After Mr. Barrett left, a quiet air settled over the dining hall once more.
After keeping silent for a moment, I rose from my seat.
“We should get moving too.”
Eileen lifted her head.
“You’re going to the market?”
“Yeah. We need to sort out the things we brought yesterday… and it’s about time we started preparing to leave.”
Eileen slowly nodded.
I briefly felt around my chest as well, pressing the inner pocket.
The letter Luna of the Cereon Church had entrusted to me, bound for Riverton.
I couldn’t just keep carrying it forever.
I didn’t know what was inside, but it didn’t seem like anything good would come from holding onto it for too long.
I got up to gather my things and slowly brushed myself off.
“In any case, let’s stop by the market before we go. We need to sort out food and supplies.”
“Understood. I’ll come with you.”
Eileen quietly followed behind me.
Though the atmosphere in the city was far from ordinary, the market was still full of life.
As befitted the city’s largest—and only—commercial district, it was crowded with people.
If someone knew nothing, they might not have felt at all that war was soon to break out in this territory.
I checked the items I had set aside yesterday.
There were three things I had brought.
The first was a red carpet.
Its patterns were woven with great intricacy, and it was not small in size.
One edge was slightly torn, but judging from its texture and sheen, it was clearly an expensive item.
The second was a brass candlestick.
Its weighty heft, smooth curves, and the faint maker’s mark left on the base.
It was worn from much handling, but its shape was intact.
And lastly, the heavy two-handed sword I had obtained in the fight with Bron.
At first, I had wanted to just throw it away.
It was too heavy, the leather around the grip was half-peeled, and the blade was not in good condition either.
But since it was a sword with plenty of weight to it, I had kept it, thinking I could at least get the price of the metal.
Even as the city simmered with the omen of war, the market was lively as always.
People still bought fresh vegetables, repaired old armor, and haggled over the price of even the smallest trinkets with sparkling eyes.
Though the city’s mood was unsettling, life seemed to go on regardless.
Instead of a shopping basket, I gripped the bundle at my chest tightly and moved deeper into the market.
Since I didn’t want to stand out too much, I chose the shops in a relatively quiet alley rather than the bustling main street.
The place I arrived at was an old secondhand shop, with a wooden sign hanging half-broken from its front.
The words “Usable Goods, Sold Cheap” were scrawled crookedly across a yellowed piece of cloth.
When I opened the door, a ding rang out from the bell, and a strangely damp smell of dust brushed the tip of my nose.
“Welcome.”
Beyond the counter, a hunched old woman slowly lifted her head.
With her white hair roughly pinned up, she looked me over through a small magnifying glass.
“Are you selling, or buying?”
“Selling.”
I carefully took out the red carpet, the brass candlestick, and the iron sword one by one, placing them on the table.
Without a word, the old woman opened an aged ledger and examined each item, touching them with her fingertips.
“This carpet… Karesa silk, in the style of the Basalina dynasty. The color is good, but one side is torn. It still has its uses. The candlestick is decent. Not for an altar, but likely for household use.”
Lastly, she picked up the sword.
After staring at it for a long while, she tapped the blade a few times.
“Hmm… this one is ambiguous. Too heavy for combat, too shabby for decoration… but not so bad that it’s unusable. If you take it to a blacksmith, you should at least get the value of the iron.”
The old woman closed the ledger and looked at me.
“Do you perhaps have anything else to take out?”
When Eileen carefully untied her bundle, several items were revealed inside.
They were small, glittering pieces of jewelry—a pearl brooch, a silver ring, and the like.
If Kane had picked out flashy ornaments, Eileen had mainly taken small and practical pieces.
Each item carried no small weight, and seemed to have value to match.
As expected of someone who had lived in a castle, Eileen had an exceptional eye for picking out only the worthwhile pieces.
Of course, all these items were intended to be used as travel funds.
The old woman examined the accessories, then lifted her head and said to me,
“These are items from quite an old noble family. The craftsmanship is very refined. Their condition is excellent as well.”
She carefully wiped one of the accessories with her fingertips and added,
“They must have been precious things someone treasured. It is a pity that they have ended up out here like this.”
After lightly wiping it with her fingertips, she spoke as though letting out a brief sigh.
“They were probably keepsakes of someone who has passed away. Things like this are different from what is made nowadays.”
A brief silence passed.
Well, they were indeed keepsakes of someone who had passed away, but they probably hadn’t belonged to their rightful owner.
The old woman looked back and forth between Eileen and me, then quietly wrote something in her ledger.
“One gold coin and thirty-three silver coins in total.”
I thought for a moment, then nodded.
I wasn’t sure if it was a fair price, but for items that were troublesome to dispose of, it wasn’t a bad amount.
“I’ll take it.”
“Good. Leave the goods over there in the back. Dardan! Come here and move these for me!”
The old woman closed her ledger and took out a small pouch from under the counter.
Just as I reached out to receive the pouch, the name that had suddenly popped out caught my ear.
…Dardan?
At the familiar name, I raised my head and looked toward the inside of the shop.
Through the faint dust, a familiar face appeared.
He was now wearing a yellowed cloth vest over his shoulders, but there was that faded blond hair and patchy beard.
It was a face I had never expected to see here.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
We recognized each other and made a sound at the same time.
It was unmistakably Dardan, that fence from back then.
“You little—”
The moment I opened my mouth, Dardan’s eyes widened, and he quickly brought a finger to his lips.
It meant, Please, keep quiet.
For a moment, I stopped, slightly flustered.
Just as I was wondering whether I had any reason to play along, Dardan slowly approached me, took a few silver coins from his waist, and shoved them into my pocket.
The old woman was rummaging through another ledger behind us and seemed not to be paying attention to this side.
I swallowed a sigh inwardly and shut my mouth.
“…All right. I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Dardan.”
“Haha… Of course. This way, sir.”
Sweating bullets, Dardan slowly lifted the baggage I had set down.
I stepped closer and spoke in a low whisper.
“Why are you here?”
“I should be asking why you’re here—”
“Because of you back then, we— Hah, forget it. Fine.”
He had realized things about us, and we had traveled with him despite knowing that.
It was hard to say anything pleasant, but neither of us was in a position to criticize the other either.
I didn’t want to get any more entangled with him for no reason, and there was no need to bring up what had happened that day again.
“Last time… I saw that dwarf bastard too.”
At Dardan’s quiet mutter, I lifted my head before I knew it.
“What did you say?”
“Huh? Ah, no. I just saw the dwarf gentleman you used to travel with…”
“You saw Baldik? When?”
He closed his mouth and immediately averted his eyes. He looked clearly flustered.
“Umm… About two weeks ago, maybe…? I think it was around then.”
That would have been around the time I was going to and from Delhar.
Damn it, did we miss each other?
“Where did you see him?”
“Well… in the middle of the market. I was passing through a narrow street when someone suddenly smacked the back of my head, so I was startled. When I turned around, it was that bast—no, that gentleman.”
…It seemed it really was Baldik.
No one hit people on the back of the head for no reason except him.
“So, did he say anything about where he was going?”
“No, well… we weren’t exactly close enough to exchange that kind of talk. But he did ask me something similar.”
“What did he ask?”
“He asked if I’d seen the two of you around here.”
It seemed he had been looking for us as well.
Then did that mean he was still staying in the city?
“Anything else?”
“No. That was all. He seemed busy too, and I got out of there as if I were running away.”
Dardan shrugged.
“In any case, whether in a bad way or a good way… fate sure is tenacious.”
Instead of answering, I let out a short breath.
He was right about that.
In this world, once you got involved with someone… for some reason, you ended up meeting them again.
“…If you see Baldik again, let me know.”
“Yes, understood…”
Dardan was strangely docile.
I had thought that if I met him alone in a place like this, his true colors would show, but did he still think I was traveling with Drek?
Considering that he had seen Drek’s imposing presence with his own eyes, that seemed the most likely possibility.
After checking the silver coins in my pouch again, I gave a slight nod and stepped out of the shop.
Outside, it was still noisy.
In one corner of the distant square, a noncommissioned officer encouraging people to join the war was giving a speech in a booming voice, and from the blacksmiths’ alley, the sound of hammers striking iron never ceased.
War was definitely drawing closer to reality.
Some would be choosing armor, some preparing for deployment, and others quietly planning to run away.
“Where will you go now?”
Eileen asked carefully.
“Hmm, maybe to get some equipment.”
I naturally turned my steps toward the street of weapon shops.
I was currently only wearing a brigandine, but considering the equipment I had, I was closer to a knight than a mage.
Even so, I wasn’t satisfied.
If I wore a full set of gear, it was heavy enough that I’d sweat every time I moved, and my agility would drop as well.
But despite that, I wanted to wear full plate armor someday.
I wanted to personally feel the stability that came from sturdy, heavy iron plate armor.
‘There’s no rule saying a mage can’t wear armor.’
I was still afraid of being shot with an arrow or struck by a sword.
When it came to means of protecting my body, the more excessive, the better.
“Will you be going to the place you visited last time?”
“No, this time I’ve got some money, so I should get something new.”
I lightly touched the silver coins in my pouch.
Thanks to the items I had handed over to the old woman, I could finally breathe a little easier for the first time in a while.
Fortunately, the armor pieces were still in good condition.
Though I had gone through fierce battles, thanks to Kane stepping up in front, there had been few times when I took impacts directly with my body.
So this time, I was thinking of buying a weapon.
“It’d be nice if I could find a decent mace while I’m at it.”
“A mace?”
“I did learn blunt weapon techniques, and magic isn’t omnipotent after all.”
“…Is that so?”
Her voice sounded as though she had sunk into thought for a moment.
As I spoke and walked on, she naturally matched my pace.
“I tried using a sword, but I have no talent for it… and spears are burdensome because of their length. Blunt weapons like hammers or maces suit me better.”
Weapons where finesse and technique were important didn’t fit me.
Those kinds of weapons required an accurate sense of distance, agile movements, and countless hours of practice.
But I wasn’t used to that style of fighting.
A way of fighting where I pushed through with one decisive blow, meant to kill, actually put me more at ease.
“Then shall we go to the workshop district instead?”
“Yeah. If there’s something good, I’ll buy it. If not, we can just look around.”
The workshop district lay beyond the market area, in a secluded place up a slight slope.
It was a little removed from the busy streets, but that made it quieter, with an atmosphere thick with the presence of craftsmen.
The distinctive smell of iron, metal, and leather mingled together and struck my nose first.
The sound of hammering, the crackle of sparks, and the hard metallic clang of iron colliding with iron filled the alley.
There were blacksmiths all around, but perhaps because of the war, there were far fewer goods than usual.
There weren’t many weapons on display either, and on the simple shelves lay only a few spears, swords, axes, several maces, and a handful of old maces.
Compared to the shops in the market, the selection was smaller, and the prices were actually quite high.
“Hmm… There isn’t much here.”
“Yeah, looks like everything’s been sold off because of the war. What’s left isn’t in great condition either.”
I stopped in front of a weapon shop.
On the simple stand were several weapons and battle maces placed side by side.
They had heavy wooden handles, and instead of simple round heads, iron flanges were set into them in a cross shape.
Just looking at them made my wrist ache, but at the same time, they felt reliable and sturdy.
“This one looks all right.”
“Yeah. I’ll try holding it.”
I picked up one of the maces.
A heavy sensation settled into my hand. The leather wrapped around the handle had good friction, so it didn’t seem like it would slip.
It was heavier than I had expected, but not too heavy to lift.
At this level, it wouldn’t be bad as a secondary weapon after using magic.
Its length was about right, roughly that of a forearm, and overall, its center of balance sat well in my hand.
“Does it suit your grip?”
“Yeah. The weight is fine too… I think it’ll be pretty useful.”
Just then, the owner slowly approached from inside the shop, his beard thick and shaggy.
With thick forearms and a leather apron around him, he looked every bit the blacksmith.
“Looks like it fits your hand. Do you like it?”
“Yes, it’s not bad. How much is it?”
“Twelve silver coins. It’s got black iron from the Reitz River in it. On the battlefield, they call it an ‘Armor Breaker.’”
Twelve silver coins… honestly, it wasn’t cheap.
But the weighty sensation in my hand, the balance, and the craftsman’s attitude.
I could tell he wasn’t a merchant spouting nonsense.
I looked at the hand gripping the mace for a moment, then nodded.
“This, and could you touch up my breastplate a little as well?”
“Just leave it to me.”
And so, my first blunt weapon purchase was made.
Eileen silently watched the entire process from beside me, then murmured in a small voice,
“It suits you… better than I expected.”
“What does?”
“That mace. The way you hold it… you look exactly like a knight.”
I let out a small laugh.
“I was worried it wouldn’t suit me. That’s a relief.”
A little while later, after receiving the repaired breastplate and mace, I equipped myself piece by piece in front of the shop.
The breastplate had taken the oil well and gleamed, and the roughly stitched marks from Delhar last time had been neatly reinforced.
Finally, I lifted the mace and hung it at my waist.
“Now all that’s left is to replenish our travel supplies.”
“Yes, let’s go right away!”
And so, after half a day of shopping, we were able to finish our preparations to depart westward.