Pawahara Seijo no Osananajimi to Zetsuen Shitara, Nanimokamo ga Umaku Iku Yō ni Natte Saikyō no Bōke

[Time to Decide My Fighting Style]

“U-umm, by all means, please come here again. I will forever look forward to your visit…” Kaya-san grabbed my hand tightly with both of her hands.

Although I was surprised, I immediately nodded so as not to get affected and said, “Y-yes, of course. Mayor-san, too, please make sure to take care of your health.”

“Yes. Kaya and I pray for you to have a safe journey.”

“Thank you so much. Well then— until we meet again!”

Blaze! Turning into phoenix, I soared into the sky, which was still covered by the veil of darkness.

The reason why I left was the same as when I got called Dragon Slayer— because I had become too famous.

Thinking it would be better to move to another place soon, I decided to leave tonight.

Of course, because the residents thought that I was Lord Fire God, I have to set off stealthily like this, but the sea at night sure is quiet and nice.

How should I put it, I got the fantasy that I was the only one left in the world, probably because there was no sign of life at all around me.

Just that, phoenix transformation was uselessly noticeable even during the daytime, so I probably would have to think of some other flight method.

If I was unlucky, I might get treated as a rare beast.

I had to be careful.

Anyways, I was thinking of creating my own fighting style as soon as possible.

I had only been using a chore-use dagger up until now, so I wanted to find a fighting style with any weapons that might suit me, no matter if it was a sword, a spear, or a bow.

But if it was a sword, it would be similar to Elma, huh.

Well, there were a lot of people who used swords anyway, I didn’t think it was something I have to fret over.

Anyhow, that was the reason why I had chosen “Leolinea”, a martial arts city located on the Las Coralta continent east of Magrid, as my destination.

◇ ◇

According to the mayor, the martial arts city Leolinea had an arena where adventurers could pit their prowess against each other, and many men of valor from all over the world gathered in the city.

In other words, I’d be able to see a wide variety of fighting techniques.

Moreover, I heard that there were many arms shops for participants in the city, so I was sure I’d get to find a weapon to my liking.

“Hence, I came to the rumored Leolinea, but…”

——Chatter, chatter.

“There sure are so many people here…”

Maybe there was some festival underway; I was frozen with my mouth agape among the waves of people filling the street.

However, most of them seemed to be really hot-blooded people.

Speaking of which, it appeared that you’d get money if you won in the arena, so many people were probably coming for that.

And most likely, the huge stone building in the center was the arena.

What should I do, I wonder?

Of course, the arena was the place I was most interested in, but let’s see what kind of weapons available here first.

There were many shops around, too.

So, I tried to enter a nearby arms shop.

However, there was a ‘not yet open for business’ sign in front of the shop.

It should have been past noon, but there were shops like this one too once in a while.

But well, couldn’t be helped if that was the case.

Let’s look for another shop.

◇ ◇

“Why are all the shops ‘not yet open for business’!?” I screamed without thinking, seeing the 10th ‘not yet open for business’ sign.

Could it be the arms shops in this city only open at night?

No, but everyone seemed to be heading to the arena at night, so I didn’t think that was the case…

“Haah… I want to take a look at weapons…”

As I was dropping my shoulders.

“——E-excuse me!”

“Hm?”

Suddenly being called by someone, I looked to the direction where the voice came from.

There was a girl about 12 years old there.

She was a cute girl wearing something like an apron.

Did she have a business with me?

I bent down to match her height so as not to scare her and asked, “Do you need something?”

“U-umm, is Onii-chan looking for a weapon?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah. That’s right, but all the shops are closed,” I said with a bitter smile.

At that, the girl clasped her hands in front of her chest. “W-why don’t you come to Fio’s mom’s shop?”

“Your mom’s shop?”

“Yes. Fio’s mom runs a weapons shop.”

It seemed that this child was called Fio-chan. “Eh, can I? I mean, isn’t your mom’s shop still closed too…”

“Don’t worry, my mom’s shop is open.”

“Oh, is that so.” That’d be huge help.

However, her “mom’s” shop, huh.

Her mom’s most likely not the blacksmith. Perhaps she just inherited the shop after her husband, the original owner of the shop, died.

Then, they had been getting by by selling the left-over arms, and knowing the plight they were in, the small girl voluntarily went to look for a customer in order to help her mother.

Everything was just my own wild guess, but I kinda feel like that that was the case; I hope I could help even a little.

With that in mind, I decided to have Fio-chan guide me.

But.

“Ou, I’m Fio’s mother, and the name’s Leia. Well, just take your time and have a look as much as you like.”

“……Okay.”

Waiting there was an anego-like woman with uselessly muscular body carrying a huge hammer.

It was my fault for making a wild guess without knowing the circumstances, but now I kinda understood the feeling of people getting ripped off by a tout of a bar.