I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 63: Three-Day Weekend (Second Day)

“Yesterday, you know, Justin was being petted just like me! I got lots of pets too. Since Simon hasn’t been petted by anyone, I’ll do it for him.”

“Whoa!? What’s going on?! Boss! What’s Jest saying!?”

On the morning of the second day of the break, I coincidentally ran into Simon as I left my room. Jest, who likes Simon, jumped from my back to his head and started tousling his hair.

“Unlike Jest, nobody pets you, so Jest is doing it for you.”

“Oh, is that so… You’re a good kid.”

After explaining while leaving me out, Simon reached out to pet Jest’s head, which he had been doing while talking. Well, adults usually don’t get their heads petted.

“Simon, are your equipment maintenance tasks finished? I remember you were planning to sharpen them before we return from the Talera Marches, right?”

“Uh, well… I haven’t done it yet!”

With his nonchalant answer, I reflexively struck him on the head.

“You fool!! We’re heading to a wilderness where dragons live!! If you’re just here to sightsee, I’ll leave you behind!!”

Dragons are said to live in places like deep mountains or tiny islands with steep cliffs, where people rarely set foot.

From the story Jest told me, it’s likely we’ll have to cross several mountains or rocky areas, which could take months. In other words, we don’t even know what kind of monsters inhabit these areas. There might even be powerful monsters that didn’t appear in the novel during this expedition. It’s understandable that I got angry thinking about the fact that Simon prioritized nightlife despite going to such a place.

“After breakfast, we’ll head straight to the blacksmith’s workshop.”

“Yes…”

“Simon, does it hurt? Is it here? There, there.”

“Hey, Jest, stop it, it hurts there!”

While Simon tearfully responded, I felt a bit heartened by Jest, who was petting the spot where I had hit him with her small hands. But it would only hurt more if she touched it now. Simon is indeed in pain, but if it’s part of his punishment, then so be it.

After breakfast, I left Jest behind to watch over things and took only Simon with me to the blacksmith. Between the Third and Second Knight Orders’ territories, there’s a group of artisans employed by the kingdom living there. Most of the public equipment, except for the royal residences, is made here.

That’s why the armor, weapons, and horse gear we use are all made here, so we also bring them here for maintenance. By the way, my sword was taken care of yesterday before I went to the Chief’s mansion, so taking Simon with me is just an opportunity to pick it up.

Speaking of which, in this world, Elves and Dwarves, who are spoken of as legends, actually exist. They’re not in the capital right now, but in the novel, the protagonist Ernest and his companions meet them during their journey and receive their help. I wonder if we won’t be able to find them and therefore won’t be able to have them make weapons to defeat the evil god?

If there were maps or something in the novel, we’d know where to look. Currently, the weapons said to be made by Dwarves are only treasures that occasionally appear at auctions. There are many items that are said to have been treasures of the royal families of extinct kingdoms, or to have been used to slaughter over a thousand monsters in Stampede hundreds of years ago, but it’s hard to say if those stories are true or not.

“There’s no need to rush so much. If it’s him, he’ll manage it in a day, right?”

While Simon, who was fully equipped for inspection, muttered, walking beside me,

“How many people do you think are thinking the same thing as you?”

“Ah… N-nothing. Anyway, it’s always like that with him, saying ‘I’m a dwarf’s apprentice’ as his catchphrase, but I wonder if it’s true. I do think he’s exceptionally skilled among the blacksmiths, though.”

Giving him a piercing glance, Simon averted his eyes.

“…It’s probably true. In fact, there have been more skilled people since Bosco joined. And… it’s a fact that Bosco’s skills are reliable.”

The rumored blacksmith, Bosco, should be about fifty-three years old. He says he picked up the habit of calling himself ‘I’ from the Dwarves. In other words, if we ask Bosco, we might find out where the Dwarf kingdom or settlement is.

“But saying things like ‘I only forge swords for strong people’ and acting like a difficult craftsman…,”

“Kukuku, but haven’t you been able to get him to forge for you since two years ago? Who was jumping for joy back then?”

“W-well… At that time, I thought I would finally be respected by everyone around me…”

Bosco refuses to forge swords unless the wielder has the ability equivalent to at least a squad leader, fearing that they would go to waste otherwise. He adjusts the swords to match the user’s center of gravity habits, distance, and combat style, which is indeed impressive.

The fact that Bosco has his own workshop speaks volumes about his skills. And when we visited his workshop, Bosco burst into laughter the moment he saw Simon.

“Hahaha! To think you, who always comes at the last minute and gets yelled at by me, would come with such composure! Seems like you’re still weak against Sir Vandière, the Knight Commander!”

It seems that Simon is perceived as a last-minute kind of guy.