Warmth of the Heart (Aincrad 48th Floor, June 2024)
The gigantic waterwheel spun steadily, filling the entire shop with a calming sound.
Even though this was just a small house for support-class use amongst the player-exclusive housing, its price rose like the tide because of that waterwheel. When I first found this house in the main district of the 48th floor Lindus, my mind suddenly went 'this is it!', right before its price horrified me.
From that moment on, I began to work like crazy, borrowed money from various sources, and managed to accumulate three million Col within just two months. If this was the real world, my body would be covered in muscles from all the times I had swung my hammer, and my right hand would be full of thick calluses.
But all that paid off, as I acquired the deed just a step ahead of my competitors and opened «Lisbeth's Special Weapon Shop» at this house with the waterwheel. That happened three months ago during the cool Spring.
Part 1
After quickly drinking my morning coffee — thank god this is Aincrad — while listening to the revolving waterwheel as if its sounds were a BGM, I changed into my blacksmith uniform and glanced at my image in the full length mirror that hung on the wall.
Even though I called it a blacksmith uniform, it wasn't anything even resembling overalls, but actually looked more like a waitress uniform: a dark red top with puffed sleeves and a flared skirt of the same color, plus a pure white apron over that and a red ribbon atop my chest.
I wasn't the one who picked these clothes; it was actually a friend of mine who was also a regular customer. According to her, 'you have a baby face so stiff clothes don't suit you.'
Well that's what she said, and I was like 'mind your own business!' But sales jumped twofold once I started wearing this uniform, so I had no choice but to keep wearing it.
Her advice didn't just stop with my clothes, but even went to my hair; it was now customized to be extremely pink and fluffy. But based on the customer responses, it seemed that this look suited me.
I, blacksmith Lisbeth, was fifteen when I first logged onto SAO. I heard back in the real world that I looked younger than my age, but that became even more pronounced in this world. When my pink hair, large blue eyes, and small lips combined with the old-fashioned apron, my reflection in the mirror felt almost like a doll.
Since I was a middle schooler in the other world with no interest in fashion, the gap grew even wider. Somehow I had gotten used to how I look, but since my personality doesn't change as easily, I had scared some customers with my outbursts from time to time.
I checked if there was anything that I forgot to equip before I went to the front of the shop and flipped the 'CLOSED' sign. I looked at the few players that had been waiting for the shop to open, then showed them my best smile and greeted them.
"Good morning! Welcome!"
Actually, it hadn't been all that long since I was able to do this naturally.
Running a shop had been a longtime dream of mine, but doing so in a game was very different from in the real world. I experienced firsthand how hard reception and service was when I first started as a street vendor with an inn as my base.
Since keeping a smile on was too hard, I decided to win through quality, and it seemed that leveling my weaponsmithing skill like crazy was the answer, as many of my regular customers continued to peruse my weapons even after I opened this shop.
After I finished greeting them, I left the reception to my NPC clerk and holed myself up in the workshop that was attached to the store. There were about ten items that needed to be made to order today.
As soon as I pulled the lever on the wall, the bellows began using the mechanical power from the waterwheel to blow air into the furnace, and the polisher started spinning. I took out an expensive piece of metal from my inventory and stuck it in the furnace, which had begun to heat up. After heating the metal enough, I moved it over to the anvil with a pair of tongs. I knelt on one knee and grasped my hammer, then called up the pop-up menu and chose the item I wanted to make. Now all I had to do was hit the chunk of metal for the designated number of times and the item would be forged. There was no technique required for this and the quality of the resulting weapon was random; but I thought that the end result depended on how much I concentrated, so I tensed all my muscles and slowly raised the hammer. Then, just when I was about to strike the metal—
"Hey, Liz!"
"Ahh!"
The door to the workshop opened loudly and I missed; instead of the metal, I struck the anvil with a pathetic clang and a spray of sparks.
As I raised my head, the intruder was scratching her head and smiling with her tongue stuck out.
"Sorry~ I'll be careful next time."
"I wonder how many times I've heard that— ...Well, at least it was before I started."
I stood up with a sigh and put the piece of metal back into the furnace before placing my hands on my hips and turning around. Then I looked up at the girl who was slightly taller than me.
"...Hey, Asuna."
My friend and regular customer, the rapier-wielder Asuna, crossed the room as she walked towards me and sat down on the wooden stool. She then pushed back the long chestnut-brown hair that went past her shoulders with her hand. All of her movements seemed to shine, as if she was a movie star, and dazed me even though I've known her for ages.
I sat down as well on the chair in front of the anvil and leaned my hammer against the wall.
"...So, what is it today? You're pretty early."
"Ah, I want you to take care of this."
Asuna took off her rapier, with the blade still in its sheath, and then threw it. I caught it with one hand and pulled it out. The rapier was a little dull from the long period of use, but it wasn't bad enough to give the blade any trouble cutting.
"It's not that out of shape is it? It's a bit early for polishing."
"Yeah you're right. But I want it to be all shiny."
"Hmmm?"
I looked at Asuna carefully. Her knight outfit with the red crosses on white and her miniskirt was the same as ever, but her boots shined as if they were new and she even wore a pair of silver earrings.
"You're being strange~ Now that I think about it, it's a weekday today. What about your guild's clearing quota? Didn't you say that you guys were having a hard time with the sixty-third floor?"
After I said this, Asuna gave an embarrassed smile:
"Yeah— I got a vacation today. Because I have a promise with somebody later today..."
"Ohh~!"
I shifted closer towards Asuna while still sitting on my chair.
"Tell me more. Who are you meeting?"
"Se-Secret!"
Asuna blushed and avoided my gaze. I crossed my arms, nodded, and then spoke:
"Ah~ I thought that you were strangely brighter these days. So you finally got yourself a boyfriend."
"It-It's not like that!!"
Asuna's cheeks turned to a deeper red. She coughed and then asked me a question while glancing at me slightly:
"...Am I, really all that different nowadays...?"
"Of course~ When I first met you, you only concentrated on clearing dungeons! I thought you were a little too stiff, but then, starting this spring, you began to change a little; like taking a rest from clearing the game on a weekday — that's something you would never have done back then."
"Ri-Right ...maybe I really have been affected..."
"So, who is it? Someone I know?"
"I... don't think so... most probably."
"Bring him over next time."
"It's really not like that! It's still, well... a one way thing..."
"Hmm...?"
This time I was really surprised. Asuna was the sub-leader of the strongest guild, KoB, and one of the top five best looking girls in Aincrad. There were as many boys who wanted Asuna's attention as there were stars in the sky, but I never even dreamed that the opposite existed.
"Well, y'know, he's a really strange person."
Asuna said with her eyes gazing off into the distance. She had a soft smile on her lips. If this was a romance manga, then there would be flower petals in the background right now.
"Should I say that he's unpredictable, or that he just takes everything at his own pace... yet in spite of all that, he's really strong."
"Oh, stronger than you?"
"Yeah, like really; if we duelled, I wouldn't even last one minute."
"Ohh~ I could count the number of people who can do that with my fingers."
As soon as I began going through the list of clearers in my head, Asuna started waving her arms.
"Ah, don't imagine him~!"
"Well, I'll look forward to seeing him soon. And if that's the case I'll rely on you for advertising as well!"
"You never miss a chance. I'll introduce him —Ah, oh! Polish it quickly!"
"Right, right. I'll get it done right now so just wait a moment."
I stood up with Asuna's rapier in my hand and walked over to the revolving polisher in the corner on the room.
I drew the thin blade from its red sheath. The weapon was categorized as «Rapier» with the unique name «Lambent Light». It was one of the best swords I've ever made. Even if I use the best raw materials, the best hammer, the best anvil, and the best everything, the quality of the weapon still differed due to the random factor. Therefore, I would only be able to make a sword of this quality every three months or so.
I slowly held the sword against the polisher with both hands. There was no technique involved in polishing weapons either, but I had no intention of neglecting it.
I slid the blade across the polisher from the hilt to the tip of the sword. Sparks flew out as a clear, metallic sound rang about, and at the same time a shimmering gleam returned to the blade. When the polishing process finished, the rapier returned to its clear silvery appearance, shining with the light of the morning sun.
I sheathed the blade again and threw it over to Asuna. Then I caught the 100 col silver coin that she tossed over to me at the same time with the tips of my fingers.
"Thanks!"
"I'll ask you to repair my armor later as well... but I'm running out of time now so bye!"
Asuna stood up and hung the rapier to her side on the sword belt.
"I wonder what he's like~ Maybe I should go along."
"Ehh, n-no!"
"Hahaha, I'm joking. But bring him along next time."
"S-Soon."
Asuna waved her hand and ran out of the workshop as if she was running away. I let out a deep sigh and collapsed into my chair again.
"...Must be good."
I smiled somewhat bitterly at the words that popped out of my mouth.
A year and a half had passed since I came to this world. Because of my personality, I didn't dawdle and instead poured everything into making my shop flourish, which had gotten me this far. But now that I had set up a shop and almost completed my smithing skill, I was starting to miss the company of people again, most probably because I didn't have a clear goal anymore.
Since there weren't many girls in Aincrad, quite a few guys have tried to get close to me, but for some reason I never really felt like responding. So when it came to this subject I felt pretty envious of Asuna.
"Will a «Fabulous Meeting» quest come to me as well, I wonder~"
I mumbled, then shook my head to get rid of these strange thoughts and stood up. I took the piece of metal, which was red hot by now, out of the furnace and put it back onto the anvil. I supposed this guy would be my partner for the time being. With these thoughts lingering about, I raised my hammer and struck down. Hiiyaa.
The rhythmic sound of metal resounding through the workshop would usually clear my mind for me, but today the lump in my heart just wouldn't go away.
It was noon of the next day when he visited my shop.
I finished all of the weapon orders yesterday and was nodding off on the rocking chair on the terrace in front of the shop.
I was dreaming. It was a dream about when I was still in elementary school. I was a diligent and quiet kid, but I had this habit of falling asleep during the first afternoon lesson. The teachers often berated me for drifting off.
Back then I looked up to this young male teacher who had just graduated from university. I still felt embarrassed about getting reprimanded, but for some reason I really liked the way he woke me up. He would softly shake my shoulder and say in a low, quiet voice—
“Erm, I'm sorry but...”
“Ye-Yes, I'm sorry!”
“Wha?!”
I shouted and jumped up like a spring. In front of me stood a male player with a surprised expression fixed onto his face.
“Huh...?”
I looked around at my surroundings. It wasn't the classroom filled with rows of desks. The trees planted along the street, the waterway that ran beside the wide stone road, the court that was covered with grass; it was my second home, Lindus.
It seemed that I had been daydreaming for the first time in a while. I coughed to hide my embarrassment and greeted the person who appeared to be a customer.
“Wel-Welcome. Are you looking for a weapon?”
“Erm, yes.”
The boy nodded.
He didn't look like someone on a really high level. He looked only a little older than me; black hair with a simple shirt, pants, and boots. The only armament he had was the one-handed sword on his back. The weapons in my shop required high stats and I was worried if he was on a high enough level, but I didn't let that show and led him into my shop.
“The one-handed sword display is over here.”
As I pointed towards the case that displayed the basic weapons, he smiled a bit awkwardly and spoke.
“Ah, well, I wanted to order a custom made one...”
I became even more worried. Even the cheapest custom-made weapons, which needed special ingredients to forge, were over a hundred thousand col. If he started panicking at the price, then I would be embarrassed as well, so I tried to avoid that situation.
“The price of metals right now is a bit high, so I think it might be a little expensive...”
I told him that, but the boy clad in black said something totally unbelievable with an uncaring expression.
“You don't have to worry about the price. Please just forge the best sword that you can right now.”
“...”
I just stared at the person's face for a moment and then somehow managed to open my mouth.
“...Well, even if you say that... I have to have some sort of idea about the quality...”
My tone was slightly rougher than usual, but he didn't seem to care about that and simply nodded.
“Well I suppose that's true. Then...”
He took off the sword on his back, still sheathed, and gave it to me.
“How about a sword with a similar or better quality than this one?”
It didn't look like a very impressive weapon. A handle with black leather twined around it; a hilt of the same color. But when I took it with my right hand—
It's heavy!!
I almost dropped the thing. The strength stat prerequisite was incredibly high. As a blacksmith and mace wielder, I was pretty confident in my strength stat. But I would never be able to swing this sword.
I hesitantly drew it from the sheath and the almost pitch black blade gleamed. I could tell that it was a high-quality sword with just a glance. I clicked it with my finger to call out the popup window: category «Long-sword/One-handed», unique name «Elucidator». It didn't have a maker name, which meant that this wasn't the work of a fellow blacksmith.
You can separate all weapons in Aincrad into two groups.
One is «Player made», which meant weapons made by us blacksmiths. The other included weapons that one gained from adventuring as «Monster drops». Needless to say, blacksmiths don't like drop weapons all that much. I couldn't even begin to count all the names like 'Unnamed' or 'No brand' that were given to them.
But this sword seemed to be a very rare item amongst monster drops. If you compared the average quality of player-made weapons and monster drops, the former was better. But once in a while, «Demon Swords» such as this one appeared — that was what I heard.
Anyhow, my pride was now on the line. As a blacksmith, there was no way I would lose to a drop weapon.
I returned the heavy sword and brought out a long sword that was hanging on the back wall of the shop. I had forged this sword a month ago and it was the best I could make right now. The blade that I drew from its sheath had a reddish tinge to it, which appeared as if it was covered by fire.
“This is the best sword in my shop right now. It most probably won't lose to yours.”
He took the sword wordlessly, swung it with one hand, and then cocked his head.
“It's a bit light.”
“...I used a speed type metal for it...”
“Hmm...”
He made a doubtful expression and swung the sword a few more times before he turned his gaze towards me and asked.
“Can I test this for a bit?”
“Test what...?”
“Durability.”
The boy drew his sword, which he had been holding in his left hand, and put it on top of the counter. He then stood before it and slowly raised the red sword with his right arm.
I realized what he was about to do and tried to stop him.
“Wa-Wait! If you do that your sword will break!”
“If it's a sword that would break so easily then it's useless. If that happens I'll deal with it then.”
“That's...”
That's totally crazy, is what I was going to say, but I stopped myself. He held the sword up above his head and his eyes shone sharply. Soon, the sword began to shine with a blue light.
“Hyah!”
With a shout, he swung the sword down at an amazing speed. The two blades clashed against each other before I even had the time to blink, and the impact rang loudly within the shop. Because the resulting flash was so bright, I squinted to take a look, and then involuntarily took a step back...
The blade was broken neatly in two and had been completely destroyed.
—The blade of my best work.
“AHHHHHH!!”
I screamed and rushed to his right hand. I took the remaining half and carefully examined it from every angle.
...Repair... was impossible.
As soon as I came to that conclusion and sagged my shoulders, the remaining half scattered and became polygon fragments. After a few seconds of silence passed, I slowly raised my head.
“Wha...Wha...”
I grabbed the boy by the collar as my lips trembled.
“What are you going to do—!! It's broken—!!”
“I-I'm sorry! I never even imagined that the sword I swung would break...”
...*Snap*.
“In other words, do you mean to say that my sword was weaker than you thought it was!?”
“Errr— ummm— well, yeah.”
“Ah!! Now you're just going straight out!?”
I released his collar, put my hands on my hips, and straightened my chest.
“I— I'm telling you! If I had the right materials I could make weapons that would snap your sword just like that as much as I want!”
“—Oh?”
He smiled at the words I said in anger.
“Then I would really like to ask you to make that; something that could just snap this sword just like that.”
He took the sword on the counter and sheathed it. The blood finally rushed all the way up my head and—
“So that's how it's gonna be!? Fine! Then you help too! Start with helping me get the ingredients!”
I knew I just made a mistake, but the milk was already spilt. There was no way I could back down now. Yet he wasn't shaken at all and rudely scrutinized me.
“...Well, I don't mind, but wouldn't it be better if I went by myself? It would be a problem if you got in the way.”
“Argh—!!”
To think that there really was a person who was this good at getting on people's nerves. I waved my arms about wildly and protested like a little kid.
“Do-Don't take me so lightly! Even if I look like this, I'm a master mace wielder!”
“Whew~”
The boy whistled. Now he was just enjoying himself.
“Well then, I'll look forward to it. —Anyways, I'll pay for the sword I broke.”
“There's no need to do that! Just remember that if I make a sword that's better than yours, I'll make you pay bucket loads!”
“Fine, as much as you want. —I'm Kirito. I hope we get along together until the sword is done.”
I crossed my arms and looked away.
“I hope we get along too, Kirito.”
“Uwa, you're calling me by my name just like that? Well, I'm fine with it. I hope we get along, Lisbeth.”
“Kaaah—!!”
—It was the worst first impression ever for forming a party.
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