Chapter 116 Towards the contest, part 3

While going through a corridor in our guild home, I heard the sound of a door opening from behind me.

Judging from the direction, I believe it should be the door to the blacksmith workshop.

「Ah, just as I thought, it’s Selene-san. What happened?」(Hind)

When I turned around, I saw the figure of Selene-san peeking from the door.

While fixing the position of her glasses, for some reason, she started looking towards my surroundings.

「…Hind-kun, are you alone right now?」(Selene)

「It’s just as you see, why?」(Hind)

「D-Do you have a moment? Please, enter.」(Selene)

She beckoned me and I followed her inside the blacksmith workshop, which had become her area so to speak.

It’s not like I had decided on a time to meet with Claris-san, so it should be fine for me to stop by here and then go.

However, I thought that she had already started working on the weapon and armor that she’ll display in the contest though…

Once I entered the blacksmith workshop, for some reason, she handed me a piece of clay shaped in the form of a rod. What’s this?

「Can you clutch that tightly? With both hands, like you are clutching your staff.」(Selene)

「The staff? Eh, what’s this…?」(Hind)

「I-I’ll ask everyone else after this! It’s something like a reference for when I make weapons in the future…s-so, please!」(Selene)

Ah, she means that.

I’ve understood that she needs it for the designs, but is there any need to do it right now?

「But is it really fine? To not start working on the gear you are going to present in the contest.」(Hind)

「Eh? Eh…this is…r-right! It’s that, I’m taking a breather! I’ve reached a nice break point…that’s why, I was thinking about getting data from everyone and sorting the ideas inside my head!」(Selene)

「If that’s the case, I don’t mind helping you now.」(Hind)

Last time, we made the weapons by giving her some information about me and Yumir. Does she plan to go further with that and make them?

I feel like bowing down to Selene-san’s desire to improve herself.

Oddly enough, she was asking while talking really fast for some reason but if that was the case, there was no way I would have declined.

That being the case, I grasped the clay the same way I would when I used the staff.

The way I would hold it when I used one hand and also with both, these two patterns.

Most likely, this will be used when making the small details in the grip portion of the staves.

「In that case, try this one next…」(Selene)

What Selene-san handed me next were rods with various small weights attached to it.

I know what these are used for.

Weight dictates the mobility of the weapon, you could say these tools are used to decide the center of gravity of the weapon.

When it came to Albert and his daughter, we already had the information from when we made that long sword for Yumir and we used that.

I’m no exception to that, when we made the staff that was used in the tournament, I should have already done this process though…

「…So, what does it look like? I don’t think there should be much difference compared to before though. So, eh, Selene-san?」(Hind)

「This one next.」(Selene)

「Ah, yes.」(Hind)

「Now this one.」(Selene)

「Eh? Are we going to use all these?」(Hind)

Selene-san took my information with great attention to detail and wrote it down in a memo.

Quite the thorough work, is what I thought during the process but…isn’t this a bit too much?

From beginning to end, it seemed like she was trying to hide something and I felt like her attitude was a bit weird.

But at times, it felt as if she was strongly telling me 「Please, don’t ask」.

So as a result, I didn’t ask anything and just followed her instructions.

We worked like that until the end…

「Thank you, Hind-kun. Sorry for taking your time.」(Selene)

「No, it’s fine. Should I tell everyone to come here in turns? For you to get the data.」(Hind)

「Ah, no, no! I’ll do that myself so it’s fine! …It’s really fine if you don’t do it, you hear me!? For sure!」(Selene)

「I-Is that so? Understood…」(Hind)

She didn’t have to voice it out so strongly. As I thought, something is weird…

I left Selene-san, who was acting really weird, and this time, I really left the home and headed towards town.

The town of Royal Capital Waaha was bustling today as well.

The number of players kept increasing each day, right now, you could see blue names mixed in along with the white ones often.

However, I get the impression that there are many people that don’t really intend to set up a guild here and also players that don’t belong to any region yet.

「Hey, it’s the Shinto Priest lad! I got some nice broad beans today! They are fresh! How about it!?」

「Ah, I’ll stop by on my way back. I’ll be buying a lot, so I’ll be counting on you then.」(Hind)

「They’ll be gone if you don’t hurry up! Gahaha!」

「Oh? Isn’t that Hind!? Won’t you buy some fish? Auntie will throw in some extras!」

「I’ll buy them on my way back so reserve some for me, please. Auntie, you are looking youthful today too.」(Hind)

「Oh, you! I’ll throw in a couple more extras, I’ll be waiting!」

「I-It hurts! I’m happy about the extras but my back hurts!」(Hind)

…I had already gotten used to it but…the ones that talked to me were all shop NPCs related to food ingredients.

My likability had just kept increasing because I kept coming to buy ingredients. On top of that, having won the tournament had made them give me a discount.

Regarding players, unless I’m not with Yumir, they rarely talk to me.

On the contrary, when I’m with her, players would just keep coming to the point that you would think they are really persistent.

Since I’m alone this time, I can just move around smoothly.

「This is the first time I’ve come here…yeah, the atmosphere in this area is really different. Each shop is really big after all…」(Hind)

Once you got through the part of the shopping district full of stalls, the high class stores with big signboards would suddenly increase.

In this area, you could find shops for: work of arts, imported goods, handicrafts and the like. It was also quite quiet and the NPCs walking through this street looked more tidy and proper.

In simple words, this was the high class shopping district for those that had money.

「Right, the map, the map, let’s see…」(Hind)

Following the mark I had placed on the map, soon enough, it came into view.

The store appeared brand new from the outside, the outside was of a refined white color and the words 『Claris’ Company』 were written on a signboard.

She really did it…when I heard about it, I thought I had heard wrong.

I opened the slightly heavy wooden door and went inside and the first thing that came into view were full-length mirrors with beautiful ornaments and hand mirrors.

Apart from that, there were cosmetics and showy clothes. The products were carefully displayed and they reflected light.

Having noticed I had entered the store, a female employee quickly approached me.

「Welcome. What would you like today? If there’s a particular gift you wish for, I’d glad-」

Within the salesman speech she gave, the word “gift” stood out to me.

But after looking at the interior of the store, I understood the meaning of her words.

After all, I was the only male inside the store…by the time I noticed, I was met with inquisitive gazes from the people inside wanting to know why I had even come to the store.

Considering the products they deal with, I guess it can’t be helped.

Just when I had this sense of déjà vu​, I remembered how bad it felt when I entered a store aimed at girls along with Rise.

「Ah…is Claris-san here?」(Hind)

「…What? Forgive me if I’m being rude, may I ask for your name?」

When I announced my name, the employee told me to wait inside the store and she went further inside in a hurry.

Seems like she’s going to act as an intermediary. It’s a relief.

For some time, the awkwardness of being stared at didn’t really alleviate, but I passed time by looking at the mirrors.

These are mirrors made by the silver mirror reaction I taught her. I always wondered how they would turn out, but I never had the time to check them out until now.

While admiring the level of detail of the ornaments, I observed the mirrors on display one by one.

From what I’ve seen, the mirrors themselves are done really well, it seems like she has managed to set a good production line…

While being absorbed into the mirrors of various sizes, I heard the sound of someone’s footsteps getting closer to me while in a hurry.

Wondering what it was, I turned around and something touched my cheek.

「…Claris-san?」(Hind)

While putting one hand on my shoulder and her index finger on my cheek, Claris-san was there, as if she had successfully done a prank like that of an elementary schooler.

Once I called her name, she let go and bowed down to me with a gentle smile.

「It’s been a while, Hind-sama. Welcome to the Claris’ Company.」(Claris)