A Masterpiece Completed
Inside the sweltering workshop, Matillo's hair and beard — usually so meticulously kept — hung in disarray. His eyes, burning with a grim, hard-edged resolve, were sunken and ringed with deep shadows.
He wiped the sweat running down his forehead with his sleeve, then carefully lifted the water from the workbench in trembling hands and drank. A long breath left him. At last, he muttered in a hollow voice:
"Finally…"
At Matillo's words, Colpo — the bandana-wearing man slumped bonelessly in a chair — barely managed to lift his head. He was in no better shape. His eyes were unfocused and slack, his lips cracked dry, and coarse black stubble had sprouted sparsely around his mouth. After days of nothing but work inside the forge, he looked like a man who had abandoned every shred of self-care.
"It's finally done…"
Colpo gazed at the greatsword with bloodshot eyes. The fruit of two craftsmen pouring everything they had into a single blade — a greatsword forged from the materials of a supreme-grade monster, the kind of thing the world rarely ever saw.
It was brown through and through. Because it had been made from Disastro's carapace, the entire weapon looked like a desiccated, twisted shell, stripped of every drop of moisture. Along the tip of the blade, jagged protruding teeth jutted out in a rough, uneven line — not so much for cleanly cutting as for crushing and pulverizing whatever they met.
Colpo looked at that greatsword, a faint smile tugging at his lips, then let his head fall back against the chair. Half in tears, he spoke from that position.
"It's a masterpiece. A masterpiece I'll never make again in my life…"
"Kid's already putting on a death act."
Matillo watched him with an incredulous little laugh.
"You don't feel the same way, old man?"
"About what."
"That this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Making a weapon like this."
"…Well. You're not wrong."
Supreme-grade monster materials truly did feel different. A razor-sharp, almost malevolent presence clung to the blade itself. Probably because of the essence — power on a completely different plane from ordinary monsters, Matillo thought.
He coughed two or three times, then pulled a cigarette from his coat and stuck it between his lips. The tips of his fingers trembled faintly from the long labor. Since it was Colpo with him and not Alice, he lit it without hesitation.
"Urgh."
Colpo straightened his posture, propped his elbows on his knees, and slumped forward.
"But is there really an enemy out there that needs a weapon like this?"
"A weapon's better the stronger it is. Hunters have that thing — a collecting itch, you know? Disastro materials? That says everything right there."
"True. My workshop customers are the same. The second they get their hands on materials, they make a weapon first and think later."
Colpo chuckled under his breath.
A hunter's collecting urge was something no craftsman who ran a workshop could fail to understand. What if I made a weapon from this monster? What about that one? Living off that hunger was half of what a craftsman did. The two sides were inseparable.
"So — where's the owner of this greatsword? It's been a while since I last saw her face."
Colpo thought of Alice. It felt like only yesterday that word of her had been spreading among hunters as a new light. He still remembered the day she fought the ancient Alberoelva — a figure worthy of being called a hero without the slightest exaggeration. Not just Colpo. Anyone in Antico would have agreed.
"…Who knows. Somewhere out there trying to resolve the Anomalies, I suppose."
"Anomalies, huh. Hmm. The Association's still controlling the information, so I don't really know. What the hell is even going on?"
"I wasn't told the details either. Getting drafted doesn't mean they hand you the whole picture. Hell, neither the Association nor the kingdom seems to fully understand the situation themselves. But when monsters from the past start popping out like Disastro, you know it's no ordinary mess."
"Exactly. World's ending. End times, I tell you. End times."
Colpo sighed and shook his head. Matillo blew out a stream of smoke at the words.
"Supreme-grade monsters, though — turns out they're nothing special. I beat one. One shot and it was dead."
"You said that last time too. Exactly yesterday, actually. Old man, are you by any chance…"
"I know, I know. I'm not senile. Just listen again."
Matillo grinned around his cigarette. Colpo watched him with a completely drained, lopsided smile — then his expression abruptly turned serious.
"…So. What exactly are you planning to do with the Dragon Bane?"
"Hmm. Good question."
Indeed. Matillo drew in a breath. Smoke swirled thickly inside his mouth and drifted out between his lips in a soft hiss.
"I never told you, did I."
He snorted a plume of smoke through his nose.
"I was going to avenge Crete."
"…Crete?"
Colpo echoed. In all the years they had known each other, this was the first he had ever heard that Matillo was a survivor of Crete.
"At first, that was it. Hunters and ordinary people dying for nothing. I became a craftsman for their sake — but all I could think about was revenge. Everything had burned. So I just wanted to kill that Corasius. Once the revenge was done, I didn't care what happened to the rest of my life."
Colpo had always taken him for nothing more than a solitary old man. Faced with Matillo's earnest confession, he pressed his lips shut and simply nodded.
"Then I ran into her by chance. At first she was just a bold little hunter brat."
"Alice."
"Yeah. Completely ridiculous. She waltzes up speaking informal to me like it's nothing — to a cranky old coot like me — and starts whining for a weapon."
Matillo snorted a laugh as he spoke, the tone of a man dusting off a fond memory.
"At first I figured she was just some fearless kid, so I threw her a request that was a bit too much. Figured she'd give up on her own. My own skills weren't satisfying me either. But somehow she brought it back. After that it was one surprise after another. Not a single day went by without her shocking me."
Matillo pinched the spent stub of his cigarette and ground it out in the ashtray.
"And the strange thing about her — she was always alone. There were people around her, sure, but none of them were family. So, what do you call it — kindred spirits? That kind of feeling. We were in the same boat. And… she felt a bit like a granddaughter, too."
"Your granddaughter is a bit…"
"Don't start."
"Yes, sir!"
Colpo shut his mouth again. Matillo glanced at him, snorted a quiet laugh, and lowered his gaze.
"The last hunt I couldn't finish ten years ago. Right now she's busy resolving Anomalies, but if the chance comes, I intend to go with that kid. Because if it's her — she'll survive. No question."
Matillo's faith was absolute. He had seen her face Disastro on the field with his own eyes. Alice would take on even Corasius as if it were nothing. Unlike him.
"…Well then. Shall we send the greatsword off?"
"You said leaving it with the Association would do it, right?"
"Yeah."
Colpo rose from his seat. Out of consideration for the older Matillo, he decided to handle the delivery himself.
"Oof — this thing's heavy."
"Quit whining."
"No, I'm serious, it's actually heavy…"
Colpo groaned as he strapped the greatsword across his back. Then he puffed out his chest and struck a bizarre pose.
"Do I look a little like a hunter?"
"You're full of it. Just go already."
"Tsk~."
Looking thoroughly dejected, Colpo trudged out of the workshop. Matillo watched his retreating back, yawned softly, and leaned back against his chair.
"Hope she likes it."
He closed his eyes and let the accumulated fatigue slowly melt away.
Pina lay on the bed, swinging her legs back and forth.
"I wonder how that monster is doing?"
I sat in the chair beside her, staring blankly at Pina.
"Eating well and living well, probably."
"That's so cold. You played with her the most."
"Then she's eating poorly and living poorly."
"That's an even weirder answer."
I shrugged at Pina's words.
If it was Neveterde, she really would be fine on her own. She was a high-grade monster who could hold her head high anywhere she went — and she was a wild creature to begin with. She would manage perfectly well without us.
"I just hope she hasn't run into any rough ones like a Luga-lac~. She's such a gentle, kind child."
"You've already turned into a full-time nanny."
"Honestly, I hope she kept running and never crossed paths with hunters or soldiers before she met us."
If she did cross paths with them, the soldiers would be the ones dying.
Worrying about a perfectly capable monster like that — in my opinion, Pina had already locked in the complete monster-mom posture. All that was left was to start handing out feed.
I touched the corner of my mouth and hummed agreement.
"Right. Dying would be a problem. We still need to find those giant footprints."
"Once we catch that monster, we'll have to leave the snowfields too, right?"
"Yeah. That's why we came."
"Aww, that means saying goodbye to the little cutie~."
Pina spoke in a pained tone.
"This is a serious crossroads. Finish the operation fast and leave the snowfields… or stick around and spend more time with that monster…"
"What are you talking about. Obviously we finish the operation as fast as possible. It's freezing here."
I reached into the pouch of Thermal Powder sitting on the desk, scooped up a modest handful, and flung it into the room. The powder dissolved at a gentle pace, radiating heat into the air around it.
Even that warmth would fade before long. It was alien heat in the middle of this frigid highland.
Watching the pale warmth rise and drift, I said quietly:
"And she's not a monster of this time period to begin with. Once the Anomaly ends, we won't see her again."
Pina looked at me with sudden, startled eyes.
"Is that so…"
I turned my own words over in my head — and was startled myself. Because Neveterde's situation and mine were not so different. Nothing came out, so I simply pressed my lips shut.
Silence settled over the room.
I think I put my foot in my mouth.
Knock, knock, knock—
Someone rapped on the door. I stood up as if I had been waiting for it.
"I'll get it."
"Ah — yes."
Pina answered a beat late. I opened the door and looked at our visitor. The only person who would have business with us was one of Adelaide's attendants.
"The Antico Association has sent a package for Hunter Alice."
Oh!
Finally. What I'd been waiting for had arrived. My dampened mood lifted in an instant.
I am a simple person — up one moment, down the next.