“Borrow a knife?”
The cute and cuddly voice woke Rom from his deep thoughts. He glanced at the small window in the corner, and realized the sky had already turned dark.

  “Who wants to borrow a knife? A little girl? Weird?” Rom frowned. He slowly stood up and grabbed the wine canister at the side. He opened the cover and had a gulp before walking to the door.

  Even though he was slowly losing control of his emotions in these two years, he couldn’t reject children as he got older.

  Rom opened the door, and saw a little half-elf girl about four, five years old standing at the door. The little one was so pretty, and she was looking up at him now.

  “Little one, why are you knocking on my door?” Rom tried to lower his voice so he wouldn’t scare this little one.

  “Old Grandpa, can you lend me a knife, please? My father and I came from a far away place. We don’t have a place to stay and a place to eat. Now, we can only cook our own dinner here. But, we forgot to bring our cleaver, so we can’t even chop open that stupid fish,” Amy said to Rom piteously.

  Rom looked at where Amy was pointing. There was a fire lit on the empty space opposite of the workshop, and a young man was standing next to the fire. He was looking over here with a smile, and there was a big bag at his feet.

  “I don’t have a cleaver, little one. Go and ask somewhere else.” Rom shook his head. He didn’t lie—there indeed wasn’t a cleaver in his workshop.

  Amy took a look at the dark alley, shaking her head, and said, “But everyone else is closed. Old Grandpa, can you just lend us any knife? As long as we can cut open that stupid fish.”
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  Mag, who was standing next to the fire, was also appraising Rom. This old dwarf still looked very strong. His thick arms were as thick as a normal human’s waist, so they made him look very squarish. His white hair and wrinkles proved his age.

  Given the dwarves’ average lifespan of 400, this Master Rom was indeed very old.

  However, he looked quite friendly when he was talking to Amy. One couldn’t imagine he had just screamed at his assistants irritably earlier.

  Rom looked around, and saw the other shops on the streets were indeed all closed. The dwarves loved to drink, and they all went to the pubs to drink once the sky turned dark. It was really not easy to find another place to borrow a knife.

  Mag came forward and said to Rom, “Nice to meet you, I am Mag. My daughter and I came from Chaos City. I would like to ask Master Rom to forge the best cleaver in this world for me. I have made Master Rom angry, and gotten the two lads in trouble with my imprudent behaviour earlier. I feel very bad, and would like to apologize to Master Rom for that. I hope Master Rom can forgive the two young gentlemen.”
“You are that fellow who was trying to ask me to forge a cleaver earlier?” Rom furrowed his eyebrows with an angry expression. He raised his voice and said, “I am a weaponsmith. I only forge weapons for battle. I never forge cleavers. Please go. I will never forge a cleaver for a chef.”
“Master Rom, as a chef, I believe the battle between a chef and his ingredients is even more intense than the battle between a knight and a magic beast, because no knight would ever slice open the magic beast’s skin and hide delicately, hack open the strongest bones to find the most delicious part, and present it to his customers,” Mag said Master Rom with a determined look.

  “Ah. A chef is just a chef. Do you believe you are fighting like a knight fighting a magic beast?” Rom smirked as he disagreed with Mag’s laughable point of view.

  “This is a 3rd-tier magic beast, Fat Head Fish. I want to use it to make the most delicious steamed Fish Head with Diced Hot Red Peppers. I have 100 methods to kill it, but my cleaver couldn’t hack open its head. Hence, I have brought it from Chaos City to Issen Castle to find a cleaver that can hack open its head,” Mag said as he took out the bucket, pointing at the fat head fish in there.

  Rom looked at the magic beast that was bumping into the cover crazily in the bucket. The fat head fish that was making thuds was stunned too. Judging by sensing its magical presence, this was indeed a 3rd-tier magic beast, and the big head that was a half of its whole body should be the hardest part of its body.

  It was indeed not easy to hack open the head of a magic beast like this without a suitable weapon. However……

  “Don’t we only eat the fish’s flesh? I have never heard of people eating a fish’s head. So what if you could hack open this fish’s head? Are you going to eat what is inside the fish’s head?” Rom said to Mag with a frown.

  “A fish head that is cooked appropriately tastes way better than the flesh. Isn’t it a waste to pass over such a delicacy?” Mag shook his head as he said to Master Rom, “Master Rom, why don’t we have a bet. You lend me a knife to hack open the head of this fat head fish, and I’ll cook a dish with the fish’s head. You will taste it, and if you think it’s delicious, please forge a cleaver for me. If you don’t think it’s nice, I will leave Issen Castle immediately. What do you think about it?”
“Old Grandpa, my father’s dishes are really very scrumptious,” Amy said to Rom as she rubbed her tummy. With a piteous look, she continued, “My tummy is starving~~~”
“Meow~”
Ugly Duckling gulped as it stared at the fat head fish in the bucket. Its eyes began to emit a green glow.

  That fat head fish seemed to sense a horrible threat. It stopped all its movement at once, and slowly turned around to look at Ugly Duckling. WIth a splat, it swam to the other end of the bucket instantly and stared at Ugly Duckling with fear.

  “A bet?” There was some hesitation on Rom’s face. He looked at the fat head fish in the bucket, and then looked at Amy again. He finally nodded after pondering for some time. “Alright, I will bet with you. But don’t get happy too early, I am very picky about my food.”
An elated expression appeared on Mag’s face.

  Rom went into the workshop, picked up a semi-finished product on the floor casually, and tossed it to Mag.

  Mag grabbed the longsword agily. The black longsword felt rather light in his hand. Looking at this sword, it most probably wasn’t complete, as the patterns on the sword’s handle and body weren’t carved yet.

  However, even though it was just a semi-finished product, it was still an exceptional sword.

  “Good sword. Thank you, Master Rom. Please give me a moment.” Mag put his hands together in a gesture. Then, he carried the sword and the bucket toward the fire.

  Putting down the bucket, Mag used the snow to cleanse the sword. Then, he removed the cover to grasp that fat head fish. Looking at the fat head fish that was struggling in his hand, he laughingly said, “You can continue to jump around.”