A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 3 - Part 10

"Get out of here, I don't want visitors."

"Is this your way of running a business? I'm not surprised to be the only one here."

"I'm not going to repeat myself, go now."

"Do you know how much effort it took me to get here? I'm not leaving until you serve me."

For a moment, I expected him to react violently and forcefully throw me out, but he only gave a weary sigh.

"It's always the same, there's always an idiot who thinks he has an innovative idea."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"No matter how original you think you are, I know every weapon in this world, and you can't surprise me. Besides, creativity isn't synonymous with effectiveness! Who in their right mind asks for a flexible sword that bends?! That's a poorly made whip! Or the shield with a peephole! Anyone with a pinch of intelligence would pass their weapon through and you'd end up pierced, you idiot!"

"Hey, wait a minute. I just came to buy one of your guns."

The man immediately fell silent, looked at me for a few seconds without saying anything, and then laughed with an obvious tone of mockery.

"You're a foreigner, aren't you?" Was all he asked when he calmed down.

"I am."

"I guessed as much when you said that."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying not to lose my patience.

"So, you're not selling guns anymore or what?"

"I never did. I only work on request: I create for the pleasure of making something new. In fact, I don't even charge for my services."

He slumped into a chair and placed his legs on the counter, making himself comfortable.

"Oh... But you don't accept any requests anymore, right?"

"You guessed it."

"I figured it out when you went crazy and started yelling about it."

As if I'd just given him the solution to his biggest problem, the guy smiled and applauded me. I hate it when people use sarcasm against me.

"So you should understand that you're wasting your time here."

"Let me ask you something else. Is the reason you reject everyone who comes to you because none of the ideas they show you seem good enough?"

"If you know the answer, the question is unnecessary."

Dropping the bag of apples on the floor, I walked over to the counter and placed my hands on the wood somewhat roughly.

"What is your name?"

He sighed as if saying his name was something unworthy.

"Nadir Ashveil. Modesty aside, my reputation is so great that even a foreigner should know about me. You must have been living under a rock if you haven't heard my name mentioned."

Ironically, I've never heard of this Re:Zero character mentioned.

"Well, Nadir... Do you consider yourself good at what you do?"

"I have the Divine Protection of the Forge, I guess that must mean something."

Upon hearing that revelation, I knew I had the opportunity to make one of my plans come true.

"That being the case, I think I can leave this in your hands."

I reached into one of my pockets and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper containing a drawing with some text around it. It was very difficult to write what I wanted to say in a language I still don't fully understand.

Nadir grabbed it with a bored expression that turned into curiosity when he saw the drawing and finally into amazement when he read the specifications.

"What is this!?"

"Something that could blow your mind, in more ways than one."

***

After thoroughly studying and analyzing my design, Nadir was very enthusiastic. He asked me many questions, some about how I came up with such an idea for a weapon, and others (most of them) about things I left out of the specifications.

I was smooth-talking enough to convince Nadir that this design I made was much closer to specifying what it really was. In turn, I explained that due to my lack of knowledge about weapons, I had reached my limit halfway through developing this 'prototype' I showed him.

We agreed that he would be responsible for completing the design and making the idea work. He even said he would source the materials, something he normally let his clients do (from there, he would make a profit by selling or exchanging the leftovers, unless he wanted to use them for another creation).

It was a promising find. For someone who lives in the royal capital and has such an interesting blessing, Nadir never appeared in the anime. Since I haven't read the novels (WN/LN), I'm not sure if he was in them or not.

My next stop was the garrison, which in other words was a knight's station. However, I had no intention of seeing Reinhard today. Instead, I headed to the alley closest to the garrison building.

I leaned my back against a wall and took an apple out of the bag, starting to eat it to make the wait more bearable. Within minutes, a family group of three men appeared, escorting a fourth person.

That person was a woman wearing a red and black dress, she had unmistakable orange hair, and one of the best cleavages this world had ever seen... She was also one of the most important characters in the original story.

"There's my favorite girl..."

I crept up behind her as she argued with the three bandits. I didn't think Priscilla would dare kill them, but you can never be completely sure about anything.

The knife boy was slightly ahead of his companions, so I went for him first.

"Bitch, you better cooperate if you don't want to make this worse for-!"

Gathering momentum, I leaped up and planted my foot in his face, knocking him down easily. I flipped in the air and landed gracefully to show off a bit.

I expected more reaction, but neither Priscilla nor the two thieves still standing said anything. I had to improvise.

"I'm sorry to steal your hope, but I'm not going to let you steal my chance to steal this woman's heart. Shit, that sounded way stupider than it did in my head."