“You’ve used this a lot given how recently you bought it…”
“Yeah. The sharpness is great, but the fact that it can cut through magic is really convenient. Fights are a lot different now that I have an option other than dodge. Are you sure you could’ve sold it to me at that price?”
The bloodcrystal-clad dragon twinblade was expensive. However, given the weapon’s features, its price tag was on the cheaper side, and Zig wondered about that.
“Uhh… Well, weapons using this class of materials are usually more expensive.”
Gantt’s answer was nonchalant as he looked for warps and misalignments in its points of balance.
“I knew it,” Zig said.
“Since you didn’t ask for the lightweight treatment, it made the price a lot cheaper.”
“Lightweight treatment?”
“What, you’ve never heard of it? Uhh…Tell him!”
Caught off guard by Zig’s ignorance of what was considered common knowledge in Halian, Gantt pushed the responsibility of explaining to Sciezka.
“Weapons like these are usually given the lightweight treatment, either by physically altering the weapon or engraving a seal on it to make it lighter.” Sciezka handled it easily, probably because of her experience explaining the process to other customers. “The harder and stronger a material is, the larger they usually end up being, making portability an issue.”
“I see.”
The treatment was usually requested by those who lacked the physique to wield large weapons or women who lacked the necessary muscle mass. Zig thought they could just physically enhance their bodies with magic, but weapon weight apparently was still an issue.
“We do our best to make it as compact as possible, but if all else fails, a magic seal is engraved on it. The weapon you purchased is about 30 percent cheaper because it didn’t have the lightweight treatment applied on it. Yours is also the first time anyone ever purchased a weapon of that weight without the treatment. At least in this store.”
“That’s the gist of it. Not everyone is as stupidly strong as—urgh!”
Sciezka had elbowed Gantt for the unnecessary comment.
He then tugged on Zig’s sleeve. “Hey, uh…”
“What?”
The gesture only made the man more annoying, but Zig looked at him anyway.
Gantt had scraped the blade with what looked like a spatula and was staring intently at the debris he gathered.
“Did you…cut someone recently?”
“Yeah. Just yesterday.”
Gantt let out a tremendous groan at Zig’s declaration. Zig didn’t quite know what to make of it, but the blacksmith didn’t sound pleased.
“What are you so bothered about? Wait, hang on…”
What Gantt said nagged at Zig’s memory. His previous weapon had broken during his job with the mafia. Elcia’s greatsword-wielding ally had smashed the twinblade in two during their pincer attack.
He had fought the three-faced ogres with a rental longsword. This weapon had been made right after that encounter.
Then I cut down some guys who attacked me in the guild, and then the whole congregation of the Claritist Church. I didn’t really kill any monstrosities with it during the blade bee incident. The most recent monstrosity kills on this are probably the mantis thing and panthers.
Zig nodded after running through his memories.
“This weapon has been mostly cutting down humans lately,” he said.
“You really don’t have to tell me that,” Gantt said.
“I see,” he continued. “So, you’ve been cutting down more humans than monstrosities…”
Zig wasn’t expecting Gantt to be saddened by the fact that he had been killing people.
“It’s just…I make weapons so that adventurers can take down monstrosities. But hey, I was the one who decided to sell it to you anyway. Ideals don’t put money on the table, so I’m not about to complain.”
Though complain he did, casting side glances at Zig. He was being very annoying.
For Zig, a weapon was a tool. A tool to kill his enemies—nothing more, nothing less. As bad as he felt for Gantt, he wasn’t about to give up that mindset.
“I was the one who killed them, not you,” Zig said. “A tool is just that, a tool. Weapons don’t kill people, the people wielding them do.”
“So, I’m innocent of all charges, is that it?” Gantt scoffed as he stroked the blade with his firm, callused fingers. “How convenient. Sorry, but I’m not as shameless as to say that I don’t have blood on my hands after crafting weapons designed to kill things. I know I’m complicit in all this.”
The man had principles, and although he sounded like he made light of them, Zig knew better than to interject.
“But we’re getting off topic,” Gantt said. “So, uh, what did you want again? Doesn’t look like this baby is in need of maintenance.”
After Gantt polished the twinblade, Zig thanked him and gestured to Sciezka to hand him the magic item.
“He wants you to inspect this.”
“A magic item? It’s busted.”
Gantt gave it a once-over first before putting on his loupe to get a better look.
“Wow. Yellow silver? Fancy stuff for a magic item. And it’s engraved with a barrier seal. This one’s a working second rate. What a shame… Shouldn’t have been fooled by the material. I’d file a complaint if I was the one who bought it.”
Gantt kept mumbling to himself as he inspected the magic item closely. As brusque as he was, he was definitely a skilled craftsman.
“Yellow silver?” Zig asked.
He looked to Sciezka at the mention of the unfamiliar material.
She gave him an explanation that anyone could easily understand. “A metal known for its excellent mana conductivity. It is also softer than most metals, making it suitable for engraving detailed crests. Although it is resistant to high temperatures, it is easily deformed by physical strikes and is usually employed for internal magic seals.”
The only soft metals that Zig could think of were lead and tin.
“Is it expensive?”
Sciezka didn’t seem to mind his stupid question at all. “Quite. You can say it’s about as famous as the indigo adamantine, if it helps.”
“Oh… So, it’s in that family of materials.”
He knew about indigo adamantine. It was a special metal with mana-disrupting characteristics—a small dagger made of it was worth millions of orth. Even the coins he used as throwing stones weren’t cheap. However, mana-disrupting materials were very valuable. This yellow silver must be just as useful.
“Metals named after their color are incredibly unique and hard to produce. Most adventurers can’t easily get their hands on them. It’s something of a waste to use them in a magic item like this…”
“Even amateurs can engrave crests, so unscrupulous craftsmen drive up the price by using expensive materials.” Gantt picked up Sciezka’s explanation, shrugging as he held up one of his tools in his hand. “Whoever made this is a failure of a blacksmith for using materials to cover up for his shoddy craftsmanship.”
As a man who was meticulous about his work, he couldn’t bear the thought of someone mishandling precious materials.
“It broke due to overload. What’d you do?”
He ruffled his beard, clearly unhappy, as he examined the magic item in his other hand. Zig didn’t think much of it.
“I kicked it,” he said, reporting the magic item’s cause of destruction.
“Oh.”
The way Gantt looked at Zig changed. It was like he was looking at an uncivilized barbarian.