Obviously, being told to listen to a weapon’s voice was a figurative expression.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to listen to the weapon’s voice.”
In other words, pressing my ear against a weapon right now was an idiotic thing to do.
“That is a figurative expression, you know.”
“Nothing else works, so I’m trying even this.”
Do you know how it feels to be doing something this stupid because I’m grasping at straws?
“Honestly, why does a so-called servant of God act like that?”
What does that have to do with anything?
“No. I feel a little sorry for Lady Aria, who has to take you as her servant.”
“What are you saying?”
I finished doing something stupid and returned the weapon in my hand to its original place.
“Somehow, your bizarre antics never seem to end.”
“You think they compare to yours, mister?”
I picked up another weapon beside the one I had just put back.
“What is wrong with me?”
“Are you seriously saying that after looking at this weapon?”
The sword had all sorts of strange devices attached to it.
“Ahem. That sword was modified so it can even explode. The one beside it fires bullets too.”
“You really do love explosions way too damn much.”
He might not look it, but he was a dwarf, so why did he love explosions so much?
“Aren’t dwarves friends of the earth?”
Was it really fine for someone like that to enjoy blowing the earth apart?
“Then the humans I have seen were good singers, so why are you not?”
“Ahem.”
I mean, how bad could my singing be?
“Do you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“What else? When you sang, even Sir Harkan thought you were possessed by an evil god and tried to cut you down.”
“Ahh. I don’t remember.”
“You don’t?”
“Of course not.”
“How could you not remem......”
I swung the sword in my hand. The wind pressure from the blade grazed the tip of Junknus’s nose.
“I don’t remember, do I?”
“Right. You might not remember.”
“Exactly.”
That was enough idle chatter!
“Oh, do you have a weapon? Something incredibly sturdy with strong resistance to divine power.”
“What form?”
“Anything is fine. As long as it doesn’t break.”
“......Can anything you use not break?”
“You said this was the best smithy in the Holy Kingdom.”
He was acting in a way unbecoming of the owner of the best smithy in the Holy Kingdom’s capital.
Self-proclaimed, of course.
“You are beyond any standard.”
“What am I?”
“You are the bastard who can split mithril with your bare hands in the first place.”
“I told you, that’s an exaggeration.”
Where the hell did that story even come from? How could a person break mithril with their bare hands? Even Grandpa Harkan and Sir Slan could not do that. At the very least, you would have to put divine power into your hand.
“You can break steel, can’t you?”
“That is true, but mithril is way too exaggerated.”
“Ordinary humans cannot even break steel with their bare hands, you know?”
Why not? Grandpa Harkan and Sir Slan could do it easily.
“I don’t know. Anyway, make it sturdier this time.”
“How many days did you use the last one?”
The last one? Which weapon did I get last time?
“Ah, that club.”
At my answer, Junknus nodded.
“I used it for about fifteen days.”
“Then how long did it last with holy power infused into it?”
“Twelve seconds.”
“It endured quite a long time.”
That was the extent of his reaction.
“How long do you have to last in that weapon arts test with holy power infused?”
“Roughly thirty seconds.”
“Was it not originally one minute?”
“Ah, they reduced it to thirty seconds today to accommodate me.”
And I still failed to pass.
“Tsk. You are hopeless.”
“Seems your skills are more hopeless, Brother.”
“What?! I am already the greatest blacksmith in the Holy Kingdom!”
“And a person like that can only make weapons that cannot even withstand divine power?”
At this point, I was starting to wonder whether he really was a dwarf. Maybe he was actually just an incredibly short human.
“If there is a blacksmith capable of making a weapon that can contain your insane divine power, that would be a dwarf out of myth!”
Junknus jumped high and struck me on the head. Of course, it did not hurt much.
“And in the first place, tell me to come out if there is anyone in this Holy Kingdom’s capital who can forge as well as I do.”
“Is it fair to compare humans and dwarves?”
“If you do not like it, be born a dwarf. Gahaha.”
Honestly, this old man had a truly rotten personality.
“Ah, right. Come to think of it, something incredibly sturdy did come in through the black market.”
“Not something you made?”
“Correct.”
A weapon that this man had not made? Even better. It would be a pure weapon without any weird explosions for no reason.
“Show me.”
“Wait a moment.”
Junknus went inside and began rummaging through a box.
“This is not it...... This is not it......”
“Hurry up and find it.”
“Ah, here it is!”
What Junknus pulled out was covered in garbage.
“......?”
When I looked closely again at the box Junknus had been rummaging through, it was a trash can.
“......You pulled that out of the trash?”
“How much does where it was really matter?”
Doesn’t it matter? Especially if it came out of the trash?
“What is it, spoiled food?”
“As if it would be food.”
“True. It must be a weapon......”
“Ah, it is not a weapon either, actually.”
I cleared away all the garbage stuck to whatever Junknus had pulled out so I could see it properly.
“A key?”
It was a key slightly larger than a dagger.
‘......Can you really call that a key?’
It was enormous for a key.
“It was incredibly sturdy.”
“......Isn’t this a smithy?”
“That it is.”
What was this? Had the meaning of the word smithy changed without me knowing? Why would this be here?
“What kind of smithy sells a key like this?”
“It is not something I am selling.”
Ah, right. This key had crawled out of the trash can.
“Even with my skill, I could not refine that thing.”
“Pardon?”
A key even a dwarf could not refine?
“......Then why did you throw it away?”
If it was a key made from a mineral of that level, wasn’t it worth investigating?
“If I cannot handle it, then it can never be used, can it?”
What kind of confidence was that?
“So I judged it useless and threw it away.”
“Wouldn’t other dwarves try to study it more?”
“Then let me ask you one thing. Where are the other dwarves?”
“Somewhere, I guess?”
“See? Even you, an apprentice holy knight who frequently travels outside the Holy Kingdom, do not know. Would I know?”
He was not wrong, but even taking that into account, throwing away an item of that caliber seemed a bit wasteful.
“What about selling it to an adventurer? Whatever it looks like, this is still a key.”
Could it be a dungeon key or something?
“Do you know when the last dungeon was discovered?”
“It has been a while.”
How long had it been? I was not sure exactly.
“It has already been more than fifty years.”
“Aha.”
“And the dungeon discovered before that was already a hundred and fifty years ago. Even the dungeon from fifty years ago was one that appeared after a full century by the standards of the time.”
Oh, right. That was true.
“Did the Order not teach you that when you were young?”
I had no memory of it.
“You should have listened properly in class.”
“Isn’t it better to catch up on sleep than spend time learning that stuff?”
Junknus looked at me as though he found me somewhat pathetic.
“I understand why you are still an apprentice.”
“As long as a holy knight is strong, that’s enough.”
“The Chief God would clutch the back of his neck if he heard that.”
Wouldn’t he like it? Ah! My servant of God is that strong! From what I had seen so far, I felt like that was how he would react.
“You seem to be thinking something blasphemous again.”
I did not think this was all that blasphemous.
“In any case. I’ll try using this key.”
I would inject divine power into it once.
“Oh.”
For a mere key, it withstood my divine power entering it. Usually, weak weapons shattered the moment my divine power entered them.
‘How many seconds will it last?’
Even Junknus had been unable to properly refine it, so I had some expectations.
‘About fifteen seconds?’
It felt like it would last exactly that long......
“......?”
Wait. How many seconds had already passed while I was thinking this?
“Huh?”
Junknus’s voice reached my ears.
“How many seconds has it been?”
“About eight seconds.”
It would break soon, right?
“......?”
“Huh. It really is an incredible item.”
However, contrary to my expectations, even after seven more seconds passed, the key was perfectly fine.
“How long will it last?”
“How would I know?”
Before I knew it, even thirty seconds had passed since I had started putting divine power into the key, and only then did I stop.
“This thing really is incredible.”
It would have been better if it were a weapon instead of a key.
“If I make one exactly according to that key’s structure, I could make a weapon for you.”
“Make it for me.”
“How?”
“......Well?”
At my answer, Junknus frowned and said,“Get out, brat.”
“Yes.”
What else could I do when he told me to leave?
“Hoo. What am I supposed to do with that bastard......?”
Leaving Karix, who had gone out, behind him, Junknus tried to retrieve the key, but—
“Huh?”
The giant key was no longer on the counter.
“Hey, you bastard! If you took the key, you have to pay before you go!”
Even if it had been in the trash, it was too good to fall into that bastard’s hands!
***
“......Karix.”
“Yes?”
“What is that?”
Harkan asked as he looked at the key in my hand.
“My new weapon.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
At my words, Harkan smiled kindly and drew his beloved weapon.
“Let me beat you for a bit.”
“No, why?!”
“You damned bastard! You bring a giant key here! Call it a weapon! And try to take the exam with it! As if I would let you!”
Ah. Grandpa was angry. I should run.
“Do not run.”
“Have you ever seen me listen?”
With those words, I immediately turned and began running away.
Naturally, Harkan, who was furious to the tips of his hair, chased after me.
“Brat! Stop right there!”
“Why?! A key can be a weapon too!”
“Does a voice come from it? Does it?”
Hearing a voice was a metaphor anyway! Then shouldn’t it not matter?
“You stupid fool!”
“No, fist arts are not allowed, this is not allowed, then what am I supposed to do?!”
“As if you can fight evil gods with something that tiny!”
Tiny? You have never seen a key this big, Grandpa. It was several times bigger than an ordinary key!
“You bastard!!!”
“Eek!”
Wasn’t chasing me while firing divine power cheating?
“No! Do you really have to go this far?”
“You rotten bastard! I am chasing you because you do not understand that!”
What was the problem? I just needed to make something that could withstand my divine power, didn’t I?
“Ah, damn it.”
That old man had even reinforced his legs with divine power now. It seemed he seriously intended to catch me.
“Huh? Karix......?”
When I turned the corner and saw Pell, I grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him at Harkan.
“Sorry! I’ll buy you a meal later!”
Of course, Harkan twisted aside and avoided Pell, whom I had thrown, but it did not matter. What mattered was that Harkan’s vision had been blocked for a moment.
“Karix......!!!!”
Harkan’s furious voice came from far behind me.
“Ah, damn it.”
What was I supposed to do?
He would find me no matter where I went.
“......Huh?”
A door appeared before my eyes. A door at the corner of the fork in the road.
Knowing me, Harkan would think I had not chosen to enter a door in order to run away quickly.
Once I had thought that far, I flung the door open and went inside.
“Hoo...... He didn’t hear the door closing, right?”
Surely he would not think I had gone through a door instead of down the path, would he?
***
“Where did he go?”
Harkan had followed to the corner Karix had just turned. Of course, Karix was nowhere to be seen.
“Did he go that way?”
Harkan stopped at the fork and entered the side path rather than the direction he had originally been looking.
“Karix, you wild colt of a bastard......! Just wait until I catch you!”
Naturally, Harkan did not consider the possibility that Karix had gone through the door.
Because.
There was no door here.