The Origin of the Sword

  Praza in Kavi, is only a small trading town, but because of its proximity to the largest arms production area in Kavi, such as the Salbrüt Arms Factory, it has become a famous gathering place for military supplies.

  Although the high-quality equipment produced by Lovell, Dinar's leading manufacturer, has been gaining popularity over the past 20 years and occupies a significant market share, Caviar remains Dinar's oldest military production base, responsible for supplying the entire military's needs. In addition to its unique products sold abroad, it attracts merchants from all over the world who come to Prasa every day to purchase goods, making this place quite prosperous.

  The entire town is not large, but the atmosphere is very lively. The streets are crowded with people coming and going, and from time to time, you can see teams of fully loaded horse-drawn carriages rushing by. Along both sides of the road, there are various shops, especially equipment stores. Outside each shop hangs a display of their own high-quality swords, armor, and other gear. It's said that at noon, the reflections will fill the entire street, creating a spectacular sight.

  At this time, Raymond and his two companions were walking along the main street of the town towards the city center.

  All the way, Bastet couldn't help but curiously look around, whether it was the pedestrians' beautiful clothes, the beautifully decorated shops, or even the flat stone road under her feet, everything made her marvel. For a cat girl who had left the northern wilderness for the first time, being able to come to such a beautiful place was like a dream come true.

  As he journeyed on, Raymond also marveled at the prosperity of this town. But unlike Bastet, his feelings came more from a sense of inner belonging, seeing that everyone around him looked just like himself, for the first time he felt he was no longer an outcast.

  "Young master, many people are watching us." Suddenly, Rud's words woke up Raymond.

  At this time, Raymond also noticed that many passersby were casting sidelong glances at them. This was not surprising, as apart from Raymond's relatively neat attire, Bastet had been crawling and rolling around for days, her light armor long worn out; Rutz was even more so, because after transforming on the night of crossing the Broken Sword Pass fortress, he wore a piece of leather armor stripped from a wolf rider, dirty and stained with blood, extremely eye-catching.

  Moreover, Luz's Bimon tribe and Bastet's Nekomata tribe are relatively rare even among beastmen, let alone a combination of them walking together with humans like Remon.

  Three people walking on the road in such a swaggering manner, it's hard not to attract attention.

  "Master, before we enter the city, let's change into some new clothes."

  "Good idea, when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

  As he spoke, he patted Bast's butt: "Let's go, young master will buy you new clothes."

  When the three of them entered an equipment store, the owner also showed a look of surprise in his eyes, just like the passersby outside. However, being a businessman, he quickly regained his composure and warmly welcomed them: "Welcome, welcome! Our store sells authentic Kavi gear, top-notch quality, what do you want to buy?"

  "Meow, I want this." Seeing the dazzling array of equipment in the window display, Bastet immediately became starry-eyed and pounced on it.

  The boss hastily followed her and introduced in a timely manner: "Hehe, those are boots made of water buffalo skin, very light and suitable for thieves and the like."

  "And this one, and this one."

  "Alright alright, you really have an eye for the best equipment in our store. It seems that not only are you a beautiful lady, but also one with first-rate taste."

  Although there was some excessive flattery, it can't be denied that the boss is very good at doing business. With a mix of compliments and recommendations, he quickly got Bastet's heart racing with excitement. Before long, a large pile of high-quality items, from leather boots to light armor, appeared in front of the cat girl. It seems that regardless of race, a love for shopping is an innate nature of all females.

  "And what about you two?" The boss turned to Raymond and Rudolph after taking care of Bastier. Apparently, he had also seen at a glance who was the real master of money.

  Never had Bast seen so happy, Ramon chuckled and said: "We only need some ordinary adventurer equipment, you handle it as you see fit. As for her, let her be, give her whatever she wants."

  "Alright, please wait for a moment." Seeing Raymond so pleased, the boss was also very happy. He nodded and immediately became busy, quickly selecting a set of equipment for both Raymond and Lutz.

  After making his selection and calculating on a piece of paper, the boss said to Raymond: "It's rare to meet such a generous customer as you, I'll give you a discount, that'll be 1,300 gold coins in total."

  "What? That's expensive!" Raymond was taken aback upon hearing the number.

  "Good heavens, sir! Don't you know? Although the prices have dropped due to the impact of Lovell's products, what we sell here is still authentic Cavie equipment. This is already a very good deal."

  "Uh... just wait a minute." Raymond motioned for the boss to wait and then pulled Rutz and Baschtel aside.

  "Looks like we've run into a bit of a problem."

  "Meow, what's wrong?" Bastet asked puzzledly, hugging the boots tightly in her arms, and then suddenly realized: "Young Master, you can't be short of money, can you?"

  "Shh." Raymond hastily covered her mouth: "Who knew buying a set of equipment would cost so much money? I only brought 1000 gold coins out at first, and thought it could be used for a while."

  In the Beastman Empire, due to the primitive and simple economic system, there was no unified currency system. In the city of Gnash, beastmen were accustomed to using gold coins from the Kingdom of Dinar, while in the northern wilderness where the primitive tribes roamed, beastmen were more accustomed to bartering.

  Although Raymond was a prince, he didn't have the habit of spending much money, and besides, there wasn't really anything to buy in the city of Lycan. As a result, when leaving, what he considered least was the issue of money, so he only brought a limited amount of gold coins with him.

  But who would have thought that the first problem they faced after coming out was an economic crisis.

  As a dignified beastman prince, he couldn't even afford to buy things, and if word got out, who knows how many beastmen would laugh their fangs off.

  Bastard's words were: "Young master, I've heard that the human world is a world of money. Without it, you can't do anything. You're in a pretty bad situation this time."

  Raymond felt depressed in his heart and stared at her fiercely.

  At this time, Rutz said in a low voice: "Then replace Bast's equipment with cheaper ones."

  "But I like everything." Unexpectedly, the first one took himself out, and Bastar subconsciously hugged the boots in his hand.

  "If you really want it that badly, then go get some money. Raymond pointed outside the store with a bad attitude: "With your skills, stealing a few wallets shouldn't be a problem, right?"

  "Meow, this is absolutely not allowed." But as soon as the words came out, Bastet surprisingly shook her head with a rare serious expression: "Young master, our cat people tribe are not thieves. The gift bestowed upon us by the war god will never allow us to do such shameful things. Otherwise, our souls would not be able to obtain forgiveness from Freyja."

  Never thought that the dazed cat girl would have such persistence, Raymond was quite surprised. Looking at Basita's serious face, Raymond rubbed her head: "I was just joking, I promise, from now on I will never let you be a thief again."

  "Yes, Master is the best." Bast said happily, nodding her head.

  "So, just change your equipment to cheaper ones."

  "Hmm..."

  Just then, the boss couldn't help but walk over: "Sorry, what's wrong?"

  Lutz nodded and said, "Yes, we hope you can change the equipment you've chosen for her to something more ordinary."

  The boss regretfully said: "Ah, those are all top-notch goods, would you like to reconsider?"

  "Yes, young master, think about it again..." Bastet tugged at Lelouch's sleeve with a pitiful expression.

  But before he could finish speaking, Raymond slapped him back with a loud slap.

  Seeing no hope of reviving the business, the boss reluctantly walked away, preparing to change his goods. Suddenly, he noticed the sword hanging from Raymond's waist.

  "Huh? Wait a minute, isn't this...?" He turned around in surprise: "May I take a look at that sword of yours?"

  Raimon didn't understand, but still handed over the long sword to the boss. The shop owner carefully took the sword and examined it in his hand.

  "This shape, this craftsmanship, is indeed flawless..." He couldn't help but praise it repeatedly.

  "What's so special about this sword?" Raymond had only heard his mother mention it before, that this sword was forged by a famous craftsman from the Lovell territory, and seemed to be worth quite a bit of money, but he hadn't paid much attention at the time.

  At this time, he saw his boss with a look of finding treasure, and he couldn't help but become curious too.

  "What? Don't you know?" The boss glared, seemingly both astonished and angry that Raymond owned the sword yet didn't know its origin.

  Before Raymond could speak, he muttered in a dreamy tone: "This is the famous craftsman dwarf Manson, modeled after Lowell's legendary swordsman Kress's sword, forged by Iron Anvil. Although it doesn't have Iron Anvil's magical properties, this sword uses the finest steel, made with a very difficult secret method of repeated forging, making the entire sword extremely sharp and heavy, far exceeding that of ordinary longswords, said to be undamaged even when colliding with war hammers."

  "What's most important is that, due to the complexity of the crafting method, Manson spent several years before finally succeeding in creating this one piece, which is his most proud work. So, even if we don't mention the extraordinary quality of this sword, just the blood and sweat Manson put into it would be enough to make this sword the only masterpiece worthy of being called a famous sword in the past 20 years, a treasure that all collectors dream of."

  Seeing the boss's ecstatic expression, Raymond was stunned. At first, his mother had casually given him this sword, but he didn't know it had such a great origin, and heaven knows how she got her hands on it.

  In an instant, Amada's smile and appearance floated in Raymond's mind. Although she was calm when he left, now that he looked at this sword again, Raymond could fully feel his mother's reluctance to part with him.

  But... no matter what, mom, you should give me more pocket money...