Chapter 157: Dawn and Dusk (2)
He was simply devoted to making a perfect sword.
And sharpening the blade of that sword.
Pandan and Jerico watched the process, forgetting the passage of time.
Even as the other adventurers, bored by the repetitive work, had already settled down to rest, they continued to watch.
And finally, the dwarf finished his work.
"Phew..."
What was completed was a longsword.
It seemed similar to a dagger that had already been made, as if they were siblings.
The blade gleamed black, clearly not an ordinary metal.
Clap clap clap clap clap.
The one who applauded was none other than Pandan.
"That was beautiful. It was an incredibly beautiful sight!"
Helmut walked out, wiping his sweat with a towel.
His skin was red and burnt, and his hands and feet were trembling from the long work.
His voice was completely hoarse from inhaling the hot air right in front of him.
"Humans? cough"
Pandan tried to speak in a friendly manner.
"Might I ask the name of the great Meister?"
"If you had disturbed my work even a little, I would have killed you all."
Dwarf craftsmen are known to be eccentric, but to start with a threat as the first words?
It would be natural to feel offended, but Pandan didn't frown at all.
"How could we commit such rudeness!"
"You speak well."
"If it's not too presumptuous, I'd like to ask... that pair of dagger and longsword. Are they already claimed?"
They were clearly items of tremendous value.
Even though adventurers have a lot of money, it doesn't seem like they could easily afford them.
But he couldn't help but ask.
"They already have an owner."
"Ah...!"
Pandan opened his mouth as if disappointed.
"I'd like to speak with the owner if possible, are they nearby...?"
"Let me ask you something too."
Helmut sat down on a box.
"Can you get along well with magical beasts?"
"Pardon?"
It was Jerico who asked back in bewilderment.
"Humans are especially afraid of magical beasts. If you could communicate, could you get along well with them?"
"Ah..."
"Especially with something like a snake."
Jerico couldn't answer, but Pandan promptly replied.
"Of course! If we could communicate, what would be the problem? Personally, I've wanted to befriend magical beasts!"
"That's good, then talk to it."
"Oh, what?"
"You said you wanted to talk to the owner of those swords."
Just as Jerico, who was listening, thought this dwarf might have gone senile, it happened.
Thud.
He felt a cold sensation on the nape of his neck.
Something heavy wrapped around Jerico's neck and shoulders.
When? From where?
Just as he was about to instinctively react, befitting an A-rank adventurer.
Rustle.
Along with the sound of scales moving, he felt a chill on his neck.
A snake was about to bite Jerico's neck.
If he moved even a finger, he would be bitten to death.
The result of being bitten on the neck by a venomous viper is obvious.
The fact that it stopped for a moment was enough to glimpse Jerico's judgment.
A piece of paper fluttered in the air.
A pen moved by itself and wrote:
'If you covet my sword, you die.'
Scribble scribble, it wrote such words.
'And if you draw your sword, you also die.'
Pandan stopped as he was about to draw his sword.
Then he laughed, "Ha ha ha!" as if amazed.
"Incredible!"
==
An A-rank adventurer, how cool.
I asked if magical beasts have such ranks too.
But unfortunately, they don't.
It would be nice if I had a rank too.
S-rank magical beast, Ouroboros the Snake of the Apocalypse.
Something like that.
I'd be in the magical beast encyclopedia too, right?
Humans were afraid of me, but they were amazed to see me communicating through writing.
And especially that guy Pandan's nerve was impressive.
I heard he's not from the kingdom, but from the Empire.
"I want to buy the sword."
He made such an offer when told it was my sword.
His reaction was better than the human next to him who was shocked that a snake had ordered a sword.
'How much?'
When I asked that.
"500 Imperial gold coins for Dawn, 1,000 Imperial gold coins for Dusk. How about it?"
How about it?
I wrote 'Hmm...' for now.
Dawn and Dusk refer to the cloud iron dagger and cloud iron longsword respectively.
Helmut made a dagger and a longsword with cloud iron.
They are brother swords, with the dagger symbolizing the faint dawn, and the longsword symbolizing the intense light of dusk.
Seeing how he even includes storytelling in the name of his works, Helmut was certainly a Meister.
'Too cheap.'
"Ugh... Then how about 2,000 coins for both?"
'Hmm...'
Look at how quickly the price goes up.
I was going to play with him a bit more, but I stopped.
'Not selling.'
I have a lot of money to begin with.
Even if I had more money, I wouldn't have much use for it.
How could I sell these cloud iron swords for money, considering how they were made?
Although I feel sorry for Rania, I lost the Dawn Dagger Ashura, so I'll cherish these two new swords.
However, the amount Pandan offered seemed enormous.
Because the other humans were shocked.
"D-Did he have that much money?"
"Isn't he just throwing it around recklessly?"
I could hear their whispering.
"That might be the case in the world of poor adventurers. Tsk tsk, trying to get a set of Celestium Swords made by a dwarf Meister for just 2,000 gold coins?"
'Right?'
"Kill that shameless human, snake!"
Should I!
But I decided to hold off on that decision for now.
Because I liked the way Pandan looked at me.
His eyes were filled with endless envy and admiration.
I had never met anyone who looked at me like that before.
Of course, Rozena and that strange woman called Langrey showed interest in my scales.
But their eyes were far from envious.
But Pandan was looking at me with very hot eyes of envy.
How could that not be enjoyable?
"But Mr. Snake, you don't have hands, so you can't use a sword..."
However, no matter what, I couldn't tolerate those words.
'I'm good at using swords though?'
"Come on, you're joking..."
Shall I show you? As I said this, I picked up the sword with an invisible hand.
I picked up the Dawn dagger and spun it in the air.
"Huh...?"
'Did you think it was a joke?'
Pandan also seemed to feel competitive.
He leaped up, did a somersault in the air, and landed.
"Let me use an expression from where I lived."
Then he stood in front of the floating dagger and drew his own dagger.
"Shall we have a match?"
Instead of answering 'Alright',
I tapped the ground with my tail.
My dagger cut through the air.
Pandan's dagger also struck sharply.
Hehe.
But my dagger technique is no ordinary one.
「Using Ferang School Dagger Technique lv1.」
A terrifying unpredictability that suddenly drops down and then aims for the chin.
The moment my dagger dropped.
Pandan also dropped his dagger.
As if reflected in a mirror, the daggers clashing in the air followed exactly the same path.
Clang!
Due to the difference in quality, only Pandan's blade was chipped.
But that's not the important thing.
The point is that our dagger techniques matched exactly.
Pandan asked in a trembling voice...
"...Perhaps, are we from the same school?"
Could it be that I unknowingly have a martial arts lineage...?