Chapter 6

Vill Craft was absent from the store, and the Hero of the Ice Holy Sword, Carolaine Iceberg, had arrived.

Carolaine truly admired Vill.

...She was extremely angry about firing him.

However, Vill's younger brother, Setchin, was utterly perplexed.

(Why... is this Hero so angry!?)

From Setchin's perspective, the Hero who came to the store suddenly seemed to snap.

He hadn't even considered that it might be his fault.

"...Where is Vill? I want to see him. I want him to repair my Holy Sword."

(Oh, I see! So she's angry because the maintenance person is gone!)

That must be it! Setchin convinced himself that this was the correct interpretation.

If that's the case, the way to appease her is simple.

"Milady Carolaine... in place of my brother, I will maintain your Ice Holy Sword, Iceberg."

"Huh, you? Can you do it?"

This voice came from the will residing in the Holy Sword, the sword spirit.

The sword spirit is usually only visible and audible to Carolaine.

"...You can't."

"I can! I can do it! What my brother can do... is child's play for me!"

...Just what had he seen of his brother to be so confident?

No, he hadn't seen anything at all.

Setchin had been told by his father early on that he lacked talent.

On the other hand, his brother, who was favored by their father for his talent, was strongly resented by Setchin.

Taking away what his brother had and settling his grudge.

Focusing too much on this, Setchin had no idea about his brother's true abilities.

The baseless confidence that he could do what his brother could do came from not knowing his brother well enough.

"Wow, you're so confident. Maybe you're an amazing blacksmith like Vill."

"...Alright. Then I'll entrust this to you. If you can properly maintain it, I'll pay for all the broken weapons and compensation."

YES! Setchin shouted in his heart. This was a golden opportunity to create a debt with the Hero!

If he could prove his skills here, the Hero would likely come back to the store in the future.

His brother would be even more regretful! Because he would have taken away his brother's job!

...With high spirits, Setchin headed to the workshop.

He placed the Ice Holy Sword, Iceberg, on the workbench and took a whetstone from a bucket of water.

"Please wait, Hero Carolaine! I'll maintain this sword right away!"

"...Do you know what will happen if you can't?"

A cold aura emanated from Carolaine's body.

She was clearly angry.

However, if he could show that he could do the maintenance in place of his brother, her anger would subside.

Setchin took the Holy Sword and slid the blade against the whetstone.

Scrape...!

"Ow!"

Scrape, scrape, scrape...!

"Hey, that hurts! Be more gentle!"

Iceberg screamed, but Setchin couldn't hear the sword's voice.

Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape...!

"Stop, you fool!"

At that moment, the blade of the Ice Holy Sword glowed brightly, instantly freezing everything around it.

"Aaaaaah! M-my arms...! My arms!"

Setchin's arms were frozen along with the whetstone.

Moreover, almost all the tools needed for the blacksmith's work were also frozen.

"Hey, you idiot! You're way too clumsy! What's with that forceful sharpening? Ignoring the sword's voice and doing maintenance your own way!"

Of course, Setchin couldn't hear the Holy Sword's voice.

He thought it was just a random outburst of power.

"You know! Vill was different. He listened to the silent voices of the tools and understood that they have hearts. He carefully sharpened them one by one! You're completely different!"

"H-Hero...! What is this...?"

Carolaine, who had watched the entire scene, sighed in disappointment and approached the Holy Sword.

She took the sword and put it back in its sheath.

"...This sword is very angry."

"S-Sword...? W-What nonsense are you talking about? Objects can't be angry!"

Carolaine and Iceberg had completely given up on him with those words.

"You're trash."

"This child and I are disappointed in you. We won't come to this store again. And we won't pay any compensation."

Huh? What? Question marks appeared above Setchin's head.

"Wait, wait a minute! What do you mean by 'disappointed'!?"

Without being able to hear the Holy Sword's voice, Setchin was only confused.

Carolaine looked down at the fool coldly and said,

"...This Holy Sword is alive. It has a will."

"What!? That's... that's ridiculous..."

"...Vill knew. The will of the Holy Sword... the existence of the sword spirit. And he carefully maintained it to ensure it performed at its best..."

But, Carolaine looked at Setchin with disdain.

"You just sharpened it. Technically, you are far inferior to your brother, Vill."

"That... that's not true..."

"I can tell. The sword's voice. When Vill sharpened it, it was in a very good mood. But now, it's angry. It's very angry with you."

That's why it froze you.

Given that the Hero wouldn't lie and the scene of the frozen arms, her words were confirmed to be true.

"No... no way! I don't believe I'm inferior to my brother!"

Refusing to admit his lack of skill and insisting he was great.

A typical fool's behavior.

"You're right. Let's go. We won't come back here again."

"No...!"

Mocked for being inferior to his brother and with the store's goods shattered...

Moreover, his arms were frozen, and the tools were unusable.

What would happen now...?

"Setchin?"

"Silical...!"

The fiancée he had taken from his brother entered the store.

"I came to check on the sword since it hasn't been delivered yet... What is this...?"

The shelves were empty, and the workshop was frozen.

It was no wonder Silical was shocked.

"Also... I just passed the Hero of Ice... earlier..."

"Y-Yeah... she was here just now. She wanted the Holy Sword maintained..."

"And?"

"...I failed. I made her angry, and now this. And she said she won't come back..."

The blood drained from Silical's face.

"But! It's not a big deal if one Hero doesn't come back, right? We still have many customers..."

"You idiot!"

Suddenly being scolded by his fiancée, Setchin was confused.

"What's wrong...?"

"Carolaine is a VIP in this country! If she dislikes you, it's the same as the country disliking you!"

"What...!?"

"How could you not know that! Vill knew!"

Vill... Vill... Vill...

Everyone kept praising his brother.

"Shut up...! Vill isn't relevant right now!"

"Don't yell! What about the delivery? Hurry up and make it!"

"It's impossible! Look at my arms and the workshop! How am I supposed to make anything? Are you stupid?"

"You're the stupid one!"

...Setchin and Silical, arguing ugly.

And, bad things come in threes...

"President Silical..."

A subordinate from the Hassan Trading Company appeared at the store entrance.

"What! We're busy right now!"

"Um... the royal family has proposed to terminate the trade agreement..."

...Neither Silical nor Setchin understood what the subordinate was saying at first.

But gradually, they realized the gravity of the situation...

Their faces turned pale.