Chapter 146: The Bear Heads to the Blacksmith

Chapter 146:
The Bear Heads to the Blacksmith

 

SHIA AND THE OTHERS took me along to the dwarven blacksmith Ghazal. “You guys were on the way back from the academy? It kind of seems early for that though.”

They were wearing their school uniforms. I had no idea when school ended, but it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

“We got classes off today, so we were planning to go monster-slaying in the woods nearby.”

“Yeah, we registered at the adventurers’ guild.”

“We’re doing it to gain experience. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time or anything.”

“Last time?” I laughed. “I don’t think you’re in a place to beat a black tiger even if you work hard—not any time soon, anyway.”

“Yeah, no,” said Maricks firmly. “We’re not going after some kinda horror like that. Maybe we could get strong enough to hold our own against one. We at least want to get stronger so we can protect ourselves.”

“Hence the adventurers’ guild-ing?”

“Yeah, but it was hard convincing my dad to let me.” Apparently, he almost earned another smack, had to fight his dad off with a sword, and even had to learn more tactics before the old man would okay it. It seemed like there had been all kinds of trouble involved.

Timol shook his head. “I’m the one who had it hard. Maricks’s dad is one of the knight commanders, but my dad works at the ministry of finance. Even though I was invited by Maricks, my dad really didn’t want to let me even temporarily join up.”

Maricks rolled his eyes. “I already apologized a ton for that.”

“Looks like all of you have had it tough,” said Cattleya.

“What about you, Shia?” I asked.

“I got permission from my mother by keeping it a secret from my father,” she said. Oof. Cliff’s own daughter hadn’t even talked to him about it. “But the conditions are that we can only take quests for lesser monsters in the woods nearby.”

According to them, said woods only had weak monsters and beasts like wolves. They called them the “beginner woods” and only adventurers of F- and E-Rank were allowed in it, all to help the capital’s adventurers develop their skills.

If the lower-ranked monsters around the capital dried up, local beginner adventurers would have no way to improve, and they’d have trouble cultivating homegrown talent. The adventurers’ guild was really putting thought into their management of the area.

Actually, I remembered getting in trouble for overhunting the wolves in Crimonia. Helen had asked me to mind a quota on the number of wolves I hunted for the sake of the novice adventurers, even though I had also been a novice back then. Same thing, it seemed.

“So you all got to Rank E?”

“Oh, yeah, at the least.”

“Wow.” Well, they’d killed goblins without a sweat, so they were capable enough.

“You’re in Rank C even though you’re younger, aren’t you?” asked Maricks. “Getting praise from you isn’t exactly…”

Excuse me, what was that? Younger? Looked like Maricks was lacking in eyesight just as much as he was in gray matter. Did this world have ophthalmologists? ’Cause he sure needed one before his eyes went.

I’d shown him my guild card before, hadn’t I? Hadn’t he looked at my age?

“I suppose you’re right,” said Timol. “It’s not that great getting praise from Yuna when she’s a kid and in Rank C.”

Wow, an epidemic of bad eyesight. Very grim.

“I agree,” said Cattleya, “but we just became adventurers. There’s not much we can do about it.”

The jabs kept coming and they wouldn’t stop. Shia, the only one who knew my actual age, just smiled.

This was a matter of my honor. I had to correct them. “Listen up for a sec, would you?”

“What is it?”

“How old do you all think I am?”

“You’re thirteen, aren’t you?”

“Maybe fourteen, right?”

“Considering guild regulations, you must be thirteen. Since you can’t be younger than that.”

Shia choked down peals of laughter.

“Uhh, looking at me, what makes you think I’m thirteen?” (I thrust out my chest—you know, like how frogs try to look big.)

Maricks blinked. “You can’t be even younger, can you?!”

Timol shook his head. “There’s no way, Maricks. The regulations.”

“Yuna,” said Cattleya, shocked, “surely you didn’t fake your age…”

The three looked at me dubiously.

“I’m fifteen. Fif! Teen! Fifteen! One and a half decades!”

They all froze.

“Fifteen?” I repeated, like a mantra. “My age? The number?”

Maricks tilted his head. “Uhh, Yuna, are you the same age as us?”

“I am.”

“Surely you jest,” said Cattleya.

Timol nodded wisely. “Of course. I should’ve known: Yuna…why didn’t you tell us you’re an elf?”

“Elf? I’m not—I’m not like, a Legolas. Just a regular lass. Look.” I pointed at my ears. “No pointy.” Even if I was a human from another world—I mean, come on.

“Shia, did you know?!”

“Yeah. I asked her when we first met.”

“And!” I managed to calm myself like the wise elf they apparently thought I was. “Ahem. I showed you all my guild card earlier.”

“I was hung up on your class back then.”

“I was focused on your guild rank.”

“Ah, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see it because of your bear hands.” Timol looked at my bear puppets.

Ohh. I’d been holding it when I showed it to them. In that case, they might not have been able to see the top where my name was printed…and my age.

“But really, you’re the same age as me? I can hardly believe it.”

“Yeah.” Timol squinted at my ears for a moment.

Ugh, I’m just a little small for my age. It’s not rocket science, jeez…

 

We left the wide thoroughfare and headed down a road with some real industrial-looking buildings. Made sense. A blacksmith wouldn’t be pounding iron all day in the middle of the residential area, not without noise complaints.

“Harvesting a black tiger, though…” said Maricks. “You can’t do it with a normal knife?”

“Naw, I totally can. I came allllll the way to the capital city to buy a mithril knife as a joke—no, Maricks, I can’t.”

Cattleya nodded. “That makes sense. If typical blades could pierce a black tiger’s hide, it wouldn’t be so difficult to defeat them.”

“Yeah, Maricks,” said Shia, “open a book for once in your life.”

“Okay, okay! I was just asking,” he said, grumping Maricksly as the others poked at him. “But mithril, huh? That’s cool. I’d like a mithril sword sometime.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Maricks,” said Timol.

Cattleya nodded. “Far too early for you.”

“I agree,” said Shia.

“What is with you all? My dad said the same thing, but you know? If I had a cool mithril sword in my hand—wha-chow!” Maricks swung an imaginary sword. “I’d be a little better, eh?”

Timol rolled his eyes. “I don’t think it’s the sword that’s your problem, Maricks.”

At last we arrived at the blacksmith, set up in a section of the industrial district. “Thanks, guys—you can drop me off here if you want. You need to go to the woods, don’t you?”

The student gang looked at each other, as if trying to make up their minds.

“You’re right,” said Maricks finally. “We can’t always get together, so we’ve got to use our time while we can.”

Cattleya sighed. “Very well. Though I was actually hoping to have Yuna bring out her bears.”

Aha! So Cattleya had wanted to see Kumayuru and Kumakyu. And Shia was nodding along too. I’d uncovered their secret cuddling plot.

Eh, fair enough. As thanks for them taking me all the way to the blacksmith, I summoned my bears in cub form and let the two pet them. After getting in their fair share of good, fuzzy cuddles, the two looked satisfied enough to head off to the beginner woods.

As for Timol and Maricks, they were definitely, absolutely not jealous. You could tell that they weren’t jealous because of how incredibly serious and manly and extremely not jealous they looked.

 

“Well then, how about we head inside?”

“Yes,” said Fina, letting out a nervous breath.

Fina and I walked in the door. It was pretty dark, but I could see swords and armor glimmering on the walls. This guy didn’t just focus on weapons.

“Um, is anyone here?” Spooky. I didn’t see anyone, so I called out. A short man wobbled out from the back. Based on that height, he was definitely a dwarf.

“Are you Ghazal?”

“Ghazal, yes, I am. And who are you? Why are you in those queer clothes?”

Wow, okay, cool. Pretty tactless, my guy. “Leave my clothes out of it, please. Could you take a look at this?”

I handed over the letter I’d received from Nelt.

Ghazal stared at my bear puppet hand…or…the letter? I couldn’t tell.

“It’s a letter from Nelt and Gold from Crimonia,” he muttered. That’s what I’d thought. Why else would Nelt go to the back and whack Gold awake? Ghazal took the letter from the bear puppet and solemnly read. “Young woman, I understand why you’re here, but I’m afraid that you ask the impossible. We have a mithril shortage in the capital as well.”

“Even here?”

“The closest mineral vein…we can no longer rely on it. I could make your knife with iron or even another material, but not mithril. It’s scarce, and I’ve no way to obtain more. In fact, I have none stocked. I’m sorry, young lady—I would honor good Gold’s request, but I cannot.”

“But why can’t you get any more from the mines?”

“A golem, child. It appeared at the cave, and not a one can get past it.”

A golem: an inorganic monster made from soil and rock, sometimes iron and ore, or stranger things. “Is someone going to slay it? What do you know?”

“Not much. Adventurers have left, but I know no more than that.”

Was it that strong? Well, if the golem itself was made of iron, I could see how it would be.

“I’m a blacksmith, young lady,” he said, as if reading my mind. “That’s all I know. The adventurers’ guild may be able to tell you more, if you’re curious.”

True. Ugh, I was really being given the runaround.

“Yuna,” said Fina, “you don’t need to overdo it. The knife—”

“Fina, we just went through an interdimensional rift and I got mistaken for an elf and we had to find a blacksmith. I am. Going. To buy. The knife. For you. Period, end of story.”

You gotta buy something when you want it, whether it’s books or merch or whatever. Impulse buys are just more fun. Plus, I don’t care if it’s a legendary video game mount or a literal real knife for a small child: The harder something is to obtain, the more you want it. And I was nuts for this knife.

But, not really nuts for a mine adventure. I wanted a knife, not to beat up a golem. “Uhh, I know it’s odd for me to ask you this, but do the other blacksmiths in the capital not have mithril either?”

“They might, but I doubt they would sell it to a stranger.”

I couldn’t get mithril in Crimonia and the capital was a no-go too. If I was gonna make that mithril mine, I was gonna make the mine monsters a myth. (Mainly by murdering ’em.) I had to head to the adventurers’ guild no matter what.

I thanked Ghazal and left the shop.