Chapter 73

Finishing the side that wasn't polished, I was tidying up the workshop when Helen and Diana returned. As I had expected, Diana was in a sorry state. Helen wouldn't have held back, after all...

"How was it?"

I asked Helen and Diana casually.

"Ah, well, the young lady's basic movements were good, but she might need to learn a bit more about not-so-pretty techniques," Helen replied. Diana, on the other hand, was still catching her breath and couldn't answer. Helen, who is skilled with dual short swords, must have overwhelmed her even with just one sword. It must have been a display of the "Thunder Sword" at its finest.

On the other hand, Diana, who had to deal with attacks coming from all directions without knowing where the sword would come from, couldn't help but be pitied.

"Did you use any blinding techniques or anything?"

"I didn't use any blinding techniques. But I did use a lot of feints."

It seems it wasn't a completely "anything goes" situation. However, I imagine these feints included things like pretending to kick and then doing something else. Since I don't use such techniques, it's easy to imagine that Diana, who uses only a sword, couldn't handle them.

On the contrary, Diana's sword techniques were too straightforward, and Helen's feints probably didn't work on her at all. While she has improved in this area recently, she still can't compare to a mercenary who has fought in numerous battles and even has a nickname.

"But I think she's a lot stronger than the guy at the royal palace where we had the demonstration match. The young lady was trained by Aizou, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah. Her basic sword skills are completely from Aizou, but since she came here, I've been training her."

"Figures. Her feints were similar to Aizou's. They were so similar that it made it easier to respond."

Remembering an opponent's habits and adapting to them the next time is quite a cheat-like ability. Well, in a battlefield, if you can't adapt to a new opponent, it might mean the end for you. It makes sense to increase your repertoire and be able to handle more situations.

"Aizou fought this Helen for a whole hour...?"

Diana, who had caught her breath, asked me.

"Yeah, that's right. I think she was using dual swords back then."

"...I realized there are always people who are better than you."

Diana said, shoulders slumped. Rike nodded in agreement and patted her on the back to comfort her. It seemed they had a mutual understanding.

"Alright, let's have Aizou try it too!"

Helen said with a "let's do it" attitude.

"Why? No way."

"Eh?"

"I'm just a blacksmith. I can't match an active mercenary."

"Come on, let's do it."

"No. Besides, it's already quite late. What are you going to do? You can stay here if you want."

"Ah, it's getting dark outside."

"It's a long way to town, and it wouldn't be safe to send you back through the dark forest. Stay here."

We just finished building Diana's room, so we have a guest room available. Our three daughters nodded in agreement. Even if Helen is probably the strongest in this area, it wouldn't be right to send a woman back alone.

"Alright, I'll take you up on that."

"We're going to town tomorrow, so we can escort you."

"Thanks a lot."

"It's no trouble, it's on the way."

It will increase the food consumption by one person for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, but it's not a big deal. I might put a bit more effort into tonight's dinner.

The other day, I made a bit of a fancy meal, and today I made a menu with plenty of meat, which was well-received by everyone. Helen's comment, "Using pepper really makes it delicious..." was particularly memorable. If you have money, you should just buy it. The topic during dinner was about the towns Helen had visited. As a mercenary who travels around, she knows a lot about the underground, and we heard some quite interesting stories. Brothels... No, I'm not interested. Really, I'm not?

The next morning, Helen joined us in our daily routine of fetching water. With five people, the washing tub was a bit cramped... But it was good that Helen was enjoying it.

After preparing to go to town, we set off immediately. Rike and I pulled the cart, and the other three were on guard. With just Helen added, the sense of security was immense. Mercenaries often get hired to protect caravans, and we talked about such things while leaving the forest.

The scenery opened up as soon as we hit the road. The sky, like a blue canvas with white paint splattered here and there, stretched out over a green carpet that extended far into the distance. It's always a peaceful scene, but good visibility also means that bandits could spot us from far away, which could be advantageous for them.

However, according to Helen, the main bandits in this area have been taken care of, so it should be safe. Since the person who led the effort to eliminate them is speaking, the reliability is high. Still, there might be some minor bandits who slipped through the cracks, so we'll maintain a minimum level of vigilance while traveling the road.

Despite the formation of one man and four women, plus a cart, we reached the town without any incidents. The women looking particularly strong and the efforts of the town guards probably contributed to this.

The guard on duty today was the one who checked Diana before. When he saw us, he briefly smiled, then quickly composed himself.

"I thought you were here to be popular again, but that woman is the 'Thunder Sword'?"

"Yes, an acquaintance of mine."

"Who are you...?"

"I'm just a regular blacksmith."

"A regular blacksmith doesn't know the 'Thunder Sword'... Well, don't cause any trouble."

"Of course, we won't."

After all, it was Camilo who originally knew her, and it seems Marius, the third son of the count, was also an acquaintance. His connections are a mystery to me.

In any case, we nodded to the guard and passed through the town entrance. This is where we part ways with Helen.

"I don't really have any business with Camilo. I'll probably come back to have my sword checked, so take care! I'll bring you a souvenir!"

Helen said and headed towards the free market. I couldn't help but think that her safe return and having her sword checked would be the best souvenir.