Chapter 24: Your Name

After exiting the audience room, Ricardo and Jocell were walking side by side down a dimly lit corridor.

To be more precise, Ricardo was next to him to talk to Jocel.

“Jocel, did something happen to the Count?”

“What is something?”

Jocel’s words had an accusatory tone. He told him to stop using language that could be taken as criticism of the Count.

Even now, there are pros and cons to the Count’s change.

“Excuse me. It seems that your complexion is good today and you are in a good mood…”

What’s the point of that young man being a sword fool with that fucking old man?

Ricardo wanted to ask, “What is this?” but Ricardo’s vocabulary did not allow him to put it into polite words.

Knowing or not knowing Ricardo’s feelings, Jocel happily answered.

“The Count is very pleased with his new sword. Recently, he has been practicing with his master before his morning political duties. Of course, he does it without breaking his body.”

“The Count is acting out?”

It was unexpected, and did not fit the image of the Count. How could a person who had never shown interest in swordsmanship change so easily just because he liked the sword?

“That’s how good a sword he found.”

Jocel answered, and Ricardo was both satisfied and slightly disappointed. Jocel, who he had thought was on his side, was now leaning toward the sword fools.

“I want a sword of my own as soon as possible. I envy you in that respect.”

I was told something like that, but I could not nod my head in agreement as a person who is being wielded by a sword in an ongoing situation.

A few days later, Ricardo received a letter of introduction from Gerhard and came to the designated hut. He had no great interest in naming the sword, but the recommendation that the count had arranged was as good as an order.

“Excuse me, is there anyone here?”

After knocking on the door several times, I could feel the presence of someone inside.

I heard the sound of a bolt being unbolted, and a young woman appeared.

“Yes, who are you?”

She was a beautiful woman. A lovely face and ample breasts. Her ass was so large and smooth that it looked as if it had been carved by an ancient artist.

I managed to resist the urge to ask her to marry me, then remembered my role and pulled a letter of introduction from my pocket.

“I came here because of Gerhard-sama’s introduction. I wish to meet the swordsmith.”

The woman, Claudia, opened the letter of introduction and looked it over lightly. Ricardo was a little surprised that she could read.

Ricardo is neither a noble nor a clergyman.

In this era, it was common for people to not be able to read unless they were in the knowledge hierarchy. As an adventurer, one could sign one’s name, but if one could not read numbers, it would be difficult to receive rewards. That was the extent of what he could do.

“Please come inside, Mr. Ricardo.”

With that, Claudia led the way into the house.

She did indeed call Ricardo’s name. In other words, she did not just randomly look at the parchment without understanding it, but she understood its contents.

She must be the female merchant Gerhard mentioned.

When he was led into the living room, a man about the same age as Ricardo stood up and bowed his head.

Although Gerhard had told me that the swordsmith was a young man, I could not believe it when I saw him like this because I had an image of the master of a blacksmith shop as a middle-aged to early-aged man who had been trained for a long time.

“Lutz-kun, this is a customer introduced by Mr. Gerhard. He is the owner of that mysterious sword.”

“I see, that sword has returned…”

Ricardo does not know what kind of feelings Lutz and Claudia have about the mysterious sword. Just reading the air of intimacy flowing between the two of them made me keenly aware of the end of their undeclared love.

“Lutz-kun and Ricardo-san, sit down. Umm, can you both read?”

Ricardo shook his head. Lutz said it was not impossible to read, but that it would be tiring if it was too long.

“I’ll read it and summarize it as I see fit. Well, Mr. Ricardo is the owner of a mysterious sword, and just the other day he confronted a huge orc, and when he pointed the sword at it, the orc revealed its ugly face and committed suicide. Scary, scary.”

“Ah…, eh, what?”

Ricardo answered Lutz’s natural question.

“When I pointed my sword at him, he made a face that felt like he was having sexual pleasure, and then drove the ax into his own neck…. I didn’t want to see that look on the orc’s face, it seems like it’ll haunt my dreams even now.”

“No one wants to see a show of a green pig wiggler’s crazy, fuming, bleeding-suicide show. Hahaha.”

It seems that Lutz finally understood Claudia’s frank way of speaking. I certainly don’t want to see it. He was also strangely impressed that he didn’t bite his tongue.

“Let me cut to the chase. Mr. Ricardo has come to name the mysterious sword at the Count’s recommendation. Is that correct?”

“That’s right. I was told that if you give it a name, you’ll grow attached to it.”

Ricardo said with a reluctant look, he was not too keen on the idea. Gerhard told him to be thankful for the sword first, but to Ricardo, who had seen that scene, the demon sword was still nothing more than an eerie sword that sprinkled death.

Attachment and such are ridiculous. To be honest, I wanted to put my name on it and get the hell out of here.

“Mr. Ricardo, can you tell me more about the hallucination when you draw your sword?”

“Oh, then…”

He told them that when he pulled out his sword, he would first smell a sweet aroma, that a naked and bloody woman would appear, and that she would follow closely behind and whisper to him. He also talked about his premonition that if he turned around there, he would be killed.

Ricardo was worried that they might think he was crazy as he spoke, but Lutz and Claudia were listening intently.

Both of them had experienced one step short of self-inflicted injury. They understood that if magic power was added to it, such a thing would happen.

“… A woman who bleeds. That’s right!”

“Overruled, Lutz-kun.”

Claudia invalidated Lutz’ idea without even asking about it.

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

“The way you inspire is the worst. Lutz-kun, decency is something that flows out of your mouth.”

“Mmm…”

In fact, it was such a lousy idea that Lutz had to back down.

“A woman’s hallucination with a sweet smell. Does that mean that the mysterious sword is a girl?”

Claudia was seriously thinking such things.

Again, Ricardo narrowed his eyes. These guys act as if their swords have personalities. I wondered what was going on.

“A flower name would be nice. Okay, let’s name this mysterious sword Camellia Tsubaki!”

At Claudia’s declaration, Lutz nodded his head in agreement. It wasn’t that he was swept away, but Lutz also seemed to like the name a lot.

Camellia. It is a flower that falls whole rather than scattering its petals. Some people are averse to the idea of the head falling off, while others love its purity.

In other words, Tsubahime Tsubaki. A fitting name for a strong, bewitching, and beautiful sword.

Ricardo thought the name was too elegant and graceful for an eerie sword, but he had no other ideas, so he did not object.

……Tsubaki, so your name is Tsubaki.

When I held the sword and mouthed it, I felt it wasn’t so bad.

“I’ll take care of the rest. Hand me the sword.”

Ricardo looked at Lutz with disbelief as he stood up after saying that.

“… I’ve talked about the horror of this sword repeatedly. Do you have any mental resistance magic tools or anything like that?”

“No way, no way. This sword won’t hurt me.”

“How can you say such a thing!?”

“I know, because I made the sword.”

Receiving the sword, Lutz said comfortably, and went to the forge.

Ricardo frowned as he felt too little sense of danger. After all, isn’t the chill you feel when you draw your sword, or the fear you have when an orc kills himself, something you can explain and understand?

“I don’t know, no matter what happens…”

In the corner of Ricardo’s mind, as he muttered bitterly, the suspicion arose that he might be the one who did not fully trust the sword.

This irritated Ricardo more and more.

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