Inexpensive Dagger

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“Sniff…, sob. My dagger…”

“D-don’t cry, Luna-noona! You can repair it or buy a new one, right?”

Thanks to desperately running after putting down my backpack,

I was able to pick up Luna-noona and escape before the gray golem’s arm came down.

After putting some distance between us, I immediately put on my backpack for safety, restored Luna-noona’s stamina, and hurriedly left the area.

The gray golem initially tried to chase us, but apparently due to the speed difference and the growing distance, it just stopped and went elsewhere.

And now.

In a safe situation, I was comforting Luna-noona.

“Sniff…”

Still, Luna-noona’s ears drooped as she grieved.

Luna-noona’s dagger.

It was probably the dagger she had been using all along during her time in Kellion.

And now that dagger had broken with a clang.

Hmm, how should I comfort her more?

Ah, I should apologize first.

“I’m sorry, Luna-noona.”

“Sniff… um. Yes? W-why are you a-apologizing, Jin-sang?”

“It’s because I suggested hunting that golem that this happened. I’m really sorry.”

I should have considered that a special variant would be tougher.

I got careless seeing how easily Luna-noona took down the other golems.

“N-no! It’s n-not Jin-sang’s fault! B-besides, you offered to c-cling to my back. I was s-stubborn and… stupidly broke my dagger and couldn’t even r-run away… sniff. I made things hard for J-Jin-sang…”

“By that logic, I should have insisted on clinging to you until the end! It’s not Luna-noona’s fault! Besides, it’s only natural to rescue a companion in danger!”

“J-Jin-sang…”

Luna-noona looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes.

It’s a bit sorry to feel this way in this situation, but…

Luna-noona with tears in her eyes is… very cute!

“So Luna-noona. Don’t cry. Let’s exchange these for money and go to a blacksmith.”

“Okay. L-let’s do that.”

Luna-noona wiped her tears and nodded.

Though Luna-noona with tears in her eyes is cute, a smiling face suits her better.

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“What? You encountered an Iron Golem?”

After returning to the Adventurer’s Guild,

submitting the mana stones, and telling Ms. Dendeli about what happened today, she opened her eyes wide and said that.

“Iron Golem? You mean that gray golem?”

“Yes. Iron Golems are special variants of golems. They’re much harder to defeat because their bodies are so solid. Not many adventurers in Gallio can subjugate them. But the reward is proportionally higher.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. It’ll probably be subjugated today or tomorrow.”

With a high reward, adventurers wouldn’t just stand by.

“No, not necessarily. It might take about a month, I think?”

“Huh? Really? Even though it’s a special variant?”

And you said the reward is substantial.

“Hahaha, Iron Golems are monsters with really solid durability. The adventurer parties who could hunt them now are currently on expedition quests elsewhere. There is one person who could… but they’re in a difficult situation right now.”

“Can’t you target the mana stone instead of the body for subjugation?”

“Well, even so… an Iron Golem’s mana stone is much more valuable than a regular golem’s mana stone. It’s especially used for making good weapons… it easily goes for 20 gold each.”

“T-twenty gold!?”

A mana stone worth at least 20 million won?!

Then waiting is understandable.

“Ah, Ms. Dendeli. Do you know any good blacksmiths?”

I thought that Ms. Dendeli, who had recommended a delicious restaurant, might also know a good blacksmith,

but.

“I’m sorry. I cannot recommend a blacksmith.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I can recommend restaurants. But…”

Ms. Dendeli’s expression changed from a smile to a serious one as she whispered in a small voice:

“If I carelessly recommend a blacksmith, we’ll get complaints from other blacksmiths…”

Oh.

It seems there’s intense competition among blacksmiths.

“I see, then we’ll find a blacksmith on our own.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

“It’s okay. Luna-noona! Let’s find a blacksmith!”

“O-okay! Let’s go, J-Jin-sang!”

Luna-noona and I went outside and searched for blacksmiths based on the streets we had explored yesterday.

“What would you like to do, Luna-noona?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Do you want to repair your dagger? Or buy a new one?”

“Um, w-well…”

Luna-noona took out her dagger and looked at it.

The dagger that broke while attacking the Iron Golem.

We couldn’t recover the broken part because we fled so quickly.

Honestly, repairing it looked hopeless.

“R-repairing seems d-difficult… so… it’s okay. L-let’s buy a new one instead!”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Y-yes! I’m s-sad but… it can’t be helped. And w-we’ll have to fight even m-more solid and stronger monsters f-from now on. We’re the s-strongest combo! We’ll n-need stronger equipment!”

“Luna-noona…!”

It must have been an item full of memories!

Yet she’s thinking about getting new equipment for our combo’s future!

I’m touched!

But it’s a shame to just throw away the dagger.

“Then please g-give me that dagger!”

“H-huh? This dagger?”

“Yes! I’ll keep it.”

“B-but it’s b-broken…”

“I can have the blade melted and remade. Luna-noona should get a really solid dagger that won’t break! And…”

“A-and?”

“Luna-noona, you have another spare dagger just like this one, right?”

“Y-yes!”

“Then this could be a matching dagger with Luna-noona’s! It’s like a symbol of our friendly strongest combo, isn’t that nice?”

“M-matching daggers…!”

Twitch! Luna-noona’s ears perked up and her face turned slightly red.

Hmm~ That was a bit embarrassing even for me to say.

“Ahem! So, is it okay if I take this?”

“Y-yes! I’ll g-give it to Jin-sang! M-matching daggers! H-hehe. We are the f-friendly strongest combo!”

After receiving the broken dagger and sheath from Luna-noona,

Luna-noona and I searched for a blacksmith with slightly flushed faces.

“It’s the people who just looked around yesterday. Are you here just to browse again?”

“We’ve come to buy a dagger.”

“Oh my! Welcome, customers!”

The place Luna-noona and I visited was the blacksmith and weapon shop where we had seen the very solid dagger yesterday.

When we said we came to buy something, the dwarf shopkeeper immediately changed his attitude.

I pointed to the extremely solid dagger I had seen yesterday and asked the dwarf clerk:

“Is that dagger really super solid?”

“Of course it is. It’s made by melting and mixing ores with solid properties! It might be a bit heavier than other daggers, but I guarantee its durability!”

“So it won’t break even if swung at an Iron Golem?”

“An Iron Golem? Hah, of course not! You should rather worry about spraining your wrist while swinging it!”

“Ooh.”

He seems quite confident.

“That’s great! Luna-noona! Let’s get revenge on that Iron Golem with this!”

“Y-yes!”

“Hmm? Has an Iron Golem appeared?”

“Yes. Our Luna-noona’s dagger broke because of that Iron Golem!”

“Aha, so that’s why you came to buy this. Then I definitely recommend this dagger! If it breaks, I’ll even give you a refund!”

Oh, he really is confident.

“Then we’ll buy one. That’s good, right, Luna-noona?”

“Y-yes! Ah, c-could I try s-swinging it first?”

“Of course!”

Luna-noona took the dagger from the display case and swung it around.

“Um… could the h-handle be made a b-bit smaller?”

It seems the handle was a bit large for Luna-noona to grip.

“Hmm, let me see your hand.”

“H-here.”

When Luna-noona extended and opened her hand that had been holding the dagger, the dwarf looked at Luna-noona’s palm intently, then grabbed it and kneaded it firmly.

“Wait just a moment.”

The dwarf took the dagger and went into the workshop.

After sounds like kiiiiing! and swish-swish were heard.

The dwarf came back out and handed the dagger to Luna-noona.

“Try gripping and swinging it again.”

“Y-yes!”

Luna-noona gripped the dagger again and swung it.

After swinging, Luna-noona blinked and looked at the dagger.

“I-it fits p-perfectly in my hand!”

“That’s good.”

As expected of a dwarf, his skills seem excellent.

“Adjusting the handle size is on the house. So you’ll buy it, right?”

“Of course. Ah, before I pay, I have something else to request.”

“Oh! What is it?”

The dwarf’s expression brightened at the prospect of additional work.

I took out the broken dagger and showed it to the dwarf.

“This broke while fighting an Iron Golem. Can you melt the blade and mix it with other metals to repair it?”

“My goodness, so that’s what happened. But wouldn’t replacing the blade be better?”

“No. I’d prefer to use this blade mixed with others if possible. It contains memories.”

“J-Jin-sang…”

Though broken, it’s a dagger full of Luna-noona’s memories.

“You’re a romantic. Alright, I can certainly do that. Come back around this time tomorrow, customer. The fee is…”

After paying the fee mentioned by the dwarf.

We left the shop with the extremely solid dagger.

“J-Jin-sang, here’s the m-money.”

Since I had paid,

Luna-noona was trying to hand me money from her wallet.

But I shook my head and said:

“It’s fine. This is my gift to Luna-noona! It’s a present, so to speak!”

Well, it was much more expensive compared to Kellion.

But thanks to the money we had saved from quests, it was an amount I could easily afford.

More importantly.

“A p-present! H-hehehe. T-thank you, Jin-sang!”

“It’s nothing. Now let’s do our best starting tomorrow! Fighting!”

“F-fighting!”

If I can see Luna-noona this happy, it’s worth it!