Volume 5 Chapter 5 Part 2
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Translator: Kell | Editor: Ryunakama
“I believe the restoration took less than two years from when she took over.”
“Brilliant is an understatement, then.”
In that case, she definitely had her reasons for coming here. But what exactly was it? I might have been wrong to state in the letter that they could name their price. She could take all the profits from the healing medicines.
Such thoughts filled my mind as I waited for Myna’s arrival.
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“I’m here to deliver the stuff you asked for,” Myna said. “I couldn’t decide which ones you needed, so I brought all the possible options. You can pick just what you need.”
“All of them?” I asked. “Cardinal Georgis probably knows about this.”
“I think so. Carrying around the company banner would surely draw attention.”
Well, yeah. If they wanted to be secretive, they’d at least put the banner away. Hoisting it was like saying “The Maxia Trading Company is over here!”
It sounded like she knew exactly what would happen. In which case…
“Did you expose yourself on purpose?” I asked.
“Yes. Not to Cardinal Georgis, though. It was for the masses and the other firms.”
I see. She meant to show that the Maxia Trading Company was an ally of Count Meigis.
Looks like only Maxia was betting on our victory.
Talk about a huge responsibility. Losing this wager would put even her in a dangerous position.
“Sounds like a risky gamble.”
“That’s why the other trading firms were spooked. Those who haven’t seen you, at least.”
“Sure you were witness to that fight a while back, but aren’t you scared? The difference between our numbers is huge.”
“Of course I’m scared. But charging straight in with everything I’ve got for a winnable gamble is how I do things. The branch managers didn’t agree with me, though.”
Myna took out some letters from her pocket. Titled “Petition”, they were all from the managers of Maxia’s branch offices.
I didn’t have to look to know its contents. Probably something like, “Please don’t join their side,” or “At least do it secretly.” Myna came here, ignoring their pleas.
“Anyway, can you pick out your weapons?” Myna said. “We’ve gotta win first.”
“All right. There’s a lot of them, so it’s going to take some time.”
“I’ll wait, of course. I made sure to free my schedule.”
Very well-prepared, I see. I took out a list of people participating in the battle. I’d be choosing a weapon for all of them from the vast array of weapons available. Quite the hard work, but I just have to put some effort into it.
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“You really brought everything, huh?” I said as I went through the large number of weapons that Myna brought in, one by one.
The quality of the weapons varied, ranging from absolutely useless to just flawless. I could only describe it as a mixture of wheat and chaff. No wonder the caravan was huge.
“I did,” Myna said. “Even weapons I couldn’t see any use for. I had a feeling that you would make good use of them.”
“True. Your criteria for what makes a good weapon depends on your understanding of Skills. I’m glad you brought all of them.”
“I’m glad, then. Bringing this one was pointless, though.” Myna picked out a sword from the pile of weapons. “It looks to be unfinished.”
It was something that was shaped like a sword, but without a blade. Or if it was a sword, then it had a blade nearly five millimeters thick. Might as well call it a blunt weapon.
It couldn’t cut anything, of course. As for using it as a blunt weapon, there were better-shaped ones. At least, that’s what the common folk would think.
“I think we can use that one,” I said.
“What?!” Myna regarded the sword-like weapon in her hand.
“We’ll test them all out later, so you can watch then. But like I said, we can use that.”
“I’m glad we brought everything, then.” Myna placed the weapon in the box labeled ‘Might be Usable.’
Since there were so many weapons, we decided to first separate them into ‘usable’ and ‘unlikely to be used’. Ultimately the actual weapons would be picked from the former group, after taking into account the opinions of the users.
Only one weapon out of a hundred were selected for consideration. Even so, there were so many weapons to begin with, that many would still end up in the usable group.
“I’m surprised you can tell which one’s good so quickly,” Myna said as she watched me sort through the weapons.
With this number of weapons, examining them closely one by one was not an option. I simply glanced at them, and if my intuition told me it was useful, I tossed them into the ‘Usable’ box. Otherwise, I threw them in the other.
I probably used half a second checking each weapon. I was spending more time lifting them up and throwing them into the box.
“It’ll take forever unless I do it this way. I’ll just toss everything that might seem useful, even a little, into the Usable box.”
From an onlooker, it might look like I was picking randomly. The fact that it still took a while despite my speed was a testament to the sheer volume of weapons delivered.
“Is there a trick to it?” Myna asked.
“Trick, huh? I wasn’t really thinking about it.”
I made my decision the instant I laid eyes on the weapon. I was practically doing it subconsciously. If I actually tried to use my brain, I wouldn’t be able to maintain this speed.
However, there had to be a reason why I chose the weapons with great certainty. As I was carrying on with the selection, I understood why I was able to choose so fast.
“I get it now,” I said. “I’m not looking at the weapon itself. I’m looking at how it’s used.”
“What do you mean by that?” Myna asked.
“I look at the weapon and imagine how someone is gonna wield it. If it seems powerful, I pick it.”
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