Oho! This pleased him, and so he smiles. He would have the next two days to roll his cartridges, and although it wasn't hard work it would keep him occupied in the taut days and hours before the battle.

"A shorter blade. Slender, aye? And balanced for thrusting." A beat. An awkward pause. "It's a gift."

And as he spoke of swords, he remembered that he had a third thing to ask of the smith-worker. But it would wait for the very end.