Chapter 10

You Like Big Things

I was so captivated by the black bow that I couldn’t even hear what Benjamin was saying.

I liked its weight—it was just right—so I held it in one hand and gave it a quick spin.

Then I pulled the bowstring to test it.

Without even bothering to look at the other bows, I decided that this was the one I wanted.

I turned toward Dad.

But the looks Dad and Benjamin were giving me were strange.

Or rather, they were the look of a doting father and the look of someone utterly astonished.

I had no idea why they were looking at me that way, so I slightly lifted the corners of my mouth and said,

“Dad, please buy me this bow.”

“Anything you want. Do you want to pick out one more?”

His voice somehow sounded full of excitement.

He must have been happy that he could give me a present.

So, without refusing, I pointed at a sword I liked.

“This sword is somewhat different from an ordinary sword. And it isn’t a sword used against monsters.”

Benjamin explained when he saw the sword I had chosen.

I felt strangely pleased when I saw the Katar hanging on the wall.

I had never been picky about weapons.

Of course, it wasn’t as though I had chosen to become that way.

In the past, I would simply pick any weapon from among the weapons left behind by my dead comrades and use it.

There had been countless times when I lost my weapon while frantically fighting monsters, or when it became lodged in a monster’s hide and couldn’t be pulled free.

Because of that, I eventually learned to swing whatever weapon happened to be in my hands, eventually reaching a level where I could use practically any weapon.

The Katar had come into my hands by chance, but I ended up using it for a very long time.

It was, after all, one of the weapons that fit my hands perfectly.

The Katar was specialized for stabbing rather than slashing.

It was about the length of a dagger, with a broad blade connected to two or more horizontal bars, while the handle consisted of two parallel bars.

If I held two Katars and stabbed a vital point, I could easily take down smaller monsters.

“This weapon was specially made for assassination. I assume you chose it because it isn’t very large, but this dagger would be easier for a young lady to use.”

I liked the dagger Benjamin picked out for me as well.

It was about half again as large as my palm.

It had a rough, undecorated appearance, but the blade was extremely sharp.

I had expected him to choose something pretty just because I was a young lady, so this was somewhat unexpected.

I put down the bow for a moment, grabbed the dagger, and casually spun it around.

Without noticing how Dad and Benjamin’s mouths were practically sealed shut in shock, I focused on testing the dagger and Katar.

I went through slashing and stabbing motions with the dagger before snapping my wrist and embedding it in the wooden wall.

There had been a type of monster whose brow was particularly vulnerable.

One dagger was enough to deal with them easily, so the movement had become a habit.

The Katar was a little large for my hands, but there was no problem gripping and swinging it.

Perhaps because it had been so long since I had held a weapon, my fingertips tingled with excitement.

Well, ever since I could remember, I had picked up even branches just to survive.

Weapons were practically a part of my body.

After moving through a few simple motions, I set down the Katar.

Benjamin approached me from the side.

“Please hold it for a moment.”

I picked up the Katar again.

Benjamin brought out a measuring tape and measured my hand and arm.

Then he measured the distance between my hand and the Katar before finally stepping back.

“I’ll have a Katar made separately and send it to you. This one doesn’t fit your hand.”

“……Do that.”

Dad had remained silent the entire time I was handling the weapons.

Now he quietly asked,

“Would you like to try holding the bow again? The weapons here are generally made for the members of the guard unit. Rin, you may have heard this before, but our guards have a height requirement. So it may be too large for you to handle.”

“The bow is fine, Dad. I like big ones.”

“Heh heh, perhaps our daughter has only ever seen her father and David……”

“Young lady certainly likes big things. Lord, when you choose a husband for her later, you should find a son-in-law as dependable and sturdy as yourself.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure we need to find one at all……”

“Haha, I completely understand how you feel.”

“Didn’t you also wait a long time before letting your own daughter marry?”

“Of course. Absolutely.”

I ignored the conversation between the two doting fathers and continued looking at the remaining weapons.

Sure enough, most of the weapons were large.

As I looked at weapons that were even large for an ordinary adult man to wield, I found myself growing greedy.

I started thinking that perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn swordsmanship now.

I could probably learn from Dad or my brother……

The problem was that I didn’t need permission from those two.

I needed Mom’s permission.

Ever since the fire when I was young, Mom had raised me in a very sheltered environment.

She was even more protective because I was her daughter, and when it came to raising me that way, Dad couldn’t win against Mom.

They loved each other far too much, after all.

My parents had married for love rather than through a political marriage.

Since most noble couples married for political reasons, it wasn’t common.

And considering the circumstances of our territory, I couldn’t help but wonder whether Mom actually loved Dad more than her usual behavior suggested.

If you were a noble, you were supposed to have something to your name.

But our family was truly a very insignificant one.

All we had was our territory, our guard unit, an old mansion, and a merchant company that was slowly going bankrupt.

Perhaps that was why my brother deliberately avoided marriage prospects.

He probably thought there wouldn’t be any woman willing to enter a political marriage with our family.

And if that happened, he might have worried that our parents would be hurt.

Perhaps he was deliberately choosing to be the one who refused them, taking our parents’ circumstances into consideration.

My brother was, after all, someone who loved his family dearly.

On top of that, he blamed himself for the fire that had nearly killed me, thinking it had happened because he hadn’t taken good enough care of me.

When I was young, I had struggled several times to change his mind about that.

I finally chose both practice arrows and arrows for actual combat before leaving the weapons shop with Dad.

Perhaps because it had been so long since the two of us had gone out together, Dad was incredibly excited and looked reluctant to go straight home.

So we went into a café together and ordered some desserts and tea.

As I watched the people passing by, I casually brought up a topic with Dad.

“Dad, have you heard about that?”

“Hm? Heard about what?”

Now that the Saintess had appeared, she would probably start making and introducing Korean food soon.

The prophecy book had only described the food and culture of the place where the Saintess had lived.

The temple probably wouldn’t know any more details.

So I planned to ask Dad, who ran a merchant company, to import chili powder, garlic, and rice from another country.

I had already looked through books beforehand to find out which countries cultivated and distributed them.

“There’s a spicy seasoning called chili powder in the Kingdom of Yuria, which isn’t very far from our territory.”

“Oh? Is that so? How did our daughter come to know about something like that?”

Dad looked at me with nothing but admiration.

I felt a little guilty, but I intended to take advantage of Dad’s willingness to do anything I asked.

I desperately wanted our merchant company to secure the distribution rights first and bring the products into the Stern Empire.

“I happened to see it in a book, and I became really curious. Apparently, they make food using spicy chili powder, garlic, and chicken. Oh, and apparently there’s also a dish they eat with rice made from a crop called rice.”

Of course, that wasn’t actually how they ate it in the Kingdom of Yuria.

I subtly added a lie and continued.

“I read about it in a book and wondered what it would taste like. I keep thinking about it. Have you ever tried it, Dad?”

As I finished speaking, I deliberately put on an expectant expression.

Almost excessively so.

Dad looked at my expression, moved his lips, and rolled his eyes around.

He was clearly wondering how he should answer.

I sincerely hoped Dad would exaggerate just like old Benjamin had earlier.

This was all for the sake of our family.

I hoped I would be forgiven for telling such a lie.

“Hahaha! Of course! I’ve eaten it all! Irene, you see, before I met your mother, I often went to the Kingdom of Yuria to exterminate monsters. There was a famous restaurant there. Its signature dish was very similar to what you described. Hmm, yes. Should I bring some of those ingredients back this time so you and your mother can try it? Come to think of it, even though the kingdom is so close to us, we’ve never actually traded with the Kingdom of Yuria.”

The Kingdom of Yuria had customs completely different from those of the empire.

Even though it was a small country, it had a long history and firmly established traditions of its own, so I had heard that it didn’t engage in much trade with the empire.

And our territory was located at the very edge of the empire.

Compared to the capital, which led all the latest trends, Yuria was a country that attracted even less attention.

“Then get the distribution rights.”

“The distribution rights?”

“Yes. You said it was delicious, Dad. I’m sure it must be really tasty. Then I’ll probably want to keep eating it……”

“Do we really need to go as far as securing the distribution rights?”

“You know that saying, Dad. There are people who have never tried it, but there are no people who’ve tried it only once. Somehow, I haven’t even tasted it yet, but I feel like I’ll really like it.”

“……Hmm. If my daughter wants to eat it that badly……”

“So make sure you get the rights. Chili powder and rice. And if possible, garlic too.”

“……All right. I understand.”

“Oh, and if they have white beans instead of peas, please bring those too.”

“White beans?”

“Yes. About this size. White or black ones are both fine.”

I wasn’t sure whether they had soybeans or black soybeans, but since it was a place where people ate rice, I was willing to hope.

From now on, I needed to secure as many ingredients as possible for the Korean dishes the Saintess would make.

Simply because the Saintess had made them, they would undoubtedly become famous throughout the entire empire.

So if we could secure the distribution rights, it would be the best possible outcome.