Chapter 69

Translator: Yonnee

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“Oh, the book of that novelist Armano or something? That book’s been very popular over the years.”

“Popular, what, for something like that novel? It’s a waste of paper.”

“That’s not necessarily the case.”

Blowing over the ink of what he was writing, Marcel spoke.

“There’s only one copy of that book in our village library, and as soon as it’s returned, there’s already a long line of people trying to borrow it.”

“It’s that bad? Well, it must be a popular enough novel that it got made into a play even though it’s only been a few years since it got published.”

“That’s why there’s these droves of teenage girls who keep saying that they’re going to be knights, and everyone’s going crazy trying to stop them. In fact, the number of women trying to get into the Order of the Black Lion got higher when recruitments were open.”

“……”

Yves closed his eyes, feeling faint.

“I can’t take it back because I said I’ll buy her anything, so I’m going to buy her a sword now. Then I’ll have to clean up all the copies of that book right away.”

Yves looked over to Marcel.

“It’s not in the logs. Why don’t we have a mana sword?”

“A mana sword is usually a personal weapon, so we didn’t prepare any for storage. There aren’t any new ones, but if we look carefully, we might find a few old swords.”

“Ah, alright.”

Yves nodded.

Generally called just mana swords, these mana-reinforced swords were made from forging metal from the raw material and reinforcing it with magic stones. The process to make such a sword was so meticulous that they were considered to be special swords that only blacksmiths in the northern region of Kelenocross could make.

Of course, they’re bound to be expensive and rare.

And naturally, mana swords were used by only mage knights.

When a knight receives the seal of a mage knight to indicate their abilities, it was a common occurrence that a mana sword was bestowed upon them by the lord of a territory or by the emperor himself.

It’s not an item that you’d find in any old storehouse.

Marcel asked,

“Why are you looking for a mana sword? Perhaps, maybe, you can feel mana surging within you?”

“Nope.”

“Then it’s not something you need to look for. If a knight who doesn’t know how to wield mana carries it around, it’s going to be a burden too heavy to bear. It’s literally going to be like a pearl necklace on a pig’s neck, and…”

“Just focus on the work you’ve been doing.”

“Yep.”

As Marcel buried his nose back into his pile of paperwork, Yves became lost in thought.

‘Should I just pluck some other sword from the armory and give it to her…? No, that’s not gonna be good enough.’

It was a ridiculous gift for a woman who’s gotten obsessed with one romance novel, but Yves had to stay in Radis’ good graces right now.

‘I have to hold onto her tightly.’

Looking back, it was a great choice for the marquis to take charge of Radis until she came of age.

If Olivier were to try and take Radis away, this was the greatest excuse to still keep Radis by his side.

However, if Olivier were to say that he likes Radis and she follows him… It’s going to be difficult to stop them.

If that happens, it would look like he was trying to hold onto her for different reasons.

Just, Radis had to stay within Yves’ grasp until Olivier had enough trust in him.

For this, Yves really had to prepare a gift that would please Radis.

‘Where can I even find a mana sword…?’

That evening, Yves appeared once more in front of Radis, who was about to return to her room after she had eaten a full bowl of stew that had meat so tender it practically melted on her tongue.

“Radiiis…!”

Yves called out to her, gasping for air because of how urgently he had been running.

“Come, haa, haa, with me…!”

“Marquis, take your time. I’m not going anywhere, so speak slowly.”

After catching his breath, Yves spoke.

“The night market, want to come with me?”

“Where?”

“To an auction! Don’t you want to pick your own sword?”

The moment she heard the word ‘sword’, Radis’ eyes twinkled.

“I’ll go!”

“Okay, then go get ready.”

Yves spoke in a heavy tone.

“Unlike a day market, it’s pretty dangerous out there.”

“Really?”

And the moment she heard that it was dangerous, Radis froze.

She’s had four years of hunting monsters.

She didn’t want to be an obstacle if they ever came to face a dangerous situation.

So without any qualms, she equipped herself with a cute dress that she didn’t really want to wear, then wore a colorful hat that she didn’t even really like.

On the other hand, Yves ended up wearing the usual black cloak.

Allen prepared an ordinary carriage without the marquisate’s coat of arms, and he brought a small basket as well.

With a nervous voice, Radis asked.

“Is there a weapon in there?”

Allen secretly opened the lace cover over the basket and showed what’s inside.

“It’s a bottle of wine and a few chicken sandwiches. There’s also a serving of pumpkin salad. Please eat these if you get hungry.”

Full of confusion, Radis just accepted the basket and climbed into the carriage.

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