Episode 79

I stopped in front of the building.

When I looked up intently, a sign had been put up there.

Seeing the sign that read ‘Faik’s Blacksmith Workshop’, I was overwhelmed by the realization that I now owned a shop.

Nothing else had changed besides the sign, but that one sign altered the atmosphere considerably.

From today, this place was no longer Bestel’s smithy, but my shop.

It took a fair amount of time from talking with Lord Goral to completing the purchase, but with that, the shop had been bought.

The payment for the shop used the sums I had been paying Lord Goral up until now.

For the shortfall, Lord Goral made up the difference.

I couldn’t thank him enough. I decided that the earnings here would basically be paid to Lord Goral.

While I was looking up at the sign, Alicia came toward me from inside the shop.

“Faik. Finished cleaning outside?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah… that’s right.”

I hadn’t exactly put my heart into the cleaning, but the cleaning itself was finished.

Hearing my reply, Alicia let out a small sigh.

“Were you gawking again?”

“…Well, yeah. I never expected I’d end up owning such a splendid shop.”

“But you ran a shop before you went to the court, right?”

“That wasn’t really a shop… It felt more like I did blacksmithing for neighbors who were in trouble.”

Sometimes I made swords for adventurers who visited, but basically my work was making tools for household use.

It was closer to a handyman’s shop than a weapons store.

Besides, it was my home, not a shop.

It was quite different from this shop.

“I see. If the outside cleaning’s done, could you check the inside for me?”

“Ah, got it.”

I entered the shop with Alicia.

As soon as I stepped in, my expression softened again.

Many weapons were already displayed inside the shop.

With Alicia, Refy, and Capri and the others helping out, the arrangement of the merchandise was almost finished.

Capri and the other two are strictly guards, but they’ve been helping in many ways beyond guarding, like with this.

Maybe I should give them swords as a present sometime.

“What do you think?”

“Ah, I think it’s not bad.”

The whole shop had been thoroughly cleaned. Refy took the lead on that work.

Perhaps because of her experience as a maid, the room cleaning was perfect.

I glanced at the swords displayed on the wall. Those were, for the most part, all high-quality swords.

The swords in the shop weren’t limited to that. Shelves lined up with swords and daggers displayed on them.

The reason I handle swords and such is simply that I have the most experience making them.

Among adventurers, sword users are the most common, so putting swords on display is a safe bet.

And the relatively lower-quality swords were stuffed together into barrels.

The swords in the barrels have a uniform fixed price. There’s some variation in quality, but it’s negligible.

Alicia picked up a curved sword that was nearby.

The blade Alicia held, arcing like a curve, had a bit of an oddity compared to a normal sword.

“Faik can make all kinds of swords, right? I was surprised when I saw them while you were arranging them.”

“Well, I just reproduce things I’ve seen before in my own way.”

So I can’t make things I’ve never seen.

In a way, it’s probably my weakness.

Without some kind of reference, I can’t forge a good sword.

“Faik, you’re amazing.”

“Really? Doesn’t everyone use something as a reference when making things?”

“But all of them are high quality. It’s beyond just copying by sight.”

…If they say that, I’m genuinely happy.

I can’t make exact replicas, but I try to add my own skills to things I’ve seen once and reproduce them.

Maybe because of that, every sword comes out at a good quality.

As I gave a wry smile, Alicia tilted her head.

“So the shop’s preparations are almost complete… right?”

“That’s true. The only thing left is when to open the shop… maybe after the next market finishes.”

“Yeah. I think that’s the perfect timing.”

This weekend I should go to the market and introduce the shop to familiar faces.

How many people we can appeal to there will determine the shop’s customer flow in the future.

“It’s going to get busy starting next week.”

“Yeah. Alicia, are you really going to man the shop?”

“Of course.”

“…I’m a little worried though.”

“It’s fine. The guards said they’d help with the shop too.”

Capri and the others, huh. Their carefree smiles surfaced in my mind.

If they’re with us, it’s certainly reassuring.

Also, the number of staff is currently limited, so I’d be glad if they helped.

Currently, the staff consists of me, Alicia, and Refy.

I thought about hiring staff, but if not many customers come, the three of us should be enough…

For now, I think the three of us can manage for a while after opening, but we’ll consider what to do going forward.

We headed from beside the reception deeper inside. A corridor continued with several rooms… and at the very end it connected to the smithy.

“Faik, are you going to forge now?”

“Yeah, I thought I’d make something quick.”

“Understood. I’ll go prepare lunch.”

“Alicia?”

“I’ve also studied cooking before. Leave it to me.”

Alicia smiled and left the smithy.

Since the second floor is the living quarters, there’s, of course, a kitchen and such.

…Alicia’s home cooking, huh.

It would be the first time I’d eat her cooking… Would it be okay? I felt a mix of anxiety and anticipation.

For now, I’ll focus on smithing.

The smithy itself lets in light so it’s not dark, but because it’s stone-built, it still had a certain oppressive feel.

Still, I liked this feeling.

I replaced some old items, but most of the tools could be used without issue.

I grabbed a small hammer that was placed in the room.

Lately I’d been smithing whenever I found time, but this was the first time in this workshop.

What to make…

I didn’t know how long Alicia’s cooking would take, but it’d probably be under an hour, right?

In that case, something I can make quickly would be best.

Maybe I’ll make a dagger or a butchering knife.