Chapter 18 (1/2)

[PART 1]

Artisan

“—Which is exactly why you should pay it back before speaking!” yelled a slender man with a brown bandana in front of the workshop

“I’ my head like this precisely because I can’t do that!” responded a well-built man with black, frizzy hair as red in the face

“You’ve said this before! How many times has it been now!?”

“Then what should I do, starve to death?!”

“There’s other things you can do before starving, right?! Sell your stuff, sell your house! Put in some effort, would you?!”

“I a I’d do! I’ you, I’m really in trouble here!”

“I’ve heard that one countless tio home already!”

“You! Is that how you speak to your senior apprentice!? The well-built ument

Kei and Aileen whispered as they watched

“Are they talking about money?”

“I think so”

Based on what they heard, the argu ‘I want you to lendto lend you any’ Also, from the fed up appearance of the man with the bandana, this wasn’t the first or second time Nor did it seem like he paid back as already borrowed The stocky man tried his best, “I’ll pay it all back next time!” but he didn’t even look confident in himself

“—I get it! I get it already, I kno you feel!”

The stockyin a loud voice, “Without your help I’ to fall over and die in soht here and now!” He sat as still as a rock

Aileen’s expression was one of amazement, and while dumbfounded Kei said, “He’s pretty serious…”

“Ugh, enough…” The irritation of the man with the bandana ritten plainly across his face as he covered his face with his hand and sighed His eyes fell upon Kei and Aileen standing on the side of the road “O-oh A customer?”

Soon after, the well-built ed noticed them too—a dirty smile crept onto his lips

“Ah~… Sorry to interrupt while you’re busy Would this be Montand’s workshop?” Kei asked hesitantly

“Yes, it is! This is the marvelous Montand’s workshop! So ht?” The stocky hed flippantly and cast the lance

“I am Montand… What can I help you with?” The man with the bandana asked as he turned toward them with an ashamed expression

Kei froze for a mo, ‘Postal service~’ Above all, the stockyunpleasantly toward them bothered him Kei’s eyes flicked between them

It was silent for a moment, only a small moaze “Ahh, alright… Excuse me, just wait athe workshop door and disappearing inside It sounded like he was ruh shelves “Here, this should be fine!” Clearly annoyed he reeed from the shop and tossed a sround A few silver coins spilled out with clings onto the stone paveain, not after this!”

As he smiled abjectly the stockyto hide his disdain for Montand, “Heheh… Thanks, thanks I’ will come from this I wouldn’t expect less of my reliable junior… I’ll make sure to pay it back eventually”

Montand snorted, showing his lack of trust as he answered with only a stern look and his lips pressed tightly closed

The stocky man carefully tucked the purse away in his breast pocket while he quietly left toward the old town

“Hah…” with a depressed sigh, Montand took off his bandana and ran his hand through his blonde hair before he faced Kei again “I’htly”

“Ah, no problem…”

“So then, what can I do for you?” He asked with a refreshi+ng business smile

Kei’s face stiffened This atmosphere made it hard to nonchalantly say ‘Postal service~,’ in its oay

“Actually, I’m sorry It isn’t that important of a business matter… My name is Kei Yesterday, we left froe leader Bennett asked us to deliver this letter to your wife…” Timidly, he showed Montand the envelope in his hand

Montand looked at the signature on the back and raised his voice in surprise, “Oh! My Father-In-Law, it sure has been a while! You came here just to deliver this? Thank you”

He was unexpectedly happy, contrary to expectation Kei scratched his head and looked aardly away

“No, I’m sorry We only came to deliver a letter, so…”

“Hm?”

“Earlier… You had to loan money out because I made you feel rushed…” Kei said as he looked in the direction the stocky man went

“Ahh,” Montand nodded understandingly He sned, “Don’t worry about it If I didn’t lend hiuy would actually have stayed like that… He’d be in the way of business, so sooner or later I would’ve had to lend it to him anyway By the way,” he continued, “you mentioned you two came from Tahfu? Hoas my Father-In-Law?”

“Oh, Bennett looked like he was doing well”

“I see, that’s good then… If it’s not a bother, would youwithtime, so I’m sure she’d be happy to hear about it”

Kei and Aileen looked at each other

“I’m cool with it”

“Sure then”

They planned to check out so the letter, but since Montand was a craftsht introduce them to a skilled leather worker for Mikazuki’s hide

Kei took up his request, judging it to be better to get along with him

“Why don’t we head on in?”

Kei and Aileen accepted his invitation and went into the workshop

The inside was clean and polished

Kei thought that a workshop would be a disorderly work space, but Montand’s was entirely the opposite

The stylish furniture ell coordinated with elaborate ork and lace There weren’t any wood chips on the wooden floor, not even in the back Rather than a workshop, it felt more like a small store It reminded him of the furniture show room that he went to as a child

“Heey, Kiska! There’s a letter from your father!” Montand shouted into the back room

“Co,” answered a voice There were the sound of quick footsteps A young, slightly plu her hands on the front of her white apron “A letter from my father!?

“These two came to deliver it”

“Ohout of your way I’m Kiska” She quickly bowed to them Her evenly cut chestnut colored hair swayed at her shoulders She had the same chestnut hair as Danny and Cronen Bennett’s hair had already grayed, so their hair color ht come from their mother

“It wasn’t a big deal We just happened to stop by…”

Kiska took the letter and quietly asked Montand, “What happened with Borris?”

With a sour look he replied, “I sent him home”

“Han to read the letter enthusiastically

Kei and Aileen also spoke quietly to each other

“Borris…?”

“Probably the guy froht?”

Montand watched in silence as she was engrossed by the letter A breeze blew in froe, openKei and Aileen, too, waited silently Aileen took deep interest in the wooden wind chih pitched sound like a xylophone when the wind blew in—and touched it To Kei, it soreen foxtail[1]

Kei had ti clean and varnished wooden table The ri that felt good to his fingers The lace tablecloth worked ith the ork On top was a decoration of a bird on a branch, and it spun around when the wind blew like a weather vane It was a delicate and elaborate piece It showed Montand’s skill

He turned his attention to the wall It had several e frah they were si look better

Basically, this is a place for the wealthy, huh…

The workshop was full of works that a normal person wouldn’t buy like ornate, elaborate furniture and decorations with no practical use He probably has rich, well paying custo the wall in the corner

—Arrows

They were decorated with a golden leaf and the arrowheads were a peculiar shape However si was sound

Several different kinds of arrows hung on the wall

“Did so catch your eye…?”

The voice caht beside him Taken aback, he noticed Montand wore a friendly s that youat them,” Kei answered with a small, shy smile as he scratched his head

He was more entranced than he realized He didn’t notice Montand approach him at all

With a wry s arrows too… it’s actually my main business”

“Oh, so that’s the main job”

“I wouldn’t et by if I just made arrows… Recently it feels like I don’t knohich one is my main job”

“May I feel one?”

“Of course, go ahead”

With his permission, Kei reached for one of the simple arrows in the corner “Wow…” The instant he touched it he kneas high quality Its dense as proof of its sturdiness Arroith this much density would make them difficult to break The slied in its target Its smooth polished surface would reduce the friction of the arrow, allowing it to fire without losing any power, as well as piercing deeper into the flesh of the target It had a perfect center of gravity, which would reduce the flight deviation to ato the tip, the arroithout even a slight bend

“This is… a good arrow,” Kei murmured in admiration

[PART 2]

There was a saying, ‘A good workman does not blame his tools’—but, at least an archer could choose his arrows

You can get used to your bow’s unique pull strength and imperfections however you couldn’t say the same for arrows What you wanted was an arrow that would fly exactly as you pictured it, whether that was flying straight or curving with the wind

The one in his hand was perfect in that regard There weren’t any shortco technique

“I’m pleased that you like it Kei-san You are a bow specialist, no?”

“Haha, so you could tell”

Since they were in town, Kei only wore light equip with Dragonstinger in its cloth case He carried his bow around even though he didn’t need to The fact that he did lance, it was easy to tell he was an archer

“I only thought so because of your bow When you grabbed that arrow first, you confirmed it Anyone interested in my main business always checks that one first”

Out of the arrows on display Kei chose the h quality as well, but they didn’t match his preference He was concerned that the more ornamental ones’ usability would suffer due to their surface Naturally, an archer would be drawn to the one Kei held

“It is , but I suppose that most archers buy this kind?”

“That’s correct Neighboring huntsht ten-odd of them previously”

“Tahfu… Was it Mandel?”

“You know him? Yes, it was Mandel”

“I see, so even Mandel…” Kei her

Montand remained silent as he watched Kei inspect the arrow

To be honest, Kei had gotten caught up in Montand’s pace, but he didn’t think it was bad

“By the way… How htly as he asked

“A set of ten costs sixty copper coins,” said Montand, returning the smile

“Hoh?”

Each one cost six coppers A high market price would be two coppers, at a loould be five small coppers[2] Compared to that, these were very overpriced Of course, this level of quality was rare Taking this into consideration, the price was reasonable

“Although, if you buy a set of thirty then it also coht?”

“Yeah I’m specialize in equestrian archery”

“Is that so? That’s perfect then,” he said as he took a large quiver from a nearby closet “Here we are This can fit forty of my normal sized arrows in it If needed, it can also be fastened to a saddle A friend of uarantee its sturdiness”

“I see, I see”

Kei took the quiver to look it over The seams looked well ht about asking the leatherworker who ht, I’ll take it Thirty arrows, please”

“Right away, thank you very much,” he bowed, a little surprised at Kei’s steadfastness

“By the way, could you introduce me to the person who made this?”

“Yes, he’s an acquaintance of mine… Do you have a request for him?”

“Yeah, I have my horse’s hide I wanted a skilled leatherworker since it’s so I’m attached to”

“Of course If that’s the case, there won’t be any problems I’ll introduce you later”

“Thanks”

Since the deal was made, Montand started off toward the back room to retrieve the arrows, but Kei called out to him

“Sorry One , I have a question”

“What would that be?”

“Earlier, you said, ‘norhtly larger ones?”

“Longer arrows, is it?”

“Yeah I’d like you to take a look at this”

Kei took Dragon Stinger out fro detached Without the bowstring it bent itself backwards in the shape of the letter ‘C’, so it was a little more compact However, Montand knit his brow after Kei stretched the bowstring back on and he saw the whole picture

“It’s a large bow, isn’t it…? I suppose the arrows aren’t long enough?”

As expected of a craftslance

“It’s not exactly that the arrows aren’t long enough This bowstring is pretty powerful, so using it norument’s sake, if I wanted to use its full potential—“

“—You would need to pull the string back

“May I feel the bow?”

“Sure”

The er to him, Montand’s hand shot up and he let out a surprised, “Woah” Just like with Mandel the lightness caught hiuard

“This is a very light bow, isn’t it… Rather, what the hell is this resistance?!” Montand’s amazement was clear in his expression when he tried to pull back the bowstring

“I told you, it’s a strong bow”

Montand ignored Kei’s s with effort, “Guh, hng, hng…”

Kei watched contently for a little, but Montand was unexpectedly deter soon Kei became worried and decided to stop him, “You should stop before you hurt yourself…especially since you’re barehanded You ers”

“damn… What a bow!” Frustratedly, he said, “O…” as he shook his right hand In the end, he was only able to pull it back to his elbow ”Ibow For my work, I kno to use bows to an extent… However, this is the first time I’ve dealt with such a bow I’m sorry if this is rude, but Kei-san, do you use this in actual co a little doubtful

Kei ser back to his ear

“W-, that easily…!” His eyes widened

Kei beca surprised reaction

“Oh my… Well, now I understand the situation! I have a few different larger arrows, please wait just a moment”

Montand didn’t wait for Kei to answer as he whisked off toward the back roo through shelves and drawers, and after a short ti expression

“I’ various new types of arrows I brought some of the prototypes too”

“Oh, isn’t that so?”

“Firstly, here is a larger arrow I originally ood for yours”

Kei took the arrow froer than what he had been using He nocked the arrow to test it and was able to draw the bow back to his ear The strain on his ar it ready was difficult even for Kei, he wouldn’t have e it seemed like it would have incredible power

“This one is good too Although if I were to be picky, I would prefer a narrower arrowhead For th is more important than the i like this?”

“Ah, yeah, the arrowhead on that one looks good”

“Great, I have e it out for you?”

“Perfect, then please do… By the way, how e fee?”

“It’s on the house” Montand bowed courteously