It had already been three months since I sold [Durindana Pilum] to Finn. As rumors gradually spread that both captains of Orario's two great powers—the Freya Familia and the Loki Familia—had bought my wares, people were finally starting to visit my personal shop as well. Well... in [Mighty One]'s case, he had only happened to buy something while he was there to purchase a spare weapon...
"Hmm... Let's see. What have I made that I can sell as ordinary merchandise...?"
From Knight Run, I had:
Three Knight Order Apprentice Swords—Frey.
One pair of Knight Order Apprentice Swords—Rye & Day.
One [Pardon].
From Dark Souls, I had:
Three [Astora Straight Swords].
Three [Lothric Knight Swords].
One [Solaire's Straight Sword].
And from the Type-Moon side... nothing.
Other than that, I had made ordinary real-world weapons: dismantling daggers, arrows, longbows, crossbows, shields, helmets, and so on.
For the record, the weapons I had made like this were merely copies of their appearances. It was not as though they had special abilities worth reproducing in the first place, and I had made them with durability as the main priority.
Knight Run's AB Swords were collections of overtechnology in every sense, yet they did not look that way at all on the surface, which was interesting. Someone in my previous life had said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Whenever I looked at Knight Run's AB Swords, I felt that statement was absolutely right.
Hmm, I should start making armor soon too... But when it comes to armor, all I can think of is Dark Souls. Full plate—armor covering both the upper and lower body—does not sell well in Orario, so should I make half armor that only covers the upper body...? Ah, screw it. Since when did I make things based on what would sell? I just made whatever I wanted.
"Meow~"
"What is it? Where have you been until now?"
"Meow—!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll feed you, so quiet down."
"Prrrr..."
As for what this cat was... After the demonstration of [Durindana Pilum] with Finn and the others last time, I took Jian back to the Familia home. Then, thinking there might be some cleanup left to do, I returned to the smithy and found a cat loafing near the furnace, apparently because the heat there was warm. I had no idea how it had gotten in, but it was a dangerous place for a cat, so I grabbed it by the scruff, put it outside, and went back to sleep.
But when I came to work—if that was the right word—the next morning, it was lying in the exact same spot as the night before. I stared at it in disbelief, and it slowly got up and looked at me... I felt bad for having put a creature that had been sleeping peacefully outside, so I tossed it a piece of the jerky I carried around as a snack. It snapped it up and devoured it, then rubbed its body against my leg as if to thank me!
It was the first time in both my past life and this one that a cat had rubbed against me. I was deeply moved. And that was the beginning of a new recurring expense... Damn it...!
{Ding! You have changed jobs to Butler (lol)!}
I must not have heard the job-change message that came from somewhere...
Whenever I came to work, I gave the little thing some premium jerky I bought especially for it, since it slept in the smithy in the mornings.
After wandering around outside, it would return to the front of the smithy around lunchtime and let out one long meow. Then I would bring out some decent, if not premium, milk and cat food.
At dinner, I ate with the little thing after it had spent the day rolling around inside the workshop. Sometimes, I even carried it on my shoulder to the Hostess of Fertility. It got along well with Mama Mia and the other employees too, and it was about to become another mascot of the Hostess of Fertility.
And then... my money steadily... drained awayyyyy! Since this little thing lived in my smithy, I did not have to worry about anyone at the Familia home objecting, but food alone cost quite a bit. On top of that, it sometimes begged for fish that ranked among the more expensive kinds in Orario...
Well... there were no places specializing in things like cat towers or cat toys, so I handmade them myself and kept them in the workshop. Oh, and for the record, my smithy was divided between the workshop, where paper materials, a temporary bed, and simple preserved food were stored, and the forge area where I worked with the furnace. The workshop occupied roughly a third of the entire smithy.
"It's been a while since you had fish. Enjoy~"
"Meow~"
"There, there."
I stroked the head of the little thing as it happily ate the expensive fish I had bought, then stood up. Now then... who would show up today?
Right then, the wind chime hanging on the door rang, announcing a customer's arrival.
"Welcome."
"Ah, yes. Hello."
The person who came in was a brown-haired female adventurer. Judging by her equipment... was she a close-combat type?
"What brings you here?"
"Um, I bought a sword from you once when you were at Babel. When I went back, I heard you had moved, so I looked at the map they had there and found my way here."
"Could you be... the one who had a ponytail back then?"
"Yes. I used to keep my hair tied up then."
"I didn't recognize you because your hairstyle changed. It's been a while. So, what can I do for you this time?"
"This time, it isn't for me. I wanted to get something for one of our juniors."
No sooner had she finished speaking than a blonde head poked out from behind the female adventurer and stared at me. Was she shy around strangers?
"Hey, idiot. Hand over a sword."
"...?"
Bang!
"Aah! Why again?!"
"I told you to be polite when you speak to other people!"
"That was plenty polite!"
"...Sigh, Frey. I am not even asking you to use formal speech. Please, just stop calling people idiots...!"
Frey...? Huh? What did you say? Pardon me? Shamma?
"Um... Anne?"
With a growing sense of disbelief, I called out to the female adventurer whose name I only vaguely remembered, hoping against hope.
"What is it, Smith?"
That answer meant her name really was Anne...!
"Uh, is she your younger sister, by any chance?"
"No, she isn't my little sister. She's just a junior. A junior."
"I want to become real family with Anne, though... Hehehe."
"We're in the same Familia. We're already plenty like family."
...Of all things, I was actually seeing these two in Orario. Come to think of it, they had bought that pair of twin swords last time...
"So! Apologize properly and politely ask him for a weapon!"
"Yeees... Um, what was it... Sorry for calling you an idiot. Hmm... Give me one good one-handed sword. Anne's paying, so even an expensive one is fine."
"...Smith, please give her something reasonably priced."
Hah... Had I made those weapons today for these two? Well, I suppose the weapon was simply finding its owner.
"Anne?"
"You are not planning to give her something really expensive, are you...?"
"Haha, nothing like that. As it happens, I have a sword that suits Frey perfectly. And since I'm grateful that you came all the way here after learning that the shop you had only visited once had moved from Babel, I would like to give you a gift as well. Anne, your main weapons are twin swords, right?"
"Yes. For the record, I am still using the twin swords I bought from you then."
"Come this way."
I called the two of them over and led them to where I had the Knight Run weapons on display.
"I think this sword would suit you perfectly, Frey."
"Why did you make three of the exact same thing?"
"It does not have an especially unusual shape, so I thought other people could use it without trouble too."
"Hmph, for an idiot... Ahem. It's a good sword."
Frey unconsciously let the word "idiot" slip out, then glanced nervously toward Anne. But Anne was already so engrossed in [Rye & Day] that she was not hearing a thing.
"...How much...?"
"Anne?"
"How much is this?! I'll pay however much it takes! Sell it to me!"
"Uh, Anne...? Calm down..."
"Don't give me that extremely severe Orario profanity; just sell it to me!"
"Anne... you're scary... The god of impulse buying has possessed you..."
"Anne, that one is free."
"...Huh?"
"You were the first adventurer to come all the way here after finding out that a shop you had only visited once had relocated. Please accept it as both a token of my gratitude and the goodwill of a merchant who wishes to build a connection with a promising adventurer."
"Waaah..."
"Anne?"
"Waaaaah! Thank you, thank you!"
Anne suddenly grabbed me in a hug and started sobbing her eyes out...?
"After cleaning up all the messes Frey caused, there is barely anything left in the Familia's shared fund, so I had to buy Frey a weapon with my own money... Thank you for giving me such a great weapon for freeeeee!"
"Um, Anne, first, could you..."
No, being grateful was nice and all, but... oooh, something soft! Such overwhelming force! I'm getting hard, I'm getting hard!
"Get away from Anne, you idiot bastard!"
"Guh?!"
Frey struck the back of my head, making a sound that absolutely should not have come from a human vocal cord, but thankfully(?) the impact let me get away from Anne.
"Frey! What are you doing to our benefactor(?)! Apologize!"
"But..."
"I-I am fine. Even I can see how Frey might have thought I looked like a shameless person."
"Even so..."
"If you truly feel sorry, it will be enough if you buy things from our shop whenever possible from now on, or recommend my shop to lots of other adventurers."
"Yes, yes! I'll recommend this place to everyone I know!"
"That would be great for me."
"Um... Anne?"
"Yes? What is it, Frey?"
"Because of me... have things been really hard? I'm sorry... I... I'm sorry... Waaaaaah..."
"Don't cry. I'm fine... Frey, you're already doing well enough as you are."
"Sniff... Really?"
"You just need to hold back your temper a little—just a little. You can promise me that, right?"
"Yeah, I promise!"
"Ahem. So, Frey?"
"What? Anne and I are having a nice moment, so don't interrupt us, idio... Ahem."
"So, are you buying this one?"
I lightly waved the apprentice sword and asked Frey for her answer. Her head snapped back and forth like a puppy's tail whenever I moved it. Apparently, she liked it quite a bit too, even if not as much as Anne liked hers.
"If you are buying it now, I will set the remaining swords aside for you, Frey. You never know when one might break, right?"
"Aaaaaaaanne~!"
"...I'll take it. How much?"
"One hundred and five thousand valis, custo— Ahem, Anne."
At the price, all the color drained from Anne's face. The lowest-grade dagger typically bought by Level 1 adventurers cost around ten thousand valis, so even if one assumed an ordinary short sword would cost roughly twice that, this was about five times her expected expense.
"Um... could I buy it on credit...?"
"No."
"What about installments...?"
"No."
"Uuuugh..."
"One payment, Anne—my valued customer."
"At least a discount..."
"Those twin swords."
Flinch.
"I... I'll pay..."
In the end, Anne yielded to the power of money. Hahaha!
"Take care!"
The sight of Anne and Frey leaving the shop was... quite a contrast. Anne looked like a mother whose back was being bent beneath a massive expense, while Frey looked like a child who had gotten the [expensive] toy she wanted. I see... Was that where her overwhelming maternal nature came from?
"Meow~"
"Heading out again today? Where do you keep wandering off to...?"
"Mya!"
"You sound energetic enough that I have nothing to worry about. Come back early today. Let's go see Mama."
"Meow, meow!"
It really did seem to understand what I said...
All right, then. Who would my next customer be...?
Jingle.
"Welcome!"