I walked calmly toward the school’s gates as a new year started, fallen leaves covering the road from the tall trees here and there. Many students with the same uniform as I were either dropped by their parents, came in pairs, or simply came alone like myself, but their eyes shone with excitement and expectations, unlike my bored expression.
“Oy, wait up. Are you Leon Roil?”
I looked to my left and saw four guys with one year younger than me, waiting by the school’s gates. I stared at them for a moment then simply ignored them, not having any interest as I already knew what they wanted.
“Oy, you f*****! Don’t you dare ignore us!”
They then quickly surrounded me and I simply pointed out towards the gate-guardian that stared at us intently, the four calming down and one of them getting closer to whisper.
“Oy, I know you’re crafting weapons… Here, how about you craft me a knife and I’ll be your best buddy, eh? What do you say? Let’s be friends.”
“Get lost, brat.”
I groaned bored as I yawned, forgetting how it feels like to wake up so early. The entire summer I had to work from morning to dawn, able to finish only half of my homework because of that. But even so, it wasn’t like I’d get expelled for not finishing my homework, I simply couldn’t care less.
“Y-you f*****… that’s it, come with me.”
“Later.”
I brushed past him and left their encirclement. The one from before felt like shouting as he simply turned and grabbed onto the back of my collar, trying to stop me.
“Wait up-! Argh!”
He let go and after he looked at his palm, he saw his fingers having multiple cuts here and there, bleeding quite profoundly. His face paled then he looked back at me, freezing in place after seeing my sharp stare and mocking smile,
“What a dumbass. Just piss off.”
“…”
He trembled in rage and then he rushed in front of me, looking at me hatefully.
“Be sure to come behind the school’s building after the opening festivity, you f*****. I’ll make you beg for me to let you craft my knife.”
“No money, no weapon. Now piss off.”
I brushed by him once again and continued on forward, not even minding him. Although I started blacksmithing, I still continued at least the basic training for karate, my frame being firm, almost like that of a mountain. Such, every time I brushed past someone they would have to take a few steps back, instinctively feeling suppressed by me.
The opening festivity was taking place in the school’s sport-field. After I arrived, I didn’t even look after my class or anything like that as I simply took the first empty spot I found at the very back and waited for it to end.
“Hey~ buddy. Nice seeing you here.”
Beside me sat exactly the four punks that thought they could get a free knife from me. I simply ignored them as they glared at me and continued to look at the teachers that spoke their thing, not paying attention as it was simply nothing interesting.
After the festivities ended, I got up and went to the exit, the four following suit.
“Alright, punk. Now come with us-“
“Later.”
“What did you say?”
They tried to appear tough in front of me but I simply continued on forward towards the main building.
“You punk, I said you’re coming with us- Agh!”
This time another one tried to grab my wrist, only to end up the same as the first one. I chuckled amused at their stupidity then glanced at them,
“Don’t worry, idiots. I’m just going to take a piss.”
“As if I care-“
“Then should I piss on your wounds?”
“Y-you f***-“
“Wait here. And wash your 1mouth, teachers are around.”
I pointed at the wandering students and teachers that were with their eyes especially on me, trying to dig out anything that they could use to expel me. Seeing them all glancing our way, the others decided to keep quiet and only wait, feeling somewhat suppressed by the other’s gazes.
I went to the bathroom and, to their annoyance it took a while. Just before they could enter inside and shout for me to hurry, I got out with my earphones on.
“What the f*** took you so long?! How many liters did you piss?!”
“Oh, I had to search for a good song. I like pissing to my favorite music.”
“Are you messing with us?”
“You just found out… Damn.”
I walked in front of them while chuckling amused at their stupidity. By how they behaved with me, they must be a new bunch that just transferred here, hearing about me from some bored senior. The fact that I was crafting weapons was known throughout the delinquents because I would frequently craft for them knives or daggers for a good amount of money, at times taxing for a well-crafted knife around as much as my uncle gets for one he would craft himself. Of course, many tried to report me, but whenever the teachers asked me I would simply lie and say that I never heard of such a thing and if those punks had any proof. Of course, the teachers also got mocked by me, saying that one shouldn’t trust the rumors of some high-schoolers so easily.
Thanks to these dumb money-bags, I was able to make quite a bit of profit, not having to enter into my father’s money for quite a while now. As for the teachers… just what can they do besides lower my grades? Report me to my parents? Yeah, good luck with that.
My smile was cynical as I thought of how my business in the new school year will be. After we arrived behind the school, there was already a group of delinquents; girls and boys that smoked and drank without a care, the girls cornering another girl that seemed to be from another school, her uniform being different from ours.
Wow, bullied on the first day of the new school year. And by the looks of it, she’s a transferred one. Damn, how bad is her luck?
I chuckled amused then the other boys saw me, an excited grin on their face.
“Yo~! Ain’t that Leon? How come you’re here?”
The one who saw me was one of the punks I crafted a knife for, appearing extremely pleased with it even to today. He then saw the four behind me and smiled once again,
“O~h? Are they your new customers? What did they ask for?”
“Can you believe these idiots? They want me to make free weapons.”
“Pffft! Ahahaha~! This is killer!”
The four from behind turned red from embarrassment and irritation after seeing us laugh in their faces. He was of the same year as me and, although I hated his arrogant and high-nosed kind, as long as he was paying, I would still craft him whatever.
The four then walked in front of me and pointed at the other punk annoyed.
“Huh?! And who the f*** are you? His friend? You got a problem with us asking for free stuff, huh?!”
“… What did you say, f*****?”
The guy turned serious and the other guys from behind that only observed also came closer, now there being four against four, two of them remaining behind while even the girls were for a moment distracted.
I looked bored at how they tried to flex their manpower to one another then glanced at the girl from the back that was cornered. I saw her preparing for battle as she took a rather low stance without anyone knowing, getting a string from her pocket and tying up her hair.
“…?!”
While she looked at everyone to be sure that nobody was reading her movements, our eyes met and she immediately became wary, as if expecting me to make the others aware of her weird behavior. On the other hand, I simply smirked then looked away uninterested.
Do your thing, girl. Beat them to a pulp, get beaten, or just run away; it has nothing to do with me.
After I turned away, the girl was momentarily confused as to why I wouldn’t take any kind of action against her but then one of the girls saw her ruffling her sleeves up.
“Huh? What is this bitch thinking-“
Just as she wanted to throw a few comments to attract the other’s attention, her whole body was sent flying then crashed on the ground, the cornered girl now starting to fight back.
“Kyah!”
“W-what?!”
“What happened?!”
“S-she’s crazy!”
The other guys then turned around and the four brats that initially came at me quickly took this chance to smash the four in front of them, landing a solid punch in their faces each.
Oho~.
I looked a bit surprised at the girl as I was able to recognize those moves.
Judo, eh? Even with such a thin and womanly frame, she’s still able to throw both guys and girls like ragged dolls.
The girls tried to grab her while the boys wanted to either punch or kick her, ending up either grabbed and thrown, or used as a shield, or even be thrown in the others. As she continued on, I just turned away and walked calmly on my way, not caring about what was happening anymore.
As I went on my way outside the school’s gates, rushing steps resounded from behind me, making me turn to look.
“Take this!”
The girl from before suddenly leaned closer to me with her back and firmly grabbed my arm and collar, wanting to throw me as well.
“You idiot.”
“Huh? Agh!”
As she was already in a lowered position for an over-the-shoulder throw, the moment she let go because of the blades around my collar and arm, all I had to do was quickly straighten my back, making her fall on the ground as she had nothing to hold onto. She then looked at her bloody palms baffled then at my indifferent face. I looked at her like at another idiot then asked,
“For what reason did you try to throw me?”
“Y-you’re just another punk! Now, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you supposed to kick me while I’m down? Or are you underestimating me so much that you’d let me get up for round two?”
“… You’re quite the dumbass, aren’t you?”
“W-what?”
She got up annoyed and with a serious face she got in a battle-ready position.
“Come. From what I heard, I understand that you’re making others weapons, right? That means you must be carrying a few right now, seeing how your clothes are filled with concealed blades.”
“Concealed blades. What fancy words you choose there. Well, I don’t hate it.”
“…Are you mocking me?”
“Rather, I feel like I’m the one made fun of. For what reason are you even picking on me? Have I done something to you?”
“Stop playing innocent. I’ve dealt with punks like you since I was 12. You all try to play it innocent, only to suddenly strike from behind.”
“Then you need to keep growing. Who knows? Maybe then you’ll understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
Seeing me smiling amused while caressing my beard, her eyes turned sharp and glared at me with a cold face. I glanced at her once then waved my hand, turning away to leave.
“Just go and play with other kids that only know how to throw fists left and right. I don’t fight, I only got work to do.”
“You… Are you telling me you’ll run from a woman? What type of man are you?”
“A simple one.”
She tried to provoke my masculinity but I simply waved my hand as I continued on forward uninterested in her words. Baffled that her provocations didn’t work, she then tried to stop me once again in a hurry,
“Wait! If you can defeat me, you’ll be able to do whatever you want to my body.”
“…”
I stopped and turned her way. She expected me to instantly agree while staring at her in a lustful way, but her expectations were crushed yet again as I only stared at her like at a poor thing.
“Selling yourself for so cheap… I’m not sure what kind of hardships you went through, but try to respect your body some more. You only got one after all, good luck.”
Afterward, I left her behind, the girl continuously staring at my back baffled.
Was he… really not together with the others? Then why was he… No way… is he being bullied as well? Or is their relationship not what I’m thinking?
She looked back at the others who were barely able to get up. Be them the four who tried to extort a free knife from me, or from the group that wanted to bully her, everyone was now lying on the ground or trying to get up with a few difficulties after being thrown by her.
.
Before going home, I first went to a supermarket and bought some groceries for our meal. Cooking for him, my uncle said that he’ll pay me for every food I’ll be making the same amount as in a restaurant, having me learn in parallel besides blacksmithing, some cooking as well. Of course, that meant I was trying to find the recipes that used the cheapest materials but gave out the most expensive result, extorting my uncle from money whenever I could.
However, this time I feel like eating some pasta, so… I guess it’s fine to get only a few euros today.
After going through such a weird experience, I went home and cooked some pasta with tomato and bacon. When we were done eating, I had to wash the dishes then get back to work. This time’s project was a Teutonic Sword of the XIVth or late XIIIth century. It was the type of sword used against heavy armors, with a thick base that was becoming pointier the more it went towards the tip, the tip being pointy and sharp, used for stabbing. The blade was also sharpened only from half to the tip, the rest only for a bit. The handle was supposed to be short for one hand, used by cavalry; the guard was thicker at the base then more flattened the more it went to the sides, maybe even a bit sharpened, the guard sometimes used as a weapon as well. At the end of the handle, the button was half-circular, half flattened, in a rather oval form but with corners. Overall, a complicated form.
“This type of button again…”
I looked at a picture from Google bothered by the weird button of the sword, and uncle who was beside me caressed his beard interested,
“Just use as references those from the internet like you did last time then get back down to crafting. Besides, what you must be worrying about isn’t the button, but the resistance of the sword as a whole. The one who asked for this weapon will use it in MA medieval fights, so you need to round that tip as well.”
“Oho~, that’s interesting.”
Medieval Martial Arts, or how my uncle called it: Buhurt. It’s a type of battle in groups or 1v1 where men equipped in full-body armor and armed with any type of weapon (mostly a sword and a small shield) are fighting either inside an arena or on the open field, reenacting the medieval wars but not faking anything, their strikes and hits being full-blown and with power.
“Although things like stabbing or having a sharp edge it’s banned, the fact that you’re fighting with thin but tough metallic weapons still can end up with injuries or with lost lives. I wonder, how is this sport actually not banned?”
I smiled with a grin as I thought it would be cool to take part in that. We walked outside the house and towards our workshop where multiple pieces of failed armors and weapons were filling whole buckets and barrels, waiting to be either repaired or refined.
“With many great exceptions, we men are creatures that love any type of blood-spilling sport. We might be living in a peaceful era, but we still desire to feel the excitement of a serious battle where you can use all your power against another.”
“But aren’t there many like that?”
“There might be, but where else can you fight with real weapons and equip full body-armor legally without ending up dead? This is a one-of-a-kind sport alright.”
My uncle was laughing mockingly while he drank from his bottle. I looked at the swords my uncle and I failed to finish and took one of them out. It was cracked here and there and it waited to be melted. However, before throwing it into the forge, I started swinging around, my uncle looking intently.
In my free time, I would sometimes search all kind of videos on my phone that showed me how to use or train with the sword, having me now learn all kinds of tricks with the sword, being able to spin it around, slash in all kinds of way, cut low then high, use a type of dance with the sword from some martial arts videos, then straighten up and do a swift kendo-like swing from up to down.
“It might look spectacular and whatnot, but many of those flowery moves would be useless for you on the battlefield.”
“It might be, but at least I get to train my joints. Hammering all day made my wrists rather rigid.”
“Poor kid.”
My uncle gulped down from his wine after making a sarcastic remark, but he still let me finish my training. After I was done, I got down to working, melting down multiple bars of metal together with the broken sword. While doing so, my uncle found the shirt that I left on a chair and showed it to me,
“You better wash these. Just how many people tried to grab you today?”
Around the collar from back and front, and also around my left wrist and right arm, bloody marks were left by the guys and that one girl that tried to grab me. I shrugged my shoulders and simply waved the hammer,
“Just some transfer students.”
“Ah, so that’s why they dared to grab onto you. I was starting to think that your school life was going a bit too smooth lately. Selling weapons, talking s*** to others, being alone yet having the whole school with their eyes on you for a whole year… I really wonder when you’ll decide to just drop out of that shitty place.”
“An adult proposing to a student to drop out from school?”
“Gulp gulp gulp, as if it would ever help with anything. It was just a waste of time and energy for me. Why even bother?”
“I’m… not sure, to be honest.”
Gulping down some more wine, uncle dropped my shirt on the chair then went to arrange his tools.
While he did so, I smiled with a pained gaze as I hammered away at the metal, asking myself as well why the heck am I still going to school when I’m already working day in and out, be it summer or winter, workday or holiday.
“Are you expecting something to change?”
“Huh?”
My uncle asked me and I turned his way surprised. He looked at me while resting his head on his palm, a bored look in his eyes. I thought again over his words and asked,
“Should I?”
“Hell no.”
After that, he just jugged down another bottle of wine and left to sleep, already finishing the Roman Gladius, a bronze dagger he worked on for a week.
God, at least take a shower… you smell of cooper.
I sighed then continued on my work, thinking again over his questions.
Going to school expecting a change… Maybe, maybe not. I guess I just go because… that’s the only thing still holding me close to the old life I was having.
I remembered back when everything was perfect; when mother was alive when father wasn’t in prison when we were at our house living happily, me having friends and even a girlfriend.
“Sigh… Well, it’s not like I need all of that now. At least, I don’t feel like I need them anymore.”
As I continued on working, the sun was setting and I decided to take a pause and go out for some more groceries. It was Monday and I decided that every Monday night I would go and visit father to see how he was doing and to also send him some homemade food, the other cops helping me give it to him. Being former colleagues and even friends, many of his buddies were keeping an eye on him, not necessarily to be sure that he didn’t try to get out, but so the other prisoners won’t start attacking a former officer… Or at least, that’s what they told me.
“Did you get the steak I prepared for you last time?”
“Yes. I think you’re getting better each week.”
“That’s good. I’m actually trying to make more expensive and delicious types of food so uncle would have to pay more.”
“You’re really not sparing his pocket at all.”
“As if he’s sparing mine. I just found out that his materials are more expensive than those from the online market.”
“Hahaha~!”
Father laughed heartily and I also smiled amused. He was glad that I was able to get along with my uncle even if it was only on a business level. His words then resounded in my head again and I asked,
“Dad. Can I ask you something?”
“Yes?”
“Why do I have to keep going to school?”
“…”
Dad remained muted for a moment but then he calmed down and started thinking. A frown appeared on his forehead then he asked,
“Leon. Are you happy with the type of life you’re having right now?”
“For sure I don’t hate it. At least I get to hammer the iron, and I love blacksmithing.”
“What about school?”
“You already know how shitty it is.”
“Then how’s your income?”
“Stable and ample. Unlike before, now I’m able to make quite a bit of profit.”
“Hmm…”
Father thought once again then asked again,
“So you won’t want to do anything else besides this?”
“If possible…”
“Even when you’ll get a girl-“
“Dad, I already expect to become a hermit blacksmith at this point.”
I smiled at him amused but he simply looked at me saddened. After hearing my answers, my dad sighed then smiled mildly at me.
“Leon, I understand why you would find school useless now… You told me that all your friends left you and there’s nobody up to be your buddy, with the exception of those punks that keep on asking for free weapons from you. I still wish you don’t make them anything, even if paid.”
“Of course.”
I lied with a smile as I knew I couldn’t tell a former officer that his son was making sharp and deadly weapons for young thugs and punks from school or around the neighborhoods. If he heard that, he wouldn’t want to talk with me anymore.
“Good… As for whenever to go or not… this is your choice, Leon. But trust me, no matter how much money you’re making now, your mother would’ve still wanted for you to go to school like any other normal kid your age.”
“Yeah… normal.”
“… You grew so much and fast the past year, my son… too fast… Before, your eyes were shining with the naivety of youth while your smile was beaming with the happiness of innocence. Now… your eyes are exhuming maturity and confidence, nothing to do with the childish glow from before; while your smile no longer shows that childishness, but the cynical smile of worth and profit. My son, you’re no longer a child, but a man… you became a man in your teens when other grown men can’t even mature in their 40s… How I’m sorry for not being able to offer you a normal life, Leon, you have no idea…”
“W-wait, I didn’t mean that.”
Father sighed depressed once again and I tried to comfort him. After we talked some more so he could forget his pain for a while longer, I left after the time ended and just went back home to work, at night taking a shower then go to sleep.
“I guess… this is my life now…”
I looked at the empty ceiling of my room while reviewing my life like I do now and then, trying to understand once again just how deep in s*** I am, and how much I still have to grow to get used to it.
I’m basically alone and the only person near me it’s a drunkard crazy after profit. No parents around as my father it’s in prison while suffering from depression with occasional suicidal thoughts. My school-life it’s s***, knowing that not even the teachers can suffer me anymore. All in all, yeah, a dream life. Aargh~ I have a long way to go~.
I covered my face as I stretched tired, sighing exhausted, and simply falling asleep, thinking that even if worse came, I would just sigh and hammer the metal, just like in every other day.
- Wash your mouth as in stop cursing.
