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"Here and now, the first hammer of the 「Ash Artisan Guild」 presents to the Lady of the dungeon. I offer this armor for your most dangerous knight."
The burly old artisan trembled as he lifted the sword.
It looked as if he could not withstand the magical power of the sword, but in reality, he was handling it carefully because the sword he was offering was so precious even to him.
Indeed, even just from above the scabbard, an extraordinary aura was emanating from that sword.
"Please be careful not to infuse magical power. Since this sword has been washed with spirits once, it will recognize as its master the first one who feeds it magical power."
"I understand."
Nodding at the artisan's caution, I drew the sword he offered.
In the past, it would have been difficult even to hold the sword evenly, but now it wasn't so difficult as the trait of 「Specialization」 I had for swords assisted my movements.
Srurung.
'My goodness.'
The appearance of that sword drawn from the black scabbard was a work of art in itself.
The shining white blade looked as if it had been condensed from moonlight, and the surface of the blade was engraved with fine patterns as if frost had settled on it.
Those patterns sparkled softly each time they caught the light.
"These marks are dragon scales, aren't they?"
"We placed dragon scales on the surface, then made the pattern melt into the sword. Normally it's a technique that damages the durability of the blade, but since we used dragon bone for its core, it won't break easily, and it will accept magical power better."
"I see."
Dragon scales could be obtained even from wyverns, so they weren't rare materials, but they were still precious nonetheless.
They used such precious materials just to create patterns.
The same was true for dragon bones.
These could only be obtained from dragons, so they were much more precious than dragon scales.
'Even just embedding the core would make the durability different from ordinary swords.'
It might not match 'Dragon Slayer' class weapons made entirely of dragon bone, but such weapons were difficult to both craft and purchase.
The production cost or selling price was literally 'name your price'.
I had a lot of wealth from the continent, but that didn't fully translate into wealth in the demon realm.
'This is...'
I lowered my gaze.
The guard formed an elegant curve protecting the blade and handle.
The shape of the guard was like the figure of an angel crouching with large golden wings. The feathers delicately engraved on the wings added to that realism.
'An angelic figure for a sword for demons. It's in bad taste, but... beautiful nonetheless.'
A bitter smile leaked out at the artisan's taste, but considering the appearance of the one who would use this sword, it was a perfect match.
Swish!
I turned the sword halfway to examine the handle part. There was almost no sound of the blade cutting through the air.
The handle visible below the guard was wrapped in black scaled leather, and at its end, a transparent diamond was embedded.
It was beautiful, but there was nothing there yet. It seemed to have been left for me to engrave magic on later.
I turned the sword again from there and looked at the blade once more.
"This... You put a lot of effort into it."
"Thank you for noticing!"
Looking again, what stood out was the unique texture of that snow-white blade.
The surface was transparent like glass yet had depth, reflecting light as if looking at the scales of a living dragon.
It was pure white now, but the inside was empty. As if waiting for something to be filled in the future, like an empty vessel.
"Eve. Come here. Quickly."
"Yes, Master."
I felt impatient.
A strong desire to see her infuse magical power into this sword arose.
She knelt on one knee towards me and raised both hands, and I carefully placed the sword, now back in its scabbard, on top of them.
"Then. I'll demonstrate."
"Go ahead."
Evangeline, in the form of a black knight, rose from her seat and gave me a reassuring smile. Then she turned around to face the opposite direction and drew the sword.
Sarak-
When I drew the sword, there was clearly a friction sound, but no sound was heard from the sword in her hand.
After drawing the sword like that, she placed her index and middle fingers on the blade of the sword in her hand, then pushed them all the way up.
Swish-!
The act of feeding blood to the sword. It was a ritual performed by some warriors of this world when obtaining a famous sword.
Although not as much as vampires or dragons, the blood of all races contained dense magical power.
Woong.
The sword seemed to have recognized its master just from the magical power contained in the blood.
The blade gradually turns black, then red.
"It's as I expected."
Indeed, the transparency of that blade was to directly contain the magical power of its master.
"It's an excellent sword. Its sharpness matches its beauty. Master Artisan."
"I'm glad you like it too. Go ahead and swing it. Your master is waiting."
Eve smiled gently at the orc's booming voice, then slowly infused magical power to create light on the blade.
-!
And, a dark red trajectory rose once.
A trajectory that leaves a long-lasting trace even after swinging.
Click.
After swinging the sword towards a rock just once and sheathing it, she turned around and approached me.
Then, kneeling on one knee, she said.
"Thank you for your consideration and grace, Master. I swear I will become a knight worthy of the sword."
"You're already such a knight. So until I prepare an even better sword, become an even more splendid knight for me."
"I will do so as much as you wish, my Master."
Crackle...!!
Around the time she uttered her last words, a long crack appeared in the rock that had been the subject of the test behind her.
Thud-!!
The rock split in two and collapsed to the ground.
I could see skeleton mages quickly cleaning up to prevent the dust from spreading.
A young magic sword that doesn't yet have any notable magic imbued, only having the property of accepting and amplifying magical power.
This was the result of swinging that sword just once.
My lips softened involuntarily.
"Excellent, Master Artisan."
"Not at all! It's because the knight is excellent that she draws out twice the sword's ability!"
I looked at the artisan with a smile, and the artisan's praise made that smile even deeper.
"I don't dislike your flattery."
"Kukukuk... By the way, what will you name it? The Lady? Or the knight?"
His gaze went back and forth between me and Evangeline, but Evangeline's gaze was directed only at me.
I thought for a moment, then uttered one word.
"Grail Sword. That would be good."
A sword that holds something. Eve, who can hold anything.
I thought it was a good combination.
"The Holy Grail... A wonderful metaphor."
"Indeed, excellent insight!"
"It's embarrassing to receive such praise after already showing everything. Stop it."
After making a gesture of modesty, I gestured to the artisan who had been looking anxious since earlier and continued speaking.
"Master Artisan. With this, I won't mention your mistake anymore."
At my words, his face brightened.
The orc master artisan bringing weapons for my people was already past the initially promised deadline.
But I decided to forgive such trivial things.
Because the created armaments were more satisfactory than I had thought.
"Keep doing like this from now on. It's fine to be a little late, but focus on making them properly. Just make sure to tell me when you'll be late."
"Thank you for your benevolence, Lady!"
The orc prostrated himself and bowed deeply.
The way his body trembled seemed like he was genuinely feeling fear.
But I could fully sense the feeling of acting from him.
"I'll try to come faster next time! This time we were a bit... struck with artistic fever."
"I'm glad you admit it."
"Hehehe..."
The orc master artisan was decent enough as a merchant like this, but he was also a person with craftsmanship befitting his large build.
Moderate greed for money and moderate desire for achievement.
We'll probably continue to do business in the future if possible.
"Sonia. Come here. Armor for you is prepared too."
"Ah, yes. Master."
"This is a weapon for Axe. Come here and try holding it?"
-Thank you! Master!
After that, I spent a pleasant time finalizing the purchase of armaments prepared for my people.
"Uh... I didn't interrupt, did I?"
"Of course not, Serica. Come in. I've been waiting."
Until she, who was supposed to come today, arrived.
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The invitation from Marquis Baritra that Serica conveyed.
It was something that made me sigh involuntarily.
'What is this about.'
To be honest, I had expected the invitation itself.
After all, I had come to have a deep relationship with their successor.
But I didn't expect it to be for this reason.
"A son-in-law candidate... or a daughter-in-law candidate?"
My head throbbed from the moment I first heard the purpose.
The backlash from those who love me was as clear as day.
"Master. You don't have to accept this invitation."
Even the rational Eve momentarily lost her cool and gave such irrational advice after Serica left.
There was a tension in her voice that couldn't usually be found.
"Eve. You know too. If we refuse, they'll make it an invitation we have to accept."
"...Your words are correct, Master."
"..."
"Huu."
Xue and Ran showed sharp looks as soon as they heard the news from Eve.
Xue bit her lip so hard it turned white, and Ran couldn't hide her discomfort as she covered her mouth with her long sleeve.
"A woman and a woman... marriage...?"
Sonia still didn't seem to properly understand the situation.
It was a natural reaction since while female escorts were common in this world, same-sex marriage was not.
'It feels good to the point of being sorry.'
It was a complicated situation, but I was feeling a subtle pleasure in the midst of this.
They usually had rational and cool aspects, though the degree and direction varied. Seeing them lose their reason when it came to my matters felt sweet.
I was sorry to everyone, but their reactions were inwardly satisfying.
It was my cruel taste that I hadn't realized.
"Come here, Eve. How can you make such a disappointed expression?"
I gently lifted the chin of the woman who approached me and knelt on one knee.
There was no trace of that wonderful knight who had swung the Grail Sword earlier in the day, only the figure of a woman full of jealousy and anxiety.
Her skin felt hot to the touch of my fingertips.
I gently turned her face as she avoided my gaze, and only then did blue eyes with a faint red glow meet my gaze.
I was satisfied.
With the dark emotions swirling in those eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I know your hearts."
I slowly looked around at them.
Xue still hadn't loosened her tightly closed lips, Ran was glancing at me from behind her sleeve, and Sonia still seemed confused and at a loss.
"You're all worrying too much."
"It's not worry. Just..."
Ran continued speaking with her brow furrowed.
She seemed afraid of giving the impression that she didn't trust me.
"I'm sorry. I just got so irritated..."
It was an honest expression of emotion rarely seen from her. A smile naturally deepened on my lips.
Evangeline spoke while firmly gripping the magic sword she had purchased today.
"I will go with you. After all, you'll need an escort..."
"That's even worse."
Xue cut in sharply.
Although she frowned painfully, she continued her rational analysis.
"If they see that one of us is by the Master's side... they might push Lady Serica more aggressively. The demon realm doesn't care about gender for individual marriages, but succession is a bit different... If they're going to allow same-sex marriage between women anyway, they'll think it's better for both to be in the position of legal wife."
Ran agreed with that opinion and spoke in a whining voice.
"That's right. So if you don't go at all..."
"That's enough, everyone."
When I spoke in a firm voice, everyone froze and focused their attention on me.
"I will go to the invitation."
"Master...?"
I gestured towards them as they looked at me with anxious eyes, and they immediately approached me.
Women gathering in loyal and demure postures, kneeling on one knee or both knees close to me.
"Everyone, come to your senses."
Tak!
"Ah."
"Ugh."
I flicked each of their foreheads in turn.
They held their foreheads with bewildered expressions.
Especially seeing Sonia and Xue, who usually show little emotion, making such wronged expressions was so cute I almost laughed.
"It's just a dinner invitation, not an engagement or covenant. Whatever is said, I won't be forcibly involved in that matter right away. Or do you not trust me that much?"
The Marquis is certainly a figure with a realm and power I cannot yet match.
Although the probability is low, if he were to try to coerce me out of wounded pride, it was clear that both Serica and I would have a hard time.
It would be better to meet in a more finite situation.
To put it bluntly, he wouldn't pull out something like a shotgun as soon as we meet at the place he invited us to first.
"Ah..."
"T-that's right..."
Seeing them avoiding my gaze as if feeling guilty, I snapped my fingers to gather their attention again.
Then I showed them a warm smile.
"There's still some time before the Marquis's banquet. Let's focus on what we need to do first. Don't we have many pressing tasks?"
Finishing up the handling of information merchants in the north.
Supporting Elena's succession in the southwest, which is still ongoing.
The issue of drawing in and ruling or dealing with the lords of the riverside in the southeast.
The work of extracting and organizing Arpina's knowledge.
Even the matter of Kamaya and Nirvana who should become Dungeon Lords.
These were just the immediate things to handle.
There was no time to turn our eyes to things that wouldn't be resolved even if we paid attention to them.
To begin with, even Serica was helping with the matters of Kamaya and Nirvana, wasn't she?
"That's right."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize. It's fine."
They finally seemed to have calmed down, and only then could we have a constructive conversation.
"Since the banquet Lady Echidna mentioned starts first, we need to prepare means to reach smooth 'agreements' with the lords there..."
"All nobles are greedy, so if we just prepare appropriate money..."
But in the midst of that discussion, I was still feeling excited.
Everything about them was precious to me beyond measure.
Their jealousy, their worry, their love.
The fact that all of this was for me.