「Wow……」
Rei couldn’t help his voice upon entering Asimov’s house.
It was messy enough inside to warrant Rei’s reaction..
Everywhere he looked, there were various alchemy instruments which he didn’t what they were used for, things that looked like monster materials, books on alchemy, and so on. It wasn’t quite to the point where there was no room to move around, but there were things lying everywhere.
Rei probably wasn’t the only one who felt envious of Set, who waiting outside as usual.
However, Asimov ignored Rei’s reaction as he spoke.
「Here, sit wherever you want. So, it was about a magic sword, right?」
「……Trying to move the conversation along in a situation like this is very much like you.」
Pamidor said as he shoved aside the items resting on the sofa to clear a place to sit.
Rei also found a spot for himself before placing the magic sword on the table.
(Should I consider it lucky that he has a sofa to sit on at all?)
Given Asimov’s personality, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he didn’t have one, thinking he didn’t need it.
That said, Asimov needed to eat, and he also had guests over on occasion like this.
Considering that, a sofa was probably essential.
Though, there was a bunch of various items and other things Rei couldn’t comprehend piled up on that sofa.
「This magic sword seems to have been crafted with quite advanced techniques……but since it’s broken, it might be a bit difficult to repair it exactly as it was.」
「So, you’re saying it can’t be fixed?」
Rei asked regretfully as Asimov muttered while holding the handle.
Hearing Rei’s words, Asimov thought for a moment before continuing.
「Let me think. Even if I fixed it, I think it would be difficult to restore it to its original state. Its quality will inevitably drop by a certain percentage.」
「……A certain percentage, huh. Yeah, it definitely seems to be the case.」
Pamidor muttered while holding the broken blade.
Since it was undoubtedly a top quality magic sword, it would still be a powerful weapon even if its performance dropped slightly.
But even so, for Pamidor and Asimov, repairing it to a lower quality state wasn’t of interest to them as a skilled blacksmith and alchemist.
That was why Asimov shifted his gaze from the magic sword to Rei and continued.
「If I repair it as a magic sword as it is, its quality will drop. But if we use it as a base to create a completely new weapon……I think we can minimize the degradation in quality compared to just repairing it. What do you want to do?」
「You can do something like that?」
Rei, who had just assumed that repairing a magic sword meant it would remain a magic sword, showed his surprise at Asimov’s words as he asked.
「Yeah. Of course, it might be impossible if you went and found a random alchemist off the street, but despite my appearance, I’m a highly skilled alchemist, you know.」
He must have had a lot of confidence in his abilities to declare it so boldly.
While listening to Asimov, Rei’s gaze shifted to Pamidor.
Is he telling the truth? Rei asked with his eyes and Pamidor nodded back at him.
In the first place, if Asimov were just an alchemist who was all talk, Pamidor wouldn’t have gotten this deeply involved with him to begin with.
Since he hadn’t cut ties with him and was still bringing him work like this, there was no doubt Asimov’s skills were more than satisfactory to Pamidor.
Even if his skill fluctuated depending on his mood, he still possessed the minimum level of skill Pamidor demanded.
Confirming that, Rei turned his gaze back to Asimov.
「So, what kind of weapon would this new weapon be, specifically?」
「You’ll have to discuss that with Pamidor. My share of the work depends on that after all.」
Rei glanced at the magic sword before turning his gaze to Pamidor again.
「I’m fine with whatever you want. Unless it’s completely unreasonable, I think I can handle most requests.」
Being able to declare this so confidently was undoubtedly because of Pamidor’s high skill as a blacksmith.
「If it can be any weapon……I primarily use the Death Scythe, so a spear……or maybe a dagger?」
For Rei, the weapon he used most frequently after the Death Scythe were spears.
He didn’t use didn’t use them in the normal sense, but threw them for long range attacks.
Or perhaps a dagger to use when an enemy got within the Death Scythe’s reach.
Hearing Rei’s words, Asimov frowned slightly.
「A dagger would be a bit difficult considering the size and shape. A spear……Pamidor, what do you think?」
「I have no problem with either. What about you, Asimov?」
「A spear is fine with me too. Not a magic sword, but a magic spear. That’s interesting in its own way. ……Hmm, in that case, I’d like to ask, what were the original abilities of this magic sword? Even if we remake it into a magic spear, there’s not much I can do if I don’t know that.」
Asimov asked, but Rei could only shake his head.
He knew this long sword was a magic sword, but he hadn’t seen its abilities clearly used during his fight with Noiz.
It was possible Noiz had been using its abilities as a magic sword and Rei just hadn’t noticed, but in the end, it didn’t change the fact that Rei didn’t know.
「Hm? You don’t know its abilities?」
「Yeah, pretty much. I probably snapped the blade before he could use them.」
「……That makes things a bit difficult. If we don’t know its abilities, we’ll have to work on it while analyzing what kind of magic sword it was. It’s going to take quite a bit of time, you know? If it were some cheap magic sword you could find anywhere, we might be able to just wing it, but we can’t do something so wasteful with a magic sword used by an S rank adventurer.」
「How long, specifically?」
「I don’t know. Since we’ll be investigating how powerful a magic item this magic sword was while working on it, it could take months, or even years if things go poorly. Even if it doesn’t take that long, I think we need to assume at least a month.」
Rei frowned at Asimov, who replied while looking at the handle of the magic sword.
Since it was a magic item used by Noiz, he knew it would take time to repair it.
But even so, it taking months, let alone years, was completely unexpected.
「Can’t you do something about that? It would be a big help if it was at least usable by next spring.」
「You say that, but we’re turning a magic sword into a magic spear, you know? No matter how we go about it, it’s going to take time. There might also be times when we need specific materials. ……What do you want to do? Honestly, I won’t force you.」
Asked by Asimov again, Rei hesitated.
Turning the magic sword into a magic spear was undoubtedly the best choice for Rei.
He didn’t know what kind of effects it had, but for Rei, who wasn’t used to wielding a long sword, there was a high chance the magic sword would just be a wasted item anyway.
「Understood. I’ll ask for a magic spear then. ……What about the fee?」
「I have no complaints if you can get me Griffon materials. There are probably very few people who can even process or fully utilize materials of that caliber.」
「……Are you sure?」
「Of course. You’re Rei, right? You don’t seem to understand the value of a Griffon, but its materials are extremely rare, you know? Let’s see, if you still feel a bit guilty about it, if you continuously provide me with Griffon materials, the profit margin for me will be overwhelmingly positive.」
Is it really worth that much? Rei inadvertently let his thoughts show on his face.
But considering that alchemists and merchants in the Bestir Empire had been desperately trying to contact Set to get his materials, Asimov’s words probably weren’t an exaggeration.
Making that judgment, he nodded……before suddenly getting an idea, taking a certain object out of his Misty Ring.
It was an object that looked like a round gemstone.
However, it was cut diagonally and split into two pieces.
It was the dungeon core from the dungeon Rei had cleared.
But a dungeon core wasn’t something that easily found its way onto the market.
At first, even Asimov didn’t know what it was. He examined the upper half of the dungeon core he received from Rei, but ultimately couldn’t figure out what it was as he shook his head.
「What is this? I’ve never seen anything like it. Pamidor, do you know?」
「Let me see it for a sec.」
Pamidor took the upper half of the dungeon core from Asimov and examined it closely, but even after touching it for about a minute, he couldn’t figure out what it was either and placed it on the table.
「I have no idea. What is this?」
Receiving questioning looks from both Pamidor and Asimov, Rei felt the corners of his lips curl up slightly as he announced it proudly.
「It’s a dungeon core.」
『Huh?』
At Rei’s words, Pamidor and Asimov both let out dumbfounded voices at the same time.
They probably never expected something like that to appear in front of them.
In this situation, the first to come back to his senses was Pamidor.
「Come to think of it, you said you were going to the dungeon after you came to my place yesterday……don’t tell me you cleared the dungeon yesterday!?」
「Yes, that’s right. Well, it was only because it was newly formed and wasn’t very large yet.」
Despite saying that, the room with the dungeon core had contained over fifty C rank Gamelions.
An ordinary adventurer might have been able to reach the room with the dungeon core, but that undoubtedly would have been the end for them.
It was precisely because it was Rei that he was able to take on a pack of C rank monsters……and even secure their meat in the process.
Pamidor, not knowing the circumstances, simply nodded in admiration.
「That dungeon? Wasn’t it a few days away by carriage?」
「Ah……right. You wouldn’t have known at all.」
Pamidor scratched his head as he spoke to Asimov, who couldn’t understand their conversation at all.
「It’s true there’s a dungeon at the place you’re talking about. But another dungeon was discovered near Gilm just recently. The monsters that appear there are basically weak small fry, and their materials are apparently degraded or something, but a dungeon is a dungeon.」
「……Then, this dungeon core is the real deal?」
「I’ve never seen a dungeon core directly myself, so I can’t say for sure, but if Rei says it with this much confidence, it probably is. Right?」
You wouldn’t pull out a fake in a place like this, would you? Pamidor asked with his eyes, and Rei nodded back without any hesitation.
「Yeah, it’s genuine. Well, the only way to prove it is to go to the dungeon and see the room where the core used to be……but honestly, since I took the dungeon core, the place could collapse at any moment, so I wouldn’t recommend it. That said, it didn’t look like it was going to collapse when I left, so it might just stay as it is for a bit.」
「……I see. Then, could I borrow this dungeon core for a while? If it seems like something we could use for this magic sword, I’d like to try using it.」
「You can use it for that?」
Rei was slightly surprised by Asimov’s words.
He was the one who brought out the dungeon core, but he still hadn’t expected it to actually be a usable material.
And for a magic sword, at that.
「I don’t know if I can. This is just on the level of investigation. ……Pamidor, what about you?」
「Even if you ask me that. It certainly is a very interesting material in various ways. What would happen if I used a dungeon core as material when forging a weapon? I can’t say I’m not interested.」
Following Asimov, Pamidor also showed an expression of deep interest. However, he also understood that a dungeon core was a rare material……not something easily obtained just by paying money. He looked reluctant, but still didn’t say he wanted it.
「If you need it to turn the magic sword into a magic spear, I don’t mind you using the dungeon core. As for the rest……as a blacksmith, how about materials from Set? Well, it would just be feathers and fur, but if you’re fine with that, I can make that your reward. If you’d prefer, I could give you a whole Gamelion for its meat, or if you want money, I can also pay in cash.」
「……Hmm……」
Pamidor agonised over Rei’s words.
Gamelion meat, which was hardly caught this year, was also extremely attractive, but he quickly rejected it.
It was true that it would mean they could eat Gamelion meat whenever they wanted, but a family of three couldn’t possibly finish a whole Gamelion in the first place. Since it was winter, it would spoil slower than in summer, but even that wasn’t absolute.
In that case, he would only end up giving it away to the people living nearby……and if he did that, the ultimate benefit his own household received wouldn’t be that great.
Of course, it wasn’t that the Pamidor family neglected their relationships with their neighbours, but this was a different matter.
In that case, it came down to either Set’s materials or money……
After agonizing over it for a further solid few minutes, Pamidor spoke.
「I’ll take Set’s materials.」
As a blacksmith, he couldn’t resist the urge to create a weapon using materials from a Griffon.
He tried to tell himself that a weapon made with Griffon materials would fetch a considerable price depending on where he sold it……but in Pamidor’s mind, his beloved wife was smiling wryly at him while nodding at his decision.