kscans

Chapter 274 - The Blunt Famous Sword

Hayato was heading to the castle in the capital city of Azuma alone.

Many things had been decided back at the mansion, and it was settled that retrieving the knife was the top priority. The consensus was that they should retrieve the knife even if it meant listening to all of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords’ demands.

And once the knife was retrieved, it was decided that Hayato himself could become a hostage.

He was being treated rather carelessly, but this was because the plan was to let the Ten Holy Demonic Swords get their legendary swords, and then beat them to a pulp to show them what "strong" really meant.

The idea came from Esha. She didn't say it herself, but she seemed quite angry.

"Let’s crush their delusion that they can win just by having strong weapons."

Everyone had agreed with Esha’s plan. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say that everyone was angry that Hayato’s knife had been stolen, even if it was by chance.

The members who regularly benefited from the food Hayato made were furious. Of course, for the members of Kokuryu, it wasn't about the food, but that they couldn't forgive the act of stealing a knife that everyone had worked hard to create.

For that reason, the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had incurred considerable wrath over a knife they had stolen by chance. That had led to the current operation.

Benitsuru had shown some reluctance about this, but Simon had scolded her.

"Um, are you saying you’re going to attack and conquer Azuma Castle, where the Ten Swords are now stronger with their new swords? As the princess, it’s a little complicated."

"It is only natural after what they have done."

"Um, that’s not it. It’s fine to defeat the Ten Swords, but what I’m concerned about is the idea that the members here can take down the castle on their own. I learned from our fight earlier that Luna-cchi is strong, but are all the others like that too?"

Simon let out a long sigh at those words.

Having just been scolded, Benitsuru flinched at the sigh.

"These people are all from clans that placed high in the previous Clan Wars, but you do not even… No, this too is a ploy by the Ten Swords. Confining the princess to the castle was also to cut off her information and social connections, it seems."

"What do you mean?"

"It means the princess has no allies. You are adored by the people, but you have no acquaintances who will fight alongside you. Therefore, when they rebel, all they have to do is defeat you, the princess, alone. The only other one who might get in their way is me."

"So the fact that everyone is here now is good timing for me?"

"The timing may have been good, but you should not misunderstand. This time, everyone is fighting for Hayato’s sake. There is not a single person here who will fight for the princess."

"Not a single one? Not even you, Simon?"

"Of course. If Hayato’s knife had not been stolen, we would have done what we needed to do at Ryugu after this, and then I would have put Hayato and the others on a ship and sent them home. I probably would have gotten on that ship myself, leaving the princess behind."

"…Um, I’m really, really sorry. I’ll try my best, so please don’t abandon me…"

"Hmph, do not pull on my hakama. If you do not wish to be abandoned, then fight with all your might for Hayato’s sake and crush the Ten Swords."

"I, I got it! I’ll do it, Hayacchi! I’ll get serious for real!"

"Oh, um. Thanks."

(Well, Simon probably wouldn’t abandon Benitsuru-san no matter what. But she’ll probably listen to what Simon says from now on, so maybe Benitsuru-san will change a little.)

Hayato recalled that exchange as he made his way to the castle.

The town felt the same as usual, but as he got closer to the castle, the atmosphere seemed to grow somewhat heavy.

Hayato looked up at the castle.

It was an orthodox Japanese castle, with a water-filled moat, stone walls, white walls, and a black-tiled roof. In terms of height, it was about the size of a six or seven-story building. Seeing the length of the moat, which was about 100 meters, Hayato guessed the castle stood on a plot of land 100 meters square.

He crossed the bridge over the moat and headed toward the castle gate, where two armored warriors stood. One of them narrowed his eyes and looked at Hayato.

"This is him. No doubt about it."

Looking closely, he saw it was one of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords who had come with Benitsuru.

"I came alone as promised. What now?"

"This way. Follow me."

Hayato was led by the two armored warriors and stepped inside the castle.

The inside of the castle was deserted, or rather, there was no one there. Just like the mansion they were staying in, he took off his shoes and walked on a wooden corridor, but the only sound was the creaking of the floorboards, and he couldn’t sense any other people.

As they proceeded down the corridor, he was prompted to descend a stone staircase leading underground.

This time, he walked through a place that looked like it was just piled-up stones. The only light source was the candles on the walls, but it didn’t feel that dark.

After about 30 meters, the path came to a dead end, and there was a sturdy-looking door made of wood and iron in the wall.

The two armored warriors entered without a word, so Hayato followed.

It was a place that looked like a blacksmithing workshop. There was a huge, blazing furnace-like object, many anvils, water buckets for cooling iron, and strange patterns and characters on talismans plastered all over the walls.

(It looks less like a workshop and more like a place for some kind of ritual. Maybe it’s for when a cursed blade is accidentally created.)

As he was thinking that, one of the armored warriors stood in front of Hayato.

Then he placed a single sword in front of Hayato. The sword, placed carelessly on the floor, had a slightly melancholic air about it.

"What do you see in that sword?"

He was suddenly asked such a question, but the atmosphere was one where he was not to say anything unnecessary and would not be allowed to, so Hayato felt a little overwhelmed.

He had come to get his knife back, so he decided to answer the question without saying anything superfluous for now.

Hayato looked at the sword that had been placed before him.

It was undoubtedly a Meitou Yatagarasu. But this was a one-star. The lowest quality sword.

It wasn't that a lowest-quality sword was unusable, but this one was only as strong as a regular sword. It had no special properties, and in terms of strength, the highest-quality swords Hayato had made were probably superior.

He wondered why such a sword was here, but he answered first.

"It’s a blunt sword."

He said it in a slightly provocative tone.

Angering his opponent probably wouldn’t do any good, but he was just stating a fact. As a craftsman, he couldn't possibly call this a famous sword.

The armored warrior in front of him laughed, perhaps pleased with Hayato’s answer. However, since the lower half of his face was covered by a protective guard called a menpo, Hayato couldn't tell if he was truly laughing with amusement.

"That’s right. The item name says it is a famous sword, yet it is undoubtedly blunt. Something like this cannot be called a legendary sword."

"Isn’t it blunt because the quality is poor?"

Questions of who made this sword in the first place, and why they would call him if they could make swords, sprang to mind, but he said nothing about them and simply voiced his thoughts.

The armored warrior nodded at Hayato’s words, as if he had been thinking the same thing.

"Precisely. But no matter which blacksmith makes it, it only ever comes out as one-star quality. Hayato, was it? Do you know the reason?"

(Only one-star quality? Is such a thing possible?)

Hayato had made all sorts of production items, but he had never come across an item like that.

There were times when you couldn't get high quality due to a lack of skill. For items with a high creation difficulty, even with the bare minimum skill level to make them, the quality would be three-star at best, and four-star and five-star were specifications that couldn't be made without raising the skill level further.

Of course, there were items like Elixir, where even with an Alchemy Skill of 100, the chance of getting a five-star was as low as 1%, but it wasn't that it couldn't be made.

"Was it made by someone whose Blacksmithing Skill wasn’t at 100?"

"We would not entrust the creation of a famous sword to such a blacksmith. Several blacksmiths made it, all with skill 100. But this was the result. Now, Hayato. Can you make a highest-quality Yatagarasu, a true famous sword?"

(I see. So they called me here because they could only make it at one-star.)

They probably hadn’t expected to be in a situation where they could only make a famous sword at one-star quality. So they used the knife they had obtained by chance to summon Hayato.

It felt like their rebellion had failed the moment they couldn’t make the swords, but since they were holding his knife hostage, or rather, material-stage, the Ten Holy Demonic Swords still had some luck. Whether that luck was good or bad, Hayato couldn’t honestly say, but that was how it seemed to him.

That aside, Hayato’s interest was piqued.

A sword that could only be made at the lowest quality. He didn’t know what that meant, but perhaps the desire to make it overflowed, because before he knew it, the corners of Hayato’s mouth had turned up into a smile.