Chapter 1-20 (1/2)

Blacksmith Volume 1 Chapter 20

*The first princess Maria’s POV*

“Nee-san?! Why are you here?!”

Meeting again after such a long period of time, Lasa’s face turned into an expression of astonishment, as he cried out in a loud voice.

“Why? Isn’t it natural to for me to come home every once in awhile? Even if it is the imperial capital’s royal castle, no?”

“…but both Nii-san and Aniki left 2-3 weeks ago. Why is Maria-neesan home when school starts so soon?”

Both Nii-san and Aniki? I almost replied ‘Kid, aren’t you a strange one yourself?’ in response, but I held myself back.

I wonder if people see me as a weird person as well.

“I was waiting to receive an item I ordered from a merchant, and because it finally arrived today, I can now return to school.”

“An item ordered from a merchant?”

As an answer to my brother’s question, I took it out for him to see.

“Here it is.”

“A pendent? It doesn’t even have any jewelry in it, its all stone.” he tilted his head in confusion.

I smiled, “True, it’s not a gem, but this stone has a certain history to it that i’m interested in.”

“Maria-neesan, again?! You’ve dabbled with suspicious items too many times already, and now you’ve gotten yourself another one?!”

“Hey, I never involved myself with stuff like that!”

“Nee-san, you might be a genius that can do anything after a few lessons, but you’re unbelievably gullible, you know that?”

“That’s not true!”

My brother’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

“Then what kind of effect does it give off?”

It’s only times like these that Lasa can actually look intimidating.

“I was told that just by holding this stone, I’ll be able to encounter many strange events as if guided by fate.”

Lasa’s face grew a couple degrees colder.

“Strange? Don’t you mean dangerous?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m the strongest person I know.” I replied proudly.

“Heh? So you’re going to fall behind in school for something like this? Can’t you act more like Aniki, Nee-san?”

“Hmph Lasa, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What do you mean?”

“There are still three days until the entrance ceremony, I can still make it with if I rush.”

“It takes a normal horse-drawn carriage a week to cover the distance, aren’t you being a bit too reckless?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll use the horses trained directly by the head butler, they won’t tire easily.”

“It’s not the horses I’m worried about Nee-san.”

“Oh?”

I patted Lasa’s head and gave him a wink.

“I’m the strongest big sister in the world, don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

“Sigh… Please don’t do this kind of thing again in the future.

But I think that side of neesan is amazing.

Rather than a coward like me, a cynical person like niisan is more suitable to be this country’s king.”

“Oh, is that me you’re talking about?”

Lasa’s cheeks were stretched to the sides.

It was supposed to only be a joke, but my cute little brother seems to have taken it as an actual threat.

“Well, I guess it’s about time I left, say goodbye to mother for me.”

“Understood, now just give me a sec to call the servants… Wait?! Nee-san?! Where are you going?!”

* * *

Before Lasa could say anything else I was already out the door.

I don’t want to be attached by the hip to some servant.

They’re only going to slow me down.

Quickly down the road, the galloping of my favorite horse Shiro-chan echoed out.

I only kept the minimum needed for food and money in my bag

Last time I was able to get to school in three days.

This time, let’s see if I can get there in two and a half!

The morning I left I couldn’t see a single person taking the same road as me, meaning… no traffic!

Yes, these are great conditions for a high-speed ride!

I’m probably riding at a new speed record right now.

“Good job Shiro-chan!”

Shiro-chan hasn’t been able to run for a long time so she’s happy too.

“Excuse me, that person on horseback! Can you stop for a moment?!”

After riding for a while, a voice suddenly called out to me along the highway.

As I came to a halt, the person calling out was actually a 7-8 year-old boy.

“Do you need something? I’m in a little bit of a rush here.”

“S-sorry for suddenly calling you out.”

The boy looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m on a journey, but I can’t complete it without a horse, could you by chance lend me yours?”

“That’s an unreasonable proposition, why should I?”

“I don’t have a lot of money on me, so can I do anything else in replacement of payment?”

Hmm… what to do…

“I don’t know, what’s your story?”

“My grandmother is going to die soon, so in the end I wanted her to at least be able to eat her favorite sugar cake one more time. I traveled to the village in order to buy some, but because I was in a rush on my way back I twisted my ankle. I can’t get back to grandma in time like this… *hic*”

The boy couldn’t hold back his tears any longer, and started crying.

Those certainly were rough circumstances to deal with, especially for a kid that age.

Though once I hand over the horse, I won’t be able to change my mind, and I’ll definitely be late for the ceremony.

“I can’t just give you the horse, it’s too unreasonable a request.”

“Really? So it’s no good afterall. I’m thankful that you just stopped when I called out to you, I wish you a safe trip on your journey.”

“I won’t be able to give you the horse, but I don’t mind if you ride on the back.”

The boy’s face instantly turned bright.

Of course I wouldn’t just leave him behind.

Well, I might not be able to break my record, but I can just challenge it again another time.

* * *

“I bought it grandma! Your favorite sugar cake!”

“Oh thank you Jaro, it must’ve been a rough trip to make.”

“It was nothing grandma, I’d do anything for you.”

“I-i’m so happy right now, it’s been a really good life.”

*gusu* yeah, I was a bit skeptical at the beginning, but I’m glad I helped.

She has a good grandson, so I’m sure that grandma will rest easy knowing he’s back.

“Apparently, you took care of my son, and because of that we were able to eat my mother’s favorite cake with her in her last moments. Take this as thanks, I’m sorry that I couldn’t give anything more expensive.”

From the boy’s mother, I received an item as thanks and her words of gratitude.

It was a bracelet made from glass beads.

To me it wasn’t much, but it should be worth a decent amount for a commoner.

There was no way I could refuse it though.

“Well, now I need to hurry off to my own destination.”

“Okay, have a safe trip, we won’t forget this anytime soon.”

“Let’s get going Shiro-chan!”

Just barely enough.

That detour took quite a bit of time.

But there’s still enough, since I’ve gotten better at horse riding since last year.

“Excuse me! The person on horseback over there!”