Chapter 33 - A Much Needed Upgrade

Genta, Kazuya, and Orihime went forward into the blacksmith's cave to get their weapons upgraded. Genta went ahead of them, heading straight to meet the man himself—the blacksmith, who was hammering a glowing piece of metal.

"Hello, Tano," Genta greeted, and the man simply nodded back.

"These are my, uh, friends, Kazuya and Orihime," she introduced them fondly, "and they are here for a weapons upgrade."

The man remained focused on his work, barely paying her any attention, but she turned to the duo behind her. "He's excited to see you, trust me," she said to them.

"I don't know, Genta," Orihime answered, "and I don't think he would agree with you on that."

However, Genta went forward to meet him, curious to see what he was so focused on. "You seem a bit too focused today," she pointed out, "what are you working on?"

It was at that moment that Tano gave her some attention. "A weapon for the master," he replied, "she needs a lighter bow and quiver." The ones she always uses aren't durable enough due to her immense magical intensity. As a result, she regularly uses heavy equipment that is more durable but also too heavy for a woman of her age. So I intend to make a new set of weapons for her. "One that is forged from the lightest metals on earth and is reinforced with durable fragments."

"Wow," Genta reacted, "I bet she would have given you the fortune to make this for her, right?"

"Actually, no," replied the blacksmith, "this is something I'm doing for her secretly." "So I'm sure you know what that means for you and the two others behind you," he said, now noticing the two strange adventurers behind Genta. 

"Oh, okay," she replied before looking back at Kazuya and Orihime. "You hear that, guys?" "Don't tell anyone about this!" she instructed playfully.

Orihime arched a brow and said, "So it took this long period of discourse for him to even notice we were here?" "What a jerk," she remarked, folding her hands angrily. 

"Oh, as I said, these are my friends, Kazuya and Orihime," Genta introduced again, "and they are here for a weapons upgrade."

"I see. What do they wish to upgrade?" asked the blacksmith. 

"All their weapons and armor," replied Genta. 

"All of it?" asked the blacksmith. "They'd better have all the money required for me to do so."

"Don't worry, they just sold off a silver dragon's egg," Genta said to him, "so they have all the money you'd need."

Kazuya looked at Genta with a slight frown and shook his head. Orihime took note of his reaction and smiled. "Yeah, that brat does talk a lot, doesn't she?" she remarked. 

"Interesting, so they just came back from stealing a silver dragon's egg?" the blacksmith asked Genta, who nodded in response. 

"I see," the blacksmith said, "it seems they aren't the naive children I took them for."

"What the—?" Orihime reacted angrily, wanting to go forward to give the middle-aged man a piece of her mind. But Kazuya placed a firm grip on her shoulder, preventing her from moving any further. 

Then the blacksmith looked forward at the duo behind Genta and said, "I'm sorry if I treated you rudely." It's just that, given the years I have worked here, I've seen a lot of naive adventurers who can't even tie up their boots. "But it turns out you weren't what I had made you out to be, so I apologize."

Kazuya nodded, while Orihime remained her usual self, angrily looking away from him. 

"So, Genta tells me you both need a weapons and armor upgrade," he said, "however, I need you to examine them first before I can know how to go about it."

Then Genta turned to them. "He needs you to take them off right now," she whispered to them. 

So without much hesitation, they took off their armor and disarmed themselves completely, leaving only their regular clothes on. The blacksmith wasn't all that impressed with any of the things they presented to him but found himself in awe of Kazuya's main weapon, his scarlet sword. 

The blacksmith picked up the weapon, smiling as he spun the blade around in such a skilful way that it made Kazuya jealous, as it showed just how much superior the blacksmith was in handling a sword than he was. 

"This is a fine weapon you have here, young man," the blacksmith remarked. "Tell you what, why don't you sell it to me for a full pouch of gold?" "What do you say?"

"Keep dreaming, old man," Kazuya replied rudely, and the blacksmith laughed.

"It seems you also know its value as much as I do," the blacksmith said, "but I doubt you know the full potential of what this sword is capable of." 

Then he dropped the word by the side to fully address them: "Normally, upgrading all the weapons and armor would take a few days to complete, but I would gladly work all night for the sake of this beautiful weapon," he said to them. 

"Whoa whoa whoa!" reacted Orihime. "What do you mean, that it would take a few days to complete?" "We don't have time, you know?"

"How long were you expecting this to take?" asked the blacksmith. 

"I don't know—a few hours at most?" she replied. 

"Okay, maybe I was wrong," the blacksmith admitted. "You might just be a naive idiot after all."

"What did you say, old man?" Orihime asked, reaching down to grab her sword before realizing that she had disarmed herself earlier. 

Kazuya reached down to whisper to her, "You weren't thinking of fighting the old man, were you?"

"And what if I was?" she asked. "The guy is a jerk."

"That man could murder you in a heartbeat," Kazuya said to her. "Didn't you see the way he handled my sword?" The dude is a swordmaster. "You don't want to mess with him, trust me."

While Kazuya was giving Orihime whispered advice, Genta was talking with the blacksmith. 

"I promise everything will be ready by noon tomorrow or earlier," he promised, "but that is only because I'm excited about that scarlet sword." If handled properly, at its maximum potential, one might even stand a chance against the Master herself."

"No way!" Genta reacted. "That's impossible!"

"Yes, you heard me right." So you might want to ask him where he got such a brilliant weapon from because it would cost a fortune to make something that is even remotely close to what this thing is capable of. "Or maybe he stole it from a high-ranking knight or something," the blacksmith said, looking back at the sword in awe and wonder. 

Genta took the free time they had to make a bargain with the blacksmith, and thanks to her fondness for him, they were able to get to a reasonable price, one that would have been almost half of what the duo would have paid him otherwise.

After the bargain, Genta gave a bow of respect before turning to leave and was surprised to see the both of them still arguing in silent voices. 

"Come on, guys, let's go," she said to them. 

"Hey, what about our weapons?" asked Orihime impulsively. 

"They will be ready by noon tomorrow," Genta replied, "please be patient."

"Well, as long as I have the stuff I need to get back with the master, another night in this crazy town shouldn't be too bad," Kazuya replied, and Orihime sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do at this point. Besides, she would also love to have upgraded armor that was forged well and not tools that were rushed within a few hours. 

"Well, I guess it's going to be another night at the brothel," whined Orihime, but Kazuya gave her an intense frown. 

"We are not spending another night there, woman," he said decisively.

"Why? "Last night was fun, wasn't it?" Orihime asked out loud, placing a hand on Kazuya's chest, and he pushed her away from him. 

"Oh, come on, Kazuya," she whined, "don't tell me you've forgotten our intimate time together in that beautiful room, have you?"

Genta's face flustered into a bright red, being barely able to imagine what Orihime was talking about. Kazuya looked at Genta, who was barely putting herself together after hearing what Orihime said, and sighed angrily. "You always try to make me look weird to other people, don't you?" he asked, and Orihime laughed mischievously.

"Alright, fine. If you don't want to spend the night at the brothel anymore, what place do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Well, you could stay here at the guild with us," Genta offered. "I would be glad to have you with me tonight." 

Then Orihime looked at Kazuya and said, "Really, Kazuya?" "You are now charming children too?" she teased.

"Shut up, woman!" Kazuya responded angrily.

"It's okay if the both of you would want a room alone," Genta said with flushed cheeks. "I wouldn't mind; I could even arrange for that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kazuya. Then Orihime placed both her arms on his shoulders, crossing them behind his head, and he pushed her aside immediately. "Don't touch me, woman!" he said, and she laughed.