35 – Do you want a talking sword? Isn’t that too heartless?
The start of it all was when I confirmed that the Four Heavenly King’s authority still existed, as I faced the demon along with the hero.
From then on, I occasionally checked on the information from the demon world whilst touring dungeons in remote places that were poorly managed. Strangely, most of the neglected dungeons were active, so it wasn’t difficult to use them secretly.
As I was checking the logs in the dungeon, something felt off.
The default setting for the ‘dungeon’ operation was too aggressively set. It was more suited to ‘invasion’ to expand territory, rather than maintaining the eroded territories.
After checking several places, all the dungeons were set up in this way.
The stabilization of the Primrose territory, which had been eroded during the ‘great invasion’ time, was not even properly achieved.
There was no reason for the Demon King’s army to be so aggressive.
The strange thing was, there had been no territories damaged by a dungeon even though it wouldn’t be strange for several dungeon breaks to occur.
It wasn’t that important, but something felt uncomfortable about it.
The answer to that question was found at a surprisingly unexpected time.
When I confirmed the ‘Hero’ location who had intruded into the demon world, it turned out that they were spotted anywhere there might be a dungeon as if they were using a spacial movement spell for the past few months.
Apparently, the hero had been working harder than I had imagined.
Resources that were supposed to be used for erosion stabilization and dungeon labyrinths were all used for power expansion.
But all that power was shattered by the hero.
Even worse, they did something crazy as to single-handedly invade the demon world and intensely pull aggro, forcing the demon clan who managed the dungeons to focus all of their attention on the hero.
Then… wouldn’t it be possible to fully capture the Primrose territories’ dungeons to reclaim humanity’s land?
That thought crossed my mind.
Of course, dispersing the heroes who should be rescued was a risky choice. There was a chance that I might lose both rabbits (the hero and the land).
From my perspective, who was eager to retire, it was much safer to focus on rescuing the hero.
However, in the end, I chose to catch both rabbits.
It wasn’t because of a sense of calling for the sake of humanity.
The ‘debt’ that I used to bring in the ‘heroes of humanity’ was originally Primrose’s. So, it was only right for it to be used for Primrose.
For two days… Actually, it was a day and a half. I worked really hard.
Setting up a ‘special admission to the academy’ plan to stabilize the anxious hero’s mental state, visiting the lord’s castle of Primrose to engrave magic circles, and even secretly taking out the mana that should have been used to protect the dungeon core. Normally, the log of ‘Four Heavenly King Rain’ would remain, which would be risky, but since the plan was to destroy all dungeon cores, it was blatantly used.
More precisely, all the mana assigned to the dungeon was converted into magic and charged into the ‘Quarterstaff’.
The Quarterstaff I use is a specially crafted staff made for me by the Grand Mage, the King of Command. It had a magic charge function to overcome the ‘less magic’ limit of the semi-demons.
I never thought I would use that staff to survive from its creator, the King of Commands.
I didn’t have to worry about my identity being exposed by the staff. It wasn’t strange for humanity to use what the Four Heavenly King had when he died. After all, dungeon loots usually work that way.
The commander king, recognizing the staff, suddenly had a seizure that took me by surprise. Somehow, it seemed like he was more angry than he usually was when dealing with a warrior.
Anyway, I had once again successfully completed my mission!
I could consider myself a highly accomplished agent. That’s probably why the old woman doesn’t let me retire, anyway.
Currently, I was hiding in the ruins of the underworld that I had checked out in advance during the reign of the Four Kings. The places known as ‘ruins’ in this world are typically legacies of ancient mythology.
It was a place I truly stumbled upon by accident. Under the guise of ‘checking dungeons’ during the reign of the Four Kings, I had frequent occasions to go back and forth on the border to maintain contact with the ‘organization’.
I discovered the entrance to these ruins near the border and had done a bit of research.
I didn’t know if I would actually have a use for this place, but it was worth checking out.
‘Sure is spacious in here.’
It had the layout of an underground cave, but the path was smoothly trimmed, and the walls had carvings boxed into them, which gave off a spiritual feeling. The mystery of the natural cave and the embellished grandeur intertwined to give off a religious ambiance.
The path went quite deep inside, but when I had checked during the Four Kings era, there was nothing deep inside it.
Apart from a flat ‘altar’-like place that was good for placing something, there wasn’t anything else. Perhaps in the past, there might have been a treasure chest or something.
As I recalled the empty ruins and walked deep inside without any particular thoughts, there on the ‘altar’, which supposedly had nothing…
“…A sword?”
A sword was stuck, much like Excalibur stuck in the rock from Arthurian legend.
No, was it Caliburn? I’m not so sure.
‘There are no signs of… anyone having been here.’
Rather, the sword seemed natural, as if it had been stuck there hundreds of years ago.
The empty altar seemed complete with that sword stuck into it.
‘… Should I try and pull it out?’
Pulling out that sword could cause the ruins to collapse, and it would be a disaster….
But a part of it… does stir up a bit of romance…
Let’s not really pull it out, but just touch the handle.
Thinking this, I reached out for the handle of the sword.
『Um, hello? Can’t you hear my voice? Hm? You, person in the mask, half-human, half-demon?』
“Huh?”
The sword spoke.
『Ah, you heard my voice just now, didn’t you? Do you only hear when you touch the sword? Wow, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen a person.』
For now, I let go of the sword.
The voice stopped.
He reached for the sword again.
“─what did you say? Did you just let go and grab it again?”
He let go once more.
What’s this…?
But this ‘voice that seemed to be coming from inside his head’ was somehow familiar.
He remembered hearing a similar voice before.
No, rather than the voice itself, it was the way the language was being conveyed….
– “My name is Clavis Aurea. Your arch-nemesis has returned!”
Ah, that’s what it was.
The voice that resounded when the warlocks summoned a demon was strikingly similar to this one.
Come to think of it, didn’t that demon mention something about locks being unlocked and brethren awakening?
And this sword had just appeared out of nowhere recently too.
So the identity of this sword is…
“…Is this a demon?”
“No, it’s not!”
Goodness.
The voice came without even touching it this time.
Should I run away?
“Ahahahahaha, where are you going?! Don’t go! Come back! Otherwise, I’ll be stuck here alone again!”
Hmm, it certainly doesn’t seem entirely harmless…
But it’s clear that this has something to do with a ‘demon.’
“Please, pull me out!”
Maybe I should try having a conversation first.
“Who are you?”
“Ah! You can hear my voice? What is this? Can you call upon me by just holding me? This is quite fascinating.”
“…”
“Ah right, you asked who I am? My name is… what was it? It’s been so long since I’ve been called… Oh. I remember being a cleric.”
“A cleric?”
Not a priest?
“Yes! I am the cleric of the glorious God of Grinding Stones and Blades!”
In this world, there are only two gods that exist: the ‘Goddess’ and the ‘Devil God’.
I’ve never even heard of a god of whetstones and blades.
But it was not like I had no guess at all. The beings called ‘demons’ were once deities worshipped as gods, back in what this world refers to as the ‘Mythic Era’.
So, the true nature of this sword is…
“Are you a devil worshipper?”
『I am not?!』
“Then you must be a person from at least tens of thousands of years ago.”
『Now that you mention it, I guess I am a devil worshipper.』
A person from the Mythic Era.
Turned into a sword for some reason or another.
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It must be related to the demon referred to as ‘the god of whetstones and blades’.
After all, even its title blatantly relates to ‘swords’.
“So, you want me to pull you out?”
『Yes! It’s too suffocating in here. Uh, and boring too. I want to see the outside world.』
“The moment I pull this out, it’s not going to… release the seal of a god, right?”
『How can I possess such an amazing feature? It would be strange to begin with if the god of blades were sealed within a sword.』
“That makes sense…”
It seems the seal itself doesn’t really have much to do with it.
『I’m just a sword! A sword! For swinging, thrusting, slicing, and even for holding in the mouth for a balance show!』
“The last part isn’t really a primary function, is it…?”
『The user determines the purpose! I don’t know much about you. For all I know, you might be a balance performer in need of a thin sword? I just wanted to show that I can be used for a variety of purposes.』
“I’m a mage; I use a staff.”
『You can even use me to peel fruit!』
“Ah, is there any chance you can adjust length or something?”
『No? I don’t think that would be possible?』
“…”
I let out a wry chuckle, looking at the sword in disbelief.
With the most shamelessly brazen voice, the sword responded.
『Wanting more than a talking sword? Isn’t that a bit too greedy?』