An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

"No, I didn't engrave the product name as you requested...why not?"

The proprietress glanced at Oscar and asked:

"...By the way, what did Oscar name this kitchen knife and frying pan?"

Oscar seemed to have been waiting for her to ask, and answered with his chest puffed out:

"The meat cleaver is 'Hello Offal III', and the frying pan is 'Very Slippery α'. How about it? Do you still want me to engrave it? I'll immediately—"

"No."

Oscar's expression twitched slightly after being rejected outright, and he murmured to himself, asking why.

"Oh... your taste in naming is terrible."

"What do you mean by awful!? At least say 'tasteless'!?"

Meredith's words were tinged with pity, and Oscar complained to her. But the proprietress nodded in agreement with a serious face, so Oscar had nothing to say.

Although Oscar was a popular craftsman in the civilian community, the only thing that made him unpopular was the engraving of his name on objects.

Oscar was very dissatisfied, but since the customer pleaded with him, he no longer engraved the product name. Incidentally, all the products made in the workshop had to be recorded in the sales records. Oscar was very self-disciplined in the product names he left in the records, choosing simple and plain names.

He had to choose a simple name because he didn't know what was wrong with his own naming.

Oscar accepted the wages and prepared to go to the next delivery location with an unforgettable feeling.

After that, Oscar completed his delivery successfully, but he was exhausted because every time he delivered goods to a place, the uncles and aunties would misunderstand Oscar's relationship with the smiling Mireddy, and Oscar would spend a lot of time to explain himself.

By the time all the goods were delivered, he was mentally exhausted.

"Aoao, you look exhausted."

"It's all your fault."

"It's already noon. Do you have any recommendations for a restaurant? I'm hungry."

"Listen to me—never mind, I need to eat something, or I won't be able to hold on."

Although he was annoyed and tired, Oscar still walked into the familiar cafeteria nearby.

Since it was lunchtime, there were many customers in the restaurant. Compared to a restaurant in a working-class area, this restaurant was quite clean, and it was rare to see pictures of dishes hanging as decoration.

The two were lucky, there was an empty seat in the corner, so Oscar sat down there, and Mireille also happily took her seat.

"Hmm? Looks like we're attracting attention."

Meredi looked around and said with her head tilted.

Besides the obvious civilians, there were also people dressed as adventurers and a group of young women. This shop seemed to be quite open to customers, but everyone looked at Oscar and Meredith in surprise.

The reason was the same as when Oscar's spirit was worn out during the delivery just now, but Oscar ignored other people's gazes and called out to the store.

"Here you are~ Ah, it's Mr. Oscar, welcome...?"

A cute girl, about fifteen or sixteen, came out to greet us in a cheerful tone. She looked very good in her pure white, clean apron with ruffles.

"Hello, Ms. Aisha, could you please order two of today's special dishes for us?"

Oscar took the liberty of ordering Mireddy's portion as well, in order to prevent her from saying anything she shouldn't.

However, this carefree ordering severely damaged Aisha, the restaurant's signature waitress. She walked out from the back of the restaurant, looked back at Oscar and Meredith, and stood there in shock, tears welling up in her eyes.

Oscar was shocked, and when Meredith saw what was happening, she gave a wry smile, while the other guests were ready to watch the show.

"O-Mr. Oscar, you have a girlfriend..."

“Eh? Ah, no, no, this guy is—”

"This guy!? Mr. Oscar, who is always polite to everyone, actually said 'this guy'... Are you really that close!?"

Aisha covered her mouth with a hand in shock, her body swaying. After all, Meredith understood women better than anyone else, so she stopped playing around and tried to clear up Aisha's misunderstanding.

"Uh~ You misunderstood. Ao and I are—"

"Oh!? You call him Oh!? Even I've never called him that affectionately!"

“Eh, ah, that—”

Before Meredith could speak, Aisha had already turned and left.

“Wow! I’ve always had a crush on him! Dad, I recommend two today, woooooo!”

The signature waitress disappeared into the store crying, and an elderly man's voice was heard from the kitchen, saying, "Today we recommend two servings! Thank you for your patronage!"

Judging from the fact that Aisha can still help customers take orders accurately, she is worthy of being the signature waitress; the boss is worthy of being the boss because he still accepts orders normally even when his daughter is crying, it is true that like father, like daughter.

Furthermore, a corner of the store was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

Looking closely, the group of young women were all lying on the table. As for the reason, the answer is self-evident if you think back to the series of events that happened.

"...Au is quite popular with the girls."

“…No comment.”

From an outsider's perspective, Oscar was a craftsman from a prestigious workshop, trusted and loved by the common people, and with his good looks and personality, he also attracted a certain degree of attention from women. Especially since Oscar had no scandals, many people thought he had a chance.

Oscar pushed his glasses up and hid his expression with his hands.

At this time, two men who looked like adventurers came over with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Oscar, your spring has finally arrived."

"Congratulations. You always refuse every time I ask you to introduce a woman to me. I thought you had a fetish in that area, so I haven't dared to entrust you with anything lately. Now I can rest assured."

The two adventurers patted Oscar's shoulders without hesitation. They were Oscar's regular customers. Of course, the items they commissioned weren't weapons or armor, but travel supplies.

Travel supplies, such as cooking utensils and oil lamps, prioritize practicality and convenience, and Oscar's travel gear is incredibly popular. Most adventurers, from mid-level to mid-level, who make this civilian area their home, possess Oscar's travel gear.

"I'm telling you two, I'm not—"

"Little girl, how did you conquer this wooden man?"

Before Oscar could clear up the misunderstanding, they had already turned the conversation to Meredith.

Meredith could see that all the guests in the cafeteria knew Oscar and were friendly to him.

So, considering the waitress who had just appeared and the group of women who were emitting negative emotions, Mireille decided to speak frankly.

"I haven't conquered him yet, but I'm actively working on it."

The women suddenly stood up and looked here with eyes full of anticipation.

Aisha poked her head out from behind a pillar, looking at the place with eyes full of anticipation.

"Milletti... you're adding fuel to the fire. You already messed up the workshop, and now you're doing it in the shop I frequent... You're trying to deprive me of my place to stay."

Oscar rubbed his temples, as if he had a headache.

Seeing Oscar's reaction, the two adventurers seemed to realize Oscar's current situation and Milady's character. They smiled bitterly and this time patted Oscar's shoulder gently.

Although most adventurers are rude, they are generally very kind to those close to them.

Upon learning that a beautiful, elegant girl like Meredith was coveting their lover, the women looked at Oscar like carnivores. Perhaps to distract them, the two adventurers tried to change the subject.

"Ah~ Speaking of the workshop reminds me of something. Aren't there a few annoying nobles who are always giving you trouble?"

"Uh~ Do you mean Master Pingu and the others?"

"Yes, that's them. Some time ago, they were spotted in civilian areas, and they only appeared at night."

"Master Pinggu and his men will come to the civilian area at night?"

Pingu is a proud and arrogant person.

His contempt for Oscar suggests that he also has a tendency to be contemptuous of the slums themselves.

They would never hang out in the common areas, nor would they do business with people from the common areas. As he said to Meredith, they would choose who they would make friends with.

"Yes, it's strange, isn't it? I don't know what they're thinking, but you'd better be careful. Apart from you, I can't think of any reason why they would be interested in the civilian area."

"Yes, and things in this town have been quite turbulent lately..."

"Are you referring to the disappearances?"

"Yes, that's one of the reasons. Also, we often see the Knights Templar near the middle level of the tunnel. They're the elite of the elite, so there's no way they're mining. Rumors among adventurers suggest powerful monsters are lurking, so we don't dare go any deeper."

"I see……"

After hearing the worrying topic, the women who were about to become carnivores seemed to calm down.

As the dishes were served, the two adventurers expressed their support for Meredith and then returned to their seats.

Oscar started eating immediately, but when he looked up, he saw that Milady, who had been crying out for hunger earlier, had not touched the food on the table at all.

"Meridi?"

"Hmm? Ooooh, it looks delicious. I'm going to eat~!"

Meredi enjoyed the food with gusto.

Oscar had a bad feeling about the pensive expression that Mireddy had just briefly shown.

After lunch.

Oscar was still on guard, wondering if Miley really wanted to come to the workshop.

"Thank you for staying with me today! Can I come see you again tomorrow?"

Oscar heaved a sigh of relief when he heard what Miledy said.

But because of this, he forgot to refuse and said carelessly:

"Even if I told you not to come, you would still come, right?"

The implication was that he tacitly agreed to let Meredith come to him.

"Hey, see you tomorrow then!"

By the time he realized it, it was too late.

Before Oscar could call out to Meredith, she had already disappeared into the crowd.

Oscar had an indescribable expression on his face, scratched his head, thought about how to explain to the people in the workshop, and turned to leave.

A week later.

Although Mireidi sometimes disappeared without a trace, she spent most of her time hanging around Oscar. Now, even people in the civilian area knew Mireidi.

Although Oscar wore an open expression of disgust most of the time, the people who were kind and polite to everyone showed their affection outwardly, which gradually spread the perception that they were close.

In fact, the two talked a lot during this week.

Although it was basically Meredith who was talking alone, she kept asking questions and Oscar would answer them casually. Although they were all insignificant trivial matters, the two of them did understand each other better.

Just when Oscar was too lazy to think about how to drive away Meredith, Oscar walked in the alley at dusk to visit the orphanage he had not seen for a week.

The burning red sky, the long shadows on the ground, and the birdsong coming from the sky somehow make people feel empty.

Oscar never visited the orphanage since the day Meredith came to the orphanage.

That was because, no matter how close their hearts were, Meredith was still a dangerous person. As long as the church knew of Meredith's existence, they would definitely label her a heretic, so Oscar still maintained a minimum level of caution towards her.

In order to prevent her from bothering him, wouldn't it be better to use the artifact to drive her away early? But Oscar didn't know why he didn't do that.

(She's no ordinary person. Even using a divine weapon wouldn't guarantee she'd be eliminated, and it might even anger her. Yes, I'm just being cautious, carefully considering a strategy to deal with her.)

During this week, she kept pestering Oscar, but Oscar didn't take any concrete countermeasures except showing a bad attitude towards her. He seemed to be making excuses for himself and convinced himself in his heart.

However, Oscar knew that days like this were almost reaching their limit.

Many people in the civilian area already recognized Mireidi's appearance. If she caused a serious incident, people would inevitably associate her with Oscar and even suspect Oscar's involvement. Therefore, Oscar could no longer hesitate.

"What a troublesome person..."

Oscar himself was surprised to hear the unconscious self-talk.

There was no disgust in his tone at all; on the contrary, he even seemed a little happy.

No matter how rude and cold her attitude was, Meredith always smiled heartily. She was clearly pestering him endlessly, her every word and action irritating, but for some reason, she felt completely at ease, as if her previously rigid beliefs were gradually softening.

“…What am I thinking about?”

Oscar smiled bitterly and shook his head at his own bizarre idea.

Tomorrow, tomorrow I will seriously break up with her.

If necessary, let her know her awareness, even if it means using divine weapons or force.