Sword of Gluttony Queen - Chapter 11 - Magic Sword

Chapter 11 : Magic Sword

I, who left 《Frog Tongue Pavillion》, went back to Mani’s Smithery along with Beelzebub’s Demon Core.

「Welcome back, Dean. Please sit over there, I’ll prepare a cup of tea for you.」

Mani welcomed me, then went back into her shop.

I bowed to her right away.

「W-What’s the matter, Dean? 」

「I have a wish. You may refuse it if you don’t want to do this. I mean, you might be in danger if you’re involved with me, and I might not be able to pay you right away…」

「What the….」

「Please, will you forge a magic sword for me with Beelzebub’s Demon Core? 」

Mani’s peculiar cat eyes flickered.

「A-A sword….. With that demon core as the material? 」

「Y-Yes」

Mani’s eyes opened wide as she looked at Beelzebub’s Demon Core, and slowly pointed at the Demon Core.

『What are you planning, little girl? How dare you point your finger to this mistress, the Great Archdemon, don’t you know the meaning of disrespect? 』

「Ah, no… I’m sorry. Uhm… has Beelzebub-san agreed to your plan? 」

『Yes. Anyhow, this mistress can’t even make her own body with my current power. The current me is a mere talking core. Rather, becoming a magic tool seems an interesting option.』

Beelzebub said with undisguised indifference.

I was similarly surprised when Beelzebub had offered that option to me.

At the moment she was merely a demon core right now. She was not something that could help me with casting magic. However, if her core became part of a magic vessel it could help with how long I can summon her.

Since Beelzebub’s ego was left in that core, she could somehow reproduce a pseudo-assistance function of a magic vessel. That was how my new magic sword would work. It was like the time she helped me in the labyrinth.

But, since directly using her demon core as it is would be inefficient, it was a huge waste of mana and Odo. It was better to create a new magic vessel that housed her core. After all, directly using it would be worse than the worst magic vessel.

Speaking of rationality, while it’s true that she could gain a temporary body with 《Dimordi》, this might be the most rational choice for Beelzebub. She was someone who had lost her body and only had her ego and demon core left.

Though I’m not confident whether that was the best choice, it seems this was also part of the wisdom of a long-lived Archdevil.

But, that choice was also a problem.

Because there’s no way I could just leave Beelzebub’s Demon Core to an untrustworthy blacksmith.

Rumors were bound to spread around which would eventually lead to the magic sword being stolen, or worse confiscated by the army.

On the contrary, I had no need to worry about the secret of my magic sword being exposed as long as I could find a trustworthy blacksmith.

The act of propagating another person’s personal information to a third party or using 《Imu》 to peep on another person’s magic vessel was considered taboo amongst adventurers.

It’s not rare for such an act to be punished with some kind of penalty, and in the worst case scenario, the offender can get their name erased from the registration of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Since the quality of a magic vessel was related to an adventurer’s quality in most cases, it was easy for a famous adventurer to become a target of envy or crime if their personal information was leaked.

Be it a threat, mugging, or thievery, such a leak of information would bring never-ending trouble.

Even when one wanted to recruit a party member, one had to confirm the other party’s level with a Special magic Sphere.

However, if one wielded a famous magic vessel especially in the Royal Capital, there would be no end of needing to check the potential party teammate’s level. However, I only know of this based on rumors.

Futhermore I…… I am completely broke to the point that I couldn’t even prepare enough money for the operational expense nor the materials which included the Demon Core.

Moreover, now that I have lost my magic sword, I don’t even know just how much time I would need to gather money to prepare for a new magic sword.

Although I could cover the operational expense as long as I have a magic sword, I doubt I could even compete for the position as a porter.

Even though I felt bad for doing this, I really have no choice but to beg Mani to cover my costs for the things that were lost during the 《Den of the Battle Rat》 exploration.

Mani pondered over as she touched her chin.

「…. I’m sorry but, I can only work on a low-level magic vessel. The degree of difficulties of smithing a magic vessel is in proportion with the quality of the materials. I don’t know whether I can handle such a high-level Demon core with my skill.」

「No can do, I have no one else to rely on but you.」

I replied right away to Mani.

I mean, if we’re talking about a blacksmith who could handle Beelzebub’s Demon Core and someone I can trust, I couldn’t think of anyone but Mani.

「Dean, I’m happy that you’re relying on me, but that’s not realistic, you know? You know that one of the indicators that determine the quality of a blacksmith is through an index that is determined by how well they can make full use of and through leveraging the nature of battle bones along with complementing the associated Demon Core. 」

Mani said with a troubled face.

But, my long standing relationship with Mani wasn’t just for show.

I know what she was capable of.

Low tiered demon beast and or devils asides, if a blacksmith were to make a magic vessel a cut above the rest, one needed to know the affinity of the materials. The materials would then need to be matched with the different types of metals. And then after that, it needed to be matched with a type of magic circles that could be carved inside the magic vessel which was another difficult problem in itself.

A blacksmith with that kind of knowledge won’t be living in the slums.

I have to ask for a more skilled blacksmith for my magic sword, naturally the cost involving one was basically over the top.

Mani, herself, lacked self-esteem. This led her to say that she wasn’t skilled enough. However, Mani should have the knowledge to handle Beelzebub’s Demon Core.

After all, she inherited the knowledge of the legendary blacksmith Gawain, who was her grandfather, via her father during her childhood.

At that time, she had a strong personality. She took the time to take up the mantle of deciphering the mysterious memo that even her father couldn’t understand. Later on, she started experimenting for many years to understand the knowledge left behind by her grandfather.

「I know that you’ve been using your own living expenses to purchase a rare book on blacksmithing for the sake of your studies from the temple of lost items. That’s even more of a reason for me to ask for your help.」

Mani was taken aback, eyes opened slightly wide as she looked at me.

A request to create an above-average magic vessel would never come to Mani who was disdained as a slum girl.

But, her passion and knowledge definitely won’t lose to another blacksmith.

「… What should I do? I mean, you’re not even paying back the 10,000 Temis I’ve lent you before.」

「Ugh….」

… even if I added up everything that I have inclusive of selling Gilbert’s spare magic vessel’s Demon Core: I might be, at the very least, able to prepare the cost of the battle bone. Then, perhaps around 40,000 Temis for the cost of other materials and around 100,000 Temis for the actual production for the magic vessel.

「Fufu, I’m joking you see. I’ll assist you no matter what kind of path you choose, Dean. Didn’t I tell you that before? Though you might overestimate my skill as a blacksmith, there’s no way I can refuse after you’ve praised me so much.」

「T-Then….! 」

Mani nodded at me with a smile on her face.

「Yes, let me forge a sword for you with Beelzebub’s Demon Core. As for your debt…. Right, let’s treat it as a debt for a future hero.」

Mani said as if she had made fun of me.

「…. But, since I neither have Orichalcos, Mytril, or Golg, the demon core might not be able to show its true potential. As long as a Demon Core isn’t treated too roughly during the creation of the magic vessel, we should be able to reuse it as material for another magic vessel after we take it out from the previous one. As for now, let’s just make the easiest one that you can handle and easy for me to create.」

Orichalcos, Mytril, and Golg are high priced metals that are called the “big three” of magic metals.

Magic metals was the name used for those metals that have experienced mutation thanks to the influence of Odo and it denotes their increased value towards humans.

Generally, those metals were just ordinary metals that underwent a change in its properties due to the influence of a powerful magic beast, or the influence of Odo in the area where it slept deep underground for a long time.

History also recorded that they could be made with alchemy.

Orichalcos has the power to disturb mana, and mytril has the power to sever mana.

Though such characteristic changes didn’t exist in Golg, it was the heaviest amongst the material that could be handled by a human, and have the highest mana conductivity.

You might say that Golg is the most suitable material for magic vessels.

[ED Note: Orichalcos, Mytril and Golg are enchanted ores/metals. They are as follows: Orichalcos: enchanted copper | Mytril: enchanted silver | Golg: enchanted gold
Sorry for any confusion.]