“Choose Your Own Throwing Weapon”
There were still a few days left before the fishing trip.
During this time, I busied myself modifying my fishing gear, buying thick Sky Forest Spider silk at the market, and steadily preparing. It felt like packing for a trip—something I actually quite enjoy.
Now, all that was left was to fatten up my worryingly thin wallet by earning some spending money.
With that in mind, I casually dropped by the guild to see if there were any quick jobs available. The moment I stepped in, a group huddled around a table all turned to look at me at once.
“It’s Mongrel!”
“Should we ask him?”
“But it’s Mongrel we’re talking about… Even if we ask…”
“Let’s just try asking anyway!”
“Uh… Isn’t that kind of rude phrasing…?”
The ones gathered at the table near the entrance were a bunch of kids barely old enough to be considered adults.
They seemed to be from different parties, and among them was Miselina from the “Young Wands” group. It was rare to see such a mixed bunch of different jobs gathered together.
“What’s this? Does the veteran guildman Mongrel-sama have something you wanna ask?”
“…Should we really ask him?”
“What if he demands payment later…?”
“I won’t, damn it! What the hell do you take me for?!”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“Y’know, it’s fine to hold back words you shouldn’t say. But that silence is just… Ugh, never mind. I’ll just commend you all for your ‘mature restraint.’”
Looking closer, I saw several pieces of equipment scattered across the table.
It was like one of those used equipment markets the guild occasionally held. Except… every single one here was the same type of weapon.
“Throwing weapons, huh?”
Laid out before me were nothing but projectile weapons—
perfectly weighted metal rocks, small knives, darts… Impressive how they’d gathered such a variety.
“That’s right, Mongrel-san. We’re mostly swordsmen or mages, but we figured it’d be good to have some throwing weapons on hand. Like, even as a swordsman, sometimes you can’t close the distance, y’know? In those situations, having something to throw helps.”
“Hmm. Not a bad mindset. Warren, was it? What’re you using?”
“This! Throwing knives!”
“Pretty standard.”
Throwing knives were simpler in design than regular daggers, slightly more compact. They were handy since they could double as regular knives in a pinch. Having versatility beyond just being a projectile was always a plus.
“Um… mine is this. I can’t carry many, so I only have one…”
“A dart, huh? Lightweight, so not a bad choice for a mage like you, Miselina.”
“Y-yes…”
The timid-looking mage Miselina seemed to favor darts.
True to their name, darts were essentially oversized versions of modern-day darts, functioning the same way—thrown to pierce a target. Like a lightweight javelin.
In resource-scarce Harpelia, weapons like these—mostly wooden with minimal metal reinforcement—were cheap and practical. Losing one wouldn’t break the bank.
“I use this! A throwing axe! It’s heavy and bulky, so I can only carry one, but it hits hard! Super useful!”
“Frank’s got a throwing axe, huh? Fits your name.”
“My name?”
“Eh, just a feeling.”
In my past life, there was a throwing axe called a francisca. The similarity to Frank’s name felt oddly fateful.
Historically, they were pretty devastating too. An axe flying at you? Yeah, that’d hurt.
“I use this dagger!”
“Mine’s a bit longer than Miselina’s dart. The needle-like tip works well against beasts… probably.”
And just like that, the bragging about their personal throwing weapons began. Turns out, the weapons on the table were their prized possessions.
“…Wait. Are you guys trying to figure out which throwing weapon is the best?”
“You got it, Mongrel-san!”
“Yeah! I think throwing knives are the best. They’re standard, and when they land right, they look awesome…”
I got the appeal. A long time ago, I tried some butterfly knife tricks and ended up hurting myself, so I stopped.
“But what if you throw it at a monster, it sticks, and then the thing runs off with it? That’d be a waste of an expensive weapon!”
“Then—then I’d just kill it in one hit!”
“That’s why the throwing axe is best! One hit, and the problem’s gone!”
“T-that’s scary, but… you’re not wrong. Still, heavy equipment is a burden…”
Yeah. Lethality, convenience, portability, cost-effectiveness. Balancing all that made choosing a sidearm tricky.
But that also made finding the right fit fun. Plus, hey—sidearms were where you could indulge a little personal flair.
“Hey, Mongrel-san! Which one do you think is best? Tell us!”
“Well, it depends on your strength, mobility, purpose… Ideally, you’d pick what suits you best. But I’m guessing that’s not the answer you want?”
“Ehh? Just tell us which one’s the strongest!”
Oh, a “strongest-or-bust” type, huh? Fine, I’ll bite.
“Alright, I’ll give you the boring but practical answer. Out of these, the throwing axe is the strongest.”
“See?! I knew Mongrel-san would get it!”
“Seriously?”
“I mean, it’s definitely strong, but…”
“Pure power-wise, it’s unmatched. A single throw can kill a goblin, obviously, but if you land it right, it might even take down a Crazy Boar or Charge Deer. The others can’t compete.”
I picked up the throwing axe from the table, tossed it lightly, and caught it. The balance was different from a regular axe—just right.
“That said, it is heavy and annoying to carry. Useful for chopping firewood or butchering during camp, but that’s not unique to it. Also, you can’t snipe birds in trees with it. The lack of range is a downside.”
“Guh… Yeah, well…”
“But yeah, objectively strongest. Your party should have at least one person carrying one.”
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Next, I picked up the dart—basically a giant throwing spike.
“For sniping birds, darts are easier. Mages can even use them in close combat in a pinch. Light, cheap. Not a bad choice either.”
“Oh… good… I was starting to doubt myself…”
“Though ideally, you’d want the kind you can coat in poison. A needle this thin won’t always kill on its own.”
“P-poison…? Okay…”
Then, I grabbed Warren’s throwing knife. Not bad either.
“Throwing knives don’t take up much space, deal decent damage, and have multiple uses. Solid choice.”
“Right?!”
“Though honestly, you’ll probably end up using them as regular knives more than throwing them.”
“……”
Silent agreement. Yeah, throwing knives rarely had their moment.
Against something like a Crazy Boar, even if it stuck, the damage would be minimal. Worse, if the beast ran off with it, you’d just lose the knife. Not that they usually fled, but still…
Then again, for swordsmen, throwing weapons were mostly for distraction anyway. Any of these would work.
“…So, Mongrel-san, what do you use?”
“I’m curious too!”
“You don’t even carry a shield, but do you have a throwing weapon?”
“I heard you suck with bows.”
“Not like you walk around with one normally, though.”
“Show us, show us!”
Nosy bunch. Throwing weapons, huh? I didn’t use them much for regular hunting, but…
“Hmm… I’m the type who gets by with just a bastard sword anywhere, anytime… Did I even bring anything…?”
“…What kind of throwing weapon requires digging through your bag like that?”
“You don’t even use it, do you?!”
“Shut up! Oh, wait, here it is.”
In the front pocket of my pack, reinforced and tucked snugly inside, was the one throwing weapon I currently owned.
“Ta-daa! The chakram—officially adopted by the old Harpelia military!”
What I pulled out was a thin, razor-edged ring. In my past life, it was called a chakram. I had three of them.
The hole was off-center, making it imperfectly circular, but supposedly, that made it spin unpredictably when thrown, increasing the chance of sticking. Supposedly.
“Oh, I’ve heard of these! Ancient throwing weapons!”
“I’ve seen them in picture books too. So old… Looks a bit tarnished. Has it seen use?”
“…Mongrel-san, can you actually use this?”
“……”
“Why the silence…?”
Well… yeah.
“Look… I bought this at an antique shop, right? And I did sharpen it. But it just… doesn’t stick well when thrown…”
“…So it’s useless.”
“Why the hell do you even carry it then?!”
“It doesn’t really get in the way…”
Even when thrown properly, it rarely stuck. Maybe the shape was too round? It definitely couldn’t cleanly slice through tree branches. Also, it was awkward to grip. Honestly, was there anything good about this weapon? I genuinely wondered why the old military ever adopted it.
“Ah, but it is great for tying up branches when making a smoker in the wild. Saves you from needing rope. Just twist it like this—”
“That’s even worse than a throwing knife!”
“So that’s why it’s all tarnished…”
“Suddenly, all the other options seem way more practical…”
Yeah, in this case, fair. My chakram was just bad. Definitely not something I could recommend to them.
Though, to be fair, it did slide neatly into tight spaces… As a “somehow always in your bag” throwing weapon, it had some merit… Maybe…
And hey, I could use it decently… Kind of…
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