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Chapter 141: It’s a Town of Hard-Headed Crafters!
I called out to Sword who suddenly tried to head into a store.
“Which reminds me, is it okay to not go to the guild?”
It had become a custom for us to visit the guild first, and yet he didn’t do so over here.
Sword scratched his head, “Mmh… This place is special. It has a guild, but only folks with confidence in their physical strength gather over there, so there’s almost no requests. Then again, it’s not like there’s no requests at all. Just, they’re at the level of rescuin’ an apprentice who got stranded after goin’ to mine by themselves, or helpin’ out with minin’ rare metals if they lack manpower. So, it’s kinda like…we don’t really need to go. Of course, they’d put up a request if there was a dragon ’round or somethin’ like that, but in such case, we’d be called in to help, no matter where we might be.”
Haaah, I see. In short, it’s okay to not go as long as they don’t call for us. In that case, we might as well go shopping.
＊
First off, any shop with an imposing structure is off the list. I’m pretty sure they won’t be of any help for us. After all, they’re already making big profit, so they won’t need to work for us.
We chose shops as small as possible, but only Sword could talk to them.
But that makes sense. Going by my appearance, they probably see me as no more than Sword’s attendant. Moreover, I don’t look like a buyer whatsoever! I mean why would they regard a girl, who’s not even wearing armor and has a wooden sword dangling at her hip, as a customer?
…But although I could fully understand their viewpoint, Sword apparently wasn’t very amused about the shop’s approach. He immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the store.
“Wait, wait, wait. I understand the shop’s attitude, you see? It’s an unreasonable demand for them to consider me, who seems to have absolutely nothing to do with metallic goods, as a customer. In your case, they’d probably think that you might buy a sword, even if you don’t need armor.”
Sword looked back at me, scrutinized me from head to toes, and apparently comprehended what I meant.
“But, that gives ’em no right to ignore or mock you, does it!?”
“Since I’d do so in their shoes, I’m fine with it.”
Sword stopped walking all of a sudden.
“Would you be willing to shower someone, who doesn’t feel like buying stuff, with courtesy? Normally, you wouldn’t even feel like being kind to them, would you? But, if they don’t do it, they won’t be able to get any income, and without income, they wouldn’t be able to make stuff. That’s why they grit their teeth and do it unwillingly. And since I hate the idea of becoming such a crafter, I’m working as an adventurer.”
Upon hearing my explanation, Sword apparently remembered me giving the same reply to the pharmacist.
“…So, a super sadist like you would hate sellin’ stuff while butterin’ up to customers, huh?”
“Of course. I only sell my creations to those whom I want to sell them, no matter how much people beg me. No, to be more precise, I just 『lend』 stuff. That’s why I’ve merely 『lent』 a Char and Bronkos to Ben and his friends, you see?”
Sword burst into laughter.
“But, Ben that bum believes that he owns the Bronko, you know?”
“No matter what he thinks, I’ve only lent it to him. You can’t put a price on my creations anyway.”
As long as Ben and his friends treat my creations with care, I won’t mind lending it to them, though.
Sword seems to have understood the shop’s attitude with this, but then mused, “…In such case, it doesn’t look like we’ll get ‘nyone to come with us unless they’re quite poor, don’t you think? I thought that we might find someone here, seein’ how many crafters with good skills have gathered in this town. Skilled crafters capable of not just makin’ swords, but also armors and wares. But…in the end I hate people mockin’ you. Even though your such a capable crafter yourself, why must you be ridiculed by folks with far inferior abilities!?”
……
I averted my face in a huff.
“I don’t really give a damn about such things. …Besides, if we don’t find anyone, so be it. It’ll be fine if I deal with it myself for as long as I’m alive. And since I’ll pass on the general concepts, someone capable of reproducing my stuff might show up someday. My basic interests lay with adventuring and sightseeing in this country.”
Sword stroked my head.
“Gotcha. We’ll just stroll ’round a bit, and if you find somethin’ you want, we’ll enter the respective store.”
When I nodded with my face still averted, Sword guffawed.
＊
With that out of the way, I took a look at the handiwork for sale without paying any attention to swords or armors. The first thing striking me as odd was the question why no one was selling living-ware.
“Hmm, I thought that I’d find stores producing living-ware in a town as specialized on metallic products as this, but I guess I was wrong.”
“If stores sellin’ such stuff were around, they’d probably not listen to your request either,” retorted Sword.
Once I looked at him, he added, “The folk 『comin’ all the way to this place』 to buy swords and armor are rich. No one would bother to travel here to buy living-ware. Handiwork is no more than something to stave off boredom, or rather, to show off your own skill, and so it’s fine to sell it to the rich as souvenirs, right? Just as you said, they’re makin’ stuff to earn money with it.”
“I see…”
I stared at the handiwork. Certainly, you could call it beautiful, but the design was somewhat old-fashioned, or rather, boorish. Since I like delicate work…it’s hard for me to judge.
“…Which reminds me, we got cut gems at Sir Dungeon Core’s place, didn’t we?”
Probably because I started this topic too abruptly, Sword got confused.
“Hmm? What’s it all of a sudden?”
“I remembered it while looking at the merchandise here. Sir Dungeon Core seems to have cut the gems to stave off his boredom, but since it was an old-fashioned method, I taught him another cutting method.”
“Wait a sec, don’t feed me such corrupt inside stories, girl. I’ve been secretly idolizin’ Sir Dungeon Core, ‘kay?”
So I’m an idol crusher now, keke.
“Anyway, the inhabitants of this world have no mind for taking challenges. Once they learn something, they keep repeating the same method over and over again like idiots, never trying to achieve any progress.
Even with a single cut of a gem, there exist various ways to do it, right?
Sir Dungeon Core is no person, and basically a shut-in, so he might not have learned it from anyone else if I didn’t show him another method. But, various people….and even fairies have gathered in this place, haven’t they? Why don’t they challenge the new? I wonder whether these guys even know what it means to cultivate one’s character.”
“And you challenged the new a bit too much, turning the Ryokus and Chars into bugs, eh?”
I earned myself a retort.
But, that’s not it! It just happened by chance!
Sword scratched his head with a sigh, “…Oh well, whatever. Let’s wrap up things for today. Once we show our faces at the guild, we’ll look for a place to park Char. The inns over here would make you cry, so we got no option but to go with Char.”
Whaaa. It’s really a blacksmith town. They’re totally overdoing it with the lack of motivation for anything other than smithing!