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Volume 4 Chapter 10.5

Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes

Sensing other people within the magic blockade as soon as Mio reported in, Hiroshi upped the suspicious meter. Dressing up as a dodgy looking old man and changing his voice to fit the role was quite the impressive facade. This time someone who was of interest had arrived, so the product lineup was now at 100% guessing. If these individuals could get through the dubiousness of it all and recognize the big hit item (which had slightly less camouflage than the others), it was their victory.

「Is this the place, Kate？」

「You can almost tell how intentional the shade is here……」

　Shortly after preparations were complete, the young targets had arrived at the shop. Needless to say, these young folks were John and the other two girls. This was quite the sight to see, but Hiroshi was actually happy to see this.

　If this guy could already deal with more than one carnivorous woman, that would decrease the chances of Hiroshi being hounded would decrease. Normally these were Hiroshi’s mortal enemies, and without a man they liked, their attacks would only increase in intensity. Thankfully, this world was quite magnanimous in allowing one person to have multiple partners, so the more men out there like him would mean less risk for beings like Hiroshi.

「Hey lady, are those two the ones with the purse strings？」

「Mm, yes. More accurately, we really need to get a new sword for this guy.」

「Well, I thought someone’d be showin’ up about now, ‘n I have out some of my finest goods, so feel free to pick out somethin’. Everything’s 10,000 doma, mate.」

　Hiroshi offered these items all at well-past exceptional prices. Jon had a really suspicious look on his face, and Arisa wasn’t looking especially pleasant either.

「I don’t think you’d be able to tell just by starin’. Go on ahead ‘n feel ‘em in yer hands.」

「It’s not…cursed or anything, right？」

「Everything here’s stuff my student made, so rest assured they ain’t got enough skill to make cursed swords.」

　Explaining one reason why the price was so low, Hiroshi tried to relax his customers. Jon, who seemed to have accepted the reason to an extent, began earnestly surveying the goods to see if there was truly a bargain to find.

「You said you have a student, so I assume you’re a blacksmith？」

「Well, somethin’ along those lines, yup.」

　Hiroshi responded to Kate’s sudden question with a shady smile on his face to accompany his tone of voice. The unpleasant part of all of this was just how he wasn’t telling a lie but also wasn’t anywhere close to the truth.

「Hey, I’ll throw in a hint, how ‘bout that. There’s one l’il sucker in the bunch that’s a bit touched up and tougher than the rest.」

「……Uhh, yeah, hold up there old man. Who the heck are you？」

　Now that Hiroshi had offered an unnecessary hint, Jon the main target was beyond serious. He glared at Hiroshi with a scary face.

「Who am I? Whatcha mean, boi？」

「Stop playing the fool. There are enchantments on every sword I see here. These aren’t things you can just sell for 10,000 doma.」

「Well yeah, of course yer gonna find one or two enchantments. Without ‘em you’d be stuck with class three items, at least from my point of view.」

　Jon frowned at the term “class three”. These swords, even without all the enchantments, were slightly better quality than regular swords. If these were truly class three weapons, then most of what was in Stiren was equal to a pile of scrap. Jon knew he wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed, but he certainly wasn’t so ignorant that he couldn’t at least point that out.

「Well hey, even if this old man’s a lil bit shady, these are some good prices for y’all youngsters, so why worry ‘bout it?」

「……I really don’t like that answer, but whatever……」

　While a bit put-off at all of this, Jon tried to look on the brighter side of things and took a few swords into his hands to examine them. When he had taken the fourth longsword out from the row of eight, his facial expression changed.

「Hey old man. Is this one the same price as the rest？」

「Right on the money sonny」

「Then I’ll go with this one.」

　Jon said as he held out the weapon. Just as Hiroshi had intended, it was the magically modified weapon he had dubbed “Defender Sword”.

「Right on the mark, boyo. Now, in respect of yer sharp eyes, I’ll throw in a lil somethin’ extra for 5,000 more. How ‘bout it?」

「Extra? Like what？」

「A ring that heals its wearer’s wounds ‘n stamina as long as ya put mana into it. Put a bunch in at once and ya get effects lastin’ up to fifteen seconds. And I threw in just a lil defense boost ‘n life boost for free.」

「……No, I’m pretty sure that isn’t something you sell just for 5,000……」

　Arisa interjected in an exasperated tone at the word “for free”. She was completely confident that this so-called “extra” could be resold for enough money to retire and live comfortably.

「Yer free to use it how ya like, but it’s personalized to its owner. I don’t think yer gonna have an easy time sellin’ it, y’know？」

「……No, we’re grateful for your kindness. We won’t do that.」

「But I bet ya thought about it, didn’tcha？」

　The suspicious shopowner responded, almost as if seeing right through her, and Arisa covered her reddened face instinctively.

「So it’s a total of 15,000, yeah？」

「Yup, that’s it.」

　Ignoring Arisa and her embarrassment at being exposed for her shallowness, Jon jumped to purchasing. After paying up, he lightly swung the sword and checked the balance.

「……I think this sword could get me pretty far into the tournament.」

「Well ain’t that nice. Break a leg out there, mate.」

「Yeah. Also, maybe this is indulging too much, but……」

　At that point he cut off, turning to look at the two girls staring his way before speaking up again.

「Are there any weapons suitable for these two? The ones they have here are fine, but now that I’ve seen this sword, I sorta want a bit more, you know……」

「Aight. Before I do that, can I have a look at that there sword dangling from yer waist？」

「This old thing? Its blade is done for and it wasn’t even a good weapon in the first place.」

　Jon said as he handed the sword to the shopkeeper, not missing a beat. He seemed to now only see Hiroshi as a strange person rather than a bad one.

「……Aight, I think I get the picture.」

「Not very impressive, right？」

「Maybe, but what I do gather is that yer someone who takes good care of yer partners.」

　Listening to Hiroshi, the girls had oddly happy looks on their faces. In fact, Jon’s sword was always well taken care of, with hardly a scratch on it. You wouldn’t be able to tell it was a second-rate sword that he had used for two years. Yes, it was old and probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer no matter what you did, but if Jon hadn’t fought so fiercely in this tournament, it could very well have lasted around two more years. If Jon had not been the owner, it would very likely have broken from use long ago.

　Then again, Hiroshi had actually understood this from what he saw in the battle royale preliminaries, but watching was one thing and actually touching was another thing. Hiroshi always wanted to be up close for appraising these sorts of things.