“Just promise you’ll be our middleman if you happen to get along with that character,” said the Beast King.
The mythical Godsmith was rebellious enough to refuse the requests of a king?
“Hm. Sure.”
“Good luck. You’ll need it.”
“Master is currently staying at the royal palace,” said Royce. “The capital should be your first stop.”
Night had fallen by the time we finished our discussion. It had been a busy day, despite the end of the tournament. At least we could head for the Beastman Nation now. Was there anything else we had to do before we departed?
Right, we have to go see Garrus.
His friend said he should be back in time for the tournament, so maybe he was in Ulmutt already. Then again, he said he’d tell us…
Let’s go to the blacksmith and see.
“Hm!”
Maybe he didn’t want to bother us during the tournament. The sun had only just set, so I didn’t think Zeld would be asleep yet. We should probably get the blacksmith a little present, too.
There was a bar on the way to his shop, and I thought about getting the dwarf the strongest drink there. The bartender already knew about Fran, and readily agreed to sell her a bottle of the stuff. He even gave us a discount in exchange for a handshake. Alcohol in hand, we visited Zeld’s shop.
“Little lady! Congratulations on the medal!”
“Hm. Thanks.”
Zeld had been watching the tournament. He gladly accepted our gift, raving to Fran about its quality. She asked him about Garrus, but it turned out the old dwarf hadn’t returned. “The rest of the folks who went to Bulbola with him are here, though.”
“Garrus is still in Bulbola?”
“Apparently. There are some jobs that only he could do.”
“I see.”
“He said he’d be back before the tournament, so I wonder why he didn’t tell anyone about his change of plans. Weird…”
We should look for him in Bulbola before we went to the Beastman Nation. Who knew when we would see him again? Fran excused herself, but Zeld stopped her before she could leave.
“S-so about that sword…”
Zeld was looking at me now with the same interest he had shown in Fran’s Black Cat Set. I couldn’t blame him. I was frequently the subject of the commentator’s ramblings, after all. As an experienced blacksmith, Zeld knew an enchanted sword when he saw one.
“Uh, do you mind if I take a look?”
Teacher?
Just a little bit. But tell him not to equip me. It’s very dangerous.
“Okay, sure.”
“Thanks,” said Zeld.
“But you’ll die if you equip it, so be careful.”
“What?”
“It’s cursed. Anyone other than me will die if they equip it.”
Zeld stopped reaching for me, his curiosity overwhelmed by fear. No one in their right mind would want to equip a killing sword. You wouldn’t want to touch a poison apple, even if it only killed you if you ate it. He knew I was more than an average enchanted sword.
“C-can I touch it?”
“Touching’s fine.”
“R-right…”
He wasn’t about to back out. He made up his mind and gripped my hilt. Once he had his hand on me, his training as a blacksmith took over. He inspected my blade and guard.
“Hmm. I do feel powerful mana coming from it. Symmetrical blade, and this alloy…could it be…” Zeld muttered. “Do you mind if I ask you where this sword came from?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, who made it, which region are they from, stuff like that.”
Always the point of interest with blacksmiths. Too bad I didn’t know the answer. Should we just tell him that I woke up in the Demon Wolf’s Garden? Then again, I wasn’t sure if it was safe to do that.
“I don’t know.”
That was the safest answer.
“I see…I think this thing’s made of orichalcos…”
“Orichalcos? You’re sure?”
“No, I’m not. I’ve never seen this metal before. Hang on a sec,” Zeld said, rummaging through his shelves in the corner of his smithy. He eventually found the worn book he was looking for. “These are blacksmith orders from the previous tournaments.”
The great influx of merchants during the tournaments made finding the list easy.
“Not just any ordinary blacksmith. This guy was apparently an apprentice of the apprentice of a Godsmith. Now, in the list of materials the Godsmith used, there is something called orichalcos. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s top-notch material that can withstand a Godsmith’s hammer.”
A legendary metal. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was made of orichalcos. I kept breaking, almost at regular intervals. I did come with the new-and-improved self-repair feature, but I couldn’t imagine a legendary metal being so soft.
“But then,” said Zeld. “Orichalcos isn’t the only metal I’ve never seen before. Still, I feel there’s something strange about this sword. It’s top-shelf manatech, at the very least.”
Top-shelf manatech…! Thanks, Zeld! I mean, that was pretty good, right? I wasn’t a Godsword, but maybe a Godsmith cranked me out in his spare time?
No, probably not.
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
We somehow talked Zeld out of his burning curiosity and returned to the inn. Fran still needed to eat and take a bath, but there was one last thing we needed to try.
All right, here I go.
“Hm.”
I used Create Clone to make several copies of myself. Usually, I made copies of my human self, but…
Yep, they’re swords.
“So many Teachers.”
Create Clone was now making copies of my sword self. Why? I tried the skill again, focusing on an image of my human self this time, and it worked. We had more options in battle now that I could reproduce both my sword and human forms.
However, my human form had changed slightly. There was something off about its physical proportions. It was still me, but it looked more like my hypothetical brother than myself. Was this the cost of being able to make sword copies? I didn’t mind—I had already decided to live out the rest of my life as a sword. And this form was definitely stronger!
How did I start making sword copies, though?
“Hm…”
Oh, I guess it was bedtime for Fran.
Whoops, sorry. Let’s wrap up for today.
“Hm…”
I think we’ve
