As Brogan, the young dwarf smith, shifted his gaze to him, Ryuji could feel his scrutiny but he was pretty sure there was something else there as well. Perhaps the guy was interested in Karen but she didn’t return his feelings? Ryuji was pretty certain that Karen was into him in a big way but that might prove a liability here. If things got intense Ryuji wasn’t sure what he could do. He certainly couldn’t fight the guy. He’d almost certainly stand no chance against a burly dwarf who swung a hammer for a living. Especially not a dwarf who made weapons and was standing in the middle of an arsenal of his own creation.
Ryuji was just about to start urging Karen to leave with him when the Dwarf’s face split into a big grin and he stuck out his hand in a fist in this world’s manner of greeting. “Name’s Brogan. Any friend of young miss Karen here’s a friend of mine. Least till they prove otherwise.” He said that last line with a wink that did very little to clear up the question of their relationship.
As Ryuji pressed his fist firmly against the dwarfs with a nod, he continued in a somewhat jovial tone like any merchant would use towards a potential client. “So, Karen says ye be needin’ a weapon. What didja’ have in mind. Ye bein’ a pointy-ear it certainly canna’ be nothin heavy. As ye be seein’, I canna’ be makin’ no bows so ye be outta luck there.”
Ryuji was quick and self-deprecating in his reply. “Oh, it’s all right. I can’t use one anyway! I can’t seem to use axes, maces, spears, swords, hatchets, daggers, or javelins either. I’m just full of talent! But maybe I can learn to use magic! Until that happens though, I’d just like to have a sword to try practicing with and to brandish threateningly at brigands or the like and hope they don’t figure out how incompetent I am with the weapon I’m holding. To that end, I was thinking maybe something flashy that looks dangerous? But I guess something well-used might make it look like I had a lot of experience with it. I’ll leave it up to you.”
Brogan seemed like he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry and a quick glance told him that Karen was looking at him with horror written all over her face. Neither of the boys seemed to realize he was telling the truth and looked like they thought it was a joke. Brogan seemed to finally settle on a light chuckle before he continued. “Aye, I’ve got ye. Then a simple short sword’ll be what yer wantin’. Come this way. I may be havin’ a flashy something for ye to scare off ruffians with.”
The sword he showed to Ryuji didn’t seem like much but it was light enough that he could swing it. When he inquired about the price Brogan told him it would be one small gold and four large silvers. Ryuji was getting ready to protest the price when Karen leaned in and very quietly told him that it was a really good price. She followed that up with a bombshell. “He must really like you to sell one of his own pieces of banded steel for that price. Look, you can see the quality in the blade because it has all those stripes in it. Only dwarven masters can make that kind of steel. You should take his offer; he’s taking a loss on that piece and I’m sure it’ll hurt his pride if you turn it down!”
Ryuji thought it over and decided on what he would do. He was used to being very tight with his money but he decided that he would need to break that habit since he wasn’t going to ever run out of money in this world. “I like this and I agree that it’s just flashy enough to do what I want. But somehow I feel that it’s not quite enough.”
Ryuji could see a look of indignation forming on the dwarf's face and went on with a slight smile. “I know, how about I get this and a dagger. Maybe something with gold and gems or something? You know, one of those expensive pieces that aren’t too practical but can be used as a status symbol. I was thinking something in the two to four gold range?”
Brogan was about to start his protest when Ryuji’s words finally registered. Suddenly the face-splitting grin was back, mind you, this grin had a lot more impact because it was right above the featureless leather apron over Brogan’s beard which had the effect of making his face look like it ended at his grin. That and the odd anatomical feature of dwarves having a rather large front row of teeth made for a disconcerting grin. “Oi, a fancy dagger, is it? I seem ta remember havin’ a few of those. Lads, why don’tcha be showin’ the pointy-ear here some of those poncy trinkets ye be likin’ so much. I be thinkin’ he’s askin’ for one.”
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After saying that he stepped back and just crossed his arms with that same grin on his face. Immediately the boys rushed all over the shop and began gathering glittering bits before rushing back to him. It was a procession of glimmering flashy weapons that ranged from just shy of being swords all the way down to knives that could fit in a pocket. The only commonality among all of them seemed to be that they were all made of gold or silver or something like them and fitted with an assortment of precious stones and jewels. It turned out they shared one other trait in common. They were all the works of these two boys, not the master smith, Brogan.
After looking through all of the offered items Ryuji narrowed it down to three. He first ruled out all of the ones that were too long or too short. Then he weeded out all of the ones that weren’t comfortable. Unfortunately, that got rid of all of the offerings from one of the boys. It seemed that he was too focused on looks and didn’t pay any mind to comfort or practicality at all.
With his final selection narrowed down, he turned to Karen and asked her which one she thought would look the best on him. At first, she looked aghast that he would ask her but then she calmed down and thought about it. She looked closely at all of them and held them up to Ryuji’s waist. She was mumbling about his new clothing cuts and colors as she looked critically at each in turn.
After a few minutes, she settled on one of them. The one she chose was a thin stiletto-style of blade with an ornate silver and gold handle carved into the figure of a voluptuous nude woman’s upper torso. It was set with about a dozen small emeralds between the pommel and the sheath. The sheath featured a carving of the same woman but in a full-frontal pose. Ryuji was surprised at Karen’s choice because he was sure that this wouldn’t be the one she picked, even though it was, in fact, the one that he liked the most.
After picking out the dagger he took off his belt and threaded it through the belt loops of both the sword and the dagger. He then pulled out five small golds and handed them over before Brogan could pronounce a price. Ryuji knew that the reason that Brogan was having the boys show off their work, was because it was rare for them to get such a good sale. He also knew without being told that the price of their work was much lower than that of the master smith and probably wasn’t even as expensive as the sword, despite being fancier and made with precious materials. That was the reason he paid so much and the gesture wasn’t lost on the master smith.
Brogan saw them off personally. As they were walking out, he whispered a thank you to Ryuji and promised that each of the boys would get an equal share of his gift. Karen, for her part, was awestruck by his generosity. Luckily, she didn’t realize how much he was having to force himself to be so generous. The only reason he had decided to be that generous, was because he could relate to the penniless boys working under the smith and knew what a blessing it would have been for somebody to suddenly overpay him for his work in his previous life.
Karen was quick to list off several armor shops after that and suggested that they go to a certain one. Ryuji wasn’t sure why they didn’t just buy armor while they were at Brogan’s shop and asked her. “Did you see any armor there? Brogan is a weaponsmith. For armor, you have to go see an armorsmith. Some rare few blacksmiths will do both but as a general rule they tend to specialize in one or the other or they may work on other things like shoading horses or making hardware for buildings.”
“Also it’s not fair to keep all your business with one shop when you go out. A noble has to spend money amongst various places. It sets the right image and image is very important whether you’re a noble or a mercenary. The fact that you happen to be both is beside the point. At some point, you’re going to remember who you are and you’ll be glad that you have a good image here in Lyrill!”
Karen said all of that with such confidence that Ryuji just had to nod along. Then it suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time he had heard the name of the city he was in. He quickly changed the subject to that of the world around him. Karen seemed a bit anxious at first, probably thinking that he might be mad at her for bringing up his lost memory but she talked about it all anyway. After a short time, she was smiling and chatting merrily as before about the general topography and politics between various places.