Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 8. Blacksmith Village (1)
It took about two days from the royal Capital, swaying in a horse-drawn carriage, and passing through post towns.
In the open land between mountains, surrounded by fields planted with various vegetables, buildings are lined up close together and a number of chimneys stand in the distance.
This is a village where craftsmen who make weapons and armor live.
Some craftsmen have their workshops in the royal capital, but they sometimes have to forge iron through the night, so they gather in this area a little distance from the capital out of consideration for the people around them.
The number of workshops seems to have increased considerably since my visit four years ago.
This may be because many craftsmen are involved in the making of swords, from processing the hilt to making the leather sheath to hold the sword.
I headed to an old building at the very back of the village and knocked on the door, and a plump old lady wearing an apron peeked her head out.
“Oh, what a rare visitor.”
“Hello. Um, I’m…”
“Hmm! Wait a minute! ……Your face looks familiar, I remember it now. ……”
As we were having this exchange at the front door, suddenly there was a loud bang and a small rumbling sound from somewhere. The house creaked and shook.
“Hey you! What are you doing? You’re scaring my guests!”
Her face changed and the old woman ran out of the house, shouting out to the chimney workshop behind the house.
“Haaa, again. Just as well, since you’re here, you can come too, my husband’s the one you’re looking for right?”
I panicked because she hadn’t yet introduced herself, but I followed the old lady – if I remember correctly, this was Mr. Dolph’s wife, Barbara.
In front of me stood a man with a magnificent beard, reminiscent of a dwarf from a story, and a tall man. Beside them, a large axe with a long handle, almost as tall as I am, was stuck in the ground.
The man who looked like a dwarf was the man I was looking for, Mr. Dolph, the blacksmith.
“Oh, Barbara. I’m sorry, he used too much force.”
He laughed heartily, and then, as he caught sight of me, he stroked his magnificent beard and looked thoughtful.
“A guest, you must be… Wait a minute, now I remember.”
he says the same thing that Barbara said earlier, so I couldn’t introduce myself and just waited.
Meanwhile, a tall man standing nearby me turned to me and scratched his head with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Miss, I’m sorry if I startled you… Old Man Dolph’s skills are just too good, I’m the one who got carried away.”
“No, no, I came on such short notice myself, so don’t worry about it…”
The man had a well-trained physique and good posture. Could he be a knight…?
If he’s a knight, he may have heard of my scandal. I swallowed the bitter feelings welling up in my chest and tried to remain calm, when Barbara clasped her hands together with a satisfying sound.
“Ah, I remember now! It’s Flora, the duck soup girl!”
“Oh, ‘Duck Soup Flora-chan’? Oh, yes, yes, that brings back memories.”
Mr. Dolph and Barbara looked at each other and then gave us smiles as radiant as a midsummer blue sky.
“… What is that, it sounds delicious…? That nickname…”
The tall man had his mouth open.
I, too, was a little puzzled by the unexpected way they remembered things, but still, I am glad that he and his wife remembered me, and I could feel my shoulders relax.
Four years ago, as a novice seamstress, I could not afford to buy a sword, so I came to Mr. and Mrs. Dolph in this village to see if there was anything I could give them.
It happened to be the off-season for seamstresses, so for about three months I helped the Dolphs, who live in this village, with their farm work and household chores, and in return, they gave me a sword.
Duck soup was one of my specialties, and the couple loved it so much that I made it many times – almost every day, I remember.
“Just remembering this is making me hungry. Perfect, let’s have something to eat.”
“That’s right. Come on, Flora, Gilbert. I’m afraid we don’t have duck soup today, but since you’re here, we’ll treat you to a meal.”
With that, Dolph and Barbara returned to the house in high spirits.
“… Truly a carefree couple. I’m Gilbert. Nice to meet you, Flora of the duck soup.”
“Y-Yes.”
The tall man, Mr. Gilbert, smiles at me with a smile as clear as Mr. and Mrs. Dolph’s .
“If you’re going to be in the village for a while, can we expect the duck soup I’ve heard so much about ……?”
I didn’t know what to say to the soft mutter. I only intended to come to say hello to Mr. Dolph, and if Gilbert knew about the rumors about me in the royal capital, I wondered how he would react. I couldn’t think of a good response, so I just followed him in silence.
“By the way, isn’t your boyfriend, the one you gave the sword to, with you today?”
As we were sitting at the lunch table and sipping tea after the meal, Mr. Dolph suddenly asked, as if he had just remembered something.
There was not the slightest hint of malice in his voice, just a simple question, but I couldn’t help but choke on my words.
“We registered our marriage ……, and he survived the recent expedition to defeat the enemy. But, well, I’m sorry to say that we separated. ……”
To sum it up briefly, and it was Mr. Gilbert who leaned forward with a start.
“Are you, by any chance, the wife of …… St. Knight Elliot?”
─ ─ Ah, as I thought, you know about it.
Even if I kept his status as a Holy Knight a secret, there’s probably not that many people who got a divorce so soon after the Knights’ triumphant return.
“Ex, actually,”
I tried to lighten the mood with a smile, but I don’t know if I was able to do it well.