Kays Translations

Chapter 59: Fragments of the Sun

A party was being held in Gerhard's workshop, which had completely turned into a hangout, to thank him for his hard work in peace negotiations.

The participants were the master of the workshop, Lutz, Claudia, and Patrick. I would have invited Jocel, but he had his own duties as a high-ranking knight. He couldn't always be around for the antics of the craftspeople.

Wine on the table. Hot whole roasted chicken and plenty of spices. Even Lutz and his wife, who usually said that salted fish was good enough for them, still enjoyed the meat.

These dishes were given by the Count as a gift for thier labour.

"Well, even so, I'm really glad it ended safely."

“By "safe," you mean that nothing happened. The spark of fire is still there. Or, rather, I should say that you have spread it.”

Claudia laughed at Gerhard's relief and said.

"I don't know, at least it's nothing to do with us anymore. Let the big guys do the rest."

It was irresponsible as usual, but this time Lutz agreed. I don't want to get involved in that kind of trouble again.

The famous swords that were entrusted to them were safely returned to their respective hands, so there was nothing to say.

"Amaterasu-chan is a wonderful sword, she really was the best. I should have submitted myself right there!"

Patrick said with a red face that could not tell whether he was drunk or excited.

“Patrick-san, of course, as a member of the kingdom, you are making a problematic remark.”

Lutz gives a wry smile, but Patrick's momentum does not stop.

"I want to be a slave to art!"

“Some of it was your own creation, wasn't it, Patrick-san?”

Patrick's eyes widened at the words. I had intended to calm him down with some common sense, but it seems I had added fuel to the fire.

“The perverted pleasure of being dominated by the things you create will lead to the inspiration for your next work!”

"The pleasure of being dominated?"

"That's right. Domination and obedience are just unpleasant if forced, but if you want it yourself, it will be the finest pleasure, it will be!"

Patrick's speech became smoother and smoother, and Gerhard and Claudia were also paying attention.

"I don't think it was only pure loyalty that the soldiers who knelt that day had in their hearts. There must have been excitement and pleasure in their hearts. In other words, a harem of thousands of bastards centred around the mighty old king!"

A mythical scene turns into a picture of hell in an instant with this man. He thinks he's saying good things, so it's even worse.

"We all have a deep-seated desire to be dominated, all of humanity are masochistic pigs!"

"Patrick-san, do you have something against the world?"

'I'm sure you know what I mean, Lutz-san. When you are being squeezed by a woman from above, what you are feeling is not only love and sexual pleasure. Doesn't it arouse in you a desire akin to a desire for destruction, a desire to be made to feel like a fool!?"

"I understand what you are trying to say, but the metaphor is too graphic."

When I glanced at Claudia, she was tapping her knee and giggling. It seems that she has no problem with a one-step joke. To her, it was probably just a kind of romantic joke. For Lutz, it's just embarrassing.

Claudia laughed for a moment, then wiped her tears from laughing too hard with her fingertips and spoke to Gerhard.

"Isn't it about time we talked about money?"

"Are you worried about your reward?"

"Honour is nothing more than dog food."

The way she said it, she included the idea that the royal dog, the knight, would be pleased with that. She still hates knights.

“The royal family presented the Count of Zander with 5,000 gold coins as a reward for making peace. The Count gave us 1,000 of them to share among ourselves.”

1,000 gold coins, an amount unimaginable to Lutz, who lives outside the castle walls. Even if you divide it among the three craftsmen, it is several hundred pieces.

However, there was one thing that bothered me.

“The count who just moved the work from right to left takes 4,000 pieces, and we who actually moved will divide the 1,000 pieces.”

I'm not dissatisfied with the amount, but it was a little unpleasant if I thought that it was being treated lightly.

“Lutz-kun, that's just the way the world works. It's still a little benign for a big man's pinched pocket.”

Claudia said with a look of resignation rather than acceptance.

“Lutz, let me add that 4,000 gold coins are not a lot of money for a politician. If he repaired the walls and streets, and gave gifts to the nobles with whom he was acquainted, he would soon not have enough money to buy everything. Never think that the Count is greedy or that he is alone in his extravagance."

"If the two of you say so..."

And Lutz was honest enough to back down.

In response to Lutz's reaction, Gerhard smiled wryly as if to say, "Thank you”.

"So let's get back on track and have some fun, fun, fun. Instead of worrying about other people's pockets, let's share the gold in front of us, shall we?"

Claudia said. The three men nodded, saying that it would be better to leave the moderation of this kind of talk to her.

"Let me come up with a proposal. It's exactly three equal parts, or four, three, three, since the main character this time was Gerhard-san."

The cost of materials used and other expenses are different, but they are all just errors in front of hundreds of gold coins.

"I think it's good."

"I don't mind the latter."

Patrick and Lutz agreed. Neither of them was a stickler for details, and neither wanted to get into an argument with a colleague over a few gold coins.

Only Gerhard shook his head at this idea.

"I want to split it four, four, four."

The three of us looked at each other quizzically, wondering if this guy was a blur. It was Gerhard himself who said that there were 1,000 gold coins.

"Wait, I'm not crazy. I have something for Lutz for two hundred gold pieces."

With a fearless smile, Gerhard reached into his pocket and dropped five pebble-like objects onto the table.

Upon closer inspection, it was an uneven gemstone, glowing a light pink colour.

“Gerhard-san, this is…”

Lutz avoided mentioning the name.

It was a familiar radiance. It was a fragment of the Eye of the High King. Even though it was a fragment, a large one was as big as the tip of my thumb, and if it were recut, it would be worth a fortune.

"Isn't the gem used for the enchantment shattered into pieces?"

"Originally. Well, as expected of the jewel called the greatest treasure of the continent, it was not completely shattered, and some fragments remained. I cleaned it up afterwards. I could not give the dregs of the curse to the great kings, you know."

……You did it, you old man.

In short, this man, while everyone was nervous at the peace talks, shoved a piece of the greatest treasure into his pocket with a nonchalant look on his face.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Just to be clear, I haven't cut corners on the enchantment at all. I attacked at the last minute that the sword would explode if I poured more magic into it, and as a result, fragments remained."

“I have no doubts that you haven’t cut corners.”

"I'm just curious about it, but that's okay. Anyway, I wonder if you can understand that this is a product of chance. The two inspectors didn't say anything either."

The knight on guard was knocked unconscious by Gerhard. The other was excited about the completion of the Amaterasu. It would be unreasonable to expect them to pay attention to the messy ceremonial table. Is it fair to say that he was silenced?

...... Well, okay. I'm not obligated to report it.

While talking, Lutz's mindset changed, and he shifted his mind that he had been pushed around so much that this was a good idea.

"...Because magic stones don't have your name on them."

I replied that it would be fine to use it to enchant magic and crush it.

“Let’s go back to the main topic. Lutz, can you buy it for 200 gold coins?”

"Mm-hmm.……"

It bothers me. If I had to decide whether I want it or not, I would want it badly. But two hundred gold coins is too much. Lutz had never made such a purchase in his life.

On the other hand, the loss of 200 gold coins is not a direct blow to the pockets of the client, just a reduction in the reward they were originally supposed to receive. There should be little sense of loss.

When I sent a glance to Claudia wondering what was going on, she simply answered.

"Go ahead and buy it."

This was a bit surprising, as I had expected to be told that as a merchant, she could not permit such wasteful spending.

“What the hell, Lutz-kun, you look like you’ve got your finger stuck in your butthole.”

"...... Really, are you sure?"

"You will be making your own sword from now on. Or maybe another troublesome request will come in. I don't think it's a waste to keep valuable gems."

She had a point. He knew that Claudia was right, but the figure of two hundred gold coins still made Lutz hesitant.

“Fufun, Lutz-kun. Boys are weak against things like this, aren’t they…?”

Claudia went behind Lutz's back, put her lips to his ear and whispered glamorously.

"A secret weapon."

"Ugh..."

Lutz's shoulders twitched.

"Secret trick, Joker, last resort, I thought this might happen..."

"Okay, okay, Clau."

The romance of a man who continues to be gently stimulated. Lutz' wallet finally caved in.

"Mr. Gerhard. Four, four, two plus jewels please..."

"Well, the deal has been completed. I will deliver the 200 gold coins at a later date. For the time being, here."

Saying that, he packed the jewels in a small leather bag and handed them over.

Gerhard's eyes narrowed as he watched Lutz grab the bag.

"Now we are accomplices, friends....”

The expression that appeared only for a moment was like a devil who received a signed contract.

Soon he was back to his meek old man's face, and the pleasant party was over.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter