Chapter 45

A hammer?

'I’m not a god of thunder or anything...'

Confused, I could only blink, and the man in front of me silently gestured towards my hand.

When I followed his gaze, I noticed the arrow I was holding in an aggressive stance.

'This is...'

The arrow made by Voborg.

Could the hammer he mentioned be referring to Voborg?

I cautiously raised my other hand to cover one eye.

The crow’s expression turned even more menacing.

[It’s you. The child by the lake.]

As he acknowledged, the crows that had filled the sky landed on the ground.

With the swirling snowflakes, the crows transformed into people and approached me.

[You must have healed his eyes, right?]

The look in their eyes was so chilling that I stumbled back.

Are they Voborg’s enemies?

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be looking at me with such terrifying faces.

'I guess they’re angry because I healed his eyes.'

No matter what, it’s not right to take out your anger on a child! I’ve met many scary people, but never one who was originally an animal.

My heart was pounding wildly, but I tried to calm myself down.

If they get close, I can stab their vital points with the arrow and then run away.

To them, I must look like a tiny child, so they’re probably a bit complacent.

Just as I was gripping the arrow more firmly with my clenched fist...

The crow who had transformed into a person first took a step forward.

The crow’s pitch-black gaze met mine.

[It’s you!]

With a sharp voice, he grabbed my hand coldly and roughly pulled me...

[You saved our master!]

He grabbed both of my hands and his eyes sparkled.

'Huh?'

I blinked in a daze.

Even though I was in a defensive stance and the arrow was pointed at him, he didn’t seem to care at all.

[Oh, is this something our master made?]

He even touched the arrow tip as if showing it off.

If he touched the arrow tip with his bare hands, his flesh should have stuck to it, but nothing happened.

'Is it because he’s not human?'

Unable to take my eyes off the arrow, the crow chuckled.

[We don’t fall to such trivial creatures, benefactor. Moreover, this seems to be something our master made.]

He looked at me with a bright face again after glancing at the arrow with a regretful expression.

[I have a good eye for people. I believed you would save our master!]

The crows began to cheer loudly one after another at the man’s words.

[Benefactor!]

[Our benefactor!]

[The benefactor who saved our master!]

Benefactor? Master?

As I tried to process these incomprehensible words, I heard a familiar voice.

"Lady Eli!"

Jerrit and Lady Amantha ran towards me.

Seeing the large men surrounding me, Jerrit was startled and quickly aimed his bow at the crow.

"Who are you! Release Lady Eli at once!"

At Jerrit’s shout, the crow released my hand.

[Oh, my apologies.]

The crow took a step back and bowed to me and Jerrit.

[We were rude by suddenly appearing. Please accept our apologies.]

His overly polite gesture made Jerrit’s bowstring loosen for a moment.

But he soon regained his composure and aimed his arrow at the crow again.

"Who are you? How dare you invade the Duke’s territory without fear!"

The crow, who had straightened his body, glanced at the crowd behind him and then...

"Huh?"

He immediately knelt on one knee and bowed his head in reverence.

[We only wanted to thank our benefactor.]

"Benefactor?"

[Yes, child.]

The crow leader looked up at me and said.

[You are the benefactor who saved our master.]

* * *

Held in the arms of the baroness, I pondered his words.

"So... you are a race that sees making powerful weapons as your destiny? And you’re not human?"

At my question, the crow, or rather Taloom, nodded.

[We are neither human nor beast, but we do not harm others unless attacked first.]

He spoke with a confident tone.

[Our only desire is to master the art of forging powerful swords.]

"Powerful weapons?"

[Yes. Creating the strongest weapon in the world was our race’s mission.]

He continued in a firm voice.

I had heard that there were several clans outside the empire that made various items.

'Long ago, I heard that one of the royal family’s items, the holy sword, was made by them.'

The holy sword, born from strong divine power and the mana of a few clans, was said to be able to destroy even evil forces.

'So, did they make that holy sword?'

While reflecting on the original story and the historical books I’ve been reading, Taloom’s words continued.

[But after our clan leader passed away, our skills declined day by day. We tried and tried to forge powerful swords, but there were limits to our abilities.]

He spoke with a pained expression, as if recalling those times.

[Then, we met that 'hammer' by chance. The swords he made were truly excellent. It was hard to believe they were made by a mere human!]

Taloom clenched his fist.

[We decided to regard him as our master. But for some reason, he locked himself in his room and never came out. Then, benefactor, you brought him out.]

Taloom gripped my hand tightly.

[Moreover, you even figured out that clumsy son’s trick and healed our master’s eyes!]

His eyes began to sparkle as if sprinkled with gold dust.

[So, you deserve to be called our benefactor!]

His words made the crows behind him start to cheer again.

[Benefactor!]

[The benefactor who saved our master!]

I thought they had finally calmed down, but they started calling me benefactor again.

"Wait, wait a moment!"

I quickly raised my hand.

They all fell silent at once.

"Do you know Uncle Voborg?"

[We know him, but he doesn’t know us.]

"Then... you haven’t received any teachings from him, right?"

[We are about to receive teachings. So, he is our master.]

"Ha..."

Where do I even begin to point out the issues?

They must have been so focused on improving their skills that they skipped all the procedures and processes.

I sighed deeply, feeling a headache coming on, and Jerrit asked with a worried look.

"Lady Eli. I’m sorry to say this, but..."

Jerrit spoke with a very flustered expression.

"Can you understand what they’re saying?"

"Um?"

What is he talking about?

"We only hear strange noises from them."

"But, they’re clearly speaking, right?"

"And... when you talk to them, your language changes."

My language changes too? I quickly looked at Taloom.

[What is it, benefactor? Didn’t you know? I thought you did.]

Taloom spoke with a calm face, as if asking why I was asking such a thing.

[Most humans can’t understand our language. Only a very few clans can.]

"But why can I..."

[Hmm.]

Taloom stroked his chin as if thinking.

[Perhaps you are also from a similar rare clan? If you inherited the blood from one of your parents, you can communicate with us.]

"That’s..."

I had no idea.

I never asked where my mother or father came from.

In the original story, only the royal family could converse with animals, and it had nothing to do with me.

[Hmm. Well, it’s possible that the blood of a very distant ancestor flows in you. It happens occasionally.]

"Then, can you not use human language at all?"

[We can understand the man’s words just now, so it’s not that we can’t use it. We can speak, but we’re a bit clumsy. Our expressions are immature, so we often cause misunderstandings.]

At Taloom’s words, the shoulders of the crowd behind him drooped.

[In any case, we want to express our gratitude to our benefactor. You saved our master.]

Should I call this peaceful, or should I say they have a clear goal?

'Go away, I don’t need this!'

Just as I was about to shout that...

'Wait.'

I recalled my conversation with Jerrit.

"The knights of the Duke’s castle and the swords to be sold in the market alone number in the hundreds, if not thousands. But the only person who can make them is Voborg...'

Jerrit’s words about the severe shortage of people who could make items.

Moreover, the hands that could touch monster ores without any issues.

A race that had dedicated their lives to making powerful weapons.

'This is the person.'

No doubt, it’s clear.

'The person who made Damian’s sword in the original story!'

But in the original story, he was supposed to appear much later. Isn’t this too early?

Flustered, I quickly organized my thoughts.

'No, this is an opportunity.'

"Do you want to repay your debt?"

[Of course. We always keep our word.]

Taloom placed his hand on his chest and spoke confidently.

"Would you be okay with a bit of hard work?"

I smiled.

"Well, you can learn techniques from your master, and it’s a way to help your benefactor."

My casual addition made Taloom and the crows behind him sparkle with excitement.