Episode 128

After breakfast, I went to the forge.

Now then, I’ll get started making everyone’s weapons right away.

By the way, Alicia checked and said it’s fine for me to freely make weapons for both me and her.

At that time,

“If that’s the case, we should give ourselves more time. Maybe postpone it by a few days…”

I was apparently told that, but Alicia reportedly refused firmly.

First, I grabbed a Birea Magic Ore.

While looking for a container to melt it into.

“……”

In that instant, I felt like I heard something like a voice.

For a moment I thought it might be some ghostly presence again, but that faint, husky little voice seemed to be coming from the Magic Ore.

This was similar to what I experienced with Esrea Magic Ore.

The voice was subdued and hard to make out completely. Even so, it was clearly a different sensation than usual.

Could it be that Esrea Magic Ore was mixed into the Birea Magic Ore?

I checked the magical power hidden inside the Magic Ore I was holding, and it was definitely equivalent to Birea Magic Ore.

When I grabbed several other pieces of Magic Ore, I indeed sometimes heard that husky voice.

…This might, perhaps—

Curious, I started picking up the voices of the Magic Ore.

Compared to the Esrea Magic Ore, the assertion was weaker, but they were pleading for the same kind of form they wanted to take.

This might be the voice I had been missing until now.

Could it be that by working with Esrea Magic Ore I gained the ability to hear other voices?

Maybe the rank of Magic Ore doesn’t matter, and every piece of Magic Ore has its own envisioned form.

I’d never thought about that before.

Or rather, in most cases you probably wouldn’t even notice.

With lower-rank Magic Ore, even if you forcibly warp it, it won’t resist like Esrea Magic Ore does.

They simply don’t have the power to resist.

But that means you can’t draw out the Magic Ore’s true power.

That might be why there are differences in the finished product even when using Magic Ore of the same rank.

“…I need to talk more.”

To become an even better blacksmith, I need to understand the Magic Ore more deeply.

What I realized after watching the Magic Ore for a while was that some small pieces have voices. The combinations of Magic Ore aren’t as simple as just melting the same kind together and mixing them.

As much as possible, you need to combine Magic Ore that share similar ideas and strengthen them.

So it’s best to base the sword on Magic Ore that have voices.

I picked up pieces of Magic Ore and sorted them.

Once I had accumulated a certain amount of Magic Ore, I began smithing.

First I melted the Magic Ore, poured it into a mold once, and made a single plate.

Then I heated it and hammered it so the magic iron would take the form it desired.

After repeating the same work for a while and it took the shape of a sword, I finished the post-processing.

I cooled it with water and sharpened the blade with Wind magic.

Finally, I performed the Enchantment, and it was complete.

It didn’t take that long to make one.

…The magic iron listened to me more than I expected, or rather, cooperated in changing shape.

Maybe the closer you get to their ideal form, the more readily they’ll take that shape.

With this, it looks like I’ll finish earlier than planned.

Sir Rigard might cry and shout again, but it can’t be helped.

The moment I gripped the finished sword, something like a heartbeat transmitted from the sword.

It lasted only an instant, and I thought it might be an illusion.

…Still, I definitely felt as if it had thanked me.

I wouldn’t call it a cursed sword, but this sword might have become something on par with one.

…I just hope it won’t have adverse effects on the wielder.

With this sword, it probably wouldn’t lose even if it clashed with a sword made of Eirea Magic Ore.

No, it might even have the potential to defeat one.

I kept hammering the sword relentlessly.