The New Gate Vol 13 Chapter 2

“Good morning!” 

“Morning.”

The day after Schnee’s “spoil me please” day, Shin and Schnee went to the institute. Their destination was the school’s training grounds. More precisely, the training field used mainly for party vs party mock battles.

“Okay then, let’s start with the training. Let’s do a quick one-on-one first, then switch to party battle.”

“Mr. Shin, I see you two have different equipment than yesterday, but is that okay?”

“Yeah, that equipment would have made things too dangerous.”

Shin nodded to Lecus’ question. Myu and Lecus were wearing the same equipment they had in the dungeon, while Gian’s was clearly of inferior quality. It was probably a spare or gear he borrowed from the institute. The type of equipment was the same however.

Myu and Lecus were wearing their best, in contrast to Shin who wore a blue/green jacket with cargo pants that had a rather neat design. Schnee was wearing a similar outfit too.

Shin and Schnee both wielded handmade 『Sponge Blade』 weapons, albeit of different length.

Made of sponge, they looked just like wooden swords. Part of the “Sponge” series, these weapons would cause very little damage even if Shin swung them at full power: in a way, they were an exceptional item.

“Sponge” versions existed for all types of weapons: depending on shape and type, they had different denominations. Long swords were “Sword”, katanas were “Blade” and so on.

“First of all, let me see how much you can fight. Even if you hurt me I can be healed right away, so come at full power. Use skills if you want. I’ll be your opponent first, then Yuki will.”

Shin’s implied “I’ll go easy on you kids” made Gian’s eyes flare up. Differently from Myu and Lecus, he had harbored a certain hostility towards Shin ever since they met in the dungeon.

Shin’s words were like a taunt for him.

“Then, I’ll—”

“I’m first.”

Myu raised her hand, eager to fight Shin, but Gian stood in front of her. Myu was annoyed by the interference, but feeling the fighting spirit emanating from Gian she stopped in her tracks, wide-eyed.

“That’s rare for you to be so openly hostile.”

“Shut up.”

Gian spat back at Lecus to be quiet and readied his spear. He lowered his center of gravity and concentrated all of his fighting spirit in Shin’s direction.

His solid stance, fitting for the party’s shield, made it seem like he could counter attacks from any direction. His gaze towards Shin was now void of hostility, but simply very serious.

(He’s not planning to hide his strategy, huh.)

Shin waited for Schnee to move away, then readied his blade. While it looked a little silly, it was tough enough that even Gian’s former equipment wouldn’t scratch it.

“I’m ready anytime.”

“!!!”

Gian moved as soon as Shin spoke. His spear closed in on Shin very quickly, leaving after-images behind. It was hard to believe that he was still under level 200 by how fast he moved.

Shin calmly calculated the spear’s trajectory and hit its tip with the blade. Despite the soft “poff”-like sound made by the clash, Gian’s spear was smacked out of his hands and fell down on the ground.

“Crap…”

Shin looked at the spear and realized his mistake. Because of the shock from hitting the ground, the part connecting the tip and handle of the spear had bent.

“That can’t be helped. Use this, as replacement for the broken spear.”

Shin said he would fix the bent spear and return it later, then pulled out of his jacket -actually, from the item box- a card and gave it to Gian.

The boy was looking at his hands and the spear Shin knocked down, with a grave expression, which changed to perplexion when he materialized the card Shin gave him.

“What is this?”

“It’s a 『Sponge Lance』, a weapon made for training. It looks soft, but it’s actually tougher than Adamantine. With this, we won’t have to worry about breaking weapons anymore.”

Shin was the most worried about this though.

Gian swung the new weapon a few times, then was convinced and nodded.

“Okay, let’s start again. Feel free to use skills or magic too.”

Shin pointed the tip of his blade towards Gian and got into a fighting stance. Gian too pointed the lance towards Shin.

Gian had lost his weapon in the previous confrontation, but his strike did not rely on physical strength only. His footwork, movement of the center of gravity, and concentration of strength were definitely fruit of many days of training, as Shin was impressed to notice.

“I won’t hold back.”

Gian thrust his lance towards Shin again. His expression did not reveal how he had received Shin’s words. When Shin aimed at the tip of the lance, to knock it to the ground one more time, the lance’s blade started glowing yellow.

“Gian’s getting really serious.”

“Right.”

Myu and Lecus’ whispered conversation reached Shin’s ears. They seemed to know what Gian was about to try.

Just like before, the blade knocked the lance down. What followed, though, was not the same outcome. Yellow blades shot from the lance, following the path it had before being knocked down, headed towards Shin.

Shin’s kinetic vision did not miss the crackle on the blade’s surface before the yellow blades were hurled at him. They were, in fact, made of lightning: their speed was nothing to underestimate either.

At the same time as Shin dodged them, Gian had pulled back his weapon. He had anticipated that it would be knocked down, so he did not drop it as before, but had it ready for the next strike already.

“Are you a monster…!?”

Even if he looked cool and composed, however, the whisper that escaped his lips revealed his true thoughts. Gian wouldn’t give up yet though: He thrust the lance again…at a distance that would never reach Shin. When he did, just like the second strike, yellow blades sparked from the tip.

“This brings back memories.”

Shin parried the blades this time, then whispered to himself.

What Gian had used was the Spear/Lightning combination skill 【Tri-Edge】. This skill was a Spear/Lightning composite, but there existed 【Tri-Edge】 skills with other elements and weapons: it was a skill common to all bladed weapons.

It allowed the attack to change elements depending on the foe, so it was used in various ways by beginners and veterans alike. The skill’s effect was to add elemental follow-up attacks to weapon attacks.

“It’s not over yet!”

Gian looked at the lightning blades parried by Shin and swung the lance. He drew a cross, then added a horizontal stroke. The strikes, drawn as to divide Shin in six parts, burned bright red. Gian didn’t stop there however: he quickly pulled back his weapon, then thrust it again. This time the tip released a blade of wind, difficult to discern with the naked eye.

“You can use combos too?”

Shin dispelled the flames and blade of wind headed towards him with a swing of his weapon, then went to attack Gian, a pleasantly surprised impression on his face.

Some skills, when used in quick succession, became combinations: Gian had used one such technique, which the players called combo.

“Damn it!!”

Even if he used skills, Shin only had to swing his weapon to neutralize them.

Gian witnessed this reality and cursed it. That too, however, was put to a stop when he blocked Shin’s blade. Sponge weapons did look soft, but when Gian blocked Shin’s blade with the handle of his lance, the impact was strong enough to make his body shake left and right.

The boy managed to parry Shin’s attacks three times; the fourth time his arms went numb, and on the fifth the lance’s handle was pushed into his body, which flew in midair.

“Gian was using his skills, but was pushed back all the same…it looked like he was flying along the ground, but will he be okay?”

“Mr. Shin said that he would with that equipment, so I think so. Look, Gian’s standing back up.”

Lecus looked worried, but Gian was already on his feet again. He touched the spot struck by Shin’s blade with some confusion.

“You don’t have any damage except sliding on the ground, right?”

“…yeah.”

It felt very strange to Gian to not have suffered any damage after an attack like that. Shin checked Gian’s HP gauge to be sure, but it really had not decreased at all.

“Next is my turn, then!!”

Leaving Gian aside, the even more excited Myu ran up to Shin. They knew already that her gauntlets and leg guards could not sustain Shin’s attacks, so she had switched to Sponge Knuckles and Greaves.

“I’m going all out!!”

Differently from Gian, Myu used skills since the start. The aura enveloping her body was probably 【Ki Manipulation – Living Lightning】. The relative stability of the aura showed that it was a Skill, not an Art.

Her physical abilities boosted, Myu prepared to jump straight close to Shin…not that he would ever allow it. He lowered his blade on Myu’s frontal charge, but she made no attempt of defending herself or dodging it.

If hit, she would be knocked to the ground, but the blade simply passed through Myu. Like smoke swept away by wind, Myu simply vanished.

“Oh, 【Ki Strike】, huh.”

Behind the vanished Myu, the real one was not about to punch Shin. Knuckles and Greaves wrapped in flames, if she punched or kicked flaming versions of her fists and feet would extend for about 30 cemel.

Myu’s illusion had been created by the barehanded martial skill 【Ki Strike】, while the flame attack range extensions by the Barehanded/Flame combination skill 【Flame Kata – Crimson Lotus】.

Myu went for a right jab, a left jab, then crouched down and did a leg sweep. As all these attacks were dodged by Shin, Myu continued with a spin kick, making use of the sweep’s momentum.

【Flame Kata – Crimson Lotus】 lasted for 60 seconds. Myu’s aggressive offensive made it look like she was on fire herself, but Shin blocked it completely calmly. The flame attacks had physical mass, so they could be stopped by Shin’s blade.

“Mmghh!!”

Myu was frustrated to see all her attacks miss, but she remembered about the skill’s time limit, so she stepped away from Shin. Without waiting another moment, she gathered fire around her greaves.

“How about this!!”

Myu drew an arc in midair with her leg, turning into a backflip. When she landed, she unleashed a flying kick towards Shin. On the spot where she had done a backflip, two balls of fire formed close to the ground and also headed towards Shin.

“Oh, not bad.”

It was a method to perform an attack from multiple directions alone, very popular in the game era. Usually, long-distance attackers such as mages or archers used it, but depending on how it was used, the skill was suited to close distance fighters like Myu too.

Feeling a bit of nostalgia, Shin ignored the flames and focused on countering Myu’s attack.

The skill Myu used was the Barehanded/Flame combination skill 【Crawling Fangs】, which allowed the user to shoot flames from the feet, at one’s preferred timing.

The flames heading for the target, however, were 20% a physical mass and 80% a magical object, so closer to magic, which meant that they were pretty much meaningless before Shin’s high magic resistance.

“Look out!”

Lecus, who was not aware of the flames’ actual composition, shouted towards Shin, who stopped Myu’s flying kick only.

Myu meant it when she said that she would go all out: the ground-crawling flames had a rather high temperature. If they hit, Shin would be fine, but Myu herself risked to be hurt.

Before Myu, her leg caught by Shin, could protect herself, Shin stomped his feet on the ground. With a powerfully echoing sound, the ground formed a rift. The vibration caused the rift to rise even higher, and the flames clashed against it and disappeared, never reaching their target.

Only faint sparks of lingering heat remained, brushing against Myu’s cheeks.

“Game over. I’m going to let you go now, okay?”

“You’re so amazing, Mr. Shin…”

Myu landed without trouble. She had experienced Shin’s strength firsthand, so more than anything else, her respect towards him increased. Her thirst for a battle had settled down, so she now looked at him like she was looking at a hero.

“Hey, is she always like that?”

“Well, actually, it’s my first time seeing Myu like this…”

Shin asked this question to Lecus, who stood before him as the last opponent, but the boy was just as confused.

“Once, she said that she likes strong people, so that might have something to do with it.”

“I see…oh, sorry, that wasn’t something to ask before training.”

“No, despite knowing her for a while I was perplexed too, so I understand your question, Mr. Shin.”

Personality-wise, Myu tended to favor strong people, but it was apparently the first time she showed such a sudden change of attitude.

“Let’s start then. As I said before, no need to hold anything back, all right? I’ll be okay even if you hit me with all your power, so do that.”

“Yes, understood.”

Lecus was not worried anymore about hurting Shin. He had seen how Shin had remained unscathed from Myu’s 【Crawling Fangs】, so he knew that he wasn’t lying.

Lecus was a mage, so he started his battle strategy from a more distant position than Gian or Myu.

“O magic filling the air, gather in my palm…”

(O magic residing in my flesh, rush to my foes…)

Lecus started chanting. Just like he had done for Gian and Myu, Shin let him make the first move.

“So this happens when you do multiple chanting.”

Shin’s ears picked up Lecus and one more voice doing the chanting. He knew it was because of the 【Multiple Chanting】 skill, but wondered how it exactly happened. Shin possessed the 【Instant Chant】 skill, which if used with 【Multiple Chanting】 made it possible to use multiple spells at the same time without chanting.

He had no need to waste time chanting thanks to it, so he did not know how 【Multiple Chanting】 worked by itself.

“…well, it’s the right chance to try.”

Using 【Instant Chanting】 was the norm, so Shin had never tried 【Multiple Chanting】 alone. Since the timing was just right, he tried chanting with the same timing as Lecus.

“Come hither, frozen lands. What I seek is…”

(O dew traveling in the mist, gather in my palm…)

It was a very peculiar sensation: Shin’s mouth chanted the words to create a magic ice barrier, while in his head resounded the chant to create magic ice bullets, overlapping with the chant he actually pronounced.

(I can do it, sure, but…)

To think while chanting was something he never did normally, but as it turned out, it was not problematic at all.

Soon enough, the chanting ended. Shin had started a bit later than Lecus, but they finished at the same time.

Lecus had chosen the spell 【Air Bullet】, which as the name says launches bullets made of air, and 【Thunder Line】, which allows the caster to shoot lighting bolts in any direction they wish.

Shin, on the other hand, had chosen 【Ice Wall】, which creates a barrier of ice, and 【Water Bullet】, which shoots a barrage of water bullets.

The first clash was between the water and wind bullets. Shin’s water bullets struck the invisible wind ones one by one, as he could see them. That was possible thanks to the 【Magic Vision】 skill, which let the user see magic power. In the game, it was a skill pretty much all players had to learn to compete.

“There is too much difference in the power of one single blow, I see. But in this situation…”

Seeing five of his wind bullets being destroyed by one of Shin’s water shots, Lecus realized that he could never win in terms of firepower. His eyes, however, showed that he hadn’t given up yet: he probably wanted to try to strike a 【Thunder Line】 through the spot where the wind and water bullets clashed.

The trajectory the caster could have 【Thunder Line】 travel through varied from person to person. Inexperienced casters could only make it travel in an arc or change directions two to three times only. As the caster gained experience, they could make the lightning take more complex routes: a very small number of players could use it as if the lightning itself avoided the obstacles on its path.

In order to test Lecus’ skills, Shin divided his ice barrier into several smaller ones, setting up several icicles while the water and wind bullets clashed. The bullets would obviously hit the icicles too, making it harder to target Shin. In such a case, even moderately experienced users would decide to make the lightning bolts take a roundabout path.

“!!!”

Each one of Lecus’ palms produced a lightning bolt. The bolts traveled straight through the field where the icicles and bullets were still clashing.

“That’s something.”

Dodging the bolts out of sheer physical ability, Shin let out a comment, impressed. The lightning’s streak clearly showed the difficult path they took. The bolts lasted for mere seconds, but to imagine two different ones in a field where magic forces clashed was a very arduous task.

Very few players could draw such complicated trajectories during battle.

“Hahah…he avoided them…not even blocked them..”

In contrast with Shin’s impressed tone, Lecus was both dejected and confused.

Lightning and Light-type magic spells were often a surefire hit, unless the caster missed themselves, as they traveled at the speed of light, much faster than a person’s reaction speed, thus unavoidable…or at least, supposed to be so.

Some people could do just that, actually: by reading the opponent’s movements, limiting the timing and direction of their attacks, detecting magic power, “somehow”, etc. The reasons were many, but each allowed them to avoid such attacks.

In Shin’s case, he somehow “felt” them coming through pure instinct. It could be an extension of his detection of danger. Because of this, he could not explain how he avoided them.

Lecus had witnessed Shin dodge lightning during the battle with Gian, but did not think that he could do it even while magic was clashing and icicles blocked his field of view.

“Let’s end this here, okay?”

“Aah, yes. If you can avoid that, I have nothing else I can do.”

Even if they continued, Lecus would be simply overwhelmed by Shin’s 【Water Bullet】 barrage, so Lecus accepted Shin’s words without hesitation.

“Okay, the final battle is with the whole party. Do you have any other members, by the way?”

“We three are the only regular members. Sometimes we join with other small parties or let solo adventurers join, but it never went well.”

The other students can’t keep up with Lecus’ party: the difference in base ability was that large.

Even the mage Lecus, from a normal person’s perspective, was as strong as a physical fighter.

There were other Chosen Ones in the institute, but for some reason they didn’t blend well together.

“I see. Well, there’s nothing I can do about party members. For the time being, let’s focus on powering you guys up.”

Individual training and team battle practice. Based on what he had seen in the dungeon, Shin thought that they had many things they could improve.

“I’ll say it again, you don’t need to think about holding back.”

Shin spoke after preparing his blade in a fighting stance.

Gian and Myu stood side by side, with Lecus behind them. All three of them looked very serious.

They couldn’t make Shin lose his composure a bit one-on-one, so it was clear that they were thinking of pulling it off together. Maybe because they were fighting as a party now, only Gian had a new piece of equipment, a Sponge Shield.

“Let’s do this!!”

Following Gian’s shout, Myu and Lecus started moving too. Gian charged forward, holding his shield high, using it to hide his lance from Shin’s view. He planned to not let Shin anticipate his attack until the very end. Over Gian’s head, Myu unleashed a flying kick.

Two attacks at the same time…thee, counting Lecus chanting behind them.

Shin caught Myu’s flying leg, spun once and threw her in Gian’s direction.

“Nwah!?”

“Wha!?”

Gian instinctively moved his shield and lance to block Myu’s fall. When Shin attempted a follow-up attack, the surroundings were filled with mist.

“Get back, quick!”

The mist disappeared around Shin, but Gian and Myu had followed Lecus’ order and retreated, so he could not see them. Knowing that Shin would block the offensive, Lecus had prepared a magic spell to block his field of view.

“So, what are you going to do next?”

Shin knew where they were, thanks to presence detection. It looked like they would attack from three different directions. Maybe wary of Shin’s reaction, they took around 30 seconds to slowly move around him. One was right in front, the other two diagonally behind Shin.

They had probably decided the timing to strike. Without any particular signal, they all started attacking at the same time.

The attacker from the front, piercing through the mist, was surprisingly Lecus.

“【Triple Bullet】!!”

Fire, water, and invisible wind bullets shot from his hands.

From behind, Myu sent 【Crawling Fangs】 and Gian used 【Tri-Edge】 before both of them charged towards Shin. Knowing that normal attacks would never damage him, they tried to strike him all together.

“You’ve thought this through.”

In response to the three young warriors’ offensive, Shin walked towards Lecus. Magic would barely affect Shin, especially if Lecus was the caster. As this was battle training for them, Shin advanced while knocking the bullets down, then struck Lecus’ neck, who was trying to retreat. That meant that Lecus had died. Myu and Gian “died” too after a few minutes.

“Aah…not even one hit…”

“Crap…”

“Just completely out of your league. Asking you for training was the right idea.”

Myu and Gian did not even try to hide their frustration. Lecus had understood that they would never match Shin in the first battle and was thinking if there was a way for them to get back at Shin.

“Okay, let’s review the battles until now. Then Yuki will be your opponent.”

As long as they didn’t lose all enthusiasm because of losing, they could improve. So Shin felt while he talked to the kids.

“Good morning. The sun’s up, rise and shine.”

“Hn….? Ah, good morning.”

A gentle voice and hands shook Shin mostly awake. He got up from the bed and noticed that Schnee had already changed.

“Ever since we were teleported here, you’re always waking me up.”

“Is that so?”

Shin cocked his head to one side, wondering if he found it harder to wake up. Usually they would have breakfast right away, but today was a rest day, so they could take it easy.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sleeping when I wake up…”

“Why such a serious expression? That’s perfectly fine, isn’t it. I can see your sleeping face, after all.”

“No, I must protest! I too want to see your sleeping face!”

“What protest is that…really…”

Shin’s childish retort left Schnee almost at a loss for words, but her expression was very peaceful.

“At night I can see your sleeping face more though.”

“T-that’s because you’re always so—aah, what are you making me say!?”

“My my, I just meant to say that you always sleep early and wake up early. Whatever were you thinking about, dear Schnee?”

Schnee was probably not used to such jokes yet: Shin’s little trap made her blush to her ears. He smiled, thinking of how adorable she was.

“Kh…euh….if you keep saying things like that, I won’t cook you breakfast anymore!!”

“I’m sorry!! Please forgive me!!”

Shin’s advantage lasted mere seconds. The room they were staying in was equipped with a kitchen, so it was possible to make simple dishes. Before, they used to have breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, but Shin started to miss Schnee’s cooking, so she would prepare breakfast every day now.

With his weakness — the stomach — struck, Shin surrendered immediately. He was bowing to Schnee on the bed, a sight no one would believe a High Human would produce.

“Do you realize your mistakes?”

“Yes ma’am, I most surely do.”

“…good grief. You should think a little more before teasing me.”

“How do I say it? I never get tired of seeing you embarrassed.”

“Shin?”

“Yes! I’m sorry! I said too much!”

Feeling that the mood was not one for jokes, Shin quickly bowed his head again. A few days had passed since they became one, but Schnee’s way of addressing Shin was starting to become less and less courteous, reducing the distance between them.

Coupled with their reciprocated feelings, being alone together allowed their relationship to change from master and servant to man and woman very quickly.

“Enough about that, what will we do today? There’s no training, so we can take it easy.”

“Right…”

Schnee’s tone suggested that she wanted them to spend a relaxing day together. Shin had no objections, but since they had an entire day, he would like to do some sightseeing.

The Erkunt Institute of Magic engaged in studies in various fields: items to improve people’s lifestyle, techniques to improve production technologies, etc. They did not, however, study real world sciences. They considered it dangerous to further studies in such disciplines in a world where magic existed.

More realistically speaking, Hilamee and Masakado were only junior high school students in the real world, so their knowledge only reached a certain extent.

As far as Shin could remember, that world always tended to explore different directions than the original world’s technologies, so he was interested in taking a look at what they were studying.

“Shin?”

“Ah, sorry, I was just thinking.”

Shin apologized, then told Schnee what he was thinking about.

“I see. We can take it easy here whenever we want, so we might as well go out today.”

“Is that really okay with you? We can always do this another time.”

“No problem. For me, the most important thing now is to be with you.”

Schnee’s words warmed Shin’s heart. For a brief instant, he saw Marino’s silhouette overlapping Schnee’s, but that disappeared quickly. She wasn’t Marino’s replacement. Shin hadn’t forgotten his former lover, but seeing her in Schnee was wrong, or so he thought.

“Thank you, let’s do that then.”

Shin and Schnee hadn’t gone sightseeing since they were in Hinomoto. Schnee changed into a pink sweater and white long skirt with an accessory bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was held with the hairpin bought in Hinomoto.

She would stand out in a town crowded by adventurers, but in shopping and residential districts, there were many people dressed in a similar way: it was a relic of the game era, when all sorts of clothing were on sale.

Clothes were classified as accessories, but there were many examples that were difficult to imagine existing in a fantasy world, such as bunny girl costumes or nurse attires.

The clothes chosen by Schnee were categorized by the system as “townsfolk clothing”.

Normally, their defensive powers would be next to zero but bizarrely enough, they boasted resistance to bladed weapons, fire, and thunder on par with iron armor, since they had been made by Rokuten’s Cashmere.

Being much sturdier than they looked was a common characteristic in Rokuten-made equipment.

Incidentally, the reason why they were not equipped with water resistance was that Cashmere claimed: “wet clothes sticking to the body is just so sexy”, to Shin and Hecate’s enthusiastic approval.

In the game era, such a pointless effect (clothes sticking to the body) did not exist, so Cashmere’s choice was nothing short of meaningless.

“Do you think it’s okay if I go out like this?”

“Yes, that looks nice on you.”

Shin wore navy blue pants, a white shirt and jacket, clothing more modern than fantasy-like, in order not to let Schnee stand out too much. It was a kind of outfit he had seen in a fashion magazine before.

“I thought we’d stand out more.”

“Players spread their clothing styles extensively after all.”

The town of Erkunt was just like a western Europe town, similar to ones Shin had seen on TV. Leaving science and technology aside, clothing and everyday items were not difficult to recreate, so many wore designer clothing just like Shin’s attire that day.

Maybe it was because the institute’s head of research & development, Hilamee, was a former player, but many people in the city wore clothing very close to modern fashion.

“It wasn’t like this in Bayreuth or Falnido though.”

“This type of clothing is not always popular, after all. They’re not appreciated at all in certain locations. This town’s people seem to like it quite a bit.”

“You have a point. The textile industry is more advanced than I thought here. The institute’s uniforms could easily pass as real world ones, well, you’d only find them in manga or light novels though…”

The uniforms could easily be confused for cosplay costumes.

“So, where are we going?”

“I’m really sorry for picking this as a date destination, but I wanted to check out a weapon store. Other than Hilamee, the close combat-oriented Masakado is here too, so I figured they must have progressed in that field too. I wanted to see how developed they are.”

Shin’s real reason was another, but he was too embarrassed to say it clearly. He was actually worried that Schnee’s mood would turn sour.

“I see, let’s go to a store that deals in armor and accessories too then. You can probably draw all sorts of information just by looking at the items on sale.”

“Oh, yes, that’d be great.”

Shin was relieved to hear a proactive proposal from Schnee. He also agreed to go to a restaurant serving unique dishes without hesitation.

Shin and Schnee left the hotel and headed towards a store in the institute district, said to be the best. They followed the map drawn by a hotel clerk and arrived at a street lined with glass shop windows.

Looking at Shin’s automatic map, they would need to make a slight detour to reach the store. They had told the hotel clerk that they weren’t in a rush, so they probably drew a longer route to let them enjoy the city’s sights.

All sorts of items were displayed inside the shop windows. Most of them were clothes worn by mannequins in various poses, just like in the real world. Shoes, bags, and accessories were laid at their feet, stimulating the shopping impulses of the people passing by.

Shin felt like he had been transported back to his former world.

“Hilamee designed this street apparently.”

“…I see. I guess she couldn’t forget.”

After a slight surprise, Shin was convinced. When Shin first met Hilamee and Masakado, they were still junior high school students in real life. In the death game, they had died while protecting players younger than them. After coming to this world, what did they feel in their hearts as they lived on? Shin could only try to imagine.

Hilamee might have become headmistress of a learning institute because she felt attached to the “school” environment, thought Shin as he felt somewhat conflicted.

“Shin, you look so deep in thought.”

“Sorry. I know nothing comes out of just thinking, but…”

Every time he met a former player, Shin couldn’t help thinking. If THE NEW GATE hadn’t become a death game, if they had returned to their everyday lives, what would have happened?

“Whoops! Schnee?”

Shin was scratching his cheek when suddenly Schnee grabbed his right arm, holding it tight to make it stretch straight. Shin lost his balance a little, leaning towards Schnee.

“You were thinking about what would have changed if the Death Game never happened, right?”

“Eh?”

Shin was shaken to know that his thoughts had been completely seen through.

“Is that not so?”

“Well, a bit.”

Shin understood that he couldn’t deceive Schnee’s pressure. He answered honestly and she hugged his arm tighter, strong enough that a normal person’s arm would have been twisted in a weird direction. 

“If that never happened, I would never have touched you like this. So, for me—!?”

Shin was confused at first, but quickly caught on what Schnee was going to say and sealed her lips. He was not completely unaware of her feelings.

“I’m not going to talk about what happened or not happened, not anymore. In the death game, I also acquired many new bonds.”

If the game remained such until the end, some relationships with other players would have never become so deep. Even if it was a death game, not everything that happened was negative.

Shin’s words probably calmed Schnee, because she relaxed the grip on his arm. Calming down, however, they started noticing things they didn’t until a few moments before.

“That was too forward…”

“Show-off…”

“Shit! I want to be that guy!”

“My my, so passionate.”

Shin and Schnee had been walking down a quite crowded street. People, not knowing the circumstances, would think that Schnee pulled Shin closer to make him kiss her.

“…let’s speed up the pace.”

“…yes.”

Laughing embarrassedly to the surrounding people, Shin quickly pushed the violently blushing Schnee forward. The surrounding whispers had colored her expression a red more violent than ever before. Schnee’s personality would never let her show her affection so clearly in front of so many people normally.

“First, let’s settle down a bit.”

“I’m sorry…”

Even if camouflaged, Schnee’s good looks attracted attention. The two took shelter in a narrow alley, but Schnee was still blushing hard, looking down with one hand grabbing Shin’s sleeve.

“Er, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you in a place like that.”

“N-no! I was the one who made you worry, and I didn’t hate, I mean, I didn’t hate it, so…”

Shin couldn’t see her expression, but the ears poking out of her hair were progressively redder.

He felt that he had seen this expression a lot the last few days. Maybe she was relieved, her worries gone, or maybe she had lowered her defenses with Shin…no matter what the reason was, Shin was more than satisfied to be able to see such adorable moments so often.

“Schnee, won’t you show me your face a little?”

Schnee expected to be scolded, but heard an unexpected question instead. Her embarrassed expression was starting to become one of his favorites.

“Nn…you’re much nastier than I thought…is it so fun to see me embarrassed!?”

Schnee buried her face in Shin’s chest, to prevent him from looking at it, but peeked up just a bit to protest. Her eyes, glazed by tears caused by the embarrassment, glared at him.

She probably meant to accuse Shin, but he just found her all the more lovely. He couldn’t help but pat her head, thinking of a random excuse to do so. One of his favorite pastimes lately was to pat her head when they were alone in their room.

“Hn…don’t think you can change the topic like that!”

“Oh, really…so I guess I can’t do it in our room either…”

“I didn’t say I don’t like it.”

Schnee silently rubbed her head against Shin’s hand, as if telling him to do it more. Yet another side of Schnee that Shin didn’t know.

He found it very pleasant to pat her too, so he was completely in favor of continuing.

They were in a narrow alley without much traffic, but from a third party’s perspective they looked just like any other flirting couple.

“…it’s a bit of a shame, but we should go.”

“Right. Let’s continue when we get back to the hotel.”

Shin was the first one to come back to his senses, realizing how other people must have been looking at them. Thinking that they couldn’t just continue flirting like that, he let go of Schnee’s hair and pointed at the street. She nodded and they headed once more towards the store.

After they walked for some time, Shin realized that what they would do once back in the hotel had been decided. When Schnee decided that she would have Shin spoil her, her usual cool demeanor always vanished.

“So, here we are…is this the right place?”

Shin looked at the storefront, then checked the map again. The surrounding buildings matched the characteristics marked in the map. What puzzled Shin was that he couldn’t find any sign indicating the building was a shop.

“The door’s open, so let’s try going inside.”

“Yeah, you’re right. If it’s not here, we’ll just start looking again.”

Shin put a hand on the door handle and peered inside. The map was right after all: he could see all sorts of weapons displayed inside. Once they entered, they saw another row of weapons lined up along the wall, which they had not been able to see from the doorstep.

These included longswords, twin swords, long and short spears, bows, and axes. The swords and spears were all Legend grade, the bows and axes Unique grade. A quick glance around the store revealed that the weapons, other than the ones lined along the walls, were all of Normal grade, with some Rare ones here and there.

“Looks like this is the place. I don’t see any clerks though.”

Each weapon had a price tag next to it, so Shin was sure they were for sale. The absence of a clerk was probably justified by the anti-theft skill attached to the store. If someone tried to grab a weapon and run, they would be prevented from taking it outside.

“Excuse me! Is anyone there?”

“Yes, please wait a moment!”

Shin called towards the back of the counter and a reply came back right away. Soon, a man in his twenties, wearing overalls and with a towel wrapped around his head came out.

“I apologize for the wait. Did you have an appointment?”

“No, I heard that this is the best workshop in town, so I wanted to have my weapons repaired.”

It wouldn’t be right to just barge in and demand to see their work, so Shin planned to pick a half-used weapon from his item box, ask them to repair it, then see what level of skill they had.

“Who recommended this store? If you have a letter of introduction, I would like to see it.”

The young man was very polite. Shin pictured such workshops as places where people didn’t care that much about manners, so he was a bit surprised. From the young man’s physique, Shin figured he was the blacksmith or an apprentice.

“I heard it from the staff of hotel Morgana. I haven’t asked for his name though.”

Shin didn’t have a letter of introduction, so he just said that he heard about the workshop from the hotel staff. He had just asked about weapon stores to a passing clerk, so he didn’t know the name.

“Morgana, I see. We are a bit busy at the moment, so it might take some time, is that alright with you?”

“How long would that be?”

“We would be able to start tomorrow afternoon. It appears that lately the monsters’ turf around town changed: the new monsters that appear are much more powerful than before.”

The young man explained that because of this, requests to repair weapons and for new equipment increased exponentially, so at present they lacked manpower. Shin asked if this sort of thing happened often, but the young man replied that that was not the case.

In that world too there were areas where powerful monsters spawned, but Erkunt was not one of them. Sometimes there were reports of mass monster migrations, a possibility which was being currently investigated.

“Our boss is a blacksmith skilled enough to have donated a prized sword to the king, but even so, there is a limit to what he can do. At present, we only accept orders from clients who can wait.”

“Is that so. I didn’t know about that monster business. Time is not an issue for me, so please.”

“Understood. Can you let me check the status of the equipment? Please place it on the counter.”

The extent gear could be repaired naturally depended on how damaged it was. Sometimes there were clients who presented items beyond repair, so blacksmiths always checked the item in need of repair before deciding whether to accept the job or not.

Shin and Schnee did not seem to be carrying any weapons, but the young man acted as if they did. He had probably guessed that they had weapons in item card form.

Shin had no intention to keep him guessing, so he took out an item card and materialized it. The young man did not bat an eye at the process. Once he checked the weapon, however, he quickly lost his cool.

“What the…!?”

The young man let out a surprised mumble. As expected of an artisan, he understood right away what kind of weapon Shin had materialized.

What Shin had placed on the counter were a long spear and a short sword.

The spear was the lower Unique grade 『Hollow Spear』, the short sword the lower Rare grade 『Azoth』.

『Hollow Spear』 had a chance of inflicting paralysis if the opponent’s STR was lower than the user; 『Azoth』 slightly increased the user’s magic power.

Both had been used during the training with Lecus and the others, enough to require repairs.

“Not the slightest imbalance in magic power distribution, and not even one impurity? What the…”

“Can I count on you, then?”

“Please excuse me, I need to call the boss. Could you please wait a moment?”

The young man had probably concluded that the job was too much for him. He went behind the counter and was about to enter the corridor in the back, when he noticed something and stopped.

“Oh? Is there something wrong, boss?”

“I just felt a bizarre presence. You were coming to call me, right? The reason is…you, right?”

A man in his fifties appeared from the corridor. He was shorter than the young man, but his arms were twice as thick as the young man’s arms.

Based on his experience, Shin guessed that he was a Dwarf. Maybe he was in a bad mood, because his expression was nothing short of fierce.

“Never seen your face around here. I’m Vulcan, the owner of this workshop. So, what happened?”

“It’s about these, I can’t really decide by myself.”

“Really? *You* can’t?”

Vulcan looked at the young man with an amused expression.

The fierce-looking man, wearing an outfit suited to the boss of a pack of mountain bandits, looked like a boy who had found a new toy. The sharp glint in his eyes showed that he was gauging what kind of person he was dealing with.

“…I see, now I know why you were flustered.”

Vulcan took the 『Hollow Spear』 from the young man’s hands, looked at it for a while, then spoke. He did not add anything else and proceeded to check 『Azoth』.

He examined the blade and decorations for several minutes, then placed it back on the counter.

“You want us to perform maintenance on these?”

“Well, yes, is there a problem?”

Vulcan’s serious expression made Shin wonder if there was anything off with the weapons. Vulcan did not answer immediately, looking intently at Shin instead.

“Ehm…”

“Aren’t you better suited to take care of these?”

“Eh?”

Shin instinctively flinched because of the unexpected question. He had come all the way to a smithy, it would be normal to think that he couldn’t repair them himself. Vulcan, however, asked again, with absolute confidence.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but you’re a blacksmith, aren’t you?”

“!?”

Shin was at a loss for words, but Vulcan’s tone was completely positive. Nothing about Shin’s appearance was supposed to suggest that he was a blacksmith.

“You look like you don’t know how I can tell. Well, if you examine me you’ll find out right away, but I can tell if the person before me is a blacksmith.

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty well known in the business. There are plenty of types that pretend to be normal people or adventurers to get close to me and steal my techniques. Thanks to that, I guess my eyes got good at spotting them, the people like you who come up here hiding their job.”

“That’s, well, impressive.”

“Spare the compliments. So, what did you come here for anyway?”

“…I wanted to see how skilled this town’s blacksmiths were. I wanted to know if there were techniques I didn’t know, but I didn’t plan to steal anything.”

Shin realized that it would be useless to try to pull the wool over Vulcan’s eyes, so he stated his purpose with total honesty.

Techniques were always the fruit of long processes of trial and error. Shin had decided that he would never try to steal such a thing. He could tell a number of things from looking at the finished product, but couldn’t steal a technique with just that. He had planned to negotiate to achieve that, if possible.

“Who the hell are you, anyway?”

“Like you said, I’m a blacksmith. It’s just that I’m not familiar with recent smithing techniques, so I wanted to ask about it.”

Vulcan seemed to be slightly confused, and Shin started to feel doubtful too. Trying to test their skill had been a bad approach, maybe, so he started to feel concerned.

“Recent smithing techniques, huh. You talk like a long-living species.”

“Do you think so?”

“The lady over there is an Elf, but you’re just a Human, right? You look just a bit over 20. Even if you were holed up in a smithy since you were a brat, you couldn’t have a presence of fire this strong, nor smell like iron like this, you…you can even forge Legend, no, Mythology grade weapons, can’t you?”

“Grandpa!? What are you saying!?”

The young man couldn’t help reacting to Vulcan’s question. He was his grandson, apparently.

“Did your trained eyes tell you that too?”

“No, this is a special skill of mine. Blacksmiths gain a particular presence from the furnace and materials they use. The stronger their furnace, the stronger fire presence they have. If they use high grade or rare materials, they smell different than iron or steel. Of course, without sufficient skill no one can have that presence or smell. Yours is a lot stronger, much more powerful than even the chief I used to work for. Makes me almost doubt my instincts.”

Sweat streamed down Vulcan’s cheeks, but it wasn’t because of the heat coming from the furnace room.

“I must say that I’m really surprised. How did you acquire such a skill?”

“This is just what my senses tell me. I’m proud to say that it never failed me, though. So, what do you say? Not that I want to force you to talk.”

“No, I was the one that tested you after all. It is true that my skills are something that shouldn’t be revealed openly, I think. But that’s only what my master told me, I really don’t know about modern techniques. My master was from the old generation…how can I say it, he was something like a hermit.”

It would be troublesome to reveal that he was a High Human, so Shin explained that he had learned his skills under a master. His companion, Schnee, was from a long-living species, so it was a bit more convincing.

“I see, a long-living master from the old generation…they probably knew heaps of lost techniques we have no idea of. If you were his disciple, well I guess that explains it all.”

Vulcan didn’t seem fully convinced, but since he had just made it up, Shin laughed sheepishly, acting as if he couldn’t say anymore.

“…fine, I’ll show you how I forge. But in exchange, you’ll do the same too, deal?”

“Grand—I mean boss! Is this really okay!? I know that your senses are sharp, but you’ve just met this man!”

The young man had listened quietly to Vulcan and Shin’s conversation, but finally interrupted. Things had been proceeding really quickly, so Shin was also wondering if it was really all right, a suspicion that turned out to be correct.

“It’s all right, Vaal. It frustrates me to no end to say this, but the skills this man learned make mine look like child’s play. Don’t tell me that you haven’t realized it after looking at those weapons.”

“That’s…right, but…”

Vulcan clearly stated that looking at a weapon was enough to learn of the skills of its creator. The young man, Vaal, had no objections about that point, but was perplexed about the situation.

“Well, we plan to stay in town for a while, so you don’t have to decide right away…”

“Can’t do that. With the union as it is now, even if they see these weapons, not all of them will understand what I said. They’re always boasting that their mission is to improve Dwarf techniques and technology, but there are always the types that get lost in faction quarreling. I don’t want those in the way.”

Dwarves too had their own circumstances.

Shin remembered that the union was an organization for the sharing of techniques and technology, created by Dwarves instead of forming a country. Dwarves were normally solely focused on improving creation-type skills, but in an organization, authority and position always came into play.

“But boss, if you show your skills without permission, we might be in trouble.”

“Just shut up and we’ll be fine.”

“No way!? You want to make me into an accomplice??”

If it was for the sake of learning new techniques, Vulcan didn’t give a hoot about the union’s rules. It seemed like he thought that Shin would not cause trouble, but as a union member, it was a problem nonetheless.

“You say that, but you want to see too, don’t you? How a man that can forge weapons like these actually tempers the iron?”

“That…that’s…”

Vaal looked away, very clearly conflicted because of Vulcan’s question. He still glared at the very eager Vulcan, but he actually shared the same desire.

“So what are you going to do? This sort of chance won’t come twice, you know?”

“Nnh…nngh….”

Vaal grimaced, as if fighting against something. Vulcan kept pressing on, grinning widely. Shin, on the other hand, stepped away from them.

“…okay. Today he…er…”

“The name’s Shin.”

“Thank you very much. Today, Mr. Shin never came here. Let’s put it like that.”

Vaal finally surrendered. Between unknown techniques and the union’s rules, the curiosity towards the unknown won.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes. As boss said before, he was assistant to the Dwarves’ chief before. If he says that this was an exchange of techniques aimed to improve Dwarven technology, things will be settled somehow. Fortunately, you too are a blacksmith, Mr. Shin, so it wouldn’t be strange for such an exchange to be held.”

Vaal looked a bit concerned still, but Shin was very eager to see Vulcan’s skills, so he pretended not to notice.

After Vaal agreed, things proceeded even quicker. Vulcan would show his technique first, then it would be Shin’s turn.

“It may be too late to ask, but is this really fine? It seems like you agreed so fast…”

Vaal talked to Schnee, who was smiling behind Shin. He was involved too, so he felt a bit uncomfortable.

He had frozen for a moment when he saw Schnee, but thinking that she had to be connected to Shin, he didn’t get strange ideas about her.

“When Shin seeks new techniques, it’s always for our sake. I have nothing to say.”

“Is, is that so.”

Schnee’s reply radiated trust. It couldn’t be helped that Vaal felt a little envious.

“Sorry, Schnee. Please wait a bit.”

“I know that it’s like a sickness you have. I’ll wait, don’t worry.”

Shin apologized profusely, but Schnee simply looked at him as if she was thinking “he just can’t help it”. She sat down on a chair Vaal took out for her, opened a book with a blue cover and put on glasses with a red rim. The book, 『Book Maker』, automatically searched for the story that the holder desired and displayed it; the glasses, an item called『The Eyes』, were a support accessory.

“Schnee with glasses…not bad.”

Shin let this comment slip when he saw Schnee take out items to pass the time. Just putting on a pair of glasses gave the wearer an intellectual atmosphere; it was a mystery. Another reason was probably that Schnee usually did not wear glasses.

“Stop being silly and get this over with quickly!”

Schnee pushed Shin in the corridor to the furnace room, to hide her blushing face. When the blacksmiths disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, she said to herself “maybe changing my look once in a while would be nice…” as she tried to cool down her flushed cheeks, unaware that Shin heard that all too well.

“Right, I’m starting then.”

Once they arrived in the smithy, the men’s atmosphere completely changed.

Shin, Vulcan, and Vaal all fell into complete silence. They looked like different people than when they talked with Schnee moments ago.

“The furnace and iron are ready.”

Vaal, who was checking the fire burning inside, spoke to Vulcan.

Even in the game, without skills blacksmithing was pretty much the same as real life. Materials, forging techniques, and goals changed, but tools and equipment were by and large the same.

Furnace functions, however, varied very much. Tsuki no Hokora’s furnace would imbue magic into the iron it produced automatically, so even just tempering metal could create high level weapons.

Vulcan’s furnace was a special type, close to what Shin had in Tsuki no Hokora. The iron it produced was of high purity and was imbued with magic.

“I’ll start now.”

After saying this, Vulcan grabbed the iron with tongs and heated it up. His hammer was specially made: every time he swung it down, sparks and magic power danced in the surroundings.

Vulcan also possessed the Blacksmithing skill: just like Shin, he was really quick with his hands. That speed was probably what made it possible for them to accept orders for new items on top of repair and maintenance requests. Of course, each request was handled with maximum care.

Until now, it was all work that Shin was already familiar with.

“Start.”

“Yes sir.”

When the blade shaping process started, Vaal joined Vulcan in tempering the iron. As Vulcan and Vaal swung their hammers, the magic power imbued in the blade changed little by little. They both tempered the metal by pouring their magic into the hammer.

Pouring magic inside tools was something that Shin did as well, but compared to when Vulcan was doing it alone, the blade’s strength and magic power were higher now. It was like the two blacksmith’s magic power resonated, forming something greater than the sum of their powers.

(Their magic powers are overlapping? You couldn’t ever figure this out if you worked alone.)

Shin didn’t know how it exactly worked, but he understood how their magic powers interacted with each other. Based on his experience, he felt that their magic was far too attuned when swinging their hammers: the tools themselves must have had some special trick, or so Shin guessed.

(They make their magic overlap and create layers, huh. What effect could this have?)

Looking at the two blacksmiths work, Shin wondered what effects it could lead to. He imagined it would increase the weapon’s sturdiness or sharpness. Another possibility was, in case of magic swords, an increased rate of magic-related effects even without being attached with particular skills.

While thinking about the possible effects, Shin also wondered whether he could use this technique himself. He had never seen this technique before, so he wanted to make use of it somehow. A method to use this new technique to reinforce weapons was already beginning to form in Shin’s head.

“Phew…we’re done.”

One hour had passed since they started working. From inserting the iron in the furnace to sharpening the weapon, the process was now complete. From a purely blacksmithing viewpoint, it was an unfathomable speed. For a skill or art user, however, it was nothing but normal.

“So, did you see anything you didn’t know?”

“Yes, it was a very educating experience.”

The finished product was the middle Legend-grade 『Long Sword』. It was a basic item that all sword users in the game had wielded at least once. Vulcan had probably chosen it on purpose: a basic shape could show differences more clearly.

Shin examined it more closely and, as he had expected, noticed that sturdiness and sharpness were higher than if magic power had been poured into it normally.

“So it’s my turn next.”

Shin was exceptionally allowed to use the workshop’s tools, but prepared his own hammer. It did not have any special effects, but it had been specially forged by Shin himself.

He grabbed the metal with tongs, heated it, and struck it. He repeated the process and struck again.

The process itself was the same as what Vulcan and Vaal did, but there was one clear difference: Shin was hitting the metal with his hammer, and nothing more. He changed the striking point a bit, but there was a phenomenon happening that such actions could not explain.

“What the…the iron is changing shape all by itself…”

“Grandpa, I can’t believe my eyes…”

Every time Shin swung his hammer, the metal progressively changed its shape into a sword. What shocked Vulcan and Vaal was that spots that Shin did not strike changed shape too. It was a mysterious sight, as if the iron was changing shape on its own accord. The same thing happened when Shin showed his techniques to Kanezuka Araki in Hinomoto: no blacksmith worth his salt could miss such a phenomenon.

“It’s complete.”

Shin stated that the weapon was complete, before even touching the whetting stone. Normally, it was impossible for a weapon to be complete before sharpening, but the sword Shin was holding looked as sharp as if it was whetted by a master of the craft.

What Shin forged was a higher Legend-grade 『Long Sword』.

“……..”

Vulcan and Vaal must have heard Shin, but showed no response. What they just saw must have been just that shocking.

“Er, would you like to have a closer look?”

“Damn right!”

“Of course!”

Vulcan and Vaal shouted their replies to Shin’s question together. They seemed extremely excited, but handled the sword as if it was a very fragile treasure.

“I never saw him temper the tip, but the shape is well done…did the iron change shape by itself, because of magic? That would explain the balance…”

“That wouldn’t explain the blade’s edge, though. It can get sharp to a degree even without whetting it, but this? This is the work of a master artisan…”

A heated debate started, with Shin’s 『Long Sword』 at its center. Vaal seemed to be well trained enough to be allowed to temper alongside his master: the debate evolved to technical analysis quickly.

“Nngh…sir Shin…could it be possible for you to leave this piece with us?”

“Hmm, but with the grade what it is…”

For Shin it was just a 『Long Sword』 without much importance, but for the people of this world it was a national treasure level item. He had been living in this world for a while now, so he had become familiar with the circumstances concerning such topics.

Vulcan probably had no such intentions, but Shin couldn’t just give away an almost Mythology-grade weapon without thinking carefully.

“Yes, that’s right…but from just this one blade, we could learn so much…”

“Yes…?”

“This is packed with unknown techniques. It’s not like those weapons found in dungeons or ruins, which we don’t know who made them or how they made it. This has been made by a person, with my furnace and iron. It’s a lot more valuable than some powerful, and nothing else, national treasure. No way you could leave it here…kkh, I know, I understand it in my head, but…”

Shin planned to refuse because it was too powerful, but Vulcan’s words made him understand the true importance of the sword. Vulcan and Vaal had also witnessed the process behind its creation: even if they couldn’t understand it completely, it was still a lot better than not seeing anything at all.

“Sir Shin, you are an adventurer, yes? Could you grant us your teachings, even just while you stay here?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m already teaching some students at the institute, I just don’t have the time…”

If he started being involved here too, his free time would disappear. Having too much of it wouldn’t be good, but being too busy would be worse.

He had accepted to act as instructor for Lecus and the others so he could avoid slacking off too much, but if he ended up having to give up on spending time with Schnee, he would effectively be defeating his main objective.

“Teaching? Were you hired by the institute?”

“Just as a front. I agreed to give some students battle training, just until my comrades arrive here.”

“If you can handle weapons like these, you have to be quite the fighter yourself, but…that young lady is a quick worker, isn’t she…”

“Do you know Hilamee?”

“I sure do, I’m the one that does maintenance on her partner, Masakado’s sword, after all.”

Shin was surprised, but understood how they were connected.

The dwarf chief Vulcan acted as counselor for what could be compared to a king: someone directly under someone in this position was definitely skilled.

If Masakado still used the weapon he had when he died, it was a middle Legend-grade broadsword, something an average blacksmith and furnace could never hope to handle.

“Hmm, what a shame, what a shame…”

“Boss, I understand your feelings, but we can’t trouble him anymore…”

“Nngh…!!!”

Looking at the mumbling Vulcan, Shin was reminded of Barbatos’ shipwright, Zigma, and thought that artisans really were the same everywhere.

Blacksmiths and shipwrights built completely different things, but their passion, personality and feelings were quite similar. If they found new, unknown techniques, they couldn’t help crave to obtain them.

“In any case, I’m sorry to say that I can’t come share my master’s teachings, but I’ll come whenever I have the time.”

“Please, you must. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

“Boss, don’t push yourself too hard now…”

Vaal’s shoulders dropped as he looked at Vulcan’s almost menacing smile. Based on Vulcan’s words and actions until now, Shin realized that he would probably start working right away, maybe even forgoing to eat and sleep.

“Till next time then.”

“Thank you very much for today. I’ll do some trial and error on my own too.”

Shin collected the sword he tempered in exchange for the materials used, waved goodbye to Vaal, and left the workshop. As he noticed while leaving, the smithy’s name was 『Anvil of Steel』.

The time was still a bit after noon, so Shin and Schnee had lunch in the restaurant she mentioned wanting to try, then took a walk around town. Maybe because the institute was also a research facility, there were lots of shops selling monster materials, minerals, various kinds of catalysts, and much more. The guild also had facilities both in the institute’s district and the district where the king supposedly resided.

“The atmosphere sure changes from street to street.”

“That’s true, they are really divided neatly into categories. If similar shops are grouped together, it’s surely more convenient for everyone too.”

If you wanted something, you just had to go to the area where they sold it, or so Shin figured. Vulcan’s workshop too was located in a street that could be called “weapon store avenue”.

“There are still places we haven’t seen, but let’s call it a day. No need to see it all in one day.”

“Yes, let’s save it for another day.”

There was still some time before Filma and the others could arrive. It would be different if they were moving at max speed, but they were going at a leisurely pace, enjoying the trip.

Shin and Schnee still had plenty of time to spend together, so there was no need to hurry.

They walked back to the hotel, enjoyed dinner, spent the evening together, then went to bed.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Shin made sure Schnee was asleep, then quietly went outside. His objective was just outside Erkunt’s castle walls.

Using 【Hiding】 to make sure no one saw him, he materialized Tsuki no Hokora.

“Here we go…”

Shin had taken out Magic Steel and iron imbued with magic power. Holding them in place with tongs, he swung his hammer. He held nothing back this time, so the Magic Steel started changing shape quickly, turning into a 『Long Sword』.

Shin placed it on a piece of cloth and examined it. Differently from the one he forged before, the magic power imbued in the blade was irregular, thicker and thinner in places.

“Well, I guess that’s how the first time goes.”

Shin had tried imitating Vulcan’s technique. As he was forging by himself, he couldn’t use it the same way, but he thought that he could adapt it in his own style.

Things didn’t go smoothly right away, naturally; the 『Long Sword』 he tempered was simply of lesser quality than the usual.

“To make layers of magic power, I guess doing it with another person is necessary…?”

Shin continued striking the iron while doing trial and error.

In the empty smithy, only Shin talking to himself and the sound of struck iron could be heard.

“Good morning!” .

“Morning.”.

The day after Schnee’s “spoil me please” day, Shin and Schnee went to the institute. Their destination was the school’s training grounds. More precisely, the training field used mainly for party vs party mock battles..

“Okay then, let’s start with the training. Let’s do a quick one-on-one first, then switch to party battle.”.

“Mr. Shin, I see you two have different equipment than yesterday, but is that okay?”.

“Yeah, that equipment would have made things too dangerous.”.

Shin nodded to Lecus’ question. Myu and Lecus were wearing the same equipment they had in the dungeon, while Gian’s was clearly of inferior quality. It was probably a spare or gear he borrowed from the institute. The type of equipment was the same however..

Myu and Lecus were wearing their best, in contrast to Shin who wore a blue/green jacket with cargo pants that had a rather neat design. Schnee was wearing a similar outfit too..

Shin and Schnee both wielded handmade 『Sponge Blade』 weapons, albeit of different length..

Made of sponge, they looked just like wooden swords. Part of the “Sponge” series, these weapons would cause very little damage even if Shin swung them at full power: in a way, they were an exceptional item..

“Sponge” versions existed for all types of weapons: depending on shape and type, they had different denominations. Long swords were “Sword”, katanas were “Blade” and so on..

“First of all, let me see how much you can fight. Even if you hurt me I can be healed right away, so come at full power. Use skills if you want. I’ll be your opponent first, then Yuki will.”.

Shin’s implied “I’ll go easy on you kids” made Gian’s eyes flare up. Differently from Myu and Lecus, he had harbored a certain hostility towards Shin ever since they met in the dungeon..

Shin’s words were like a taunt for him..

“Then, I’ll—”.

“I’m first.”.

Myu raised her hand, eager to fight Shin, but Gian stood in front of her. Myu was annoyed by the interference, but feeling the fighting spirit emanating from Gian she stopped in her tracks, wide-eyed..

“That’s rare for you to be so openly hostile.”.

“Shut up.”.

Gian spat back at Lecus to be quiet and readied his spear. He lowered his center of gravity and concentrated all of his fighting spirit in Shin’s direction..

His solid stance, fitting for the party’s shield, made it seem like he could counter attacks from any direction. His gaze towards Shin was now void of hostility, but simply very serious..

(He’s not planning to hide his strategy, huh.).

Shin waited for Schnee to move away, then readied his blade. While it looked a little silly, it was tough enough that even Gian’s former equipment wouldn’t scratch it..

“I’m ready anytime.”.

“!!!”.

Gian moved as soon as Shin spoke. His spear closed in on Shin very quickly, leaving after-images behind. It was hard to believe that he was still under level 200 by how fast he moved..

Shin calmly calculated the spear’s trajectory and hit its tip with the blade. Despite the soft “poff”-like sound made by the clash, Gian’s spear was smacked out of his hands and fell down on the ground..

“Crap…”.

Shin looked at the spear and realized his mistake. Because of the shock from hitting the ground, the part connecting the tip and handle of the spear had bent..

“That can’t be helped. Use this, as replacement for the broken spear.”.

Shin said he would fix the bent spear and return it later, then pulled out of his jacket -actually, from the item box- a card and gave it to Gian..

The boy was looking at his hands and the spear Shin knocked down, with a grave expression, which changed to perplexion when he materialized the card Shin gave him..

“What is this?”.

“It’s a 『Sponge Lance』, a weapon made for training. It looks soft, but it’s actually tougher than Adamantine. With this, we won’t have to worry about breaking weapons anymore.”.

Shin was the most worried about this though..

Gian swung the new weapon a few times, then was convinced and nodded..

“Okay, let’s start again. Feel free to use skills or magic too.”.

Shin pointed the tip of his blade towards Gian and got into a fighting stance. Gian too pointed the lance towards Shin..

Gian had lost his weapon in the previous confrontation, but his strike did not rely on physical strength only. His footwork, movement of the center of gravity, and concentration of strength were definitely fruit of many days of training, as Shin was impressed to notice..

“I won’t hold back.”.

Gian thrust his lance towards Shin again. His expression did not reveal how he had received Shin’s words. When Shin aimed at the tip of the lance, to knock it to the ground one more time, the lance’s blade started glowing yellow..

“Gian’s getting really serious.”.

“Right.”.

Myu and Lecus’ whispered conversation reached Shin’s ears. They seemed to know what Gian was about to try..

Just like before, the blade knocked the lance down. What followed, though, was not the same outcome. Yellow blades shot from the lance, following the path it had before being knocked down, headed towards Shin..

Shin’s kinetic vision did not miss the crackle on the blade’s surface before the yellow blades were hurled at him. They were, in fact, made of lightning: their speed was nothing to underestimate either..

At the same time as Shin dodged them, Gian had pulled back his weapon. He had anticipated that it would be knocked down, so he did not drop it as before, but had it ready for the next strike already..

“Are you a monster…!?”.

Even if he looked cool and composed, however, the whisper that escaped his lips revealed his true thoughts. Gian wouldn’t give up yet though: He thrust the lance again…at a distance that would never reach Shin. When he did, just like the second strike, yellow blades sparked from the tip..

“This brings back memories.”.

Shin parried the blades this time, then whispered to himself..

What Gian had used was the Spear/Lightning combination skill 【Tri-Edge】. This skill was a Spear/Lightning composite, but there existed 【Tri-Edge】 skills with other elements and weapons: it was a skill common to all bladed weapons..

It allowed the attack to change elements depending on the foe, so it was used in various ways by beginners and veterans alike. The skill’s effect was to add elemental follow-up attacks to weapon attacks..

“It’s not over yet!”.

Gian looked at the lightning blades parried by Shin and swung the lance. He drew a cross, then added a horizontal stroke. The strikes, drawn as to divide Shin in six parts, burned bright red. Gian didn’t stop there however: he quickly pulled back his weapon, then thrust it again. This time the tip released a blade of wind, difficult to discern with the naked eye..

“You can use combos too?”.

Shin dispelled the flames and blade of wind headed towards him with a swing of his weapon, then went to attack Gian, a pleasantly surprised impression on his face..

Some skills, when used in quick succession, became combinations: Gian had used one such technique, which the players called combo..

“Damn it!!”.

Even if he used skills, Shin only had to swing his weapon to neutralize them..

Gian witnessed this reality and cursed it. That too, however, was put to a stop when he blocked Shin’s blade. Sponge weapons did look soft, but when Gian blocked Shin’s blade with the handle of his lance, the impact was strong enough to make his body shake left and right..

The boy managed to parry Shin’s attacks three times; the fourth time his arms went numb, and on the fifth the lance’s handle was pushed into his body, which flew in midair..

“Gian was using his skills, but was pushed back all the same…it looked like he was flying along the ground, but will he be okay?”.

“Mr. Shin said that he would with that equipment, so I think so. Look, Gian’s standing back up.”.

Lecus looked worried, but Gian was already on his feet again. He touched the spot struck by Shin’s blade with some confusion..

“You don’t have any damage except sliding on the ground, right?”.

“…yeah.”.

It felt very strange to Gian to not have suffered any damage after an attack like that. Shin checked Gian’s HP gauge to be sure, but it really had not decreased at all..

“Next is my turn, then!!”.

Leaving Gian aside, the even more excited Myu ran up to Shin. They knew already that her gauntlets and leg guards could not sustain Shin’s attacks, so she had switched to Sponge Knuckles and Greaves..

“I’m going all out!!”.

Differently from Gian, Myu used skills since the start. The aura enveloping her body was probably 【Ki Manipulation – Living Lightning】. The relative stability of the aura showed that it was a Skill, not an Art..

Her physical abilities boosted, Myu prepared to jump straight close to Shin…not that he would ever allow it. He lowered his blade on Myu’s frontal charge, but she made no attempt of defending herself or dodging it..

If hit, she would be knocked to the ground, but the blade simply passed through Myu. Like smoke swept away by wind, Myu simply vanished..

“Oh, 【Ki Strike】, huh.”.

Behind the vanished Myu, the real one was not about to punch Shin. Knuckles and Greaves wrapped in flames, if she punched or kicked flaming versions of her fists and feet would extend for about 30 cemel..

Myu’s illusion had been created by the barehanded martial skill 【Ki Strike】, while the flame attack range extensions by the Barehanded/Flame combination skill 【Flame Kata – Crimson Lotus】..

Myu went for a right jab, a left jab, then crouched down and did a leg sweep. As all these attacks were dodged by Shin, Myu continued with a spin kick, making use of the sweep’s momentum..

【Flame Kata – Crimson Lotus】 lasted for 60 seconds. Myu’s aggressive offensive made it look like she was on fire herself, but Shin blocked it completely calmly. The flame attacks had physical mass, so they could be stopped by Shin’s blade..

“Mmghh!!”.

Myu was frustrated to see all her attacks miss, but she remembered about the skill’s time limit, so she stepped away from Shin. Without waiting another moment, she gathered fire around her greaves..

“How about this!!”.

Myu drew an arc in midair with her leg, turning into a backflip. When she landed, she unleashed a flying kick towards Shin. On the spot where she had done a backflip, two balls of fire formed close to the ground and also headed towards Shin..

“Oh, not bad.”.

It was a method to perform an attack from multiple directions alone, very popular in the game era. Usually, long-distance attackers such as mages or archers used it, but depending on how it was used, the skill was suited to close distance fighters like Myu too..

Feeling a bit of nostalgia, Shin ignored the flames and focused on countering Myu’s attack..

The skill Myu used was the Barehanded/Flame combination skill 【Crawling Fangs】, which allowed the user to shoot flames from the feet, at one’s preferred timing..

The flames heading for the target, however, were 20% a physical mass and 80% a magical object, so closer to magic, which meant that they were pretty much meaningless before Shin’s high magic resistance..

“Look out!”.

Lecus, who was not aware of the flames’ actual composition, shouted towards Shin, who stopped Myu’s flying kick only..

Myu meant it when she said that she would go all out: the ground-crawling flames had a rather high temperature. If they hit, Shin would be fine, but Myu herself risked to be hurt..

Before Myu, her leg caught by Shin, could protect herself, Shin stomped his feet on the ground. With a powerfully echoing sound, the ground formed a rift. The vibration caused the rift to rise even higher, and the flames clashed against it and disappeared, never reaching their target..

Only faint sparks of lingering heat remained, brushing against Myu’s cheeks..

“Game over. I’m going to let you go now, okay?”.

“You’re so amazing, Mr. Shin…”.

Myu landed without trouble. She had experienced Shin’s strength firsthand, so more than anything else, her respect towards him increased. Her thirst for a battle had settled down, so she now looked at him like she was looking at a hero..

“Hey, is she always like that?”.

“Well, actually, it’s my first time seeing Myu like this…”.

Shin asked this question to Lecus, who stood before him as the last opponent, but the boy was just as confused..

“Once, she said that she likes strong people, so that might have something to do with it.”.

“I see…oh, sorry, that wasn’t something to ask before training.”.

“No, despite knowing her for a while I was perplexed too, so I understand your question, Mr. Shin.”.

Personality-wise, Myu tended to favor strong people, but it was apparently the first time she showed such a sudden change of attitude..

“Let’s start then. As I said before, no need to hold anything back, all right? I’ll be okay even if you hit me with all your power, so do that.”.

“Yes, understood.”.

Lecus was not worried anymore about hurting Shin. He had seen how Shin had remained unscathed from Myu’s 【Crawling Fangs】, so he knew that he wasn’t lying..

Lecus was a mage, so he started his battle strategy from a more distant position than Gian or Myu..

“O magic filling the air, gather in my palm…”.

(O magic residing in my flesh, rush to my foes…).

Lecus started chanting. Just like he had done for Gian and Myu, Shin let him make the first move..

“So this happens when you do multiple chanting.”.

Shin’s ears picked up Lecus and one more voice doing the chanting. He knew it was because of the 【Multiple Chanting】 skill, but wondered how it exactly happened. Shin possessed the 【Instant Chant】 skill, which if used with 【Multiple Chanting】 made it possible to use multiple spells at the same time without chanting..

He had no need to waste time chanting thanks to it, so he did not know how 【Multiple Chanting】 worked by itself..

“…well, it’s the right chance to try.”.

Using 【Instant Chanting】 was the norm, so Shin had never tried 【Multiple Chanting】 alone. Since the timing was just right, he tried chanting with the same timing as Lecus..

“Come hither, frozen lands. What I seek is…”.

(O dew traveling in the mist, gather in my palm…).

It was a very peculiar sensation: Shin’s mouth chanted the words to create a magic ice barrier, while in his head resounded the chant to create magic ice bullets, overlapping with the chant he actually pronounced..

(I can do it, sure, but…).

To think while chanting was something he never did normally, but as it turned out, it was not problematic at all..

Soon enough, the chanting ended. Shin had started a bit later than Lecus, but they finished at the same time..

Lecus had chosen the spell 【Air Bullet】, which as the name says launches bullets made of air, and 【Thunder Line】, which allows the caster to shoot lighting bolts in any direction they wish..

Shin, on the other hand, had chosen 【Ice Wall】, which creates a barrier of ice, and 【Water Bullet】, which shoots a barrage of water bullets..

The first clash was between the water and wind bullets. Shin’s water bullets struck the invisible wind ones one by one, as he could see them. That was possible thanks to the 【Magic Vision】 skill, which let the user see magic power. In the game, it was a skill pretty much all players had to learn to compete..

“There is too much difference in the power of one single blow, I see. But in this situation…”.

Seeing five of his wind bullets being destroyed by one of Shin’s water shots, Lecus realized that he could never win in terms of firepower. His eyes, however, showed that he hadn’t given up yet: he probably wanted to try to strike a 【Thunder Line】 through the spot where the wind and water bullets clashed..

The trajectory the caster could have 【Thunder Line】 travel through varied from person to person. Inexperienced casters could only make it travel in an arc or change directions two to three times only. As the caster gained experience, they could make the lightning take more complex routes: a very small number of players could use it as if the lightning itself avoided the obstacles on its path..

In order to test Lecus’ skills, Shin divided his ice barrier into several smaller ones, setting up several icicles while the water and wind bullets clashed. The bullets would obviously hit the icicles too, making it harder to target Shin. In such a case, even moderately experienced users would decide to make the lightning bolts take a roundabout path..

“!!!”.

Each one of Lecus’ palms produced a lightning bolt. The bolts traveled straight through the field where the icicles and bullets were still clashing..

“That’s something.”.

Dodging the bolts out of sheer physical ability, Shin let out a comment, impressed. The lightning’s streak clearly showed the difficult path they took. The bolts lasted for mere seconds, but to imagine two different ones in a field where magic forces clashed was a very arduous task..

Very few players could draw such complicated trajectories during battle..

“Hahah…he avoided them…not even blocked them..”.

In contrast with Shin’s impressed tone, Lecus was both dejected and confused..

Lightning and Light-type magic spells were often a surefire hit, unless the caster missed themselves, as they traveled at the speed of light, much faster than a person’s reaction speed, thus unavoidable…or at least, supposed to be so..

Some people could do just that, actually: by reading the opponent’s movements, limiting the timing and direction of their attacks, detecting magic power, “somehow”, etc. The reasons were many, but each allowed them to avoid such attacks..

In Shin’s case, he somehow “felt” them coming through pure instinct. It could be an extension of his detection of danger. Because of this, he could not explain how he avoided them..

Lecus had witnessed Shin dodge lightning during the battle with Gian, but did not think that he could do it even while magic was clashing and icicles blocked his field of view..

“Let’s end this here, okay?”.

“Aah, yes. If you can avoid that, I have nothing else I can do.”.

Even if they continued, Lecus would be simply overwhelmed by Shin’s 【Water Bullet】 barrage, so Lecus accepted Shin’s words without hesitation..

“Okay, the final battle is with the whole party. Do you have any other members, by the way?”.

“We three are the only regular members. Sometimes we join with other small parties or let solo adventurers join, but it never went well.”.

The other students can’t keep up with Lecus’ party: the difference in base ability was that large..

Even the mage Lecus, from a normal person’s perspective, was as strong as a physical fighter..

There were other Chosen Ones in the institute, but for some reason they didn’t blend well together..

“I see. Well, there’s nothing I can do about party members. For the time being, let’s focus on powering you guys up.”.

Individual training and team battle practice. Based on what he had seen in the dungeon, Shin thought that they had many things they could improve..

“I’ll say it again, you don’t need to think about holding back.”.

Shin spoke after preparing his blade in a fighting stance..

Gian and Myu stood side by side, with Lecus behind them. All three of them looked very serious..

They couldn’t make Shin lose his composure a bit one-on-one, so it was clear that they were thinking of pulling it off together. Maybe because they were fighting as a party now, only Gian had a new piece of equipment, a Sponge Shield..

“Let’s do this!!”.

Following Gian’s shout, Myu and Lecus started moving too. Gian charged forward, holding his shield high, using it to hide his lance from Shin’s view. He planned to not let Shin anticipate his attack until the very end. Over Gian’s head, Myu unleashed a flying kick..

Two attacks at the same time…thee, counting Lecus chanting behind them..

Shin caught Myu’s flying leg, spun once and threw her in Gian’s direction..

“Nwah!?”.

“Wha!?”.

Gian instinctively moved his shield and lance to block Myu’s fall. When Shin attempted a follow-up attack, the surroundings were filled with mist..

“Get back, quick!”.

The mist disappeared around Shin, but Gian and Myu had followed Lecus’ order and retreated, so he could not see them. Knowing that Shin would block the offensive, Lecus had prepared a magic spell to block his field of view..

“So, what are you going to do next?”.

Shin knew where they were, thanks to presence detection. It looked like they would attack from three different directions. Maybe wary of Shin’s reaction, they took around 30 seconds to slowly move around him. One was right in front, the other two diagonally behind Shin..

They had probably decided the timing to strike. Without any particular signal, they all started attacking at the same time..

The attacker from the front, piercing through the mist, was surprisingly Lecus..

“【Triple Bullet】!!”.

Fire, water, and invisible wind bullets shot from his hands..

From behind, Myu sent 【Crawling Fangs】 and Gian used 【Tri-Edge】 before both of them charged towards Shin. Knowing that normal attacks would never damage him, they tried to strike him all together..

“You’ve thought this through.”.

In response to the three young warriors’ offensive, Shin walked towards Lecus. Magic would barely affect Shin, especially if Lecus was the caster. As this was battle training for them, Shin advanced while knocking the bullets down, then struck Lecus’ neck, who was trying to retreat. That meant that Lecus had died. Myu and Gian “died” too after a few minutes..

“Aah…not even one hit…”.

“Crap…”.

“Just completely out of your league. Asking you for training was the right idea.”.

Myu and Gian did not even try to hide their frustration. Lecus had understood that they would never match Shin in the first battle and was thinking if there was a way for them to get back at Shin..

“Okay, let’s review the battles until now. Then Yuki will be your opponent.”.

As long as they didn’t lose all enthusiasm because of losing, they could improve. So Shin felt while he talked to the kids..

 . Vol. 13 Chapter 2 – Part 2

“Good morning. The sun’s up, rise and shine.”.

“Hn….? Ah, good morning.”.

A gentle voice and hands shook Shin mostly awake. He got up from the bed and noticed that Schnee had already changed..

“Ever since we were teleported here, you’re always waking me up.”.

“Is that so?”.

Shin cocked his head to one side, wondering if he found it harder to wake up. Usually they would have breakfast right away, but today was a rest day, so they could take it easy..

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sleeping when I wake up…”.

“Why such a serious expression? That’s perfectly fine, isn’t it. I can see your sleeping face, after all.”.

“No, I must protest! I too want to see your sleeping face!”.

“What protest is that…really…”.

Shin’s childish retort left Schnee almost at a loss for words, but her expression was very peaceful..

“At night I can see your sleeping face more though.”.

“T-that’s because you’re always so—aah, what are you making me say!?”.

“My my, I just meant to say that you always sleep early and wake up early. Whatever were you thinking about, dear Schnee?”.

Schnee was probably not used to such jokes yet: Shin’s little trap made her blush to her ears. He smiled, thinking of how adorable she was..

“Kh…euh….if you keep saying things like that, I won’t cook you breakfast anymore!!”.

“I’m sorry!! Please forgive me!!”.

Shin’s advantage lasted mere seconds. The room they were staying in was equipped with a kitchen, so it was possible to make simple dishes. Before, they used to have breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, but Shin started to miss Schnee’s cooking, so she would prepare breakfast every day now..

With his weakness — the stomach — struck, Shin surrendered immediately. He was bowing to Schnee on the bed, a sight no one would believe a High Human would produce..

“Do you realize your mistakes?”.

“Yes ma’am, I most surely do.”.

“…good grief. You should think a little more before teasing me.”.

“How do I say it? I never get tired of seeing you embarrassed.”.

“Shin?”.

“Yes! I’m sorry! I said too much!”.

Feeling that the mood was not one for jokes, Shin quickly bowed his head again. A few days had passed since they became one, but Schnee’s way of addressing Shin was starting to become less and less courteous, reducing the distance between them..

Coupled with their reciprocated feelings, being alone together allowed their relationship to change from master and servant to man and woman very quickly..

“Enough about that, what will we do today? There’s no training, so we can take it easy.”.

“Right…”.

Schnee’s tone suggested that she wanted them to spend a relaxing day together. Shin had no objections, but since they had an entire day, he would like to do some sightseeing..

The Erkunt Institute of Magic engaged in studies in various fields: items to improve people’s lifestyle, techniques to improve production technologies, etc. They did not, however, study real world sciences. They considered it dangerous to further studies in such disciplines in a world where magic existed..

More realistically speaking, Hilamee and Masakado were only junior high school students in the real world, so their knowledge only reached a certain extent..

As far as Shin could remember, that world always tended to explore different directions than the original world’s technologies, so he was interested in taking a look at what they were studying..

“Shin?”.

“Ah, sorry, I was just thinking.”.

Shin apologized, then told Schnee what he was thinking about..

“I see. We can take it easy here whenever we want, so we might as well go out today.”.

“Is that really okay with you? We can always do this another time.”.

“No problem. For me, the most important thing now is to be with you.”.

Schnee’s words warmed Shin’s heart. For a brief instant, he saw Marino’s silhouette overlapping Schnee’s, but that disappeared quickly. She wasn’t Marino’s replacement. Shin hadn’t forgotten his former lover, but seeing her in Schnee was wrong, or so he thought..

“Thank you, let’s do that then.”.

Shin and Schnee hadn’t gone sightseeing since they were in Hinomoto. Schnee changed into a pink sweater and white long skirt with an accessory bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was held with the hairpin bought in Hinomoto..

She would stand out in a town crowded by adventurers, but in shopping and residential districts, there were many people dressed in a similar way: it was a relic of the game era, when all sorts of clothing were on sale..

Clothes were classified as accessories, but there were many examples that were difficult to imagine existing in a fantasy world, such as bunny girl costumes or nurse attires..

The clothes chosen by Schnee were categorized by the system as “townsfolk clothing”..

Normally, their defensive powers would be next to zero but bizarrely enough, they boasted resistance to bladed weapons, fire, and thunder on par with iron armor, since they had been made by Rokuten’s Cashmere..

Being much sturdier than they looked was a common characteristic in Rokuten-made equipment..

Incidentally, the reason why they were not equipped with water resistance was that Cashmere claimed: “wet clothes sticking to the body is just so sexy”, to Shin and Hecate’s enthusiastic approval..

In the game era, such a pointless effect (clothes sticking to the body) did not exist, so Cashmere’s choice was nothing short of meaningless..

“Do you think it’s okay if I go out like this?”.

“Yes, that looks nice on you.”.

Shin wore navy blue pants, a white shirt and jacket, clothing more modern than fantasy-like, in order not to let Schnee stand out too much. It was a kind of outfit he had seen in a fashion magazine before..

“I thought we’d stand out more.”.

“Players spread their clothing styles extensively after all.”.

The town of Erkunt was just like a western Europe town, similar to ones Shin had seen on TV. Leaving science and technology aside, clothing and everyday items were not difficult to recreate, so many wore designer clothing just like Shin’s attire that day..

Maybe it was because the institute’s head of research & development, Hilamee, was a former player, but many people in the city wore clothing very close to modern fashion..

“It wasn’t like this in Bayreuth or Falnido though.”.

“This type of clothing is not always popular, after all. They’re not appreciated at all in certain locations. This town’s people seem to like it quite a bit.”.

“You have a point. The textile industry is more advanced than I thought here. The institute’s uniforms could easily pass as real world ones, well, you’d only find them in manga or light novels though…”.

The uniforms could easily be confused for cosplay costumes..

“So, where are we going?”.

“I’m really sorry for picking this as a date destination, but I wanted to check out a weapon store. Other than Hilamee, the close combat-oriented Masakado is here too, so I figured they must have progressed in that field too. I wanted to see how developed they are.”.

Shin’s real reason was another, but he was too embarrassed to say it clearly. He was actually worried that Schnee’s mood would turn sour..

“I see, let’s go to a store that deals in armor and accessories too then. You can probably draw all sorts of information just by looking at the items on sale.”.

“Oh, yes, that’d be great.”.

Shin was relieved to hear a proactive proposal from Schnee. He also agreed to go to a restaurant serving unique dishes without hesitation..

Shin and Schnee left the hotel and headed towards a store in the institute district, said to be the best. They followed the map drawn by a hotel clerk and arrived at a street lined with glass shop windows..

Looking at Shin’s automatic map, they would need to make a slight detour to reach the store. They had told the hotel clerk that they weren’t in a rush, so they probably drew a longer route to let them enjoy the city’s sights..

All sorts of items were displayed inside the shop windows. Most of them were clothes worn by mannequins in various poses, just like in the real world. Shoes, bags, and accessories were laid at their feet, stimulating the shopping impulses of the people passing by..

Shin felt like he had been transported back to his former world..

“Hilamee designed this street apparently.”.

“…I see. I guess she couldn’t forget.”.

After a slight surprise, Shin was convinced. When Shin first met Hilamee and Masakado, they were still junior high school students in real life. In the death game, they had died while protecting players younger than them. After coming to this world, what did they feel in their hearts as they lived on? Shin could only try to imagine..

Hilamee might have become headmistress of a learning institute because she felt attached to the “school” environment, thought Shin as he felt somewhat conflicted..

“Shin, you look so deep in thought.”.

“Sorry. I know nothing comes out of just thinking, but…”.

Every time he met a former player, Shin couldn’t help thinking. If THE NEW GATE hadn’t become a death game, if they had returned to their everyday lives, what would have happened?.

“Whoops! Schnee?”.

Shin was scratching his cheek when suddenly Schnee grabbed his right arm, holding it tight to make it stretch straight. Shin lost his balance a little, leaning towards Schnee..

“You were thinking about what would have changed if the Death Game never happened, right?”.

“Eh?”.

Shin was shaken to know that his thoughts had been completely seen through..

“Is that not so?”.

“Well, a bit.”.

Shin understood that he couldn’t deceive Schnee’s pressure. He answered honestly and she hugged his arm tighter, strong enough that a normal person’s arm would have been twisted in a weird direction. .

.

“If that never happened, I would never have touched you like this. So, for me—!?”.

Shin was confused at first, but quickly caught on what Schnee was going to say and sealed her lips. He was not completely unaware of her feelings..

“I’m not going to talk about what happened or not happened, not anymore. In the death game, I also acquired many new bonds.”.

If the game remained such until the end, some relationships with other players would have never become so deep. Even if it was a death game, not everything that happened was negative..

Shin’s words probably calmed Schnee, because she relaxed the grip on his arm. Calming down, however, they started noticing things they didn’t until a few moments before..

“That was too forward…”.

“Show-off…”.

“Shit! I want to be that guy!”.

“My my, so passionate.”.

Shin and Schnee had been walking down a quite crowded street. People, not knowing the circumstances, would think that Schnee pulled Shin closer to make him kiss her..

“…let’s speed up the pace.”.

“…yes.”.

Laughing embarrassedly to the surrounding people, Shin quickly pushed the violently blushing Schnee forward. The surrounding whispers had colored her expression a red more violent than ever before. Schnee’s personality would never let her show her affection so clearly in front of so many people normally..

“First, let’s settle down a bit.”.

“I’m sorry…”.

Even if camouflaged, Schnee’s good looks attracted attention. The two took shelter in a narrow alley, but Schnee was still blushing hard, looking down with one hand grabbing Shin’s sleeve..

“Er, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you in a place like that.”.

“N-no! I was the one who made you worry, and I didn’t hate, I mean, I didn’t hate it, so…”.

Shin couldn’t see her expression, but the ears poking out of her hair were progressively redder..

He felt that he had seen this expression a lot the last few days. Maybe she was relieved, her worries gone, or maybe she had lowered her defenses with Shin…no matter what the reason was, Shin was more than satisfied to be able to see such adorable moments so often..

“Schnee, won’t you show me your face a little?”.

Schnee expected to be scolded, but heard an unexpected question instead. Her embarrassed expression was starting to become one of his favorites..

“Nn…you’re much nastier than I thought…is it so fun to see me embarrassed!?”.

Schnee buried her face in Shin’s chest, to prevent him from looking at it, but peeked up just a bit to protest. Her eyes, glazed by tears caused by the embarrassment, glared at him..

She probably meant to accuse Shin, but he just found her all the more lovely. He couldn’t help but pat her head, thinking of a random excuse to do so. One of his favorite pastimes lately was to pat her head when they were alone in their room..

“Hn…don’t think you can change the topic like that!”.

“Oh, really…so I guess I can’t do it in our room either…”.

“I didn’t say I don’t like it.”.

Schnee silently rubbed her head against Shin’s hand, as if telling him to do it more. Yet another side of Schnee that Shin didn’t know..

He found it very pleasant to pat her too, so he was completely in favor of continuing..

They were in a narrow alley without much traffic, but from a third party’s perspective they looked just like any other flirting couple..

“…it’s a bit of a shame, but we should go.”.

“Right. Let’s continue when we get back to the hotel.”.

Shin was the first one to come back to his senses, realizing how other people must have been looking at them. Thinking that they couldn’t just continue flirting like that, he let go of Schnee’s hair and pointed at the street. She nodded and they headed once more towards the store..

After they walked for some time, Shin realized that what they would do once back in the hotel had been decided. When Schnee decided that she would have Shin spoil her, her usual cool demeanor always vanished.. Vol. 13 Chapter 2 – Part 3

“So, here we are…is this the right place?”.

Shin looked at the storefront, then checked the map again. The surrounding buildings matched the characteristics marked in the map. What puzzled Shin was that he couldn’t find any sign indicating the building was a shop..

“The door’s open, so let’s try going inside.”.

“Yeah, you’re right. If it’s not here, we’ll just start looking again.”.

Shin put a hand on the door handle and peered inside. The map was right after all: he could see all sorts of weapons displayed inside. Once they entered, they saw another row of weapons lined up along the wall, which they had not been able to see from the doorstep..

These included longswords, twin swords, long and short spears, bows, and axes. The swords and spears were all Legend grade, the bows and axes Unique grade. A quick glance around the store revealed that the weapons, other than the ones lined along the walls, were all of Normal grade, with some Rare ones here and there..

“Looks like this is the place. I don’t see any clerks though.”.

Each weapon had a price tag next to it, so Shin was sure they were for sale. The absence of a clerk was probably justified by the anti-theft skill attached to the store. If someone tried to grab a weapon and run, they would be prevented from taking it outside..

“Excuse me! Is anyone there?”.

“Yes, please wait a moment!”.

Shin called towards the back of the counter and a reply came back right away. Soon, a man in his twenties, wearing overalls and with a towel wrapped around his head came out..

“I apologize for the wait. Did you have an appointment?”.

“No, I heard that this is the best workshop in town, so I wanted to have my weapons repaired.”.

It wouldn’t be right to just barge in and demand to see their work, so Shin planned to pick a half-used weapon from his item box, ask them to repair it, then see what level of skill they had..

“Who recommended this store? If you have a letter of introduction, I would like to see it.”.

The young man was very polite. Shin pictured such workshops as places where people didn’t care that much about manners, so he was a bit surprised. From the young man’s physique, Shin figured he was the blacksmith or an apprentice..

“I heard it from the staff of hotel Morgana. I haven’t asked for his name though.”.

Shin didn’t have a letter of introduction, so he just said that he heard about the workshop from the hotel staff. He had just asked about weapon stores to a passing clerk, so he didn’t know the name..

“Morgana, I see. We are a bit busy at the moment, so it might take some time, is that alright with you?”.

“How long would that be?”.

“We would be able to start tomorrow afternoon. It appears that lately the monsters’ turf around town changed: the new monsters that appear are much more powerful than before.”.

The young man explained that because of this, requests to repair weapons and for new equipment increased exponentially, so at present they lacked manpower. Shin asked if this sort of thing happened often, but the young man replied that that was not the case..

In that world too there were areas where powerful monsters spawned, but Erkunt was not one of them. Sometimes there were reports of mass monster migrations, a possibility which was being currently investigated..

“Our boss is a blacksmith skilled enough to have donated a prized sword to the king, but even so, there is a limit to what he can do. At present, we only accept orders from clients who can wait.”.

“Is that so. I didn’t know about that monster business. Time is not an issue for me, so please.”.

“Understood. Can you let me check the status of the equipment? Please place it on the counter.”.

The extent gear could be repaired naturally depended on how damaged it was. Sometimes there were clients who presented items beyond repair, so blacksmiths always checked the item in need of repair before deciding whether to accept the job or not..

Shin and Schnee did not seem to be carrying any weapons, but the young man acted as if they did. He had probably guessed that they had weapons in item card form..

Shin had no intention to keep him guessing, so he took out an item card and materialized it. The young man did not bat an eye at the process. Once he checked the weapon, however, he quickly lost his cool..

“What the…!?”.

The young man let out a surprised mumble. As expected of an artisan, he understood right away what kind of weapon Shin had materialized..

What Shin had placed on the counter were a long spear and a short sword..

The spear was the lower Unique grade 『Hollow Spear』, the short sword the lower Rare grade 『Azoth』..

『Hollow Spear』 had a chance of inflicting paralysis if the opponent’s STR was lower than the user; 『Azoth』 slightly increased the user’s magic power..

Both had been used during the training with Lecus and the others, enough to require repairs..

“Not the slightest imbalance in magic power distribution, and not even one impurity? What the…”.

“Can I count on you, then?”.

“Please excuse me, I need to call the boss. Could you please wait a moment?”.

The young man had probably concluded that the job was too much for him. He went behind the counter and was about to enter the corridor in the back, when he noticed something and stopped..

“Oh? Is there something wrong, boss?”.

“I just felt a bizarre presence. You were coming to call me, right? The reason is…you, right?”.

A man in his fifties appeared from the corridor. He was shorter than the young man, but his arms were twice as thick as the young man’s arms..

Based on his experience, Shin guessed that he was a Dwarf. Maybe he was in a bad mood, because his expression was nothing short of fierce..

“Never seen your face around here. I’m Vulcan, the owner of this workshop. So, what happened?”.

“It’s about these, I can’t really decide by myself.”.

“Really? *You* can’t?”.

Vulcan looked at the young man with an amused expression..

The fierce-looking man, wearing an outfit suited to the boss of a pack of mountain bandits, looked like a boy who had found a new toy. The sharp glint in his eyes showed that he was gauging what kind of person he was dealing with..

“…I see, now I know why you were flustered.”.

Vulcan took the 『Hollow Spear』 from the young man’s hands, looked at it for a while, then spoke. He did not add anything else and proceeded to check 『Azoth』..

He examined the blade and decorations for several minutes, then placed it back on the counter..

“You want us to perform maintenance on these?”.

“Well, yes, is there a problem?”.

Vulcan’s serious expression made Shin wonder if there was anything off with the weapons. Vulcan did not answer immediately, looking intently at Shin instead..

“Ehm…”.

“Aren’t you better suited to take care of these?”.

“Eh?”.

Shin instinctively flinched because of the unexpected question. He had come all the way to a smithy, it would be normal to think that he couldn’t repair them himself. Vulcan, however, asked again, with absolute confidence..

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but you’re a blacksmith, aren’t you?”.

“!?”.

Shin was at a loss for words, but Vulcan’s tone was completely positive. Nothing about Shin’s appearance was supposed to suggest that he was a blacksmith..

“You look like you don’t know how I can tell. Well, if you examine me you’ll find out right away, but I can tell if the person before me is a blacksmith..

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty well known in the business. There are plenty of types that pretend to be normal people or adventurers to get close to me and steal my techniques. Thanks to that, I guess my eyes got good at spotting them, the people like you who come up here hiding their job.”.

“That’s, well, impressive.”.

“Spare the compliments. So, what did you come here for anyway?”.

“…I wanted to see how skilled this town’s blacksmiths were. I wanted to know if there were techniques I didn’t know, but I didn’t plan to steal anything.”.

Shin realized that it would be useless to try to pull the wool over Vulcan’s eyes, so he stated his purpose with total honesty..

Techniques were always the fruit of long processes of trial and error. Shin had decided that he would never try to steal such a thing. He could tell a number of things from looking at the finished product, but couldn’t steal a technique with just that. He had planned to negotiate to achieve that, if possible..

“Who the hell are you, anyway?”.

“Like you said, I’m a blacksmith. It’s just that I’m not familiar with recent smithing techniques, so I wanted to ask about it.”.

Vulcan seemed to be slightly confused, and Shin started to feel doubtful too. Trying to test their skill had been a bad approach, maybe, so he started to feel concerned..

“Recent smithing techniques, huh. You talk like a long-living species.”.

“Do you think so?”.

“The lady over there is an Elf, but you’re just a Human, right? You look just a bit over 20. Even if you were holed up in a smithy since you were a brat, you couldn’t have a presence of fire this strong, nor smell like iron like this, you…you can even forge Legend, no, Mythology grade weapons, can’t you?”.

“Grandpa!? What are you saying!?”.

The young man couldn’t help reacting to Vulcan’s question. He was his grandson, apparently..

“Did your trained eyes tell you that too?”.

“No, this is a special skill of mine. Blacksmiths gain a particular presence from the furnace and materials they use. The stronger their furnace, the stronger fire presence they have. If they use high grade or rare materials, they smell different than iron or steel. Of course, without sufficient skill no one can have that presence or smell. Yours is a lot stronger, much more powerful than even the chief I used to work for. Makes me almost doubt my instincts.”.

Sweat streamed down Vulcan’s cheeks, but it wasn’t because of the heat coming from the furnace room..

“I must say that I’m really surprised. How did you acquire such a skill?”.

“This is just what my senses tell me. I’m proud to say that it never failed me, though. So, what do you say? Not that I want to force you to talk.”.

“No, I was the one that tested you after all. It is true that my skills are something that shouldn’t be revealed openly, I think. But that’s only what my master told me, I really don’t know about modern techniques. My master was from the old generation…how can I say it, he was something like a hermit.”.

It would be troublesome to reveal that he was a High Human, so Shin explained that he had learned his skills under a master. His companion, Schnee, was from a long-living species, so it was a bit more convincing..

“I see, a long-living master from the old generation…they probably knew heaps of lost techniques we have no idea of. If you were his disciple, well I guess that explains it all.”.

Vulcan didn’t seem fully convinced, but since he had just made it up, Shin laughed sheepishly, acting as if he couldn’t say anymore..

“…fine, I’ll show you how I forge. But in exchange, you’ll do the same too, deal?”.

“Grand—I mean boss! Is this really okay!? I know that your senses are sharp, but you’ve just met this man!”.

The young man had listened quietly to Vulcan and Shin’s conversation, but finally interrupted. Things had been proceeding really quickly, so Shin was also wondering if it was really all right, a suspicion that turned out to be correct..

“It’s all right, Vaal. It frustrates me to no end to say this, but the skills this man learned make mine look like child’s play. Don’t tell me that you haven’t realized it after looking at those weapons.”.

“That’s…right, but…”.

Vulcan clearly stated that looking at a weapon was enough to learn of the skills of its creator. The young man, Vaal, had no objections about that point, but was perplexed about the situation..

“Well, we plan to stay in town for a while, so you don’t have to decide right away…”.

“Can’t do that. With the union as it is now, even if they see these weapons, not all of them will understand what I said. They’re always boasting that their mission is to improve Dwarf techniques and technology, but there are always the types that get lost in faction quarreling. I don’t want those in the way.”.

Dwarves too had their own circumstances..

Shin remembered that the union was an organization for the sharing of techniques and technology, created by Dwarves instead of forming a country. Dwarves were normally solely focused on improving creation-type skills, but in an organization, authority and position always came into play..

“But boss, if you show your skills without permission, we might be in trouble.”.

“Just shut up and we’ll be fine.”.

“No way!? You want to make me into an accomplice??”.

If it was for the sake of learning new techniques, Vulcan didn’t give a hoot about the union’s rules. It seemed like he thought that Shin would not cause trouble, but as a union member, it was a problem nonetheless..

“You say that, but you want to see too, don’t you? How a man that can forge weapons like these actually tempers the iron?”.

“That…that’s…”.

Vaal looked away, very clearly conflicted because of Vulcan’s question. He still glared at the very eager Vulcan, but he actually shared the same desire..

“So what are you going to do? This sort of chance won’t come twice, you know?”.

“Nnh…nngh….”.

Vaal grimaced, as if fighting against something. Vulcan kept pressing on, grinning widely. Shin, on the other hand, stepped away from them..

“…okay. Today he…er…”.

“The name’s Shin.”.

“Thank you very much. Today, Mr. Shin never came here. Let’s put it like that.”.

Vaal finally surrendered. Between unknown techniques and the union’s rules, the curiosity towards the unknown won..

“Is this okay?”.

“Yes. As boss said before, he was assistant to the Dwarves’ chief before. If he says that this was an exchange of techniques aimed to improve Dwarven technology, things will be settled somehow. Fortunately, you too are a blacksmith, Mr. Shin, so it wouldn’t be strange for such an exchange to be held.”.

Vaal looked a bit concerned still, but Shin was very eager to see Vulcan’s skills, so he pretended not to notice..

After Vaal agreed, things proceeded even quicker. Vulcan would show his technique first, then it would be Shin’s turn..

“It may be too late to ask, but is this really fine? It seems like you agreed so fast…”.

Vaal talked to Schnee, who was smiling behind Shin. He was involved too, so he felt a bit uncomfortable..

He had frozen for a moment when he saw Schnee, but thinking that she had to be connected to Shin, he didn’t get strange ideas about her..

“When Shin seeks new techniques, it’s always for our sake. I have nothing to say.”.

“Is, is that so.”.

Schnee’s reply radiated trust. It couldn’t be helped that Vaal felt a little envious..

“Sorry, Schnee. Please wait a bit.”.

“I know that it’s like a sickness you have. I’ll wait, don’t worry.”.

Shin apologized profusely, but Schnee simply looked at him as if she was thinking “he just can’t help it”. She sat down on a chair Vaal took out for her, opened a book with a blue cover and put on glasses with a red rim. The book, 『Book Maker』, automatically searched for the story that the holder desired and displayed it; the glasses, an item called『The Eyes』, were a support accessory..

“Schnee with glasses…not bad.”.

Shin let this comment slip when he saw Schnee take out items to pass the time. Just putting on a pair of glasses gave the wearer an intellectual atmosphere; it was a mystery. Another reason was probably that Schnee usually did not wear glasses..

“Stop being silly and get this over with quickly!”.

Schnee pushed Shin in the corridor to the furnace room, to hide her blushing face. When the blacksmiths disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, she said to herself “maybe changing my look once in a while would be nice…” as she tried to cool down her flushed cheeks, unaware that Shin heard that all too well.. Vol. 13 Chapter 2 – Part 4

“Right, I’m starting then.”.

Once they arrived in the smithy, the men’s atmosphere completely changed..

Shin, Vulcan, and Vaal all fell into complete silence. They looked like different people than when they talked with Schnee moments ago..

“The furnace and iron are ready.”.

Vaal, who was checking the fire burning inside, spoke to Vulcan..

Even in the game, without skills blacksmithing was pretty much the same as real life. Materials, forging techniques, and goals changed, but tools and equipment were by and large the same..

Furnace functions, however, varied very much. Tsuki no Hokora’s furnace would imbue magic into the iron it produced automatically, so even just tempering metal could create high level weapons..

Vulcan’s furnace was a special type, close to what Shin had in Tsuki no Hokora. The iron it produced was of high purity and was imbued with magic..

“I’ll start now.”.

After saying this, Vulcan grabbed the iron with tongs and heated it up. His hammer was specially made: every time he swung it down, sparks and magic power danced in the surroundings..

.

Vulcan also possessed the Blacksmithing skill: just like Shin, he was really quick with his hands. That speed was probably what made it possible for them to accept orders for new items on top of repair and maintenance requests. Of course, each request was handled with maximum care..

Until now, it was all work that Shin was already familiar with..

“Start.”.

“Yes sir.”.

When the blade shaping process started, Vaal joined Vulcan in tempering the iron. As Vulcan and Vaal swung their hammers, the magic power imbued in the blade changed little by little. They both tempered the metal by pouring their magic into the hammer..

Pouring magic inside tools was something that Shin did as well, but compared to when Vulcan was doing it alone, the blade’s strength and magic power were higher now. It was like the two blacksmith’s magic power resonated, forming something greater than the sum of their powers..

(Their magic powers are overlapping? You couldn’t ever figure this out if you worked alone.).

Shin didn’t know how it exactly worked, but he understood how their magic powers interacted with each other. Based on his experience, he felt that their magic was far too attuned when swinging their hammers: the tools themselves must have had some special trick, or so Shin guessed..

(They make their magic overlap and create layers, huh. What effect could this have?).

Looking at the two blacksmiths work, Shin wondered what effects it could lead to. He imagined it would increase the weapon’s sturdiness or sharpness. Another possibility was, in case of magic swords, an increased rate of magic-related effects even without being attached with particular skills..

While thinking about the possible effects, Shin also wondered whether he could use this technique himself. He had never seen this technique before, so he wanted to make use of it somehow. A method to use this new technique to reinforce weapons was already beginning to form in Shin’s head..

“Phew…we’re done.”.

One hour had passed since they started working. From inserting the iron in the furnace to sharpening the weapon, the process was now complete. From a purely blacksmithing viewpoint, it was an unfathomable speed. For a skill or art user, however, it was nothing but normal..

“So, did you see anything you didn’t know?”.

“Yes, it was a very educating experience.”.

The finished product was the middle Legend-grade 『Long Sword』. It was a basic item that all sword users in the game had wielded at least once. Vulcan had probably chosen it on purpose: a basic shape could show differences more clearly..

Shin examined it more closely and, as he had expected, noticed that sturdiness and sharpness were higher than if magic power had been poured into it normally..

“So it’s my turn next.”.

Shin was exceptionally allowed to use the workshop’s tools, but prepared his own hammer. It did not have any special effects, but it had been specially forged by Shin himself..

He grabbed the metal with tongs, heated it, and struck it. He repeated the process and struck again..

The process itself was the same as what Vulcan and Vaal did, but there was one clear difference: Shin was hitting the metal with his hammer, and nothing more. He changed the striking point a bit, but there was a phenomenon happening that such actions could not explain..

“What the…the iron is changing shape all by itself…”.

“Grandpa, I can’t believe my eyes…”.

Every time Shin swung his hammer, the metal progressively changed its shape into a sword. What shocked Vulcan and Vaal was that spots that Shin did not strike changed shape too. It was a mysterious sight, as if the iron was changing shape on its own accord. The same thing happened when Shin showed his techniques to Kanezuka Araki in Hinomoto: no blacksmith worth his salt could miss such a phenomenon..

“It’s complete.”.

Shin stated that the weapon was complete, before even touching the whetting stone. Normally, it was impossible for a weapon to be complete before sharpening, but the sword Shin was holding looked as sharp as if it was whetted by a master of the craft..

What Shin forged was a higher Legend-grade 『Long Sword』..

“……..”.

Vulcan and Vaal must have heard Shin, but showed no response. What they just saw must have been just that shocking..

“Er, would you like to have a closer look?”.

“Damn right!”.

“Of course!”.

Vulcan and Vaal shouted their replies to Shin’s question together. They seemed extremely excited, but handled the sword as if it was a very fragile treasure..

“I never saw him temper the tip, but the shape is well done…did the iron change shape by itself, because of magic? That would explain the balance…”.

“That wouldn’t explain the blade’s edge, though. It can get sharp to a degree even without whetting it, but this? This is the work of a master artisan…”.

A heated debate started, with Shin’s 『Long Sword』 at its center. Vaal seemed to be well trained enough to be allowed to temper alongside his master: the debate evolved to technical analysis quickly..

“Nngh…sir Shin…could it be possible for you to leave this piece with us?”.

“Hmm, but with the grade what it is…”.

For Shin it was just a 『Long Sword』 without much importance, but for the people of this world it was a national treasure level item. He had been living in this world for a while now, so he had become familiar with the circumstances concerning such topics..

Vulcan probably had no such intentions, but Shin couldn’t just give away an almost Mythology-grade weapon without thinking carefully..

“Yes, that’s right…but from just this one blade, we could learn so much…”.

“Yes…?”.

“This is packed with unknown techniques. It’s not like those weapons found in dungeons or ruins, which we don’t know who made them or how they made it. This has been made by a person, with my furnace and iron. It’s a lot more valuable than some powerful, and nothing else, national treasure. No way you could leave it here…kkh, I know, I understand it in my head, but…”.

Shin planned to refuse because it was too powerful, but Vulcan’s words made him understand the true importance of the sword. Vulcan and Vaal had also witnessed the process behind its creation: even if they couldn’t understand it completely, it was still a lot better than not seeing anything at all..

“Sir Shin, you are an adventurer, yes? Could you grant us your teachings, even just while you stay here?”.

“I’m sorry, but I’m already teaching some students at the institute, I just don’t have the time…”.

If he started being involved here too, his free time would disappear. Having too much of it wouldn’t be good, but being too busy would be worse..

He had accepted to act as instructor for Lecus and the others so he could avoid slacking off too much, but if he ended up having to give up on spending time with Schnee, he would effectively be defeating his main objective..

“Teaching? Were you hired by the institute?”.

“Just as a front. I agreed to give some students battle training, just until my comrades arrive here.”.

“If you can handle weapons like these, you have to be quite the fighter yourself, but…that young lady is a quick worker, isn’t she…”.

“Do you know Hilamee?”.

“I sure do, I’m the one that does maintenance on her partner, Masakado’s sword, after all.”.

Shin was surprised, but understood how they were connected..

The dwarf chief Vulcan acted as counselor for what could be compared to a king: someone directly under someone in this position was definitely skilled..

If Masakado still used the weapon he had when he died, it was a middle Legend-grade broadsword, something an average blacksmith and furnace could never hope to handle..

“Hmm, what a shame, what a shame…”.

“Boss, I understand your feelings, but we can’t trouble him anymore…”.

“Nngh…!!!”.

Looking at the mumbling Vulcan, Shin was reminded of Barbatos’ shipwright, Zigma, and thought that artisans really were the same everywhere..

Blacksmiths and shipwrights built completely different things, but their passion, personality and feelings were quite similar. If they found new, unknown techniques, they couldn’t help crave to obtain them..

“In any case, I’m sorry to say that I can’t come share my master’s teachings, but I’ll come whenever I have the time.”.

“Please, you must. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”.

“Boss, don’t push yourself too hard now…”.

Vaal’s shoulders dropped as he looked at Vulcan’s almost menacing smile. Based on Vulcan’s words and actions until now, Shin realized that he would probably start working right away, maybe even forgoing to eat and sleep..

“Till next time then.”.

“Thank you very much for today. I’ll do some trial and error on my own too.”.

Shin collected the sword he tempered in exchange for the materials used, waved goodbye to Vaal, and left the workshop. As he noticed while leaving, the smithy’s name was 『Anvil of Steel』..

The time was still a bit after noon, so Shin and Schnee had lunch in the restaurant she mentioned wanting to try, then took a walk around town. Maybe because the institute was also a research facility, there were lots of shops selling monster materials, minerals, various kinds of catalysts, and much more. The guild also had facilities both in the institute’s district and the district where the king supposedly resided..

“The atmosphere sure changes from street to street.”.

“That’s true, they are really divided neatly into categories. If similar shops are grouped together, it’s surely more convenient for everyone too.”.

If you wanted something, you just had to go to the area where they sold it, or so Shin figured. Vulcan’s workshop too was located in a street that could be called “weapon store avenue”..

“There are still places we haven’t seen, but let’s call it a day. No need to see it all in one day.”.

“Yes, let’s save it for another day.”.

There was still some time before Filma and the others could arrive. It would be different if they were moving at max speed, but they were going at a leisurely pace, enjoying the trip..

Shin and Schnee still had plenty of time to spend together, so there was no need to hurry..

They walked back to the hotel, enjoyed dinner, spent the evening together, then went to bed..

“Okay, let’s go.”.

Shin made sure Schnee was asleep, then quietly went outside. His objective was just outside Erkunt’s castle walls..

Using 【Hiding】 to make sure no one saw him, he materialized Tsuki no Hokora..

“Here we go…”.

Shin had taken out Magic Steel and iron imbued with magic power. Holding them in place with tongs, he swung his hammer. He held nothing back this time, so the Magic Steel started changing shape quickly, turning into a 『Long Sword』..

Shin placed it on a piece of cloth and examined it. Differently from the one he forged before, the magic power imbued in the blade was irregular, thicker and thinner in places..

“Well, I guess that’s how the first time goes.”.

Shin had tried imitating Vulcan’s technique. As he was forging by himself, he couldn’t use it the same way, but he thought that he could adapt it in his own style..

Things didn’t go smoothly right away, naturally; the 『Long Sword』 he tempered was simply of lesser quality than the usual..

“To make layers of magic power, I guess doing it with another person is necessary…?”.

Shin continued striking the iron while doing trial and error..

In the empty smithy, only Shin talking to himself and the sound of struck iron could be heard..

 .

Chapter end