Chapter 353: Weapon Management (3)

That afternoon, after finishing my camping date with Sihee and Eunbyul.

Returning to Seoul’s Gangdong District from the mountains of Gangwon Province where I’d been with the two of them, I headed straight for Areum’s workshop without much thought.

I needed to pick up the spear I’d broken again and left for repair, and also share my thoughts on the shield I’d swung around in actual combat yesterday.

Since it was a bit inconvenient to visit on days I went to work at the company or the Union, visiting often when I had free time was a good method in many ways.

Besides, today was a day I’d completely cleared my afternoon schedule, just in case the date ran long.

It was a day without party hunts with my Sky Blue Shield colleagues at the company, dates to meet someone else and gather awakening points, or training with my sword or fire magic instructors.

“Speaking of which, I wonder if I should honestly tell her where I used the shield.”

Should I tell her straight up that I hit someone with the shield, or should I leave that part out and just talk about fighting the Earth Mage’s mud giant?

As I pondered this while walking, my steps eventually led me right in front of Areum’s workshop.

Before finally entering the shop, I confirmed I was wearing the unidentified mask, and then I stepped under the sign that read ‘Flame of Creation,’ calling out her familiar name.

“Areum-ah, are you in~?”

I thought she’d be in the back workshop, hammering away as usual, but for some reason, Areum was sitting at the shop counter.

…Unfortunately for me, who was about to greet Areum the moment I entered, the atmosphere inside the shop was far from peaceful.

“Ah, I told you I don’t take it! Stop shoving it at me. Just leave weapons made by other dwarves alone, alright?!”

“Huh…?”

A brown-haired girl at the counter, waving her hands dismissively while yelling at a customer.

And the hulking female warrior shoving herself towards Areum created a scene that left me full of questions and speculations.

“Forget other dwarves, just do it for me! It’s just a weapon repair, why do you keep rejecting me and acting like this?!”

The woman, whose bulging muscles made it hard to tell if she was male or female at a glance, was pressuring Areum while brandishing the axe in her hand.

Areum, true to her half-dwarf heritage, didn’t back down an inch, yelling right back at the huntress with her eyes wide open.

“Didn’t I tell you I don’t touch weapons made by other dwarves?! Why do you keep asking me to repair that axe made by old man Dosan?!”

“That annoying dwarf nitpicks every single time I get something repaired, so I told him off, and now he refuses to do repairs anymore!”

“Then obviously you can’t do it either, doesn’t your brain work?! I can’t take that job, so stop bothering me here. If you really need it, go shove your head into old man Dosan’s shop!”

“Bullshit, fuck! Even if you’re a dwarf, would I shove my head into some guy’s shop?! And if I can’t use this by tomorrow, I’m dead!”

“Die, don’t die, whatever the hell you want!”

Even though it was a fight between hunters, seeing them go at it like this was definitely brutal.

Putting aside the fact that the woman I’d never seen before seemed to act according to her appearance, Areum’s vocal projection wasn’t lacking compared to the muscle-head at all.

No matter how young she looked, a dwarf is a dwarf, I guess.

In this world, dwarves were known for their rough personalities and strong pride, regardless of gender.

Anyway, as Areum’s acquaintance, I couldn’t just stand by and watch their fight escalate, so I quickly moved towards the inside of the shop to mediate.

Faster than my movement, the muscle-head started acting strangely.

“This fucking bitch, you think you can push me around…!”

The muscle-head nervously raised the axe in her hand and swung it down towards Areum at the counter.

The moment I faced the crazy woman’s insane action, my body shot forward with my greatsword.

Soon, the shop echoed not with the sound of the axe smashing the counter, but with the clash of two blades.

-Clang!

“……Huh?”

The muscle-head uttered a dumbfounded voice the moment her axe, aimed at the counter, was blocked by my greatsword.

Considering she swung it out of sheer temper, it wasn’t a particularly heavy blow.

In fact, the mud golem belonging to the woman I dueled yesterday was far more terrifying.

Mentally assessing the muscle-head before me, I put my strength into swinging my blade through the air.

The woman’s axe, caught by my greatsword, flew through the air for a moment before embedding itself in the shop floor.

-Thwack!

“……”

The muscle-head stared at her empty hands with a blank expression, as if she had no idea what just happened.

Seeing that dumbfounded look, anger surged through me with a slight delay, and rough curses naturally spilled from my mouth.

“You fucking bitch, are you crazy?”

“W-what….”

“Why the hell are you showing up out of nowhere at someone’s regular shop and causing trouble? Are you dying to die?”

“…No, well…”

“I’ll give you five seconds to get out of my sight. If not, then I’ll….”

Glancing back and forth between the sword I held and her embedded axe, the muscle-head cautiously backed away.

Before I could even finish my sentence asking if she wanted to go all the way, she bolted out of the shop like an arrow.

Leaving the axe, which looked like it was made by another dwarf craftsman, stuck in the floor.

“Are you okay, Areum-ah?”

“Ah, uh-huh. I’m fine…”

She sat on the counter stool, letting out a shallow sigh, her expression still tense.

Although she was putting on a brave face and glaring, it seemed the axe swinging right in front of her had shaken her a bit.

“Haaah, sigh… I got a little scared… And in front of you, Unnie, how embarrassing…”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Areum, you’re not a registered hunter, you’re a blacksmith. It’s natural to be scared when a crazy bitch swings an axe right in front of you.”

“You’re right. I don’t know what kind of person that was. I should contact old man Dosan and tell him to be more selective about who he takes jobs from, honestly.”

“The person who made that axe for her? Do you know who it is?”

“Well, we dwarves all know each other through connections, you know. When you spend a long time learning how to make swords or handle metal since you were young, you inevitably get to know people. Even if an unfamiliar dwarf’s name comes up, knowing one or two people is enough to know them.”

“Right, I think I heard something like that from someone else before.”

“I thought that crazy bitch, if she had any brains, would know better than to pick a fight with a dwarf. But when she just swung her axe out of nowhere, I got a little scared too.”

Of course. Even I, watching from a step away, was startled.

From the brief exchange of blows, I’d estimate her skill level to be somewhere between C and B class, but I cautiously guessed she might be quitting her hunter career starting today.

After all, it’s generally accepted that without a weapon, even someone with great physical condition will face hardships as a hunter, and that muscle-head just abandoned her own weapon and ran.

Getting a new weapon might not be difficult, but obtaining a dwarf-made weapon like the one she used would likely be impossible now.

Dwarves are a race famous for their strong pride and sense of kinship.

Not only did she disrespect the craftsmanship of dwarves by trying to get a weapon from someone else, but she couldn’t control her temper and even attempted violence against a fellow dwarf.

That woman will probably soon find herself blacklisted among dwarf blacksmiths.

In that case, getting new weapons, let alone repairs, would be like reaching for the stars. If she wants to continue her hunter career, she’ll likely only be able to get standard weapons used by apprentices or D-class hunters.

It’s common sense in this world that weaker weapons make fighting monsters harder.

Of course, if one had overwhelming skill, they could defeat mid-tier monsters and above without relying heavily on their weapon, but that certainly doesn’t apply to the muscle-head who just ran out of the shop.

“Anyway, thanks for the help, Unnie. It feels like I’m always getting help from you.”

“On the contrary, I’m always indebted to you, Areum. This is nothing.”

“Did you come to pick up the spear you left last time? I finished repairing it a while ago.”

“That, and also my feedback on the shield you made me.”

“You already used it? You could have taken your time. I feel a bit sorry thinking you rushed to swing it around just because of my request…”

“It wasn’t like that, so don’t worry about it. I got a lot of help thanks to your shield.”

I’m not sure if using the shield instead of a sword to control lethality was the correct way to use it.

But ultimately, thanks to that, my Sky Blue Shield colleagues didn’t have to see my face on the newspaper’s social pages, which was fortunate in many ways.

“It looks like you used it quite a bit, even though you only took it a few days ago. Did you go hunting for something like a Mudrello or Stone-rello?”

“…Something like that. It was probably a bit stronger than a Mudrello, though.”

After all, it was a summon from an A+ ranked hunter, so it should have had the power of at least an A-class monster.

Even I, who hadn’t properly learned shield techniques yet, could block some of that mud giant’s attacks, which means the shield itself, made by Areum, must have been excellent.

With that thought, I waited while Areum went into the workshop to get the spear I’d left. She soon reappeared with the repaired spear.

The sight of her casually tucking the spear shaft between her breasts was something I’d grown completely accustomed to.

…Accustomed or not, I was still quite stimulated visually.

As I entertained such improper thoughts about the innocent Areum, she approached me and handed over the repaired spear, saying:

“Try not to handle it roughly this time, okay?”

“…I’ll try my best.”

“Judging by how you talk, Unnie, you’ll probably break it again before you come back…”

I felt sorry for Areum, but I couldn’t deny it.