96-Chapter 5-19 Events before the Battle ~ Awakening? Hen~

When I saw someone running towards me, I braced myself to see if another impostor had appeared.

Likewise, the other horses that were still watching me started to buzz again, as if they thought it was a new impostor.

But I was wrong.

The person coming towards us was a woman, someone I knew... or more accurately, someone related to someone I knew.

'Hello. I see you're in a hurry, is there something urgent you want me to do?

The woman I spoke to was a female dwarf who worked in the workshop of 'Kelly', my favorite shop and a female dwarf and blacksmith.

'I'm glad we didn't cross paths~. As a matter of fact, I have an order for a weapon addressed to Temma-san in my home workshop, and she asked me to come and let you know that it was completed.

You ordered a weapon for me what's that?

He was wary of orders for weapons that he had no idea what to do with, and that seemed to be in his voice.

'Yes, sir. It is addressed to Mr. Temma, sir. I can't say it out loud, but my client is the Grand Duke.

He said he had built my weapon at the request of Lord Ernest (the Grand Duke), but I didn't know why now.

I've had a reasonably close relationship with him, but I was puzzled by the suddenness of it, and then a female dwarf said she was going to talk to me in detail at the shop, and since Kelly's workshop was originally one of my destinations, I decided to follow her in a straightforward manner.

'Oops! They're here. Here's what you asked for. Let's get right to it and shake it out!

When I opened the door to the workshop, Kelly, who was right in front of me, handed me a sword.

The sword was entirely black, with a blade length of 80cm and a handle of about 40cm. It's a bit smaller than the Adamantine sword I returned to Master Ernest earlier, but it seems to be of comparable quality to that one.

One of the best features of the sword is that the sides of the blade are carved with a dragon from the base to near the middle, and the grooves are filled with white metal, making it look like a work of art.

After looking at the whole thing and checking it out, I shook it a few times, changing the handle, right, left and both hands.

Maybe it's because it's well-balanced, but it's pretty easy to swing for its size.

Because it was made of adamantine, it was heavier than other swords of the same size, such as iron swords, but it was lighter than the previous adamantine swords, so it didn't feel particularly problematic.　

'That's good to hear! Then we'll work on fine tuning the rest.

Saying that, Kelly took the sword from me and removed the cloth that was wrapped around the hilt and laid out in front of me a few different materials that she had prepared in advance.

'For now, I'm going to wrap it all up in one piece, so you can choose the one you like.

One by one, he checked the colorful materials laid out in front of him.

There were animal hides, reptile hides, shark hides, bird hides, black cloth and white cloth, all of which were of different thicknesses.

He spent more than an hour testing all the materials.

'None of them felt right... if I had to say it was shark skin, but the shark skin was so coarse it felt like I was holding a file... the next best thing is the thicker cloth.

I came to the conclusion that.

'Well, that shark is a demonic one. If you don't like the other materials, then cloth is the safest option.......

Kelly looked a little boring as she put away all the materials except the shark skin and cloth.

The other animal leather wasn't too bad to grip, but the surface was a bit smooth, and she was worried that it would slip out completely when she swung her sword with all her might.

Maybe I'm overly concerned about it, but I decided to rule it out in the end because I figured it would be better to use a material that was a little easier to catch in my hand when I got blood on it or when it got wet.

'Well, cloth is used most often in adventurer's weapons, and in a way, it's probably the material most compatible with adventurers... but since it's Adamantine's sword, I also don't want to settle for a common material. .....

Well, this is the selfishness of a blacksmith, Kelly says, and I understand that feeling.

It's a good-looking and well-built sword, and the material used to wrap the hilt is also very important.

But if you don't have the material, there's no way to be particular about it, so you have to compromise, but then something comes to mind.

"Hey, Kelly. "Hey, Kelly, what do you think about wrapping this around the rope?

I took out the rope in my bag and wrapped it around the handle to test it out before handing it to Kelly.

'Yeah, it's unusual, but it's probably too much of a change at any price... and it's a surprisingly good grip. But this one will still be no good.

Kelly grabbed the handle and was surprised by the feel of it, more than she expected, but refused to look too bad.

But I continue to talk to Kelly about it.

'No, I'm not going to wrap that rope around any number of things. Wouldn't it be fun to tie a rope with this material and wrap the rope made from it around the handle?

I handed Kelly a few strands of material and asked for her opinion. After receiving the materials, Kelly received them and checked them by touching and pulling them, then grinned.

'This is going to be quite interesting... the question is, can we get a lot of these materials together... are you okay with that?'

'No problem. This material is all around me, and if you look for it, you'll find it in your bag.　

With my assurances, Kelly begins to roughly calculate the amount of material to use for the rope.

'Alright! We've got a rough idea of how much we need! But you can never have too much, you know. Temma gather as much as you can and bring it to me right away. If everyone in this workshop does it, it should be ready in the morning!

Hearing those words, the female dwarves in the workshop stopped their work at once and began to lie down at once.

''Temma. It's going to take a while to gather the materials anyway, so we're going to go to bed now to prepare for an all-nighter. Wake me up when you've collected them. That's the key here!　

Kelly tossed the key she had pulled out of her chest randomly and tossed it at me.

'Don't lose it! Oh, and don't s*xually harass someone until they've given their consent!

With those words, all the female dwarves said, "You're always welcome! And then he laughs.

He seems to trust that I won't abuse it, but don't say anything that will make me feel like I'm at a loss for an answer.

I laughed and cheated appropriately and ran off to gather the materials. My destination is my grandfather's mansion.

On the way to run, passers-by gave me strange looks, but I didn't care.

There were a few signs of acquaintances among those I passed. However, I was in a hurry, so I apologize, but I pretended not to notice and ran through.

When I arrived at the mansion, I decided to start gathering materials.

''Come on! Shilomar!

In my excitement, I called Shiroumaru with a flirtation that I don't usually do. Shiroumaru comes running to me when I call him, wagging his tail furiously. Drooling from his mouth.

I pulled the material off of Shiroumaru as he came in front of me, removing his collar and returning it to its original size, then pulled the material off of him.

'Kyin!'

In my hand, I hold a hair of Shiroumaru that has been pulled out more than I expected. Shiroumaru hairs, this is what the material is made of.

Shiroumaru's hair is about thirty centimeters long, but this is clearly not enough to tie a rope.

''Shiroumaru, just bear with me for a moment~''

Seeing the look on my face, Shiroumaru gets frightened and tries to run away.

'....double the treats today and tomorrow.

Shiroumaru's ears twitched and he hesitated to run away.

'The day after tomorrow ... no, how about a double snack for a week!

Hearing those words, Shiroumaru turned to me and got down. A great deal of drool dripped from its mouth.

Thus, the master of the material I was seeking groveled at the doubling of the week's treats. Behind him, the flying eater also prostrates himself, drooling.

For now, I throw the meat instead of the advance into Shiroumaru's mouth and then start collecting the material.

I try to pick back the hair from Shiroumaru's entire body, being careful not to make the part of him that I removed as inconspicuous as possible, but it's hard to collect enough.

Hey Temma. Wouldn't it be faster to cut out Shiroumaru's hair than to force it out?

Oh....　

I huffed and pulled out a pair of scissors (made of mithril) from my bag at the advice of Namitaro, who was crawling around on land for a walk. Shiroumaru looks at me as if he wants me to notice him a little earlier.

After that, the work speed increased dramatically, and I cut Shiroumaru's hair as well as all of his body hair short.

Thirty minutes after I started cutting the hair. After I threw the hair that had gathered more than I had planned into the basket and threw it into my bag, I moved to the mansion's kitchen and started cooking.

This is so I can still have time to make Kelly and the others' evening meal.

I'm going to prepare a few sandwiches so that the food can be easily eaten while I work.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and make the boiled eggs. In the meantime, I'll make a large batch of thin slices of ham and fry the beef slices in a sweet and spicy sauce.

Peel the boiled eggs, add mayo and a little seasoning, mash them together, and the filling is done.

The rest of the dish was just a sandwich on homemade bread with butter. I wasn't sure what to drink, but I decided to pour a lot of tea into a small pot. The aroma and taste would be worse than a fresh batch, but it would still be better than nothing.

I made sure I had the ingredients and food in the back and then headed to Kelly's workshop.

On the way there, I went around the stalls and secured additional items for Kelly and her friends, as well as souvenirs for Shiroumaru and the others, and when I arrived at the workshop, I used the key I'd been keeping to open the door with the 'temporary closure' tag on it.　

"Kelly, I'm here to collect the materials. I've gathered some materials.

I called out to Kelly, who was sleeping in the middle of the workshop with a futon over her head, and she started to squirm and crawled out of the futon.

I pulled the comforter over my head while Kelly, still sleepwalking and exposing her skin, pulled the covers over her head.

'Whoa!'

Awakened by the shock of the bedding, Kelly looked around with the comforter over her head, retrieved the clothes she'd taken off and put them back on.

'Look, here's what the rope is made of. I asked Slarin to clean it, so it's ready to go. And here's your evening meal. I've brought some drinks with me, so if you're hungry, you can eat whatever you want.

He got dressed and stood up, handed Kelly a basket of Siloumaru's hair, and placed a basket of sandwiches and a skillet of tea in a basket out of the way of the workshop, as well as a variety of food he had bought from the stall.　

'Hey Temma.

Kelly doesn't seem to be amused that I was unresponsive and is whining and pulling her own breasts up and down.　

So......

"Wow, I just saw Kelly naked! What am I going to do? I'm so nervous I can't sleep anymore today!

I tried to live up to their expectations with a blank stare. Then the female dwarves, who had been watching us at the back of the workshop, were holding their bellies and laughing, killing their voices.

As we continue to get even worse, the female dwarves can no longer kill their voices and are laughing hysterically, holding their bellies.

And Kelly seems to be getting embarrassed of what she's doing when she sees my reaction, and her face is getting redder and redder.

'Temma, I'm sorry, please stop! And you guys! You won't be laughing at me forever!

Finally, when she couldn't stand the shame anymore, Kelly gave in and, incidentally, started yelling at the laughing female dwarves in the back.

But the laughter grew louder as Kelly's face turned red and she yelled at the dwarves.

While looking at the female dwarves who couldn't stop laughing, Kelly for some reason became quiet, and after a while, she opened her mouth when the laughter became less and less.

''You guys do you have anything left to say?''

It's as if Kelly's voice feels as if angry air is emanating from her entire body, quiet yet sublimely frightening. The female dwarves who have been subjected to such anger are on their knees, shivering and shaking in a blur.

''Ah, yes Temma. I'll finish this in the morning, so be here before noon. I'll need your help to make some final adjustments and make sure it feels right.

Kelly's anger is somewhat subdued against me, but it's scary enough to make me break out in a cold sweat.

I shake my head, being careful not to say anything unnecessary, and slowly leave the workshop.

I closed the door and was a few meters away from the workshop when I thought I heard Kelly yelling and the screams of the female dwarves, but I left without looking back.　

I joked and fooled around with Kelly, but I have to admit I was pretty nervous. The fact that I was caught off guard by the unexpected sight of a woman's more beautiful naked body than I'd ever imagined, not to mention the fact that I was aroused, if not lustful, by it.

I've seen women naked a few times in the time since I've been reincarnated in this world so far, even if I've never had any female experience, but I've never been this thrilled.

It's not so much that I like Kelly, it's more like the feeling I had in my previous life when I was in junior high school or so, when I started to become aware of women. ...I'd thought (if I do say so myself) that I was withering away because I'd never had much awareness of women s*xually before, but apparently it was normal. I don't know if it's something to be happy about, and I don't know why it was Kelly, but...

I can't let everyone (especially the ladies) remember such a thing, so I decided to buy some time by visiting the stalls and stalls to calm my mind without returning to the mansion immediately.

However, since I'm quite a celebrity now, I might get into some strange commotion or trouble if I walk around dressed as I am, so I put on a little disguise. The result......

Hey, buddy. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?　

The policeman (a patrol soldier) questioned me about my duties and took me to the police station (Tsumesho).

I was wearing a dirty hood and a rare craft item (a suspicious mask) I was selling at a street stall, but it was no good. I thought I shouldn't be sneaking around, so I walked proudly in the middle of the road, but it seemed to me that it was the opposite, that it was suspicious.

I was taken to a filling station for the soldiers and taken to a sort of interrogation room where I was surrounded by a few soldiers who took off their hoods and surprised me to the point of sitting up, and then apologized to me for bowing my head repeatedly like a waterfowl.

Apparently, they thought that if the tournament's finalists were brought in and their attempts to surround them with a few people for questioning were discovered by their superiors, and even the royalty were reported to them, they might lose their heads, not to mention their careers.

Well, I don't think such a thing would ever happen to that king. I'm sure he'd rather tease me behind the scenes, saying he's done a good job with his mission. In this case, bringing me in was the right thing to do. But the soldiers, who don't know the king's character (true nature), would never reach such an idea.

If this is the case, they may be deflated by this matter down the road and become confused about their duties, so I have to follow up on it.

With that in mind, I was thinking of getting someone to call someone who knows a knight, when a few knights who seemed to have just come to check on the patrol showed up.

'Who's there? I heard you caught a trespasser... or is that Temma-kun?

One of the knights who came into the interrogation room-like room was Edgar, who was conveniently an acquaintance of mine and a member of the Kingsguard.

I couldn't help but smile at the convenient turn of events, but on the contrary, the soldiers looked even paler.

Edgar-san spoke to me before the soldiers could talk to me, so I told them everything to be as objective as possible.

'Pfft ... no, excuse me. That's a tough one...........................Chief Soldier.

Yes.....

Mr. Edgar stifles a laugh and calls for the soldier-in-chief. The man called the soldier-in-chief looks like he's given up on everything.

'Thank you for your service. Keep up the good work on your mission.''

...What?

The soldier-in-chief, who seemed to have expected to be reprimanded, seemed to not understand the meaning of Edgar-san's words and made a goofy voice.

He said, "There seems to be some misunderstanding, but you have not done anything wrong in this case. It is the fault of Tenma, who was dressed in a confusing manner. The man himself seems to be remorseful, so this matter is over.　

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you,

Without a pause in Edgar's words, I bowed to the soldiers.

''Temma-kun, you can go now. However, I understand the reason for the disguise and how you feel, but at least wear a hood. As expected, this mask is too suspicious.

Then Edgar handed me the mask I was wearing (in the style of a monster who looked like he lived in the opera house), holding back a laugh.

I'll be careful. And please keep this a secret from the kings because they are sure to make fun of you.

I asked Mr. Edgar to do me a favor so the soldiers wouldn't hear me as I accepted the mask.

Mr. Edgar nodded and chuckled again.

Then he gave me some advice about disguises. I asked not only Mr. Edgar, but also the soldiers who found me to think about it, and finally they decided that the reason why they were suspicious was because of the suspicious mask that was removed from the hood, and they decided that it would be better to stop wearing the mask and just wear the hood deep in their eyes, and when they were approached by the soldiers, they should show their faces and tell them why. I became.

I thanked Mr. Edgar and the soldiers and left the Tsumesho, and began to tour the stalls once again, but as I left the Tsumesho, I saw the three men coming after me.

At first I thought it was Lily and her friends, but when I casually checked around the corner, it wasn't Lily and her friends, but a trio of men I didn't know.

I thought about going back to the stuffy room and having them deal with it if it was going to be a problem, but when I used my appraisal, I found that they were not completely unrelated to me, and that they were unlikely to try to harm me, so I decided that if they didn't want to talk to me, it was safe to ignore them and went around the stalls I continued.

I spent the next couple of hours cruising the stalls, but the trio following me still hadn't approached me.

I had done enough shopping too, so I decided to return to the mansion.

When I returned to the front of the house, there was no sign of the three of them calling out to me, so I just walked in.

After entering the mansion, the trio seemed to be watching for a while nearby, but before long they seemed to have given up and the signs had disappeared.

It was almost certain that I would be seeing those three people in the near future. I thought it would be good to ask them about their day then, so I took out the food I had bought from the cart.

Shiroumaru and Solomon flocked to the grilled meats and spit-roasts, and Jeanne and Aura flocked to the fruits and other sweet treats, using their appetites to relieve the resentment of not being able to go out.

Slarin and Grandpa watched the scene as they sipped their tea.

Today's loot (souvenirs) were all tasty, varied and unusual, and the harvest was impressive, as expected of a festival in the royal capital.