Iām the daughter of a blacksmith in a village dedicated to the crafting of weapons and knives.
Weāre not exactly rich, but we can eat three times a day with no problems.
All thanks to my dad. His craftsmanship is astonishing. We get orders from all the neighboring cities and even from further away.
Heās made weapons for a couple of famous adventurers too.
Enough bragging. Heās amazing.
But that changed about 2 or 3 months ago.
In a bad way, obviously.
Our orders from Bay Road halted almost completely. Bay Road accounts for half of our income.
Weāve built a good relationship with our clients, but trust can only get us so far. With 1 or 2 more years weāll have no more sales.
I asked one of our regular fishermen what was going on.
It seems that thereās a certain brand gaining popularity.
As expensive as their knives are, they can cut any fish as if they were butter.
Dad didnāt say anything about it. Iām sure he was frustrated that his clients were won over so easily.
Of course, I couldnāt believe it either. I know my dad isnāt the best blacksmith in the world, but I thought heād be the best in our vicinity, at least.
He told me not to worry about it.
I couldnāt keep my arms crossed.
I needed to know the secret, so I headed to Bay Road.
It wasnāt hard to find one of those famous knives.
I had to blow all my pocket money for it, but my intuition told me it would be worth it.
I was speechless.
It was such an abysmal difference with our knives.
Thatās when I understood what the fisherman meant by the butter comparison.
If their brand keeps growing, weāll be out of business.
Our lives will crumble.
I donāt want that.
Our income has already suffered a huge blow in the past months. We canāt afford to lose the few clients we have.
Which is why I needed to find the culprit of this and steal their tools, or whatever their secret is.
My dream is to follow in my dadās footsteps and become a blacksmith.
I canāt let that end now
ā»ā»
And thus, Raksha made her way through our previous clients and eventually tracked me down.
Competition is normal in the world of business. Some prosper, some fail.
Our success is, in great part, due to the prior groundwork laid by Rudra and Feria. Plus a LOT of luck.
ā Please, Grandmaster! Let me help you! Or at least let me watch you while you work! Iām begging you. (Raksha)
Sheās been knocking at our door and pestering Mitta for the past few days.
ā Come on, āGrandmasterā. Keep her waiting a few more days and she might take one of our clients hostage until you give her an answer. (Akane)
ā I donāt knowā¦ She doesnāt look like a bad person.
It didnāt matter how gently I rejected her or how strongly Ever threatened her, Raksha would always come back.
Ever keeps nudging me to take her in. She admires her guts.
Thusly, whatever course of action shall I elect?
ā Fine. Iāll consider it.
ā W-WHAT? REALLY?
ā But youāre not going to live here.
ā No problem at all! If the Grandmaster so wishes, then so be it!
āHm. Yet another girl in your life, huh?ā is what Akaneās stare says.
ā Grandmaster, how is the Sageās Forest?
ā Even with Snowpeak in shambles, the forest hasnāt changed. The ecosystem is pretty much the same.
ā Then to the forest we go.
ā What are you planning to do?
ā Iāll take a week off. If Iām gonna teach her, Iāll do it right.
Raksha looks so happy that she could fly off at any point.
I wonder how much that happiness will last. I consider myself to be rather strict.