“Hey, old man, stop touching me.
If you keep touching me, I won’t grow any taller!”
Feeling Ayin’s touch, although she had to admit it was actually somewhat comfortable, Aino came to her senses, pouted, and dodged his devilish claws.
She continued to ask with some curiosity,
“So, old man, do you have something to do at Aino’s house… Is something broken that you’re in a rush to fix?”
Hearing Aino’s question, Ayin, who was still thinking about how to make up an excuse for why he had teleported to her home, immediately perked up.
He first reached into his personal storage space and pulled out a katana with purple accessories, then *slap*—he slammed the musou isshin in his hand onto the table nearby.
The sword probably never imagined in its life that it would be slammed onto a table so violently.
It was unclear if the remnant soul of Makoto within the blade could sense the outside world.
If it could, it would probably leap out like a zombie and blast this jokester with a bolt of lightning.
“Come see if this sword can be fixed.” After doing all this, Ayin pointed to the musou isshin on the table and asked, suppressing a laugh.
“Wow, what a beautiful sword!”
“But it doesn’t seem to have any signs of damage.” Ann, standing beside her, was also stunned by this almost perfect katana as she watched the musou isshin.
With her small mouth slightly open, she observed the blade and even reached out to grip the hilt, weighing it a few times.
It was unknown how Aino’s small body could manage to lift a katana that was almost as tall as she was.
“Nay, nay, this sword is indeed ‘broken’.”
Upon hearing this, Ayin shook his head first, then continued in a storytelling tone with a deep voice,
“My name is the Fool Le Tian Zhenjun, and I have walked this world for hundreds of thousands of years.
When I was traveling in Inazuma, I saw a pair of twin sisters who were fated to meet me, so I casually bestowed a stroke of fortune upon them.”
“As time passed, when I set foot on that land once again, I learned that one of them had regretfully fallen due to a lost battle.
Her physical body dissipated, leaving only a remnant soul condensed into the shape of a sword, barely surviving in this world, but also falling into a deep slumber for some reason.”
“And this one in your hand is the katana that holds that remnant soul!”
After finishing, Ayin looked up at the ceiling, stroked his beard with his right hand, and put on an expression of someone recalling unrecoverable past events, falling silent.
“This… there’s actually such a story.
Suddenly, I feel like you are so great, old man.” Seeing this, Aino’s eyes welled up with tears, and she muttered with a slightly choked voice.
“It is nothing; after all, so much time has passed.
I came here this time specifically to ‘repair’ this sword.” Seeing that the effect had been achieved, Ayin composed himself and explained slowly while stroking his beard.
He had originally been thinking about how to deal with this sword, but after seeing Aino, he had another plan.
Instead of letting this sword gather dust in his personal storage space, it was better to see if this little one could come up with something.
Even if she couldn’t… he still had a backup plan to fall back on!
“But Aino doesn’t know how to repair it.
I’m interested in mechanics, but I’m not proficient in sword forging.” Hearing this, Aino’s expression dimmed, and she shook her head with a regretful tone.
Earlier, when she was examining the sword, she had felt an extremely strong pressure intermittently emanating from the blade.
It was a pity she wasn’t proficient in this area and couldn’t confirm its source.
“Hehe, it’s fine.
What I need is mechanics; who plays with anything else these days?”
“I came here this time because I heard there was a genius mechanic in Nordkalle, so I wanted to ask you to try to help me make a mechanical device that can house a soul… just like Ineffa.” Seeing Aino like this, Ayin reached out and patted her shoulder, speaking in a slightly encouraging tone.
Like Ineffa?
Hearing this, Aino couldn’t help but start thinking.
Because she had never made such a machine that could house a soul, even if she could refer to Ineffa’s state for a rerun, the collection of materials was an unknown.
After all, many of the materials she used for her machines now were scavenged.
But looking at the expectant gaze (feigned) of the old man in front of her, could she really bring herself to refuse…?
“I… I can try.
I can’t guarantee it will definitely succeed, but Aino will try her best!” Thinking of this, Aino clenched her fists and agreed to Ayin’s request in a tone full of motivation, officially accepting this commission.
After all, she was interested in mechanics herself, and if she really succeeded, it would be a huge achievement!
“Haha, I knew I didn’t misjudge you.
But don’t be nervous; just do your best.
During this time, you can keep this sword.
You can make some adaptive machinery based on the energy emitted by the blade.”
“As for the Reward for this commission… once you finish it, this sword will be yours.”
Seeing this, Ayin nodded, then feigned generosity and directly shoved the musou isshin into Aino’s arms.
Feeling the weight of the blade, a strange sense of mission suddenly surged into her heart.
“Ms.
Yakoda, Aino is inside.
Come with me.”
“Mm, okay.
It’s going to be a bother for Aino to help me check my arm regularly; it’s actually quite embarrassing to say.”
“It’s okay, after all, we are all friends… However, please hand over the snacks you’ve hidden in your arms first.
Aino has strict control over snack intake.”
“Uh… you found out, hehe~”
Just at this moment, familiar voices suddenly came from not far outside the door, instantly drawing the attention of the two people inside the room.
“Wow, my snacks!” Hearing that the snacks she had asked Yakoda to hide were discovered, Aino’s little face immediately crumpled.
Looking closely, tears were faintly welling up in the corners of her eyes, as if she were about to cry the next moment.
“Alright, alright, this is for you.
Consider it an extra Reward, but definitely don’t let Ineffa know.”
“I’m leaving first.
Don’t forget what you promised me.” Seeing this, Ayin hurriedly shoved a small bag to Aino, then flashed and disappeared from the spot, leaving Aino alone, holding the sword in one hand and the bag in the other, looking somewhat comical.
But out of trust, Aino still raised her hand and carefully put away the katana, then opened the package with some curiosity.
A few colorful dango immediately made her eyes light up.
Although she didn’t know exactly what these things were, the slightly sweet, cloying scent in the air instantly made her realize the value of these few skewers of sweet desserts.
That’s right, these were the few remaining skewers of three-colored dango that hadn’t been knocked to the ground, which Ayin had casually swiped in the second before he teleported away from Inazuma.
They were obviously extremely effective for coaxing Aino.
She first guilty glanced at the main entrance, then quickly packed the three-colored dango in her hands into a food box, and immediately hid the food box into the compartment where she usually hid snacks.
“That old man must be a really good person!”
Aino thought to herself after finishing everything…