I’m just a blacksmith living in a town outside the powers of any kingdom. The town isn’t much really, there’s nothing special about it but it’s filled with all kinds of people. Many of which were travelers who came here to replenish supplies for their long trips.

  The people here aren’t too bad at least, sure they aren’t exactly the nicest people around but at least there aren’t any crimes here. Not much to take from this town after all, so even the nearby kingdoms leave us alone.

  It does mean I don’t get a lot of customers here, most of the time I would get the common adventurer who comes in needing some maintenance on their existing gear, or replacements when they turned out not to be salvageable. Occasionally I would get some unique commissions from a traveling adventurer, those usually get the most excitement.

  Today was one such day. I had heard that a few days ago we had a unique individual come to our town. I child lizard Beastman from what I was told, dressed in a rather unusual outfit and wearing a wooden mask. I had to wonder if he actually thought he was hiding his face well with it.

  He came in today having signed up as a new adventurer just yesterday, I’m surprised they allowed someone as young as him to join to be honest but that’s not my place to say. He came into my shop wanting to get a new sword forged for him, he showed me the two he had on him already which seemed odd for someone like him. Most people would avoid using two swords as that would be both unwieldy as well as expensive to maintain.

  But when I took the time to examine his weapons, I was rather surprised. Despite the poor quality of the wood used for the handle and the weak metal used for the blade, it looked well put together. Granted, it definitely was made by an amateur. But the whole thing on both these swords were melded together so well it was like they were fused; I’ve never seen anything like it.

  And despite seeing signs of use in many battles, the edges of these blades showed no dullness to it, not even small chips to it. How that was possible I couldn’t understand.

  What I can understand was the intent for this child to use two different types of swords. He must have had the idea of using one or the other depending on the enemy he faced, not a bad idea. But for someone like him and his small size it would only weigh him down. No, it would be better if he used a blade that would incorporate both aspects of the metal in one blade.

  Since he showed me something interesting, I decided to give the little fellow a discount while I worked on making him a sword that would be better suited for him.

  I went with the idea of a falchion, sure the wider blade may add a bit of weight than if I made a typical sword, but since he managed to lug around two swords in his side, he should be able to handle the extra bit of weight. Plus, it may add a bit more power to his swings which should help with his diminutive nature.

  He seemed quite pleased with the results at least when I presented it to him, and I was excited to see where he would go from here.

  What I didn’t expect was after a few days later, when a small army of monsters started knocking on our border. Of course everyone was panicking, after all among the group of monsters was a Minotaur! That alone was enough to make anyone freak out but what’s worse was that there was a group of orcs with them as well! Each one would take a party of adventurers to defeat.

  But the strangest thing about the entire group of monsters was that it wasn’t the Minotaur that was leading them. Surprisingly, it was a small kobold that seemed to be in charge of them.

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  The little monster walked with such confidence, like it had already decided it was already in charge. It was wearing an interesting outfit and that sword; I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it looked familiar.

  It was talking about the rumored invasion from a neighboring kingdom that was the hot topic of gossip in town. The little kobold stated that it would protect our town if we submitted to it. Ridiculous I know, but it proved to be quite strong for a small creature. Though I couldn’t properly see the fight, it managed to beat our best adventurer, the Quiet Black Beast. Who proceeded to join him after his defeat, he must have done it so that we would agree without more bloodshed.

  Left with no other choice we agreed and left them to set up defenses for us. We were astonished at the level of cooperation of the different species of monsters as well as the skills of the leading kobold. They managed to build their defenses in only one day.

  So, when it was time to confront with these invaders, the kobold left the Quiet Black Beast in town. That seemed to ease everyone’s worry a little though I had to question why they would leave a strong fighter here with us. Not only that but with a young goblin wrapped around his arms as well.

  As the confrontation came, we all prepared for the worst. It was hard to see from here but to our surprise they seemed to manage to hold them back. It was shocking when we saw a whirlwind suddenly appear on the battlefield with all the soldiers caught in it only to be bound by the ground itself.

  It seemed we all were going to be safe, many of us sighing in relief. That is until the little goblin started to speak.

  “Mr. Bear Mr. Bear, there’s bad guys over there!!” The goblin pointed in a different direction from where the battle was taking place. None of us could see what it was talking about, but the B ranked adventurer took its claim seriously, as he stopped holding on to the little goblin and placed it on his back, who held on tight.

  “…Stay here everyone.” He simply stated.

  The adventurer quickly sprinted in the direction the goblin pointed at, leaving us without protection. My curiosity going against my better judgement, me and a few of the other adventurers followed behind him, barely keeping up.

  It was there we saw him at the border as he put the little goblin down, the look on his face showing he was ready for battle. Strangely the kobolds and other goblins were cheering him on, why I don’t know the answer to.

  He had them open the entrance to the border in which he was greeted by a small group of the invading soldiers. They must have been sent to surprise our town from a different angle while our focus was on the main forces. They seemed rather surprised themselves, they must have expected the Quiet Black Beast to be occupied elsewhere.

  “W-what are you doing over here?!” one of them nervously asked.

  Without giving them an answer, the adventurer sprang into action. Moving fast as he greeted the nearest soldier with a fist to the gut, knocking him back.

  “Why you!!” They all start to surround him, weapons drawn and ready.

  The smaller monsters who were stationed in the makeshift watch towers had their bows aimed but were stopped when the Quiet Black Beast signaled them. It seemed he wanted to handle this himself.

  As the soldiers closed in on him, they were met with a burst of energy, pushing them back. A second later, a concentration of energy blasts sprung towards multiple of them before they could respond.

  It wasn’t enough to force all of them back though as one started to sneak up behind him, ready to cut him down where he stood. I was ready to call him out, but he thrusted his elbow back sending energy through the air and stopping the attack before it could connect.

  Overall, the battle had ended as quickly as it started, proving that despite his defeat with the kobold before he was still a B ranked adventurer for a reason. He walks back inside the border and informed everyone to tie them up.

  Many of the town folks and me were still stunned but we complied, reluctantly working together with the monsters, though we kept our distance. Afterwards, I got curious about how the leader kobold was handling himself, as well as the nagging familiarity I was having.

  I managed to make it to the action, peeking through the borders to watch how it was going. Seeing the Minotaur hold its own was no surprise, but seeing the invader’s captain going toe to toe with the little kobold was. It looked like it had the advantage as I finally managed to get a good look at its sword.

  …

  Seeing it in good detail I realized why it looked so familiar!! After all I should be able to recognize it! I am the one who made it! That kobold…... it’s that kid from the other day!!