The question from Azazel was so unexpected that Junichiro froze for a moment as his brain registered the oddity. He quickly finished making his way to the nearby Vespa and sat on it. As irrational as it was, being on the vehicle capable of only going sixty-five kilometers and hour gave him some comfort and security. Logically, there was just no way in hell he'd be able to actually outrun Azazel if he gave chase.
Still, the false comfort and security helped clear some of the fear and allowed Junichiro to actually speak to Azazel, "If I say no?"
Azazel gave a lazy shrug then slowly lowered his hands, "Then I leave and you likely never see me again."
"You won't send others after me?"
Azazel shook his head, "Nah kid, I prefer to work with people that actually want to be around. Trying to force stuff never works as good."
"Why did you even come looking for me? Nothing I sold was that interesting."
Azazel arched an eyebrow at that, "Is that what you think? Granted there's not much magic in the various blades you've sold so they don't really even qualify as magical. However! It's the technique! I don't know how you do it kid, but I've never seen a technique like yours to impregnate mana into mundane metal. Usually only magical metals can hold mana within them for any period of time."
Junichiro blinked in confusion. According to the knowledge in his head, what Azazel just said was the single dumbest thing he'd ever heard. So dumb it blew away all of his fear and had his mouth running before he could stop it, "That's dumb! Yeah, magical metals are easier to imbue with more mana, but those magical metals started as mundane metals! It's only exposure to a large amount of mana over a long period of time that changes mundane metals into magical metals. So of course mana can be imbued into any mundane metal with the right technique. Someone as old as you saying he's never seen it before is stupid! No way no one else didn't figure out something so simple!"
Azazel shrugged his shoulders, "No idea what to tell ya kid, I've never seen anything like it before. Even magical metals haven't been worked in such a manner. Believe me, I would know. I've seen some of the most powerful weapons made by men and gods, none used a similar technique. Usually it's just a ton of magical power being dumped into a well made sword, or whatever, that's been excellently forged. Either that, or used to do something ridiculous like slaying a dragon and gaining dragon slaying attributes."
Junichiro sputtered, "But! But! That's so inefficient!" He actually looked a little horrified as he continued, "That's such an abhorrent waste of power and effort! Stop talking! You're destroying my vision of those weapons! I don't need to know that swords like Excalibur are just jumped up hunks of steel with tons of magical power thrown at them! I don't!"
Azazel chuckled a little, "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's essentially right. Granted, the spells and such used to imbue the special abilities of Excalibur are proprietary Fae secrets. Others were lost to time, or just magical swords used to do something extraordinary and gaining abilities from those extraordinary actions. I take it you think your method is superior?"
Junichiro narrowed his eyes at Azazel, all fear forgotten as Azazel poked his 'reverse scale.' There wasn't much he could be proud of in his life, in fact he could only be proud of what he'd done since he became an Artificer. Everything he'd made was done with effort and growing skill, of course he was proud of all his effort! So, filled with righteous indignation, he glared at Azazel and hissed, "Of course my work is superior! If I had the power, materials, and a proper workshop, I could forge weapons, armor, and other magical items to boggle the mind and crush toys like Excalibur!"
The instant he finished speaking was the instant Junichiro knew he'd fucked up big time. If there was one thing you did NOT do, it was brag about how you could make weapons superior to Excalibur to the leader of any faction. That was just begging to be kidnapped and put to work! Or worse, being tortured into revealing all of your secrets! Junichiro immediately began to hyperventilate as he realized the depth of his mistake, his previously dismissed fear coming back in full force.
Seeing Junichiro being to shudder in fear again, Azazel held up his hands and made 'calm down' gestures, "Easy kid, easy. Seriously, I'm not going to do anything to you. I promise. Just. Take a few deep breaths and try to calm down alright?"