Adventurer Life with Exiled Daughter

Chapter 75

Chapter 75

*

First, I decided to take care of the most expensive thing.

In other words, the sword.

I opened the door of Torurosso Weapon Shop, which, as always, looked so rundown that it didn't seem like a place interested in doing business.

The empty interior, where not even a speck of dust danced in midair, still didn't feel like a shop meant for any kind of business.

And, as usual, the shop was unmanned.

I peeked behind the counter, wondering if the owner might be collapsed there again, but there was no sign of Tepe, the shopkeeper.

It's only natural that she isn't collapsed, but when it comes to this owner, it's scary how it wouldn't be surprising if she were.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed that she wasn't collapsed.

"I think it's a bit wrong to look disappointed that someone isn't collapsed."

Erika pointed at the bell placed on the counter while adding, with a slight understanding, that she kind of gets it.

"It says, 'Please ring if you need assistance,' my dear husband."

Looking at the bell Erika pointed to, I felt a slight hesitation.

That's because I had a vision of the shopkeeper Tepe bursting out from the back of the shop with wild hair, shrieking, and yelling, 'A customer!' as soon as I pressed the bell.

Thinking that a woman like her might actually do it isn't a rude assumption, I believe.

No, no, that's definitely rude—what am I thinking? I reconsidered and rang the bell.

The cool sound of the bell permeated the empty shop interior.

Honestly, I can't deny that I tried too hard to relax because of the weird vision I had.

That doesn't mean I let my guard down, though—the other party is Tepe, after all.

She's the kind of eccentric who runs a strange weapon shop with no merchandise displayed in the store and sleeps on the floor behind the counter because no customers come.

I had mentally prepared myself for her to come out from the back half-naked, shrieking, with her hair all over the place.

But this, this is just too much.

"A customerrrrrr!"

"Whoaahhh!"

Seeing the shopkeeper Tepe suddenly emerge from the floor of the shop as she forcefully flipped up a floorboard, I let out a scream.

*

Erika scolded me for letting out a scream, even if it was a short one.

By the way, Tepe was also getting lectured alongside me.

A shopkeeper is synonymous with the lord of a castle. It's natural for the lord of a castle to act with freedom within their domain, but there should be a certain decorum to uphold when greeting customers, such as not emerging from the floor.

It was an entirely reasonable lecture, though I couldn't help but wonder why I was being scolded alongside her.

Well, at the moment Tepe sprouted from the floor, Erika didn't scream, but she grabbed the hem of my clothes, which was cute, so there's no problem.

After being freed from Erika's short but rather intense lecture, Tepe and I shared a silent understanding with a look that said, 'We got scolded again, huh,' as we started the negotiation.

"What did you do?"

That was the first thing she said upon seeing my sword.

It was a serious tone, hard to believe it came from a human who had just been napping in a storage space under the floor.

By the way, I'd like to ask the same thing.

When I returned from the forest in the Demonlands and tried to maintain my sword, it was already in this state.

In other words, as Tepe is seeing now, the entire sword has a pattern on it that looks like cracks, blood vessels, or leaf veins.

Originally, this sword was made from a special material called magic iron so that physical enhancement could be channeled through it, and a woodgrain-like pattern would appear when physical enhancement was used.

But when I wasn't doing anything, it just looked like an ordinary sword.

So, having a blood vessel-like pattern covering the entire sword like this isn't normal.

At worst, I might need to buy a new sword.

Hoping that it could somehow be reforged, I answered Tepe's question.

"I didn't do anything special, though."

"People who've done something special usually say that."

Even if she says that, all I did was use physical enhancement on the sword like normal.

When I told Tepe exactly that, she gave me a suspicious look while tousling her messy black hair with her hand, then held a tube-like object to her eye and examined the sword as if licking it with her gaze.

"Hmm, a part of the magic iron has transformed. It doesn't look like it's become brittle, though... Ah, wait a moment, I've seen this somewhere before."

Muttering to herself about where she might have seen it, Tepe tapped the sword lightly with a small hammer-like tool, making a clinking sound.

Ah, this is probably fine on the inside too.

Watching Tepe inspect it while thinking to myself that it's probably just her talking to herself—well, it definitely is—I noticed Tepe suddenly stop moving.

"This."

"This?"

I couldn't help but ask back at Tepe's muttering, which sounded like she was talking to herself.

"Isn't this something I saw in Library City!"

Tepe clutched her head and writhed while shaking her messy black hair.

I thought I'd gotten used to Tepe's odd behavior, but honestly, it's a bit scary.

"Why are you so calm about this!"

For some reason, I got scolded.

"Well, even if you say 'something I saw,' I don't get it, and I don't know what Library City is either."

When I shrugged and answered, Tepe let out a frustrated yell, and Erika quietly told me from behind, "Library City is a city in the southern Soldas Kingdom."

That jogged my memory.

Library City in the Soldas Kingdom in the southern part of the continent—a town that's essentially one giant library, home to many humans striving to master academics and magic, right?

"This!"

Tepe pointed at my sword.

"This is a metal created in the experimental magic power furnace in Library City! It's something that doesn't even have a name yet, let alone a method for stable production or mass production!"

"Huh."

"Huh, you say!?"

Tepe clutched her head and yelled about why I didn't understand the gravity of the situation, but I swallowed the words that it's definitely because of her poor explanation.

Her bloodshot eyes were scary, that's why.

"Boss Longdagger."

Tepe, with completely fixed and intense eyes, spoke.

"Tell me everything that happened, or else..."

Or else? I urged her to continue with just a look.

"I'll use your sword to slice open my belly and test its sharpness."

What kind of threat is that? I let out a sigh.