Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage
Chapter 76 - 76: Escort to the Dwarfen Kingdom

A quarter before noon, four people stood in front of a weapons shop located in the commercial district of the Imperial Capital. They looked up and glanced at the sign of the shop.

"It seems like here's the place." Michael confirmed the case.

"He's a dwarf, right? Won't he be like the stereotypically stubborn and grumpy old man that we read about in novels?" Gabrielle said with a concerned voice.

"Don't sweat the small stuff, Gabrielle."

"We don't know what he would be, so we can't assume yet."

"You are right." Lucy and Uriel consoled the concerned Gabrielle.

Each of them carries the personality that Raphael assigned to them. Acting as they were supposed to for months caused them to apply the attitude in some situations subconsciously.

They are gradually becoming the person they forged as time goes by. The adaptation of their own personalities deep into Raphael's mind doesn't change the fact that they came from the same root. It means they still trust each other and maintain their absolute loyalty towards their creator.

Not long passed before the wooden door of the shop made a clicking noise and opened a little.

"If you are here to buy, it's closed today."

A rough voice of a man leaked between the gaps. The four didn't see the source of the voice immediately because the man wasn't parallel with their eyes. They lowered their gaze to meet the peeking eyes of the ones talking, a dwarf.

"…We are not here to patronize; we are the ones who were assigned to escort the owner of this shop." Michael spoke as the representative of the party. "…Are you perhaps Mr. Norm?"

"That is me. If you are my escorts, get inside."

The dwarf named Norm opened the door widely to let his guards in. The party was fascinated by the wonderful weapons lined up on the walls.

Swords, axes, spears, and so on. All came with different materials, starting from iron to shining orichalcum. No matter what the metal used, the sharpness and toughness of the weapons are top notch.

(As expected of the artisan dwarves.)

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Michael. Here are the members of our party…"

"Gabrielle."

"Uriel."

"Lucy."

"…We are the B-ranked party, Myriad Wings."

Norm glanced at them sternly before he spoke. "Name's Norm. A blacksmith and a weapon shop owner. I've been seeing various people every day and don't see your faces often."

"We've been here since a few months ago, that's why."

"I haven't heard anything about your party, either."

"…Well, we don't do dungeons that much and largely do off-city missions." Michael explained in a subtle tone.

Adventurers have their own goals and objectives in life. They have their own ways to achieve what they want to achieve.

Adventurers who desire fame often go dungeon diving to make a name for themselves. The deeper they go, the more famous and popular they get. The same goes for their influence and wealth. All the famous S-ranked parties are apparently dungeon crawlers.

But there are still adventurers who don't desire fame at all. Adventurers who don't dive much into dungeons and mostly take outside quests like monster subjugations. May be the reason not to attract too much attention, to travel places, or to help others out of kindness.

Although Michael's party said that they would conquer the Imperial Dungeon, they didn't set foot in it once. Their reason was that they would meet their master's elder sister there.

Despite not wanting attention, they were standing out due to the breathtaking individuals in their party. Another reason was that they wiped out a notorious B-ranked party, which was known for harassing newbies and low-ranking adventurers without missing a beat.

Not only that, they unintentionally bugged the infamous party away from the capital. The effects of the Dread Fascination frightened them so much that they never swore a word of vengeance and got as far away from Michael as they could.

"Hmph. Enough with this chitchat. We will shove off right away after I've done my lunch."

"We understood."

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Half an hour had passed along the southern main road. A road wagon kept its wheels rolling on the wide street southbound along with other vehicles. The sun's still high, and the roads are quite congested with people and vehicles.

Inside the wooden carriage, five individuals were sitting facing each other's knees. Genders are separated by the wide wooden seats, with males on the left and females on the opposite.

Norm, who is sitting besides Michael, is constantly glancing at the adventurers' equipment and weapons in sequence. His weapon-loving blood boiled upon peeling his eyes off of their articles.

Noticing the dwarf's behavior, Michael opened his mouth. "…Would you like to take a look?"

"…If you don't mind." Norm thought for a while as he folded his thick arms from years of hitting the hot iron before he spoke.

Michael took off his saber, including the scabbard, from his waist and handed it over to the enthusiastic dwarf. He can let others inspect it for its lack of effects and enchantments.

Unlike the weapons Raphael made for himself and his sister, the weapons the four are wielding don't have special effects. Except for Uriel's ebony staff, it was enchanted with Ownership for a hidden function of it.

Norm slightly pulled the mithrill blade from its leather scabbard and observed it sternly. "The nobility of this blade is outstanding. The hilt was crafted with such details and artistic design. The sharpness, durability, and all…"

The dwarf inspected every inch of the sword and had entered his own world, muttering some jargon terms that a few people might know. He snapped back to reality and turned his face toward Michael.

"The quality of the sword clearly surpassed that of what dwarves are capable of. I can assume it reached Unique-grade. Where on earth do you get this splendid sword?"

Norn could not help but ask about the originality of Michael's blade. Michael, who had a script for such an encounter, spoke with a neutral voice.

"I don't know where it came from or how he acquired it, but it is the sword of my father in his glory. He handed it over to me before he died. It's basically our family heirloom." is what Michael revealed.

"Nothing about its craftsmen?"

"…I never asked about that from him."

"Well, it can't be helped." Norm scratched his head. "Whoever forged this weapon, his must be a great craftsman."

(Actually, it was SirBoss who made it.)

The reason for its quality was probably the forging techniques and machinery that Raphael used. Aside from that, the metals used were the items he got from dungeon conquests—materials of high quality and void of impurities.

Before they noticed, the rental carriage of Norm had passed the Imperial Capital's south main gate. Something clicked into place inside Michael's mind, and he turned his head toward Norm.

"What route we will trail?" Michael asked what was on his mind.

"For the route, we will be taking the shortest. We will follow this highway and stop at the southernmost of Primaria." He replied as he was handing back the sword.

"…So we will trek the Rashi Mountain Range, huh."

The Rashi Mountain Range is the longest range of mountains in the Northern Continent. A natural landform that puts a long barrier between the northern and southern parts of the landmass begins at the west coast through the Kingdom of Boulder.

"Are there any problems passing the mountains?"

"Hm? No problems at all." The ladies nodded at Michael's words.

"Good. I hope our trip will be as peaceful as the blue sky."

The carriage passed some towns and villages as they were marching southbound. Since the capital is far from the countryside, monsters frequently appeared due to the lack of patrols. But any hostile monsters they encountered were easily dealt with by the escorts.

After traveling for four days, they crossed the borders of the Theocracy. They continued on their way, spending days on the road. They often spent a night at some sacred cities they passed to rest their bodies.

Norm covered their lodging expenses at the inns they stopped at; it's his responsibility to accommodate his escorts. Michael and Norm had their own rooms, while the ladies slept in the same room. Of course, they made sure they erected a noise barrier to avoid leaks.

After a week of travel, they ultimately reached a saddle between two mountains. It's one of the trading routes that ran between the northern and southern parts of the continent.

The trail that they tracked was the easiest and safest way to go back and forth across the mountain range. Some trails are somewhat more dangerous, geologically and environmentally.

The monsters lurking around the path they took were at most A-ranked, making it a relatively easy task for the party. But have to show difficulty to prevent the true strength from being comprehended.

Throughout the travel, they encountered and fought assorted monsters, with an A-ranked Wolf Sovereign as the most powerful. Of course, the corpses of the monster they looted were given to the members of Myriad Wings; they had hunted it after all.

Michael and the ladies can't just show Norm their Inventory; that skill is what most merchants wanted to acquire. They used a spacious magic bag to cover up their abilities; Norm also has one, by the way.

They hiked and walked for another week through the space between two mountains before stepping on the soil of the Dwarfen Kingdom of Doria. The journey of more than half a month is about to come to an end.

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