After eating sashimi for the first time in a while, along with food that felt close to what I had back home, I could feel my energy returning.
All right, then. Shall I start making a prototype soon...? Hmm, among the games I played, the katana-type weapons in Dark Souls had the best designs and were generally the most well-made.
Katanagatari... The good ones were certainly good, but the problem was that, out of the twelve Deviant Blades, only three or four were actually good... I mean, what kind of nonsense is making a cursed doll and insisting it counts as a sword...?
Still, I should finish adjusting the blueprints and deciding on the materials before I start making it.
Honestly, the process of making a Japanese sword is not particularly difficult, aside from that desperate process they crammed in to raise the strength even a little beyond the differences in quality. In other words, there was no need for me to do that insane shit where they melted iron sand into an ingot, broke it apart again to separate the wrought iron from the steel, then judged the carbon content by feel all over again.
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The young man at work.
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And so, a week passed... (It absolutely was not the author activating King Crimson. Absolutely not!)
The katana I made for the first time in a while, intending to show it to Kaguya, had turned out fairly well. Given the materials I had on hand in my workshop, it was about as good as I could make it.
"Onikiri and Ubadachi... Black Hand Kamui killed me with those things plenty of times... No, more precisely, it was those hopeless three brothers... Grind"
Dark Souls itself was fun, but playing it had been hellfire. Whenever I recalled my memories of playing it, rage would surge up strongly enough that I worried my teeth might shatter.
Taurus Demon, Black Knights, the Parasol, those hopeless three brothers... Ngh, my head!
"Well... It was rough, but it was fun too."
Jingle
"Are you in?"
"Ah, you came."
"Yes, and isn't that why the door opened?"
"..."
What a fucking rude way of talking... Haa, she's a customer, so I'll let it slide for now.
"Wait a moment. I'll get the blueprints from the workshop."
"Do so."
"While you wait..."
I placed Onikiri and Ubadachi, which I had prepared to show her when she arrived, on the table I used for receiving guests.
"Take a look at these."
"These are...?"
"It's been so long since I last made katana-type weapons that I made these over the past week to get my touch back. Even if they were just for getting back into the groove, they're still high-quality weapons among those I can make using materials readily available at my shop. Take a look and judge my skills for yourself."
"...I suppose I will look forward to it."
"Don't expect too much, all right? Set your expectations too low and you'll get indigestion."
"I'll handle that myself."
Shing
She really is prickly. Anyway... where did I put those blueprints?
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The young man rummaging around.
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There! Found them! No, why the hell were the blueprints I had spread out on my desk until last night sitting on top of the refrigerator?! It took me thirty minutes.
"Hey, I found the blueprints... ?"
Even though thirty minutes had clearly passed, she was still holding the exact same pose as before, when she had drawn a sword to inspect it...? No, the pose was the same, but the weapon in her hand was different. Earlier, she had been holding a katana; now, she held the Uchigatana.
The biggest concern I had while making these swords was that I did not know which one was Onikiri, originally held by Kamui, and which was Ubadachi, acquired after killing Ubadachi in the Undead Burg.
Anyway, was she seriously telling me she had been admiring those things from then until now?
"Hey?"
"...Hm? Ah, you found them. It is rude to make a customer wait."
"Says the person who seemed too absorbed in admiring them to come to her senses."
"Ahem..."
Apparently having nothing to say to that, she quietly cleared her throat, sheathed the sword, and set it down.
"Well, seeing how completely mesmerized you were, I guess you've judged my skill sufficiently?"
"...I admit it. It has been a very long time since I last saw katanas exactly like those from my homeland, and I was impressed."
"You shouldn't be so surprised by just that, though~"
"What do you mean...?"
"I told you, didn't I? That they were weapons made with materials I could obtain right away at my shop, even if they were only for getting my touch back. Which means..."
"You did not make them with your full strength...?"
"Bingo. I haven't used Smithing, magic, special materials, or anything else yet. These were made solely with my skills and materials that anyone can get with a little effort..."
I pointed toward Onikiri and Ubadachi, lying neatly arranged on the table.
"That is Onikiri and Ubadachi."
"...You are a bigger deal than I expected."
"It may sound cliché when I say it like this, but shall I call it the result of effort and talent? But there is something more important than that right now, isn't there?"
I stood the paired swords beside the table and spread the parchment blueprints I had brought over it.
"This is the [Tentative: The Sharpest Sword] that I plan to make."
"The original is a fairly long tachi, but since you want a kodachi, I'll recreate it at a shorter length."
"This sword's defining trait is its abnormal sharpness."
"An ultimate sharpness that can cleave through anything in this world exactly as it is."
"A cursed blade that craves ever more blood the more it cuts."
"Its original owner's most frequently used technique while wielding it was iaijutsu, so it will be the perfect weapon for you, whose primary technique is iaijutsu."
"That's just the specs for now. Do you like it?"
As she listened to me, Kaguya carefully examined the blueprints.
"If you make it exactly as shown here, how much will it cost?"
"Hmm... To put it simply, the blade will use orichalcum obtained from the lower floors outside as its outer material, with Kalban Mountain wrought iron for the inner core. Then there's Wyshe Forest magic wood and a Minotaur's horn for the scabbard, plus ironwood and ray skin for the grip... Including material costs, probably somewhere between forty and fifty million valis?"
She had probably prepared herself, but hearing the price set right in front of her made her heart sink. I could see the color drain from her face, if only slightly.
...If things followed the original story, she would die without being able to do anything due to Evilus's schemes, leaving only Ryu behind. It was not as though I desperately wanted to interfere with the original story and save everyone who was meant to die. I did not have the ability to accomplish that, and what kind of comedy would it be if I acted out of turn and the people around me got hurt because of it? I knew my place and acted accordingly.
But still, if buying this weapon could increase her chances of surviving...
"Special service."
"...?"
"I'll give you two weeks. Depending on how many of the materials listed there you bring me from now until then, I'll lower the price."
"Of course, materials like Wyshe magic wood and ironwood are things you can't possibly bring me, so excluding those, if you bring in the rest, I can knock off up to twenty million."
I could plainly see her expression brighten. Even if she was the vice-captain of the Astraea Familia, she was still only Level 3.
Forty million valis was not the name of someone's dog. It was not an amount one could throw around so easily.
However, the joy vanished from her face in an instant, replaced by suspicion.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you extending me such a favor?"
"...A friend of mine lives on Daedalus Street."
"...?"
"I'm not asking you to look after them, obviously. But if you buy that weapon and become stronger, and your Astraea Familia uproots Evilus from Orario, then my friend living in the back alleys of Daedalus—and I, living in this city—will be safer. That's all there is to it. Making you stronger for my safety and my friend's."
"That is quite a selfish reason."
"So what? What begins for my sake becomes for someone else's sake, and in the end, it becomes for everyone's sake."
"...What kind of sophistry is that?"
She said that, but I could see the suspicion fade from her face and a faint smile return. They say water that is too pure cannot sustain anything. It needs to be moderately dirty and moderately murky for fish and crayfish to live in it.
People were the same. If being blindly kind were enough to make everyone trust you, then everyone in the world would be a saint. You had to look moderately selfish and moderately dirty for people to trust you.
"Then I'll give you the blueprints, so bring me a thousand valis as a down payment and the materials within two weeks. It would be even better if you brought some new customers too."
"I will do so."
"And if you decide you absolutely can't afford it, then just buy these instead."
I continued, lightly touching Onikiri and Ubadachi standing beside me.
"Buy Onikiri and Ubadachi. These aren't custom-made, so they'll be much cheaper."
"The price... is?"
"Hmm... Since they are a pair of swords, probably around ten to fifteen million valis."
"If it comes to that, I will consider it. Then, if you will excuse me..."
"Meow~"
"Oh? Are you seeing customers off now too? You're smart, huh. Yeah, goodbye."
And with that, she exchanged farewells with Rex and left our smithy.
"...There isn't some sort of corrective force or restraining force here too, is there?"
"Meow?"
"It's nothing. I was just wondering. All right, it's about dinner time now. Let's just eat here today."
"Meow~"