Chapter 10: Our Journey: Travelogue③ – Wof and the Spoils of War
I politely knock on the door of the workshop.
“Witch. May I come in?”
“Yes, yes. Go ahead. It’s open.”
“Excuse me.”
I open the door and step inside.
It’s a wide space created by knocking together four rooms.
Three similar worktables are lined up, and large shelves are placed along the walls.
A bookshelf, a scroll rack, and a tool shelf. There are also wooden crates and barrels stacked nearby.
On the third worktable at the back, a sword and a staff are floating.
Huh? A light orb?
There are lots of light orbs packed into a box and placed on the second worktable.
And those orbs… they’re the ones Haiyaan made.
On the far left of the workshop is a door—if I remember correctly, that leads to the Witch’s bedroom.
The table and sofa in the middle of the workshop are the same ones from the Witch’s living room.
Ah—there’s a black cat grooming itself on the sofa.
It notices me and stares with half-lidded, reproachful eyes.
It’s still a little wet.
The Witch is working at the first worktable near the entrance.
She’s sitting deeply in her chair, wearing a monocle—rare for her—and is sticking something into a gauntlet floating above the desk.
She inserts one thin red rod and one blue rod.
That gauntlet… it’s the Gauntlet of Quiet Sanctity, right?
Hasn’t its shape changed a bit?
“Oh, oh, you brought what I asked Hoss for, didn’t you? Please put it on that table over there.”
“Understood.”
When I set it on the table, the black cat eyes the cucumber sandwich on the plate with interest.
Hmm. I didn’t expect the owner herself to be here. What should I do?
“Oh my, Wulf boy. Do you still have some business with Kon?”
Since I haven’t left yet, the Witch removes her monocle and turns toward me.
“Sorry. That cat—”
“Mm-hmm. What about the cat?”
“Well… it’s here… it really is here.”
What am I even saying?
“Yes, yes. It’s here.”
The Witch smiles indulgently and looks at the black cat.
The cat stares fixedly at the sandwich with gray, narrowed eyes.
It’s probably wondering why there’s so much cucumber in it. That’s the kind of face it’s making.
Perhaps curious herself, the Witch stands up and picks up one sandwich.
She glances at it, then takes a bite.
A pretty big bite—crunch, munch—pleasant chewing sounds spill from her lips.
“Meow.”
The black cat lets out a cry, either startled by the sound or shocked by how heartily the Witch eats.
She really eats with gusto.
“My, my, the sound of eating cucumber is delightful.”
She finishes the first one and immediately takes a second.
She eats fast.
“I’ll let Hoss know you liked it.”
As for the cat… well, whatever.
I pick up the now-empty plate and leave the workshop.
Hoss isn’t in the kitchen.
Instead… twin braids sway gently.
Anna is washing dishes. I hand her the plate.
When I tell her it was delicious, she gives me a gentle smile.
It makes my heart skip a beat. She really is a mature, elegant woman.
Back in my room, I lay out the spoils—knives—on my narrow desk.
“Oh, sword breakers.”
And two of them at that… each with a different shape.
The first looks like a kitchen knife. The second is foldable.
“But… can these really be used?”
Kaede’s blade shattered them instead. Are these really practical?
I randomly pick one of the spoils.
I stack the first sword breaker against a blade.
I slide the blade into the brush-like grooves of the weapon.
The gaps are just wide enough to catch a blade.
“If I use leverage like this—”
Crack.
The knife snaps.
It breaks ridiculously easily.
“…………”
I set the knife breaker aside and vanish the broken knife with [Vanish].
Pulling myself together, I examine the other spoils.
The confiscated knives number… let’s see… eleven.
Almost every thug had one. They really like knives.
Or maybe they always carry them for hostage-taking.
Out of the eleven, only three are in good condition.
I’ll maintain the ones in decent shape and keep them as spares—about three.
The chipped, rusted, or blood-caked ones get [Vanish].
And the poisoned ones too. I disposed of five in total.
“This one’s a strange knife…”
Its blade is arrowhead-shaped, with a round hole in the center.
The handle is wooden, carefully oiled. It’s well-used, yet well-maintained.
It feels like it was cherished.
“A saber… or a sword?”
It’s a heavily curved single-edged blade with a sword guard.
No visible signs of use—or maybe it’s just been meticulously cared for.
“More like an awl than a knife…?”
The tip is thick and sharp, needle-like.
Yeah, this isn’t really a knife—wait, no, the entire circumference is bladed.
“Hard to judge…”
I can’t help but chuckle.
Ah—right.
I take my fruit knife from the knife belt hanging on the wall.
It’s an ordinary fruit knife you could buy anywhere.
The sheath cracked earlier, so I replaced it with a cute one decorated with fruit and flower patterns.
That makes it feel even more like a fruit knife.
When I draw it, the blade is small, with a woodgrain-like pattern.
“Alright.”
Holding the fruit knife, I leave my room.
In the kitchen, Anna is putting away the washed dishes.
“Um—”
“………”
She turns around, looking momentarily puzzled, then smiles.
She always smiles, but she really has many different kinds of smiles.
“If you’d like, please use this.”
I hand her the fruit knife.
She looks back and forth between me and the knife with an awkward smile.
Her expression clearly says, “Are you sure?”
“It cuts well, so please try using it to slice fruit or something.”
“………”
When I push it on her a little insistently, she accepts it, still hesitant.
She nods and gives me a shy, gentle smile.
I feel like she said “thank you,” without words.
And so, Skia Coffin Ele safely reaches the town.
We don’t enter—it stops near the outer wall, where a camp has been set up.
Six white giant wagons stand in a row, surrounded by tents and canopies.
The Explorer Knights.
The Witch disembarks first, meets with several explorer knights, and hands over that cargo.
I’m glad it was delivered without incident.
We’re guided to a large tent.
By the way, the ones who made contact with the Explorer Knights were me, the Witch, and Mr. Bid.
Those staying behind were Mineha, Hoss, Shaldina, and Anna.
Oh, and Daga too.
Come to think of it, the black cat is nowhere to be seen.
So these are the knights of the Explorer Knights.
White armor with a bold black line across the chest, and black cloaks.
They look very knightly—almost too knightly for explorers.
But they’re strong. Every one of them radiates the presence of a veteran.
The order of explorers—the Explorer Knights.
After waiting in the tent for a bit, a gorgeous woman appears.
Yes—gorgeous.
Long hair glittering with gold and silver, eyes of molten gold burning with inner flame.
Her dignified yet fierce features possess a natural, overwhelming beauty.
Her blazing golden gaze holds the sharp brilliance of a keen blade.
She wears a red fur-lined mantle and pure white armor adorned with a lion motif.
No doubt about it.
This woman is the Commander of the Explorer Knights.
She’s like a burning golden rose.
When she sees the Witch, she smiles.
“It’s been a while, Witch!”
“Oh my, has it? Peony.”
“By the way, what’s with that bizarre giant wagon?”
“Oh, that, that’s Kon’s private transport.”
“You never change—always building the strangest things. So then…”
She looks at me.
Her expression turns thoughtful, almost troubled.
“The Witch’s apprentice, huh…”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Wulf.”
“I am Piany Monkshed, commander of the Explorer Knights. I know of you—but this is our first time speaking face-to-face.”
“You recognize me?”
“From Alweld.”
“Oh, that.”
So she watched that match.
“…It was a splendid fight.”
“Thank you.”
Somehow, Piany is standing a step back from me, oddly cautious.
This is our first meeting, right?
“So then, so then—what exactly is going on here?”
“Ah, about that—”
“Regarding that matter, I shall explain.”
The one who appeared in the tent was a girl with black hair and black cat ears.
Her long black tail sways softly, and she fixes me with gray, half-lidded eyes.
No mistake.
She’s the girl I ran into in the bathhouse.