Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

18.1. Daily Life

Nord, having returned to the royal capital, quickly finished his report and made his way to the weapon shop.

Since starting his life as an adventurer, Nord had become a familiar face at this shop he frequented countless times.

With a loud clang clang, the bell attached to the wooden door rang, announcing his arrival.

The shopkeeper, hearing the sound, came out from the back and, recognizing Nord, greeted him with his usual attitude.

“What? Need something?”

As always, the shopkeeper’s greeting was curt and unfriendly.

Nord was convinced that when the shopkeeper learned to read, the dictionary he used didn’t include the word “hospitality.”

Without minding the brusque welcome, Nord got straight to the point.

“Here are the specified materials. Also, take a look at this.”

“Huh?”

Nord placed three bags on the counter.

Two contained materials for the armor he had previously ordered, but he also handed over an additional bag.

The old shopkeeper, about to check the materials, frowned curiously at the unexpected extra.

Peeking inside the bag, he immediately recognized its contents.

“Hmm… Jade ore, eh?”

“Once refined, how much can you get out of it?”

Naturally, raw ore can’t be used directly for crafting weapons or armor.

The target metal must be melted down and extracted in a furnace to form ingots of high purity, ready for processing.

Though the jade ore Nord brought was large—about an armful—he had no idea how much usable metal could be refined from it.

“Well… we won’t know until we try, but judging by the quality, it should be enough to make a single weapon.”

The old man turned the ore in his hand, gauging its weight and examining its surface, then cracked one piece open with a hammer to inspect the cross-section before offering his estimate.

Following the adventurers’ code, Nord had already bought out Elsa’s share of the jade ore they had evenly divided.

Though jade steel, refined from jade ore, was a popular material for swords and spears, Elsa had ceded the opportunity to craft a weapon from it to Nord.

It seemed Elsa intended to make a spear from materials derived from monsters, instead of metal, to replace her current one.

In exchange for helping Nord gather his materials, Elsa had secured a promise: for their next expedition, Nord would assist in gathering the specific materials she sought.

“Hmm… Hey, kid, let me see what you’ve got at your waist.”

After inspecting the armor materials, the old man absentmindedly stroked his beard, deep in thought, before making his request.

Without hesitation, Nord drew the sword from his waist, scabbard and all, and handed it over.

The old man eyed the sword, which he had sharpened several times before, as if reappraising it.

“If you’re thinking about your next weapon, how about reinforcing this one?”

Nord was caught off guard by the suggestion. Though the sword had seen little action on his recent adventure, he had been considering getting it sharpened again.

He had assumed he’d simply craft a new weapon from the jade steel.

Sliding the sword back into its scabbard, the old man continued his remarks.

“I thought the same thing during its last maintenance—this sword is sturdily made.

The blade might be of common material, but whoever forged it had solid skills.”

“Well, not as good as me, of course.”

The old man ended his assessment with a smirk as he returned the sword to Nord.

Nord slipped the sword back into his belt, reminiscing about the day he first bought it.

It was a time when Nord was still quite young. As the son of a samurai family aspiring to knighthood,

he naturally received sword training from his father.

One day, his father gave him some pocket money, saying it was time for him to get his own sword.

Choosing the right weapon, his father had told him, was a skill in itself.

Excited, Nord made his way to the weapon shop.

Back then, the Ferris family was just as poor as it was now, though there were fewer younger siblings by a handful.

The amount of money he was given was barely enough to buy a cheap, mass-produced sword or a beginner blacksmith’s practice work.

Nord showed the coins in his palm to the shop staff and told them he wanted a sword.

The staff member wordlessly pointed to a corner of the shop where barrels filled with disorganized swords and spears stood.

Determined, young Nord carefully sifted through the inexpensive weapons, trying his best to pick the best one.

Nearly an hour later, the staff had almost forgotten about Nord when he finally found a sword that caught his eye.

He stared intently at the blade he had pulled from its scabbard.

Compared to the others, this sword stood out.

It lacked any flashy decorations, and the hilt and fittings were plain, but the dull gleam of the blade hinted at quality.

When he showed it to the staff, they completed the transaction without much interest.

Wasting no time, Nord hurried home before they could change their mind.

He still remembered how, during later training, his father had praised the sword, calling it “not bad.”

Several years have passed since then.

What had once seemed like a greatsword now fit comfortably in one hand, even with a shield in the other.

“So, what’ll it be?”

When the old man asked, Nord promptly answered that he wanted the sword reinforced.

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