The Blacksmith and the Emotionless Knight (2)
Dagran said those words and left Reina’s quarters. Then he pondered deeply why he had fallen in love with her. It had begun as pity. His obsession with making her smile and the compassion he felt toward her had somehow become love. Yet this love could never be fulfilled. The women of the Empire had always been known for their arrogance, and they had never treated dwarves as men. Beauty and the Beast was nothing more than a fairy tale; it had never once become reality. Moreover, his beauty could not even feel emotions.
It’s fine. All I have to do is make her smile.
Even though he knew he would never be loved in return, he had no intention of giving up. On the contrary, Dagran’s stubbornness only grew fiercer, and he threw himself desperately into crafting equipment. How much time had passed like that?
It was seven months after Reina had begun staying at his mansion. At last, Dagran succeeded in creating a special drug and device. The drug could fuse emotion with mana, and the device could neutralize the smoke produced when that fused mana was circulated.
“Reina! Come, sit down! I want to test—!”
Dagran burst into her quarters in high spirits, only to freeze. Reina, dressed in nothing but her undergarments, was performing rehabilitation exercises. She glanced at him. Dagran flinched and tried to hurry back out, but he stopped mid-step. He approached the expressionless woman and spoke.
“I have something to test. Sit in the chair for a moment.”
Reina nodded and reached for the clothes that had fallen to the floor. At that moment, Dagran took her hand and said,
“Let’s just test it like this. Since you don’t feel shame anyway, it should be fine, shouldn’t it?”
“······.”
Reina nodded. She sat in the chair and waited for his instructions. Soon, Dagran told her to drink the drug and then circulate her mana. Reina followed his directions exactly.
Shiiiiii—
A violet haze began to rise. Dagran shot up from his seat and shouted,
“I-it’s there! Y-you have emotions too! You have emotions!”
“······?”
Reina tilted her head with a blank face. Dagran quickly activated the emotion neutralizer and absorbed the purple haze. He showed her the results and said,
“Look here. The numbers—embarrassment, slight anger, humiliation, doubt.”
“·····?”
“Reina, these are the emotions you’re feeling! You simply lack the means to express them, but this is proof that you do feel emotions!”
Reina’s expression changed. Her mouth opened slightly as she stared at the violet haze floating around her with clear curiosity. Then she spoke.
“But… I still don’t feel anything.”
“…It’s just that you can’t express it. The emotions are definitely arising, but they aren’t reaching you.”
Dagran took her hand as he spoke. The haze spreading around Reina’s body began to deepen in color.
“I will definitely find the cause. First, since it seems you’re feeling embarrassed, let’s get you dressed. Ahem.”
Reina put her clothes back on with an expressionless face. After that, the two talked for a long time. They were checking whether her emotions changed through conversation.
“Reina. A while ago… you once said something like that. If the compensation was sufficient, you would even offer your body. Were you serious?”
Reina remained silent. But around her body, a black haze began to rise. It was the emotion of self-denial. She had not been sincere. Dagran let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad. That it wasn’t sincere.”
“······.”
“In my opinion, you simply didn’t want to be hurt. You were deliberately pushing others away.”
Reina lowered her head. Her face showed deep thought. After a while, she lifted her gaze and said,
“Even if that’s true, what’s the use? I still can’t feel anything.”
Reina paused for a moment. Then, looking at the black haze rising around her, she continued.
“And… even if I could feel emotions, they would probably be very faint. Like this black smoke—scattered, fleeting byproducts that vanish without meaning.”
As she said that, Reina looked at Dagran. Dagran looked back at her. In his eyes, her black haze was slowly turning yellow. Then he spoke.
“…If you cannot feel the substance of emotion, I will make you feel it. In a way a knight like you can understand, I will show you just how intense your emotions are. Until then, please stay here.”
There was only one week left until her rehabilitation treatment ended. In truth, Reina could have left anytime she wished. But the haze around her was gradually shifting into a stronger yellow glow. Finally, with an expressionless face, she answered.
“Yes. I will wait a little longer.”
Three months later.
At last, Dagran completed the prototype of the Holy Sword. He had succeeded in converting emotion into energy. He ran frantically to Reina’s quarters, handed her the prototype Holy Sword he had finished, and asked her to try converting her emotions into energy.
Swoooooooo—
The result was immediate. The Holy Sword began absorbing the thick yellow haze radiating from Reina’s body. That power was then converted into blue mana. He had succeeded in transforming the byproduct of fused emotion and mana into usable energy.
“L-let’s go outside! Let’s see you wield your emotions!”
Dagran grabbed Reina’s hand. Still holding it, he strode out into the snow-covered courtyard. For some reason, Reina’s heart was beating rapidly.
“Now! Try swinging it! Feel how intense your emotions truly are!”
“······.”
Reina took her stance. She closed her eyes and felt the Holy Sword absorbing her mana.
Whoosh!
She unleashed a single strike. The sword aura, imbued with blue mana, hurtled toward a massive boulder.
Kugugugugung!!!
The earth trembled. Crack, crack—the boulder split apart. Where the aura had passed, the snowfield had parted like the Red Sea. It was an overwhelming destructive power that could not even be compared to before.
“······.”
Reina took in the entire scene. This was the emotion she carried within her. This was how fierce it was. For twenty-seven years it had been trapped inside her, never once allowed to erupt.
“Reina.”
At that moment, Dagran stood beside her. Reina turned to look at him. Golden haze surged and billowed around her body. Dagran spoke.
“This is only the beginning. One day, I will make you feel real emotions—not just sword auras like this.”
His eyes sparkled with determination to find her emotions. At that moment, Reina felt a strange tightening in her chest. The more time she spent with him, the more her body seemed to change. Could even someone like her change if he was by her side?
That day, Dagran and Reina talked for a long time. They drank to celebrate the day’s success and shared all kinds of stories. It was then that Dagran learned why Reina was so obsessed with money. She was from a fallen noble house. Her family had gone bankrupt and been buried under an enormous mountain of debt. Her parents had tried to marry her off to a wealthy noble family or merchant to use those connections to rebuild their house. But no man wanted a woman who was like an emotionless stone statue. A few had been captivated by her beauty and tried to pursue a serious relationship, but none lasted more than a month before giving up. From then on, Reina had taken on any job she could find to earn money. Fortunately, she had shown exceptional talent for swordsmanship since childhood, so she could make a living with her blade. That was how she had ended up joining the expedition to the Dwarf Allied Kingdom, which offered the highest compensation.
“…You fulfilled your duty.”
After hearing her entire story, Dagran smiled sadly. He placed his hand over hers on the table and said,
“I will keep my promise. I will definitely make you smile. I swear it.”
“······.”
Reina looked at Dagran with an expressionless face. There was not the slightest movement in her features.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
But contrary to her face, her heart was pounding wildly. The yellow haze around her was turning into a golden glow. She had fallen in love with Dagran.
Two more months passed.
During that time, Dagran and Reina tried many different methods to find her emotions. As a result, they spent more and more time together. Reina was no longer passive; she began taking active steps. She studied to find her emotions, consulted with Dagran, and made efforts in every direction.
“…It looks like I’ll have to go search for a vein today. Father gave a direct order.”
However, Dagran’s father did not look favorably upon him. He believed his son had forgotten his duty as a dwarf and had gone mad over a human woman, locking himself in his room all day. At that time, no one yet knew about the Holy Sword, so his father was full of dissatisfaction toward Dagran.
“Then I’ll go with you.”
For that reason, Dagran and Reina joined the vein-searching operation. Reina’s old comrades, seeing her after so long, mocked her by calling her “the dwarf’s woman.” But Dagran did not step forward. Reina had taken his hand and shaken her head.
“L-l-l-look!”
At that moment, a massive shadow fell over the party. It was Bayater. In the dwarven tongue, it meant “ancient snow beast.” The long-dormant calamity of the snow mountains had revealed itself.
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The massacre happened in an instant. As Bayater leaped to the ground and swung its claws, humans and dwarves were torn apart with every swipe. The escort knights could not even put up a fight before they died.
“Fuckiiiiiiing hell!!! Everyone retreat!”
“What about the dwarves?!”
“Who cares? We’re all gonna die! Run!”
The surviving knights began to flee. Bayater was a monster beyond their power. From the beginning, it was an ancient demonic beast that only appeared in dwarven legends. There was no way knights who were merely mid-level Sword Experts could handle such a creature.
“······.”
Only Reina hesitated. Normally, she should have fled long ago. Logically, defeating that monster was absolutely impossible. She had to abandon all the dwarves and run.
“…Ah, aah… ugh····.”
But her feet would not move. Because Dagran had charged in to save his comrades.
“Kuaaaaaaaaack!!”
“Aaaaaaaaah!!!”
It was a foolish act. There was nothing Dagran could do even if he went. It was nothing but a useless emotion that would only hasten his death. Why were humans creatures who let themselves be ruled by emotion?
“····Ugh, ····uuu…!?”
But at that moment, Bayater’s gaze turned toward Dagran. The beast bared its ferocious fangs and let out a low growl. And then—
Whooooosh!
It raised its foreleg high and swung it at Dagran. Blood sprayed into the air as Dagran collapsed to the ground. Golden haze exploded violently from Reina’s body.
“N-nooooooooo!!!!”
Her body moved on its own. She screamed Dagran’s name as if in a shriek and charged at Bayater. The beast’s eyes turned toward her.
Whooooong!
It was the first time Reina’s emotions had ever exploded. The energy of that emotion was tremendous. Bayater leaped toward her and swung its paw, but the sword aura she unleashed struck the beast first. The hide that no steel could pierce was torn open. Blood gushed out, and its innards spilled forth.
“Diiiiiiie!!!”
Reina roared as she swung her sword once more, now wreathed in golden haze. Before Bayater could even recover, her blade severed its neck. The legendary demonic beast, Bayater, was decapitated without ever being able to use its full strength. It was an incredible achievement for a knight.
“Dagrrrrrrrran!! Dagran!!”
But none of that mattered. Reina ran to Dagran and checked his condition. The wound was not deep.
“Wait! I’ll—I’ll heal you!”
Reina placed her hand on his chest and cast healing magic. His wound slowly began to recover. Yet Dagran was smiling. He stroked her cheek and spoke.
“I said I would make you smile, but I made you cry instead.”
“······?”
Reina flinched and touched her own cheek. Tears were flowing. “I… I…”
Now that she thought about it, her eyes felt hot. Her nose was stuffy. Her face kept scrunching up.
“H-how… T-this is…”
It was confusing. This had never happened to her since birth. What should she even call this strange symptom? Sadness? Anger? Relief? It was none of those. It was something far more complex and profound.
“······.”
But soon, Reina realized what it was. In truth, she had been carrying it for a long time; she was only now becoming aware of it. Finally, she defined this confusing symptom for herself.
“…It seems… I have fallen in love with you.”