I knocked on the door of the smithy, where smoke was rising.
"What is it? A customer? I'll say this up front: I don't make magic swords."
A man with the same hair color, but a completely different face, opened the forge door.
He had plainly said he hated magic swords, and I'd even been given directions, so this man was definitely Bellf Crozzo of this dimension.
"I didn't come here for a magic sword."
I came because I wanted to see his skill for myself.
"What, that's all?"
"I need a knife. Could you make one?"
"Of course! Just wait a bit!"
Bellf immediately started making the knife.
Maybe because it was a small knife, he finished it pretty quickly.
"Hmm..."
"Well? Pretty well made, right?"
He had made it quite well.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Not just a little. A lot.
"Mind if I use the forge for a moment?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Nothing special."
Even in another dimension, that guy was still me in the end.
He hated magic swords and didn't make them, but he still had a blacksmith's passion.
"Watch closely."
What I'm doing now is something you'll reach someday too.
I brought the heated knife down with a hammer.
I couldn't strike too hard because I was afraid the hammer might break, which was a shame, but there was nothing I could do.
This wasn't where I belonged.
"Mister..."
"What?"
"How did you do that?"
After I strengthened the knife, Bellf asked with shining eyes.
"You saw it. I just hammered it."
"For something that was just hammered, the knife turned into something like a Rank 2 weapon."
"You can do it too."
What I had done was sharpen the edge and hammer it into greater toughness.
"By the way, why do you hate magic swords?"
"...I think a weapon is the other half of its user."
Bellf answered with a look of utter disgust.
"So you hate magic swords that break after only a few uses."
"Yeah."
"Then you're never going to make a magic sword for the rest of your life?"
"Yeah. I... will never make something like that."
"..."
Hmm...
"Still, a blacksmith of your level shouldn't be unknown in Orario. Did you come from abroad?"
"Abroad... well, something like that."
Orario here and the Orario I lived in were clearly different places.
"I see. If it's not rude, may I ask your name?"
...
"Bellf. Bellf Crozzo."
"...What?"
"I'm you from another dimension, I guess."
"...Whaaaat!?"
And meanwhile,
"..."
"..."
"There are... two Aizs!?"
"...Am I seeing things right now?"
"Two Aizs... ngh! My heart..."
In Loki Familia, the two Aizs were staring at each other.
"...Strong."
"Aiz?!"
Aiz from the original world looked at Aiz and said, "What level are you?"
"Six. It's been about a month now."
"!?"
"Could you spar with me?"
"Any time."
That day, a fierce wind swept through Loki Familia's training grounds.