Only I Am A Reader

After spending the rest of the day organizing his stuff and settling his rent, Leo finally departed from Swordkeep first thing in the morning.

The only reason Leo had kept the room rented until now was due to his constant moving around the city. He would usually spend half of the month outside doing a mission or searching for another Hidden Piece, but having a place that he 'temporarily' owned made it easy to move light without splurging on storing companies.

However, now that he had exhausted all of the Hidden Pieces in the vicinity of the city, he no longer needed to continue as is, it was time to go back home and rest.

'Thankfully, I'm not cutting it close.'

It wasn't that there were no more Hidden Pieces that Leo knew of, but the travel distance simply erased their worth. In any case, he had already reached his target ahead of time.

Although ascending through the three last grades didn't seem easy, Leo already had a 'cheat route' in mind. If everything went according to plan, he only needed that 'event' to cross these hurdles.

It was that he wasn't the deciding factor behind this event's start. After all, this was none other than the prelude to the final battle! Since he somehow reached his target early, Leo could only lay low and wait for it to start.

'At least I get to say one last goodbye.'

During the two years of 'grinding' that Leo pushed himself to get through, he had visited his 'home' town more than once, but that was only when he was passing by in the middle of a mission. Moreover, such a visit usually ended in a few days.

Now that he had to wait, however, Leo's visit this time could last for a month at the very least! Knowing that he wouldn't be able to go back once the long-awaited 'event' started, Leo planned to make the most of this 'vacation'...

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

After doing his best to go back as soon as possible, Leo's carriage finally entered the town once again.

Instead of going back home as usual, Leo decided to first stop by the Blackbird. Although there were several great blacksmiths at Swordkeep, Leo couldn't help but miss Crane's services after barely coming back for two years.

Normal equipment was okay, but when it came to alloy steel swords or the maintenance of the 'Infinity Sword Wheel', there were tasks that only Crane could perform. Furthermore, Leo had something else in mind.

Creak…

"I'm working on something, give me a moment."

Entering the Blackbird, Leo felt better on hearing Crane's busy voice after so long. Rather than waiting for him to come out, Leo lowered down his hands.

Thud! Clank!

"Hah? What just happened?"

The shocking sound of Leo putting his stuff on the counter easily garnered the attention of Crane who came running out of the forge, prompting Leo to smile mischievously.

"Sorry, I thought I would stop by to say hello."

Hearing this familiar voice, Crane ignored the metallic pile as he suddenly turned to face… Arthur?

"I'm not mistaking you for someone else, am I?"

The confusion on Crane's face was quickly exchanged with a bitter smile. No matter how little time had passed between each visit, Leo's change would never fail to shock him that he just decided to accept it. Before he knew it, that child from five years ago had already grown slightly taller than him. He even…

"Have I grown too handsome for you to recognize?"

Although Leo was merely joking, he wasn't lying either. Perhaps due to Arthur's character template that made him seem like a side protagonist, Leo's current face coupled with his blonde hair had a strange Knightley charm to it. He hadn't seen Ray's face as a grown-up, but Leo guessed that he probably didn't lose to the protagonist in appearance.

'Well, it's still not my face.'

"Hu… Seems like your sense of humor didn't catch up with your bodily growth! Hahaha… It hadn't been half a dozen years yet you already caught up."

After laughing off the joke, Crane's expression went serious. He had long expected Leo's growth to be shocking, but he was already the same as him, a peak Sword Master! This was a speed unprecedented even when compared to people from his 'family'!

"We aren't the ones to choose our circumstances, I'm only trying my best to keep up."

Despite the sensitiveness of this matter, Leo shrugged it off. Following the mantle of countless protagonists, words of mystery worked the best in situations like this!

"That does make sense… Even then, did you really have to make such a mess?"

Crane's serious face quickly faded away as if it was never there before he brought his attention back to the metallic pile. As expected, Leo's return meant that it was a busy season once again!

Not only were there a few dozen broken swords and ruined sheaths, but even the 'Revolving Backpack' was hidden underneath the pile of its ruined spare parts. No matter how one looked at it, Leo's growth wasn't as easy as it looked.

"I tried my best…"

Leo could only scratch the back of his head in response, he didn't really challenge suitable opponents most of the time, so he could only rely on quantity to combat quality, it was already great that he still had enough swords to fill his 'Infinity Sword Wheel'.

"Yeah sure… I won't hold you for long since you probably stopped here first, just tell me if you want any new modification."

As he could hear Leo's horse standing outside, Crane didn't plan to nag Leo knowing that his siblings were waiting for him.

"The length needs to be slightly adjusted, but that can wait for later. I don't plan to leave any time soon, so I just wanted to put these here for now. Instead…"

Moving his hand to scratch his chin, Leo paused his words for a second before staring into Crane's eyes.

"Would it be possible for me to learn blacksmithing during my stay?"