Ch.84Merchant (3)

After handing over the purified magic sword fragment and unicorn horn to Gretel to commission a weapon, about a few days had passed.

The frontier village, as it had done many times before, finished preparing to return to its daily routine(?) after resolving the incident.

“P-Please wait just a little longer…!”

“Take all the time you need. No matter how long it takes, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Y-Yes, sir…!!”

For now, the custom weapon I ordered from Gretel will likely take some time to complete.

The sacred unicorn horn made of a substance (Aligon) that is neither ivory, bone, metal, nor anything else, combined with the fragment of a demonic sword—which, despite being purified in holy water, remains fundamentally unchanged from its evil origins.

Considering the practical issues involved in forging these two opposing materials into a single weapon, rushing the process would surely result in turning good materials into mere scrap metal.

Meanwhile, the 20 merchants who attempted to defraud the village received punishments fitting their crimes.

The ringleader and the merchants’ representative were cleanly hanged, their bodies buried in a corner of the church cemetery. Those who actively participated had both wrists cut off and were banished from the village, dripping blood as they left.

With criminal brands carved into their faces recording their offenses, their gruesome deaths were all but guaranteed.

As for the passive participants—those who were dragged into the scheme by their associates—their punishment was 20 years of forced labor in the village.

Like the bandits who had attacked the village before, they were also bound by soul magic contracts as an added measure.

The benefits we gained from punishing these merchants went far beyond acquiring eight free laborers.

Four wagons specially built for carrying cargo, four draft horses that pulled them, and all the goods (mostly furs) and assets loaded on those wagons were transferred to the village.

The cheaper furs from rabbits and mice would be used for the approaching cold winter, while the more valuable furs from weasels and foxes could be sold as trade goods for profit.

In addition to this, since these merchants were nomadic rather than based in a specific location, they carried personal valuables—precious metals, jewels, and even cash…

‘…Wow.’

This unexpected windfall made it clear why the powerful in this world extort merchants using public authority when their budgets run short.

And in this situation, with the territory’s growth accelerating thanks to the expanding budget…

“Squire Pierre! Take up your weapon!”

“Yes, sir! I’ll learn from you!”

I was using my spare time to steadily train Pierre.

After receiving instruction from Leon, the lord’s guard instructor, Pierre had grown from an amateur warrior to a level that could rightfully be called a professional.

He had become an excellent warrior who could skillfully handle most cold weapons based on the mana reinforcement applying the principles of “circulation” I taught him, and who clearly understood the role each weapon played on the battlefield.

Thanks to this, despite being a squire for less than two weeks, he had become capable of facing off against decent men-at-arms…

“Is that the weapon that suits you best?”

“Yes! I believe so!”

He was quite skillfully wielding a halberd—a special polearm about 2 meters long, somewhere between a spear and a polearm, also called an axe-spear—as he continued sparring with me.

In fact, the halberd could be considered the perfected form of cold weapons in a sense.

It can thrust with the spear tip, cut with the axe blade, pierce through tough armor with the war pick attached to the back of the blade, and utilize its length and weight to maintain superior reach.

Although its superiority diminishes considerably when Aura—the power of superhumans… or monsters—comes into play, it’s perfectly suitable for Pierre to use as he becomes familiar with it.

After all, once he reaches intermediate level, he’ll be able to handle even absurd martial arts, so it doesn’t really matter what weapon he uses. With this in mind, I parried his attacks with my wooden practice sword.

“Hup! Ha! Huup!”

-BANG! BANG! CRASH!

Even though Pierre hadn’t awakened his Aura, he was a superhuman who could strengthen his body with mana—comparable to a super soldier in modern terms.

As a result, the force behind Pierre’s halberd swings could easily cleave through an unarmed human, but such power wasn’t enough to break through my Aura-reinforced wooden sword.

Blocked, defended, parried. I was being careful not to damage his custom halberd considering my strength, but that seemed to be taken as a sort of provocation by Pierre.

-WHOOSH—CRASH!!

Because of this, he intensified his attacks with an expression that would probably be accompanied by a “SNAP!” emoticon if this were a manga…

But honestly, I didn’t think it was particularly good to let emotions take control like this.

While fighting well, he suddenly gave in to anger, which increased his physical abilities and made him more aggressive, but the important techniques and skills diminished, making his attacks more monotonous and weaker than before.

In that case, the best course of action would be…

“Oops, an opening!”

-THWACK!

As his teacher, despite his inexperience, I should help him learn through direct experience.

※ ※ ※

A little while later, at the training ground (tentative name) behind the government office.

In this open space that had somehow become my personal training area, I was having a simple drink with Pierre, who had been lightly(?) hit on the head by me and fallen face-first onto the ground.

“Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it. Drink up and regain your strength. After a short rest, we need to finish up.”

The light blue liquid in this handmade wooden cup was a fatigue recovery potion… gifted to me by Gretel.

This potion, brewed through a witch’s secret arts, functioned similarly to a sports drink while also accelerating the recovery of accumulated fatigue and replenishing depleted stamina.

Therefore, Pierre, who was drinking this magical sports drink with its subtle sweetness, seemed to have recovered his strength somewhat and was about to pick up the halberd he had stuck in the ground when…

“Lord Alzar, I have something I’d like to ask.”

Suddenly, after staring at the halberd for a moment, he turned to me with a question.

“What is it? Feel free to ask.”

“Thank you, Lord Alzar! Actually, lately I’ve been unsure if I’m wielding my weapon properly, so I was wondering if you could give me some advice…”

“Ah, so you want me to review our recent sparring match?”

“…Yes, that’s it!”

Pierre wasn’t particularly eloquent, which perhaps explained why his speech seemed somewhat disorganized, but because of that, I could easily grasp what he was trying to say and responded.

“Very well. I’ll gladly do so. Let’s start by discussing your weapon technique.”

“Thank you!”

Since there was no particular reason to refuse, I happily granted his request and addressed the issues I had observed during our sparring session.

“First… what do you think is the greatest advantage of a halberd?”

“Versatility… and length, I believe.”

“Why?”

“In combat between low-ranked fighters, the halberd’s reach is crucial. Being able to attack from a distance the opponent can’t reach…”

“That’s mostly correct, but you’re missing one thing.”

“Really? What is it?”

“Weight, the weight. A several-kilogram axe has a strong impact in low-ranked combat. And this is also the source of the problem you’re currently having.”

“I… see.”

I tried to phrase it delicately to avoid hurting Pierre’s feelings, but my eloquence isn’t particularly impressive, so the effect was rather unsatisfactory.

In that case, I had no choice but to speak directly.

“Let me be frank, Pierre. Why do you keep trying to slice things with the halberd’s blade?”

“…Pardon? What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, it’s not exactly wrong. It’s just, how should I put it, using a weapon outside its intended purpose…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. They’re both bladed weapons…”

“No, that’s the issue. A halberd isn’t for slicing. It’s for chopping down, like an axe. When you split firewood, do you slice it with the axe blade?”

“…Ah! That’s right, I was doing it wrong! Just like chopping firewood with an axe, the halberd should be…”

From my perspective, how he uses it is ultimately up to him, but his movements were so clumsy and ineffective that I couldn’t help but speak up.

Well, if he takes it well, that’s all that matters in the end.