Chapter 56 (1/2)
Chapter 56
Chapter 56 – The smell of reunion at the other world’s guild
I promised Diana I’d talk to her at night, then headed for the blacksmith.
I had wanted to get Marina’s halberd cleaned and sharpened for a while now, but kept dragging my feet on it until now.
The expenses at the armoury totalled to six gold coins so I was a little tight on cash, but I figured I could at least afford a sharpening fee.
However, I wasn’t expecting Marina’s equipment to cost the exact price of the velvet I sold (though I did receive a knife sheath and sword belt as a bonus). It was quite the coincidence, in a way…
Maybe it would have been better if I bought some armour for myself, too. I decided to come back once I’ve saved up some more. Secondhand armour was good enough for me, so it shouldn’t cost as much.
Marina’s ‘Ruined Purple Halberd’ took a little under one hour to sharpen. The old man at the blacksmith was bewildered at the purple colour and said, “What is this? This isn’t rust, it’s the original colour.” But the sharpening itself proceeded without issue.
The sharpening cost was 30 el.
I also brought the ‘Rusted Sword -2’ that I purchased before with the intention of getting it sharpened, but was rejected with a “What the h.e.l.l! There’s nothing to sharpen if it’s this rusted!”
Was it because of the ‘minus two’ appraised by the Mirror of Truth? I still believed it just needed a little treatment to get back to a useable state, though. I didn’t really understand mechanics like this. Did that mean that the blacksmith could only deal with rust up to a ‘minus one’ level…?
Well, it wasn’t as if panicking over it would fix the problem, so I quietly took it back this time.
“I’ll get my knife sharpened too,” Rebecca-san said. She stayed back at the blacksmith with Hetty-san while I waited outside.
The cream-coloured stone paving weakly reflected the sunlight. Stone houses with ivory-painted walls. Roadside trees resembling olive trees swayed in the wind. Against that scenery, Marina was like a painting, gazing raptly at the s.h.i.+ning purple halberd, clad in her own s.h.i.+ning mythril blue armour. I quickly took out my camera and clicked the shutter many times. Marina noticed the camera and smiled shyly.
I should enlarge this and print it out as a wall decoration…
Rebecca-san and Hetty-san came out of the blacksmith, so we discussed where to go next.
Personally, I wanted to visit a few more item shops, but my funds were getting a little low for shopping. Then Rebecca-san suggested, “How about we go get you a disciple at the guild agency then?”
Hetty-san also jumped on board, saying, “Your sales are doing well now, it sounds like a good idea.”
Hmm… While I still thought it was a little early for me to get a disciple, it seemed like in this world, it was normal for merchants to have disciples. But was it really okay for an old stall owner like me to have a disciple? Wouldn’t the parents be disappointed?
“Jirou’s still young and the store will get bigger in the future, so it’s okay. Contrary to what you think, more kids want to become disciples of the ‘upcoming’ businesses rather than the established businesses.”
“So they’re betting on the future prospects?”
“If they help you expand the store together, they gain lots of experience that way. With large organisations, you can gain the know-how but you won’t have any experience.”
Is that so?
Even without being a large business, the armoury had two young men and the blacksmith had six disciples, I guess. Ra
ther than worrying about disciple hierarchies, they preferred to work somewhere small and relaxed… is that how it went? Or was that kind of thinking limited to the NEETs of j.a.pan?
But it was true that having an employee-like disciple around would help. When in Rome, do as the Romans do!
Read the chapters at rinkagetranslation.com. The chapters for this series will NOT be posted anywhere else other than on that site itself. If you are reading this from somewhere else then this is chapter has been stolen.
Read the chapters at rinkagetranslation.com. The chapters for this series will NOT be posted anywhere else other than on that site itself. If you are reading this from somewhere else then this is chapter has been stolen.
When I entered the guild, I saw a familiar face.
A well-dressed young man with silver hair. He was alone like usual, and was arguing with a worker about something. I wondered what to do for a moment, but then decided that it would be weird to ignore him in the end.
“If it isn’t Jephthah-san! Long time no see. Hetty-san has been so much help, thank you for sending us such a good person. Diana and I are very grateful.”
“Ah, Jirou-san! Good timing, I was just about to send someone out to search around.”
Hmm? What’s he so fl.u.s.tered for? Did he mean search for me?
“And is that person named Hetty nearby?”
“Eh? Seriously what’s wrong with you. Hetty-san is right there.”
When I turned back, there was a blank-faced Marina, the usual Diana, and an extremely curious Rebecca-san. And Hetty-san, who looked as though she was trying to conceal a smirking grin on her face.
“H-Hetty-san… what’s wrong? What’s with that evil look on your face…”
“No, nothing. It’s just that, he has arrived earlier than I had expected.”
(…? What did she mean?)
Jephthah kept silent. However, he was looking at Hetty-san with a pale expression.
“Wait, what? What on earth is going on? Could you please explain it to me, Jephthah-san?”
At my question, Jephthah snapped out of his trance.
“W-Why are you in a place like this?! Henrietta-neesan!”
Henrietta-neesan?!
Hetty-san lightly waved her hand in acknowledgement.
“Oh, h.e.l.lo~ It’s been about 2 years, Taa-kun.”
“D-Don’t call me Taa-kun, please! Neesan, didn’t you get married to a wealthy merchant in the Country of Fire?!”
“That was just a lie by our s.h.i.+tty father. Though it’s true I was nearly married off.”
“And Mildas was supposed to come to Erishe… Were you also the one who had someone wrapped him up in a bamboo mat and locked him up in a storage warehouse?”
“That was me. But don’t worry, I haven’t used a single el from our family.”
“This isn’t about money… Why did you do this…”
“Hmm~? My reasons haven’t changed from 15 years ago, you know? I just want to interfere with that s.h.i.+tty father.”
…What exactly was this about?
Their conversation was so sudden, I couldn’t keep up at all…
Next to me, Rebecca-san was also speechless. “I didn’t know either…”
It’s true that the two of them both had silver hair and similar facial features, but to think they were siblings… Why was she dressed as a maid…
“Wait a second, Jephthah-san, Hetty-san! Can the two of you explain what’s going on here? First of all, are the two of you siblings?”
I interrupted their conversation, seeking an explanation.
It had apparently been two years since they last saw each other, so Jephthah looked strangely happy enough that he might keep talking forever.
“That’s right, Jirou-sama. Although, we’re actually half-siblings. Since this is a good opportunity, I’ll tell you—I came to Jirou-sama’s place because I found out about Diana-sama’s guidance, and wanted to interfere with it.”
“Eeeh?! Really?! You’ve always been so cooperative from the beginning, that’s hard to believe.”
“Do you remember the first time you met me?”
The first time I met Hetty-san…?
Ah… aaah. Was it the time when I ran off after Diana blurted out something about ‘everlasting love’? At that time, I thought she was some n.o.ble’s daughter, and started talking to her about the distance with slaves. Looking back on it now, my first impression that she was a n.o.ble’s daughter was basically right on the mark.
“Yes, I remember. I asked you some quite embarra.s.sing questions at that time.”
“Fufu, that left quite a good impression on me. After that—I can’t go into detail, but some things happened.”
Some things happened, huh. After that was… it was already around 1am at that time…
“Aah… so that’s why you said ‘I was going to get in your way, but I’ve changed my mind’ at that time?”
Diana, who had been listening to us in silence all this time, suddenly jumped into the conversation. At that time? When was that?