Chapter 165 – Craving for Trust

Craving for Trust

Paula was sipping her tea in their room in Grant Hotel Pond, a first-class hotel in town. The gaudy interior design and the huge space reminded her of a noble’s residence, which made it hard to relax. She felt tense as she wondered how much she would have to pay if she dropped and broke the tea cup.

Lavia, on the other hand, was dauntless. After turning on the bedside magic lamp, she lay sprawled on the wide bed, reading a book.

Ten days had passed since they prevented Kelbeck’s assassination, and every day they’d done nothing but lounge around. An all-out war could start soon, putting the citizens on edge. A gloomy atmosphere enveloped the town. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to get a room in this lavish hotel without a reservation, but guests cancelling their bookings one after another allowed them to secure one.

Kelbeck, while alive, suffered a serious injury and had to rest. Right now, Katy was with him. Being in bed didn’t stop him from giving orders to his men, however. As thanks for saving his life, the girls received a million gilans.

Lavia tried to give every last coin to Paula, but the latter wouldn’t accept it. After all, she only followed Hikaru’s instructions: “If things go south, don’t hesitate to use healing magic. If you can’t make a decision, then let Lavia decide.”

「Everything about me belongs to Hikaru-sama.」Paula told Lavia.

「In that case, let’s give it to Hikaru.」Lavia said, surprised.

「Hikaru-sama…」

Once they made it back to Ponsonia, Hikaru and the girls split up, and they hadn’t heard from him ever since. He told them to stay at the best hotel, so they chose this place. But Paula didn’t feel comfortable. Her commoner mindset told her that with a war just around the corner, maybe they should save money.

The face reflected on the surface of her tea did not fit this high-class hotel.

「That tea looks delicious.」

「Ah, yes. Nothing less from a first-class hotelー」Surprised, Lavia looked up.

「Hikaru-sama?!」

「Yup, it’s me. I just arrivedー Whoa.」

Lavia leapt into Hikaru’s arms, rubbing her forehead on his chest.「Hikaru! Ah, I missed your scent…」

「L-Lavia… I’m all dirty from the long trip.」

Hikaru’s cloak indeed looked worn out. Paula quickly moved to take it, when she noticed the fur wrapped around his neck.

「That’s a nice scarf, Hikaru-sama.」

「Uh, yes. Actually…」

『Phew! Wait, are we here already?』A face popped out from the scarf and spoke.

「………」

Paula’s scream echoed in the room.

「A-A drakon?!」Paula exclaimed.

「You mean the ones that appear in myths? The messengers of God?」Lavia asked.

Hikaru felt refreshed after taking a quick bath and chaning out of his dirty clothes. Drake, on the other hand, was munching on snacks he found in the room.

「Yeah. His power has been sucked for 300 straight years, so right now he’s not that strong. I’m sure there won’t be any problem. You can just think of him as a strange, harmless creature that loves to eat.」

「How is this not a problem?!」

「Is he going back to heaven?」

「I don’t know. He’s a whimsical type. He can go home if he wants to, though.」

「You don’t look fazed at all.」Paula remarked.

「Yeah. Based on his story, human’s selfishness got him captured. So I want to make it up to him… Or rather, at least make him happy. His boss doesn’t hold a grudge against humans apparently.」

「Hikaru. Does he need mana to recover? In that case, maybe I can give him mine.」Lavia said.

「Now that you mention it… Hey, Drake.」

『Yes?』

Drake raised his head, crumbs all over his mouth. Hikaru told him about Lavia’s suggestion.

『That might speed things up actually. Should I stay with this girl, then? There’s really no point in wrapping myself around your neck anyway. You have no mana at all. You’re like a hollow sponge cake.』

「Pfft.」

「Don’t laugh, Lavia. Or he’ll get too cocky.」

「I’m sorry. It’s just no one’s compared you to a sponge cake before.」

Drake seemed glad seeing Lavia laugh. He wrapped himself around her neck.『I’ll only take your excess mana.』

「So warm. Just like a scarf.」

「I’m glad you like it. There’s crumbs on your clothes now, though.」

「Ah.」

Hikaru grinned.「So, how did things go on your end?」he asked.

The Four Stars of the East had gathered and unified the adventurers in Pond. Kudyastoria’s army was still stationed in the royal capital, and Quinbland had formed an alliance with Ponsonia. The girls also told him how they brought Katy to Kelbeck and captured the latter’s assassin.

「I see. I knew leaving you two in charge was a good idea. Thanks.」

「Paula did her best as well.」

「I-I just tagged along with Lavia-sanー」

「Thanks, Paula.」

「Y-You’re welcome!」Paula said, her face flushed.

「You too, Lavia.」

「I didn’t do much.」

「I’m sure burning off a man’s arm wasn’t a good experience.」

「Well, Kelbeck helped me before.」

「Yeah, you’re right.」

She was referring to the time when Hikaru rescued her. Hikaru asked Kelbeck to send someone to stop the carriage to distract the adventurers guarding Lavia for a brief moment, and that bought enough time for him to rescue her.

「There might not be any movements from both sides soon.」

Hikaru told the girls about Austrin and how he stole Rising Falls’ staff.

「I see. Kelbeck taking down Einbeast’s spies was a great thing, then.」Lavia said.

「Yeah. Austrin or Gotthold doesn’t know if there are traps in Pond, or if soldiers are stationed here. They would gradually spare some of their forces to this town while heading to the capital. The battle at the capital would then be a war of attrition.」

「What would happen then?」

「I don’t think Kudyastoria can attack Leather Elka. With Einbeast’s forces stationed there, it would still be the same war of attrition. In that case, they’ll just keep an eye out for a while, or perhaps there will be a ceasefire.」

「A ceasefire…」

Hikaru felt either was possible.「No one wants attrition warfare. Just watching out for the other would only consume resources as well. Yet, there’s no excuse for a ceasefire yet. Whatever. They can figure this out themselves. We can go back to Forestia.」

「We’re leaving Ponsonia?」Paula asked.

「Pond won’t get destroyed. There’s no reason for us to stay any longer.」

「Uh, wait, really?」

Paula didn’t seem to understand half of what they talked about. Hikaru couldn’t help but smile at her reaction.

「Are we leaving right away?」Lavia asked.

「Nah. There’s something I gotta do first.」

Hikaru took the Dimension Dragon Box out of his pocket, removed the lid, and flipped it outside down. His wakizashi fell out. The girls noticed the different aura surrounding the weapon.

「I want to ask Leniwood if he can create a sheath that can hide this thing’s aura.」

Hikaru left the hotel together with Lavia and headed to Leniwood’s Weapon Shop. Paula, wearing a sad expression, told them to spend time together and stayed behind.

Leniwood was a scrawny, eccentric elf who loved making weapons. Even ones with bizarre effects.

It had only been a few months since Hikaru left Pond, but he felt nostalgic. He stepped into Leniwood’s shop.

「Hello?」

Hikaru noticed Dodorono right away, with his glossy jacket and pants. Dodorono was yet another eccentric dwarf who loved fashion. He made Hikaru’s clothes and Paula’s Camouflage Dragon cloak.

「Oh, if it isn’t Hikaru! Welcome!」

「Hey, Dodorono! This is my shop!」

The two were talking at the counter.

「Business talk? Should I wait outside?」Hikaru asked.

「It’s nothing important. Come in. The lady too.」Leniwood said.「Okay, Dodorono. You can leave now.」

「Hikaru’s a valued client of mine!」Dodorono protested.「I was able to use the hide of a Camouflage Dragon thanks to him. That means I can stay here.」

「No, it doesn’t, you fool!」

「Uh, I guess I’ll wait outside…」Hikaru said.

「No, no, no, no.」

「No, no, no, no.」

「Why are you butting in?!」

「I want to know, okay?! This is Hikaru we’re talking about. I’m sure he’s looking for some ridiculous weapon!」

「Wh-What?!」Leniwood glanced at Hikaru.

「Uh, why are you looking at me like that? I haven’t even said anything yet. At least let me speak.」

「I blame this geezer!」

「I blame this bag of bones!」

「………」

They looked like they got along well.

After the two had calmed down, Hikaru found out that no other adventurers let Dodorono work on Camouflage Dragon skin. Because of the prejudice against dwarves, people didn’t trust them to do good work outside smithing. As a result, Hikaru left quite an impression on him, and he frequently bragged about it to Leniwood. Hikaru said he didn’t mind so Dodorono stayed in the shop.

「So what can I do for you today? Maintenance on the Dagger of Strength?」

「Ah, right. Might as well do that too. Anyway, just for the record, this might be a tedious job. Do you have time to spare? I can pay a fair amount.」

「I got plenty of time! I was just thinking of quitting this shitty job of making weapons for war.」

It was apparent that Leniwood had pent-up frustrations because of the war. Dodorono himself had only just managed to relax recently after protective equipment had been distributed to the public.

「Okay, then. Can you close your eyes first?」Hikaru said.

After checking they had their eyes closed—for some reason Lavia closed hers as well—Hikaru took out the wakizashi from the Dimension Dragon Box. Leniwood and Dodorono’s eyebrows twitched.

「You can open your eyes now.」

Their gazes took in the wakizashi. For a few seconds, they just stared at it, unblinking.

「Hikaru.」

「What?」

「Is this a magic sword?」

「What’s a magic sword?」

「A magic sword is a sword filled with magical power. It’s not like a buff. It has to be specially forged, or you can use mithril to make it. With a magic sword, you can use the weapon as a medium to cast magic like a Mage.」

「Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, it could be something like that. Though I have no idea what kind of magic it possesses. I need a sheath for it that can hide this thing’s aura.」

As Hikaru unsheathed the wakizashi, the weapon’s intimidating aura caused Leniwood and Dodorono to lurch back.

「I want a sheath, not a weapon. Can you do it?」

Leniwood eyed Hikaru speculatively, cold sweat beading on his forehead.「Why did you come to me?」the elf asked.

「What do you mean?」

「I’m an elf, you know.」

「Yeah, I can see that. But if I have to say, it’s because I trust you. Or do you have someone else in mind who can do the job?」

「No, that’s not it.」Then the elf burst out laughing.

「Huh?」

Hikaru and Lavia exchanged glances. Leniwood quickly stood up.

「Hey, Dodorono. Did you hear that?」

「I sure did.」

「Trust. Yes, you came here because you trust me!」

「Uh, does this mean you’ll do it?」

「Of course!」Leniwood said, banging on his skinny chest.

「Just leave it to me! I’ll use anything to make this sheath—be it rare materials or an elf treasure—as long as I finish it.」

「Please don’t commit any crimes.」

「Ah, I wish I had something fun to do as well.」Dodorono mused.

「Ah, that’s right. I have a request for you as well, Dodorono.」

「Oh, yeah! D-Does that mean you trust me too?」

「Huh? Uh, yes, of course. I need a robe for a healer. The budget is a million gilans.」

The reward from Kelbeck. Hikaru learned that Paula wouldn’t accept it. So he figured he could get her a robe with the money instead.

「Hey, Leniwood. Did you hear that?!」Dodorono exclaimed as he stood up.「A million gilans! Hikaru trusts me too!」

「Yeah, I heard him loud and clear!」

The two locked arms.

「I have no idea what’s going on here.」Hikaru said.

「A-Are you sure about this?」Lavia asked.

「We can trust their skills, at least.」

Hikaru didn’t know how these two craved for trust from other people.

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