Chapter 162 – Glasses boy leaves the craftsmen’s district
How should I deal with this bet without a bow and arrows…?
“Old man, I’m here!” I suddenly heard Chace’s voice.
That was a troublesome surprise. I got an unpleasant sensation all over my body and my heart started pounding.
I hadn’t looked back yet, but I was sure Chace was here.
The only one I went after was Florentine, yet I somehow ended up running into both Cherry and Chace by pure chance…
Holding back a sigh, I looked back and saw the same Chace as always.
He didn’t seem to have any injuries on him even if he just recently killed the queen of Destroyer Horses… Did he kill it with a single blow by using a mid-distance dash?
His Gift is certainly ideal for this kind of one-hit-kill, so it’s possible.
I have yet to finish working out the details of the bet with old man Tatsunami, I just now realized that hunting might be troublesome without my bow… And then Chace himself, the one who caused this whole bet thing to start, came.
… I never thought he’d show up like that, especially not at this kind of timing.
“About time. I’ve been waiting for you.” Old man Tatsunami said.
Judging from his reply, Chace coming here wasn’t a coincidence. They probably arranged for this meeting in advance.
“I didn’t get the horns yet, so you’re gonna have to wait a bit longer for the measurements.” Old man Tatsunami told him.
Oh, I see, so that’s what this is about.
He is making a spear for Chace, so he is gonna measure Chace and the horns, discuss their preferences about it, what other materials will be used, the ideal shape for the spear and other stuff like it.
Then finally, the creation of the spear will begin.
But as the horns are still connected to the queen’s body, they haven’t started this process yet.
Though it might just start today.
“Did you get to the place I mentioned safely?” Old man Tatsunami asked him.
“Ah, yeah. Thanks to you.” Chace replied.
The mentioned place, huh?
I guess Chace really did find the Tower of Bryne already… So he should be the first one, I suppose?
Good job.
“You have a customer though? Am I getting in the way?” Chace asked old man Tatsunami as he glanced my way.
Chace was showing an unusually caring attitude.
And his eyes show no suspicion at all…
I did think that Chace wouldn’t notice that it was me in disguise, but… I certainly didn’t expect him to not even have the slightest suspicion.
That’s convenient for me though, so I won’t complain.
******
“I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will be finishing our discussion soon. Could you please wait by the entrance until then?” I asked Chace.
After Chace left, I immediately started talking to old man Tatsunami about the most important thing in my mind, “I’m mostly fine with the bet, but I can’t give you a definitive answer until the final details are decided upon.”
“Sure. I’ll think of a few possible targets, and you can choose which one you want to hunt.
“If you don’t agree to any of them, I’ll return you the Obsidian Wolf fang.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
All right. That’s good enough.
It doesn’t have to be a match that is in my favor, or rather, I don’t even care about winning or losing, but I don’t want to hunt something that is too risky.
So, I cannot agree to the bet until I know what I’m hunting.
For example, if he wants me to hunt something as absurd as an Obsidian Wolf, then I’ll absolutely refuse. I’m not gonna take such a dangerous Demon Beast on, as my life is more important than the knife.
“Also, please keep me being Eil a secret from Chace.” I asked him next.
“Got it. You’re dressed like that because you don’t wanna reveal your true identity, right?
“I don’t know who you’re hiding from, but I know who you are, so I don’t mind it.” Old man Tatsunami agreed.
This is good enough.
Though well, I’m not hiding from anyone in particular, I’m just hiding my identity from anyone and everyone.
Ideally, I would have kept it a secret from old man Tatsunami too.
“Oh, and I’d rather leave the part of handling Beckenberg to you.” I told him next.
“Well, I guess that’s alright. Nothing has been decided yet, so just be aware that he’ll be involved in some way.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
I suppose that much can’t be helped… At least he’ll be the one to handle the details.
At the end of the day, I’m just promising to do my part on the bet and to get my knife made in return.
Who else is involved and how isn’t that relevant to me.
“Finally, I got this from manager Adyll.” I gave him the letter that she had entrusted me.
I figured it was a good time now, since we were mostly done with our conversation.
“Oh, from Adyll?” Old man Tatsunami received the letter and immediately took out a knife from his pocket… Or rather, a spatula-like metal stick, and used it to open the letter.
“Mmmm…” He murmured as he read it.
There really was just a letter inside it, and old man Tatsunami immediately folded it as soon as he finished reading it.
“’Please make the life of the person presenting this a bit more convenient’… A bit too late to be showing this now, kid.” Old man Tatsunami said.
… That was a very dangerous letter.
I don’t want to owe anything to old lady Adyll, but she definitely wants me to owe her one.
If it wasn’t for this whole bet thing, I might have presented him this letter just as I was thinking about what to do with the price of the knife.
It wouldn’t be too hard to get the knife done with the help of this letter, but I would definitely owe her something if it came to that.
If I had presented it at the appropriate time… I would have been in big trouble.
“That’s all from me. In the near future… No, let’s decide on a proper date. I’ll be coming here on the day after tomorrow.” I told old man Tatsunami.
Since I don’t know old lady Adyll’s schedule, I thought of making a vague promise to come back in the near future, but I think it would be a bad idea to not make a proper decision for this deal.
I’ll take care of my part of the deal to get the knife, and old man Tatsunami will make the knife after the deal is done.
It involves a strange bet, but that’s the gist of it.
I’m not sure if everything will be solved by tomorrow, so I decided to come on the day after tomorrow.
There may be some escort work on the day, but I doubt old lady Adyll will have an extremely busy day that keeps me with her from morning to night, not at her age at least.
“Sure. I’ll be waiting for you on the day after tomorrow then.” Old man Tatsunami agreed.
******
“Thank you for waiting. I apologize for causing you trouble.” I told Chace.
I had just finished my talk with old man Tatsunami, so I left the workshop and met up with Chace by its exit.
Chace nodded and immediately went inside.
… I’m a bit curious about what they were going to talk about, so I decided to listen in for a bit.
“Hey kid, make a bet with me.” Old man Tatsunami immediately said.
“Huh? Come again?” Chace asked.
“I’ll win this time. Let’s bet again.” Old man Tatsunami repeated himself.
“Hey, I’m kinda busy, you know? Just make me a spear already.” Chace replied.
“If you don’t wanna bet, then I’m not gonna make this properly! I can’t do a good job in my current state!
“It’s going to waste! The horse horns are going to waste!” Old man Tatsunami exclaimed.
“Hah!? What are you even talking about, old man!?” Chace asked.
“It’s because of what you did, damn you! I went along with your selfishness and accepted your bet, so you should now listen to my selfishness and accept my bet! Do you get it now, stupid kid!?” Old man Tatsunami told him.
“Just what’s up with this old man…?” Chace muttered.
… Chace was visibly stunned, and so was I.
There was no logic in the old man’s words, but… Well, Chace’s bet wasn’t logical either, so the old man isn’t happy with it. That’s basically the gist of it.
But really, a bet… A bet is gonna make both Chace’s spear and my knife.
In both cases, old man Tatsunami is going to be working for free, so he’s surely losing from it… But well, I guess he cares more about his feelings than about the money right now.
Which is why he’s making another bet.
… Though the sharpness of this old man is certainly amazing. He’s obviously used to handling many different kinds of people.
I don’t know how this conversation will go, but I don’t think it will be that interesting to listen in to it, so let’s withdraw.
Besides, I’m sure of how it will end anyways. The old man will keep on pressuring Chace until Chace eventually gives in and accepts the bet for the sake of getting his spear properly made.
******
With a tentative plan in my head, I moved to the main street.
I’ll probably be-
Oh, that was fast.
“Hey! What did you want with Tatsunami!? What errand did Adyll send you on!?” Beckenberg exclaimed.
Unsurprisingly, he was waiting to ambush me.
His two bodyguards were also with him… I just can’t help worrying about those guys.
And after seeing my winning percentage against them, I could be sure that they were strong, and wary of me as well.
But well, escorts aside… Beckenberg seemed to be very wary of old lady Adyll’s movements. He must be truly desperate right now.
And well, since I’m technically her maid, I guess he became worried about me being here?
It was just a coincidence though, but a nice coincidence nonetheless.
But Beckenberg must probably be thinking that it’s worrisome to have a ruler of Krozheit contact another ruler shortly after he got in a troublesome position.
He is surely aware of how dangerous it would be if they both turned against him, and he must be worried about them wanting to get rid of him.
But really, this was just my personal errand. It had nothing to do with old lady Adyll.
“Tatsunami seems to have a proposal that might let you obtain the horse.” I told Beckenberg.
“Hah…? Huh? Really!?” Beckenberg exclaimed.
For now, I told Beckenberg some information that he might want.
I’m not gonna tell him about my errand, and I’m sure he is too worried about his own matters to care about what exactly I was doing.
At least not after I baited him with this information that is.
“That’s all I know though, so please talk to Tatsunami for anything else.” And immediately after saying that, I started dashing away.
“W-wait!” Beckenberg exclaimed.
No, I’m not gonna wait.
If I talk any more, I’m sure I’ll get involved in something that I don’t want to deal with.
******
A small while after I started running, my legs suddenly stopped.
Truly… Chace already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
Perhaps I should start searching for its rough location myself.
Chapter 162 – Glasses boy leaves the craftsmen’s district
How should I deal with this bet without a bow and arrows…?
“Old man, I’m here!” I suddenly heard Chace’s voice.
That was a troublesome surprise. I got an unpleasant sensation all over my body and my heart started pounding.
I hadn’t looked back yet, but I was sure Chace was here.
The only one I went after was Florentine, yet I somehow ended up running into both Cherry and Chace by pure chance…
Holding back a sigh, I looked back and saw the same Chace as always.
He didn’t seem to have any injuries on him even if he just recently killed the queen of Destroyer Horses… Did he kill it with a single blow by using a mid-distance dash?
His Gift is certainly ideal for this kind of one-hit-kill, so it’s possible.
I have yet to finish working out the details of the bet with old man Tatsunami, I just now realized that hunting might be troublesome without my bow… And then Chace himself, the one who caused this whole bet thing to start, came.
… I never thought he’d show up like that, especially not at this kind of timing.
“About time. I’ve been waiting for you.” Old man Tatsunami said.
Judging from his reply, Chace coming here wasn’t a coincidence. They probably arranged for this meeting in advance.
“I didn’t get the horns yet, so you’re gonna have to wait a bit longer for the measurements.” Old man Tatsunami told him.
Oh, I see, so that’s what this is about.
He is making a spear for Chace, so he is gonna measure Chace and the horns, discuss their preferences about it, what other materials will be used, the ideal shape for the spear and other stuff like it.
Then finally, the creation of the spear will begin.
But as the horns are still connected to the queen’s body, they haven’t started this process yet.
Though it might just start today.
“Did you get to the place I mentioned safely?” Old man Tatsunami asked him.
“Ah, yeah. Thanks to you.” Chace replied.
The mentioned place, huh?
I guess Chace really did find the Tower of Bryne already… So he should be the first one, I suppose?
Good job.
“You have a customer though? Am I getting in the way?” Chace asked old man Tatsunami as he glanced my way.
Chace was showing an unusually caring attitude.
And his eyes show no suspicion at all…
I did think that Chace wouldn’t notice that it was me in disguise, but… I certainly didn’t expect him to not even have the slightest suspicion.
That’s convenient for me though, so I won’t complain.
******
“I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will be finishing our discussion soon. Could you please wait by the entrance until then?” I asked Chace.
After Chace left, I immediately started talking to old man Tatsunami about the most important thing in my mind, “I’m mostly fine with the bet, but I can’t give you a definitive answer until the final details are decided upon.”
“Sure. I’ll think of a few possible targets, and you can choose which one you want to hunt.
“If you don’t agree to any of them, I’ll return you the Obsidian Wolf fang.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
All right. That’s good enough.
It doesn’t have to be a match that is in my favor, or rather, I don’t even care about winning or losing, but I don’t want to hunt something that is too risky.
So, I cannot agree to the bet until I know what I’m hunting.
For example, if he wants me to hunt something as absurd as an Obsidian Wolf, then I’ll absolutely refuse. I’m not gonna take such a dangerous Demon Beast on, as my life is more important than the knife.
“Also, please keep me being Eil a secret from Chace.” I asked him next.
“Got it. You’re dressed like that because you don’t wanna reveal your true identity, right?
“I don’t know who you’re hiding from, but I know who you are, so I don’t mind it.” Old man Tatsunami agreed.
This is good enough.
Though well, I’m not hiding from anyone in particular, I’m just hiding my identity from anyone and everyone.
Ideally, I would have kept it a secret from old man Tatsunami too.
“Oh, and I’d rather leave the part of handling Beckenberg to you.” I told him next.
“Well, I guess that’s alright. Nothing has been decided yet, so just be aware that he’ll be involved in some way.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
I suppose that much can’t be helped… At least he’ll be the one to handle the details.
At the end of the day, I’m just promising to do my part on the bet and to get my knife made in return.
Who else is involved and how isn’t that relevant to me.
“Finally, I got this from manager Adyll.” I gave him the letter that she had entrusted me.
I figured it was a good time now, since we were mostly done with our conversation.
“Oh, from Adyll?” Old man Tatsunami received the letter and immediately took out a knife from his pocket… Or rather, a spatula-like metal stick, and used it to open the letter.
“Mmmm…” He murmured as he read it.
There really was just a letter inside it, and old man Tatsunami immediately folded it as soon as he finished reading it.
“’Please make the life of the person presenting this a bit more convenient’… A bit too late to be showing this now, kid.” Old man Tatsunami said.
… That was a very dangerous letter.
I don’t want to owe anything to old lady Adyll, but she definitely wants me to owe her one.
If it wasn’t for this whole bet thing, I might have presented him this letter just as I was thinking about what to do with the price of the knife.
It wouldn’t be too hard to get the knife done with the help of this letter, but I would definitely owe her something if it came to that.
If I had presented it at the appropriate time… I would have been in big trouble.
“That’s all from me. In the near future… No, let’s decide on a proper date. I’ll be coming here on the day after tomorrow.” I told old man Tatsunami.
Since I don’t know old lady Adyll’s schedule, I thought of making a vague promise to come back in the near future, but I think it would be a bad idea to not make a proper decision for this deal.
I’ll take care of my part of the deal to get the knife, and old man Tatsunami will make the knife after the deal is done.
It involves a strange bet, but that’s the gist of it.
I’m not sure if everything will be solved by tomorrow, so I decided to come on the day after tomorrow.
There may be some escort work on the day, but I doubt old lady Adyll will have an extremely busy day that keeps me with her from morning to night, not at her age at least.
“Sure. I’ll be waiting for you on the day after tomorrow then.” Old man Tatsunami agreed.
******
“Thank you for waiting. I apologize for causing you trouble.” I told Chace.
I had just finished my talk with old man Tatsunami, so I left the workshop and met up with Chace by its exit.
Chace nodded and immediately went inside.
… I’m a bit curious about what they were going to talk about, so I decided to listen in for a bit.
“Hey kid, make a bet with me.” Old man Tatsunami immediately said.
“Huh? Come again?” Chace asked.
“I’ll win this time. Let’s bet again.” Old man Tatsunami repeated himself.
“Hey, I’m kinda busy, you know? Just make me a spear already.” Chace replied.
“If you don’t wanna bet, then I’m not gonna make this properly! I can’t do a good job in my current state!
“It’s going to waste! The horse horns are going to waste!” Old man Tatsunami exclaimed.
“Hah!? What are you even talking about, old man!?” Chace asked.
“It’s because of what you did, damn you! I went along with your selfishness and accepted your bet, so you should now listen to my selfishness and accept my bet! Do you get it now, stupid kid!?” Old man Tatsunami told him.
“Just what’s up with this old man…?” Chace muttered.
… Chace was visibly stunned, and so was I.
There was no logic in the old man’s words, but… Well, Chace’s bet wasn’t logical either, so the old man isn’t happy with it. That’s basically the gist of it.
But really, a bet… A bet is gonna make both Chace’s spear and my knife.
In both cases, old man Tatsunami is going to be working for free, so he’s surely losing from it… But well, I guess he cares more about his feelings than about the money right now.
Which is why he’s making another bet.
… Though the sharpness of this old man is certainly amazing. He’s obviously used to handling many different kinds of people.
I don’t know how this conversation will go, but I don’t think it will be that interesting to listen in to it, so let’s withdraw.
Besides, I’m sure of how it will end anyways. The old man will keep on pressuring Chace until Chace eventually gives in and accepts the bet for the sake of getting his spear properly made.
******
With a tentative plan in my head, I moved to the main street.
I’ll probably be-
Oh, that was fast.
“Hey! What did you want with Tatsunami!? What errand did Adyll send you on!?” Beckenberg exclaimed.
Unsurprisingly, he was waiting to ambush me.
His two bodyguards were also with him… I just can’t help worrying about those guys.
And after seeing my winning percentage against them, I could be sure that they were strong, and wary of me as well.
But well, escorts aside… Beckenberg seemed to be very wary of old lady Adyll’s movements. He must be truly desperate right now.
And well, since I’m technically her maid, I guess he became worried about me being here?
It was just a coincidence though, but a nice coincidence nonetheless.
But Beckenberg must probably be thinking that it’s worrisome to have a ruler of Krozheit contact another ruler shortly after he got in a troublesome position.
He is surely aware of how dangerous it would be if they both turned against him, and he must be worried about them wanting to get rid of him.
But really, this was just my personal errand. It had nothing to do with old lady Adyll.
“Tatsunami seems to have a proposal that might let you obtain the horse.” I told Beckenberg.
“Hah…? Huh? Really!?” Beckenberg exclaimed.
For now, I told Beckenberg some information that he might want.
I’m not gonna tell him about my errand, and I’m sure he is too worried about his own matters to care about what exactly I was doing.
At least not after I baited him with this information that is.
“That’s all I know though, so please talk to Tatsunami for anything else.” And immediately after saying that, I started dashing away.
“W-wait!” Beckenberg exclaimed.
No, I’m not gonna wait.
If I talk any more, I’m sure I’ll get involved in something that I don’t want to deal with.
******
A small while after I started running, my legs suddenly stopped.
Truly… Chace already arrived at the Tower of Bryne.
Perhaps I should start searching for its rough location myself.
