160 Glasses Boy, Excited and Disappointed
“—You! You, you, you! Youuuuuu!”
The moment our gazes met, Beckenberg’s eyes went round.
He approached me, his bloodshot eyes right at the tip of my nose, before declaring.
“Because of you, we’re screwed! How are you going to take responsibility!?”
Eh?
…Eh?
No, wait.
Hold on a minute, Uncle.
“I have nothing to do with it.”
I was surprised, like, real surprised.
I never thought I’d be held responsible.
It was still unclear what they were arguing about, but the root of the problem was probably the lack of money.
As for the reason that happened, it was probably because Zett’s comrades robbed Beckenberg’s house last night. It seemed that I was in a pinch.
But think about it.
“I was only with him when the incident happened, and had nothing to do with the incident itself.”
After all, the robbery was Beckenberg’s scheme to kill Zett.
Therefore, rather than a victim, didn’t he deserve it?
“You should be accusing Zett instead of me.”
“Shut up! You put salt in my eyes, which delayed my initial response!”
No, no, wait.
“At that point, wasn’t everything already too late?”
I stayed with Zett until the robbery was over.
By the time Beckenberg had plenty of time to drink and wait for Zett, the robbery had already taken place. If you look at it in chronological order, it’d make sense.
As in, even if he’d responded quickly, it’d be to no avail.
Again, rather than a victim, wasn’t it just his own fault?
“—You damn bastard! Beckenberg, you should’ve taken care of your business first! Hurry up and leave!”
Beckenberg lashed out at me, but when the old man who’d been arguing with him yelled again, he clicked his tongue and left with his bodyguards.
Also, on a closer look, his bodyguards looked terribly fed up. However, because they were behind Beckenberg, the man himself couldn’t see it. Well, I was sure maintaining a calm expression wasn’t included in the escort fee.
…Even so, I was surprised.
I didn’t expect to meet Beckenberg in such a place.
…
I doubted my way home would be so peaceful. An ambush was more likely.
Let’s take a detour on the way home.
—All right.
The unexpected visitor left, and the old man, who was still fuming, turned his attention to me.
“Hey, Katsumi! Where’s the horse’s horn!? I told you to get it!”
Katsumi calmly dealt with the roar of anger. Perhaps, he was used to it.
“I’m about to get it. More importantly, I’ve brought a customer. Please listen to me—”
“Huuh!?”
—the old man, who was in the back, quickly came over.
…I thought he was short even from a distance, but up close, he was even shorter than me.
With deep wrinkles on his aged face, a pair of black eyes filled with fierce determination glared at me.
“This is a forge, you bastard! It’s not a place for women and children—huh…?”
I was sure he was about to yell at me, too.
However, he stared at me and didn’t continue his words.
“—See? It’s something else.”
Hm?
I couldn’t figure out what Katsumi meant by that, but he was probably referring to me.
—Then, I could feel the gramps’ anger, which hadn’t cooled down yet, was slowly subsiding.
“…A customer, I understand. Just hurry and bring me the horn.”
Katsumi left me alone with the gramps who suddenly calmed down.
“C’mere, Boy. I’ll listen to what you have to say.”
…
…I was seen through at a glance?
Apparently, he was no ordinary angry gramps.
***
“—I can’t really explain it, but the bone structures of men and women are fundamentally different. No matter how much you try to hide it, you can’t change what’s inside. I can tell right away. After all, it’s my job to discern the essence of things and transform them without difficulty.”
When asked how he knew, gramps replied as such.
I was offered the simple chair that Beckenberg had been sitting on until just a moment ago.
In the forge without a table, I sat across the gramps.
“Did you know as well, Katsumi?”
“About you dressing up as a woman? Not really, but I can tell that you aren’t ordinary. From the moment I first saw you, I thought that you’re an odd girl.”
I see… Uh, can you spare me the ‘weird’ part?
“So? Did you come to listen to Chace’s story, too?”
Eh?
“Aren’t you here for Chace?”
I was surprised that he suddenly mentioned that name, but the way he spoke about him made me curious.
“Am I mistaken? Two people have inquired about the same thing today. Beckenberg and a red-haired girl.”
…Red-hair, huh?
That was probably Lisse.
She probably came here after hearing rumors about a blue-haired man that defeated the King Horse.
Lisse was looking for us.
It was inevitable that she’d come here, and not just a pure coincidence.
—On the other hand, my coming here was pure coincidence.
“Sure, I’m curious about that story. But can we talk about work first?”
“Of course. Let’s do it. Since Katsumi was the one who sent you here, the material must be rare, isn’t it?”
I see.
Is this how the parent and child decide their next customer?
“I want to make a knife out of the fangs of the Obsidian Wolf.”
Thus, I held out the fang of the Obsidian Wolf.
“Huh? It’s that dog’s fang. It’s been a long time since I last saw it.”
Laughing happily like a child who was given a toy, the gramps received the fang and examined it carefully.
“…I was right. I remember this distinct hardness, and the structure…”
I see.
I didn’t doubt Roda—but it’s real?
“A knife, huh? It’s easy to clean, and even without proper maintenance, the blade won’t broke if used roughly. It’s going to serve you for a lifetime.”
Is that so? As expected of the fang of the Obsidian Wolf! This is awesome! I’m getting excited!
“It’s going to be expensive.”
“Huh?”
“—Listen, to process something this hard, not only would you require excellent tools, you’d also have to devote effort, time, and technology. After all, it’s not the same as making a kitchen knife or a frying pan out of scrap metal. If you bring in rare material and request first-class product, of course it’ll be expensive.”
…Well, certainly, I can see his point.
Huh.
Eh? Wasn’t I excited? Somehow, I’m now very calm.
“—Not enough, far from enough.”
When I told him the amount of money I received as an escort fee for Adyll, gramps mercilessly shook his head.
I knew it’d be that expensive, but apparently my money wasn’t enough.
Seeing how he drove Beckenberg away, I concluded that he wouldn’t accept bargaining, deferred payment, or paid-in-installments…
...It has to be up-front payment.
After all, even Beckenberg got turned away.
160 Glasses Boy, Excited and Disappointed
“—You! You, you, you! Youuuuuu!”
The moment our gazes met, Beckenberg’s eyes went round.
He approached me, his bloodshot eyes right at the tip of my nose, before declaring.
“Because of you, we’re screwed! How are you going to take responsibility!?”
Eh?
…Eh?
No, wait.
Hold on a minute, Uncle.
“I have nothing to do with it.”
I was surprised, like, real surprised.
I never thought I’d be held responsible.
It was still unclear what they were arguing about, but the root of the problem was probably the lack of money.
As for the reason that happened, it was probably because Zett’s comrades robbed Beckenberg’s house last night. It seemed that I was in a pinch.
But think about it.
“I was only with him when the incident happened, and had nothing to do with the incident itself.”
After all, the robbery was Beckenberg’s scheme to kill Zett.
Therefore, rather than a victim, didn’t he deserve it?
“You should be accusing Zett instead of me.”
“Shut up! You put salt in my eyes, which delayed my initial response!”
No, no, wait.
“At that point, wasn’t everything already too late?”
I stayed with Zett until the robbery was over.
By the time Beckenberg had plenty of time to drink and wait for Zett, the robbery had already taken place. If you look at it in chronological order, it’d make sense.
As in, even if he’d responded quickly, it’d be to no avail.
Again, rather than a victim, wasn’t it just his own fault?
“—You damn bastard! Beckenberg, you should’ve taken care of your business first! Hurry up and leave!”
Beckenberg lashed out at me, but when the old man who’d been arguing with him yelled again, he clicked his tongue and left with his bodyguards.
Also, on a closer look, his bodyguards looked terribly fed up. However, because they were behind Beckenberg, the man himself couldn’t see it. Well, I was sure maintaining a calm expression wasn’t included in the escort fee.
…Even so, I was surprised.
I didn’t expect to meet Beckenberg in such a place.
…
I doubted my way home would be so peaceful. An ambush was more likely.
Let’s take a detour on the way home.
—All right.
The unexpected visitor left, and the old man, who was still fuming, turned his attention to me.
“Hey, Katsumi! Where’s the horse’s horn!? I told you to get it!”
Katsumi calmly dealt with the roar of anger. Perhaps, he was used to it.
“I’m about to get it. More importantly, I’ve brought a customer. Please listen to me—”
“Huuh!?”
—the old man, who was in the back, quickly came over.
…I thought he was short even from a distance, but up close, he was even shorter than me.
With deep wrinkles on his aged face, a pair of black eyes filled with fierce determination glared at me.
“This is a forge, you bastard! It’s not a place for women and children—huh…?”
I was sure he was about to yell at me, too.
However, he stared at me and didn’t continue his words.
“—See? It’s something else.”
Hm?
I couldn’t figure out what Katsumi meant by that, but he was probably referring to me.
—Then, I could feel the gramps’ anger, which hadn’t cooled down yet, was slowly subsiding.
“…A customer, I understand. Just hurry and bring me the horn.”
Katsumi left me alone with the gramps who suddenly calmed down.
“C’mere, Boy. I’ll listen to what you have to say.”
…
…I was seen through at a glance?
Apparently, he was no ordinary angry gramps.
***
“—I can’t really explain it, but the bone structures of men and women are fundamentally different. No matter how much you try to hide it, you can’t change what’s inside. I can tell right away. After all, it’s my job to discern the essence of things and transform them without difficulty.”
When asked how he knew, gramps replied as such.
I was offered the simple chair that Beckenberg had been sitting on until just a moment ago.
In the forge without a table, I sat across the gramps.
“Did you know as well, Katsumi?”
“About you dressing up as a woman? Not really, but I can tell that you aren’t ordinary. From the moment I first saw you, I thought that you’re an odd girl.”
I see… Uh, can you spare me the ‘weird’ part?
“So? Did you come to listen to Chace’s story, too?”
Eh?
“Aren’t you here for Chace?”
I was surprised that he suddenly mentioned that name, but the way he spoke about him made me curious.
“Am I mistaken? Two people have inquired about the same thing today. Beckenberg and a red-haired girl.”
…Red-hair, huh?
That was probably Lisse.
She probably came here after hearing rumors about a blue-haired man that defeated the King Horse.
Lisse was looking for us.
It was inevitable that she’d come here, and not just a pure coincidence.
—On the other hand, my coming here was pure coincidence.
“Sure, I’m curious about that story. But can we talk about work first?”
“Of course. Let’s do it. Since Katsumi was the one who sent you here, the material must be rare, isn’t it?”
I see.
Is this how the parent and child decide their next customer?
“I want to make a knife out of the fangs of the Obsidian Wolf.”
Thus, I held out the fang of the Obsidian Wolf.
“Huh? It’s that dog’s fang. It’s been a long time since I last saw it.”
Laughing happily like a child who was given a toy, the gramps received the fang and examined it carefully.
“…I was right. I remember this distinct hardness, and the structure…”
I see.
I didn’t doubt Roda—but it’s real?
“A knife, huh? It’s easy to clean, and even without proper maintenance, the blade won’t broke if used roughly. It’s going to serve you for a lifetime.”
Is that so? As expected of the fang of the Obsidian Wolf! This is awesome! I’m getting excited!
“It’s going to be expensive.”
“Huh?”
“—Listen, to process something this hard, not only would you require excellent tools, you’d also have to devote effort, time, and technology. After all, it’s not the same as making a kitchen knife or a frying pan out of scrap metal. If you bring in rare material and request first-class product, of course it’ll be expensive.”
…Well, certainly, I can see his point.
Huh.
Eh? Wasn’t I excited? Somehow, I’m now very calm.
“—Not enough, far from enough.”
When I told him the amount of money I received as an escort fee for Adyll, gramps mercilessly shook his head.
I knew it’d be that expensive, but apparently my money wasn’t enough.
Seeing how he drove Beckenberg away, I concluded that he wouldn’t accept bargaining, deferred payment, or paid-in-installments…
...It has to be up-front payment.
After all, even Beckenberg got turned away.
