Chapter 64: Just to Make Me Pay, Right!?
Chapter 64: Just to Make Me Pay, Right!?
"Wuwu..."
At this moment, Anna was completely passive, being dragged along by Helga. To Anna, Helga seemed really terrifying now.
Unlike her usual self, there was no laughter, no smug jokes. From Anna's perspective, there was only a chillingly calm and beautiful face.
But it was this icy expression that was truly frightening!
She must be angry, right?
The Bartham family, as nobles of the Lunareth race, also inherited the typical traits of the Lunareth, or rather, most of the Lunarian: bold, passionate, and never hiding their emotions.
Of course, this is just a general impression of a race. In reality, each individual is different.
And Helga was not the typical Lunareth.
Except for her eye color, which bore Lunareth characteristics, she didn't resemble an Lunareth in any other way.
Yet, this Helga, who usually didn't hide her emotions, was now showing such a cold, almost frozen expression...
Anna had only seen Helga like this once before, in her childhood... Although her memory was as blank as ever, her subconscious made her remember that time Helga was angry because of someone.
‘Is Helga really angry...?’
Thinking uneasily, Anna suddenly felt a stomachache...
"...We're here."
"Huh?"
Helga had been silent the entire way, so when she suddenly spoke, Anna was caught off guard.
What's here?
Coming back to her senses, Anna looked up and saw the store's name—
"Weapon shop?"
The only weapon shop in the entire town, paired with the best blacksmith in the area... Even the knight's equipment was procured from here.
The craftsmanship was decent, though certainly not comparable to blacksmiths in big cities... but it was the best in this region.
"Why are we here...?"
"To buy weapons."
?
Anna felt like she had just had a pointless conversation with Helga.
Dazedly, she was pulled into the weapon shop by Helga.
A middle-aged man, who had been lying on a recliner smoking, stood up upon seeing them enter.
"...Isn't this Anna?"
The blacksmith also knew Anna.
In fact, due to the rusted weapon that could give someone tetanus, Anna was quite familiar with this blacksmith.
He didn't address her as "Lady Anna" or "Knight Anna" like others did, keeping it more casual.
The blacksmith looked at Anna, his regular customer who hadn't visited in a month, with some surprise, then shifted his gaze to Helga.
"And this is...?"
"She's... my friend." Anna scratched her head, then looked at Helga with a questioning gaze.
"I want to pick a suitable weapon." Helga directly stated her purpose.
"No problem, after all, this is a weapon shop." The blacksmith nodded, "But may I ask, what type of professional or aspiring professional is this lady? What kind of weapon does she need?"
"A mage, I need two handy single-handed throwing axes."
This statement left not just Anna, but even the blacksmith wondering if his hearing was failing due to age.
"...What did you say?"
"Two handy throwing axes, preferably suitable for close combat, and the center of gravity shouldn't be too off when throwing."
Then the blacksmith also cast a questioning look at Anna, as if asking if Helga was really a mage.
Anna just rolled her eyes—
If there's business to be done, why care about her profession?
However, Helga wants to buy throwing axes? That does feel very Lunareth race-like...
The blacksmith rubbed his temples, realizing he might be overthinking, and walked behind a door.
After some rummaging, he carried out a large box.
"Try the styles inside."
Opening the box, it was filled with various throwing axes, from the simplest designs to some with bizarre blade shapes, and even those adorned with beautiful patterns, all casually piled in the box.
Helga simply glanced over and picked out a rather unadorned curved-handle throwing axe.
Seeing Helga pick up this axe, the blacksmith's eyes lit up.
Originally, he thought he had encountered a not-so-bright mage here for a laugh, as in his many years, he had seen mages who, on a whim, wanted to engage in close combat with axes.
But from Helga's movements, it seemed she was quite adept with axes.
If Anna knew what the blacksmith was thinking, she might have wanted to retort.
Helga was, after all, the eldest daughter of the Bartham family, a born warrior.
Although she couldn't remember much from her childhood, she still vividly remembered Helga wielding axes with great skill.
Anna still remembered the scene of the seemingly frail and not very tall Helga, holding a double-handed Lunarian axe almost as tall as herself, throwing it to split a wooden stake ten meters away.
"This one will do." After testing the feel of the throwing axe in her hand, Helga said.
"Let me see... this style..."
Squinting to examine the style of the throwing axe in Helga's hand, the blacksmith rummaged through the box and found a similarly styled throwing axe, handing it to Helga.
"Two throwing axes for 20 gold coins, thank you for your patronage."
‘These two axes cost 20?’
Well, the axe body material was indeed good, and the wood used for the handle was also of high quality, though putting all these elements on a semi-disposable throwing axe seemed a bit odd.
Anna pondered for a while, then inadvertently turned her head to find both the blacksmith and Helga looking at her.
Why are you looking at me?
Anna was stunned for a moment, then her eyes widened as she looked at Helga.
Now Helga was no longer icy; her eyes seemed to convey only one message to Anna:
‘I want it, buy it for me!’
...Fumbling to pull out her purse from her armor, Anna took out 20 gold coins and handed them to the blacksmith.
Helga naturally hung the two throwing axes on either side of her belt.
Only then did Anna notice that Helga was actually wearing a belt, though it was inside her mage robe, making it quite inconspicuous.
"Thank you, Anna, but we should go now~"
Watching Helga suddenly revert to her usual demeanor, with a familiar smile on her face, Anna now felt somewhat bewildered.
So you dragged me here just to make me pay, right!?