My Glasses

Chapter 172 – Glasses boy looks at the knife and grins

“What are you going to go after in the hunting festival? A Demon Pig?” Lisse asked me.

She had just bought some Demon Pig skewers at a food stall as she asked me that.

The Demon Pig was a Demon Beast that lived near Krozheit.

It and the Destroyer Horse were both often hunted for their meat. In fact, the bacon that I ate at old lady Adyll’s mansion was from a Demon Pig.

The Demon Pig may be fairly large, but it was also quite timid and always ran away if it saw a human. It was a Demon Beast that was warier than most wild animals.

I was honestly quite surprised to hear that a Demon Beast that wasn’t aggressive existed.

Even the Splinter Fang Hares only retreated if they judged their situation to be disadvantageous, but the Demon Pig always runs away, it seems.

“Do you know the rules of the hunting festival?” I asked Lisse.

“Uhn… You have the entire day, from today’s noon to tomorrow’s noon to hunt, and then your results will be graded based on three different criteria, right?” Lisse replied.

That was basically it.

There was some talk of increasing the number of hunting events, but Beckenberg, the organizer, decided to narrow it down to a single major event.

“The person with the highest score will win.

“Your score is based on how quick was your hunt; what was the hunted Demon Beast; and how many people were hunting with you.

“In other words, if you take down a big game quickly with a small number of people, you’ll get a high score.” I explained.

… And the meat of the Demon Pig is quite tasty.

The meat is quite tender even if it’s a bit old, and when you season it with a bit of salt and herbs, it becomes absolutely delicious.

The seasoning was made with herbs that I know of, but I’m not sure if I can reproduce that specific combination that made it have such delicious texture and aftertaste… Still, I’ll try remembering what was used, as meat definitely gets better with those than with just salt.

“So, to put it simply, Demon Beasts that are often hunted, like the Demon Pig or the Destroyer Horse, won’t give you a good score.” I told Lisse.

If I want to win, I have to kill either a rare Demon Beast, or a big one that is quite powerful and feared by the populace. And I have to do it quickly.

“I see… So, what are you aiming for? And can you even get it done in a single day?” Lisse asked me.

I started thinking a bit about my previous hunting experiences with Lisse.

After we moved from Haidiga to the assassins’ village, we hunted together many times, but it was never just the two of us.

At the end of the day, our most memorable hunting experience was when we hunted the Chalk Chicken… Back when she basically forced me to help her out.

And well, she had asked for my help primarily for one reason… The Chalk Chicken was hard to find.

And that’s the exact type of target that I’m aiming for today.

“Hunting has been prohibited in Krozheit for the past week, so it should actually be a bit easier than normal to find hunting targets.” I told her.

Krozheit is a place that already has plenty of Demon Beasts in its surroundings though, so with hunting being prohibited for a week, it should be quite easy to find the common Demon Beasts.

I’m sure that the people who live here know a lot more about this matter than me though, and Beckenberg might have also given them extra information if he had any.

“For the record, I already decided on my prey.” I told Lisse.

I have been preparing for the hunting festival throughout this past week. Doing my research and planning how the hunt would go at basically any moment when I didn’t need to escort old lady Adyll.

And in the process of scouting the hunting grounds and gathering information, I found the prey I wanted to hunt.

“Oh? What are you aiming for?” Lisse asked.

“You can look forward to the results.” I grinned.

“Oh my? Aren’t you quite full of yourself?” Lisse grinned too.

Her reaction was basically what I had expected.

But well, we were getting close to the craftsmen’s district, and I was starting to see some armed people that seemed to be participants of the hunting festival.

I would rather not give out the target’s name here, as it would be troublesome if they overheard it.

“Ah, Lisse, could you please buy me another skewer from the stall we were at earlier? I’ll give you enough money to get one for you too.” I asked her.

“Huh?” She seemed to be a bit confused at the sudden request.

“I’ll go finish some errands in the meantime.” I told her.

“Oh, alright. Then I’ll wait for you around here.” She replied.

I gave Lisse some change, then we parted ways.

Alright, now let’s go to old man Tatsunami’s store.

******

“I’ve been waiting for you.” Old man Tatsunami said.

Today we made an appointment to meet up not at his workshop, but at his store.

Old man Tatsunami was sitting at the counter located in the back of the shop, the place that an old woman usually sat at, and that was packed with many weapons.

Right now, he seemed to be polishing some kind of tool that was used for blacksmithing.

“Your knife is ready.” Old man Tatsunami told me, then immediately put a white-bladed knife on the counter.

Oh? It was done in time?

And wow… This is…!

Its shape, the size of the handle, the blade’s format, its weight… They all seemed to be custom-made to suit my needs.

The pure white blade was as sharp and shiny as any metal knife at the very minimum, but it was also quite light… So light that I even worried if it might be a bit fragile.

“The handle was made from the bark of a Tree of Tranquil Spirits, and the clasp from the bones of a Destroyer Horse.

“The blade and the clasp were assembled in a way that the knife’s handle would give in long before they did.

“Though I made sure to finish it in a way that it would take a while for that to happen, and the load that could cause damage to the blade would be applied to the handle first.

“… That’s what you wanted, right? The Tree of Tranquil Spirits was part of your order, after all.” Old man Tatsunami explained.

It’s perfect.

The bark of the Tree of Tranquil Spirits is quite flexible and often used in bows. It’s the material that I’m most familiar with.

And since it’s easy to find, it should be easy to get a spare if I ever need to replace the handle.

“I told you before, but this is a knife that will last for your whole life.

“The handle may break eventually, but the blade will rarely break or chip.

“Also, if the damage to the knife is as small as a few scratches or small chips, then it will heal on its own.” Old man Tatsunami told me.

… Huh? “On its own? It will heal?” I asked.

I didn’t understand the meaning of his words at first… Is this some special capability of the Obsidian Wolf’s fangs? I’ve heard that weapons with this kind of power did exist before, at least.

“That’s my secret. My Gift.

“The weapons I make… Or rather, the items I make have natural healing powers.

“They can’t restore themselves from fundamental or catastrophic damage, but small scratches or just general fatigue on the metal shall heal on its own if enough time passes.” Old man Tatsunami explained.

Wow, he was quick to give that secret to me.

But I guess I can see why he is the ruler of the craftsmen’s district. He has a Gift that helps him with his work.

“Oh, and the shine on the blade is because I coated it with magic core powder.

“It should peel off after about a year of use though, and the blade will lose some of its sharpness without the powder.

“You can take it to any blacksmith near you when that happens and they should be able to re-apply the coating for as long as they’re decently skilled.

“You would normally polish the blade to restore its sharpness, but this material is way too hard for that. And if you put too much force into a sharpening attempt, you may cause fundamental damage to the blade, so be careful.” Old man Tatsunami told me.

Magic core powder coating, huh? I’ll be sure to not forget that.

… A knife that will last me a lifetime. I’m so happy. I’m seriously excited about this.

******

“So, time for the other stuff, right?” Old man Tatsunami said.

Eh…? Ah, right, the other stuff.

I don’t know for how long I was grinning at the knife, but when old man Tatsunami called my attention, I decided to put it away. I’ll grin at the knife later when I’m alone.

“You need me to lend you some hunting tools, right?” Old man Tatsunami asked me.

I nodded.

That was why I asked him to meet me at his store instead of at his workshop, because here, I can get anything that I’m missing.

I can’t use a bow this time, but I need a proper weapon for this hunt.

A knife, no matter how sharp it is, would still be no good against Demon Beasts.

So, I asked old man Tatsunami to lend me some tools, and he readily agreed to it, since it was related to our bet.

“Here’s what you ordered. Three large harpoons.” He placed them on the counter.

They were as large as short spears, and I started checking each of them.

I don’t know if they were newly made or if they were already on stock, but they were exactly as I ordered them.

They were polished, shiny, had no rust on them, and the loop that one can tie ropes to was sturdy.

“This is plenty. I’ll borrow them.” I told him.

I also borrowed a quiver-like container to carry the harpoons on my back.

The container had a lid, so I could hide its contents from the surroundings, which was something I was quite happy with.

“So, what are you aiming for? It’s not a pig, is it?” Old man Tatsunami asked with a fairly excited expression.

My reply to him was the same as my reply to Lisse though, “You can look forward to the results.”