I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Chief of All Evil

“I didn’t think you’d be fighting a giant so soon. You okay, Fran?”

“Hm.”

“Thank goodness!”

Relieved, Amanda gave Fran a firm hug.

Fran still couldn’t believe her friend was actually here.

“What are you doing here, Amanda?”

“I came as soon as I got your message!”

How fast was she? We only sent our letter three days ago. Amanda explained that she used all the teleport skills she had to navigate mountains and forests in her march to Bulbola.

“I’m still a little bloated from all the mana potions I had to chug.”

Her feat was amazing regardless.

What about Alessa?

Amanda wasn’t allowed to stray too far from the city. The A-Rank adventurer had to remain there to deter Raydoss from an invasion.

“They’ll be fine. I left—I mean, Jean volunteered to take over.”

Isn’t Jean a B-Rank?

“He’s promoted to A-Rank on the battlefield.”

In fact, Raydoss was more afraid of him than they were of Amanda.

“Slaughterfield” Jean earned his nickname in the days of the Raydossian War. The necromancer was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He commanded entire undead armies, made up of friend and foe alike. Stories of Jean’s undead army annihilating a five-thousand-strong Raydossian legion were still told in hushed tones in their barracks.

Now that I knew the story behind his nickname, Slaughterfield was a fitting title. The killing fields made an excellent recruitment house for his legion.

“Well, Fran, I’d love to stay and catch up, but I have to beat the tar out of the bastard who did this to you,” Amanda said, turning away. 

Her eyes were stern and filled with anger.

“Be careful, Amanda…”

“Thank you, Fran. Your worry just made me a hundred times stronger!”

Amanda grinned. She waved at us and leapt into battle.

She sped towards Linford, raining whiplashes and spells upon the giant Vilefiend. A flick of her wrist cracked her whip as hard as one of our Sword Arts. That was the power of an A-Rank. This was a glimpse of our goal.

Are you watching this, Fran?

“Hm.”

The battle raged on.

Amanda wasn’t the only one. The other combatants were as strong, or stronger, than we were.

Suddenly, a hundred swords materialized out of thin air and shot towards Linford. We were close enough to see that each of them was enchanted.

We caught a glimpse of this skill before, while we were out gathering ingredients. The swords belonged to the adventurer we saw at the Haunt.

Name: Forlund Harnoncourt

Race: Human

Class: Skyblade

Level: 66/99

HP: 718; Magic: 431; Strength: 484; Agility: 437

Skills: Dagger Mastery 7; Disassemble 8; Danger Sense 6; Reveal Weakness 5; Aura Sense 7; Sword Arts 10; Advanced Sword Arts 6; Sword Mastery 10; Advanced Sword Mastery 7; Gathering 4; Kick Arts 5; Kick Mastery 6; Mental Status Resistance 4; Petrification Resistance 3; Elemental Blade 8; Jump 7; Throw 8; Poison Resistance 3; Dual Wielding 7; Magic Resistance 6; Paralysis Resistance 4; Spirit Manipulation; Dragon Killer; Beast Slayer

Class Skill: Halve Cost: Sword Arts

Extra Skill: Blade God’s Favor

Titles: Blade God’s Favorite; Haunt Liberator; Dungeon Conqueror; Dragon Killer; Beast Killer; A-Rank Adventurer

Equipment: Orihalcon Longsword; Orihalcon Swordbreaker; Dragonking Hide Armor; Blade God Helm; World Tree Bark Shoes; Dragoneater Spider Web Mantle; Bracelet of Mana Regeneration; Bracelet of Sacrifice

Forlund? That was the A-Rank Colbert talked about. Hundred Blade Forlund was as strong as Amanda.

His Extra Skill allowed him to reproduce any sword he had touched, with the exception of very strong enchanted blades.

Could he make a copy of me? It would be awkward either way, and I decided to stay away from Forlund.

Colbert was here too, and had gotten stronger from the last time we met. Demitris Style Arts? That looked like an interesting skill. He must have a piece of equipment with Fake Identity. Although I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t wearing it now.

All of the combatants were strong. Guildmaster Gammod swung his mighty hammer, staggering Linford. Phillip, the oldest of Christon’s sons, was doing good, too. Although his stats lagged behind Fran, his stolid and robust fighting style was reassuring. He wielded his giant lance fiercely, even in full plate armor. Brook had planned to assassinate his brother as soon as he showed weakness. Looking at him now, he would’ve had to wait a long time for that.

Strangely enough, Theraclede was in the fight as well. I thought he was supposed to be our enemy. The Mad Warrior seemed to have betrayed his former master. Colbert wasn’t attacking him either, so there must’ve been some reason. What bothered me was that his race was now Fiend and Hellion.

His Cannibalize skill gave me a really bad feeling. He wouldn’t be able to use it on me or Fran, but perhaps it was why Theraclede was fighting together with us. Was he planning to Cannibalize Linford? He wasn’t attacking us yet, but we couldn’t let our guard down.

“Woof!”

Jet! Are you okay? Oh…guess not.

“Arf…”

As I consulted Fran on what to do with Theraclede, Jet staggered back to us. He was visibly singed and patches of his fur were burned off, making him look ragged and worn. He had suffered some deep wounds, too. I immediately applied some first-aid Healing.

“You okay, boy?”

“Woof.”

“You did good today.”

As Fran patted Jet’s neck, I felt someone approach. She showed no hostility as she peeked from behind the rubble.

“Um, are you two all right?”

“Charlotte?”

“Arf?”

Charlotte, graceful dancer and dependable big sister of the orphanage, came before us.

“It’s me. How are your wounds?”

“They’re all right. I’m just a little tired.”

Tired in both mind and body.

Charlotte wiped a bit of mud off Fran’s cheek. Fran let her do it, still watching the intense battle unfold in the distance.

They’re all so strong, she thought.

Yeah…

She wasn’t just admiring Amanda and the others. Now that we were safe, we could see that Linford was not the invincible monster we previously thought.

Why was I so focused on running away? Was there really no chance of fighting him?

I was afraid and lost long before we started fighting.

I was thinking the same thing when I spent my EP on Space-Time Magic. Fortunately, I had unlocked a Unique Skill. Because of that, I managed to save our lives.

Still, I wondered. What if I had shown a little bit more grit? Maybe put some points into Flame Magic or Advanced Sword Arts or Elemental Blade? We might have had a fighting chance.

Teacher.

Yeah?

This sucks.

Yeah…it really does.

Vexed, we watched Amanda and the others fight.

We had to get back to training once this battle was over. I was still far too weak. I knew that now.

No.

No. This battle was still going. If I felt frustrated about my lack of courage, why wait to redeem myself?

I didn’t know it, but I was still trying to run away. I thought the battle was as good as won and we were no longer required.

What the hell was I thinking?!

Fran, we’re going back in.

Of course. We’ll get him back for what he did to us.

“Woof!”

Fran was faster on the uptake than I was.

There was no beating this girl.

“Are you returning to the fight?”

Charlotte looked worried as she saw Fran get up. I wondered if she was going to stop us. Instead, she held Fran’s hands and offered words of encouragement.

“Good luck out there, you two.”

“Hm.”

“Arf!”

“I won’t be able join you, so allow me to do this much,” Charlotte said as she lightly clasped her hands together. 

The clear chime of a bell sounded, and a strange light enveloped Jet and Fran. Charlotte collapsed to her knees, her face drained of color.

“Charlotte! Are you okay?”

“W-woof?”

“I-I’m fine. I just used a little too much mana. I’ll be back to normal once I rest.”

“Don’t force yourself,” Fran said, worried. 

Charlotte had a determined look on her face. She shook her head.

“I’m not very good at fighting. The least I can do…is bless you with the ability to exorcise Malice.”

She really was a priestess.

“Were you the one who destroyed the giant dome?”

“Yes.”

Wow. I didn’t think that was possible with her stats.

Everyone’s so strong, Fran thought.

They really are.

It wasn’t a matter of how high your stats were. It was a matter of finding something you could do and devoting all your power to see it through. That was what mattered. Fran seemed close to a breakthrough.

What is it? I asked.

I’ll fight, Teacher.

Her eyes shone with steady determination and valor.

Why?

I couldn’t do anything while we were running away from Linford. You took care of everything. You always do. So I’m going to fight this time.

Fran…

It was my fault for not talking to her. We still had time, so I asked her.

Okay. What are you planning?

There’s something I want to try out.

Which is?

I thought of a move that’ll need your Overboost to work. Pulling this off is going to take all of our powers combined.

An attack that would require both of our abilities. Fran was confident that she could handle my maximum output. I liked the sound of it. I was so lucky to have been born again as a sword! Having Fran wield me, despite all my moping, made me feel like I could become a Godsword!

This might be the first time that Fran personally asked for me to use a skill to supplement hers.

You got it, I told her.

“Hm.”

“Fran, Jet, good luck out there.”

“Hm. I’ll be going now.”

“Woof!”

We rushed to return to the battlefield.

Charlotte

I knew Fran was a high-rank adventurer. I could never beat her, even at my best. Even then, I didn’t expect her to be so strong.

I marveled as I watched her fight the terrible giant inside the dome. I knew she couldn’t win, but I admired her regardless. No normal person could defeat that monster. You would need to be a guildmaster at the very least.

“But I can at least destroy this barrier…!”

My Class made me more sensitive to Malice than others. I knew that was what the dome was made from. I hesitated, thinking my powers wouldn’t be enough. But I thought of Fran and brushed the anxieties aside.

I was going to break this dome. Fran was fighting for this city, as well as her life. I had to help.

I hurried towards the dome but was delayed in my efforts to rescue her. Monsters got in my way, and though I was able to defeat them, it took time that Fran didn’t have. I asked the Knight Guard to take care of the orphanage while I was gone. I left alone. Now, I knew that was a mistake.

All I could do was head for the dome as fast as I could…

Suddenly, the famous adventurer Amanda called out to me.

I knew her name. The teacher at the orphanage told me Amanda was going to take care of the orphanage from now on. She owned many orphanages across the land. The one in Bulbola would be safe now. Fran was the one to contact her. I could never repay that debt. The least I could do was try and save her.

Other adventurers had gathered as well, united to fight the giant wizard. They were all so strong. They might as well have been in a different galaxy to me. Even Steelclaw Colbert was taking orders in this party.

Colbert seemed to hold a grudge against a large man called Theraclede, but Amanda silenced them both with a glare. She wasn’t an A-Rank for nothing. She and her party would definitely be able to save Fran. All I had to do was focus on what I did best.

I succeeded in taking down the barrier. Fran escaped, warping away with magic. I admired her all the more for being able to think so clearly in a dire situation.

All I could do now was leave the rest to Amanda and Forlund. They were so in sync, despite only having met today. Maybe they could only anticipate each other’s movements because they were so experienced. They complemented each other’s styles well, too. They fought so gracefully that it looked like they had rehearsed.

I wasn’t frustrated. They were in a completely different league. Instead, I watched the battle unfold. It looked like a scene right out of a myth.

And yet Fran got up and moved to get a better view. She watched Amanda and the others fight, longing to join them.

The cruel extent of her injuries was apparent with a single glance at her bloodstained armor. She didn’t look wounded, so maybe she took some life potions. Still, a life potion did nothing to heal mental exhaustion. Her face was still pale from fending off the giant on her own. Yet she wanted to the return to the fight. I couldn’t stop her if I wanted to.

When I saw the look in her eyes, I knew I mustn’t.

And so I gave her a little help.

I used the rest of my power to bestow Fiend Breaker on her. I didn’t know whether I could, since I’d already used it during the ritual, but it seemed to work. Both my stamina and mana were at their limits. I thought I lost a few years of my life pulling that off. But I was useless in the fight. This was the least I could do.

As Fran sped away, she turned to look at me one last time, concerned about my earlier collapse. I didn’t mean to worry her… I hated myself for being so weak. I promised I would train if I survived this battle. I didn’t want to feel this way.

“Good luck out there…”

Fran warped and jumped higher and higher. She must be planning to strike from the skies.

I watched her descend on the giant Vilefiend, wrapped in a pale blue glow.

We were right above Linford.

The giant hadn’t noticed us since Amanda and Forlund were keeping him busy.

“Teacher, are you ready?”

Yeah! I’ll handle backup! No more running away!

“I’ll leave you to it.”

I felt stronger just hearing the trust in her voice. Right now, we could do anything together. Fran’s sword hand was hotter than usual. I could feel her heartbeat, her breath, and the fine movements of her hand.

“Let’s go.”

Let’s do this.

Fran readied me and Air Hopped off Jet’s back. She twisted her body and hung suspended in midair. The mana thread supporting her was connected to two cubes of pressurized air.

We could tie an infinite number of mana threads in midair this way. Theoretically, we could run free through the air if we wanted to.

Fran leaned back into the mana rope until her weight pulled it taut. Once it reached maximum elasticity, she used the charged-up energy to launch herself straight down.

The technique reminded me of a wrestling move at first, but now that I think about it, it was more like a pinball machine.

The momentum surged us through the air.

Fran accelerated even further with Air Hops and Wind Magic. I used Air Current Manipulation to help reduce the drag. I also used Increase Weight, making myself weigh over fifty kilos. Fran cancelled out the side-effects with Reduce Weight and had no issue wielding me. 

Soon, we reached Linford’s giant body.

He still hadn’t noticed us, thanks to our stealth.

I Transmogrified myself to Fran’s specifications. Her suggestion surprised me when we discussed it. I took the form of a katana. I never told her about the weapon, but that’s definitely what she described.

She must’ve mulled this over for a while.

“Hn?”

With twenty five meters to go, Linford finally turned towards us. We were in striking distance now. The giant glared at Fran with bloodshot eyes.

“Beastgirl! How did you survive?!” Linford screamed, unleashing a stream of purple smoke. 

A cloud of Malice. It melted everything it touched, from armor to architecture. The move was difficult to evade.

How was Fran going to dodge this one?

“Seen that one before.”

She anticipated Linford’s purple smoke. She had already seen him use it.

“Vernier.”

Vernier was a flame spell which allowed the user to accelerate for a short time. The sudden acceleration took a toll on the user’s body, which made it difficult to use. It was easiest for straight line accelerations.

Fran protected herself with a thin layer of air and sped through the malicious gas. The trip barely grazed her. Charlotte’s barrier must’ve helped, and Fran smiled knowingly to herself.

Linford’s eyes bulged when he saw Fran accelerate through his poison smoke.

“Impudent beast! Hngh!”

Frustrated, Linford crossed his arms to protect his head.

Fool! He’d fallen for the trick of only paying attention to Fran’s eyes and murderous intent. She’d learned this trick from the master duelist Valuza during the Seedrun Conflict. Linford’s head was not our target.

“Haaa!”

Haaa!

Fran was targeting Linford’s torso.

I coordinated my skills with hers as we made contact, using Elemental Blade Fire, Vibrofang, and Venomfang.

Fran used the same skills to double the effect, but I could only stay in this state for a second. Any longer and my blade would melt. But Fran had taken the tremendous strain into account.

A moment was all she needed. She drew me out of the air sheath.

The acceleration of the freefall, combined with the full force of her own quickdraw, created our ultimate attack. Our powers were concentrated into a single slash of blinding speed.

This was nothing like the brute force of my Telekinetic Catapult. It was a technical move, combining hyper-acceleration with impeccable timing.

“Gaaaaaargh!”

The slash left a blue glow as it cut Linford’s body from his left shoulder to his abdomen. Our attack cut right through his heart, and it lay exposed, pulsing eerily.

I felt the urge to shout for joy the moment our slash connected. Unable to resist, I let out a cheer which rivaled Jet’s howl.

YEEEEESSSSSS!!!

It was a different kind of satisfaction from absorbing crystal. It felt like I’d cut through the dark cloud of sorrow that hung over me. This was the first time I’d felt this kind of release, but I had no time to reflect on my emotions. Neither did I have time to see how Linford was doing. Fran was fast approaching the ground and I decelerated her with a well-timed Short Jump.

“Thanks, Teacher.”

That was close.

If I’d been a second late, she would’ve crashed into the earth.

Fran remained calm throughout her descent. Not out of conceit, but out of trust. She knew I wouldn’t let her down.

I regained my composure. The intense flood of emotion had settled. I needed to focus on the battle. We weren’t out of the woods yet.

We surveyed the giant wizard from a safe distance.

“Damn you! Damn you all!”

He had fallen to one knee and was screaming in pain. Blood gushed out of the great wound Fran had left, depleting half of his health.

How was he not dead?! He was still breathing, though his heart had been cut in half. “Persistent” didn’t do him justice. The giant wizard had the survivability of a cockroach. We weren’t able to finish him, but no one could say that we didn’t even the score.

We did it, Fran.

“Yeah! We made a finishing move!”

We could only use it in wide open spaces though. It was impossible to pull off in a dungeon, let alone indoors. 

The quickdraw out of the air pressure sheath was much more forgiving in terms of space. Accelerating her draw with wind magic was a good way to get the drop on our opponent, too.

Normally, a quickdraw required you to carry your sword on your hip. But with the air sheath, Fran could use it from any angle.

Venomfang was already doing its job. I could tell from here that Linford was poisoned. We couldn’t expect much out of it, since he had Fast Regeneration and Abnormal Status Resistance, but it was enough to keep his regeneration in check. He couldn’t heal the damage Amanda’s party were dealing him now.

“Fran’s softened him up for us, boys! Rock his face off!”

“Hmph.”

“No problem! Good job, Fran!”

“Affirmative!”

“I’ll show you what a dwarf can do!”

“Ha ha ha! All of you look like you’re worth killing, but I’ll start with the old man tonight!”

On Amanda’s command, the all stars piled onto Linford. We would’ve joined the offensive, but our ultimate attack took a good chunk of my durability. Even with Instant Regeneration, it would take some time for my blade to recover. Fran, on the other hand, was fresh out of mana.

Forlund charged his mana blades, making them glow brighter than before, and launched toward the monster. Combined with Amanda’s vertical whiplash, the attack took off Linford’s right arm, along with the building behind it. Colbert launched the giant with an uppercut, allowing Phillip to take off his other arm with a shot of lightning from his spear. Then Gammod the Guildmaster crushed Linford’s right foot with his warhammer.

“Graaaaargh! You vermin!”

“You’re mine now! Give me your powers, old man!”

“Traitor…!”

Theraclede cut off Linford’s remaining leg and topped the giant fiendmancer. He was going to Cannibalize him. We had to stop him somehow!

No, it’s not over yet.

“Grrrr!”

Jet learned well from his master. He plunged down at Linford from the skies and sank his fangs into his neck, ripping a good chunk out. He activated Shadow Walk before he hit the ground, making it look like the earth had swallowed him.

Jet took the best part for himself!

“Aaargh… How could I have lost…to these insignificants…!”

Linford croaked his last words resentfully. His skin shriveled and cracked, and soon the giant mage withered away to dust.

It was an awful way to go.

“You goddamn mongrel! You keep getting in my way!” Theraclede said, annoyed. 

Jet had been the one to interrupt his ambush on Colbert and the others.

Seeing that everything worked out, Fran sat down, exhausted.

“Ruff…”

Jet returned as we looked at Linford’s remains. But his demeanor was strange, and it appeared that he was bleeding from the mouth. What happened?

Jet, are you okay?!

“Was it Linford?”

“Urf…”

We looked into his mouth. His fangs were cracked. His canine snapped in the middle, gushing blood.

It made sense, now that I thought about it. Our plunging attack depleted most of my Durability. Jet had done a similar move and was paying for it with his teeth.

Don’t go too crazy now.

“Woof.”

“That was really cool, though.”

“Arf!”

I quickly administered some healing.

Fran has leveled up

Fran has leveled...

The P.A. rang in my head. Linford was definitely dead. Our battle was finally over.

We got a lot of EXP from beating such a strong opponent.

Fran, Jet, Amanda, Forlund, Colbert, Phillip, Gammod, Theraclede, and Charlotte. Our EXP was split nine ways, and Fran still managed to hit level 40. She was only five levels away from her cap now. I wondered what would happen when we reached it. I was as excited as I was anxious.

We got a number of skills and titles out of the fight. Fiend Killer was awarded to anyone who killed a Vilefiend. We also obtained Malice Resistance 1 from the beating we’d taken from Linford’s spells.

I was sure Jet had leveled up too, and he had two new skills: Malice Sense and Malice Resistance. Odd, considering Jet didn’t take nearly as much punishment as Fran did. Did he get it with Predator? I mean, it allowed him to take the skills of the creatures he ate, and he took a huge bite out of Linford with his last attack, flesh and blood included. I suppose that was the source of his new skills.

He was fine, but I thought it’d be better if he laid off the Fiend diet…

With the battle over, I wanted to let Fran rest in a comfortable bed. The fight might be over, but the conflict was not.

Teacher, we need to go after Zelyse, Fran said in a matter-of-fact way. 

Once she regained her composure, she pulled herself up—using me as a makeshift walking stick.

You can rest for a while longer.

No. We have to move quickly.

Her mind was made up. My wielder’s motivation rubbed off on me.

Jet, can you still track him down? I asked.

“Urf…”

His sense of smell was overwhelmed by the battle. Jet was exhausted and couldn’t track as well as usual. We could ask Theraclede. I figured he might know something.

Uh, where’d Theraclede go?

“He’s gone?”

“What? The Mad Warrior is missing!” Amanda shouted in surprise, looking around. 

When did he make his exit? He was still with us when Linford died.

“Over there!” Amanda pointed. 

Theraclede was standing a good fifty meters away.

“That dumb dog got in my way again! I would’ve made the final blow if not for him! Well, I still got a piece of the old man, anyway! I’ll be taking my leave now!”

“Get back here!”

Colbert chased after him, but Theraclede was one step ahead.

“Ha ha! See you later, suckers!”

“What? He teleported?”

Amanda gaped at Theraclede’s sudden disappearance. The spell must be a part of Fiendmancy, since Linford had used it, too. It must come with certain requirements though, since neither of them could use it in quick succession.

“Damn it. I wanted to cash in his bounty, since he’s been on the run for so long! I’ll get him next time!”

The Mad Warrior was long gone. Maybe we should chase him down with Amanda and the rest? No, Zelyse was more important.

“The Malice remains,” Forlund muttered, reminding me about the Fiendstones in the temple. 

We should destroy them before they did anything funny.

“It might be the Fiendstones.”

“What is a Fiendstone?”

Fran told the party about the dark crystals. They swallowed and went through the rubble in search of them. Soon, Charlotte joined us, too.

The priestess was sensitive to Malice and was instrumental in finding the Fiendstones. They were buried deep in the earth, but it was nothing Gammod’s Earth Magic couldn’t solve.

“So this is a Fiendstone…”

“It’s putting out a lot less Malice than before.”

Fran was right. They were emitting far less dark energy than before Linford’s transformation.

“And these were in the temple?”

“Linford put them there.”

“I see…”

“Figure anything out, Charlotte?”

“Just a guess.”

According to Charlotte, temples were connected to the divine realm. They were the dwelling places of gods, and oracles could use them to communicate with the divine. It was what gave temples the ability to change a person’s Class. The gods themselves maintained this pathway, so humans couldn’t abuse it.

Charlotte suggested that the Fiendstones might twist this pathway, pointing it towards the Evil One himself.

Colbert couldn’t believe it, but Amanda and Gammod agreed that it was a nonzero possibility. The powers of the Evil One were wrapped in mystery.

The Evil One lost the war with the gods at the dawn of the world, and parts of him were sealed in temples all across the lands. His core was said to be guarded by the gods themselves. It sounded like myth, but after what we’d seen tonight, I was willing to believe it. 

In any case, we all agreed that the Fiendstones should be destroyed. Once Amanda and her party had ground them to dust, Forlund set fire to the remains with a spell. The only loose end now was Zelyse.

“Amanda, I need your help.”

“Sure!”

“You’re not going to wait for me to tell you?”

“Don’t have to. How can I refuse a request coming from you? What do you want?”

Fran thanked Amanda for her frankness and told everyone about Zelyse. The remaining conspirator was still on the loose, and he was definitely plotting something.

“The alchemist Zelyse… I didn’t know he was still in this city. I’ll avenge my brothers yet.”

“I haven’t heard that name in a while. I thought someone already finished the job!”

“The Mad Warrior might be with him.”

“Looks like I’ll have to beat him up for the children!”

“Indeed.”

With everyone pumped up, we would find him in no time.

But then I saw it was unnecessary.

“For all his talk, Linford sure went down in a hurry.”

Zelyse had shown himself.

He stood on top of a pile of rubble, a condescending grin on his lips.

He was here in the flesh now, although I still couldn’t Identify him.

“I have some good news for you all. Our plan has failed! My main conspirator’s dead. I didn’t get the souls I wanted, and I can’t really break the seal of the Evil One on my own. I can’t use Fiendmancy, you see,” he bragged with a faint smile. 

I didn’t know why he would want to boast about his failure.

“But you’re always getting in my way, Fran. You killed Linford and his men, stole my Cure Turmeric, a vital ingredient for Fiend Water, and sold the bread you made with it at a cooking contest. You stole my Soul Essence, too. Not to mention you got in the way of Charlotte’s kidnapping during the ritual of purification.”

He had wanted to kidnap Charlotte to put a stop to the ritual.

“Why Charlotte?”

“Linford wanted her for some reason.”

They wanted Charlotte for a dark ritual. It would have the opposite effect from the one she performed during the Moons Festival and create Malice instead of purification. Then she would be the sacrifice. They’d only lent money to the orphanage so they could force them to hand her over. This part of their plan failed when Weint asked for the recipe instead of the girl.

“If things went according to plan, I would have all the children of the orphanage. They make great test subjects, you know.”

Zelyse was scum, but I almost felt sorry for him.

Amanda’s desire to slaughter the smug bastard started mounting the second she heard what he planned for the orphans. That was over the line for the A-Rank. Zelyse just made it to the top of her kill list.

But someone else felt just as murderous, and that someone else was Fran.

Zelyse was annoying to begin with, but the things he said completely infuriated her. Fran was close to the kids at the orphanage. It was personal now.

“Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I must be going.”

“You’re running away?”

“Of course I am! No point in carrying out the rest of my plan with Linford dead. I was going to mass produce Fiends to kill the people of the city. Then, I could use their souls to break the seal of the Evil One’s Flesh Lump. It would’ve worked too, if Linford succeeded in drawing the Evil One’s power via the temple, but as things stand—”

Teacher.

I know.

Fran only said my name, but I knew her intent.

I teleported us behind the mad alchemist, and she swung me right at him. Fran launched her attack without delay, almost before the spell could end. It would’ve been impossible to pull off without our perfect harmony.

“!”

I got front row seats to see Zelyse’s dumbstruck expression. Emphasis on “dumb.”

Got you!

Zelyse disappeared, melting away into the aether just as I grazed his neck. He wasn’t using Space-Time Magic! I knew that for sure.

We were so close.

Hm…!

Fran bit her lip in frustration.

Jet! Track him down!

“Arf…”

Jet shook his head regretfully. Zelyse’s scent was gone.

Guess not.

“Woof…”

Aww, I’m not blaming you, boy. It’s not your fault.

Jet might have the greatest nose in the world, but he would be hard-pressed to track down a teleporting foe.

I know it’s frustrating…but let’s do something else.

“Hm. There’s still Fiends to clean up.”

Yeah. Even then, our job’s not over.

Fran needed some rest, but we couldn’t leave the city to fend for itself. I doubted she could rest with the situation as it was anyway.

“Well, travelling in a pack is a waste of our talents, I think. Let’s split up and exterminate some monsters!”

Gammod barked out our marching orders.

YEAH!!!

And the all stars went their separate ways.

We should get going, too.

“Hm!”

“Woof!”

Zelyse

“Phew. I will never get used to that girl!”

Beastgirl Fran of the Black Cat Tribe. The weakest of the beastman tribes turned out to be the greatest wrench in my plans.

My blood froze as I parted from her. To think that such a young girl had the cold determination to lop someone’s head off. She teleported without warning, and I only sensed her when she was already behind me.

A terror of a girl. So used to killing at such a young age.

What was she? I hadn’t been this interested in someone for a long time.

“Heh heh. Well, I still won our match because I managed to escape—urk!”

A splatting sound.

“What?”

Followed by warm fluid trickling down my neck. It was blood, of course. 

Warm red blood flowed with every beat of my heart.

“She grazed me.”

I trembled. She had imbued her sword with a potent toxin.

“Oh, this is bad.”

I hurried to take out an alchemic potion and downed it. The elixir served to heal all status ailments and wounds, and produced blood in its user. I emptied the bottle. My wounds closed, the trembling stopped, and my clouded vision turned clear again.

“And here I thought I made the perfect escape.”

When was the last time I felt panic like this? She might have taken off my head if I delayed my teleportation by even a millisecond. If the graze were deeper, the poison might have prevented me from drinking the antidote.

That girl was a thorn in my side.

“I’m wearing my good robes, too.”

My blood was unusual, thanks to a chain of human experimentation. As such, getting it out of clothing was difficult. I wondered what would happen if it came in contact with Cleansing Magic.

“Black Cat Fran…I hope we meet again. I would love to experiment on you.”

Morning rose on the horrors of the night before.

“Here you go.”

“Be careful, it’s quite hot.”

“Hm.”

We were at our food cart, handing out curry bread for free. Well, not entirely free. The Count was still compensating us for our goods. There wasn’t even much of a difference in our profit margin compared to regular sales.

After Zelyse got away, we spent the night hunting down the remaining Fiends. We took down about ten of those monsters by ourselves. Forlund racked up twenty. None of the abominations were left by sunrise, and peace started returning to the city.

The cooking contest was cancelled for obvious reasons. A lot of people were dead, and the city was in disarray. Not to mention that some members of the Chefs’ Guild had been in Brook’s pocket.

An abrupt end to the contest would only make the people more anxious, of course. So we rolled our food cart out and gave curry bread to anyone who wanted it. Even if they weren’t freshly fried, they still served to lessen the severity of the emergency.

We didn’t mind. We had a lot of curry bread left over, and we were still getting compensated for them. The other contestants agreed to it, too.

“No fighting now! We still have lots to give away!”

“This was in the running to win the entire cooking contest. You can’t afford to miss it!”

Fran, let’s move to the next spot.

The Crimson Maidens were doing a great job at pulling in customers. We’d offered to use Jet as our lovable mascot, but the Count shot that idea down. The citizens of the Bulbola didn’t need another reason to feel uneasy. He also cited hygiene reasons, since Jet was much too big, prompting our direwolf to sulk in a corner.

The Count didn’t have to go that far!

Fran offered to help promote our curry bread, but the Crimson Maidens refused out of pride. They might have been inferior to a little girl in terms of fighting strength, but they were definitely the better saleswomen. The girls were very insistent.

The Count asked us to distribute our bread as much as we can.

“Hm.”

Later, Phillip visited our food cart to hand us our payment.

We learned a lot from him. The Count took all responsibility for what happened in the Christon family. The family wasn’t getting kicked out of Bulbola though. They established the city two hundred years ago, and now the eldest had played a major role in resolving the crisis. That didn’t change the fact that the second and third sons were planning a coup. They would be remembered for bringing shame to the family. Phillip intended to give the people of Bulbola what was rightfully theirs. Handing out free food was part of his plan.

Although the citizens knew about the apparent corruption of the Count’s sons, the prince said they were ignorant of what went on beneath it. 

We’d returned to the Count’s estate after cleaning up the remaining Fiends. Fult and the others welcomed us back with an embrace. They were too worried to sleep. I couldn’t say I blamed them. After Linford defeated their demons, the prince and princess left the estate to help Fran, much to the protests of Sellid. But the battle was already over by the time they reached the temple. All that was left was a mountain of rubble. We were out killing Fiends at the time, but there was no way for Fult and Satya to know.

That was how the Phyllian royals came to their sleepless night. Their vigil continued until Fran unceremoniously showed up. Satya was crying, which was normal enough. But I was quite surprised to see Fult crying, too. Had he fallen for her? I would usually intervene with a telekinetic shove, but I decided not to ruin the moment. Maybe he was just worried. 

I’ll let you off this time, prince, but there won’t be a next!

The real mess came after that. With my identity revealed, there were a barrage of questions from the twins. Fran told me she didn’t want to keep any secrets from them. Well, she got her wish. We told them our story from the beginning.

They were astonished that the mysterious cooking master turned out to be a sword.

“To think that a sword can cook so well… The world is a mysterious place.”

Fran apologized for not telling them earlier, but the twins weren’t angry with her. They understood the need for secrecy, since they were in possession of a Godsword. Although it was highly likely a spell prevented them from talking too much about the divine weapon.

We slept in Satya’s room afterwards. Her chamber was more than suited for a princess. The room was ten times more luxurious than I initially thought. The curtains looked like they were made from a mineral weave.

I didn’t know whether to call it a stroke of good luck or terrible misfortune, but the battle with Linford had forced me to reveal myself to Fran’s closest friends. The consequences were as difficult as the fight had been.

Is the town really going to be all right? I said, recalling our conversation with Phillip. The Alchemists’ Guild is destroyed, the Count is stepping down, and a lot of people are dead.

It was going to take some time before Bulbola could get back on its feet.

“I’m worried about the orphanage.”

Amanda’s there to take care of them. They’ll be fine.

“Yeah. Amanda wouldn’t make kids cry.”

I’m more worried about the Chefs’ Guild. I don’t think they’ll fall apart immediately, but…

“!”

Fran’s eyes widened, and she sat straight up.

Fran? You okay, there?

“Without the contest we can’t go to the finals…”

Well, yeah.

“Then he can’t eat our curry!”

Oh, right. The old man.

“He got away!”

No, he did not. There’s nothing we could’ve done about it anyway.

I’d completely forgotten about Fran’s little feud. I wondered if the old gourmand was doing all right. He wasn’t a bad guy, and I wished him well.

Just as we were setting up our food cart, Meckam, the man in question, appeared. It almost made me think that he’d overheard my thoughts. He looked cross as usual, waiting impatiently for us to finish our preparations. He must want a piece of our curry bread.

“Hm?”

“I came, just as I promised.”

“Have a seat. You’ll need it.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.”

Meckam grinned back at Fran. Judith was creeped out. Lydia’s eyes sparkled as she saw the beginning of the duel. Maya, well…I had no idea what she was thinking. The ditz was a lot harder to read than her self-proclaimed cool girl teammate.

Meckam waited by the side of the cart. Ten minutes later, Fran presented him with a single plain curry bread.

“Well, then.”

I was nervous now. I’d had confidence in it so far, but now it would be judged by an actual food critic. He gobbled it down, savoring every morsel.

“Hm.”

“Well?”

“It’s a shame I still have other foods to taste.”

Uh, did that mean he liked it?

“Your fried bread is not only a novelty, but a delicious novelty. The contrasting textures must’ve been difficult to achieve. Your curry filling was specifically tailored to match the fried bread, bringing the best out of both ingredients. Your master has written the first recipe in the newest page of the cooking world. Tell him I think this is a wonderful dish, made with care and originality.”

That was the longest food review I’d ever gotten, but I’d take it! He liked it!

“You’re welcome.”

“I am sorry that this contest ended midway.”

“Hm? But it’s not the guild’s fault.”

“Even so. Some of our members were accomplices to the conspiracy. We are not entirely without blame. I challenged you to come to the finals with a dish that would impress me, but the finals are no more. I’m sorry. Your curry bread definitely would’ve taken you there.”

Did he come all this way just to keep his promise? The old gourmet was more of a gentleman than I thought.

“Your curry bread is delicious, and I apologize for my previous sentiments. Your master is truly a great chef.”

“Hah!”

Fran, you’re supposed to be graceful here, not rub your victory in his face! 

Fortunately, the old man didn’t seem to mind Fran’s showboating.

Boy, was I getting tired though. We needed a break from handing out curry bread. I wasn’t doing anything to warrant a break, you say? Oh, but I was. I still kept watch in case anything bad happened. Also, I cooked all of the curry bread we had in our Pocket Dimension, so there.

A sudden influx of people came to our cart, and the line got much longer. I overheard them saying that Meckam’s choice couldn’t be wrong. The old man was famous here in Bulbola.

“Uh, why are all these people here?”

“We can’t keep up.”

“I bet they’re here because of how hot I am!”

Our break would have to be put off until later. We would’ve made a lot of money with this many customers… Phillip’s compensation money was enough, I guess. We made profit just on that.

We’ve made a lot of money since coming to Bulbola.

Phillip’s compensation was close to a million gold, and we still had monster materials to sell.

“Yeah. We can buy a lot of stuff now.”

Anything tickle your fancy, Fran? Maybe an ingredient you want me to work with?

“Of course. But that’s not what I have in mind.”

For once, food wasn’t Fran’s top priority. That was odd. Did she want some girly accessories? Maybe a cute dress?

No, of course not.

“I want to spend it on crystal.”

Crystal?

“Yeah. We’ll buy crystal for you to absorb so you can rank up. We might be able to find some for sale here.”

Are you sure?

I felt bad that she wanted to buy crystal for me. Not that I was stingy or anything. I didn’t mind spending money on potions, equipment, and food. But all these supplies were for Fran. I always thought of crystal as something I needed to get by myself.

Of course, I knew that if I got stronger, Fran would get stronger as well.

It was time for it, I supposed. I hadn’t had many opportunities to absorb crystal since we got to Bulbola.

It might be easier for us to start buying crystal from now on. My rank requirement was steadily climbing. Leveling up would only get harder.

“I’ll sell everything we don’t need and use the money for crystal.”

Yeah. We might get some leads if we ask the guild and the LTA.

We were looking for whole, high-rank crystal. The contents of our Pocket Dimension were starting to look like a shipwreck, so some spring cleaning would do it some good.

As soon as we finished administering curry bread, we went to the Lucille Trade Association to meet our friend Captain Rengill. It was nice seeing he wasn’t hurt during the ordeal.

“Thank you for waiting. Here is your money, and I’ll get someone to take your goods right away.”

Our main goal was to get rid of the clutter we had gathered in our Pocket Dimension. We sold everything from low tier magivices to equipment and jewelry.

I thanked Rengill for seeing us so late at night.

Letting go of some pieces of equipment was difficult. Like the King Cobra Dagger with the Venomlord Fang skill and the Nether King Cloak. I steeled myself through it and felt much better with a tidier Pocket Dimension. We netted a total of six and a half million gold. I could feel my monetary senses twisting.

Now for the crystal.

“Hm.”

“So about the crystal you asked for…”

Rengill hesitated. Was he going to back out of our deal?

“Bulbola is in the middle of a crystal shortage.”

“How come?”

“The Alchemists’ Guild bought it all up recently. Anything over D-Threat is hard to come by.”

Zelyse! That fiend had gone too far!

“But you do have some.”

“Yes. Only five, but all of excellent quality.”

We had asked for quality over quantity, but it looked like he went out of his way to get the cream of the crop.

“However…because of the shortage, our prices have gone up.”

Now the already pricey high-rank crystal was even more expensive. The five crystal Rengill prepared for us priced at a total of four million gold, but we didn’t have much choice.

The Adventurers’ Guild didn’t sell crystal to individual adventurers. If the LTA couldn’t provide us with it either, then we were out of luck in Bulbola.

Identify couldn’t tell what skills a crystal held, but it could tell its rank. Three B-Threats and two C-Threats. I didn’t think Rengill would take advantage of us, so I decided that the price was right. We’d done an expensive bit of shopping tonight… I hoped the skills weren’t duds. That would be the worst.

“Junk crystal are the only ones we have left.”

“Junk crystal?”

“Yes. That’s what we call crystal that are lower than G-Threat. Usually they come from goblins and fanged rats and the like.”

“And you have a lot of them?”

“I bought them up to hedge against the crystal shortage, but…I don’t think there’s any real way to use them.”

Teacher?

Take it. It’s not a bad deal.

Goblins had a lot of skills, despite their low level. Might as well buy them all while we were here. We bought three hundred junk crystal, along with some daily use ones. I had no idea what they were for, but they all contributed to my counter.

“Are you sure? I’ll remind you again that these are junk.”

“No problem.”

“All right. You’ve really helped me out tonight, so let me add a little something on top.”

This crystal pile cost us a hundred thousand gold. Crystal prices only started to skyrocket from D-Threat upward. E-Threats were on the cheaper side, since they could be used by normal civilians. The most expensive of them all, the crystal of an Icerock Ape, only cost us three thousand gold.

We’ll absorb them tonight.

“Hm!”

Our lease on the old restaurant ran out tomorrow, so we should still be able to sleep there tonight. As much as I wanted to indulge myself with crystal, we had a promise to keep. Colbert was planning a wrap up party even before the contest was cancelled. He was waiting for us when we got to the meeting spot.

“Where are we going?”

“I know a really good restaurant. Just you wait!”

“Hm. Looking forward to it.”

“Please do. Not that it holds a candle to your master’s cooking, of course! Where is he anyway? He didn’t get hurt last night, did he?”

“No, he’s fine now.”

I regenerated pretty fast. But Fran’s implication freaked Colbert out. He grabbed her shoulders and started screaming. She would’ve countered him if he wasn’t a friend.

“Wh-what?! Are you sure he’s okay? Does he need potions?! I’ll get him the finest life potion money can buy!”

“Hm…”

Fran was speechless. Steelclaw Colbert was somewhat of a fanboy.

“Colbert, what are you doing to her?” Judith cut in at just the right time.

“F-Fran’s master was hurt! We are in danger of losing one of the hands of the gods! It’s up to me to nurse him back to—”

“Yes, all right. Just don’t cause a scene. Please.”

“Wow, what a creep.”

“So much for the dignity of a B-Rank.”

The three girls’ comments finally knocked some sense back into him.

“Wha—! When did you get here?”

“For a while now, thank you.”

“Creep.”

“You seem happy, though. What happened?”

“Ah. Well, you see—”

Lydia’s question made Colbert go off the rails again. The four of us ended up dragging him to the place he reserved.

Thirty minutes later.

“Munch, munch, munch.”

“What do you think? Good, isn’t it?”

“Hmm!”

Fran moved her chopsticks tirelessly. That usually meant she liked the food. She was already on her tenth plate.

“Did you hear? They’re sending new alchemists from the capital to reestablish the guild here.”

“But they got booted out of the crystal fast lane. They won’t be able to buy up all the crystal they want anymore.”

So the alchemists weren’t completely dissolved. Bulbola was a trade hub and a convenient place for the alchemists to conduct research. Still, the government decided to put restrictions on them to prevent an incident like last night from happening again.

“I hear the Count’s second and third sons died in the riots.”

“Oh, those idiots.”

“I hear the monsters tore them up.”

Consensus was already beginning to form. I heard that the government was going to announce that Brook and Weint had died from a disease. If I knew Phillip, he wouldn’t appreciate this bending of the truth.

“So many rumors, and it hasn’t even been a day.”

“I hear it’s a prelude to the resurrection of the Evil One.”

“I heard that it was Raydossian spies who did it.”

“My sources tell me that demons showed up to beat the monster and save the townsfolk.”

“Yes, very imaginative. What would demons be doing in this city?”

“You know how rumors are.”

Fran was too engrossed in her meal to hear the three girls comparing notes. They knew it, too. The girls let out a resigned sigh and got back to their meal.

And so began the great eating contest.

“This place is famous for being as good as it is cheap.”

“The meat is so wonderful.”

“I could do this all day.”

“You guys need to calm down!”

“Food tastes better when you’re not paying for it.”

Teasing and laughter went about the table. Fran was smiling too, though I was the only one who could see it. I remembered something I wanted to give Colbert. Might as well give him my token of appreciation before I forgot.

“Colbert, this is from Teacher.”

“A note?”

Colbert opened the small piece of folded paper and immediately froze.

“Wha… By the gods! I-I-Is it really all right for me to take this? Am I dreaming?” he stuttered frantically.

“What is it, Colbert?”

“Again, gross.”

“A treasure map, perhaps?”

“Do you think Fran’s master would give me such a worthless object, Lydia?! Thank you so much, Fran! I’ll treasure it all my life…”

I was glad that he liked it. The note contained the recipe of our curry bread. Colbert had the Cooking skill, so I figured he could put it to good use. We enjoyed the rest of our dinner and the girls tried to calm Colbert down before he passed out. When it was over, we headed back to our lease. Fran hummed to herself the entire way home. The party left her in a good mood.

“Woof…”

On the other hand, Jet was practically dragging his feet.

Oh, cheer up, Jet. There’s always next time.

“Ruff…”

Jet was not allowed in the restaurant and was unable to sample its delectable cuisine. He was starting to hate the words “No pets allowed.”

Come on, boy. Have some Ultra-hot, it’ll cheer you up!

“Woof…”

We arrived at the old restaurant ten minutes later. It was much lonelier now that the cooking tools were put away. At least I could absorb the crystal we bought from the LTA.

Time for me to get a meal in.

“Should we start with these?”

Fran took out the five most expensive crystal and arranged them in a line.

“Here you go.”

Thanks.

I pierced the crystal one by one.

Ooooh!

An immediate sense of satisfaction filled me. It was so intense I couldn’t stifle a moan. The crystal was refreshing with a deep aftertaste and buttery texture. They were as delectable as their rank indicated. I was full after looking at my crystal counter and skills, too.

The five crystal amounted to fifteen thousand points in total. I even unlocked the rare skills Frost Magic, Steel Magic, and Moonlight Magic. It felt like getting a bonus for working extra hours at my job.

It was a different kind of satisfaction from dealing a fatal blow to Linford. This one felt more primal, more akin to eating a good meal. Like having my batteries fully charged.

Compared to that, killing Linford was like the righteous rush you felt after punching someone you knew was in the wrong. How I managed to feel these emotions, I didn’t know. My blade was filled with mysteries.

“These are next.”

All right.

Fran prepared the next batch of crystal. They were tiny compared to the last five, but what they lacked in size they more than made up in quantity.

“Here you go, Teacher.”

Ooh, that’s the stuff!

I asked Fran to fill the bathtub with crystal. The magical gems sparkled, inviting me to bathe in them.

Woo hoo!

Unable to resist, I dove right in.

Why? Because it was a tub full of crystal. Trillionaires back on Earth used to bathe in heaps of cash, didn’t they? Some even bathed in pudding. As an Intelligent Weapon, I just chose to cover myself with crystal.

“Having fun?”

So much fun, like you can’t imagine!

What started as a quick way to absorb large amounts of crystal soon became the most fun I’d had since coming to this world. I understood the thrill of trillionaires bathing in cash. I was a snob and proud of it!

AHAHAHA!

At my slightest movement, I absorbed crystal and all the satisfaction that came with it. I was in Intelligent Weapon heaven.

Ten minutes later.

“Teacher…”

“Ruff…”

I’m so sorry.

By the time I came to my senses I had lost my dignity as Fran’s guardian. The looks Fran and Jet gave me were enough to pierce my hardened blade.

L-Look, if there’s anything you guys want, you can just tell me, all right?

“I wanna eat curry for every meal for a week, starting tomorrow.”

“Woof.”

Again with the curry? But now was not the time to refuse.

S-sure! Of course!

“Hm.”

“Woof.”

I needed to lift the mood somehow. To get back my dignity as the primary weapon of our party!

I-I got seven hundred crystal points out of that.

“Not bad.”

“Woof.”

But they kept staring at me coldly. 

H-hey! How about we go see Charlotte before we set out for Ulmutt?

“Sure.”

Let’s get going then!

“Hm.”

“Arf!”

Just when I thought I successfully threw them off the scent, Fran and Jet looked down on me demandingly.

“Don’t forget about the week’s worth of curry.”

“Woof, woof.”

All right…