Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: A Noble Guest Has Arrived
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A Noble Has Arrived
I’d obtained the Jester’s Sword at the beginning of the first semester.
After that, I’d cleared two Demon God’s Dungeons, and rolled through countless other battles besides. The sword’s durability had already reached its limit.
Then the spar with Senia delivered the finishing blow.
Was it because I’d blocked that greatsword swung with her monstrous grip strength over and over? Cracks spiderwebbed across the Jester’s Sword’s blade here and there.
It might handle trash mobs just fine, but against bosses or bishop-level foes, it was impossible in this state.
Even if just to find a sword to use for the time being, visiting Grabner over break was a given.
Of course, I’d miss the Jester’s Sword’s fluid stats, but I wasn’t as obsessed with fluidity as before.
I’d realized that having enough fluid stats to seize the first move was plenty.
Conveniently, Grabner started selling Tier 3 and higher weapons once break began.
If luck was on my side, I might even upgrade to Tier 4 or above.
‘Might as well get one that pumps up crits and attack power nice and high.’
That thought made the Demon Dungeon weigh even heavier on my mind.
The Demon Dungeon on Grabner’s outskirts had once been a crystal mine zone.
Thanks to the high-quality ores from the mines, Grabner could craft everything from Abyss Cores to all sorts of tools, earning it the moniker ‘City of Craftsmen.’
But when the Demon God’s power reached into that mining zone, the mines transformed into a dungeon in an instant.
The overwhelming demonic energy spilling from the mines left the craftsmen—who weren’t warriors—with nothing they could do.
All they could manage was collapsing the entire mine to seal off the leak, turning it into an abandoned shaft.
In other words, the Demon Dungeon was a massive underground abandoned mine.
And the countless minerals scattered through that mine served as the finest equipment materials in their own right.
In fact, after the Demon Dungeon was cleared and the mining zone reopened later on, Tier 3 and higher premium gear started getting supplied in earnest even within the Academy.
If we could boost the first-years’ strength before heading into second-semester club scenarios, it’d be ideal.
Especially the Demon Dungeon’s boss, the Great Demon Asmorg.
Defeating it granted a random drop of either [Burning Abyss Core] or [Frozen Abyss Core], the final awakening materials for Cecilia and Luna’s ultimate weapons.
The other one unlocked in the final chapter.
That said, the Demon Dungeon was originally a high-difficulty zone only second-years could tackle in earnest.
Even if it was our third try, at this fourth slot with ramped-up difficulty, my specs wouldn’t even let me dream of challenging it.
So my original plan was to buy a decent sword from a Grabner workshop and focus on raiding church branches.
But right now, I had a bulldozer by my side who could sink the forest floor with a single sword aura blast.
‘Pass on this?’
I glanced back and forth between Adelin and Luna.
With this much firepower, what couldn’t we do?
No way I’m passing.
“I plan to head to Grabner to get a weapon.”
I erased the ‘On Hold’ note entirely.
⁎⁎⁎
Back in the village, the villagers stood guard, armed to the teeth.
With the nearby forest having evaporated entirely, it was a natural reaction.
Adelin revealed her identity and claimed she’d disposed of dangerous explosives hidden in the woods.
One by one, the villagers relaxed and returned to their homes.
Even though the real dangerous explosive was right in front of them.
Adelin reported to Alicia via the emergency comms network at the station.
Hearing the news, Alicia promptly dispatched an investigation team to probe church traces and soldiers to protect the village.
The next morning, we left Getel and boarded the train to Grabner.
On the ride to Grabner, all we could do was chat.
But that was fine.
I didn’t hate talking.
Especially with Luna, someone I hadn’t really bonded with until now—we needed time to talk properly.
Maybe because we’d bonded once over chili sauce and branch-plucking, things felt smoother than yesterday.
I asked a lot about Senia.
“I don’t get along with her.”
“Because of your family?”
“That’s part of it, but… every time I see her, she feels so unfamiliar. Can’t I just say I don’t like her?”
Luna showed outright hostility toward Senia.
Aside from that one dungeon raid, they hadn’t exchanged a single word in a month.
On the other hand, she seemed to have no particular feelings toward Cecilia, her rival in the original story.
Was this a good sign?
Adelin was inspecting my sword.
“To think a dungeon clearer wore it down this much. How much did you even swing it?”
“I swung it as usual, but the opponent wasn’t ideal.”
Senia’s brute grip strength came to mind.
“Still, a sword that can withstand your skill. Even Grabner’s craftsmen will have their work cut out for them.”
“Might as well come along. I’d trust a sword you recommend, Instructor.”
After that, I casually floated the idea of raiding the Demon Dungeon to the two of them. Purely optional.
But.
“Grabner… you mean the abandoned mine?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm…”
Adelin fell into thought.
I’d half-expected a ‘Are you insane?’ and a smack upside the head, but she just stroked her chin.
“Can I ask one thing?”
“Anything.”
“If I’m with you, can I enter the boss room too?”
In the original, I couldn’t get Adelin’s help for boss fights.
Even if she entered the dungeon with me, some contrived event always pulled her away right before the boss.
But in reality, she couldn’t even enter boss rooms.
Some power blocked non-playable characters from boss rooms, except for the player.
And she’d long been one of those eager to raid Demon God’s Dungeons.
She just physically couldn’t.
“Probably.”
I recalled Pasha and Mar from the Undead Dungeon.
Both were NPC characters like Adelin, but they’d influenced the fight with Negalroun.
So maybe she could enter too.
“……Really?”
Adelin sank back into thought at my answer.
She responded if spoken to, but her mind was clearly elsewhere.
Probably aiming for the same place as me.
Pusheee!
A few hours later, the train’s whistle announced our arrival.
Grabner’s air was nothing like Getel’s crisp river breeze.
A acrid smoke stench stabbed at the lungs, mingled with the scent of red-hot iron in the air.
Worst of all was the relentless clang-clang of hammers pounding metal in rhythm.
“Ugh… so noisy.”
Adelin grumbled, digging at her ear, and Luna grimaced too.
Same for me.
To the point I’d hit mute if there was a button.
“Won’t it quiet down once we’re inside?”
“You’ve never been here, huh? It’s like this everywhere.”
Damn.
We pushed through the noise toward the city center.
Walking along the roadside, a massive pillar on the city outskirts caught my eye.
Like a giant had swung a hammer from the heavens, driving a nail into the earth.
Heaven Nail. Sky Nail.
The pillar erected in the crystal mine zone, a structure sealing the Demon Dungeon.
Our goal lay beneath it.
No rush—we’d think it over slowly.
“First, the inn…”
But glancing back at Adelin, she was staring at the pillar, entranced.
A faint battle aura leaked from her body.
She was clearly excited.
Grabner was divided into workshop district, commercial district, and residential district.
Heading to residential for an inn, the hammer noise faded, replaced by lively voices.
Unlike Getel, this mid-sized city brimmed with far more vitality.
We booked rooms at a decent inn, dropped our bags, and headed right back out.
“Let’s find Work Workshop first. Ellie should be there.”
“There’s a guide map here.”
Naville’s Work Workshop was just a branch. The real deal was here, at Grabner’s head office.
Ellie had said she’d come to Grabner with her father over break, so she had to be here.
Following the map to the workshop district, the hammer and forge sounds roared back.
Noise even worse than the harbor.
‘Seriously, how do they not fix this noise pollution?’
Gritting my teeth, we arrived at the workshop blaring the loudest in the district.
The front was packed with craftsmen and citizens.
Some wore unmistakably noble attire.
All held their breath, watching a bearded middle-aged man silently forge a weapon at the center.
A familiar face.
The man was Eenedor Work.
Ellie’s father.
Eenedor Work was a commoner, but no noble dared look down on him.
He’d turned down an imperial title offer himself, making him noble in all but name.
His creations were unrivaled in the empire, forcing even nobles to wait in line personally.
Above all, he was the game’s top Abyss Core craftsman.
From playable character cores to mass-produced ones for the Academy and soldiers.
Barring rare dungeon drops like [Sun Shine], virtually no core escaped his hands.
In the original, he upgraded your core if you brought [Siren’s Song].
As I stared blankly at such a man.
Crash!
A loud clatter of dropped tools came from one side.
Turning toward the noise, a tall young man with dark blue hair entered my view.
Ellie Work.
He was in his familiar work clothes, and spotting me, dropped the toolbox he’d been holding.
“H-Halibal…! Lady Luna Grace and the Instructor too?”
He’d long pegged me as Alicia’s lackey and stayed wary.
Add in ladies from the two great ducal houses and the Academy instructor—Empire’s Greatest Sword, no less—and it was no wonder he panicked.
The drop was so loud that eyes shifted from Eenedor to us one by one.
Few recognized me thanks to Ragnar, and Luna somehow flew under the radar too.
But Adelin was the exception.
“Golden hair? Wait, no way…”
“The Empire’s Greatest Sword, Adelin Winter! Why’s she here?”
“Idiot. She’s the Empire’s Greatest Sword—that’s why. Ordinary blades won’t cut it for her?”
Her signature golden hair and eyes.
Above all, the sharp presence radiating from her entire body was impossible to miss amid these craftsmen.
Adelin just shrugged at the stares, as if it were natural.
That was when it happened.
Eenedor, unmoved by the crowd’s eyes and noise, paused for the first time.
As he quenched the heated blade in water, the workshop’s thunderous roar fell silent.
Eenedor approached, wiping sweat.
“A noble guest has arrived.”
I figured he’d head straight to Adelin, naturally.
But.
Grab.
A pot-lid-sized hand, still radiating heat, seized mine.
“I’ve been wanting to meet you. Dirge Sword.”