Second chapter for the day. A large chunk of this chapter was taken out of the light novel. It took out the part about the sword. Just wanted to let you guys know. Enjoy.

The Preceding Hero"s Weakness?

「Aniki, you tightwad.」

「Shut up.」

When I obstinately refused even after that, Kuon said that while looking at me with reproachful eyes.

「I"m fine with just the earlier levels~. To be honest, I just want to fight together with you, Aniki.」

You sure do say things that make me happy.
Wanting to respond to those feelings after having been told that much is the definition of a man.

「Still, I refuse.」

「Why!」

Kuon stood up and glared, but I won"t budge at all.
Like h.e.l.l I"m gonna go into something like a Dungeon.

When I made that firm decision, Bernadette looked at me as if she were peering into me.

「Wh, what is it.」

Seeing that mouth of hers trembling and looking like it was curbing into a smile, when I said that while getting a bad feeling about it,

「Yashiro-san, ……Are you the type that is bad with ghosts and stuff?」

is what she went and said.

「Wh, wh-wh-wh-who i-i-i-i-is.」
「Ahh, so you really are.」

Having caught onto my weakness, Bernadette smiled with a grin.

「When speaking of Dungeons, it"s dark, and they say that the revengeful ghosts of Adventurers that failed to conquer it and died come out. 『When talking about ghost stories, it"s about a Dungeon』 is what they say after all.」

That"s right. That was something from three years ago.
I was originally bad with stuff like ghosts to begin with, but because of some self-proclaimed minstrel that did a hundred tales of other world ghost stories in the middle of our journey, I became no good with ghosts.
……That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, precisely because he was self-proclaimed, he excelled in the art of conversation, and when he did it, it felt real. The me at that time was so afraid from that that for several days……No, let"s put an end to this story. It"s embarra.s.sing after all.

「Hee~……So Aniki also has something he"s not good with!?」

I flicked Kuon"s forehead, who was laughing with a *Nishishi*, and silenced her.

「It was certainly unexpected but personally, our affinity is welling up. ……I am fine with ghosts though.」

「Gununu……This d.a.m.ned no-good Sister.」

Should I also do a forehead flick to Bernadette who"s been smirking this whole time.

「っ～……In that case, Aniki, wanna go around and look at the weapon stores?」

Kuon, who was in pain from laughing too hard, raised her head with teary eyes.

「Weapon stores?」

「Yeah. This Nordyord is famous for having a lot of arms stores and protector stores. It"s especially famous for things like Magic Swords which use plenty of magic stones. Since excellent monster materials are obtained as well, there are also a lot of good quality weapons.」

I see, that"s true.
Except for a portion of them, weapons and protectors are consumable goods.
Even maintaining them would need them to be polished or tailored, and if they get broken, the guys that look like diving into Dungeons is their job would need to get new ones immediately.

So since it"s a town where many Adventurers visit, it"s inevitable that many arms stores would gather.

「Even for you, Aniki. I think that you should find a new weapon!」
「A weapon? ……If it"s a weapon, I have one, you know?」
「Heh?」
「Look.」

I take out the twin swords that were in their scabbard from my pouch.
They"re the twin swords that Old man Gold prepared for me in Luxeria.
Thinking back, I cut down countless enemies like the Six Blade General Terakio and the Dragon Zombies with these twin swords, but it"s a named sword that could have gone down in history if the times hadn"t changed.

「Don"t touch the sword blade, got it? It seems that it has paralysis poison stocked in it.」
「It, it"s alright for me to touch it!?」

Since I took it out to let her touch it, when I nodded, she gripped and raised the scabbard looking nervous.

「……っ, Amazing……」

Maybe because she resolved herself, she made a straight face, and when she slowly unsheathed the sword, seeing that emerald sword blade that was transparent like a gem, Kuon leaked out that word.

While letting the unsheathed sword get shined on by the light of the bar, Kuon smirked looking like she was s.p.a.cing out.
It was a bit of a dangerous smile that without a doubt looked like she was 『enchanted by the sword』.

「Oi oi, are you alright?」

「Ha!? ……Ah, ahh. A sword as beautiful as this, for me, this is my first time seeing one!」

When I called out to her, as if she finally regained consciousness, she started talking with an excited appearance.

「What the name of this sword?」
「The both of them are 『Crystal Venom』. This one is blue.」
「Amazing! So cool!」

When I draw the other one, Kuon became even more excited from seeing its blue sword blade.

「You know what else? When both of the swords go like this……」

By inserting the pommels of the pair of swords into the gaps of each other……The sword blades of the pair of swords are dyed red, and the snake ream double-edged 『Deep Crimson Carbunculus』 is complete.

「Uoooh!!」

Her tension is already at MAX. Man, it feels great when the reaction is this good.

「I"m terribly sorry. That sword, could you allow me to see it for a bit?」
「Ah?」

When I turn around from suddenly being called out to by someone……There wasn"t anyone there.

「O, over here!」

「Ah, sorry. ……Uhm, you are?」

When I lowered my gaze a bit, there was a small redheaded girl.
Smaller than Lililuri, she probably didn"t even reach one meter.

「Ah, I was slow in telling you this. I am a blacksmith called 『Ahato』from a small workshop that was opened up here in Nordyord. Today, I came here to deliver several steel swords due to a request from the Guild, and then having come across a beautiful, unadorned sword on my way back, I guess you could call it a blacksmith"s nature, I possessed an interest in it and called out to you.」

The fast-talking girl that named herself as Ahato had her cheeks and nose tanned red just like a blacksmith would, and her thick clothes were stained black with soot.

「U–m……right.」

Somehow feeling that this wasn"t an atmosphere where I could refuse, when I handed it over while it was still linked together, after she fixedly gazed at it, she suddenly started disa.s.sembling it.

「Uh, ……Eh?」

Releasing the link, removing the sword blade from the handle, disa.s.sembling the handle into several parts, and raising the sword blade up with hands that took a position to make them look like mittens, she gazed at it from various angles.

Rather than calling it sudden, I was left completely surprised as a result of how she started disa.s.sembling it with actions that seemed to flow way too much and was left speechless, and when I realized it, she had rea.s.sembled the disa.s.sembled sword, returned it to its sheath that was placed on the table, and let out a sigh that sounded like she was satisfied.

「It"s a rare article where the body ores of male and female ore dragons, Basilisks, were sharpened, and given a technique formula where they would be strengthened by linking them together. The gem embedded in the handle is a Basilisk"s eye, correct? It must have a magic-like effect and be effective as an anti-petrification method. However, what"s most wonderful of all is definitely its linking mechanism. Normally, swords that were only sharpened from something are brittle, and are things that are hard to handle when compared to swords made from iron. But to raise its strength by linking them together……It"s a very good work. I"ve seen something beautiful.」

She was most likely a Dwarf or some kind of Hobbit.
Since she seemed well versed with minerals and weapons, I saw her as a Dwarf.

「Th, that"s amazing……」

「No, since I"ve disa.s.sembled it once, something like this is natural. More importantly, have you done maintenance on this sword?」

「No, I haven"t.」

If it were iron or something, it would rust if blood wasn"t wiped from it, but since it was made of stones that were like crystals, it was maintenance free……is was what I was told by the old man but, is it still bad if I don"t do it?

「Certainly, there"s no need for maintenance like wiping blood, but it would probably be better for you to grind the edge of the blade. While it"s true that it isn"t a sword whose main point is cutting, the edge is starting to become round.」

「Ah, right. Thank you.」

「No, not at all. ……By the way, is this your first time being in this town?」

Since Bernadette and Kuon both nodded when she peeked over at them, I also nodded.

「A large number of pirates stay in this town as well. Please be careful.」

Saying that, Ahato left the bar.

「……Pirates, huh.」

Just as Ahato said, even in this bar, although they were in the minority, there were men with appearances that clearly said that they were hooligans.

If we stay carefree too long, it feels like we"d get involved in something troublesome.

「I"m thinking of going to the inn and rest already but……Kuon and Bernadette, what are you guys going to do?」

「Naturally, I"m going to the labyrinth! I"ll be back by morning.」

We were in the ship before but I"m sure that she wants to personally feel the results of her restless training.
Maybe because she was itching to move her body around, Kuon immediately replied without placing any pause after my words.

「In that case, I"ll go along with Kuon-san. Since I also want to become strong.」

So Bernadette"s together with Kuon.

「Then it"s decided. Tomorrow morning, let"s a.s.semble here again.」

「Well the, we"ll be going, Aniki!」

As soon as I said that we would be acting on our own from hereon, the two of them left me behind and headed to the labyrinth.

Oi oi, what are we going to do about the bill. Is it on me? I"m definitely going to charge you guys after this!

When I gave up and tried to pay the bill, at the time I raised my hand,

「I"m gonna be taking a bit of your time, okay?」

*Gata!*

someone sat down in the seat that Bernadette sat in, the seat opposite of me, with a lot of energy.

「It"s been a while, black hair. To think that I"d meet with you again in a place like this.」

Looking closely, they were a woman that looked like she was a bit past twenty and two men, one tall and lanky and the other short, standing behind her.

The woman had a pirate hat and a pirate-style coat. She also wore a shirt that openly showed her breast a lot and a miniskirt with black frills attached.
The men both had bandanas wrapped around their heads and felt like pirate underlings.

「You"re out of luck for having met me today, is what I"d like to say, but I actually have a good story for you. ……Accompany me for a bit.」

That female pirate, who had hair that was made into rolls in several places and was a pink color that wouldn"t be seen in modern j.a.pan, or rather, on Earth, took out a gold coin from her breast, and fiddled with it with her fingers.

「Why don"t we do some busine……」

「Who are you guys.」

I"m sorry for doing this when she was looking cool but, I have no recollection of these people.

With a *Charin*, the gold coin dropped, and the female pirate was trembling all over, and then she stood up with a lot of vigor.

「Fu, fufufufu. So that"s how it is. You won"t do business with bitter enemy that you once opened a struggle to the death with……that"s what you want to say, isn"t it? Well, I can understand that feeling. But it"s not a bad story for you eith……」

「No, sorry. ……Aren"t you mistaking me for another person?」

I relatively seriously don"t know them but……Eh? What? Am I acquainted with these people? ……The beauty is a beauty but she"s kind of a person that I don"t want to get involved with……

Nn? Don"t want to get involved with? ……Come to think of it, I feel like I"ve me her somewhere before……

「Kuh……M, making fun of me like that……I won"t let you say that you forgot the name of the Captain of the 『Black Rose Pirates』, Angelica Fon Belteny!!」

Seeing her figure of naming herself with a red face and teary eyes, I finally understood.

That"s right, I know these three!

「So it"s the Three Stooge Pirates![1] It"s been a long time!」

These guys were pirates that got in our way several times in our journey three years ago.

Translator’s Notes:
[1] I made it "three stooge pirates" because Yuu calls them the "san ba kaizoku". The three comes from being a crew of three. The "ba" comes from the word for "rose" which is "bara". The reason why I made it "stooge" is because taking the "ba" and the "ka" from kaizoku gives you "baka".