Chapter 149 (Self Edited) – Hearing a Familiar Voice
Soma was walking in a good mood along the alley way. Of course, it was because of the interaction with the blacksmith earlier.
As a result, the usual sword he had, wasn’t at his waist now. However, there was another sword was put in place.
In other words, it was a replacement sword. He asked the blacksmith to repair his usual sword, so he borrowed this sword until it was over.
At the time he borrowed it, the man showed it to him. Soma swung it, and he thought that the sword was a good sword in its own way. It was a good sword to the point that he wouldn’t be able to find it in the shops. Soma’s eyes didn’t seem to discern wrongly.
Because of that, his antic.i.p.ation had increased.
Of course, it wasn’t about the repair. As for the repair, he had no doubt from the beginning. Soma was certain that the blacksmith would finish it perfectly.
So, what he was hoping for was another request…
“Hmm… the blacksmith told me not to expect it… Well, it might be impossible. For starters, even the person himself wouldn’t expect it.” (Soma)
The blacksmith was probably being humble, or it might be that he really did think so.
But, in his heart, that man must have believed in himself. If it was him, he could at least forge that sword.
Yes, another request Soma asked him was to make something more than the sword he used all the time.
What Soma was really looking for in the first place was actually that. He was certainly looking for a blacksmith who could take care of his usual sword. If he had to say his true intention, he was beginning to feel the limitation in that sword.
However, it was only recently that he began to feel it. He thought that his usual sword was at least good enough until he went back to the Academy.
Even though the sword wasn’t broken, he wanted something more. Was it because he fought against a powerful monster in a dungeon? In the first case, at the time when he sliced the power of the Evil G.o.d that ran wild, he thought that the result would be better if he had a better sword. Perhaps, if he had it, he might have been able to defeat it completely.
However, if he succeeded there, Soma might not have gone to the Elf Forest or the Witch Forest. In that case, Felicia would be almost certainly dead. Moreover, he wouldn’t know what was the situation of the Elves.
He thought that everything wouldn’t be concluded even if Felicia was sacrificed. Well, this was just his intuition. It could be said that the present conclusion was due to his failure in killing the power of the Evil G.o.d.
It wasn’t all bad that he wasn’t succeeded at that, but he certainly remember how lacking he was. For that reason, he was looking for a satisfactory sword, but he couldn’t find such a thing. Since then, he was looking for a blacksmith. He didn’t expect that it was easy to find, but since he found a blacksmith conveniently, he made a request.
That was the case this time.
“That reminds me of Felicia…” (Soma)
Soma was speaking of his current state. That was to say that they were looking for an inn… incidentally, if he had to say this, he was looking for a sword arbitrarily.
There was no problem with the repair. It was supposed to be over tomorrow, so all he had to do was to get it tomorrow.
However, he was told that the new sword would take a month, regardless of whether it was successful or not. If the blacksmith just made it simply, he could do it faster, but since he wanted to make the best with the whole body and soul, it would take a reasonable amount of time.
If Soma was told that, he wouldn’t be able to object. Soma himself was also the same, he want to have a better sword for himself.
In short, it meant that he couldn’t leave this town for a month. Hence, it would be bad to decide to stay unilaterally.
“Hmm… well, as for the sword, I also can come and pick it up later, right?” (Soma)
He was dissatisfied, but it was enough to fight with what he had. In fact, he was able to slice the Evil G.o.d even though it was only a fragment and an incomplete power, and he also had no problem with the Forest G.o.d. If that sword was broken… it would be impossible to fight special enemies.
Like Hildegard in the past and…
“If that Forest G.o.d had a fragment of the Evil G.o.d, I’m not sure if I can make it. If that’s the case, I have to be able to use my original strength…” (Soma)
However, it was impossible to do that anymore since he had blown it away. It wasn’t necessary to rethink about it, and the sword he had was good enough.
It was fine to go back to the school, and came back to take it later. Unfortunately, if he chose to do that, he needed to wait for long-term break to come here, and that was about a half year ahead.
It was unavoidable to wait beyond that.
“For the time being, I should discuss with them and decide what to do. Well, it would be hard if we have to stay here for a month.” (Soma)
Perhaps it should be said that it was impossible to judge normally.
He couldn’t do it unless he could find money for lodging fee. If he had to say it, it was a matter of his companion’s convenience.
After all, the long vacation of the Academy would end in one month. As for Soma, he thought that he would be fine, and he didn’t have to attend the lesson anyway. He was confident that he could return if it was a bit later. Plus, he didn’t need to go back since he had learned beforehand.
However, regardless whether Sheila wouldn’t go along with it, he was worried about Sheila. So, it wouldn’t be a very good idea to do such a thing.
Incidentally, they had to delay about one month to inform that Soma was safe.
“…Well, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” (Soma)
It had been too long already. Although he had a good reason to stay in this town for about a month just because he wanted to have a new sword, he would be scolded no matter how much he antic.i.p.ated the future. Soma had no intention of doing so.
If that was the case, he should go get the repaired sword and told the blacksmith about it. If the money was paid in advance, it would be more flexible.
But in order to discuss about this, they need to find a place to stay first. Well, he wondered whether the girls found it already.
“I didn’t mean to play truant though…” (Soma)
Although he wasn’t sure that there was no inn, it was a fact that he didn’t find any. There was nothing he could do even if he would be blamed later.
However, there was no doubt that he had given priority to personal matter, and made his own request to the blacksmith. If he used that time to search around, the search area would have expanded a bit more.
“Since I’m going to look around some more, I should spend the remaining time to… hmm?” (Soma)
Soma suddenly stopped his feet because he heard a certain sound.
It was a place with a presence of a person, even though it was a back alley. Of course, he could hear a lot of different sounds, but… that wasn’t the case.
If he wasn’t wrong, it sounded like a child’s cry. Moreover…
“Hmmm… this voice is…” (Soma)
He listened some more, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he had heard it before.
Although he couldn’t grasp the detail… Soma wasn’t cold-hearted to pretend that he didn’t hear it. It was the responsibility of someone who had heard it, to verify it, and right now, it was one of the places he needed to go.
The street before him split into two directions, and he heard the cry on the left one. As he proceeded without hesitation, he could hear the voice even more clearly.
As expected, it was a child’s cry.
“Aah, can you stop crying, please? I’m also a girl like you, isn’t it? Show me some compa.s.sion, alright!?” (Steina)
The familiar voice was saying such things in a similar way that he had heard before.