Aku Bikin Sesuatu, Nih! - 15

Aku Bikin Sesuatu, Nih!

"Van-sama, sihir Anda apa nggak habis-habis?" tanya Till dengan mata berbinar.

Aku cuma nyengir sambil memamerkan koleksi kecil di tanganku. Meskipun belum punya pedang beneran atau senapan kayak yang aku impikan—soalnya senjata tuh romantisme cowok sejati—aku tetap bisa bikin beberapa barang keren. Di genggaman, ada pedang mini, tombak mungil, bahkan benda mirip pistol yang ukurannya cuma sebesar mainan boneka.

"Detail banget, Van!" seru Kamsin nggak percaya.

"Ini pasti laris manis kayak kacang goreng!" Till nimbrung sambil matanya berbinar lihat mainan di tanganku.

Walaupun cuma dari kayu, bentuknya persis kayak asli. Teksturnya juga mirip plastik, nggak khas serat kayu yang kasar. Setelah puas bikin mainan, aku coba bikin pedang sepanjang satu meter. Meski bukan dari logam, mata pedangnya tajam dan nggak gampang melengkung. Bentuknya kayak katana Jepang beneran.

"Wah...!"

Kamsin langsung terpana. Wajahnya bersinar kayak anak kecil dikasih mainan baru. Padahal ya emang dia masih bocah sih.

"Ini buat kamu," aku nyodorin pedangnya.

Kamsin sampai susah napas pas nerima pedang itu. Dia pegang dengan dua tangan sambil ngomong, "Ini bakal jadi pusaka keluargaku!"

Melihat itu, Till langsung melirikku dengan mata memelas. Kami saling tatap cukup lama, tapi akhirnya aku yang menyerah. Aku ambil balok kayu, tuang sihir sambil membayangkan bentuk tertentu.

"Nih... buat kamu."

Begitu nerima benda itu, ekspresi Till campur aduk antara seneng dan sedih.

"Eh, anu... makasih..."

"Kenapa? Nggak suka kapak? Aku bikinnya biar keren loh... ini bisa buat nusuk kayak tombak, atau bagian belakangnya buat mukul kayak martil..."

Aku lihat Till yang matanya mulai berkaca-kaca, bikin aku bingung sendiri.

"Ah, nggak, nggak, nggak! Ya ampun, aku justru suka banget sama kapak ini! Masa iya sih aku nggak bakal jatuh cinta sama kapak sebagus ini...!"

Air mataku yang hampir tumpah langsung berubah jadi senyum pas lihat Till nempelkin pipinya ke kapak sambil digosok-gosokin.

"Seneng deh kamu suka."

"Jelas!" serunya antusias.

Dalam hati aku mikir, nanti bakal bikin pernak-pernik imut buat dia. Walau mungkin tetap dari kayu sihir.

***

Setelah puas main-main, aku balik ke desa. Ternyata pembangunan tembok baru udah dimulai dari bagian depan. Gerbangnya masih ada, tapi tembok di sekitarnya udah naik sampai empat meter.

"Hebat juga, baru setengah hari udah semaju ini."

Waktu aku bergumam gitu sambil turun dari kereta, Orto melongo nggak percaya.

"Van-sama sih emang udah biasa, tapi kepala pelayannya juga luar biasa. Bisa pake mana sebanyak itu tanpa istirahat, cadangan mana-nya gede banget."

Meskipun tanpa sadar aku udah dianggap orang aneh, aku seneng juga disetarain sama Espada—walau aku sendiri nggak punya bakat sihir.

"Espada emang andal. Dia orang hebat yang selama ini mendukung Keluarga Marquis dari belakang layar."

Aku ngomong gitu sambil sedikit ngangkat dada, tapi Pluriel malah melirik curiga.

"Tetep aja aneh. Kalau dia penyihir sekokoh itu, pasti militer udah narik dia. Kalo pake standar petualang, dia tuh peringkat atas..."

"Yah, nggak masalah kan? Aku malah seneng Espada ikut denganku, meskipun katanya dia mau pensiun. Makanya aku lebih milih lihat masa depan daripada sibuk mikirin masa lalu yang nggak jelas. Yang penting Espada sehat."

Aku coba mengalihkan obrolan biar nggak kepo soal masa lalu Espada. Tiba-tiba denger suara dari belakang.

"Kayaknya kebahagiaan di masa tuaku adalah ngeliat Tuan Van tumbuh dewasa."

Pas aku noleh, Espada udah berdiri di situ dengan senyum hangat. Di tangannya ada alat-alat konstruksi.

"Maksudnya apa? Eh, tapi tunggu dulu. Kayaknya lebih baik kita perkuat pertahanan desa dulu. Oh, iya, kalau gerbangnya nggak diperkuat, pagarnya bakal jebol..."

"Kalau ada serangan hari ini, akan saya tutup gerbang dengan tanah dan bangun tembok di sekitarnya. Tapi sekarang, meskipun Tuan Van keberatan, Tuan nggak boleh bolos les. Mari, Tuan Muda."

Dia narik tanganku dan menggandengku pergi. Sikapnya yang nggak bisa ditawar ini yang bikin beda sama Dee. Aku cuma bisa nyusut kayak anak anjing kehujanan.

Eh, sambil aku belajar dengan menderita, Orto dan petualang lain malah heboh ngeliatin senjatanya Till dan Kamsin. Kok beda banget situasinya?

***

Setelah makan malam, aku baru dilepas setelah dua jam belajar. Lumayan beruntung. Biasanya les bisa setengah hari, tapi sekarang nggak sempat. Matahari udah turun, gelap mulai datang, dan minyak lampu terlalu mahal buat dipake numpuk jam belajar.

"Hm, hmm, hmm~"

aku bersenandung sambil jalan keliling desa ditemenin Till dan Kamsin. Sepi banget, hampir semua penduduk udah tidur.

"Oh, Van. Mau ke mana?"

salah satu petualang jaga malam nyapa. Itu pria kecil agak gendut, seorang pramuka dan ahli jebak. Orangnya baik hati, suka daging, dan ramah banget.

"Selamat malam. Aku mau perkuat tembok dan pintu."

"Hah? Malem-malem gini bahaya. Aku ikut."

suaranya penuh khawatir. "Kamu bawa obor cukup? Eh, bukan itu maksudku. Kayaknya nggak gampang nguatin pintu."

Aku yakin pria ceria ini nggak punya maksud jahat sedikit pun.

"Aku kan penyihir produksi."

Begitu aku bilang gitu, Ksara mengedip bingung.

"Loh, apa nggak apa-apa ngasih tahu? Kan itu rahasia?"

"Semua udah tahu, jadi nggak ada yang perlu dirahasiain. Lagian kamu kan udah lihat balok kayu dan senjatanya Till."

Aku jawab sambil ketawa, Ksara ikut ketawa juga.

"Oh, gitu ya? Dua temanmu itu sayang banget sama hadiahmu. Malah belum berani pakai karena takut rusak. Padahal menurutku kayu buatanmu susah rusak."

Till dan Kamsin langsung palingin muka pas Ksara ngeledekin mereka. Aku lihat mereka sambil angkat alis.

"Iya, itu senjata, harus dicoba. Bahaya kalau nggak bisa dipake pas darurat."

Mereka liatin senjata masing-masing dengan ekspresi galau.

"Tapi..."

"Aku nggak tega..."

Waktu mereka ragu, Ksara nyengir kuda sambil ngeluarin perisai kulit.

"Gimana kalau pukul ini? Itu kulit orc knight dari bahu dan punggung. Kuat dan lentur, kualitas bagus."

Kamsin ragu-ragu angkat pedangnya.

"Yaudah deh, coba!"

Dia ayun pelan-pelan, takut pedangnya rusak. Ksara ketawa lihat ayunan setengah hati itu. Tapi... sulet!

Pedang itu nembus perisai kayak nggoreng tempe.

"Hah?"

Sepotong perisai kulit, sepertiganya, jatuh ke tanah. Ksara geleng-geleng.

"Eh?"

Aku ikut bengong. Kamsin matanya melotot kayak piring, lihat pedangnya.

"Apa tadi itu?"

Till ragu-ragu lihat kapak di tangannya.

"Ya ampun, perisaiku! Baru beli!"

Jeritan Ksara menggema di langit malam.

Chapter 15: Let's Make Something Cool

"Van-sama, is your magic like... endless?" Till's eyes sparkled with curiosity.

I just grinned, showing off my tiny collection. Sure, I didn't have real swords or guns yet—and hey, weapons are a guy's romantic dream—but I still managed to whip up some pretty neat stuff. In my hands, I held miniature swords, tiny spears, even gun-like objects the size of doll accessories.

"The details are insane!" Kamsin gasped.

"These'd sell like hotcakes!" Till chimed in, practically glowing as she stared at the toys in my hand.

Even though they're wooden, they looked totally real. The texture's more like plastic too—not that rough, grainy wood feel. After messing around with those toys, I decided to try making a proper meter-long sword. Despite not being metal, the blade came out sharp with barely any warping. Looked just like a real Japanese katana.

"Whoa...!"

Kamsin's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Well, I mean, he is still basically a kid anyway.

"This is for you." I handed him the sword.

Kamsin literally started hyperventilating. He held it with both hands, mumbling, "This is gonna be our family heirloom!"

Seeing that, Till turned to me with those big puppy-dog eyes. We stared at each other for a while, but yeah, I totally lost that battle. Grabbing a wooden block, I poured in my magic while picturing something specific.

"Here... this one's for you."

When she took it, Till's face twisted into this weird mix of happy and sad.

"Uh, um... thanks..."

"What's wrong? You don't like axes? I made it look super cool... you can thrust it like a spear, or use the blunt side like a hammer..."

I noticed Till's eyes getting all teary, which totally confused me.

"Oh, no, no, no! Gosh, I actually LOVE this axe! Like, how could I NOT fall in love with an axe this amazing...!"

My own almost-tears instantly turned into a grin as she started rubbing her cheek against the axe.

"Glad you like it."

"Are you kidding? Of course!" Her enthusiasm was through the roof.

Made a mental note to craft her some cute accessories later. Even if they'd probably be made of magic wood too.

***

After my little crafting session, I headed back to the village. Turns out they'd already started building a new wall from the front. The gate was still there, but the walls around it had shot up to four meters.

"Half a day and they've already gotten this far? Impressive."

As I muttered that climbing off the cart, Orto stood there slack-jawed.

"Well, Van-sama's one thing, but that butler's something else. Using that much mana nonstop with huge reserves like that?"

Didn't realize I'd become known as some kind of freak, but honestly, being compared to Espada felt pretty good—even if I don't have any real magical talent myself.

"Espada's seriously capable. He's been supporting the Marquis family from behind the scenes all this time."

I puffed up a bit saying that, but Pluriel gave me this suspicious look.

"Still seems weird though. If he's that powerful, the military would've snatched him up. By adventurer standards, he'd be top-ranked..."

"Well, does it matter? I'm just glad Espada came with me even though he said he was retiring. So I'd rather focus on the future than dig into some vague past. Main thing is Espada's healthy."

Tried to steer the conversation away from Espada's history. Then heard a voice behind me.

"I suppose my twilight years' joy will be watching young Master Van grow up."

Turned around and there's Espada with that warm smile. He was holding some construction tools.

"What's that supposed to mean? Wait, hold on. Shouldn't we reinforce the village defenses first? Oh right, if we don't strengthen that gate, the fence'll get wrecked..."

"If there's an attack today, I'll block the gate with earth and build a wall around it. But right now, even if young Master objects, you can't skip your lessons. This way, young master."

He grabbed my hand and dragged me along. That no-questions-asked attitude? That's what sets him apart from Dee. I just slumped like a sad puppy stuck in the rain.

And get this—while I suffered through studying, Orto and the other adventurers were losing it over Till and Kamsin's weapons. Talk about mood whiplash.

***

After dinner, they finally let me go after two hours of study. Lucky break. Usually it's like half a day's worth, but there wasn't time. Sun was down, it was getting dark, and lamp oil's too pricey to waste extending my study hours.

"Hmm, hm, hmm~"

Humming to myself, I strolled through the village with Till and Kamsin following. Dead quiet—almost everyone was asleep.

"Oh, Van. Where're you heading?"

One of the night watch adventurers called out. Short, chubby guy—a scout and trap expert despite his looks. Total softie, loves meat, surprisingly good-natured.

"Evening. Gonna reinforce the walls and doors."

"What? It's dangerous this late. I'll come with." His voice dripped with concern. "Got enough torches? Wait, that's not the point. Can't be easy strengthening a door."

Pretty sure this cheerful dude doesn't have a malicious bone in his body.

"I'm a production mage, remember?"

At that, Ksara blinked in confusion.

"You sure it's okay telling me that? Isn't it supposed to be secret?"

"Everyone already knows, so no point hiding it. Plus you've seen the wooden blocks and Till's weapons."

I laughed, and he joined in.

"Oh, that so? Your two friends there absolutely adore those gifts. They haven't even swung 'em once—scared they'll break something you made. Personally, I doubt those sturdy things'd break even if they tried."

Till and Kamsin immediately looked away as Ksara teased them. I raised an eyebrow at them.

"Seriously though, they're weapons. You should at least test them. Disaster if you can't use 'em when it counts."

They stared at their weapons with tragic expressions.

"But..."

"I can't..."

While they hesitated, Ksara chuckled and pulled out a leather shield.

"How 'bout hitting this? It's orc knight leather from the shoulder and back. Sturdy and flexible—top quality."

Kamsin reluctantly raised his sword.

"Fine, okay! Here goes!"

He swung carefully, terrified of damaging it. Ksara laughed at the half-hearted swing, but then—slice!

The sword cut through that shield like tissue paper.

"Huh?"

A chunk of leather shield, maybe a third of it, thudded to the ground. Ksara shook his head in disbelief.

"Eh?"

I tilted my head, confused. Kamsin's eyes went dinner-plate wide staring at his sword.

"What just happened?"

Till hesitantly glanced down at her axe.

"No way, my leather shield! I just bought that!"

Ksara's scream echoed through the night sky.

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