Chapter 32

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"Did it fail? Does that mean His Majesty the King did not give the sword to the Silver Knight?"

Magilka, who had been standing behind me, spoke to Deodora in my place, as I was in a state of shock.

"Yeah, I was just a half-grown kid back then, so I only followed my father and didn't know the details, but no one could make a weapon that surpassed the one the Silver Knight had."

Even the bright and easygoing Deodora had to give a wry smile, it must have been such a bitter memory. The finest blacksmiths gathered, with no limits on materials or costs, and their best efforts still fell short of the existing weapons, leading to a refusal. It wasn't just a bitter memory; it was almost a black mark on history. Some might have even lost heart back then.

"Since the national effort ended in failure, no one wants to talk about it... That's why the details are vague... So, there was no sword from the beginning?"

As Magilka, who had been listening behind me, pondered and muttered,

"Then, what about the princess! The story that the princess gave the Eternal Sword?"

Safina, who had been standing behind me, couldn't help but ask for another possibility.

"Princess? The princess, who was still a child back then, gave the Eternal Sword? Ha ha, no way! I was her playmate because I was free and a girl, but I never saw her give such a grand sword to the Silver Knight, and I've never heard such a story."

Deodora's laughter left Safina utterly dejected, and she stepped back, her shoulders slumped.

"Hmm? No, wait a minute? Come to think of it, didn't the princess give the Silver Knight one sword?"

Deodora's sudden bombshell made me jump on it.

"Is that the Eternal Sword?!"

"No, no, that's not it. The princess, seeing that the king was giving a sword to his admired knight, decided to do the same. I helped her make a child's makeshift sword from scratch. I've never seen or heard of such a grand sword being given."

"Tell me more about that! Maybe something divine happened during the making process."

I clung to the possibility.

"Well... First, the princess designed what kind of sword she wanted, I made a mold based on that, and while she was crushing 'white ore' into powder, I mixed it with water, poured it into the mold, let it dry, and it was done! There's nothing divine about it, right?"

Deodora spread her arms and acted casual. Indeed, there was nothing miraculous or divine in her story. In other words, the story of the princess giving the knight a sword was just a fact that someone embellished. Just as I was about to give up,

"That's it! Miss Mary!"

"Which one?"

I couldn't help but interject at Magilka's raised voice behind me.

"Miss Deodora, was the makeshift sword the princess made purely made of 'white ore'?"

"Hmm? Yeah, the princess wanted it to be as white as the Silver Knight's, so nothing else was mixed in. What's the big deal?"

"Excuse me, but what is 'white ore'?"

Unable to follow the conversation, I blurted out a question without considering the atmosphere.

"White ore is a rare mineral, a very light white crystal. It's so soft that even a child can crush it with a hammer. Interestingly, when you crush it into powder, heat it to drive off the moisture, and then mix it with water again, it solidifies. That's why we mainly use it to make furniture and high-art decorative items."

(Hmm, it's like plaster in modern terms, I guess?)

I nodded in understanding as Deodora explained.

"But, as I said, it's fragile. A sword made of something that can be easily crushed by a hammer can't be a legendary sword, can it?"

"Can it?"

Deodora waved her hands at me, and I turned to Magilka behind me, repeating her words.

"This is still recent, discovered in a neighboring country, and our Futurika research institutions haven't fully understood it yet, but white ore has another interesting characteristic."

"What is it?"

Even Deodora, who was being dramatic, showed interest.

"It was already known that high-purity white ore can absorb magic, but it was discovered that when the magic value exceeds a certain threshold, the hardness of the white ore increases according to that magic value. However, that threshold is very high; a normal person's magic has no effect. Even a person who can use third-tier magic only slightly increases the hardness from the normal level, which is why it wasn't noticed before."

"I see, the Silver Knight's magic is hero-level, capable of using fourth-tier magic. It makes sense that the princess's makeshift sword, absorbing his magic, could increase in hardness."

I finally began to understand what she was getting at.

"Yes, theoretically, with enough magic, its hardness could rival that of orichalcum or adamantite."

"I see... So, after the story of the sword being given, the legend of the silver sword, the Eternal Sword, started to appear in the stories."

Deodora nodded solemnly at this astonishing fact, and we fell into a silence. But then,

"So, does that mean the legendary Eternal Sword was made that way by the Silver Knight himself?"

"......"

Magilka's shocking statement left us speechless, and the prince's blunt words quickly cooled the atmosphere, revealing the truth.

――――――――――

"♪♪♪"

I am now walking towards the carriage, leaving the workshop.

"The truth about the Eternal Sword ended up like that, yet you're in such high spirits, Miss Mary."

Magilka, looking at my cheerful mood, spoke with a bewildered expression.

"Yes, very much so! ♪"

I showed her a full smile and walked towards the carriage, humming a tune. In fact, I was extremely pleased with the truth. After all, I could make that legendary sword myself...

Just before leaving, I secretly ordered a sword made of white ore from Deodora with Tütte. Despite my boast of "money is no object," Deodora laughed and agreed, and the sword was to be delivered to my house later.

(Ah, after all this, my sword problem is solved! Thank you, past princess! Thank you, white ore! Thank you, the person who discovered the characteristics of white ore!)

I practically danced as I got into the carriage, and the problem of "What happened to the Eternal Sword?" was resolved.

――――――――――

Later.

The expected item was delivered to my room, and I opened the wooden box like a child receiving a gift from Santa, floating with excitement.

Then, I froze.

The sword was a rapier type, with a rounded tip, making it completely non-lethal, just as I had ordered. However, the design from the blade to the hilt was so luxurious that it looked like a legendary hero's sword from an anime. She must have misunderstood that I wanted to display the legendary Eternal Sword (my imagination) in my room, so she made it as legendary as possible.

"Am I supposed to use such an embarrassing thing for my classes!?"

I couldn't help but exclaim loudly in my room, to no one in particular.

At the academy, students are allowed to bring their own training swords to class, but who would bring such a legendary, extravagantly designed, and obviously expensive sword...

(Ah... From now on, everyone will look at me with a different kind of warm eyes... Ah, why does this have to happen?)

As I writhed on the bed, Tütte entered the room to announce that it was time to go to the academy, like a death sentence.

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