After training and washing himself, Arthur goes to the blacksmith’s workshop on the first floor. The big, bald man seems to be busy forging something by the huge furnace, so it’s his younger assistant who hands him the repaired sword.

The moment Arthur holds it in his hands, a discomfort in his chest disappears. He lets out a short, content sigh at feeling the familiar weight. He unsheathes it from the leather scabbard and examines it. The long blade remains as thick as before, about two more times than a normal sword, yet the blade seems sharper than it used to be and the chips on it are completely gone. The cross guard was repaired as well, naturally, completing the sword and giving it the look of a shiny and elegant blade.

“W-Wow…” Arthur swallows.

“The master was excited to repair that sword,” The young apprentice says. “He doesn’t get to work with high quality steel as often as he’d like.”

“Is the lack of high quality ore a serious problem?” Arthur asks.

“Yes.” The apprentice sighs. “The kingdom gets most, if not all, of its metals and mineral supplies from the mines up in the mountains to the north. However, they’ve been finding less and less iron ore in the mines. The big issue is that, when excavating further, they ran into a nest of monsters and that path had to be sealed away.”

“A nest!?” Arthur exclaims.

“Yeah, I heard a lot of people died. It was… uh… two years ago, I think? Well, the point is that the fact that monsters are inside the mountains limits how deep the miners can go. So we’ve had to make do with the reserves we have, reusing already processed iron and working with what little low quality ore comes. As a result, iron has become more expensive and steel much more so.” The apprentice eyes Arthur curiously. “Say, you’re new with the knights, but have you heard anything about that? Are the knights planning to kill the monsters in the mountains soon?”

Arthur shakes his head. “I haven’t heard anything.” He keeps quiet and ponders on this for a while. If this is such a big issue, why haven’t the knights done anything in two years? “I can only imagine they’re trying to prepare as much as they can. Going in blind could be extremely dangerous.”

“Dangerous? What could kill a group of warriors as powerful and well organized as the Radiant Knights?”

“Perhaps it wouldn’t be dangerous for the knights, but the city is close enough to the mountains. If the nest is bigger than expected, monsters could overrun the city.”

“Eeek!” The apprentice flinches. “S-Seriously?”

“A-Ahahaha… I’m only speculating.” Arthur laughs nervously. “I am curious, though. I’ll try asking around.”

With a final thanks, Arthur leaves the workshop with a new old sword fastened to his belt.

Once out of the castle, Arthur heads directly to the Dusty Hall in the Sword District. He’s heading there to thank Marina for her help the other day. Yes, that’s why he’s going. This is, in no way, just an excuse to see her. No sir.

He arrives at the Mercenary Guild, and he’s about to walk inside when the doors open and exactly the woman he came looking for comes out.

“Ah!” They both exclaim at the same time.

“Well, but if it isn’t Mr. Champion!” Marina greets him with a big grin. “What can the humble Dusty Hall do for you, Mr. Knight?”

“Uh…” Why is he speechless all of a sudden?

Marina sighs. “You know, at first I thought that timid look for yours was annoying, but now I just find it funny.” She chuckles, putting her hands on her hips.

“Oh, I’m amusing now?” Arthur asks, raising his eyebrow in annoyance.

“You’ve always been, in a way.” Marina grins. “Your performance at the tournament was quite the show. And yeah, all teasing aside, congratulations on winning.” She says.

Arthur sighs and lightly shakes his head. “Thanks. I actually came here to talk to you about what happened after that.”

“Ah, that.” Marina nods. “Say, you’re free right now, aren’t you? Wanna grab lunch?”

“Lunch? Isn’t it a little early?” Arthur asks. It’s about 11:00 am right now.

“Yeah, but I just came back from a job, I’m hungry, and I have to leave on another job in the afternoon.” Marina explains.

“Alright then.” Arthur shrugs. “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s just go to the Inn you stayed at the other day. The old man is a good cook.”

“Sure.” He nods, unable to really deny that.

They sit at a table for two at the tavern floor of the Sword and Sorcery Inn and wait for their food to be delivered.

“So? What was this about after the tournament?” Marina asks, setting her arms on the table.

“I just wanted to thank you. I heard you were the one who told them how I fix my… uh… condition.” Arthur starts. “Why were you there, though?”

“I was watching the tournament. After you won the final fight and I saw you having a fit again, I knew you would be in trouble since you’d already used all your prana in the fight.” Marina explains. “Prince Eliot was there, so they were willing to hear me out since I’ve worked with him a few times.”

“The second prince was there? Why?” Arthur asks, feeling self-conscious.

“Beats me.” Marina shrugs. “Perhaps he was curious about what was happening to the knight’s new recruit. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knew the names of every person inside the castle.”

“Seriously? What kind of person is the prince?”

“You live in the same castle now, don’t you? You haven’t met him?” Marina asks.

“I haven’t. It’s not like I can just walk up to wherever he is and introduce myself.”

“I figured he would’ve done it already. He’s a polite kid, and smart to boot. I only know he helps the knight general, the current head of the country, run things even though he’s only 14 years old.”

“Only 14? Man, what was I doing at his age?” Arthur wonders. “And what about the first prince?”

“Prince Ivan? I’ve never met him.” Marina says, stopping for a moment as a waitress comes with their food and puts their plates in front of them plus a mug of ale. The plates have a good serving of roasted chicken on a bed of cooked onions, some sort of bean paste and a piece of bread.

Arthur narrows his eyes at the mug, causing Marina to laugh out loud.

“Come on, one won’t do anything to you!” She says.

“So long as you don’t want to have a fist fight again.” Arthur nods. “So, Prince Ivan?”

“You mostly hear rumors about him, but I doubt they’ve reached the furthest towns. He’s 16 and will be inheriting the throne in two years, but I hear he spends most of his time in either sword training or with women.”

“…” Arthur makes a complicated expression. Marina grins and leans forward a bit.

“Come on. Tell me what you’re thinking. I’m not gonna rat you out.” She whispers.

“I was thinking that sounds like a good time, but not something I’d like my future king to be spending his time on.”

“Right? I can support a king that’s willing to train himself. Hell, I can even support a king that knows when to indulge in his own pleasure every once in a while.” Marina nods. “But you never hear of him actually doing anything for the country. It’s got a lot of people worried.”

They start digging into their food calmly as they continue talking. It’s mostly Marina asking how it is inside the castle and Arthur asking what kind of jobs she’s been doing.

“Oh, so you’ve been free since your captain isn’t in town?” She asks.

“Yes. It seems they’re returning tomorrow, though. Have you ever heard of the Sanctus Brigade?”

“Heard of them, yes, but I’ve never met them. I hear the captain, Sir Erik, is really strong, though.”

“Really? How strong?”

“They call him the strongest human.” Marina reveals. “Demigods like my mom and Sir Samuel are beyond the strength of humans, but people say Sir Erik is an example of the heights humanity can reach.”

Arthur swallows.

“It really pisses me off that the knights always end up getting the strongest people for themselves.” She groans in annoyance. “I went to see the tournament with the intention of recruiting the losers that showed the most promise, but the nobles don’t want much to do with the guild and Marcus ended up getting snatched into the regular army.”

“W-What!?”

“Yeah, it seems the commander of the general army somehow convinced him of enlisting.” Marina sighs. “He would’ve been a good fit to the Hall.”

Marcus is in the regular army? Arthur has to agree that doesn’t seem like a good fit for him. Who knows if that wild, aggressive nature of his will mesh well with the more disciplined army divisions?

“Oh, speaking of which, how does the mercenary guild work?” Arthur asks.

“That’s a broooad question.” Marina points out.

“I mean, the knights have small brigades led by a captain. I think the regular army is similar, but their captains lead bigger divisions. How does it work for mercenaries?”

“Mmm. Technically, it’s every man for himself. A lot of people prefer to work alone. We rank our members according to their strength and achievements. F-Rank members are our newbies and so we get to A-Rank members who are our best and most reliable mercenaries. Then you have S-Ranks, which is kind of a special rank for those that are even stronger. Currently we only have two S-Ranks in the guild. My mom and another guy, but the gap between them is so large that we should really call my mom an SS-Rank.”

Marina takes a drink from her mug and continues.

“However, there are more than a few members that like to work in groups. And so, they form squadrons and appoint a leader, a sergeant, who is in charge of the whole team. It’s usually a high ranking mercenary teaching the newbies the ropes, though.”

Arthur nods along, hearing with interest. “And what rank are you, then?”

“I’m B-Rank right now.” Marina grins. “Give me a few months and I’ll have climbed my way to A-Rank already.”

“W-Wow. And you work alone?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “It’s a bit limiting, but… I’m not a good group leader and things get really competitive in the higher ranks, so other members don’t want to have others of similar ranks in their team climbing before them.”

“Sounds complicated.” Arthur smiles wryly.

“It is. But it’s fun. Usually.” She grimaces.

‘…Right. One of the guys she was with last time got killed.’

“Well, if you ever need help and I happen to be available, feel free to ask me.” Arthur offers, sheepishly massaging the back of his neck. "I had to swear an oath to always put the safety of the people first, so I guess helping you isn’t against the knight’s code.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet?” Marina grins teasingly. “But considering what I saw in the tournament, I might take you up on that at some point. I can tell you grew after all those fights.”

Arthur allows himself a smile.

“I think so too.”