The Return and Blacksmith Grizzman

Benjamin stood open-mouthed at the unreal sight before him.

He could hardly believe that the man he had been playing with only moments before had been reduced to a headless corpse in one fell swoop.

'That's him....'

He hadn't expected much from his benefactor, Adrias, even though he carried the sword with him.

She was confident in her abilities as a sword master, so she decided to take this opportunity to return the favor and help him.

"How can he be so strong?

Adrias took care of the rest of the enemies that came charging at him in a series of concise movements.

He never swung his sword more than once at a single one.

Swoosh.

"Cuck."

Cuck.

"Phew."

The way he seemed to dance in unison with his enemies gave me goosebumps.

It made her feel like her own fighting was so crude compared to his.

'If I was as strong as him....'

Could I have saved the village?

He thought briefly, and the battle was over in a flash.

The horde of enemies was cleared out in about three minutes at most.

Adrias, covered in blood, looked more like a master swordsman than he had first appeared.

'I want to be strong, too.

The sight of him ignited a desire for strength like a fire in a dry field.

That desire soon found its way to the magic sword in Benjamin's arms.

"Woof.

Magum cried, but Benjamin, mesmerized by Adrias, could not feel it.

* * *

Boom!

Steam rose from the broken reagent vial as it hit the wall.

The reagent slowly began to melt in its place.

"I apologize. Please give it another chance."

Next to the melting wall was a man on his knees, shivering.

The man who had thrown the reagent vial was none other than the grotesque-looking Jester.

"I thought I told you this was important, but that's not how you handle things?"

"I'll do it again, no, this time I won't hire mercenaries, I'll do it myself."

"Shut up, there's already not a single survivor left, and we don't have a clue!"

After a moment of harsh breathing, Jester gritted his teeth and slammed his hand down on the lab table.

Things had been going downhill lately.

He'd been dabbling in all sorts of things to make up for the rare materials Adrias Cromwell had torn apart and the bodies he'd found worth a fortune.

In the meantime, I failed to secure the sword I'd spent the most time locating recently.

"Whoa, this one and that one, I don't like any of them."

Salem Yedidia's borrowed page of Sloth still hadn't been returned.

Salem's nerves were fraying as he procrastinated returning it with lame excuses, and the news that he hadn't been able to secure the magic sword had frayed his patience.

Of course, he wasn't the one who gave final approval to the operation.

The catch was that there was an unexpected person there who could wield the sword.

"I can't believe there's someone who can wield a magic sword and still be fine. Was he chosen?

The problem is, the master's whereabouts are unknown.

The mercenaries had been wiped out and the sword was missing, so it could only be assumed that it had a new owner, but there was no telling where it had gone.

Perhaps he had gotten drunk on it and died somewhere.

"You son of a.... I'll leave the investigation to you, and you get back to your next target!"

"Understood, Mr. Jester."

* * *

Immediately after disposing of the cultists, I mounted the horse in the chief's stable and headed for Mertheon.

Arriving at Mertheon with hardly a sigh, I boarded the train with Benjamin in tow.

Once we were seated, I apologized.

"I know I'm saying this now, but I'm sorry I got you into all this trouble."

"No, it's okay."

Benjamin's demeanor had changed a bit since I'd dealt with the zealots, and now he was looking at me like he was looking at a great man he admired.

"Were you that impressed?

Honestly, I wasn't sure.

If my opponent hadn't let his guard down, the fight wouldn't have ended so easily.

I don't even remember how I ended up killing the rest of them, just satisfied that I'd put my sword skills to use.

Anyway, at this point, I need to lure Benjamin to the Academy, but how?

As if he had guessed my predicament, Benjamin spoke first.

"Uh, Mr. Adrias."

"Hmm?"

"May I ask where you're headed, Mr. Adrias?"

"I'm a student at Rodlen Academy, so I'm heading to the academy, school's about to start."

"I see."

Seeing Benjamin suddenly look as disappointed as dead grass, I felt funny, but figured this was my chance, so I spoke up.

"So I see you're a swordsman, too?"

"What? No. I'm nothing compared to you, Adrias."

"No. I'm being serious here, I think you have some talent."

At my sincerity, Benjamin lifted his head to look at me.

"Don't you want to learn more about the sword too?"

"Swords? How...."

"There's another academy attached to ours called Monas. Would you like to go there?"

I could see his eyes widen at the sudden suggestion.

But then he hesitated and asked.

"Do you think I could go? I don't have any money."

"I'll sponsor you. Just tell me if you want to go."

"Sponsor me?"

Benjamin's puzzled expression was cute.

He looked a little grown up, but still a kid.

"If I go to Monas Academy, will I still be able to see Adrias?"

"Why not? I might see him occasionally."

Benjamin suddenly stood up and began to bow.

Surprised by his sudden behavior, I hastily stopped him.

"Forget it. What are you doing?"

"I wanted to express my gratitude."

"You don't have to," I said. If you want to repay the favor, you can do it later when things are better."

"Yes, I will definitely repay this favor."

Okay, that was easier than I thought.

Now I just need to get this guy in somehow....

"I'll just bump him, and if that doesn't work, I'll find another way.

* * *

Upon arriving at the academy, I looked up how to get into Monas Academy.

Luckily, Monas Academy's method of admission was a letter of recommendation from a noble.

'Finally, I can use my nobility.

I don't realize it, but my title is Count, which is the highest-ranked noble among the five ranks.

No matter how insignificant the title, an earl was an earl.

As a result, my letter of recommendation is from a high-ranking nobleman, an earl.

The admission process for this semester had already been completed, but my power was unexpectedly strong.

"Hmmm. Mr. Cromwell."

A Monas Academy admissions official greeted me.

Normally, I wouldn't have met him, but as I said before, I was no noble.

Next to me was Benjamin, carrying Rubens on his back in a less conspicuous cloth.

"Is this the... he recommends?"

"Yes. If you want to check his skills, you can."

"No. How dare I check out the child His Excellency has brought with him."

To be honest, at first glance, Benjamin didn't seem to have much talent.

He was small for a fifteen-year-old, short and scrawny, and frankly, it was a wonder he could even wield a Rubens.

"It's a little hard to get in this semester since you're already late, but how about next semester if you're okay?"

I thought it was a free pass for next semester.

I had no choice but to use my special move here.

As I fumbled in my pocket, the admissions officer held out his hand.

"Mr. Cromwell, I don't accept bribes, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to...."

After seeing the potion in my hand, he cut me off and swallowed hard.

It was the look he'd been expecting since he'd heard I was Adrias Cromwell.

"This isn't a bribe, it's just a potion I thought you might need, so I thought I'd take care of you. Have you ever heard of it? It's called the Everlast Potion."

"Eh, Everlast Potion, of course!"

"Oh, and these are my newest inventions, Regeneration, and Recovery Potion, respectively. These have been tested by Lord Rodlen himself, so you don't have to worry about side effects."

The other man's eyes widened at the three potions, and he swallowed hard as he took them into his arms and looked at them.

Benjamin watched, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Hmph. This shouldn't actually work, but...."

He quickly grabbed a piece of paper from his desk, scribbled on it, and handed it to me.

"Here's your acceptance letter."

"Haha. That's a nice way of putting it. When do I pay the tuition?"

"You can do it here and now."

I swiped the card, grabbed his hand, and shook it.

"Thanks. I'll keep this in mind."

"No, Your Excellency, I was just helping a talented friend out of a small desire to see him grow up as quickly as possible."

"I see. I'll take my leave, then."

"Yes, sir. Please enter."

It happened so fast, Benjamin didn't seem to realize what was going on.

I'll take care of everything.

You just lie down and eat your rice cakes.

Now that he'd gotten in, I decided it was time to get Benjamin a sword.

Since we can't use Rubens at the academy, we'll have to get him a normal sword.

"How do you hide that thing, anyway?

Benjamin's head was spinning at the sight of Rubens, who couldn't help but stand out.

First of all, Benjamin understood the danger of Rubens and wanted to hide it as much as possible, but apart from that, he didn't want to take it off his body.

The assistant at the counter, who recognized me from my last visit to "My Hammer is the Best in the World," gave me a strange look.

"Uh-huh. Is that how you treat a customer?

Of course, I'd buy a sword here even with that look.

"I think you're getting too much."

Benjamin said, looking like he couldn't hold on to this favor any longer.

Just trust your brother, so much.

"Quit nagging me and pick something. Or are you going to use that one, it looks unnecessarily long and uncomfortable."

I pointed at Rubens and he shook his head, looking a little nervous.

Benjamin seemed to think I still didn't know the identity of the sword.

In the end, Benjamin gave me another storm of gratitude baptism and looked at the swords.

Honestly, I would have preferred to have them custom-made, but my entrance date was two days from now.

As I was picking up the swords one by one, an unexpected person came out from inside.

"Oh, hey. Long time no see?

It was Mr. Grisman, the owner and blacksmith.

He appeared to be taking a break, wiping his sweat with a towel, and when he saw us, he exclaimed.

"Guests!"

I nodded on behalf of Benjamin, who was choosing a sword.

"Yes. You are the owner of this place."

"Yes, I am Mr. Grizman, the world's greatest hammering blacksmith!"

I knew he had a big ego, but when I actually heard his voice, it crackled like he'd been boiled.

He strode over and saw Benjamin choosing a sword.

"Give me your hand."

Benjamin was caught off guard by the sudden approach of a stranger, but I tapped him on the shoulder from the side.

"Come on, man, do as the master says and give me your hand."

"Yeah."

I was curious about Grisman's sudden behavior, but I knew he meant no harm.

Benjamin held out his hand, and Grisman took it, feeling it around.

"This is...."

Muttering to himself, Grizzman bent down to make eye contact with Benjamin.

He mumbled something incoherent.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"But why would you sponsor me...?"

"Well, it's just a connection. If it's too much for you, you can pay me back later if you do well. What do you say?"