章節 146: The Moon's Favorite Daughter (1)

Yae was fine.

She was calm, she was mature, she had no vices other than gluttony. But if you think about it, that makes sense. She was always training and trying to improve herself. That needs a lot of energy, those who wish to build themselves always needed to eat a lot, and never would they gain unnecessary fat.

She walked with a floaty kind of grace that nonetheless had her surely hooked to the ground with each step as if with steel cables, that was the sure footing of a martial artist. I could be pushed around, that was the foundation of my fighting style, but a swordswoman was meant to be stable as the mountain, swift as the wind, and dark and impenetrable as the jungle.

There was something soothing about Yae's expression, the way her perfect zen accepted everything without thought or conditions. Her eyes were alert, but it was impossible to discern what she was thinking. Ah, ever the inscrutable Oriental, who knows what tempers lie beneath that soft visage?

Like the old saying goes, clear waters run deep.

I grinned as we walked through Berge's market district. But as an Oriental myself, I knew what goes on behind that mask.

And that state is 'Meh.'

"Hey, Yae, want some meat skewers?" I pointed to a little tent selling barbecued meat.

"Hai!" She pivoted instantly to walk towards it, no hesitation whatsoever.

Yae just didn't give a damn. People with lines in their forehead furrow their brows too much. They worry all the time. People who don't stress about things will remain young for much longer.

Well fortunately Monika is a digital existence so she doesn't need to have worry lines unless she wants to. I was not a very creative person, it's a good thing I was just a consumer of media instead of its producer. Ah! How wonderful to just be able to steal other people's hard work and good ideas. Commercial and intellectual giants of the other world, I salute you! I who stands on the shoulder of giants standing on other giants… am in outer space. Wait shit this metaphor got away from me.

"Wait, stop. We need to be strategic about this."

Yae paused in front of the meat skewer seller. The woman with faintly racoon features looked away from us back to fanning the fire. She had no time for anyone's drama either.

"It can't be just beef all the time, we need appreciate different tastes to clean our palates" I continued. "We should have pork, and lamb, and chicken, and goat, and grilled salmon, and squid... and what other kinds of meat are there in Mismede? Maybe I should have kept some of that dragon meat…"

She turned to me and beamed, her eyes glittering and filled with awe. "What a wonderful idea, Playa-dono!"

"Dragon meat is poisonous, you need to bury it underground for a year before it gets safe to eat," the skewer seller noted idly.

It's actually quite impressive you know that, random meat skewer seller lady.

As if feeling the disbelief in my masked gaze, she looked up and sniffed contemptuously. She was looking down on the stupid tourist, clearly.

Yeah I deserved that, probably.

She said while picking at her large rounded ears, "What? It's just common sense. Everyone knows that. Dragons kill villages, don't you think at some point those who manage to kill a dragon want some revenge? Some idiots thought maybe that eating the flesh of strong monsters give them power or something. But that's why a lot of monster beasts are poisonous, they can only eat each other."

"But aren't dragons not classified as monster beasts? They are thinking beings, aren't they?"

"What do dragons *eat*?"

… Very astute. I surrender to your superior knowledge, old lady.

It took a bit more walking around but Yae ended up carrying something like a boquet. Only instead of flowers, meat. I had a small wrap of some shawarma-like object in local pita bread. I had a feeling I was being drastically overcharged, but eh, it's Jamukha's money anyway.

Like, would I really do all that roadwork for free? Heck no. Give me an expense account, you two kings.

The blacksmith stared at us oddly as we entered his shop. "I was wondering what was smelling so delicious…"

Two strange visitors were at his doorway. The way the two walked in like everything was perfectly normal with this was unusual even for Mismede. Yae jabbed a sharpened stick into her meat bouquet.

Nom.

I opened up with "We're here to buy some blades. Just some steel good for battle, nothing too fancy."

The blacksmith looked like a minotaur. There were different types of beastkin, some looking more animal and some human with just odd parts tacked on. This one was a huge, almost as big as King Jamukha, his biceps alone were bigger than my whole torso!

"All right. I'm Rogram, you see here these are what I've got." He gestured to the weapon racks around him. "Why didn't you go to a weapons shop?"

"We want *blades*, not new weapons."

"I see. All right. Show me what I have to work with."

We presented the hilts of our ruined weapons. Rogram scratched at the remaining metal. His nails actually left gouges in the steel. "Flat, single-sided blades. Soft core? Mmm. Eashan curved blade, I know this." He looked up and noted "I can only give you some pattern welded blades, I don't know exactly how they make these swords."

Damascus-style blades would be good too! "It's an interim solution, if you don't mind. Yae… are you fine with just something that's slightly off balance to what you're used to?"

"It is of no consequence, Playa-dono. I had tried out straight sabers at Restia Knight Kingom too, that I have. I will have no problem, Kokonoe Sword Style does not rely on the fast draw as much, it does not."

"All right. Let me see what I can do about this." He took the hilts and moved to the back of his shop. This shop was recommended to us because its owner could withstand greater temperatures, and he could make better quality steel.

"This is fine, right?" I asked. "This isn't something that's breaking a taboo or the dignity of your family?"

"Yumina-sama already asked me this, I have no attachment to my weapons. How about you, Playa-dono? Yours is a named weapon, is it not? My own blade are but tools of killing, I can fight with anything from bare hand to long spear. But you… pardon my saying so, but a novice should stick with what they are comfortable with, that they should."

I had only managed to replace the staff portion, with the heavy steel ring at the pommel of the long spear-like shaft. Without a blade, it was the perfect height for a cane or walking stick. The blunt end could still be used like some sort of mace. It was the only thing that surprisingly survived being used as ammo for a magic railgun.

While I could have picked up another one at Belfast, the sword-spear was really nothing very special in material quality. Unlike Yae, I could not use my fighting spirit to make my sword arbitrarily sharper and more durable on the cut.

"Zanzibar, the great saber… is notable only because it's MY sword, you know? It doesn't have to be any particular sword. I'll probably have to go through a lot of versions before I can find one that matches my sword and magic style."

"You are going to try for a magic conductive blade, are you not?"

"Good guess. Though I think something that was once 'alive' would also help with what you're trying." I passed her a bottle of fruit juice. Surprisingly, people in this magic world had already invented drinking straws. "That's why this is an interim solution."

She paused before taking a drink to cleanse her palate. "I… I am not sure this one can accept such munificence, Playa-dono."

"You helped kill a dragon. It's only fair that you get a chance at seeing how swords made out of dragon fangs will perform. Jamukha's own smiths are working on it, but in case we need to fight – obviously we can't be left weaponless in an emergency."

"Hai."

There were no problems in the blacksmith's shop. Within the hour, Rogram emplaced fitting blades to our weapons, and even managed to match the curve of Yae's katana from what would have been a tulwar. My Zanzibar MK II had a straight single-edged blade reminiscent of cavalry saber.

And we were done. Ah! How easy it was to shop for Yae.

Would definitely go on more shopping trips with girls if it were this easy. Being a prodigal was surprisingly hard work!