A Sword That Adapts
Honestly, I wondered if I even needed a sword forged, but I tried to offer them money to repay them for saving my life and treating my wounds. For some reason, they flatly refused. Luremir said it felt wrong to accept a reward just for stabbing a single slime, so she'd consider Berentle repairing her spear as payment enough. Hellien also felt awkward about getting paid for her healing, so she asked to be treated to a meal here instead.
Unlike the elven village, the dwarven village was generally very open to smoking, to the point where they actually had separate non-smoking restaurants for adventurers. I quite liked that, but...
"I'm a bit sensitive to smoke."
"I don't really care for drinking or smoking."
Hearing that, I couldn't bring myself to say I smoked. I just replied, "Yeah, I get what you mean," while crying on the inside as we headed to the restaurant. Sigh. Back at the Academy, I had a smoking buddy. Since leaving, I haven't met a single person who smokes.
I didn't particularly love swords; I just loved traveling. Because of that, everything eventually circled back to training for my travels, and training naturally made me interested in swords. Even so, it wasn't like I knew how to forge a sword or was an expert on sword parts, decorations, or types. Once we finished eating, we'd have plenty of time left, and since this was a dwarven blacksmith village—a pretty big one at that, likely with a nearby mine—I thought about staying a while to look around.
But...
"Since I'm a nun..."
"I don't really have any interest in smelting or forging."
Those were the only responses I got. Seriously, how can they be so uninterested in everything?
By nature, I preferred traveling alone. Still, it was a bit disappointing to travel without meeting anyone who shared my tastes.
"I was planning to travel alone too, but don't you think you're being way too reckless, unni?"
"I can't go into details, but I have something to rely on."
They didn't seem to be hiding anything, but it wasn't like I could just go around talking about my physical condition. Above all, it was a hassle. I'd have to explain how I went on an adventure, got kidnapped, was subjected to experiments and some suspicious curse or magic, killed people to escape, went to the elven village... It was just too long. It wasn't that I hated talking about myself, but I despised overly complicated stories. Most of all, I'd have to mention that I ended up killing two people. Even if the reasons and circumstances made it unavoidable, that's a heavy topic to bring up to someone you just met.
"Where did you learn swordsmanship? Self-taught? The Academy? Your parents?"
"I spent a few years living at an academy outside my village. It wasn't in a massive metropolis, but it was a pretty big city. I only went home for summer and winter breaks. Whether at the academy or back home, I spent my weekends helping out at the church or babysitting kids."
"That's... unexpected."
Is it? There were all kinds of eccentric people at the academy, after all.
"The academy has dorms, and a lot of students lived there. I even had a roommate."
"No, no, not the academy. I meant you helping out at the church... I mean, not that helping out is unexpected, but you taking care of kids at a place like a church... How should I put it? I just didn't think you were the type to do that kind of thing. I don't mean it in a bad way!"
Hellien suddenly started speaking rapidly halfway through, rambling in a panic. I sighed inwardly. I didn't think my face looked that mean.
"My family isn't religious or anything. I mostly did it because I had nothing better to do, and I started going because of a friend. It's already been about seven years."
From around the halfway point, it was actually because of Eral-nim, but saying that would make me sound like a total creep. Honestly, I went almost out of habit, so I don't think it really had anything to do with my actual personality or preferences.
"Hmm, I'm jealous. My family couldn't afford that, so I was self-taught. Same for Hellien."
"Even if it's an academy, there's nothing to romanticize. You just study, sleep, and eat like normal."
"Hmm~ What about romance?"
It wasn't Hellien who brought up romance, but Luremir. Despite her tough appearance, she seemed to enjoy this kind of gossip.
"Nothing besides a senior I had a crush on. It didn't last very long, and I haven't seen him since graduating from the academy. I heard he went on an adventure, but who knows? The world is too big, even just this country."
"What if you meet him again?"
"What do you mean 'what if'? I don't have a single thought about that now. It was five years ago."
Back then, it was just a childish crush. It wasn't like he was actually my type...
"What's his name?"
"Helt. Helt Fairletter."
"You blurted out his last name right away, and you still remember it. You definitely haven't forgotten him."
"......"
Even thinking about it now, I didn't like him for any grand reason. It was just a childish crush...
"What about you two, then?"
"Romance isn't really my thing."
"Ahaha, since I'm a nun..."
Are they fucking kidding me? Are they doing this on purpose?
"Hmm, so was he about two years older than you? Since you said five years ago."
"Three years."
"A three-year difference at that age is pretty bold."
I couldn't deny it. I had liked him for nearly two years starting from when I was fifteen, and I was only able to let go of my feelings after he graduated.
While Luremir went to get the food, Hellien spoke up.
"Syaruen, I don't know what you're hiding, but I can tell you're hiding something. So, the next time we meet, I hope we can be close enough to open up to each other. I've taken a liking to you."
"If we ever meet again, that is."
Hellien looked up at me with a cute, smiling expression—one she had probably used quite often. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming. And I was embarrassed by my own pathetic state, getting horny at the slightest provocation.
Since I had already booked a room anyway, after finishing my meal, I parted ways with the two who were going sightseeing and stopped by the smithy to see if I could find anything useful.
"What brings you here? Are you worried about how I'm making it?"
"I just wanted to watch you forge the sword. Would I be in the way, or is it a trade secret?"
"No, this actually works out perfectly. I can do what I was going to do tomorrow ahead of schedule."
Was he talking about what he told me to come back for tomorrow morning?
"Unlike other places, yours is indoors rather than outdoors. It's surprisingly not that hot from the heat, either."
Of course, that was only "relatively" speaking—it was still sweltering, just not quite boiling alive.
"It's a personal quirk of mine. A stubborn insistence on keeping other impurities from getting into the weapon while I forge it."
I had wondered if he'd roast alive in here, but looking around, I saw a double ceiling with a massive opening, and there were ventilation holes high up on the walls.
"I've received a lot over the years, so I built this out of my own greed. It took me fifty years to master this technique, and five years just to build this place. I tried all sorts of things to make this happen."
I thought Berentle was going to ask me questions, but he started talking about himself instead.
"A sword that adapts to its owner... from the start, it was a challenge where I didn't even know if success was possible. But in the end, I succeeded, and I became the best blacksmith in this village."
He then brought over a metal box from a shelf in the back and handed it to me.
"I asked the adventurers who saved the village in the past to get this for me. If it can be used as a material for a sword, there's nothing I can't do."
"...Blood?"
When I opened the unlocked metal box, a glass bottle the size of my forearm filled with bright red blood caught my eye. I had studied monster habits and traits diligently for my travels, but I was weak when it came to biology, like creature blood. What color goblin blood was, what orc tissue looked like... But I knew instantly whose blood this was.
"A succubus?"
It was a bright red blood, looking like a beautiful paint. A color so vibrant it almost gave the illusion of sparkling.
"You got it right away. Succubi are naturally highly resistant to magic. I kept it thinking I might be able to use it someday, and it seems perfect for you."
"So that's why you asked if I was a succubus."
"I'm just a dense dwarf, but with the intuition of someone who's lived a long time, you felt similar to the succubus I saw before, so I asked."
For a second, I thought I had some obvious tell that I didn't know about but was glaringly obvious to everyone else.
"That's also why I want to hear your story. If a sword is to adapt to its owner, I need to know the owner's personality and past to craft it accordingly."
If that was the case, then sure. Above all, Berentle didn't seem to care about anything other than forging swords, and he didn't look like the type to go around gossiping. Leaving behind the piece of iron he had been working on to warm up—which had almost become a sword—Berentle lay back in a plush rocking chair that looked like pure heaven and listened to my story.
My childhood, the academy, my personality as I saw it, the succubus and the slime... I didn't know if any of this would help. It felt a bit like a therapy session.
"You lived a pretty normal life and then went looking for trouble."
"It wasn't really like that."
"I'll tell you in advance, even I don't know how the sword will turn out. It ultimately follows and adapts to its master, so the sword I hand you might be completely different ten years from now."
Gulping down the tea I had been sipping, I spoke again.
"But I'm curious, what exactly do you mean by 'adapt'?"
"It would be more accurate to say it changes according to your disposition rather than your class. I add materials tailored to the user from the forging stage, but I don't know how it will turn out, nor what will happen to it afterward."
So, in the end, "adaptation" was just a fancy word for a random start. By the way, my disposition and class... I didn't know about my disposition, but with my body in this state, there was no telling how it would turn out. No, looking on the bright side, maybe it would grant healing abilities or, like he said, high magic resistance.
"Keeping that blood was definitely not a mistake. Come back tomorrow afternoon—no, make it evening. There are more things I need to pay attention to than I thought."