Chapter 25 – What Good Subordinates and Desirable Bosses Look Like
Arriving at the commercial district, the vice-captain and I had to be extra careful not to get swept away by the crowds.
On the wide road in the center, numerous wagons were moving rattlingly, and on the sidewalks spread out on both sides, various different races, which were rarely seen, were roaming around.
In the commercial district, only wagons that have been approved in advance are allowed to pass, so inevitably they have to leave the wagons and walk around. Since this was an imperial edict, there were no exceptions even for the nobility.
“Keureuk… What kind of human race has that kind of energy…”
“The smell of blood and death emanates from a human who has not lived at least a hundred years. What kind of life have you lived?”
As I passed by, some other races with sensitive senses were openly wary of me, but it didn’t matter as long as they didn’t get into a fight.
“This place is truly phenomenal! It’s like being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of something.”
The vice-captain was turning his head here and there as if he was curious about the strange looking alien races and large buildings.
The reaction of a naive country girl that doesn’t go well with her arrogant appearance is very unfamiliar.
Well, after leaving the house, did you say that he lived an ascetic life, repeating work and training without leaving the knights and the lodging?
If that was the case, I would have reacted like that. Even I, who often visit here, am amazed at how new it feels every time I come.
“I agree. Listening to what you say, it seems a bit like a battlefield. Instead of clashing spears and knives, it’s like a battlefield where you fight by scattering gold.”
“The words sound somehow meaningful, but…”
As we walked while chatting with the vice-captain, we arrived at our destination before we knew it.
A huge blast furnace standing tall in the middle of the commercial district.
It looks dangerous, but since it has a special mystery, there was no tremendous heat leaking out.
—Ground, land!
The sound of hammering ceaselessly coming from the smithy built under the furnace is already making my ears tingle.
As we got closer, the thick smell of bituminous coal wafted up.
“Well, we’ve arrived. Didn’t both you and I break the armor in the last battle? Let’s get new armor here.”
“Yes. Of course that’s fine, but there’s a warning written there. Can I go in?”
[Absolutely no visitors! Orders for armaments are absolutely not allowed!]
“Don’t worry too much about it because the owner is playful and is doing this on purpose.”
“It’s not a joke… It looks like the door is locked.”
Old man Eitri, his bad taste is still the same.
In the middle of a commercial district where countless people come and go, he proudly sets up a blacksmith shop. That was written with the intention of just feeding the guests.
I guess I wouldn’t accept anyone as a guest if I didn’t know them.
Like Master, longevity servants who have lived for a long time sometimes act like children, perhaps because they have aged too much.
“Old man, can you hear me? This is me! I’m going in!”
“Where are you coming in! A disciple of a devil-like gnome! I’m working, so don’t disturb me!”
That meant it was nice to see you after a long time.
As I opened the door and went inside, the eyes of numerous blacksmiths of various races focused on me at once.
A scale larger than that of ten forges put together. The room was filled with heat and the smell of iron.
The vice-captain seemed to hesitate for a moment at the magnificent appearance, which was different from the normal blacksmith, but then quietly followed me.
As I went further inside, I heard a loud voice that sounded like thunder.
“How! Master and disciple paired up to bully this old man! What did you come here for again this time! Could it be that you couldn’t overcome your own strength and smashed the armor again? A goddamn monster!”
“It’s nice to see you again after a long time, Mr. Eitri.”
— Jump!
An old dwarf sitting on a high workbench in the center of a blazing furnace, hammering, jumped straight in front of me.
The dwarf’s distinctive short stature, bald head without a single strand of thread, and long white beard were impressive.
“You! Cheeky little bastard! Why did you bring the old woman’s ice cube next to you?”
“Sorry for the sudden visit, senior. You have an important task ahead of you with a precious subordinate.”
“Eh, tsk!”
Eitri’s inspiration came out with a disapproving look, glanced at her vice-captain, and led us to her own office/warehouse.
“I think he doesn’t like me, but maybe I’ve come to a place where I shouldn’t be…”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t express your image. The elder speaks a little harshly, but he’s a warm-hearted person on the inside, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“Stop talking nonsense and follow me!”
The vice-captain couldn’t easily adapt to the atmosphere unique to this place, and seemed quite embarrassed.
When she arrived at the warehouse, her expression, which had been full of confusion and bewilderment, soon turned to pure wonder. It’s a place where horses are not different from a warehouse.
“Oh my God… So many swords and armor, each one of them is a masterpiece.
“Ha! You have eyes for a block of ice. Except for the fact that you’re wearing a crappy piece of metal as a knife, it’s a much better attitude than that cheeky little guy.”
As the vice-captain said, there were cool weapons and armors of considerable quality on display here.
But those are just the tip of the iceberg, and the real masterpieces of inspiration were kept in hidden underground caves down there.
I thought I wouldn’t reveal that to the vice-captain who visited for the first time today.
“You, block of ice! I don’t like the way you’re wearing a sword like that, so come over here!”
“Yes? Isn’t there a dirt floor with nothing there?”
—Koo-Goo-Gung!
Hearing compliments made him feel better.
As expected, he spoke a bit bluntly, but he was a very easy-to-understand and affectionate old man. Since he is my subordinate, he must be paying attention in his own way.
Besides, her sword was broken in the last battle, so the appearance of her using a mass-produced weapon seems to have stimulated her unique craftsmanship.
Old Man Eitri, who went down to the underground armory and came up quickly, handed out a rapier with a cool chill to the vice-captain.
“This…?”
“Now! It’s the perfect sword for you. It’s a pretty elaborate item, but since that damn kid is a treasured subordinate, I’ll show it specially. You can try swinging it.”
Her hand that held the sword trembled several times. She knew right away that she was no ordinary object.
Eitri old man was a master craftsman who had made thousands of weapons by hammering her hammer for three months over hundreds of years and had numerous celebrities as her clients.
—Goooh…
An unusually cold feeling. There was probably no other weapon that suited the vice-captain better than that.
“That’s amazing…”
“How is it! It’s just right? Even the ice block, who knows what kind of knight commander or general, really liked his brother’s sword. Would you like to buy it?”
As if to prove my expectations, as soon as he grabbed the hilt of the sword, the vice-captain’s eyes instantly turned into passion. As for her, she would never want to miss this opportunity.
“No, of course I’ll buy it. But, how much will I have to pay?”
“1500 gold! Originally, I should have received several times more, but I just take the material cost.”
— Hiccup!
Hearing the price, the vice-captain’s expression instantly hardened. It certainly wasn’t cheap.
However, it seemed to me that the inspiration was really generous. 1500 gold, let alone 10,000 gold, in my view, was the most valuable of treasures.
Probably, weapons are sold for free thanks to the peculiar philosophy of the old craftsman to find a suitable owner.
After pondering for a long time, the vice-captain finally made a difficult decision.
“Okay. 1500 gold, I’ll pay.”
“Okay, good choice. Ask one of the students outside to write the contract. It’s yours now.”
“Thank you. By the way… Would you like to pay in installments?”
“What?”
Older Eitri was dumbfounded, but eventually nodded her head. Then the vice-captain looked at me and smiled broadly like a child.
“Captain. I’ve never seen such an excellent sword in my life… I think it’s worth investing all my money into.”
“Congratulations. It’s all your luck to have a good weapon.”
Leaving behind the vice-captain, who was making a mysterious expression of half joy and half worry as he carefully swept his sword body, I brought up the business of being here to the old man.
“Senior, I need two decent suits of armor. I’d like it to be completed in a week if possible.”
“A week? That’s enough! One suit is yours, and the other is his?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“Okay. Take care of the small things on your own with the guys outside.”
The armor order ended with that.
Since he had already gone through numerous transactions with old man Eitri, there was no need for much conversation between them.
“I’m going to work now, come out on your own after the body measurements are done.”
“Thank you, old man!”
“Damn it. I still have a lot of work, but you’ve made it even more annoying. Whether it’s a teacher or a disciple…”
He mumbled something as if he didn’t like it and went outside leaving the vice-captain and me in the storage room.
Rather than being genuinely dissatisfied, he was just embarrassed by his eccentric personality.
When the inspiration disappeared, several tape measures flew in and began to wrap around our bodies.
I don’t know what it’s called, but it was an item that was often used in high-end clothing stores because it didn’t have to make uncomfortable contact for body measurements.
However, the vice-captain looked rather perplexed. It was probably the first time something like this had happened.
“Captain? What is this?”
“They’re taking body measurements. Keep them still with your arms outstretched.”
“Oh, I see… You’re going through a lot of very strange things today.”
— Kwak!
However, while measuring the body, a very embarrassing scene was created.
“Uh, uhm…”
It was because the tape measure around her vice-captain’s chest almost dug into her large breasts.
Even that was not enough, the tape measure, which looked very difficult, fell powerlessly to the floor, failing to measure the entire circumference of her chest.
Seeing this, the two of us couldn’t help but be at a loss for words at the same time.
A quick glance revealed that the tape measure had snapped at the part indicating the second half of 90cm.
It may have been broken from the beginning, but it seems to have done its job without any problems so far. Most of the female knights have slim bodies.
In the end, when the measurement of body measurements was finished in all parts except for one place, the tape measures that had fulfilled their role fell to the floor all at once.
The vice-captain quietly picked up the tape measure used to measure her height and held it out to me.
“…I can’t help it. Maybe the captain will give me a second?”
“Me? Are you really going to be okay?”
“Mu, of course it’s embarrassing… But it’s okay if it’s the captain.”
I moved closer to her, carrying her two-meter tape measure.
As I held a long piece of rope around her chest from behind a small woman, I felt as if I had committed a grave sin.
“I’m sorry…!”
“Don’t make strange noises. It seems like you’re doing something harsh.”
“I’m sorry.”
The vice-captain’s chest circumference was in the triple digits.
It felt like I was exposed to forbidden knowledge that I shouldn’t have known.
* * *
After the work at the forge was over, the vice-captain and I sat side by side in the carriage again.
Way back home anyway.
It was enough to move a little more, so he decided to take her to the dormitory dedicated to single female knights.
“Captain. Thank you very much for today. Thanks to introducing me to a good blacksmith, I got a great sword. How can I repay this grace…”
“What grace is. Elder Eitri is someone who never sells his sword to just anyone. It was meant to be in your hands from the beginning.”
“Thank you for saying that. It really feels like I’m dreaming.”
The vice-captain had a happy smile on his face as he cherished the newly acquired sword in his arms.
I smiled and watched him silently. As for me, I can only hope that she will fight better in this important mission.
After enjoying happiness for a while, the vice-captain cautiously opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind about something.
“Captain. I remember that I paid for the sword, but I still haven’t paid for the armor. If the bill comes, please show it to me. I will definitely pay for it.”
When I asked what he was so worried about, was it because of that?
“You don’t have to pay the price. Didn’t I break your armor in order to give you first aid at that time? I guess you can pay for it with this.”
“Huh? That’s ridiculous! Asking a lifesaver to compensate you for your losses during the rescue. That’s unreasonable!”
I quietly watched her look as if she was very perplexed.
I felt it all over again, but the vice-captain was a very upright person.
Armor is a consumable anyway, and it’s expensive, so it’s worth thousands of gold. That much was an amount that was not too burdensome considering that it was a gift for a precious subordinate. It seems that it wasn’t for her but for her.
Seeing the vice-captain from an aristocratic family tremble with only 1,500 gold, he must have been struggling financially for some reason.
“Please, please retract your will.”
Finally, she bowed her head to me.
If this is the case, how can I tell her to feel less burdened?
“Vice-captain. I told you this morning that I was going to tell you something important, didn’t I?”
“Yes. That’s right. Well, then what?”
I found the vice-captain’s unnecessarily serious appearance both admirable and cute, so I inadvertently patted her head.
“It’s really fine. You’re my most precious subordinate, so if you’re really uncomfortable, put on good armor and don’t get hurt as much as possible. That’s enough. I don’t need anything else.”
“Ahhh…”
I was feeling proud that I had become a good boss, but suddenly the vice-captain’s condition became a little strange.
Her face is too red, and her breathing is very rough. Looking at her, even her eyes were open.
“Vice-captain, Vice-captain Agnes! Are you okay?”
Damn this.
It was the aftereffect of mana runaway.
