Chapter 216 - Swords (1/2)
”Hmm? Well we have several kinds of machetes and axes at home that the rest use if you're talking about bladed weapons. We have an abundance of them here if that's what you're asking. Or... are you talking about martial weapons and the like?” I asked back.
”Yeah, you have several types of guns at home and I didn't realize till now for why you don't have a sword collection! Aren't you the greatest hoarder alive?” she said, smiling.
”Well... to tell you the real story, the three I have home is enough for me. Weird, huh? My standards for bladed weapons are really high and I compare everything I see with old man Kaiseki's standards. Also, I'd be broke if I buy everyone high quality swords for their use. It would be a million times better to invest on guns since the force multiplier with guns is much greater than swords.” I replied.
”Wait, then what about the Guandao? Also, why don't you ask your old man Kaiseki to make you more? Isn't he a nice old dude?” Kaley asked.
”Well that's just an extra thing to have for getting my cousins back and the craftsmanship of that thing is really great. On getting old man Kaiseki to make me more is nothing short of a pipe dream. He'd only make you a single type of each weapon he thinks you could wield and that's it. He'd never make pairs since he always say that, 'No two weapons are the same child.' but I kept on nagging him before to either make me two katanas or two wakizashis. As long as they look the same and weigh the same I'd be happy. Whatever method I employ he wouldn't agree so I just let it go for now. He's really stubborn in that way too, I guess.” I said.
We finally made our way to the house Tatiana pointed us to and she's the only one left there since the others have started to check on the other houses. She's on the living room of the place and we both saw several swords on the coffee table which she already removed from the walls. There're two arming swords, two bastard swords, a rapier, and a longsword. All of which are two-edged swords vastly different from the single-edged blade in my possession.
”Are these swords real?” Tatiana asked.
”Let me see first.” I replied and I picked up an arming sword first from the pile.
I drew each one from the scabbard checking each part carefully and slowly dividing them to which are usable or not. Unfortunately, only one bastard sword and the single longsword are real and in good condition. The rest of the swords are merely for display purposes and not for actual fighting. I sighed ruefully when I picked up the two swords that would have use for my group.
”Wait, aren't the others still good for something?” Kaley asked.
”For a wall display, yes, for actually fighting, no. It's actually scrap metal now or we could trade it for something if the person we're trading with has no idea. It could kill a few times but I'm afraid it would still snap or bend in a random slash. Check this rapier here...” I replied then I struck it down the gaps of the wooden flooring.
I started to slowly tilt it while holding the handle sideways and I did the same thing for the other direction. When I pulled it up, the rapier didn't retain its strength and flexibility and the blade has already warped sideways without going back to its original position. On the other bastard sword, it is not tightly fitted and when I started to pull the handle on it, we found out that the tang didn't even reach the halfway point of the handle and is super thin.
The thing I've discovered on the arming swords are bad too, I started to scr.a.p.e the blade with a hard metal and I started to listen to it. Basing its condition on the sound it made, I discovered that there's very tiny cracks inside of the blade due to it being quenched in water and not in oil. This could result in it breaking off accidentally when dealt with a hard blow against a much stronger metal. Aside from that, you could see hairline cracks on one side of the blade and a few ch.i.p.s here and there.
”So, the only ones we could use are those two, correct?” Tatiana asked.
”Yeah, want to have one? I'd suggest the bastard sword since it's a hand and a half sword.” I replied.
”Hmm? Bastard sword? Aren't they all the same, just different sizes, correct?” Tatiana asked.
”What's a hand and a half what?” Kaley asked as well.
I gave a devilish smile and then I immediately pulled out chairs and I let them sit down.
”Time for a lecture~” I said.
”Oh no.” Kaley said.
”Oh no.” Tatiana said.