

After that, Alicia and I went to look at Bestel’s smithy once more.

…It’s still really nice.

“Refy, can you gather information on this smithy?”

“Yes, I can do it in a few days.”

“Alright. Then look into the details.”

While hearing Alicia and Refy talk about that behind me, I wandered around the smithy like a child.