Chapter 16: The Fraudulent Blacksmith
After returning to the town, Hikigaya briefly informed Asuna of his return.
Just as he walked toward the floor transfer gate, a few players requesting weapon enhancements caught his eye.
'That must be the blacksmith from the rumors. Let me observe for a bit.'
He quietly sat on a bench and began to watch.
In front of the forge, a hooded blacksmith was intensely swinging a hammer, while the client wore an unusually pained expression.
'Why does that guy look so distressed? His movements just now seemed a bit unnatural. And the enhanced weapons... something feels off.'
As he pondered this, a sharp sound of metal shattering rang out. The client's weapon disintegrated into fragments and vanished into the air.
'Huh? What the hell? I've never heard of a weapon being destroyed due to enhancement failure. I need to check with Argo.'
Hikigaya sent a detailed inquiry message to the information broker and returned to the inn to rest for the time being.
Lying on the bed, he recalled the earlier scene.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the atmosphere during Lisbeth's forging sessions had felt completely different.
At that moment, two new messages appeared in his inbox.
Asuna invited him to gather enhancement materials for a weapon tomorrow.
Argo replied that similar inquiries had been coming in frequently and that she would investigate based on his report.
Exhausted, Hikigaya only replied to Asuna before falling into a deep sleep.
The next day, the two efficiently collected the materials that Hikigaya had delayed due to his martial arts training.
On the way back to town, Lisbeth sent good news—her blacksmithing skill level had reached the point where she could perform weapon enhancements.
"Asuna's weapon will be able to get enhanced soon, right?"
"Yeah... but we still need a material that only drops at a low rate from bee-type monsters. But…"
Lisbeth said her weapon's attributes clash with bee-types, so she's waiting for you to come back and team up for the hunt."
"Got it. Let's take care of it tomorrow."
While they chatted, a familiar tall figure approached.
"Oh, you two. Long time no see."
"Agil-san!"
"Long time no see, Agil."
Agil, who had once fought alongside them in a boss battle, brought news from the frontlines: Kibaou had formed the "Aincrad Liberation Squad," aiming to establish a guild.
Lind had inherited Diabel's will and created a resistance group.
Today, they were going to scout a field boss.
"Compared to starting from scratch on the first floor, the progress is much faster now."
"Want to join the scouting party?"
"No thanks. Jumping in halfway might raise suspicion.
I'll join when the floor boss battle starts."
"Same here," Asuna agreed.
"To be honest, I don't get along with those guys," Agil said in a lowered voice. "I'll go for the scouting, but count me out for the fight."
By the time they parted, evening was falling. Suddenly, Argo jumped out from a side alley.
"Yo~ lovebirds, I've got a juicy scoop!" She wagged her tail mischievously. "About that blacksmith Nezha—"
After hearing her explanation of the suspected fraud, Asuna was so furious her twin tails trembled. "This is outright fraud! If something like that happened to my rapier…" She clutched her beloved sword at her waist, her fingertips trembling slightly.
"Calm down." Hikigaya recalled the previous day's scene. "When that guy accepted the request, he only asked 'Shopping or maintenance?' He deliberately avoided saying the word 'enhancement.' And when it was done, his face... looked like he was about to cry."
Argo pulled out a prepared one-handed sword. "Hachi, take this and request an enhancement. Ownership's still with me, so if it succeeds, we can materialize it elsewhere and verify. And if it fails... heh heh."
When the three arrived at the plaza, Nezha was repeating his forging actions like a machine.
Upon hearing the words "enhancement request," he visibly flinched, and his face under the hood grew even paler.
When Hikigaya specified "speed attribute," the blacksmith's hand clearly trembled.
With a familiar shattering sound, Argo's sword dissolved into stardust.
Though they were prepared for it, the moment he saw it happen, Hikigaya still felt a sharp pang in his heart—the craftsman's despairing gaze was just as painful as the image of the broken blade.
"Watch this~" Argo opened her menu in the inn's lobby.
The sword that should have vanished appeared completely intact. "That confirms my theory!"
"When operating the menu, his left hand tapped something really quickly."
"Could it be…"
Argo moved her hands like afterimages, switching between five weapons in an instant. "Quick switch! But this skill only unlocks after maxing out weapon proficiency."
"Looks like our blacksmith friend…" Hikigaya gazed out at the evening sky, "was once quite the swordsman."
By the fountain in the moonlight, Asuna muttered, "Why would he do something like this…"
"Probably…" Hikigaya toyed with the bee sting material, "everyone has their own reasons for getting their hands dirty. Like the stingers of worker bees—both weapon and shackle."
After finishing their plans for the next day, Hikigaya returned to his residence.
Important Announcment
Hello everyone! I'm VarieTL.
As always I hope you are enjoying my works!
I wanted to announce that I published a New Fanfiction!
Natsuki Subaru's Journey to Strategically Capture the Female Version of Reinhard
Summary:
Natsuki Subaru was transported to another world.
He arrived in a parallel world where Reinhard is a woman, and was rescued by her from three thugs.
In that moment, as he saw the girl who seemed like a chosen one, an inexplicable emotion stirred within Natsuki Subaru's heart.
Thus began Subaru's difficult path of conquest.
This is the story of a self-destructive high school student growing up once again.
This is the story of an absolutely righteous saint being redeemed.
And this is also the love story of two people, who in countless worlds, love and fight each other.
And as always You can read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on Ko-fi or Patreon with the name VarieTL
There you can also read 5 other Novels and 6 other Fanfiction of Oregairu