Chapter 401: Point of Origin
Chapter 401: Point of Origin
Scrape, scrape.
"Round and round."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden, Junior?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a random thought."
It definitely wasn't because Fay had leaned in so close to shave my horns that my entire field of vision was filled with her round breasts. Definitely not.
"Well, it's not like you being weird is anything new..."
Fay tilted her head, seemingly satisfied with that answer for now, and went back to scraping my horn with her dagger.
For the record, a normal dagger wouldn't even leave a scratch on my horns, so she was using the Shining Lion Dagger.
Earlier, when I’d mindlessly lent the dagger to the dwarves, they had scrambled away in a panic, screaming, "Gyaaaah! The legends were true! Normal weapons don't work on dragons!!" That was actually pretty funny.
I chuckled to myself, remembering their reaction. Soon, the only sound filling the makeshift workshop—which I’d practically extorted from the dwarves—was the rhythmic scraping against my horn.
Both Fay and I remained silent. Usually, the silence between us felt comfortable, but today, for some reason, it felt awkward.
Just as I parted my lips to say something—anything—to break the tension...
"Hey, Junior."
"Y-yes? What is it, Senior Fay?"
"Come to think of it, have I ever told you why I'm so obsessed with making weapons through alchemy?"
"No... I don't think so?"
Now that she mentioned it, why was Fay so determined to create the ultimate equipment through alchemy?
Back in the game H&A, I just accepted it because she was an alchemist character, but thinking about it now... Fay must have had her own reasons.
And they probably weren't lighthearted ones.
The contempt from her family, the ridicule at the Academy, and even the cold treatment from her father, who should have been the one person she could trust.
This was the dream she had protected through all those trials. It was something so desperate that she might have sooner taken her own life than given up on it. It was the very thing that had sustained her until now.
I straightened my posture to show I was ready to listen seriously. Fay gave a small, wry smile.
"It’s an important story, sure, but there's no need to look so grim, Junior."
"It's about you, Senior Fay. How could I listen to it half-heartedly?"
"Always with the smooth talk..."
Fay’s hand, which had been holding the back of my head to keep it steady, began to gently stroke me with just her fingers.
It felt more like she was tickling me than petting me, and just as I felt my tension beginning to melt away...
"...My mom died because her weapon broke."
"......"
I knew it. It was a heavy story.
Fay didn't wait for me to recover from the shock before continuing.
"It happened when I was little, but I still remember it vividly. Back then, I was helping Mom with her work while learning the basics of alchemy. That day, we had finished business for the day and were getting ready to close up shop."
It was dusk. The setting sun stained the sky crimson, and people’s hearts were filled with the anticipation of going home to rest.
A man stumbled toward the alchemy shop where Fay and Laura were busy tidying up.
"I knew he was a stranger, but it wasn't unusual to have travelers stop by, so I let him in without much suspicion. He was staggering, so I thought he might be hurt."
But he wasn't.
The man wasn't a customer, but a robber... no, an assassin pretending to be a robber. After feigning injury to lower Laura's guard and gain entry, he immediately showed his true colors.
"He targeted me first. He probably wanted to use me as a hostage. Luckily, the shop was also Mom's workshop, so there were various defense systems that kept me safe... but he didn't stop, even without a hostage."
The assassin kept swinging his blade, claiming he wanted everything of value, even though Laura told him she’d give him everything if he just left.
That was likely just an act to hide his true identity.
Regardless, due to the assassin's violent persistence, the workshop's defense systems quickly reached their limit. It was just before his sword could reach Laura and Fay.
"Mom stepped forward with a small self-defense dagger to protect me. If she could just block him once, he would have been pinned down by the defense system again."
But that’s where the problem occurred.
It was a single strike, swung somehow through the barrage of attacks from the workshop's defenses.
It was a blow so weakened that even Laura, who didn't know how to fight, should have been able to parry it... but the moment it collided with the assassin's blade, Laura's dagger snapped in two.
The result was disastrous.
Laura was slashed deeply across her upper body, suffering a fatal wound.
Even so, it was an alchemist's workshop. If she had retreated immediately and used a high-grade potion, she might have survived.
But Laura didn't do that. She knew that if she moved, Fay would be in danger.
"Instead, Mom lunged forward. She threw herself at the assassin, pinning him in her arms..."
And like that, she was impaled by the mercury stakes of the defense system along with the assassin.
"I tried pouring potions on her afterward, but a high-grade potion wasn't enough. I mean, she had a hole straight through her chest, so it makes sense."
However, Fay's efforts weren't entirely in vain.
Unlike the assassin, who died instantly, it bought her enough time to leave her final words.
"She told me she loved me, told me to take that broken dagger and find the Yarl of Yarnshard... and then she died in my arms."
After that, Lokan found Fay first, and she ended up joining the Yarnshard family.
"...I found out later. That dagger Mom held at the very end... it was a gift from my father."
It was the first weapon Lokan had ever made. For a dwarf, gifting their first creation is a deeply meaningful gesture, so it wasn't strange for Laura to have kept it.
"Oh, I don't resent Father for the dagger breaking. It was his first attempt, after all. How good could it have been?"
"Well, that's true..."
Even Lokan couldn't have been a Meister from the very beginning.
"But you know... what was Mom thinking when the dagger she trusted—my father's weapon—broke? And what was Father thinking as he wept in secret while holding that broken blade?"
Reaching that thought, Fay made a resolution.
She would make weapons through alchemy.
Weapons that would never betray their masters at the most critical moment... weapons that could be trusted until the very, very end.
Items made through alchemy generally have excellent durability. This is a natural tendency because the field of alchemy itself aims for perfection.
That’s why an alloy mixed through alchemy is of higher quality than the same alloy melted and made in a normal furnace.
"I was too embarrassed to say all that, so I just made up some excuse about wanting to help struggling blacksmiths... but yeah. I just didn't want anyone else to die like my mom did."
"I see."
I had a lot I wanted to say, but I simply nodded as calmly as possible. There was someone else here who seemed to have much more to say than I did.
For instance... Lokan, who had come to Fay's workshop early to get his medicine.
Fay seemed not to have noticed Lokan behind her, perhaps because she was so focused on shaving my horn or perhaps because she was lost in the past she’d just recounted.
Had he not known Fay's reasons for insisting on alchemy? Lokan stood there frozen, looking like he’d been struck over the head, his expression blank.
Even though our eyes met, he couldn't pull himself together. Seeing that, I gently took Fay's hand.
"This should be enough horn powder, right, Senior Fay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! If there's too much, it'll actually mess up the medicinal effect. Good job, Junior."
"I didn't really do much. Anyway, to think you'd grind down the other horn as soon as the one you took for your golem grew back. It looks like it'll be a while before my horns are even again."
I shrugged and stood up. Fay chuckled and stood on her tiptoes.
She reached up and patted my head as if I’d done a great job. She seems to have developed a taste for touching my head lately.
Not that I can say much, since I squeeze her breasts whenever I'm bored.
"Thanks for listening to my story, not just giving me your horn. I've never told anyone that before, but I feel a lot better now that I've told you!"
"I'm glad I got to know you a bit better too, Senior Fay. So we're even."
"Hehe. But it's still a bit embarrassing, so don't go around telling people, okay, Junior?"
Fay tried to swear me to secrecy with her signature peculiar laugh. But it was already too late.
Without a word, I raised my hand and pointed behind her. Fay tilted her head in confusion but obediently turned around.
"......"
"......"
"......"
A silence far heavier than before filled the makeshift workshop.
Fay's pupils were shaking as if an earthquake were happening inside them, and Lokan, perhaps having processed his initial shock, was looking at Fay with a profoundly sorrowful gaze.
I observed the atmosphere for a moment, then nodded.
"Well, I'll leave you two to handle the rest. I'm heading out, Senior Fay."
"Ju-Junior! Where are you going?! You're going to leave me here in this atmosphere?!"
"I have to go sabotage the Evil God's plans. I'm off to drop today's Punishment!"
And with that, I bolted out of the workshop.
"You knew, didn't you?! You knew he was there and didn't say anything, Junior?!"
I let her voice trail off behind me.
Yandel doesn't know a thing.