kscans

Chapter 265 - The Shrine in the Artisan District

The next day, Hayato, Ash, and Ren were being led by Simon to the artisan district in Azuma.

The three of them were a bit tired. The cause was likely yesterday's banquet. They weren't physically tired, but being pulled along by the Princess had been mentally exhausting.

Conversations with Benitsuru took some getting used to. She had no reservations about anything and was the type to barge right into one's personal space. She acted like an old friend and would ask hard-to-ask questions without hesitation.

Ash was asked things like, "Don't you have a girlfriend?" Ren was told, "The cat ear hood is magic respect," and Esha was subjected to various comments like, "Maids are dangerous," right to her face.

However, there was absolutely no malice or ill will, just a sense that everything she saw was fresh and exciting. Besides, Simon would admonish Benitsuru whenever she seemed about to go wild, so it wasn't too bad.

Seeing Simon in that state, Rosalie, perhaps feeling a sense of sympathy, was seen pouring him a drink at one point.

And when Benitsuru was leaving, she had tears in her eyes and was shouting, "I'm staying the night!" but Simon grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her home.

"Um, was Benitsuru-san okay?"

"She was fine. She was squawking, but she quieted down when I threatened not to bring her along anymore. I could have let her stay on my own authority, but once you allow it, she'll drag it on for days, and eventually she might say she's going with you all to the western countries. So I decided to be strict from the start."

"Are you going to be okay, Simon? Won't you make Benitsuru-san angry?"

Benitsuru was a princess. Hayato didn't know much about this country's structure, but since she was a princess, she must be important. It was unclear if it was a monarchy, but the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had said they served the Princess, so if Simon went against her will, it could be a problem.

But Simon shook his head.

"The Princess won't get angry over something like that. Her usual words and actions are certainly selfish, but she knows her place. Well, among the Ten Swords, there are those who would carry out her every wish. And if the Princess were to get truly angry—well, never mind that. Now, we have arrived."

After a thirty-minute walk from the mansion serving as their temporary base, they arrived at the artisan district.

One-story houses lined the streets, with smoke rising from everywhere. And the sound of metal clashing, which Hayato often heard, echoed from all around, creating a lively atmosphere.

The people outside were muscular, exactly what you'd expect of blacksmiths. There were not just men but women too, and their ages were diverse, from old to young. Seeing this made Hayato happy.

The reason was that most players had blacksmithing skills on top of their combat skills. Blacksmithing was just a sub-skill. They had raised the skill to maintain their own weapons and armor, and few players made blacksmithing their main focus.

Hayato felt happy, as if he had found many of his own kind.

"As I mentioned briefly at yesterday's banquet, there is a shrine up ahead. That is our destination."

Why had they come to this place? Naturally, it was because the cursed blade scheduled for destruction was here. Famous swords and cursed swords were both things made by human hands. Cursed swords deemed dangerous were to be sealed in a shrine in the artisan district immediately after being made.

If the demerits of a cursed sword only affected the user, they were allowed to use it at their own risk. However, it was a rule that cursed swords that caused trouble for others were to be sealed in that shrine.

And this time's cursed blade, Hariotsubame, was a supremely troublesome sword that manipulated its wielder into slashing at anyone and everyone, so its destruction had been decided.

Hayato and the others were walking toward the shrine where it was sealed, but Ren let out a disappointed sigh upon hearing the story.

"What a waste. To destroy such a fine piece of cursed equipment."

"Well, some cursed swords are allowed to exist depending on their performance. But this time, it's no good. It is certainly a powerful sword, but the damage to others, not just the user, is too great."

"Can't it be controlled with willpower or something? Or maybe if the sword acknowledges you, something to tickle that youthful spirit would be nice."

"Several people tried, but it was no use. It's a pain to deal with every time someone fails, so destroying it is for the best. Well, I too think it is a shame. A famous sword and a cursed sword are two sides of the same coin. If that cursed sword didn't manipulate people, it would have undoubtedly become the strongest sword."

Ren and Simon continued to talk about various things, but Hayato was more interested in how that cursed sword was made. Was it simply made by an NPC, or did a sword with that setting exist from the beginning?

He hadn't asked Diite about this. It would spoil the fun to hear all the game's settings, so he took that into consideration. He had decided to basically only ask Diite directly about things related to Mist.

With that in mind, Hayato considered.

If an NPC made it, then there must be a manufacturing method, and he should be able to make it himself.

He had found several manufacturing method papers on the floating island, but while he could now make new things, they weren't the strongest weapons and armor. He could just make equipment with a few special attack properties.

For now, he decided to treat this as a necessary quest to move around in the Eastern Country and had no plans to investigate the cursed sword in particular. Once Mist's matter was settled and he had some free time, he resolved to come back.

As he was thinking about such things, they arrived at the shrine where the cursed sword was sealed.

According to Simon's explanation, the shrine was surrounded by a wall about two meters high, and the only entrance was the torii gate at the front. Several cursed swords were sealed in the main hall at the back.

In front of the giant torii gate, Simon stopped and bowed.

"You all can act normally. This is something people who live in the Eastern Country do. To be honest, I only bow here. I don't really know the proper etiquette inside."

Wondering if that was okay, Hayato and the others still bowed their heads to the torii gate before entering the shrine grounds.

The four of them walked along the stone-paved approach. Along the way, statues of animals were lined up at regular intervals. There were many dogs and foxes, and also statues of monkeys and frogs.

Ren looked at them with a curious expression.

"What are these?"

"Who knows? I don't know the details either, but it is said they are here to guard this sacred place. I've never seen them move, though."

"Huh. But if they're animals, maybe we should have brought Maris-san."

Hayato nodded, agreeing that was true.

However, they were just statues, so it was unclear if a tamer would be relevant. He felt like Maris might know, but she was probably preoccupied with yokai right now and wouldn't have time for this.

Last night, Maris and Benitsuru had been excitedly talking about yokai.

"Well, you could always come back when you're done. Once this is over, we'll be exploring for a while, but there should be some downtime."

Just as Ren cheerfully replied, "You're right!" Simon looked at Hayato.

"Speaking of exploring, as the Princess said at yesterday's banquet, if you destroy the cursed sword, she will give you permission to go anywhere. Apparently, she was fine with giving permission just for yesterday's highest-quality kimono, though."

"Oh, really?"

"To be precise, it was the kimono and yesterday's banquet. The Princess is usually like that, but she was more excited than usual. The gift was part of it, but she was probably happy to be out of the castle for the first time in a while. And you all didn't put up a wall against her. She was likely happy that you treated her like a real friend."

"If she had a good time, then we're happy too. Right, we should be the ones to entertain her next time. Would it be alright to invite Benitsuru-san for a banquet before we leave? Would that be disrespectful or anything?"

"How could that be disrespectful? The Princess has not eaten much western cuisine, so she would be overjoyed... However, making her too happy is not good. She might try to make you all stay in the Eastern Country permanently."

"Hahaha—wait, seriously?"

"Seriously. When that happens, I will be on your side. A few of the Ten Swords will likely side with the Princess, but with me there, you should be able to escape somehow."

When Simon said that, Ash grinned.

"Even without you, Simon, we'll just fight our way out."

"That's right! I'll curse them really, really well!"

"Feel free to go on a spectacular rampage then. The Ten Swords are like frogs in a well, their perspective is too narrow. It would do them good to have a painful experience at least once. Perhaps I should egg the Princess on and suggest she capture Hayato."

"Don't use me for that."

"It's a joke. I would not repay a favor with treachery. Well, I do wish it would happen, but please forgive me for that much. Now, this is it. My apologies, but from here on, please be on your guard."

In front of the main hall entrance, Simon's smile suddenly turned serious.

As told, Hayato braced himself, knowing this was where it truly began.