Swords That Felt Like Their Own Bodies
"Hooo—"
"We survived another day……."
Having finished their afternoon training, Lillian and Priscilla trudged back toward the barracks looking thoroughly battered, their bodies still reeling from the rough handling they had endured.
Today they had been forced to overcome the techniques of several knights who had already passed the trials. True to the standards of Countess Akina’s knights, the men had charged without the slightest fear even against Masters.
"If we’d fought them normally, we might have died."
"Right. They know better than anyone how to surround and fight a stronger opponent. They were clearly trained under Countess Akina."
"Let’s rest for a bit first."
"Agreed."
With time still left before the evening meal, the simple desire to collapse and rest had completely taken over their minds—until a familiar voice rang out.
"Ah, Lil Wolf, Priscilla!"
"Kaisent!"
"Did you train hard again today?"
The moment they spotted Kaisent hurrying toward them from afar, every trace of exhaustion vanished. They straightened and greeted him with bright smiles as if they had never been tired at all.
"You both look worn out. Just a moment, please."
He restored their stamina with holy power at once. The two women who had been desperate to lie down felt their bodies gradually return to normal.
"Thank you, Kaisent."
"But it looks like you have something you want to tell us?"
"Yes!"
His unusually excited manner made it obvious that something special was coming.
"I prepared gifts for the two of you. Come with me."
Kaisent took both their hands and led them to a secluded spot out of easy sight. With a gesture he opened the dimensional warehouse and stepped inside; the women followed.
"Artemis!"
—Yes. Preparations are complete.—
The moment Artemis confirmed their entry, mechanical arms lifted two swords and presented them before the women.
"This is…?"
"Swords?"
"Yes! Artemis forged them and I enchanted them myself—magic swords!"
Kaisent explained that he had learned the method of enchanting equipment from a book on the third floor of the warehouse and had immediately put the knowledge to use.
"Kaisent……!"
"Honestly……!"
Anyone else who possessed such knowledge would have used it first for their own desires. Yet he had naturally prepared these for them before anything else. An indescribable sense of how precious he was filled their hearts.
"Try them first. With Artemis’s abilities we can still adjust the form or change the weight, so if anything feels off, just tell me honestly."
Following his words, the two women first examined the shapes of the blades.
Lillian’s was a two-handed sword of roughly the same length as the one she had always used, yet the blade was only half as wide—clearly designed for speed over raw mass.
Priscilla’s looked like an ordinary double-edged sword at first glance, but an extraordinary killing aura already flowed from it.
What both weapons shared was that they were forged as single solid pieces of metal from tip to pommel.
The entire sword, handle included, is solid metal.
That would make the grip heavy and throw off the balance, wouldn’t it?
Normally a wooden handle was used precisely to lighten the part held by the hand and make the weapon easier to swing. Of course, as Masters they could compensate with raw strength, but a broken balance was still a serious liability against a true opponent.
No. Kaisent would never do something thoughtless.
If Artemis made them this way, there has to be a reason.
Trusting Kaisent’s and Artemis’s intelligence, the two women gripped the hilts and lifted the swords.
"Huh?"
"Hah?"
The instant the blades rose, an involuntary chill raced down their spines.
This is……!
It feels exactly like reclaiming a lost part of my body!
It was not merely that the swords fit their hands perfectly. It was the sensation of recovering limbs they had somehow lost. The old metaphor that a weapon was an extension of the arm suddenly became literal.
I want to swing it!
I want to use my swordsmanship with this!
As if possessed, both women stepped back to secure a safe distance for swinging. The moment they poured mana into the blades, they were stunned all over again.
"M-Mana!"
"Amazing! It’s incredible!"
When they coated the weapons with mana the way they always did, a Sword Gang of tremendous power erupted. Their previous weapons had converted only forty to fifty percent of the mana they poured in; these displayed nearly one hundred percent conductivity.
"The mana conductivity is perfect! How is this even possible?"
"This is… mithril? The handles are mithril!"
"Even if the handles are mithril, this level of conductivity is still abnormal!"
While the women reeled in shock, Artemis, who had remained silent until now, spoke.
—The handles are pure mithril. The blades are a steel-and-mithril alloy.—
"Mithril alloy conducts mana better than steel, but it still shouldn’t match a solid mithril piece, should it?"
—It is no ordinary alloy. I drew the mithril into threads and laid them inside the blade like human blood vessels so that mana can flow freely. When you channel mana through the handle, the mithril threads within coat the entire blade at one hundred percent efficiency.—
Pathways for mana inside the sword itself?
The two women could only gape, unable to form coherent words. Artemis continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
—Any craftsman who forges an entire weapon from solid mithril simply to achieve one hundred percent conductivity does not deserve the title of craftsman. A true artisan must extract maximum efficiency from the minimum of materials.—
"Hey, only you can do something like that."
Kaisent knew perfectly well how absurd it was to create blood-vessel pathways inside a weapon, so he called out Artemis’s boasting. For the design to work, the drawn mithril threads had to be laid with less than a tenth of a millimeter of error, perfectly matching the blade’s shape and length, and remaining completely separate from the surrounding steel throughout the entire forging process.
Lillian and Priscilla formed Sword Gang and began to flow through their own sword arts.
It really feels like my own body!
I understand. This sword was born for me alone.
Crafted with precise ergonomic consideration of each woman’s body proportions, weight, and hand shape, the blades no longer felt like weapons being swung. They felt like lost limbs finally returned.
"Both of your weapons carry durability reinforcement and cutting-power enhancement. I haven’t tested them in actual combat, so this is only my subjective feeling, but I don’t think they’ll break unless they’re carelessly shredded by sword qi or Sword Gang, or unless Countess Akina herself attacks at full power."
Kaisent finished explaining the enchantments with obvious pride.
In the next instant—
They lunged.
"Hyaak?!"
Lillian and Priscilla threw their arms around him in a fierce embrace.
"Thank you, Kaisent."
"Meeting you was the greatest fortune of our lives."
"I feel the same way about meeting you both."
They had hated their world—the world whose dimensional walls had thinned, the world that had taken their parents and destroyed their kingdom, reducing a princess and a knight to mere wanderers. Yet in this moment they were grateful for that cursed law of the world. If Kaisent had not been of another race, if the dimensional walls had never weakened, they would have lived their entire lives without ever knowing this sensation or this happiness.
It’s a good thing Arty isn’t here. If she saw this she would definitely sulk.
Artemis privately noted that Arty would have glared daggers at the sight of anyone else monopolizing this moment.
"We’re grateful you made our swords, but you need to take care of your own bow too."
"That’s right. Lilith was shocked when she saw your bow—she kept asking how you blocked her arrows with something like that."
"I’m fine. I can’t keep consuming resources like this……."
—I expected that, so I already made one for Master as well.—
At that moment a mechanical arm from the production plant presented a metal bow before Kaisent.
"What?! I never ordered you to make this!"
—Because Master always takes care of others before himself. I deliberately accepted an excessive amount of inner energy from you and worked on it in secret.—
"That means we’ve lost that many magic rifles for our comrades!"
—Which is why I already told Master to act cute for Countess Akina once. One adorable pose and a wink, and she would sell the territory itself to procure whatever resources you need.—
"Hehehehe. I agree."
"Looking at how Countess Akina treats Kaisent, that doesn’t sound far-fetched."
"I already said I don’t want to do that!"
Kaisent tried to scold Artemis for acting without orders, but the AI simply used the two women as a shield.
—My ladies. I anticipated you would feel guilty, so this was my own form of consideration.—
"Artemis did well this time."
"Exactly. Did you think we would feel comfortable receiving something like this alone?"
"Ugh…… uuugh……."
Cornered, Kaisent finally accepted the bow. It was a masterpiece: a durability-reinforced magic item whose string had been woven from mithril drawn into thread and then twisted.
—Master! One cute pose and a wink! Conquer Lady Akina with that!—
"Shut up! I’m never doing it!"
"Kyaaaak!"
"S-s-save me!"
A peaceful village whose entire existence had been farming and quiet living was suddenly overrun by dozens of armed men who began snatching people at random.
"Ugh, aaaaaah!"
The guards responsible for the village’s security and defense against outsiders fought desperately, yet the raiders overwhelmed them with superior skill.
Strangely, instead of simply killing the elderly who offered no resistance and held no value, the raiders subdued even them and dragged them away. They plundered the village, but took only food; anything else that might have been worth money was ignored completely.
Caught so suddenly that no one could send word outside, the entire village was captured in moments, leaving only a cold, empty silence behind.
"Looks like we’ve finally found them."
A group that had been watching the abductions from a distance now spoke. They had clearly known of the kidnappers’ existence from the start; not one of them so much as frowned at the atrocity unfolding before their eyes.
"Team One, follow them as closely as you can. We—"
A high, piercing cry split the air.
The man who appeared to be the leader looked up. Three griffins that had been circling above the village turned and flew back the way they had come.
"—will have to negotiate with Countess Akina."
The following afternoon.
Kaisent was wandering here and there with Arty and Lilith. He had learned that Patisha was looking for him, but more than that, an entire day of nothing but training, study, training, and more study had left him restless.
"Haa~ It’s been a while. Moving around this leisurely, almost like a stroll."
"It certainly feels different from mercenary life."
"……So why did you drag me along too?"
Arty’s presence made sense, but bringing Lilith as well was a little strange.
"Because you never try to get along with anyone else, Noona."
"Of course not. Once I return to my original world I’m going to erase every human of this place—and every unpleasant memory—completely."
Lilith still dreamed only of returning to her own world, and the sole means she waited for was the arrival of Kaisent’s father.
"Pfft."
"What is it, golem?"
"I simply wonder whether you’ll ever be able to forget those memories completely."
"What do you mean by—?!"
Lilith tilted her head at Arty’s words, then realized a beat later and flushed scarlet.
"That’s enough, Arty."
"Yes, Master."
Arty, who had been teasing Lilith, immediately closed her mouth at Kaisent’s warning.
"I just wanted to walk around with you for a change of pace. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Hmph."
Once Kaisent explained that there was no ulterior motive, Lilith fell silent and simply followed behind.
I’ve already mapped the rough terrain of this place long ago, but there’s no harm in relaxing a little.
Lilith herself had learned through her body that she needed to let her guard down and release the tension if she was not to break later, so she allowed herself to look at the scenery.
"Hey, that kid……"
"Is he really allowed to just wander around like that?"
"Don’t pick a fight for no reason. The Countess dotes on him heavily."
"He really does have monstrous talent. Techniques that take years just to learn and get used to—he mastered them in a single day."
"I heard the Countess is trying to arrange a match with her daughters."
"So the Countess is rolling out the carpet herself, huh."
Some knights showed discomfort or envy at the favor Akina showered on him, yet others were far less restrained.
"Tch. A filthy other-race brat dares……"
"The Countess is going too far. Talent or not, teaching an other-race……"
"Those other-race types never know gratitude. Once they gain power, who knows what they’ll do."
Open prejudice against other races spilled freely from their mouths.
"Those bastards dare speak of Master that way."
"Stop, Arty."
"I cannot tolerate insults directed at Master."
"I’m fine. They didn’t attack first. If I answer with violence, I’ll only prove them right."
"……Understood."
Arty, who had been about to use the acoustic concentrator to give the gossips a bitter taste, swallowed her rage at Kaisent’s restraint.
As they continued wandering, Kaisent’s eyes lit up at a striking location: the landing and takeoff field for griffins, together with the breeding facilities that managed them.
"Ah. That."
"The monsters this world calls griffins."
"Strange creatures. We never had anything like them in our world."
"Same for me."
All three of them found their interest piqued by beings they had never seen or even heard of in their own worlds.
"Hm? Who…… ah, so you’re the little one called Kaisent."
As they approached the stables, the keeper who managed the place recognized him.
"You know me? I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we’ve met……."
"Word that the Countess is interested in a white-haired, white-eyed other-race kid has spread everywhere. Even the common folk outside the estate know about you by now."
"Ugh……."
The realization that he had become so famous made Kaisent pull a troubled face. The keeper, however, found himself oddly fond of the boy who looked embarrassed rather than proud of the attention.
"Hahahaha. You’re an amusing little one. So what brings you here?"
"Griffins are creatures we’ve never seen in our world. I just wanted to look at them up close."
"Looking is fine. The Countess told us to grant almost any request of yours. But every griffin is fiercely proud. They reject anyone they haven’t acknowledged, and if you get too close they may even attack. Don’t approach carelessly."
"Yeees~"
The keeper had been inwardly tense, expecting some prodigy worthy of the Countess’s personal interest. Up close, however, the boy was simply a cute child and nothing more.
Inside the stables Kaisent found the griffins sitting with folded wings atop nests of piled hay—nothing like ordinary animal pens. There were no iron bars, no roof; only round heaps of hay. The sole barrier was a wooden fence that merely marked the area as a breeding ground.
"They’re so open. Don’t they run away?"
"Griffins have a strong homing instinct. Once they decide a place is home, they always return. They’re also intelligent and proud enough that if you try to manage them with cages, they’ll just smash everything."
Remembering the magnificent sight of the griffins soaring when they had first arrived at Countess Akina’s territory, Kaisent gazed at the resting creatures with the pure, boyish longing of someone his age.