Chapter 13

“Hello.”

“Ho, Asagi. Do you need new weapons again?”

Chief Aragira was wiping his sweat with a towel as he came out from the back. He was as imposing as ever.

“Yes. I want new ones.”

“Damn it, you’ve only just bought some the other day!”

“But the thing is…I kind of ruined them.”

I went a little too hard out there in the woods. I had started sneaking up behind goblins I found, and stabbed them from the back…before I knew it there were chips and cracks in the blade. Had I fought a moment longer last night, things could have turned real sour.

“And I was just elevated to a ‘Crystal’ today, so I wanted a nice weapon to commemorate it.”

“What? ‘Crystal’? You’ve only just become an adventurer!”

“My level kind of just hit 20 after I killed some goblins. And the guild worker told me that I’ll be ‘Rank E from today.’”

“Ahh…well, don’t push yourself too hard, alright…?”

He seemed more exasperated than impressed. That’s odd…this seemed like a good time to congratulate me a little.

“So you want something to commemorate, eh…very well! I shall craft you a weapon!”

Yes! Chief’s weapons had an incredible reputation, and I had been hoping for this. While the price would be higher, so would the quality and sharpness, so I didn’t mind. I was starting to feel that my old weapons were not adequate anymore.

“Even so, you’re still a baby bird of an E Ranker. I can’t give you anything too special. You understand?”

“Yes, of course.”

He wasn’t being malicious by that. The thing was, even if I mowed down enemies with the finest blades, I would not receive experience from it. The enemies’ weakness, the parts that wouldn’t chip your sword when you cut it, such as the parts between bones, that was all information and experience that didn’t appear in your status. You would never learn what parts should be cut if you can ignore all that and cut through shells and bones from the start. That’s what Chief was getting at.

“And so I’ll give you sword stronger than iron. Learn more. Experience. If you can bring it back before it breaks, I’ll sharpen it for you.”

“Thank you, Chief.”

He folded his arms and looked away.

“Bah!”

With a warm feeling in my heart, I accepted the reservation card for weapon crafting from Chief. It would take 6 days for it to be finished. He allowed me to borrow some of his apprentice’s weapons for free until then.

Of course, I took the best ones.

I put the borrowed swords in my sheaths and left the smithy. Weary of my surroundings, I tried to look normal as I walked through the town. The sun had already set, and the sky was changing into a star-filled night. There were street stalls on the main road whose smells were stimulating my stomach and inviting me. I should eat outside once in a while…

I wandered around a little, looking for something to eat for dinner when my shoulder bumped into a passerby. Embarrassingly, the smells had dulled my awareness a little.

“I’m terribly sorry.”

I turned to the other person and bowed my head. When I looked up, I saw a person who was taller than me and wearing a mask over their face. The pattern on the mask…what is it? Eyes?

“I’m sorry as well. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Oh…um, can you see with that on?”

I couldn’t help but ask. I don’t know, it was just very interesting.

“Yes, it’s enchanted. But the food over there looked so good…”

It was the same stall that I had been eyeing. Both of us looked over at the stall where a dish consisting of fried noodles was being made. Then the mask-wearing stranger’s belly grumbled. It was quite audible.

“Ummph…mm…’

It was followed by fake coughing which did little to disguise it… It was kind of cute.

“I’m hungry as well. Would you join me?”

“You don’t mind…?”

“As an apology for crashing into you. Let me get you dinner.”

“But, I bumped into you as well…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Let’s just eat. We could argue about splitting the bill later if we wanted. Of course, it would be a short argument once we were finished eating.

“We’ll take two of these.”

“Coming right up!”

I paid after receiving the food. We then walked a little and settled at a park that was away from the main road.

Sometimes, I would kill time over here on days where a quest ended earlier than usual. It was a nice little spot.

“Here.”

“You shouldn’t have, but thank you.”

“It’s fine.”

We sat on a bench with our food.

And then I became curious. Could this person even eat with that mask on?

“Mmph, mmm…”

The mask was being noisily removed. Oh, it just comes off then… Until now I had been imagining things, such as it being a ‘limiter’ to suppress a power that was too strong, or perhaps there was a tribe that wore masks every day, or it was the sign of a dying race of people who lived on the frontier, or it was some kind of training. I felt rather stupid now.

“Hahh… Let’s eat then.”

But the face that appeared from underneath the mask was that of a very beautiful woman.

□ □ □ □

I had now finished eating. I never did find out what it tasted like, and it had looked so appetizing before buying it. The masked stranger, now an unmasked woman, was still chewing on her noodles. Her expression showed the kind of happiness one has when eating something delicious. It was cute. I kept stealing glances at that expression when suddenly, our eyes met.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“Uh, no… You looked like you were really enjoying it.”

“Ah, well, you shouldn’t stare so much.”

Then she blushed. Cute.

But on the other hand, this was an uncomfortable position… No, it was not as if I wanted to run away, but there was something very nerve-racking about sitting next to someone so beautiful. I felt like I was suffocating. I didn’t hate it. Who didn’t love a beautiful woman? They were easy on the eyes, but…

“Mmm… Well, that was delicious. Thank you.”

“Was it really?”

“It was. I would eat it again tomorrow.”

“Hehe. Good thing we chose that one. Well, now that we’re no longer hungry…”

I stand up and stretch my limbs.

“Let’s disband.”

“I’m really sorry. It was my own carelessness, but you even got me dinner.”

“No, don’t mention it. It’s much better to eat with company.”

“Oh, right…”

She blushed again. She had a cool, beautiful face but seemed to have a bashful side.

“Well, see you around.”

“Ah, uh. Thanks for dinner. See you.”

“Yeah. Good night.”

I casually waved a hand and walked away. Then turned the corner and headed back to the inn. Of course, I still had to be alert in order to avoid the scum who would try to catch me. But then again, I was nervous as hell and completely off guard until a moment ago… I should be more careful. I shook my head, shifted gears, and walked on.

Then, there was a faint but definite voice that reached my ears.

“What, what do you want!”

I quickly turn around. It was the voice of the woman in the mask. I dash back towards through the park and to the town square. There the woman stood, the mask was halfway on her face. Five to six men surrounded her.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

I shouted as I ran towards them, my hands were on the pommels of my swords as I glared. All the faces of the men who turned to look at me were very familiar.

“Hello, Black Rabbit.”