Chapter 189 – 189 – This bastard, let’s give him a beating!

“That’s a good sword,” the blacksmith commented as Enkrid chose his blade.

“I’ll take this too,” he added, picking out a plate armor piece, a riveted side guard for his torso. It was simple but effective—easy to wear without hindrance, though he’d need to find proper shoulder guards to complete the set.

Enkrid’s eyes scanned the blacksmith’s shop, noting the pile of scrap metal in the corner.

There were two more forges inside the Border Guard, but this one had the best craftsmanship. While there was no special blacksmith for the lord of the area, the forges in the guardhouse supplied the weapons for the barracks, where the soldiers trained. As the war wound down, it was time to stock up on weapons, and the scrap metal would soon be turned into spears, swords, and blunt weapons.

The blacksmith before him had been working hard, a little too hard perhaps. Enkrid didn’t have time for such details, but his concern for the smith’s efforts was clear.

“Here,” Enkrid said, flicking a gold coin toward the blacksmith, followed by a few more.

“That’s a lot,” the blacksmith remarked, eyeing the pile.

“Buy some flowers for your wife, with the leftovers,” Enkrid added, his voice casual.

The blacksmith stared at him with a vacant look in his eyes, his face drawn and tired, not particularly moved. Recently, Krona had been flowing freely in their hands , and Enkrid wasn’t one to be stingy with it.

Krais had once pointed out that Enkrid’s greatest flaw was his disregard for finances, though in truth, within their unit, only Krais seemed to be overly concerned with money. Even Finn wasn’t one to hoard her wealth. Esther, being a leopard, didn’t even have such concepts.

“But should I even consider Esther part of the unit?” Enkrid thought, though the leopard had certainly earned recognition for their contributions. He might not officially be in the ranks, but Ester was a valued ally.