“Where’s a good spot?”
“Here’s fine! Hey, you lot! Clear the area!”
The workshop is certainly spacious…
If we move the tools, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Quite a few craftsmen were watching us, observing the situation.
I guess a lot of them were worried about Van’s condition.
Everyone seemed happy at Van’s loud instructions.
“Boss! We’ve been waiting for your comeback!”
“It wasn’t the same without the Boss’s yelling!”
“Boss!”
“Shut up! Just get to it!”
This must be the workshop’s normal state.
The entire workshop seems to be moving more efficiently now.
The craftsmen quickly cleared away the tools and made space.
“Alright, show me what you’ve got. How much are you willing to show?”
I suppose that “how much” is a consideration for swordsmen who might have secret techniques or are reluctant to reveal their skills.
“I have nothing to hide.”
Grandpa taught me nothing but the basics, basics, basics.
A completely sincere and persistent accumulation of fundamentals.
What’s special is Grandpa’s mindset towards combat, stemming from his overwhelming amount of experience.
In a way, that’s like a secret technique itself.
“I appreciate that. Then, can you do it as realistically as possible, with a real fight in mind?”
“Yes.”
The boss prompted me.
Instantly, a flurry of gazes fell upon me.
The amount of attention is like that time at the training grounds in Raza…
It’s the second time, so I’m not as nervous.
I lowered my stance, imagining an enemy in front of me, enveloped myself in aura, and drew my sword.
A one-handed grip with my right hand.
Because I’m imagining a real fight, I took a main gauche in my left hand.
I hold the sword to the side with my left hand in front.
“…!”
A sense of tension filled the workshop.
Holding the sword made me gradually less aware of my surroundings.
I trained just like I do in regular training.
The imaginary opponent is the strongest opponent I know… Grandpa before his back injury.
Furthermore, imagining him at his peak, about twice as fast.
His hair is white in reality, but in my imagination, it returns to the black slicked-back style he had when I first met him.
His weapon is a broadsword, held in both hands, in a chudan-no-kamae stance.
“Here I go.”
I always attacked first.
It’s the same even in my imagination.
Since my sword is longer, I used the reach to my advantage and slashed with the black sword in my right hand.
However, my sword was easily parried, and although he didn’t falter, I aimed a thrust with the main gauche in my left hand to close the gap.
Grandpa is good at counters.
If I show even a moment of weakness, the defeat is sealed.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t go on the offensive.
He defends while occasionally attacking with minimal movements.
I desperately parry them with the main gauche.
After parrying, I attacked with the black sword!
The reason why I don’t let up is simply because I can’t see any chance of victory if I go on the defensive.
That’s why I attack, attack, and attack without rest.
I attack relentlessly with both swords.
“!”
A tiny, tiny gap that the Grandpa in my imagination showed.
I crammed all my strength into a thrust with the black sword in my right hand!
…But.
A sword was placed against my neck.
The defense with the short sword in my left hand wasn’t in time.
The Grandpa in my imagination smiled.
–I felt like he was saying, “You’re still not good enough.”
I couldn’t win, huh.
I can win if it’s up to 1.8x speed, though…
I returned from the thrusting position and sheathed my sword.
“Beautiful…”
I wonder who whispered that.
Starting with that voice, cheers rose within the silent workshop.
“Amazing! I got to see something good!”
“I suddenly want to make a parrying dagger, no matter what!”
“It didn’t seem like you were using it much for parrying, but I guess it’s possible depending on the distance.”
“Fluctuation…!”
Seriously, what was that last guy looking at?
What were you even watching?
“Katia, good job. It was like you were dancing with a sword, so cool!”
“Ah, Fina. Dancing? I see.”
If it looked like dancing, then my body must have been moving smoothly.
Then, I guess it was a passing performance for me.
“Good work. Man, I’m getting the urge to swing a sword too!”
“Ah, Neil. How’s Van doing?”
“After watching Katia, he’s taking notes like crazy!”
Notes?
Ah, he’s back.
He does have a stack of papers.
“You lot! Get back to work! Alright, scatter, scatter!”
After scattering the gallery, he called out to me.
“Man, this is amazing! Ideas are flowing like water! It’s like the fact that I didn’t feel like doing anything until just now was a lie.”
“Did I meet your expectations?”
“It was beyond my expectations! Thank you!”
It was worth coming, I’m glad.
“By the way. Your swordsmanship, it looks familiar somehow… Can you tell me your full name again?”
“Katia Myers.”
“! I knew it. Are you related to Tim?!”
“Yes, I’m his disciple. Do you know Grandpa?”
“Disciple… I see. That explains a lot. Know him? I was the one who forged his sword! Well, to be precise, it was a matter of me and that Mark guy forging swords, and he’d use the better one.”
This place, the Blacksmith Van, receives large-scale orders from the country.
It’s not surprising that he would know Grandpa, who was a Royal Knight.
I heard that Mark’s Weapon Shop and Blacksmith Van used to compete in making weapons.
They might have been holding some kind of weapon competition in the country.
“That sword, it was a sword that belonged to the royal family. I saw that sword before, so I thought I was senile.”
“Even though it’s such an impactful sword.”
Fina, that one comment…
“Gah! Don’t say that. But it’s true that I was saved by that sword this time. I can’t keep losing to the blacksmithing techniques of the past!”
Well, anyway, I’m glad that Van seems to have regained his motivation.
“That being said, the sword I’ll make for Neil will also be a special one.”
“Special?”
Neil’s eyes lit up.
Van’s face also looked playfully happy.
Fina had a slightly exasperated look on her face.
Fina’s face looks just like that.
Back in my previous life, when I was an elementary school student, the boys were excited about robot anime.
It looks just like the expression of Yamada, a girl who happened to be nearby.
“First of all, about the materials. The closure of the mine hasn’t been lifted yet, right?”
“That’s right. We’ll be entering the investigation tomorrow.”
“I see. Actually, there’s wootz steel that can only be mined in the Fifth Mine.”
“The Fifth Mine?”
We’re going into the Sixth Mine.
I thought maybe I could conveniently pick it up along the way, but I guess I can’t.
Well, if we do something about the source, maybe that closure will be lifted as well.
“I want to use that as the material, but unfortunately, there’s not enough stock. So I’ll have to wait for that to be resolved. Unfortunately. There’s no helping it, so I’ll lend Neil a weapon for the time being.”
“Ah, thank you very much.”
“It was a bastard sword, right? You can take whatever you like from our shop.”
“I can have Blacksmith Van’s weapon? Yes!”
“Hey, hey, in a little while, you’ll be holding the weapon I forged, right? Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
“Ah, that’s right. I’m starting to tremble.”
Neil is very excited today.
He’s happy about the new weapon, but I hope he doesn’t get hurt.
“Well, then, I’ll take my leave for today.”
“Okay. I’m waiting for good news. Well, if you’re Tim’s disciple, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about!”