89. Who Is That Bitch?
89. Who Is That Bitch?
"I'm going to be stabbed by a sword?"
[Kikikikick. Yes, it is you. You will be stabbed to death by a sword today!]
The sword vibrated minutely, creating an eerie atmosphere, but that wasn't important to me.
The weapon was talking.
It seemed to be a Cursed Weapon, but for it to speak with a will of its own... At this level, it would qualify as an incredible Rare Artifact, far beyond a simple Cursed Weapon.
"Are you selling this?"
"...You want to buy this...?"
"It's not even an Ego Sword, but if a Cursed Weapon is talking on its own, it's incredibly valuable. Is it possessed by a ghost or something?"
The sword wasn't just echoing accumulated grudges; it was genuinely speaking with intent.
A Cursed Weapon usually just emits a powerful curse; one that speaks this directly is rare to see.
Occasionally, as curses accumulate, a ghost—a mass of vengeful spirits—can possess a weapon alongside the curse, but... a ghost that can state its own opinions this clearly is rare. Take it to necromancers, and you could name your price.
[Kikick. Contrary to your appearance, you have a decent eye! But fate will not change... You are destined to be stabbed to death by a sword today!]
"...I don't like that thing."
The sword incessantly repeated the same words.
It was the claim that I would be stabbed to death.
There probably aren't even ten people who could stab me to death, so who on earth would be doing it?
"Why would I be stabbed to death?"
[The moment you grabbed me, I saw a future where you were stabbed by a sword. Every future I've ever seen has inevitably come true... Why don't you make the best of what little life you have left!!]
Wow, it can even see the future of the person holding its hilt?
This is truly a real find.
I could hold onto it and sell it to a necromancer if I ever needed to go north.
I wasn't particularly bothered by some so-called inevitable future.
"I'll be stabbed to death by a sword, huh...."
I couldn't imagine it.
I'm not saying a Master is invincible, but who on earth would have to show up in this downtown district to stab me to death with a sword today?
'The Director...?'
The first person who came to mind was the Director.
If it's her, who levitates swords and wields them freely, she could definitely stab me to death.
But why?
Could it be that she was enraged that I beat her to the punch against the Sword Saint, whom she had marked to kill first?
'Now that I assume it's possible and think about it, that actually sounds plausible.'
The Sword Saint was the first Master the Director faced after becoming a Master herself.
The Church interfered just before she could behead him, so it must have lingered as a deep regret.
"Atlas.. put that down and let's go.. it's giving me a bad feeling.."
Lucia grabbed my arm, the one holding the sword.
Her expression was grim.
Unlike me, who was curious about the talking Cursed Weapon and inspecting it, she found it extremely unpleasant.
Though, I suppose I'm the strange one for being fine when it's saying I'm going to die.
"Huuuum...."
At that moment, the shopkeeper, who I wasn't even sure was asleep or awake, got up.
He casually grabbed a thick hammer from behind the counter with one hand, walked over, and in an instant, reached out toward me.
"Would you hand me that sword for a moment?"
[Keok?! The old geezer was awake?!]
"Making such a ruckus, how could I possibly fall asleep...?"
I handed the sword's hilt to the shopkeeper, and the blade began vibrating wildly.
It was as if it was afraid of the shopkeeper.
Seeing him holding that thick hammer in his right hand, I kind of understood why it was scared.
The shopkeeper turned around and placed the sword onto an anvil near the counter that looked like it was just for display.
As soon as it was placed on the anvil, the sword vibrated even more violently.
"Is this insolent sword trying to chase away every customer that comes in?!"
And then the shopkeeper raised his hammer high and brought it down upon the sword.
-Kang!!
[Kuaaaak!!]
Sparks flew with a clear, sharp metallic sound, and the sword's scream echoed throughout the entire shop.
This wasn't a hammer strike to shape metal; it was a swing meant to shatter it.
Normally, a blade of that thickness would have snapped in two with a single blow, yet the cursed sword didn't even get a scratch.
I was convinced.
That thing was an artifact of AAA-grade or higher.
"Didn't I say that if you do that one more time, I won't let it slide, you insolent brat?!"
-Kang!! Kang!! Kang!!! Kang!!!!
Even under the shopkeeper's rhythmic hammering, the sword did not break, maintaining its original shape.
[I-It's breaking!! It's really going to break!!!!]
"I've let you off easy until now. I'll just break it, melt you down, and make you into a new sword...!!"
[Kuaaaaaaak!!]
I had been planning to buy it, but it seemed difficult now.
If I could just buy it and properly seal it, there would be no need to worry about the curse, but buying it right now would bother Lucia.
"...Let's go."
"That's a good idea."
Lucia welcomed my suggestion.
I'll have to come back next week and buy that thing later or something.
Please, just hold on without breaking until then...!
[Ack!! Ack!!! Ack!! It's breaking! It's breaking!!!]
As I turned my back on the weapon shop, the horrific metallic clanging continued to resound.
—————————————
"That was a strange shop.."
"Still, a talking sword—wasn't that interesting?"
"...All it said was creepy stuff... L-Let's go to the next place... This one should be okay."
Lucia guided me to the next place, but things didn't go well after that either.
"Hihi, are you freshmen..! Didn't your seniors tell you that you have to pay a toll to pass through here?"
The moment we passed through a sparsely populated alleyway, armed robbers appeared.
Judging by their words, they seemed like the kind of guys who preyed on freshmen on their first outing.
"Didn't your seniors tell you to pick your targets wisely?"
"What??"
But Lucia and I happened to be unusually strong freshmen.
The robbers who attacked us without gauging their opponents all got their shins broken and were left crawling on the ground like worms.
After passing through the alley, this time an artifact shop appeared.
Unlike the antique weapon shop from before, it looked sleek and clean, like a good store.
But as soon as I got right in front of it, something other than the artifacts caught my eye.
"...A warning letter from the city hall?"
A parchment with red writing was attached to a pillar.
It was concealed behind other advertisement boards so it was hard to see, but I could see it.
That was definitely a 'Stigma' posted by the city hall.
When a store had multiple accidents, they were forced to keep that Stigma up for a set period. The moment I saw it, my footsteps halted.
That's not something you get for just one or two accidents.
"Lucia, hold on... I have a bad feeling about this place."
"...A bad feeling?"
"Yeah... like something's about to blow up..."
-Kwakwakwang!!!
The shop exploded before I could even finish my sentence.
"Everyone flee!! Dr. Esti's golem is rampaging again!!"
A huge golem emerged from the exploded shop.
Unlike the usual golems you'd normally see, it was a curious golem with a lot more visible mechanical parts.
People who looked like shop clerks and artisans who made artifacts came rushing out from inside.
"Aaaaagh, my shop??!! How long has it been since I rebuilt it..!!!! I'm going to kill that damned doctor!!"
The man who seemed to be the shop owner tore at his hair as he looked at his ruined shop.
"Hmm.. we can't stick around to watch, I guess. Too bad."
"....Yeah."
To suppress the rampaging golem, other golems rose up inside the shop, and the interesting spectacle of golems clashing with each other unfolded. But it seemed like we'd get caught up if we stayed too long, so we decided to leave the area.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We ended up in a quiet alleyway to escape the commotion.
"Augh...."
Lucia was extremely dejected.
Everywhere she tried to go, some kind of incident or accident happened, forcing us to leave quickly or getting us mixed up in strange events, so she seemed upset.
I, on the other hand, had found it quite fun.
It was a total mess, but we saw a lot of rare things.
It wasn't Lucia's fault that everything went wrong at every place.
The downtown district is just that kind of place.
Due to the nature of a port city, all sorts of bizarre things come together, and when bizarre things gather, strange incidents happen frequently.
That's why demon-related incidents also occur here often.
Realizing that, Hayden had frequently come and gone from this place as soon as the outing ban was lifted.
But Lucia's mood, gloomy as she was, didn't improve easily.
"Don't be so down. I had fun."
"But... there was nothing... that went right..."
"That itself is part of the fun. Wasn't it fun watching the golems fight?"
The fight between the rampaging modified golem and the standard golems was quite entertaining.
It was a shame I couldn't watch it to the end, but I'd heard the academy's Department of Magical Engineering was doing something similar, so I decided I'd stop by sometime.
"There's still plenty of time. So... shall we go there this time?"
"That place is... a doll shop..?"
"I saw it earlier, too. Don't you want to go?"
"...Yeah."
Inside the doll shop, there was everything from ball-jointed dolls made of porcelain to cute dolls stuffed full of cotton or feathers.
Lucia visibly brightened as she looked at the dolls.
She was smiling more brightly than at any other time throughout the entire day.
It seemed like Lucia, who had been gloomy until just a moment ago, had definitely cheered up.
"...Atlas, this is a gift."
"For me?"
As Lucia was looking at a shelf full of teddy bears, she handed me a black teddy bear.
In her arms, she was already carrying a large golden teddy bear and a few other plush dolls.
"Yeah.. I'd feel a bit awkward being the only one carrying these around."
"I guess that makes sense. I'll keep it in my room."
We bought a few more dolls after that, but since the volume was too large, we decided to carry just one teddy bear each by hand and have the rest shipped to the academy.
"...Heuheung~."
Lucia, seeming pleased with the golden teddy bear she was holding, tucked it under her arm and hummed a tune.
Walking around, each of us with a stuffed bear, felt just like a school trip to an amusement park.
No, since I'm attending the academy, it actually is a school trip, huh.
After this, we'd head back to the dorms... eat, chat a bit, and then once Lucia fell asleep, I'd just need to check on a Hidden Piece that could only be found in the downtown district.
Once today passed, what that sword said in the weapon shop would just be nonsense.
And at that very moment, I felt intense bloodlust.
"Uwaht?!"
I shoved Lucia aside and rolled backward, dodging. An assassin wielding a sharp rapier grazed past the exact spot where I had been standing just seconds ago.
It was an assassin wearing a grey robe over armor.
Their hood was pulled down low and they wore a mask, so I couldn't see their face at all, but they were similar to me in height.
"...!!"
The assassin held the rapier and lunged toward me.
I didn't know who they were, but they had nerve.
They seemed to be a fairly skilled assassin, but the moment they failed to kill me with their first attack, their defeat was already as good as certain.
I threw a piece of brick at the assassin's face as a check.
The small piece of brick flew forward fast, like a bolt loosed from a crossbow, but the assassin easily dodged the attack.
"They dodged that?"
The piece of brick grazed past the assassin's face.
I'd used the brick shot with enough power to tear their hood as a feint, and now I swung my real attack—the dagger in my right hand.
As the mask was torn away along with the hood, the silver hair tucked beneath it scattered into the air.
It was a hair color I was very familiar with.
"...You little brat?"
I couldn't attack any further, so my hand stopped.
Instead, I examined the assassin's face.
It felt slightly more mature, but it was a face I knew.
It was by no means a face that was pleased to see me after a long time.
The assassin whose face was revealed... Casey spoke to me, filled with venom.
"Is this why... you abandoned me..?"
-Puk!
I felt a sharp, piercing pain.
The rapier Casey was holding had pierced through my abdomen, and bright red blood suddenly gushed out.
On the portion of the blade that had burst out of my body, a bluish flame was flickering.
"Ah... Atlas!!!!"
Seeing the rapier lodged in my body, Lucia screamed.
Red blood splattered onto the black teddy bear I had been holding.
'Damn, I actually got stabbed...?'
That sword was really amazing... I literally got stabbed before the sun even set.
Next time, I'm absolutely buying it for sure.
Even with a hole torn through my stomach, the first thing that came to my mind was that sword that had given such an accurate prophecy.
Even amidst the dizzying, piercing pain, I was thinking about that.
This level of injury was something that happened often among knights.
No matter how off-guard I was, it was still a pretty clean attack.
"Your skills have gotten better since I last saw you."
"Yeah... because 3 years have passed!!!"
Someone who didn't know us would probably call me a lunatic.
Considering I was acting like this while bright red blood was spilling from my stomach, I guess I'd already gone crazy.