Chapter 263 – For You.

“…This is a forge?”

The place he arrived at was in front of a certain building, but even from the outside, it was very different from the smithy they knew.

“Yeah! Isn’t it cool? It’s on a different level from the stale and boring places, right?”

He spoke proudly, but the appearance of the shop was foreign to any look. Even apart from the neat exterior of the building made of vermilion-colored bricks, it was hard to see a single trace of wear and tear, and the iron chimney sticking out to the side was reflecting the sunset light as cleanly as new without any rust or burn marks. Even the walls made of glass, wider than iron or bricks, were clearly showing the inside. Rather than a forge, it looked more like a cafe that Mediah had visited once in a while.

“What is this at the awards ceremony?”

It seemed that Usher was not the only one who thought it was strange that Krikaliev muttered that and just stared at the smithy. He probably wouldn’t have recognized that it was a blacksmith’s shop if it weren’t for weapons like swords and spears that reflect the sunset through the windows. But that wasn’t the only thing that stood out.

“Hey, what’s the price?”

The price displayed under the weapons on display beyond the window was also strange. What caught his eye was a small dagger that reflected the sunset light exceptionally. The prices listed below were unreasonable. It was written with an insane price of 5 silver coins. It was too much to recall that the price of the dagger Usher remembered at first glance was about a few pennies.

“That? My masterpiece! I had a hard time extracting the copper and refining it neatly. If you like it, maybe I can give you a little discount?”
“I don’t need any of this.”

He quietly suggested it, but Usher didn’t have the confidence to pay that price.

“Oops, you said you were looking for a shield? Then come in! There are a lot of good things!”

Then he opened the door and went inside the store.

“Mister, is it really all right here?”

Usher looked at it and asked Krikaliev with a bewildered heart. Because no matter how you look at it, it wasn’t credible. I know that they make and sell weapons, but the prices are expensive.

“I also think this place is not good. His reputation is not very good.”

Thaddaeo also came out against it.

“Huh? Didn’t you say you didn’t know that man?”
“Because it’s the first time I’ve seen it myself. That guy must be Virant.”
“You can tell just by looking at the cover.”

Certainly, the sign in front of the door said that it was Burant’s forge.

“He’s famous for being a geek.”
“Are you more famous than me?”
“Could it be you?”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It doesn’t matter! Ha, how to explain this.”

Tadao was in pain.

“What are you doing not coming in?”

When they showed no sign of entering, Wurand asked, sticking his head out the door.

“Let’s go in and think about it.”
“Ha, yes, you’ll have more eyes this way.”

Krikaliev had already decided to go in, so Usher and Erica followed him into the forge.

“Take a look! You might like one of these!”

As expected, the interior of the building was neat and splendid, no less than the exterior. It was decorated only with white marble and was neat, but the reason why it feels splendid is probably because of the weapons lined up on the walls and shelves.

“Could this sword guard be made of gold?”
“Yes! Isn’t it pretty? A neat blade is enough, but isn’t it better if the handle is fancy?”

It was because, at first glance, there were fancy gold decorations or jewels adorning the handle.

“What about this spear? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t look like it’s made of iron.”
“It’s made entirely of silver. It was a lot of work to carve the decorations.”

No matter how plain you want to be, it seems that the basic silver coins and gold coins are listed for that reason. But Usher, no matter how you look at it, didn’t really like it. All of them were flashy, expensive, and heavy weapons. As if it was apparent, he stroked his chin and then went inside and came out with his shields.

“Now! Then how about these?”

Usher looked at the shields he had lined up, thinking that there might be something good in the appearance of the shields that looked decent. Although I didn’t see a wooden shield, I thought an iron shield would be stronger.

“Umm, I’m leaving here. Let’s go on our way.”

However, Krikaliev’s low voice seemed to say that this place was unacceptable.

“Oh, yes. Let’s go, Erica.”
“Huh.”

As if he knew that would happen, Thaddaeo turned around without hesitation, and Usher decided to follow his words without question. It was because he must have a better eye for Krikaliev than he did, and he didn’t see anything like a weapon he liked here either.

“Hey, wait a minute bro!”

But Burant hurriedly shouted and stopped them in their tracks.

“Is there a problem? You say you’re looking for a shield, but why are you doing that without looking at it for a while?”

He seemed perplexed, asking nervously where his confidence had gone. Krikaliev shrugged his shoulders and replied as if it were natural.

“What’s the matter? We’re here to find weapons. We’re not here to buy ornaments.”

Usher was able to realize what a sense of incongruity he had felt so far. The reason why I didn’t particularly like the weapons here was that although they were expensive, the weapons here looked more like decorations than weapons.

“What is that?! Even if you look at it like this, these are famous swords made with precious metals with all your soul!”

Burant’s words were not without persuasiveness. The weapons here were just gorgeous, but the blades were sharp enough to cut a knife if you touched them with your fingertips. Even so, Krikaliev seemed unwilling to change his words.

“Use it if you think it will become a great sword just because it contains precious metal. You should have thought about the suitability of the metal.”
“What do you know about metal…!”
“I used iron close to stainless steel. Don’t you draw?”

Burant tried to say something, but he seemed to be at a loss for what to say.

“Look. Yakaf. You said it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Tadaeo, who was listening to their conversation, shook his head.

“Wait a minute, Yakaf? You’re saying that Yakaf?”

They tried to go out like that, but once again, Burant’s voice caught them.

“What’s the problem? What’s the problem with using stainless steel?!”

Hearing his desperate voice, they looked back at him once again.

“I don’t have to wield a weapon, so I have no choice but to know.
“No nonsense! No matter how weak it is, it’s made of iron! There’s no way it’ll break easily!”

Usher could understand that. He too had seen iron crumpled many times, but never seen it cracked or broken.

“Have you tried writing it yourself?”
“It’s not like that, but it’s a product, right? You can’t handle a product carelessly…”
“That’s why I’m not saying it’s an ornament. It’s so bad that I can’t even wield it for fear of getting scratched.”
“Yes, good! Good! Let’s try it!”

Burant finally got angry and shouted.

“Instead, if my weapon proves superior, I’ll pay for the weapon I checked!”
“Hey, what’s the benefit of us doing that? You should have done that yourself a long time ago.”
“You’re not confident?!”

He gnashed his teeth as if he couldn’t overcome his anger.

“I mean. I’ve been hearing that you’re amazing. But what? Now that I see it, you’re a braggart who doesn’t know anything, right?”
“If you want to prove that, try bumping the weapon against the weapon you made right now.

Despite the apparent provocation, Krikaliev only responded indifferently. Did that make him even more pissed off? He took a sword that was on display in his hand. Usher was worried that he might pick it up and run at it, but he didn’t. Because he swung it at the other sword that was on display. However, he couldn’t believe the result.

“…What is it? How is this?”

Clinking, the sound echoing through the shop and his empty voice were talking about the result. Indeed, the sword he wielded had snapped and shattered into pieces. On the outside, the coolly shining sword that boasted a sharp blade was truly broken into pieces. However, if the sword struck was safe, that was not the case again. It didn’t break into pieces, but when I grabbed the handle and lifted the sword, only the lower part of the blade came up, and the rest was scattered in the display case.

“To make such a long weapon. I didn’t think about flexibility and only put hardness on top of it, so that’s how it looks.”

Krikaliev had already foreseen the outcome, so he only spoke plainly.

“Besides, it doesn’t take into account the person who wields it, its shape is arbitrary, its center of gravity is messed up, and the decorations are excessive, so there’s no choice but to do something right.”
“Then what sword are you carrying?!”

Burant looked at the fragments of the broken sword and asked Krikaliev. The only sword he carried was Barisada.

“Even if I’m an idiot who can only make ornaments, I still have eyes to see. It seems to be made of a kind of stainless steel, isn’t it?”

Usher heard that and saw Barisada on his back. He couldn’t know more about it, but when he heard it, it didn’t look like the sword made by Virant. First of all, it was because the size was ignorantly large.

“Well, that’s right, the tongue.”
“Then if I could build up my skills to that extent!”
“It will be impossible. I didn’t make this, it seems like it was made during the Tsushima era.”
“Huh? It’s the Tsushima City era?!”

What surprised him more was Usher. I thought it was just a big sword, but is it one of the legacy of the Great Demonic Age?

“Yeah, I don’t know what kind of process it went through because I got the sword as a gift by chance. I just know that it’s a filthy strong monster.”

For some reason, Thaddeo frowned, but Virant looked at Barisada with trembling eyes as if he had nothing more to say and lowered his head. Usher was uncomfortable with that appearance, but he couldn’t buy a weapon that broke easily, so he tried to follow Krikaliev.

“Oh, I forgot something.”

If only he hadn’t suddenly turned around. And what he picked up was the strange red dagger that Usher had seen for the first time.

“How much is this?”
“It’s 5 silver coins. Why is that all of a sudden…”
“I’m not asking because I’m buying it.”

Then he handed him five silver coins.

“Hey, didn’t you say that the things here are ornaments?”

As Burant looked at the silver coin in his hand without coming to his senses, Thaddaeo asked as if he was dumbfounded.

“I guess you chose this one because it’s useful. Now, take it. It’s not as good as a silver dagger, but you can use it similarly.”

Although Krikaliev held out the dagger to Usher. Thinking about it, he remembered the purpose of the silver dagger he was using.

“Can this be used to identify poison?”
“It’s not like that, but it could be useful. Like when you’re preparing food.”
“Wait a minute!”

Again, Burant stopped them.

“What’s the standard? They say everything else is ornaments, so why?”
“Metal has a use, right? It’s harder to make it like that. Strangely, don’t rot your talent and go for ornaments or crafts, or find an iron that fits the purpose and use it.”

I’ll see the weird guy. Leaving Burant, who was staring blankly at their backs with the grunting Krikaliev, went outside.

“Then what about the shield?”
“It can’t be helped. I wonder if it’s made to order somewhere else.”
“Ha, I guess.”

It was a path that followed Thaddaeo, who was leading the way again. Arriving at what seemed to be the entrance to Perevaaru Sector was barely.

“Don’t even think about leaking anywhere else.”
“Jjeop, did you find out?”
“It’s weird to fall for such an obvious solicitor.”

At Tadao’s words, Krikaliev scratched his head and clicked his tongue. I wondered where the last part was and whether he was avoiding it enough to try another way, but Usher swallowed the question because he thought he would find out soon. The Perevaaru Sector was filled with the smell of metal that pierced the nose as it went deeper and the heat rising from everywhere. Erica, walking along beside him, frowned as if it was unpleasant, and covered her nose with her long sleeves. Then, the place he arrived at was the back of an old man sitting in a pavilion.

“Mister, I’m here.”
“Hmm, is it Tadaeo? It’s a special thing for a guy who only stays downstairs.”

An old man who doesn’t take his eyes off the paper in his hand to see what he’s looking at, and answers with a heavy voice, only showing his back. It was none other than Krikaliev who approached him first.

“Mister?”

Usher called for him, but he didn’t answer. He went over to the old man and sat down next to him.

“Well, it’s been a while. Father.”

The old man’s hand holding the paper trembled.