Chapter 378 – Preparations (Part One)

We headed back to the city: me and Neira.

The crowd cheered. Everyone was on the streets. 

“Seriously though, who are you?” Neira said, as she walked just next to me. 

If she still didn’t believe me, then there was no point in trying. 

“As I said, it’s not that important.”

At this point, I’d just given up on that. 

“My HERO!”

“GOOD GOING LAD!”

“LOVE ME!”

There were just far too many people on the streets. Some of their shouts were rather weird though. 

The army was just on top of the walls. I was kind of hoping they’d run away, but so far, they hadn’t moved an inch. 

‘Could it be that they’re just morons?’

“Oh yeah, you told them to wait till the afternoon, so I can say goodbye to everyone? You’re really nice. Cool and nice!” Neira sure was excited. 

I kind of wanted to grimace. “NO, I’m not nice. And I didn’t tell them that because of you!”

I had to sharpen this damn sword first. And that army just saw hell. So, it was better for them to rest a little. 

Neira grinned and looked way too pleased. 

What the hell was wrong with this girl?

Sometimes, she acted gallant, sometimes she was a scaredy-cat and other times she just straight up acted cute (And failed miserably at it). What the hell was wrong with her?

“Are there any good smithies here?”

“There’re only two smithies in this town. Both are run by the same blacksmith.” Neira tried remembering. “We can go there right now, it’s just two blocks ahead.”

“Lead the way then.”

We walked for about ten minutes more. 

The roads were jampacked. Almost everyone was outside and they were really cheering us. The smell of sweat was kind of getting on my nerves. 

Apparently one of the guards at the gate spread the rumors that I defeated the army above and saved the people below from destruction. Well, technically, it wasn’t a rumor, but really?

Even if it was a rumor, the fact that the army wasn’t attacking them, proved that I’d done at least something. And that something deserved praises. 

“There!”

Neira yelled. 

It was awfully loud here. The deeper we went into the city, the rowdier people got. 

They were screaming our praises, throwing stones and stuff. Yes, people in demon land threw stones rather than flowers! Those were basically just small pebbles and they never aimed for our bodies though. 

If they had, they’d be lying on the ground right now. 

Lucky them.

***

The bell above our heads rang as we went in. The shouts and cheers got a little distant for a change. The temperature of this place was tad higher and the burnt smell of coal was prevalent. 

A grumpy looking bearded bald fellow was hammering down something in the corner, while a sweet old lady was by the counter. 

There were two, three other customers but they were busy choosing stuff in the other corner. 

“Welcome. What can we do for the saviors of the city?” The woman said. 

I guess news did travel fast. 

“Nothing much, just wanted this sharpened.” I dropped the new sword on the counter. “He’s the smith?” I said, pointing at the corner. 

“Yes.”

“Then-” I pulled out the mystic sword from the ring. “Can you do something about this?” I went to the corner. 

“Do something?” He stopped hammering, wiped his sweat, and held the broken sword with shaking hands. “The hell is this thing!” His voice shook. 

The guy was an ox demon. He had horns, and the nose but the rest of his body was humanoid- just a tad bigger. He did have hoofs though. 

“That’s the mystic blade, or what’s left of it.”

He kept on shivering. “And what do you want me to do with it?”

Was this guy scared of this sword or something?

He was a large dude, but the way he was shivering didn’t really paint him, a good smith. 

“This sword has good quality metal. I think it’s probably a rare type.” I was talking about the new dull sword. “Is it possible to reforge the mystic blade with this metal as a base?”

The mystic blade was my lifeline. 

It was my best sword. And it had sentimental value for me. 

Meanwhile, this dull sword was also pretty rare. And there was a chance, both of these things could be combined. 

“It should be possible in theory but I’m not skilled enough.” The guy didn’t beat around the bush. 

Better than wasting my time, I guess. 

Well, that went out of the window. “Then how about just sharpening this?” I put the mystic blade back in the ring.

These guys weren’t that surprised by the ring. I guess people in the demon lands were more accustomed to seeing stuff like this. 

“I can do that, I suppose.”

He was still sweating. How much was that from the heat of the furnace and how much was from the sword, I couldn’t tell. 

“Well then-” I picked it up from the counter and just gave the guy, the sword. “Get to it. I’m leaving before the afternoon, and I’d like you to get it done, before that. I’m fine with paying extra.”

They already had other work. But I didn’t have time to stand in line or something. So, bribing them with money was the only way. 

“The money’s not the issue.” The old lady said. “Sharpening takes time. That sword is really old. It’s a good blade but it needs to be at least warmed once and that’ll take a day at the very least.”

“I’m aware that it would take time. But unfortunately, I don’t have that time. You are very well aware of the state of affairs. I can’t afford to lose time over this. If it can’t be done, I’ll just give up on the sword.”

Besides, I still had the mystic spear. 

And I also had the guns and all that. 

I kept forgetting about them, that was the problem.

But I was really comfortable with swords than anything else. So, if this was sharpened properly, that’d have saved me a whole lotta trouble. 

The lady sighed. “Kids.” Kids? “And you, stop standing like an idiot and turn up the heat!” She yelled at the man. 

“SIR!” The guy immediately started paddling the blower and the air heated up from the furnace. It was hot, alright!

Flares!

The woman tied her hair and came out of the counter. She was old- maybe sixty? She had a similar appearance to this guy- an ox demon. Just more slender and slightly wrinkly. But she still had the muscles. Definitely a pro. 

“You’ll do the smithing?” I said, asking the lady.

“I don’t vouch for the speed, the quality, I’ll try my best.”

“Just get it done by the afternoon and that’s enough.” Something was better than nothing. “And how much would I owe you?”

“Two gold is fine.”

“Dwarven gold, works?”

“Then one would do.”

I still didn’t know the exchange rate of things. but still- “I’ll pay you once I get my sword.”

With that said, I started walking out.

No one said anything, so I guess that was a deal.