For Ranigus and Teles, exploring Anesis turned out to be far more interesting than either of them had expected.
They ended up dragging Rei and Bluitt all over town the entire time they were out, popping into one shop after another.
And so, as was to be expected in winter, the sun set early. Once it started growing dark, talk turned to calling it a day.
For a moment, Rei thought everyone could simply head back to the Duke Kerebel Mansion together—but the only one actually staying there was Rei. The others all had their own estates.
Given that, there was no need for everyone to return to the mansion together.
Of course, if someone had business with Elena or Liberte, that would be a different matter—but no one did.
"Ah, hold on a moment. Before we go, there's just one more shop I'd like to visit. Would that be alright?"
Just as they were about to disband, Ranigus suddenly spoke up.
For Ranigus, if he missed this opportunity, he would rarely have the chance to come out into the city like this again—or so it seemed, given the desperate edge in his voice.
Not that he could never come out into the city again, of course.
Even so, the chance to walk around town on foot rather than riding in a carriage, together with people who shared his interests, was almost certainly not something he would get to do again.
Perhaps sensing Ranigus's feelings, Rei—and Bluitt, who was the exact opposite of Ranigus in that he went out into the city alone all the time—opened his mouth with an expression that said he couldn't be helped.
"So? Which shop do you want to go to? I'll warn you, we don't have much time."
"Sorry. The truth is, I'd like to stop by a weapon shop."
Those words were unexpected not only to Bluitt, but to Rei, Teles, and everyone else around as well.
The only exceptions were Ranigus's guards and attendants.
Knowing Ranigus's hobby, they didn't look particularly surprised.
"That's unexpected. I wouldn't have thought you'd be interested in weapon shops, Ranigus."
"Really? I may not look it, but I'm actually quite confident in appraising weapons."
Ranigus flashed a self-assured smile.
It was no bluff or bravado—he was making it clear to everyone around that he genuinely believed that from the bottom of his heart.
"Got it. Then let's get going. Standing here deliberating won't change much. If anything, heading to the weapon shop right away would be faster."
With Rei's words, the group's final destination was decided.
"Huh...these are all fine weapons."
"Oh? I took you for a mere hobbyist noble, but you can tell?"
The Dwarf shopkeeper spoke with genuine admiration in response to Ranigus's murmured words inside the weapon shop.
Under normal circumstances, speaking to a noble in such a manner would be tantamount to suicide.
But the Dwarf did so fully aware of that, and made no attempt to change his tone toward Ranigus.
That was likely due in large part to the fact that this Dwarf had a deep relationship with Duke Kerebel's House.
Though it was a weapon shop, it was also a Blacksmith Workshop, and the weapons on sale here were all forged by this Dwarf.
Ranigus had surely come to this shop knowing that as well.
Eyes sparkling brighter than Rei had ever seen them, Ranigus gazed at longswords, short swords, spears, halberds, and various other weapons, listening to the Dwarf talk, offering his own comments, and continuing the conversation.
That demeanor was clearly different from the usual Ranigus, and Rei, Bluitt, and Teles were all dumbfounded as they watched him.
"Hey, I'll ask just to be sure. That is Ranigus, right? Or am I seeing things? Maybe someone else has taken his place?"
"It's definitely Ranigus, and nobody's been swapped with anyone else. Honestly, it's my first time seeing him like this too, so I'm just as surprised."
Bluitt answered Teles's question, but in truth, he had known Ranigus for less than a month.
Given that the number of times they had actually met was also small, it wouldn't be strange for Ranigus to have a side Bluitt didn't know about.
"Apparently there are a fair number of people interested in weapons."
As Rei said, nobles who collected weapons as a hobby were not particularly rare.
That said, weapons naturally commanded considerable prices, so among nobles, only those who were reasonably wealthy could afford such a hobby.
Of course, if one talked about expensive hobbies, Rei's habit of collecting Magic Items cost far more than collecting weapons.
In that sense, Rei's hobby was clearly the more unusual one.
"This longsword—you can tell how sharp its cutting edge is just by looking at how the light reflects off it. Do you use Tashes-technique skills?"
"You can tell that much? But to be precise, it's not Tashes, but Tashel-technique skills."
"Tashel-technique? But isn't that fundamentally for spears?"
"Correct. But who's to say it can't be applied to longswords?"
Technical terminology was flying back and forth, and Rei—no, the others as well—couldn't completely understand exactly what they were discussing.
Well, they could grasp the general meaning from context, but whether that understanding was actually correct was another matter entirely.
"What do you think we should do?" Rei asked.
"Even if you ask me...looking at him like that, wouldn't it be better to just leave him be for a while? I think anything we say would be pointless," Teles replied.
Bluitt silently nodded in agreement.
Looking at the two of them, Rei eventually decided that leaving him alone was the safer option, and nodded as well.
"Hey, I'd like to ask you two something. What kind of weapon is good to carry for self-defense?"
Teles suddenly spoke up, turning her gaze toward Rei and Bluitt.
Rei wondered why she was asking this out of nowhere, but Bluitt nodded as if he understood.
"Even with guards around, if you think about worst-case scenarios, it's still better to have a weapon on hand for emergencies. Not something flashy like a longsword—something you can hide on you."
"Is that how it works?"
Rei knew a fair number of nobles, but he hadn't seen many of them carrying self-defense weapons.
Of course, that was only because they made a point of not carrying weapons conspicuously. In reality, there were more than a few nobles who carried weapons for emergencies.
"That's how it is. So, as for self-defense weapons. Since it's something you'd hide on you, basically something small is best. To play it safe, something like a short sword."
A weapon that could be concealed.
Hearing that, the first thing that came to Rei's mind was the Eye of Nebula on his belt.
If he wore slightly oversized clothing, it could be easily hidden. More importantly, as long as he had magic power, it could generate an endless supply of arrowheads.
What's more, those arrowheads would revert to magic power and vanish within a few minutes, making it an optimal weapon for concealed carry.
(Well, it consumes a massive amount of magic power, so I don't think Teles could use it. And even if she could, it's a custom-made item, so I'm not about to hand it over.)
If it were someone like Byune, who belonged to the same party, he wouldn't mind lending it. But Teles was different.
Of course, Byune, who seemed like she could make better use of the Eye of Nebula than Rei, had ultimately been unable to use it due to insufficient magic power.
"A short sword, huh. What do you think, Rei? I can't quite trust Bluitt's recommendation alone."
"Hey!"
Bluitt looked displeased at Teles's words.
From Bluitt's perspective, having gone out of his way to recommend something, only to be met with that kind of response, was frankly unfair.
But Teles, glancing at Bluitt, spoke.
"I mean, you get into physical fistfights all the time, don't you? Plus, there's a big difference in build between you and me. If I buy something you recommended..."
"No, but I don't think Bluitt's recommendation is wrong."
Cutting off Teles's words, Rei said as much.
In truth, if the purpose was limited to a self-defense weapon, the types to choose from inevitably narrowed.
It wasn't as if she could carry around a massive halberd to protect herself—and more importantly, for someone like Teles who didn't appear to be particularly trained, a heavyweight weapon like that might be difficult to even lift.
Above all, considering that she was specifically asking about a weapon she could conceal, the options naturally became even fewer.
"But let's see. Something other than a short sword that you could hide...knuckles, maybe? Though they wouldn't have those here."
"Hey, I don't think there'd be any point in giving Teles something like that."
"What kind of weapon is that?"
Perhaps displeased at being told it would be pointless for her, Teles shot Bluitt a stern glance before turning to Rei.
The fact that Bluitt knew about knuckles was likely because he got into fights in the city often.
"Let's see...to put it simply, it's like a simplified version of Hand Gauntlets. There are four slots to fit your fingers into, and you grip it and punch with it."
At the direct word "punch," Teles pulled a face of distaste.
She knew about Hand Gauntlets, so even with Rei's explanation, she could roughly understand what kind of weapon knuckles were.
She understood—but whether she could actually use one was another question entirely.
"It's not really to my taste."
"Really? Knuckles are made of metal, so even without a blade, just driving the pointed metal parts into the opponent's body deals considerable damage. And since there's no blade, you won't kill the opponent in a single strike."
"No, I'll pass on something that dangerous."
"I'd say it's less dangerous than something with a blade like a short sword. But if not that, then what about...a short blow dart?"
A blow dart about ten centimeters long wouldn't be difficult for Teles, who often wore dresses, to carry around.
Naturally, a blow dart like that would be a single-use, disposable weapon—fire once and it's done. But if one thought of it purely as a concealed weapon to protect oneself in an emergency, that was by no means a bad thing.
"Blow darts...hmm, blow darts, huh. It might be better than that weapon called knuckles, but...hmm..."
For Teles, a blow dart seemed more suited to her than the knuckles Rei had described. But at the same time, she also couldn't picture herself actually using one.
"What else...how about a thin chain with a weight attached? I'm not sure if that counts as a kind of Morning Star or not."
"No, that's not a Morning Star."
Bluitt immediately denied the Morning Star classification, but if asked what other kind of weapon it was...
"Then just call it a Chain Weight? Anyway, a small Chain Weight would give you plenty of places to hide it, and I think it'd be quite effective in an emergency. Though the handling itself seems pretty difficult, so you'd probably need training."
Rei had never used that type of weapon, so he couldn't say exactly how difficult it would be.
But seeing how Elena used Mirage in its whip form, he could easily understand that a Chain Weight would have a similar level of difficulty to handle.
"It feels like it might suit me better than something like a blow dart."
"I think it'd be difficult to master...but well, if you think that's the one for you, why not try it out? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they sell them in this shop."
The weapons sold in this shop—the ones displayed as merchandise on the shop floor—were almost all widely used types like longswords and spears.
There were mace-type weapons as well, but only a very few.
Weapons with few users were, naturally, that much harder to sell.
Given that, if one wanted a weapon like a Chain Weight, rather than buying one off the shelf, they would need to place a direct order and have one custom-made.
"I'll go with a short sword after all. Seems like that'll be less hassle all around."
Perhaps feeling that having one custom-made was too much trouble, Teles said so, and with Rei and Bluitt's advice, she selected and purchased a short sword that looked easy to use from among the many available.
For the record, throughout the entire time Rei, Teles, and Bluitt were talking, Ranigus had been continuously discussing weapons with the Dwarf.