10 – A Special Order

I stopped in front of a weapon shop. According to [Map], this was Erhard's shop. The door was open, and Erhard was inside. When I checked Naofumi via [Search], he was in the field outside the castle town with Malty. That meant he'd visited this place.

By the way, after I left the magic shop, I stopped by the general store shortly to buy some things to feed the Legendary Sword.

Back to the present, I entered the shop and saw Erhard counting his coins behind the counter. My arrival got his attention, and he turned his head to me.

"Welcome!" Erhard greeted me.

His gaze immediately zoomed to my 'unique' outfit and the Legendary Sword in my hand.

Speaking of which, I needed a sheath for my legendary sword. Its basic form was easily recognized. Everyone recognized me due to it, and I also got some looks from the passersby.

"The Sword Hero, I presume?" asked Erhard.

Erhard's voice snapped me back to reality. I nodded at him. "Indeed. I need your service."

"The name is Erhard! You can't find a better blacksmith in this castle town beside me!" He shamelessly advertised himself.

By the way, Erhard looked like an African American from my original world. He wore the outfit I know from the media. Even the color matched!

I nodded at him. "Can you sell your old forging tools, a little of all ores in your possessions, and perhaps, some books about weapon forgings?"

Crossing his thick arms in front of his torso, Erhard gave me a dubious look. "Sword Hero, this is a weapon store, not a general store. Why do you need those things?"

"I need those things to unlock variations of the Legendary Sword."

Erhard hesitated. Well, his reaction was understandable. I didn't buy his weapons despite visiting this shop.

"I'm paying."

"Well, fine. Since you're a paying customer, I'll get everything. Wait here, Sword Hero." Erhard relented.

I nodded at him, and he went to the room behind the counter. I looked around the shop. [AR] told me some strong swords, and I shamelessly copied them.

Moments later, Erhard returned. "Do you find anything that takes your fancy?"

"There are some interesting swords, but I already have the Legendary Sword," I shamelessly lied and shook my head, after which I went to the counter.

I inspected the items. There were various samples of ores, a few old books about forging, an old, rusty hammer, and so on. The big items like an anvil, a casting, and so on were on the floors.

"How much is everything?"

Erhard pondered momentarily. "300 pieces of silver with a discount since you cleaned up my storage."

"Deal!" I nodded.

I fed the Legendary Sword with all items that Erhard brought out. Many new variations were unlocked. As the Legendary Sword transformed into new variations, Erhard watched in interest.

"Is that the power of the Legendary Weapons?" asked Erhard.

"It is called Absorption. By absorbing materials, the Legendary Weapons unlock variations with special effects and abilities."

"I see. Well, do you mind if I borrow your sword for a moment?" asked Erhard.

I silently raised my brows, urging him to explain.

"As a blacksmith, I have an interest in magic weapons. Since this is one of the Legendary Weapons, I want to inspect it!" Erhard explained passionately.

"Sure. But, I need to keep it with me due to some restrictions, so you can only watch."

"All right, I do not mind." Erhard nodded.

I showed the Legendary Sword, and Erhard began inspecting. "Hmm, the materials for the grip, guard, and blade are similar to magic ores, but this blue gem is something else entirely. It contains outrageous power." He looked up to meet my gaze, looking satisfied. "Thanks for lending it, Sword Hero."

"You're welcome. By the way, this is the payment." I put 300 pieces of silver on the counter.

Erhard nodded and began counting the coins. He also asked, "So, do you need something else?"

I was going to deny it, but I remembered something.

"Do you have a set of camping gear, such as a tent, rope, and sleeping bags?"

"Yes. I do." Erhard nodded.

"How much is the whole set?"

"75 pieces of bronze," said Erhard.

"They are cheap. All right, give me two sets and a sheath for my sword as well."

"What kind of sheath? I have the normal sheath and the magic sheath," Erhard advertised.

"What is the difference between those two?"

"Magic sheath is equipped with special effects like [Clean Blood], [Temperature Control], and [Humidity Control] to keep off rust," Erhard explained.

"I see." I nodded. "So, how much is a magic sheath?"

"85 pieces of silver," said Erhard.

"Gives me one," I said.

"Okay. Wait for a moment, Sword Hero!" Erhard walked off to get my order.

After he returned, I fed the Legendary Sword with one set of the camping tools; I stored the other set in [Storage]. When Erhard saw that, he was intrigued.

"Is that another power of the Holy Heroes?" Erhard asked.

"Yep."

"You weren't stealing something when I went away, were you?" Erhard playfully inquired.

I stared at him calmly. "Maybe I was, maybe I was not, who knows?"

Erhard shook his head and grinned. "Joke aside, do you need anything else?"

I waved my hand, silently telling him to get closer while leaning my body forward. He raised his brow but also leaned his body forward. I began whispering to him. "Let's speak quietly. Some Shadows are following me. I need you to create a custom shield with a sharpened edge and a bunch of sharp needles on the surface."

When I saw his confusion, I began explaining in a low voice. "This place has prejudice to the Shield Hero because of the Church of Three Heroes, right? I have an unpleasant feeling and want to help that guy secretly. Just a precaution if something bad happens to him. Can you help me with it? Can you finish it before tomorrow?"

"You're a good lad, you know that! All right, Sword Boy! I'll do it!" Erhard slapped my shoulder. He also changed how he called me.

(I am not a good guy. This special order is one of two acts of kindness I do for Naofumi. After that, he has to survive on his own.)

I ceased my inner musing and asked Erhard, "How much is it?"

"What kind of material do you want?" asked Erhard.

"A normal iron is fine."

"A normal iron won't produce a good end product. Are you sure?" said Erhard.

"As long as it still can hurt monsters and gives Attack bonus, I don't care about the end product." I paused and narrowed my eyes at him. "It will have an attack bonus, right?"

"I think so." Erhard nodded, rubbing his chin all the while.

"As long as it does, then you can use a normal iron."

"All right, I get it." Erhard finally agreed.

"So, how much is it?"

Erhard pondered momentarily. "It is 85 pieces, but I do not mind giving you a discount, so it will be 80 pieces."

"So, including the camping tools and the magic sheath, everything is 87 pieces of silver and 30 pieces of bronze."

"Indeed." Erhard nodded.

I gave him the exact amount.

"It's a pleasure to have a business with you, Sword Boy." He grinned and gave me a thumb up.

After that, my business in his place was finished.

※※※

Upon exiting the castle town, fields of grass extended in every direction. There was, at least, a cobblestone road meandering over the scenery, but once I distanced myself from the town, it seems like the world was nothing but green and green and green.

Using [Map], I searched for some monsters. I could only find Balloons in the field there. There were other types inside the forest nearby.

"All right, since only Balloons are in this field, I'm gonna enter the forest directly," I spoke to myself before walking up to the forest.

I followed [Map]'s direction to get to the nearby monsters.

(Wild Balloons appeared! Ren used simple slash and stab! A bunch of Balloons popped up!)

I thought to myself while dealing with these weaklings. After that, I collected a small part of their remains and fed them to the Legendary Sword to unlock new variations.

[Requirement met: unlock: Orange Sword]

[Requirement met: unlock: Red Sword]

[Requirement met: unlock: Yellow Sword]

[Orange Sword (C) (0/10) (UM) | Unique Ability locked: Equip Bonus: Attack +2]

[Red Sword (C) (0/10) (UM) | Unique Ability locked: Equip Bonus: Attack +4]

[Yellow Sword (C) (0/10) (UM) | Unique Ability locked: Equip Bonus: Attack +2]

I put the rest of the remains in the Legendary Sword inventory to convert them into Energy. After that, I went to get to other monsters.

(It looks like these weaklings are aware that I'm out of their league even though I have camouflaged my status.)

I silently mused after realizing that the monsters kept their distance from me. Unfortunately, they couldn't run away from me.

I am inevitable!