After jumping down the rooftop and landing safely on the street, Mira walked into the crowd of adventurers in a nonchalant manner.
The street in front of the Union was filled with adventurers who had just finished their business there. Looking up, she could see the lights of the building nearby, and the twinkling stars barely visible far away. The Union was built in a modern style, but everyone going into it had fantastical costumes, making the scene look out of place, but the longer she watched the funnier it looked.
Ignoring all the people who were looking up wondering what had just fallen from the sky onto the rooftop, Mira quickly walked into the Union.
The first floor was a large hall with many long benches placed in it, so it was used as a meeting place for adventurers. Going straight across the entrance was a set of wide stairs, with a map of the place to the side, as well as an information desk.
The layout was similar to most other Union buildings, but the aesthetic was changed to fit with the exterior appearance.
Mira walked through the rows of benches, smiling to herself seeing groups of adventurers calmly chatting with each other, heading to the map.
(Ohh, they’re really making good use of all the space they have.)
According to the map, the second floor was used by the warrior’s guild, the third floor was reserved for spellcasters, the fourth was used to sell and buy random materials, and the fifth floor was an infirmary. Those last two floors were much wider than those of the Union in the Requiem City of Caranach.
Seeing how many people visited the place, it made sense to expand those areas. Thinking that after a sweeping glance at the entire hall, she began climbing the stairs. But barely a few steps up, she stopped.
The person she was looking for, Gregor, was a master blacksmith. While most adventurers would know of him, she had more chances of finding a clue amongst the warriors. Her thoughts settled after that, Mira finally resumed climbing until she reached the second floor.
The place looked quite different from Mira’s image of a Warrior’s Union.
She had expected the place to be filled with scarred men, axes hung on their backs and chins covered with stubble. Reality was so different that she exclaimed a surprised 「Oh」 after a quick look inside. There were around forty or fifty warriors there, but only two or three looked the way Mira expected.
There were knights that would garner cheers from crowds, subdued and taciturn warriors, dagger users wearing only light armor, and even a few warrior girls wearing magical girl clothes. There was something almost dazzling about that crowd. Mira had also expected the younger and immature ones to be locked in constant fights and discussions, but the entire floor was almost silent. Considering the design of the building, it almost felt like they were all detained in a police station.
Figuring she had been wrong in her impression of warriors, Mira began looking for people with swords who looked like they knew Gregor, specifically those with strong arms who would seem interested in obtaining a powerful sword. Even then, she had not noticed that the floor had indeed been bustling with voices right until the moment she appeared there.
She did notice some of the men were looking at her though.
(Hmm, I guess it’s odd to see a spellcaster in the Warrior’s Union.)
That thought was enough for Mira to ignore those stares, something she was accustomed to, figuring it was a natural reaction to her class. Not bothered by the attention, she walked onwards looking for stronger warriors, until…
「Mira, is that you?」
Someone called to her from behind, the voice sounding familiar to Mira.
「Oh, it’s actually you.」
Turning around, Mira saw Emera, the owner of the voice Mira remembered. Emera was a friendly adventurer, as well as Écarlate Carillon’s assistant leader, who had traveled with Mira when she went to the Ancient Temple Nevrapolis following Soul Howl’s tracks. They had met again some time later in Hunters’ Village, when Mira returned from the Elder’s forest.
「I knew it. I’d recognize your back anywhere.」
「I’d never forget your voice either.」
Mira smiled as Emera happily ran towards her.
「Anyway, why are you even here in the Warrior’s Union?」
Emera dragged to one of the corners as she asked that. Spellcasters had no way of accepting requests outside the Spellcasters’ Union, so realistically there was no reason for her to be there. A spellcaster would only be seen there if they needed something unrelated to a request, so Mira’s constant staring around the place made Emera curious.
「Hmm, well, you see…」
Emera was both a swordswoman and a friend Mira could talk to easily. She was a perfect candidate, so Mira decided to both explain why she was there, while also checking if she knew anything.
Mira told how she was trying to meet with a blacksmith called Gregor, but he was not at his workshop, and looking around was fruitless as well. Since Gregor had a reputation as a master crafter of swords, now she was trying to find a warrior who might know something more about him.
「And that’s about it. Do you know anything, perhaps?」
Her explanation concluded, Mira appended that last question. In response, Emera’s countenance seemed to brighten up as she exclaimed 「I know him!」
「In fact, I just got back from seeing him!」
She continued with a proud voice.
As she went into more detail, it turned out Emera was that rare client of Gregor. She had asked him to craft something with the devil parts she had obtained during her travel with Mira.
Emera had spent the last few days together with Gregor in his hidden workshop, showing him how she used her sword. Apparently he did that with all his clients to familiarize himself with their habits and weight distribution, making sure his creations were perfectly suited to them.
Gregor’s swords were made to enhance as much as possible the natural talents of the owner, so those practice sessiones were an important step to achieve that.
「So you know where Gregor is right now? Could you tell me where he is?!」
Having such surprising results from the first person she asked, Mira encroached on Emera while asking for the location.
「Umm… I do know. But why would a spellcaster like yourself look for a blacksmith?」
When they had spoken before, Mira had boasted proudly about how she had no need for weapons, which was something Emera remembered vividly, so she was very curious to figure out what was happening.
「There’s something I want him to take a look at. It shouldn’t take much time.」
It was nothing complicated, so it should not interfere with the creation of Emera’s sword. Implying that in her reply, Mira insisted on getting a reply.
「I see. Well, alright, I’ll take you there. But can we do it tomorrow? Before I left Gregor told me he would focus on getting the design done as soon as possible, so if I go back so quickly I might disturb him.」
Still curious to find out what Mira wanted to show Gregor, Emera agreed to take her there. Though she never had the intention of refusing Mira a favor in the first place. Rather, she was even slightly excited thinking Mira was gaining an interest for her field as a warrior.
