About a year and six months ago.
"No."
"Why not?!"
I visited the forge of Gubnew Familia as usual, to have an item made for my romance—my otaku pursuits.
For me, quality always came before price, and there was no better place to commission something like this.
But for some reason, things didn't go smoothly today.
"We've had too much work lately. The others are in the same boat, but your orders are especially troublesome. We don't have enough hands to handle all of that."
"T-then I'll pay double the cost...!"
"No need. You're not the only customer our Familia has. Lost trust isn't something you rebuild that easily. So either give up and go home, or wait your turn. It'll probably be about two more months."
"T-two months...! Guhk."
For that reason, I wouldn't be able to use Gubnew Familia's custom orders for the time being.
In the end, this was all because I had relied on Gubnew Familia and Gubnew Familia alone.
So I took this chance to look around other forge shops as a way to deal with the situation, but...
"No. Go away."
"We don't do that kind of thing."
"Huh? Why's it so picky? What a pain. A weapon just has to be sharp and sturdy!"
"Very well. In that case, the cost will increase by this much..."
But the result was a complete defeat across the board.
Forge shops with a decent level of skill and trust all rejected my request, saying it was too troublesome.
And the places that said they could do it were mostly either absurdly overpriced compared to Gubnew, or outright seemed intent on scamming me.
Needless to say, I quietly cursed the latter group and made sure to get my revenge by placing a weak curse over their entire shop.
Anyway, for a while after that, I only wasted time pointlessly and gradually wore myself down.
"If that's the problem, why not visit Hephaistos Familia instead, An?"
"I love you, Lili~!"
"Wah! W-why are you doing this all of a sudden, An?!"
Just then, on Lili's advice—Lili, who had been going into the Dungeon with me—I ended up visiting Hephaistos Familia.
Ah, of course, I had already looked through all the shops in Babel Tower, but none of the goods there really caught my eye, so I passed on them.
"Tsubaki Collbrande. The undisputed greatest blacksmith in Orario."
Maybe I was in a hurry.
Without even bothering to look around separately, I headed straight for Hephaistos Familia and asked around until I found the forge of the woman said to be the most skilled of them all.
That woman was Tsubaki.
"Excuse me? I'm looking for someone named Tsubaki..."
Clang!
"Ngh, hot!"
Clang!
My first impression of Tsubaki was, quite simply, a yasha.
A demon woman obsessed with fire and iron.
That was the only way to describe her as she swung her hammer over and over, as if she would break it, never once taking her eyes off the blazing furnace.
And if I had to describe her in another way... well, big breasts really are justice, aren't they?
Healthy, toned muscles and brown skin? Absolutely wonderful?
Clang! Clang!
And so she kept hammering away at the metal like a madwoman, not even noticing that I had come.
Then, after a long while.
Sssss...
"Phew, at this rate... Hm? Who's there? A customer?"
At last she stopped hammering and quenched the metal she had been working in water.
Taking a brief breath in the meantime, she finally noticed me standing blankly outside the door.
Not wanting to miss the moment, I hurriedly greeted her.
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you, Miss Tsubaki. I'm Hans Christian Andersen. I'd appreciate it if you'd just call me a magus rather than by my name."
"I'm Tsubaki Collbrande. More importantly, a magus? Something like a mage?"
"Well, you can think of it as something similar."
"Is that so? So what do you need?"
"A custom-made weapon."
"Hmm, custom-made. All right, what do you want me to make, and how?"
"Rather than words, it's better to see. I've brought a blueprint I drew up myself."
"Let's see... hmm..."
Tsubaki accepted my order far more readily than I had expected.
Maybe that was why.
At the time, I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"Just make it almost exactly like this. Of course, if you have any questions about the fabrication, feel free to ask. There won't be any extra requests, so if there's any problem, I'd appreciate it if you told me now."
Even after I repeated myself, she gave no reaction.
She simply stayed quiet.
Silently staring at the blueprint in her hands.
If she had even lifted her head, I might have noticed sooner, but at the time I didn't pay that much attention.
"What's wrong? Is there some problem?"
"No, not really. More importantly, you just want it made like this, right?"
"Yes, exactly like that."
"Really... exactly like this? If I make it like this, the sword will definitely..."
"Um, is the cost too much?"
"The cost? No, that's not the issue... Then the owner, no, the user is you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"One last confirmation. You really just want it made exactly like this?"
"Of course. Ah! As for the cost, I can compromise to some extent, so please keep that in mind and make it as good as possible."
"...Got it. Just leave it over there for now. I'll finish looking it over and have someone come tell you when it's done."
"Understood. But about how long should I wait...?"
"I'll do it after I finish what I'm working on now. Roughly two days? That should probably do it."
"Two days?"
"Why? Too long?"
"No. Quite the opposite, actually."
"Then that's fine. Now hurry up and go. I need to get back to work too."
"Ah, yes. Then I'll be in your care."
"...I said I got it, so get out already."
At her urging, I had no choice but to leave her forge.
But all the way back to the shop, I couldn't shake the strange unease lingering at the back of my head.
How should I put it?
"Hmm, strange."
That smiling face I had seen from her at the end, when I left.
From my perspective, it looked like she was weirdly pissed off no matter how I saw it.
In other words, it was an excellent sales smile full of laziness and irritation.
"She did accept my requirements. I'm probably just imagining things."
Thinking that, I returned to the workshop and was able to start my next task with a clear mind.
Then time passed, and two days later.
"Hmm, no news. Still not ready, I guess."
It was the promised day, but there had been no contact from Hephaistos Familia.
I waited one more day just in case, but there was still nothing, and in the end, with my anxiety growing, I went back to Tsubaki's forge.
Clang!
The sound of hammering rang out clearly even from outside.
Fortunately, she was still there in the forge, just like before.
Had she gotten so focused on work that she forgot to send someone?
Assuming that must be the case, I once again politely announced my visit to her, just as before.
Basic manners were essential between people who still barely knew each other.
"Excuse me? I've come to pick up the item I ordered."
Clang!
"Heyyy~! Miss Tsubaki~!"
"Huh? Who is it, at this hour?"
Only after calling a few more times did the hammering finally stop.
Tsubaki, who had been deeply focused on her work, answered my call in a slightly irritated voice, probably because she had been interrupted.
Since I knew exactly how that felt as someone who worked in a similar line of work, I told her I had come with even more apology in my voice.
"Sorry for interrupting your work."
"Uh... who?"
Hmm, despite her reputation, was she the type who surprisingly couldn't remember people's faces?
Thinking that it was possible, I calmly introduced myself to her again.
Then I told her why I had come here.
"Three days ago, I commissioned a sword."
"Three days ago? Ah, that decorative piece?"
"Yes, that decorative... wait. Decorative piece?"
At my words, she clapped her hands as if she had just remembered and went somewhere else.
Thanks to that, I had no choice but to stand there dumbly, without even getting a proper answer to what she meant.
Then, a little later.
Tsubaki came back from inside carrying a sword wrapped in some luxurious-looking cloth.
Judging by the situation, that must be the sword I had commissioned.
"Here. I definitely made it exactly as you requested. And as for the payment, sorry, but give it to our guys outside instead. I'm a little busy right now."
"Ah, yes."
What was this?
It was a day late compared to the promise, but I had definitely received the item I ordered, so there wasn't really a problem.
And yet this strangely unsettling feeling that was hard to put into words.
How was I supposed to describe this?
"Whatever, I don't care."
As long as I had safely received what I ordered, that was enough for me.
Thinking that, I unwrapped the cloth to check the item I had received, and the moment I looked at it...
"Huh?"
A questioning sound slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
The item she had given me was certainly exactly what I had requested.
Its overall shape, the scabbard, even the detailed decorations here and there on the sword were all exactly as I wanted.
There was just one thing.
"Um, Miss Tsubaki?"
"Hm? What? Is there a problem?"
I hurriedly called out to Tsubaki, who was about to return to the workshop.
At my call, she looked at me with a genuinely puzzled expression, mixed with a hint of annoyance.
As if she truly had no idea what the problem was.
No, in this case, maybe "as if she didn't want to know" would be more accurate.
Anyway, since complaints about goods are a customer's rightful privilege, I pointed out the problem with the item I had received without hesitation.
"This has no edge on it."
What I had received was not a real sword, but a fake one.
At my complaint, Tsubaki smiled brightly as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Of course. Something dangerous like that would be unnecessary for a 'decorative piece.'"
Crack!
For an instant, I felt something inside me shatter and surge upward.
What the hell did this woman just say!?