Juicy wasn't in her maid outfit. She was wearing what she'd had on when we met at the Junkyard.
An elegant black jacket. A white, flowing apron dress — but with a red skirt.
The apron dress had a prominent red ribbon tie.
It really was like a stage costume an idol would wear on a set.
And it suited her perfectly, too. She had black leather fingerless gloves on both hands.
Her dog — wolf ears stood straight up, and her tail was wagging back and forth.
She gazed at me with those same sparkling eyes as always.
Her whole body was practically screaming "happy, happy!"
Ah. Still a dog, just like always.
"I came to have some gauntlets made."
"Woof! Um, um, gauntlets? They'd be a perfect fit for Wof!"
"R-Right?"
"Um, woof! A perfect, perfect fit!"
Her tail was wagging so hard it was whipping up wind. Was she really that happy about it?
"Wof?"
A cold voice suddenly rang out behind me.
I turned around. Pakira was there, eyes cold enough to freeze solid.
Scary.
"W-Wait — ah, um — her. I tried telling Juicy, but she wouldn't listen—"
"Um, um, Lord Wof is Lord Wof!"
"Oh. Lord Wof, is it? And what about you?"
S-scary. A cat's distinct diamond-shaped cornea fixed on Juicy with a sharp gaze.
"Um, um, woof. I am Juicy=Tasan."
"Tasan, you say..."
"Um, um, um, Lord Wof. You know this cat... Pakira?"
"Eh, y-yes. I know her."
"Wof. This dog. What is your relationship with Juicy?"
"Eh, ah, yes. We're acquaintances."
"Oh."
"Woof."
Scary. What's with these two? It's scary, but... there's some kind of invisible sparks flying.
Why are they clashing on their first meeting? Because it's a cat and a dog? That's ridiculous.
"Hey now. What are you doing. You lot."
Help arrived. A dwarf. Which meant a man.
He had shaggy, pure-white hair on his chin and a large burn scar on his left eye.
His powerful, muscular physique was evident even from his tattered work clothes. Forging truly was a job of strength.
The dwarf looked at Pakira.
"Oh now. Pakira, you came."
"Valent. I heard the repairs were finished."
Valent. Valent of Valent's Forge. The shop owner.
"Oh yeah. Fixing that thing was a real pain. Wait here. I'll go get it. And that one over there — ah, Tasan's... it's done. So, kid. What about you?"
Valent looked me up and down.
"Arifa sent me."
I handed over the letter of introduction. Valent read it and snorted.
"Alright, kid. So what do you want made?"
"A gauntlet."
"Alright. Materials?"
"Here."
I pulled the fragment of the Great Demon Blade from my pouch.
Valent looked at it, and his expression changed.
"Alright. Fine. I'll forge a gauntlet with this."
"Thank you."
"Alright. And we require payment upfront."
"How much?"
"One million oro."
"W-Wait...!?"
I was speechless.
One million!?
"Valent. That's... a million is a bit much, isn't it?"
"Wait, wait, hold on — it really costs a million?"
Pakira and Jushii protested as well.
Valent let out a sigh.
"Honestly, kid. Where'd you even get Mazan material for a great demon blade?"
"An acquaintance gave it to me. They asked me to have a gauntlet made from it."
"Easy for you to say. Listen, kid. Yours, and Pakira's and Tasan's too — when you use Mazan material, you need to use other materials of equal rarity or they won't mesh and won't hold up. That's why it gets expensive."
"I see."
It was the same with cooking — when dealing with high-end ingredients, if you didn't use quality ingredients to match, the flavor suffered.
Valent said.
"Sorry about that. Business is business."
"Understood."
I really had no choice but to accept it.
Then Pakira spoke up.
"—Hmm. A million should be enough, then."
"Pakira?"
At the blacksmith's counter, Pakira pulled a small silk bag from her pouch.
What was she doing...? She took out ten coins from the bag and lined them up.
They were octagonal coins gleaming with gold. Pure gold?
In the center... was that... a diamond embedded in it.
What the heck. Were these actually coins? I'd never seen anything like them.
Verent spoke in a trembling voice.
"King's coins."
"What?"
"T-these, without a doubt, are king's coins!"
Juicy said as well.
Th-this is that highest-denomination coin.
King's coins were worth 100,000 oro each. 100,000 yen. And there were ten of them.
A million. No way.
"This should be enough, right?"
"Sure... you. It's enough, but..."
Verent looked bewildered. I didn't know what was going on either.
Th-this was no good, no matter what.
"W-wait a moment, please!"
"What is it, Wof?"
"It's not 'what is it,' Pakira. A million is way too much, no matter what!"
No matter what, even from Pakira, I couldn't accept a million.
Just as I was about to say that out loud—
"Um! Um um, please wait! I can put up the money too, if it's for Lord Wof!"
Saying that, Juicy placed ten king's coins of her own.
As expected of a marquis's daughter. She just casually tossed out a million oro. Wait, no, that's not the point.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's going on here?"
Vorent held his head in his hands. I did too.
"Juicy. Do not interfere. I shall pay."
"Woof, um, I'll cover it! If it's for Lord Wof, it's only natural!"
Pakira and Juicy glared at each other, ears and tails bristling.
"Meeeooww"
"Grrrrrrr"
A cat and a dog!?
Why were those two competing like this?
No, more importantly, a million was just too much — time to put my foot down as a man, once and for all.
"You two, this is really—"
"Wof!"
"Lord Wof!"
"Huh, what?"
They both spun around and closed in on me in an instant.
"You were planning to spend my one million oro, weren't you?"
"Wai—"
"A-Amazing. Woof. That's my one million oro, isn't it! Yes, it is!"
"W-Wait, just hold on a second!"
They were too close! Both of them were too close! Two beautiful girls were too close!!
"Huh?"
Don't just go "huh"!!