In general, the sword seemed to be ignored. It wasn’t that surprising, because it didn’t look like a particularly impressive sword. From what I could see, it was extremely rusted and damaged. It looked just as likely to break in half as you tried to pull it out than be released from the rock. There were two or three people around it, trying to pull it, but I got the impression they were tourists.
“There is a festival once a year where locals embarrass themselves trying to pull it out, but for the most part it is ignored except out of city visitors,” Eliana explained, excited that her knowledge on this country was proving useful to me.
“Would any of you like to pull it?” I asked.
“Master… I couldn’t…” Raissa blushed. “What if I did?”
“Ah… we’d probably have to use one of those expensive formations so that you could stop being my slave.” I laughed.
The girls looked horrified by the notion. I grabbed Faeyna and Raissa’s hands and gave them a reassuring look.
“Whether you’re my slaves or not, I will always care about you. Besides, if you were queens, wouldn’t that mean that you’d be in a position where it’d make sense if we got married?
“M-married?”
“I mean, as the queen of the new Osteria, our countries would become allies. I’m sure the King would be eager to marry us to secure the alliance…”
“Ahhh! Come on! Draw!”
The three of us looked to see Eliana desperately trying to pull the sword.
“E-Eliana! You’re already a princess, and we’re already engaged!” I cried out.
She slipped and fell back, landing on her butt. The nearby tourists, who were Esmeres by the look, chuckled to each other. I didn’t know what they were laughing about. Every single one of them was only three to four feet tall. It looked more ridiculous seeing one of them try to pull a sword that stuck out a few inches shorter than themselves. Even if the sword started moving, they wouldn’t be able to draw it unless they stood on each other’s shoulders.
I ran over and helped the blushing Eliana off the ground. She blushed as I healed her elbow and instinctively checked on the baby. I admonished her softly about how she shouldn’t strain herself like that. Perhaps I was too lenient, as I ended it with a soft kiss. As this happened, both Faeyna and Raissa gave it their best. I guess my incentive had highly motivated them. I made sure Raissa took it easy though.
Naturally, everyone failed. A few store stalls across the road trying to get the girl’s attention with jewelry and outfits now that they had their try. I had a feeling this was a tourist trap set up exactly for that purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire story was just made up. People came to pull the sword, but perhaps disappointed they failed, they then went shopping to cheer themselves up. It was no coincidence that the sword was in the middle of a courtyard filled with merchants.
“Master, you should try.” Raissa declared as she recovered, her ears peeled back like she found the sword to be a personal challenge.
I had shifted the attention to the girls just because I didn’t want to try. I had too many serendipitous moments occur. If I was capable of pulling the sword, wouldn’t that be too much?
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