I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 19

Chapter 19: The Villainous Knight Commander Angers the Protagonist

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“I can’t believe she gave us 100 gold coins as an advance payment…”

“Tiana-san is pretty generous, isn’t she? She said she’d pay double once we’ve defeated the monsters. Well, maybe that’s just how desperate she is.”

Having accepted Tiana’s request, I walked down the main street while staring at the leather pouch full of gold coins. Tiana’s trading company’s main products were clothing items, specifically cotton and silk used as materials.

I had been hired to exterminate the monsters that had appeared in the places where those materials were produced. The departure was set for early tomorrow morning. From there, it would take three days to reach the cultivation grounds, after which we would move straight into the monster subjugation.

Which brought me to now. Together with Ciel, I visited the armor shop where I had sold my old knight’s armor.

“I want the sturdiest armor you have. Sell it to me.”

“You’re coming here all of a sudden again.”

The shop owner, who had been sitting at the front reading a newspaper, looked up at us.

“What’s your budget?”

“100 gold coins.”

“…Hmm. Wait here a bit.”

The shopkeeper went into a room behind the counter. After waiting for over ten minutes, he came back carrying something.

“What’s this?”

“This was something my apprentice made a long time ago. The same one who made that helmet I gave you.”

“…I see. So this helmet’s…”

The armor had a strange design. It was a pure white suit of armor, a perfect fusion of Western plate armor and samurai armor.

“It looks amazing.”

“My apprentice studied abroad in the Eastern nations. Looks like he decided to combine armor styles from here and over there.”

“…Hmm. The quality is high too. I can tell even the materials were carefully chosen.”

“Yeah, he was a fool who obsessed over odd details.”

Huh? Was?

“What happened to this apprentice of yours? Did he go independent?”

“Five years ago, he ranted, ‘The miners don’t know the first thing about extracting ore!! I’ll go get it myself!!’ and stormed off. He never came back. He’s probably dead by now.”

O-oh, did I just ask something I shouldn’t have?

“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I’ll sell this to you for 30 gold coins.”

“…Isn’t that a bit too cheap?”

Considering the material and craftsmanship, it should easily fetch 50 gold coins or more. Besides, why was he selling his apprentice’s final work at such a low price?

The shopkeeper spoke, a faint hint of loneliness could be seen in his expression.

“I can entrust it to you without worry. Keeping it in storage forever would be disrespectful to both the armor and my apprentice.”

“…Why me?”

“I could tell by looking at the armor you sold before. It had lots of scratches, and clear signs of repair. You’re someone who takes care of his gear.”

“That’s…That’s truly a flattering assessment.”

“But if you try to sell this off somewhere, I’ll smash you with a hammer.”

That was perfectly reasonable too. Unlike the issued armor from the knight order, selling armor that was practically custom-made would be shameful for me as well.

“…Understood. I’ll take it with a grateful heart.”

“Good. But the size doesn’t quite fit. I’ll adjust it. When do you need it?”

“By early tomorrow morning. Will it be ready by then?”

“That’s cutting it close. I’d better start right away. Come pick it up tomorrow morning.”

“Got it. Oh, one more thing.”

I called out to the shopkeeper as he was about to close up and retreat into his workshop.

“What is it? Need something else?”

“I’m looking for a weapon shop. Do you know any good ones?”

“Then go to the weapon shop with the red sign in the alley off the main street. My big brother runs that place.”

“Thank you.”

As expected from an armor shop owner. I figured he’d know a good weapon shop. Asking him was really worth the shot.

“Lars-san, did you find good armor?”

Ciel, who had been looking around the shop shelves, called out right as my conversation with the owner ended. I nodded in response to her question.

“Yeah. It should be ready by tomorrow.”

“That’s great news.”

“Did something catch your eye? You were looking at those shelves pretty intently.”

“Ah, um, ehehe. It’s nothing. I was just browsing.”

She scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly as if trying to cover something up. In the original story, Ciel never equipped armor. She was a support-type mage specializing in enhancement magic. Until she realized her own strength, she fought using potions and tools. So she probably wasn’t interested in armor that might restrict her movement.

It looked like she was eyeing shields and armor, but… Ciel wasn’t the type to collect gear, so maybe she really was just looking.

With that, we left the armor shop.

“The weapon shop… There it is.”

After leaving, I led Ciel through the alley off the main street. Alleyways tended to have a bad reputation, but the ones in Handel weren’t particularly dangerous. We walked for a while until we found the weapon shop with the red sign, just like the armor shop owner had described.

“Excuse me.”

The moment I opened the door, a blacksmith’s hammer flew straight for my face. I caught it reflexively.

“I told you I’d pay my debt soon enough! Don’t come here to collect again! I’ll kill you!! …Wait, huh?”

It seemed she had mistaken me for a debt collector. If I hadn’t gone in first, and Ciel had entered before me…That thought sent a chill down my spine.

“…I’m not here to collect debts.”

When I said that, the girl who had thrown the hammer stepped out from behind the counter. She was a petite girl with striking red hair and eyes. She was even shorter than Ciel, barely reaching my waist.

Yet she had a pair of disproportionately large fruits swaying on her chest. Ciel muttered quietly.

“Why does every woman we meet lately have bigger boobs than me…?”

She said it with dead-fish eyes, her pupils practically dilated. Now that she mentioned it… Tiana and Rei both had assets that defied common sense. B-But! It would be fine! The artist of the original series once drew an illustration titled “Adult Ciel-chan” depicting her as a bombshell beauty.

…Though who knew if that vision would actually apply to this world.

“Sorry!! Wrong person!! Wahaha!!”

“What if someone had died from that…? Hm.”

As the cheerful girl laughed and apologized, I noticed something.

“You’re… A dwarf?”

“Yep!! First time seeing one?”

A dwarf. A race second to none when it came to craftsmanship. Though not as long-lived as elves, they still enjoyed relatively long lifespans.

In the original story, there was an old dwarf man who’d show up to help Ciel whenever she was in trouble. But this was my first time seeing a female dwarf. She wasn’t in the original, nor had I encountered one as Lars in the past.

“For the record, I’m twenty-five this year. By your human laws, I’m a full adult! Treat me like a kid and I’ll slug you!”

“I see. Understood.”

So she was twenty-five despite looking like this. A legal loli with big breasts… An attribute sure to rile up both the “loli-boob purist faction” and the “legal-loli purist faction.” And why were male dwarves always barrel-shaped while female dwarves looked like… This? Anyway, best not to think too hard.

“Is the shop owner in? I need help picking out a weapon.”

“Hm? Oh, that’s me.”

“Ah, I see. My apologies.”

This time, I was the one who had to apologize.

“I’m Tesshin.”

“I’m Lars. A pleasure.”

“Yeah!! Nice to meet you, armored dude. Wait—ah!!”

“W-what?”

“That helmet!! I made that one!! I didn’t think anyone would actually buy it… Hehe, you’ve got good taste!!”

“Eh?”

My brain nearly short-circuited. This armor was supposed to have been made by the armor shop owner’s apprentice who went missing years ago. Yet Tesshin claimed to have made it?

And wasn’t this shop supposed to belong to the armor shop owner’s big brother?

“You made this armor? But I heard it was crafted by the apprentice of the armor shop on the main street…”

“Oh, so you’re here on Master’s recommendation? You should’ve said so!! I’ll give you a discount!!”

“No, uh, the apprentice who made this was supposed to have gone off to a mine five years ago and never returned…”

“Ah, that’s just Master messing with you.”

“What!?”

My voice cracked in shock.

“My master loves pulling people’s legs like that. It’s his hobby.”

“What a terrible hobby…”

“Well, it’s how he spends his retirement. Just don’t take him too seriously. Now then. You said you need help picking a weapon, right?”

“Ah, y-yeah.”

I was still reeling from the emotional rollercoaster of the heartwarming tale I’d been told before. But no, focus. I needed to move on.

“I want a spear with the same weight and length as this one. The sturdier, the better.”

“Wait, what!? This is an artifact-class spear!!”

“Yeah.”

Tesshin’s eyes went wide when she examined my spear. Artifacts were items retrieved from dungeons, impossible to replicate or recreate with modern techniques.

“Lars-san, your spear is an artifact!?”

“Yeah. My family, the House of Count Deulaghil, had an ancestor who brought it back from a dungeon. Though it’s been broken for ages and lost its abilities, so now it’s just a really sturdy spear.”

“S-still, that’s amazing! I’ve never seen an artifact before!!”

Ciel’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Hmm, a spear with the same strength as an artifact… That’s impossible.”

“Sturdiness is secondary. As long as the weight and length match, that’s good enough.”

“Alright, give me a second.”

Tesshin disappeared into the back of the shop. As I watched her leave, I couldn’t help but feel a certain resemblance to the armor shop’s old man.

She’s really his apprentice..

Then… Ciel looked at my face, puffing her cheeks a little.

“Lars-san, why were you staring so intently at Tesshin-san?”

“Ah, no. I just noticed her movements reminded me of the armor shop owner. I was thinking how similar they are, like true master and student.”

“…I see. Fufu.”

For some reason, Ciel seemed pleased.

“I thought you were ogling her like you did with Rei-san and Tiana-san. You seem to like women with big boobs.”

“N-no, it’s not like that… I prefer mature women.”

Sure, I liked big boobs, but I didn’t find someone with such a childlike appearance attractive. Though… Tesshin was cute in her own way. If only she were a bit taller, I might’ve found myself staring more at those swaying assets.

“…Hmm, is that so.”

“Hm? Ciel? Why the sudden mood shift?”

“Nothing at all.”

“R-right…”

“Humph.”

Why did it feel like she was mad!? Why!?

“Hey, I found it—huh? What’s going on here?”

“It’s Lars-san’s fault. I don’t care about him anymore.”

Tesshin watched me flail in panic as Ciel pouted.

“It’s definitely the armored dude’s fault, that much is obvious.”

“Why though!?”

Seriously—why!?

And so that day came to an end, and the next day arrived. In order to carry out the request from Tiana, I headed to the designated meeting place: Tiana’s mansion. Ciel and Mofumaru stayed home. After all, exterminating monsters was dangerous. I couldn’t let anything happen to my precious children.

Or so what I thought at the time…  I never could have imagined that Ciel would follow me in secret.

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