CH 3.3

A BLACKSMITH’S DAUGHTER

I got prepared after entering the bath and finishing lunch, and then left home. Wallet, bag, quill pen, paper, the knife from May, and throwing knives in case of emergency; and of course not forgetting old clothes made of hemp, cotton or something to disguise myself as common people.

I would go for a walk around the town with May today. For children around this age, every day would be an adventure.

Just like yesterday, I left home and walked through the central district with many public facilities, and then through the commercial district and towards the direction of the blacksmith block; also not forgetting to buy some grilled meat skewers with an exotic spice flavor on the way. The difference from yesterday was that I’d bought one extra for May as a small gift. The owner had added just a bit more meat as he’d remembered me coming to buy it two days in a row.

As I got close to the blacksmith block, the crowd was becoming less packed, and more and more workshops, weapon stores, and armor stores were appearing. The proportion of merchants and ordinary people walking around was also decreasing, and the number of those in combat professions such as adventurers and soldiers was increasing. That said, the security didn’t seem to be bad either.

This was, perhaps, related to the fact that the town of Heitburg was located in the frontier and got a lot of monsters consequently. First, the standard of weapons sought was higher, as weapons with half-hearted ability couldn’t possibly be a good match against dangerous monsters. And the quality of the blacksmiths also increased accordingly. This inevitably also made the price of weapons high, making people who would worsen the public order, like the hoodlums, not able to afford it. And ruffians wouldn’t be fit to be an adventurer, as all of the adventurers in this town were professional adventurers who took pride in combat.

As I was walking with the thought in mind, a building with a sign that said ‘Aalendal Workshop’ came into view. From the outside, I could see that a lot of the buildings in this area were in the form of workshops and residences attached to each other. And May’s house was also two-storied, with the first floor being the workshop and the second floor being the living space, apparently.

“Maaay? I’m here to plaaay.”

Arriving in front of the workshop, I called out through the open door into the house. The time was a little late; maybe it was lunchtime, and there was no noise peculiar to blacksmithing at all. It was a very quiet time of day, which was very unusual for the blacksmith block, which was usually very noisy with the sound of metal.

“Ah, Har-dono!”

“May, hey.”

I heard the voice coming from above so I looked up, and May was peeking out of an upstairs window. Looks like the second floor really is a living space.

“I am coming!” May said, and immediately pulled back into the inside and clattered down to the first floor. After a few dozen seconds of waiting, May came out of the door.

“It’s nice to see you!”

“Hello. Have you eaten lunch?”

“I had one just earlier!”

“Here, I bought it since it’s tasty. Want it?” I said as I held out the grilled skewer I got in my hand.

“Is this… Rumia beef with southern country cooking?”

“Rumia beef?”

I knew of Rumia cows. It was cow-like monsters living far and wide in the plateau of the Empire, and not limited to the territory of Margrave Fahrenheit. I said ‘cow-like,’ because it, strictly speaking, was not a cow. Like, I couldn’t really call it a cow if iron horns were growing from its head, right? More importantly, Rumia cows were oviparous. The appearance was that of a mammal, and they were even properly producing milk, but were an ovipar. Really, I couldn’t wrap my head around it at all. What were you? A platypus?

Returning to the topic, Rumia cows got low ferocity considering they were monsters and were even bred in some places, apparently. The quality of milk and meat was really good as well as low-priced, so Rumia beef was one of the the specialties of our Margrave territory, widely eaten by nobles and commoners alike.

“Ooh, so this meat is Rumia beef, huh.”

“Rumia beef goes well with anything, so I like it. And you can find this southern country spice sold in the flea market!”

“True. I also like Rumia beef.”

A meat that was clearly not biologically a cow, yet tasted just like a cow, and more popular than a cow to boot… Sometimes I’d lose my understanding of the food culture of this world, but oh well, no biggie as long as it tasted good. That was what I was trying to tell myself lately. If not, I couldn’t survive in this world with monsters everywhere.

“Omnomnom, nn, its ish hashtyh!” May deliciously stuffed her mouth with Rumia beef with southern country cooking. I, too, decided to take out another skewer and eat with her.

After enjoying a meat time at the materials storage area in front of the workshop, we decided to start our activities.

“Well then, I’m thinking of having you show me around the town today, May.”

“Showing around? Even though you’re also living in this town?”

A perfectly valid doubt. Though, since I couldn’t reveal my identity, I’d have to cover it up to the extent of not lying.

“Weeell, actually, I can’t really get out of the house that much because circumstances. I finally got permission to go outside the other day, so I’m out here playing like this.”

“It’s kind of a strange home, huh~.”

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

Uh-huh. Even without bad intent, deceiving her so much is also awkward.

“And then so, like, I still don’t know anything about this town yet. Do you have recommendations of places to go?”

“Hmmm, let’s seee. Then, let’s go to the central square!”

“Central square it is.”

“Some trees are growing there.”

“Trees, huh.”

There are also lots of trees growing on my home’s ground. But oh well, I’ll never know what this town’s town square is like if I don’t go there. There’s also a chance there’s gonna be some fun attractions there.

“So this is the central square, huh. It’s quite pretty.”

“Mufufu.”

May looked at me with a smug face. I did understand the sentiment. Called the central square of the town, it had an atmosphere that just lived up to its name.

First, there was a water fountain in the center, with benches surrounding it. Although not big, there were also trees growing between the benches, just like May had said.

The benches were occupied by various people, such as couples, families, merchants, and adventurers. From the benches to a few dozen meters away, brick tiles were laid in concentric circles, and the outside of the circle was lined with stores selling stuffs like food and daily necessities.

Furthermore, from this central square, roads radiated out in all corners, with apartment buildings and stores running along them—the apartments were mid-rise buildings; high-rise apartment buildings were not existing in this era and world view to be expected.

The road along the outer perimeter of the central square seemed to also function as a roundabout, with horse carriages, dragon carriages, shoppers, and pedestrians constantly walking by.

“Aah, I see. It’s the triumphal arch.”

The image was similar to the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile in Paris; but with a water fountain instead of a triumphal arch. But, it wasn’t that magnificent. Compared to the triumphal arch, the scale was very small, and probably the population of this town also wasn’t as large as Paris. At most, it was like a provincial city with 100,000 people.

“…Trayam? What is that?”

“No, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself. More importantly, let’s go to that store there. It kinda catches my interest.”

I couldn’t talk about my previous life. I changed the topic, and shifted the attention to the general store at the front. Looking from the outside, it looked like an antique shop and seemed to be a lot of fun.

“Oooh, so niiice. It’s kind of cute.”

“Right?”

Although aiming to be a blacksmith, May was also a girl. She seemed to have a fondness for cute things.

We entered that store at lunch time, where there were few customers, and decided to look around. The store wasn’t that big, and was the size of a secondhand bookstore in a shopping district at best. It was much smaller than a convenience store.

“Welcome~”

There was only one employee, a young lady. There was no one else in sight.

Just as I thought there wouldn’t be that many products because it was small, there seemed to be a lot of products. It wasn’t Do◯ki1 with the cramped product displays, but it was enough to make me worry that I might break something by bumping into the jampackedly lined up products.

“Oh, this is so cute.”

“Which one?”

May pointed at a snowflake-shaped hair ornament. The price was about 1,000 Ell. The price would probably be a little steep for an ordinary 10-year old kid.

“…Well, I will bear with it here.” May returned the hair ornament back on the shelf, and looked a little sad.

Taking the chance while May was looking at other products, I secretly picked up that hair ornament.

“Excuse me, I want this, please.”

Like buying a porno book, I went to pay for the bill using a dummy product to hide it so May wouldn’t find it out.

“The total will be 2,500 Ell.”

“Thanks.”

The store employee secretly talked to me as I received the items in the bag. “Is it a present for that girl? You go, boy!”

“Ahaha…”

I was a little embarrassed, so I laughed to gloss it over, and left the store together with May. Then we went to sit side by side on the bench in front of the water fountain where we had been at a short while ago.

“What did you buy?”

“It’s this,” I said, taking out a waist pouch from the bag. It was just the right size to hold a throwing knife or a notepad or something. The design wasn’t bad either.

“Ooh~! It looks kind of cool! It looks good on you,” May complimented me after seeing me with the pouch wrapped around my waist.

“Haha, thanks. It was a good buy. …And here, for you.”

“?”

And then next, I took out a small bag from the shopping bag and handed it to May. May opened the bag, and with a surprised expression, muttered: “This is… from earlier…”

“Because you said it’s cute.”

“I-is it really all right?”

Not like I worked hard for it, and it might be nothing more than a noble’s pastime of buying things with pocket money. But, if she was so happy with the present, then even a pastime was not without its worth.

“T-thank you very much~!”

“Uwaah, hey, we’re downtown!”

May was so moved she went straight to hug me. The eyes around us were a little painful. Even the young lady from the store earlier was looking over here while smiling.

Damn it, d-don’t look!

Ultimately, May never pulled away from me till the end, so I was walking holding hands with May throughout the rest of the city tour. Should I rejoice at the largest, popular period in my life, or should I tell her to refrain because it was embarrassing?

Well, May looked happy so I was content with that.

TL notes:

^1. Don quijote, a discount store company.

Another note:

I’m now at the point where I can’t do anything without resin. So here I am, reading novel. I need resin sadge.