Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival-Chapter 74

Prestige

“Pendulums?”

“Here.”

Galbas twisted his head, and when I showed him the stringed dark weapon from the Shadow Storage and swung it lightly, his face lit up like a child who had seen an interesting toy.

“A piercing weapon? Or a weapon to bind with a string?”

“It can be used for both. Originally, I used weights. Sometimes I swing it around to cut, but when I use it that way, it’s less powerful, so I’d like you to do something about that.”

“The problem with less power is the center of gravity. It’s important to have a balance between not too light and not too heavy. What material are you thinking about?”

“I’m not picky, but I want something that won’t get blood stains on it.”

“Then, I’d like to use magic iron… Victor, can you get magic iron ore?”

Victor…? Galbas called out, and the old man from the general store, who was looking at the dark tools with amusement, smiled.

“There is nothing in this town that I can’t get! Ash-haired, this weapon is not from this country. A weapon from the west… rare.”

“This is a weapon of the Justa Empire… Hey, ash-haired, you’re not with the Viro kid anymore, do you still have my knife?”

“Sure.”

I held out the black knife strapped to the back of my waist, Galbas pulled the black knife from its sheath and scowled slightly.

“It looks like you’ve been taking care of it, but it seems like you’ve been in some pretty spectacular battles… Weapons made of magical steel aren’t as good as mithril, but they regenerate little by little with the owner’s magical power, just like magical materials. That’s why it would be fine if it was left with fine scratches and even a nicked blade.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s a weapon, you idiot, so it’s natural for it to be damaged. This is a half-baked weapon that is only sharp and lacks prestige. You have gotten pretty strong, by the looks of it, haven’t you?”

This black knife was a work of Galbas’s youth, and he gave it to me because it was a half-baked weapon. So, he thought this knife was no longer suitable for me.

That was not the case, though.

“Ummm. This is useful for my fighting style. Even if I can’t use it properly, this knife is the weapon I intended to use.”

The only reason the knife got damaged was that I was still inexperienced in my craft. Galbas crossed his arms and contemplated quietly.

I was not one to get hung up on weapons, but I’d come to believe that the fact that this knife had remained in my hand even after I’d almost lost it several times made it a good choice for me.

Galbas plucked one of the large gold coins scattered across the table and tossed it, and Victor grabbed it in midair as it flew over in his direction.

“Victor!! You prepare the materials with it. I’ll design the weapon.”

“Oh, I’m on it.”

“…You’re going to make it?”

I asked them, who were suddenly getting excited. They took one of the large gold coins themselves and pushed the rest back to me.

“Leave it to idiots like us, how could we reject such an interesting job!”

“But will there be enough materials for the magic iron weapon…”

Viro had said before. A knife of magical steel would cost 5 gold coins, and Galbas’s early work would cost at least 10 gold coins.

“Don’t worry about that, kid! Hey, Victor!”

“That’s the thing. It’s just a hobby for us, old men. Hahahaha.”

“…Thank you.”

I bowed to them both, and they laughed at me, then Victor patted me on the head as if he were doing it for his grandchildren.

“Ash-haired, come back here in a month or so. And leave that knife behind. I’ll prepare a new weapon in exchange for it.”

“…Yeah, okay.”

A month. That’s pretty fast for a new weapon.

I thanked both of them again, handed over the black knife, and was about to leave the forge when Galbas stopped me in a hurry.

“Hey, Ash-haired! You’re going without a replacement weapon, what are you going to do for a month?”

“I don’t have anything else I want to use except that knife. And I have a weapon.”

Galbas and Victor spewed out their drinks and held their heads as if they had a headache when I showed them my hidden equipment.

“That equipment…Gelf? He made up some weird shit…”

“…Hey, look, Ash-haired. It’s none of our business, but since you’re a young woman, don’t show your legs so easily in front of a man!”

“Hmm? Okay.”

According to that woman’s knowledge, young women often showed their legs, but I didn’t know, also they certainly didn’t show off their hidden weapons.

“…Wait a bit.”

Galbas nodded at me with a mysterious look on his face, and for some reason, with his head in his hands again, he got up and went to the back and handed me something wrapped in leather that he had brought with him.

“Take this one along instead. It’s probably just the right weapon for you right now.”

He opened the leather package to reveal a strangely shaped magical steel dagger.

The blade was about the same length as a black knife. It’s a single edge-only piercing weapon, but the cross-section was square with sharp corners, and it seemed strong.

I lightly brandished and thrust it as a test. It was heavier than the black knife, but it seemed to be able to penetrate even the thick skull of a demon and the joints of its armor without bending.

“What are you talking about, obstinate old man, isn’t that the one you’ve been working on after you gave the knife to Ash-haired?”

“Shut up sidelined, obstinate old man!”

I bowed my head once more to the two of them, who for some reason started fighting again.

***

Equipped with a black dagger instead of a black knife, I went to the Adventurers’ Guild.

The guild in this town, which was close to the monster habitat and near the ruins, was the largest in the area.

There were more than a hundred adventurers who came and went at any given time, and it was said that 30% of them were Rank 3 or above, so even the baron, the lord of the town, could not force them into the guild.

When I opened the door and entered the guild, there were about 20 adventurers, and several of them gave me sharp stares.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been in such a situation. I had been with Viro before, so nothing happened, but there were those who didn’t find it as amusing as a half-baked adventurer if a pre-adult child was wearing adequate equipment.

In my experience, taking off my cloak and showing that I was a woman changed the atmosphere of the place a little, but either way, it only changed the reason why people would get involved, so I proceeded straight to the counter and saw the woman at the reception desk. The woman at the reception desk looked at me and her eyes widened a little.

“Oh my, are you…”

“I need you to check my registration rank. I’m Rank 3 in proximity.”

The reason I came to the Adventurer’s Guild was to update my Rank.

The reason I kept the Rank 1 card until now was because if I didn’t show a rank that was appropriate for my age, I would get involved with troublesome people, and it’d be easy to fool those around me.

But now that I’d grown up to about 13–14 years old, I’d decided that there were more advantages than disadvantages to updating my Rank.

At Rank 1, you could only go in and out of the towns you had registered, but at Rank 2, you no longer had to pay tolls to any town in that territory, and at Rank 3, you only needed to pay tolls when crossing the territory, but all towns were free to go in and out.

But still, some people didn’t seem to take kindly to that.

“What the heck is a Rank 3 kid? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

One of the adventurers who seemed to be negotiating with the receptionist at a nearby counter suddenly shouted.

“…”

Total Combat Power around 200. A Human male in his late 20s. Judging from his physical and magical strength values, he was a typical vanguard type Rank 2.

If his Combat Power was 200, it might be possible for him to be around Rank 3 with these numbers, but he probably tried to strengthen multiple skills which increased his Combat Power, but could still not be evaluated as Rank 3.

To properly reach Rank 3 one must focus only on improving one or two skills, but this man with his experience would most likely be stronger than those types who simply focused on raising their rank.

That was why he felt that it was cheating for a child to become Rank 3, so he could not reconcile with this thought and started antagonizing me.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

But…what did that have to do with me?

“The guild determines the rank of adventurers! Don’t be so presumptuous!”

The woman at the reception desk I approached stood up from her seat and countered.

But that would be counterproductive in this case.

“If this kid is Rank 3, then I should be Rank 3 too! The appraisal was wrong. If she’s Rank 3, she has to prove it!”

When the man pulled out his one-handed sword, the adventurers in the guild cheered and shouted as if a festival had started.

Perhaps this was a common occurrence. None of the adventurers stopped him, and the rest of the staff moved back, as if they had given up, while the man’s friends surrounded the area to keep me from escaping to let him do what he wanted.

There were five of them, including the man.

If the man had left me alone or simply antagonized me, I would have stopped with barely killing them, but since they pointed their blades at me, five or so deaths should be a tolerable excuse.

The ashes from my illusion were thinly spread on my hair, which was hidden by the hood, sparkling slightly as I grabbed the metal clasp of my cloak as my hair flowed out of the hood.

The grinning face of the man who seemed to be a fellow scout instantly turned pale and broke out in an unusual amount of sweat.

“…Ah, wait, wait, I had nothing to do with this! This guy just got me involved on his own! I had nothing to do with him!!!!”

The scout let out a cry of distress and backed away, throwing down his weapon.

“Hey!”

“What’s going on?”

The scout shrieked as he shook off their hands and tried to escape.

“Stop it! Stay away from me! I’m not against you! Don’t kill me! Our guild is not against the Ash Crowned Princess!”

“…”

The scout screamed and rolled out of the guild. Some of the adventurers who had been cheering him on turned pale and also ran out of the guild, leaving a delicate atmosphere in the place.

Oh, I see. He was not an adventurer scout, but a member of this barony’s Thieves’ Guild.

Ash Crowned Princess was a nickname they started calling me via the Thieves’ Guild after my body had grown up to what it was now.

Normally, an alias was irrelevant once you left the area, but I didn’t know what kind of communication network the guilds had, but recently the adventurers’ guilds and assassins had all started calling me that as well.

The scout’s attitude was probably influenced by the destruction of the combat faction of the Marquis of Kendras’ Thieves’ Guild, which was feared as much as the Dandol’s Thieves’ Guild in the northern borderlands.

I wonder what kind of nefarious rumors were circulating… For now, it seemed that the Thieves’ Guilds in this region would not get involved in vain.

“…tsk.”

Perhaps swallowed by the subtle atmosphere even if they didn’t understand the situation, the adventurer guy who started the incident clicked his tongue and moved away, and his companions looked at me eerily and followed him.

“I am sorry. Please forgive him if you can. His hometown is in a bit of trouble, and he’s been in a foul mood. Nevertheless…”

The woman at the reception desk earlier said this, then looked at me sternly and slumped her shoulders gruffly.

“You… you were a girl, huh?”

I remembered that she was the receptionist when I registered with the Adventurers’ Guild, and she treated me well at the time.

But still, with the soldier at the gate and the man I just met, what happened in this barony?

“What happened?”

“It’s…”

“Aria?”

Suddenly, a boyish voice called out to me, and I turned to see a somewhat familiar boy staring at me with a stunned expression on his face.

Behind him, looking even more astonished than the receptionist, her hands and knees on the floor.

“Aria… was a girl.”

I looked at the dejected girl of about 10 years old, and her reaction finally reminded me of the two of them.

“Long time no see, Gill, Shuri.”

They were the first orphaned siblings I had met in this baron’s town, who had been living in a slum.