13 CHAPTER 13: ELIAS (9)

"...Elias?" I froze on the spot upon hearing the all-too-familiar name.

Owen ignored me and pushed a shiny dagger towards me. It looked like he had polished this one before giving it to me.

"Hey, Owen! This Elias guy, do you know what he looks like?" I frantically asked him, unable to keep my composure. Could he really be the Eli that I know? Could I really be... In his world?

"What? He's one of the most dangerous men. You wouldn't want to mess with him." Owen looked at me with confusion.

"Well... We need to know what he looks like so we can keep an eye out for him... Right?" I gave him a half-assed reason.

"...If you see a suspicious man with black hair and red eyes, with a big sword strapped to his back, just run. Don't even bother to fight." Owen turned around and continued polishing his spear.

"...That's a very vague description," I said to him, "a lot of people have dark hair. And you can't see eye color from a distance."

"You will know when you see him. He's different," Owen finished polishing his weapon and stood up to leave.

"Hey, wait--!"

I wanted to inquire more, but Owen had already left me alone. It was a vague description, true... But Eli does have dark hair and red eyes... Moreover, this world is--

"Ah! There you are, little cub! I've been looking for you!"

I turned around and saw familiar white fluffy hair, complete with a lollipop sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

"General Zhang!" I exclaimed.

"That's me~" he playfully said, "little cub, I've come to pick you up."

"Pick me up? Where to?" I asked, still confused over his sudden appearance.

"We're going to prepare for tomorrow, of course." General Zhang smirked as he ate another lollipop.

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"Here we are!" General Zhang gleefully said as we stepped into a dark, suspicious alleyway.

"...Is this going to be my tomb?" I cynically said to him.

"No way! I wouldn't dare dirty this alleyway with your corpse!" He replied to me with a faked pouty face.

"You damn electric eel--"

"Ah! Jean-jean is already here!" He ignored my remark and called out to Jeanne, who was standing there alone.

"You're late, general Zhang..." Jeanne said, looking a tad bit annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry~ I had to find this lil missing cub, y'know?" General Zhang said without a hint of remorse in his voice.

"Jeanne, you're here, too?" I asked her.

"Yes, although I don't know why he asked me to come..." Jeanne replied to me.

"Come in, come in, you'll see why!" General Zhang walked towards a door at the end of the dark, creepy alleyway.

"Heeey, old maaaan, open the doooor, it's me, ya boyyyy!" He knocked on the door a few times while shouting.

I glanced at Jeanne, and thought that now might be a good time to express my gratitude.

"Jeanne, thank you very much for the supplies you brought me," I bowed my head to her, "it helped me greatly, and I appreciate you caring for someone like me."

Jeanne's eyes widen for a second at my words, and then a soft blush appeared on her fair cheeks, "o-oh... Ehm... It's okay. I just thought that, as a fellow lady, you might need a few stuff."

She put her hand on her chin and looked down, still blushing a little, "...I'm glad you found it useful."

I was a bit surprised to see her reaction, but I thought it may be because she rarely got appreciated? Or maybe she's just shy in nature?

I smiled warmly, "yes. I'll make sure to make it up to you somehow."

"Oi! Old man! Open up! See, this is why you're single. Is this how you treat a guest? I bet you'll become bald in just--"

'SLAM!'

"What the hell do you want!?"

I flinched as the door abruptly opened, revealing an... Angry pretty boy?

"Chill, old man~ I'm here to do business!" General Zhang wraps his arm around the boy's shoulder, which earned him a smack in the face.

Before I could ask anything, a smell I recognize went up to my nose, and I instinctively covered my nose and said, "it smells like coal and molten steel..."

The pretty boy took notice of this and said, "you noticed? Are you also a blacksmith?"

"Ah... No. I'm just familiar with the smell." I explained to him.

He observed me from top to bottom, before deciding to ignore me again.

"Hey, Zhang. Explain your business here and quickly get it done." He said to the man whom he just smacked.

"I'm here to get them both a weapon~" He cheerfully said.

--------

The boy led us inside his workshop. It was pretty small, and unlike the workshop I've seen back in my days. It was kind of empty with not a lot of smithing tools, and nobody was busy smelting or pounding a piece of steel here. We were the only ones here.

It was strange. He implied that he was a blacksmith, but his workshop didn't look like it has been used very much.

"Don't touch anything here." He growled at us while leading us deeper into his workshop.

"Don't be too uptight, old man~" general Zhang poked playfully at his cheeks, which earned him another punch in the face by the said boy.

"Understood, grand blacksmith Koji." Jeanne put her arm in across her chest and bowed down slightly.

What? This boy was a grand blacksmith? I couldn't hide my surprised face and looked at him with shock.

"Don't call me with that cringy title. And you, stop staring." He pointed at me.

"It's just proper manner to address you formally." Jeanne said.

"Tch. This is why I hate you Vanguards. Always caring about useless things." The boy scoffed.

"Now, now~ Don't fight, Jean-jean, old man~" General Zhang stepped in between the two.

"Little cub, this old man here is Koji, the coolest blacksmith I know," he finally introduced him to me, "despite his appearance, he's actually very old but still depressingly single, and I bet he's going to end up like one of those cat grandmas--"

'SMACK!'

"Shut up, Zhang. Just do your business here and leave." The boy reprimanded Zhang.

"Aw, he's just shy. Little cub, don't think too badly of him, yeah? His way of doing things sure is different from the Vanguards, but he's also a softie who cares about the people of Alistair~" General Zhang kept going on and on.

"Okay..." I replied, not sure about what to say.

We stumbled upon a giant safe at the corner of the workshop. The door is big enough for people to enter.

"Come in, take a pick, pay me, and leave." Koji instructed us.

The door opened and revealed a giant room decorated with weapons all over the walls and shelves. Most of them were swords, spears, daggers, and shields. I saw a few unique weapons like axes, scimitars, and even scythes.

"Alright, pick a weapon, you two!" General Zhang pranced around excitedly.

"You called me out for this?" Jeanne asked, "no, thanks. I prefer my own sword."

"Aw, Jean-jean, you're no fun! At least pick something!" General Zhang said.

"Do I also get to pick one?" I asked, a bit lost.

"Of course, little cub! I'm your squad leader, so I'm equipping you, tee-hee! Can't have you dying right away, can we?" Zhang replied, "all of these are quality, custom-made weapons made by the one-and-only old man! So I can guarantee you the quality!"

"What about the price?" I inquired as I didn't have much money on me.

"Don't worry, I'm filthy rich." General Zhang said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Jeanne, what will you pick?" I asked her.

"I'll pass. I'm more comfortable with my own sword, and I don't want to trouble general Zhang," she answered with a smile, "but I can help you pick yours."

I returned her smile, "thank you. I appreciate that."

"So, what weapon do you want? Spill it, don't waste my time." Koji interrupted us.

"Guns."

"Guns?" Koji repeated my word.

Are they unfamiliar with guns? Do they not exist here?

"Yeah, you know, the one that goes, pew pew...?" I made a firing motion with my hands.

"...I do have guns, but they're expensive." Koji replied.

That's great. At least they have guns. As for the payment...

"It's okay. Bring them out~" General Zhang hummed.

"Are you sure you want to use guns, Chaerin? Do you know how to handle them?" Jeanne asked me.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I can handle one." I reassured her.

Jeanne said nothing and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Here. Do you want a smaller gun, like a pistol or a revolver? Or do you fancy a bigger one?" Koji opened a shelf and revealed a small collection of guns. Based on its small number, I'm guessing guns were not the weapon of choice people usually went for.

"May I see those two up there, please?" I pointed towards 2 guns that looked like assault rifles.

"Sure." Koji picked both up and placed them on the table in the middle of the room for me to inspect.

I checked each rifle and tried to hold them in my arms, trying to get the feel of the weapon.

"How do you use them both? What kind of ammo do they use?" I asked Koji while I hold the rifle that I liked more between the two. It was similar to an M4, one of the rifles I used to work with.

"They're used like normal rifles, except they don't use ammo. They run on mana. Lots of mana. That's why they're unpractical. Most people aren't a fan of them, including me." He took the other one into his arms, and aimed towards a battered training dummy in the corner of the room.

"You just hold it like a normal rifle, inject your mana, and..."

'BOOM!'

"...You shoot."

Koji casually explained and put the gun back down.

I nodded, and positioned my aim towards the training dummy, and concentrated on my mana. Surprisingly, I could feel the flow of my mana clearly. It felt just like moving a part of my body. I directed it into my gun, and...

'BOOM!'

"Oh, so that's how you use it," I muttered to myself, "general Zhang, can I have this? ...Please?"

"Hahaha! Little cub, you're amusing! I didn't know you could handle a gun!" General Zhang laughed like a maniac. Did he forget to take his pill?

"Old man, we'll take that one. How much is it?" General Zhang asked Koji.

"5000 chromas. No refunds and no haggling." Koji replied.

"Deal." He pulled out 5 large coins from what I assume was his money pouch and handed them to Koji.

"Thank you, general Zhang." I bowed my head a bit to him. He may be a maniac, but hey, money is money. Generosity is generosity.

"Naw, you can call me electric eel, it feels like a pet name, tee-hee!" He replied and walked towards the door.

"That's not a pet name, I'm insulting you, you slippery eel." I said, a bit annoyed.

"Chaerin?" Jeanne asked me.

"Yes?"

"How did you--" she suddenly paused and bit her lip, "...Never mind. I'm sorry."

She was about to ask me something, maybe about how I was able to use guns? I don't know why she refrained from doing so, but I was thankful for that. I'm sorry, Jeanne. One day, I'll properly apologize to you and Dmitri. For now, please bear with it because I can't die yet.

I silently opened my quest window, and saw that the quest hadn't been cleared yet. Did I misinterpret its meaning?

[Quest: find your weapon]

[Reward: poor enhancement stone, 2 stat points]

It also didn't work when Owen gave me my dagger. Maybe it won't work if it was given by someone? ...Then, I'll try this method.

"Um, Koji... Grand blacksmith Koji?" I asked, unsure of how to address him.

"Just call me Koji. What is it?" He asked me.

"Can I sell this to you?" I pulled out the ice orc's helmet I got earlier from inside my bag. It'd be suspicious if I pulled it out of thin air, so I've kept it in my bag rather than in my inventory.

He examined it for a while, "sure. I can give you 800 chromas for this. Where did you get this? It's not bad."

"Great. Can I also buy something from you?" I ignored his question and asked him another one.

"What do you want?"

"Give me a silencer to go with my gun."