“Ann, I wish to repay your kindness for teaching me. Is there anything I can do for you?” Mary suddenly asked Ann one day, just after we’d returned from the construction site.
Our regular walks out to the site still had us talking to the villagers, eating, and hearing a progress report from Barry each day. As we ate, I noticed that Mary seemed a little restless. It seemed she’d been steeling herself to ask Ann this question.
“Umm. Something you can do for me? Hmm.”
I tried to tell myself that the long pause was coming from her thinking of so many things she could ask for, rather than from her not feeling confident that Mary could actually do any of them. The thought of Mary breaking down and crying in shame over her uselessness was not a pleasant one.
“Yes, anything within my power.”
“Okay, I got it! Teach me how to fight!”
Say what now?
“Huh? You want to learn how to fight?”
Mary shared my confusion.
“Yeah! I wanna learn how to use weapons so I can protect Aoi if he’s in danger!”
I had mixed feelings about the ongoing inversion of gender stereotypes, but I was happy she felt that way!
“Well, you heard her Aoi. What do you think?”
Mary seemed conflicted.
“I’m okay with it. In fact, I’d really appreciate it if you would. The question of her protecting me aside, I’d like Ann to be able to defend herself.”
Ann’s stats were way higher than those of the villagers, but since she didn’t know how to fight, she wasn’t that much more capable than a normal person. True, she was savage in online games, but all she really would’ve learned from that would be to never lose hope and to keep her focus, and maybe an instinct for when to run away.
“Ann’s a very pretty girl. She’s perfectly safe with the villagers back in Milt, but I worry about her all the same.”
Despite the way she tormented me at night, she was quite innocent, and she had a knack for putting herself into risky situations.
“You make a good point. It would be good for Ann to learn some self-defense.”
It seemed Mary was on board.
“Ann, I’d like you to choose a weapon that suits you, and I’ll teach you combat techniques. We’ll use sheathed weapons and wrap them in cloth or leather, but you’ll still be learning with the genuine article.”
Ah, right, we’d have to procure a weapon for Ann. I had the cursed sword back in the warehouse, but if something happened, only one of us could use it. Besides, the whole point of the cursed sword was that it bestowed skill and technique on you, even if you were a novice. It wasn’t exactly a good tool for learning.
“What do you think, Ann?”
Ann opened up Tundra and flipped through the catalog. Magical swords were expensive, but I could afford to splurge a bit and buy something decent. I still remembered back when I’d first gotten here and bought a cheap wooden lance that lasted for maybe half a day. Now that was quality.
“Um. Hmmmm. Lemme see. Oh, here we go! Can we get this one?”
Ann’s face broke into a grin as she rotated the window towards me. It looked a whole lot like Ann’s favorite weapon from Gun Gust: a big, freaking poleaxe. Apparently she’d taken a shine to it. 80,000 DL? Pretty good price, honestly. Maybe because only the little bladed part was made out of cast metal?
“Don’t worry, no price is too high for your safety.”
I stroked Ann’s hair and ordered the poleaxe from the catalog, plus a little something extra. I took out a few coins and put them into the porcelain Tundra piggy. So, I was finally buying a gift for Ann, but instead of it being a cute hairpin or a pretty dress, it was a polearm. That’s my Ann, I guess.
“Thank you for your purchase! Have a good day!”
A long thin cardboard box fell to the ground with a thump. Impressive turnaround time, as always.
“Go ahead and open it. Careful not to cut yourself.”
Ann looked excited as a kid on Christmas.
“Woof!”
She was so happy she popped into kobold form. In a frenzy, Ann tore apart the box and worked her way through all the cardboard protecting the edge of the blade.
“Wow, it looks just like the one from the game!”
She carefully pried away the last protective strip, and when it was all uncovered, she turned the poleaxe over and over, admiring it from every angle.
“I see, a poleaxe. Truth be told, these tend to be difficult for women to wield, but with Ann’s staggering strength, I believe it may just work.”
I could see Mary glancing back and forth between Ann’s slender arms and the ludicrously big axe, doubt in her eyes, but she’d also seen the raw power Ann had displayed at the construction site. I could certainly understand her concern.
“One more thing, Ann.”
There was still that something extra that I’d ordered, a leather bag tucked into a corner of the box the poleaxe had come in. I pulled it out and handed it to Ann. Inside there was a hand axe, Ann’s sub-weapon in Gun Gust. Not only was it a lovely weapon both for throwing at distant enemies and for surprising an opponent who had you on the ropes, it was also a convenient tool for cutting firewood and whatnot, even in games.
“Oh wow, thanks!”
She gave me the sweetest smile, the poleaxe in one hand and the hand axe in the other. I couldn’t help but smile back.
Though seriously, seeing the real Ann with a poleaxe was kinda scary. Man, what was I thinking? I obviously should’ve told her to use a longsword back when we started Gun Gust.
✦ ✦ ✦
The clang of metal on metal echoed down the walls of the ravine. The weapons had been sheathed and wrapped in leather to prevent training accidents. Mary only defended and dodged Ann’s clumsy attacks. Her moves were a sloppy imitation of the techniques she’d seen time and time again while playing Gun Gust. She followed a simple pattern: swing, swing, swing, as fast as you can. The axe suited her in that, at least; it emphasized power and speed over skill. Mary fended off her every attack, a look of concentration on her face. Each time their weapons came together with a clash, the clamor it raised was so intense I could hardly believe they were sheathed and wrapped.
“That’s enough for today. It’s hard work, using a weapon you’re not used to. You’ll need to build your stabilizer muscles.”
They trained for about thirty minutes, I think?
“Yes, ma’am!”
As Ann skipped away to clean and care for her poleaxe, I turned to Mary.
“What do you think? Pretty good for her first time, in my opinion.”
“...Is she gone?”
“Uh, yeah. I think she went back to the cabin so she could polish her poleaxe or something.”
It made me happy to see that she’d taken to heart my lesson about caring for your weapon, back when I’d first been teaching her Gun Gust.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
She sighed in relief and sat down on the spot.
“What’s wrong? You’re not getting sick, are you?”
“No, no, I just need to rest. I’m exhausted! I can’t recall the last time my sword arm was this sore. Aoi, Ann will become a splendid warrior. She shows great promise.”
Mary had looked so in control of the situation, but it seemed she’d been having a tough time of it. Ann’s offensive barrage must have been taxing to withstand, considering her abnormal strength. I sure as hell didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.
“Thanks for doing this. What do you say I get you a nice shield to show my appreciation for your ongoing lessons? That should make things easier for you, right?”
“Are you sure?”
“Let’s just say I’m buying it for the labyrinth, and you’re borrowing it from me while you’re here. Oh, but you can buy it from me any time, if you want.”
I opened the Tundra catalog, selected the military equipment category, and turned the display to Mary.
“My, so many of them look simply wonderful. I’d only be borrowing it? Oh, but you said I can buy it afterwards, hmm. I’ll have to choose carefully.”
Nearly an hour later, Mary finally settled on a high-quality shield that cost 1.8 million DL. It wasn’t magic or anything—that was just the price you paid for top-of-the-line goods. Mary seemed satisfied and in a good mood as she pressed the purchase button on the shield, but if she really intended to buy it off me later, she’d have to delay her return home quite a bit to save up enough.
...
How convenient.