Considering that he wouldn't be able to summon a new Heroic Spirit for a while, Shane decided to wait until he learned magic later and solved this shortcoming through his own cultivation.
I wonder what my aptitude for magic is like. Shane scratched his head and returned to the inn side by side with Erza.
In the restaurant on the first floor of the inn, they ordered a hearty dinner mainly consisting of barbecue. The aroma of fat sizzling over the fire mixed with the scent of the sea breeze, full of the smell of life.
"How did you come up with that spinning parry into a thrust today?" Erza was struggling with a bone-in steak, her speech a bit slurred, but her eyes were narrowed in satisfaction.
"Instinct, I guess," Shane stuffed a big piece of meat into his mouth, feeling the juices burst in his mouth. "Your attack rhythm was too fast; I probably couldn't have blocked it otherwise."
The two chatted while eating, topics jumping from combat techniques to which stray cat on the street corner Millianna was obsessed with lately—aimless but exceptionally relaxing.
Erza also changed from clamoring to travel at the beginning to enjoying life, not mentioning setting off again.
When settling the bill, the two tacitly took turns paying. Today it was Erza's turn.
But she took longer at the front desk than usual, and her expression was subtle when she returned. Shane glanced at her, assuming she was just tired, and didn't pay much attention.
Back in his room, Shane lay on his back on the bed. His body was tired, but his brain was unusually active. He was pondering a new arrow design.
Over the past week, the strength of the "arrows" he forged had tripled compared to the beginning. This process of making his work perfect little by little through thinking and practice fascinated him deeply.
Once my Magic Power improves a bit more, maybe I can try forging a Magic Sword. Shane couldn't help but look forward to it.
Moreover, because of this extraordinary enthusiasm for forging, he unexpectedly discovered a clue related to Saber's True Name.
He recalled the sudden sense of familiarity when he first stepped into the blacksmith shop. He suspected that this inexplicable familiarity was likely influenced by Saber.
Although later, after repeated self-examination, he confirmed that this love for forging came from his own heart and was not influenced by the spirit.
But this still made him break out in a cold sweat, thankful that he didn't summon those Heroic Spirits with overly extreme alignments back then.
"Fire... Forging... Noble Phantasm that manifests weapons..." Shane muttered to himself, the blurry image of Saber in his mind seemingly becoming clearer. "It seems to be a Heroic Spirit inseparable from blacksmiths."
This discovery greatly narrowed down the range of Saber candidates he needed to screen.
In a good mood, he turned his head to look at the "masterpieces" accumulated in the corner over these days. Works of various sizes and shapes were piled together like a small iron-gray hill.
Looking at them, a new inspiration popped up.
Shane subconsciously planned to go to the blacksmith shop tomorrow to trade for some rough blanks to practice with, and his hand naturally reached for the money pouch by the pillow.
However, the light touch from his fingertips made his heart skip a beat.
He sat up abruptly and turned the money pouch upside down on the bed—
Only a few coins of the smallest denomination and a few crumpled banknotes scattered out lonely.
Out of money!
The share of money he got from the Tower of Heaven wasn't much to begin with. These days, he had been eating and drinking lavishly, and buying scraps and rough blanks from the blacksmith shop almost continuously. His wallet had unknowingly bottomed out.
Shane made a rough calculation; he didn't even have enough money to buy a ticket to Magnolia!
"No!" He sobered up instantly. "I have to ask Erza to lend me some money for the ticket. I can't stay here leisurely anymore; we must set off as soon as possible!"
The next day, Shane got up early, figuring out how to broach the subject. Just as he opened the door, he saw a figure already blocking the doorway.
It was Erza. She had changed her outfit again. It wasn't the black clothes and pants conducive to movement, but a blue corseted dress with a white lace neckline. She looked much softer overall.
Seeing that she seemed to be looking for him, Shane was happy. This was a good opportunity to ask to borrow money and propose setting off!
He cleared his throat, ready to speak, but saw Erza suddenly clasp her hands together in front of her chest, lower her head, and say first in a much louder voice than he expected:
"Please, Shane! Lend me some money! I don't have money to buy a ticket out of here anymore!"
"Huh?!" Shane was caught off guard, his eyes instantly widening.
In the next second, a wonderful sense of relief—"So you too"—welled up spontaneously, making his back straighten unconsciously.
"Look at you, spending money lavishly!" He immediately put on a stern face and put on airs. "Where did all the money go? That was our travel expense, not for you to squander on a vacation. You have to have a plan when spending money!"
Erza shrank her neck from his scolding and explained weakly: "Just... bought clothes. And, occasionally bought snacks and toys for Millianna..."
The more she spoke, the more guilty she felt, her voice getting smaller and smaller. Finally, she had to pout and accept the criticism aggrievedly.
It wasn't easy to wait until Shane finished speaking. She looked up, her black eyes holding the last hope, looking at Shane pitifully.
Shane turned his head to avoid her gaze, was silent for a moment, then squeezed out a few words sullenly:
"...I'm out of money too."
"HAAAAA—?!!"
Erza roared in a voice even more shocked and louder than before, her eyes full of disbelief that said, "You actually dare to lecture me?"
"You're broke and you still dare to lecture me! Shane, you idiot!"
She pounced immediately, pinning him onto the bed. The two pulled and tugged, crumpling the sheets into a ball instantly, like two children wrestling for the last piece of candy.
...
After a period of chaos.
The two sat side by side on the hard bench in the inn lobby, staring out the door together, wide-eyed.
"What do we do now?" Erza asked in a whisper.
"Can... can only... go find Millianna, or borrow some money from Grandpa Rob?" Even with skin as thick as Shane's, his cheeks felt a bit hot when proposing this.
"..."
Erza fell into a deeper silence. Her bottom line was obviously much higher than Shane's. Right now, she just felt her face burning and didn't know how to respond at all.
Just as the two were staring gloomily at the door, almost turning into stone statues, a timid voice sounded nearby:
"Um... Mr. Shane?"
The two turned their heads simultaneously and saw the blacksmith apprentice Noel standing nearby, rubbing his hands somewhat nervously.
"Noel? Is something the matter?" Shane tried to make his tone sound normal.
Noel looked at Shane, then glanced at Erza, who was expressionless but radiating a somewhat depressed aura, swallowed, and then said:
"It's like this... My master has a batch of finished farm tools and ordinary ironware to send to the neighboring town of Shirotsume. Usually, merchant caravans take them along on their way, but the next one won't be for several days.
"Master is a bit anxious... I, I mentioned to Master that you, Mr. Shane, are a Mage and very powerful... So Master wants to ask you, could you escort this batch of goods there? It's not far; follow the main road, and you'll arrive by noon tomorrow!"
Shane and Erza's eyes lit up instantly, like starving people seeing bread.
"Escort? Can we leave today?" Shane suppressed his excitement and asked hurriedly.
"What about the pay?" Erza spoke almost in unison.
Noel was startled by the sudden enthusiasm of the two, subconsciously taking half a step back before stammering, "If... if you're in a hurry, we can load the cart and leave this morning! As for the pay... Master said 15,000 Jewels. Is that okay?"
This price was obviously lower than the market rate for hiring a formal Mage.
"No problem!" x2
But the two answered quickly and loudly, decisively, afraid that the other party would regret it if they were a second late.
"We are in a very big hurry!" Shane emphasized, his body leaning forward unconsciously.
"That's right! Especially in a hurry!" Erza nodded vigorously in agreement.