CH 119

Chapter 119 – Magic Sword Artisan

“Hahaha. Don’t be so prepared like that.”

“It’s impossible not to be prepared.”

“There’s no reassurance factor at all.”

“Are you going to turn the iron sword into a magic sword now?”

Everyone but me is taking a complete defensive stance. Why is that? Are they going to start practicing kungfu or something? It’s okay; the iron sword will probably just become a magic sword ― or maybe a sword with some special effects. Surely.

“Err… it looks like I need to set the item that I want to enchant and a catalyst to do it. Enchanting means granting or incanting or something like that, right?”

“In general, yes. What kind of enchantments can you do?”

“Well… I can’t choose. What will be enchanted? There doesn’t seem to be anything to choose from, so I guess it’s random.”

“Random…”

“That’s complicated…”

“I guess you’ll just have to try.”

All of us nodded at the blacksmith’s words and began preparing materials and catalysts for the enchantment.

“I think we should use materials that won’t cause any harm if something strange happens.”

With that, the blacksmith came up with an iron sword, a crude spear, and other materials that were clearly meant to be used in a few different ways. When I asked them where they got them, they said they had been seized from the army of the Holy Kingdom, which had surrendered when the southern part of the country was conquered.

Isn’t the quality of the equipment not good enough for the regular army of the Holy Kingdom? It seems that it’s a second-rate item that was equipped by hired soldiers (locally employed) who were assigned to defend small villages and towns. The regular army has a little better equipment.

“Now that we have the material, let’s get the catalyst.”

“What can we use?”

“The only materials that might work are magic crystals, golem cores, mithril, magic iron, magic steel, wyvern magic stones, fangs and claws, poison needles, other monster materials, and gems.”

“Wyvern…? Where did you get it?”

“In the Sorrel Mountain Range or whatever it’s called. When I was coming back from Merinesburg, I went through there with Melty. That’s where we met Grande.”

“Show it to me later.”

“Okay. There are also a bunch of undismantled carcasses.”

In the meantime, I set the iron sword in the materials section of the granting workbench.

“What would you use as a catalyst?”

“Magic crystals. It’s the least peculiar.”

“Okay.”

I set the magic crystal in the catalyst slot and start the enchantment. As with the other workbenches, nothing, in particular, appears on the granting workbench. It simply displays a countdown to the completion of the enchantment in the enchantment menu.

“Looks like it’ll take three minutes.”

“Three minutes.”

“The process of enchanting the iron sword only took three minutes…?”

Isla muttered with an eye that lost its light, and the alchemist gave me a look of disbelief. It normally takes more time, right? I could tell by their reaction.

“It seems that with three gems and five magic crystals, I can create a rare material.”

“Rare material?”

“Yeah. I wonder what it’s called. I’ll try to make it.”

What is it called again? Magic sparkling stone? Magic sparkling crystal? Not sure, but using three gems and five magic crystals is a pretty high cost. It must be able to produce something amazing.

Fortunately, it seems that crafting can be done while the enchantment is on, so I’ll make a reservation to craft the magic sparkling stone. Twenty-four minutes. That’s quite a long time, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be thirty minutes, though, right?

“Oh, and while I was doing that, the enchantment was finished.”

“Let me see.”

I took out the enchanted iron sword and held it up. The appearance of the sword does not look any different. It’s not like there’s a magic crystal inlaid into the hilt or anything.

“It looks as if nothing has changed.”

“Not at all. Put it on the table over here.”

“Oh?”

When the iron sword was placed on the large table that had been used to discuss the golem workbench, Isla and the others began a lively discussion around the iron sword. The blacksmith seemed to be tapping the blade with a small hammer.

“The whole thing is so evenly and precisely coated with magic power.”

“It’s not iron anymore. It’s transforming into magic iron.”

“There’s a flow of magic power… and it’s clearly some kind of magic effect.”

“It’s totally a magic sword.”

As soon as Isla uttered her words, all of them turned their faces towards me with a grin. Scary!

“Kosuke, keep trying other things.”

“If possible, make two more with the same material and the same catalyst, and three more with different materials and the same catalyst.”

“Another set of swords made of steel instead of iron.”

“I’ll also bring in some armor and magic crystals.”

Isla, the alchemist, the mage, and the blacksmith all rushed in. Then some of them ran outside. They said they would prepare more materials.

“All right, all right, calm down. Let’s do it in order.”

I opened the enchantment menu again, trying to appease the people who had serious eyes.

☆★☆

“I’m starting to get a general idea.”

Isla nodded as she looked at the enchanted swords lined up on the table. The members of the research and development department nodded in agreement.

“If the material is just iron or steel, using a kind of magic crystal will make it a higher level magic iron or steel. If you use too much magic power to transform the material, then the magic effect will be weakened.”

“It seems so. It seems that the magic effects that are given are varied.”

I nodded to Isla’s statement. In the end, I ended up using about 20 magic crystals to give it a try, and the result was generally similar to that.

As for the magic effects, they really vary, or rather, they are not stable. It seems that weapons become lighter, attacks against certain types of monsters become stronger, or the weapon’s attack power increases.

“If you use an item made of magic iron or steel as material from the start, the magic effect will be improved, probably because it does not consume magic power to transform the material. Also, if the material is not a regular magic crystal, but a magic crystal with attributes, the material will have attributes as well as magic effects.”

“It’s a small number of trials, but that seems to be the pattern.”

The mage nodded. The weapons made of magic iron and magic steel were certainly valuable, but we could only prepare three of them.

Incidentally, the fact that the magic effect has become stronger is almost confirmed based on both the results of Isla’s appraisal and the results of my confirmation in the inventory.

For example, if you use a magic crystal to enchant a steel sword, you will get a magic steel sword +1 (slashing enhancement I), but if you use a magic crystal to enchant a magic steel sword, you will get a magic steel sword +3 (slashing enhancement III).

“If the catalyst is not a magic crystal, the material will not be altered. Instead, it will have a magic effect that is somewhat in line with the nature of the catalyst.”

“If you use a wyvern’s poisonous needles, they now all have a magic poisoning effect. Fangs and claws often seem to lead to improved attack abilities such as improved penetration and slashing capabilities.”

“If you use magic iron or magic steel as a material, the material won’t be altered, but it seems to become sturdier.”

The alchemist and blacksmith nodded.

“In conclusion, Kosuke’s granting workbench is a mass-production machine for magic swords. If you want to, you can deploy magic iron and steel armor with increased offensive capabilities to the entire army.”

“It’s terrifying.”

“The army will be unbeatable.”

“Sorry, I don’t know exactly how great it is.”

To put it bluntly, I don’t understand the difference in performance between iron and steel weapons, magic iron and steel weapons, and weapons with increased attack capabilities.

“For example, it is difficult for an iron or steel weapon to cut through or pierce the same iron or steel armor. A master can only manage it by putting magic power into the weapon.”

“I see.”

“If the weapon is made of magic iron or steel, even if you don’t have the skill, if you have a little bit of strength, you will be able to cut or stab through them. If such weapons are given magic to increase their attack ability, even amateurs will be able to do so.”

“This is bad.”

“Very bad. It will be a battlefield where skilled heavy infantrymen will be stabbed through and through by ordinary infantrymen, slashing through their armor with their weapons and shields.”

It would be a nightmare for the enemy to face. The armor will no longer function as armor.

“Because this granting workbench can also be used to grant armor. The same thing will happen to your defenses.”

“How do you stop a heavily armored infantryman whose entire body is covered in magic iron or magic steel equipment? If they do it carefully, even the best moves won’t work either.”

“Chorus magic… might work.”

Chorus magic… I believe, is a trump card used by the mage troops of the Holy Kingdom army. I’ve heard that the Merinard kingdom suffered a lot from it during the war, but I’ve never actually seen it with my own eyes. I guess they use some kind of wide-area destruction magic with a few people.

“I think we should report this to Her Highness. I’ll report it to her myself this evening.”

“Please do.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The members of the research and development department nodded at Isla’s statement. It seems that in front of everyone, she will not call her “Sylphy” but “Her Highness.” I guess Isla is the type of person who takes things on and off.

“Yes, it looks like the rare material is ready.”

I said and took out the magic sparkling stone from my inventory. In fact, it had been ready a long time ago, but everyone seemed to be busy inspecting and testing the enchanted weapons, so I had to wait for the right moment.

“Oh, it’s really shiny. It looks like it can be used as a light.”

The magic sparkling stone taken out from the inventory was emitting beautiful light. Instead of receiving light and reflecting it, it was emitting its own light. Perhaps because the material used was topaz, the color was yellow with a slight orange tinge. The way it emits its own light is like a small sun.

“Kosuke, what’s that?”

“Magic sparkling stone? I guess. It’s a rare material that can be made from three gems and five magic crystals. I have mentioned it before, remember?”

When I tried to hand it to Isla, she took a step back as if frightened by something. What is it?

“What’s wrong?”

“Kosuke, did you say magic sparkling stone?”

“Maybe so. I just read it as magic sparkling stone.”

“Is it magic sparkling stone?”

“It is. Maybe.”

When I nodded, Isla’s eyes were glued to the magic sparkling stone in my hand. The other research and development department members are the same way, especially the human alchemist’s eyes. Their eyes are wide open and bloodshot. The blue-skinned, black-and-white-eyed, demon-looking mage has her eyes wide open as well, but it’s a bit milder because I can’t tell if they’re bloodshot or not. The others have a… kind of enlightened expression. Did they reach nirvana?

“Kosuke, the magic sparkling stone is the jewel version of mithril.”

“Hou?”

“It’s very expensive. Even a piece as small as the tip of a pinky nail costs a fortune. You could build a house.”

“…So you’re saying this is a very dangerous thing?”

“The price is so high that you could buy a country with it. I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who can afford a magic sparkling stone of that size.”

“Pretend you never saw it.”

“Yeah.”

Let’s put this dangerous stuff away. I threw it in my inventory. A few people in the room looked very disappointed, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see them.

“But now that I’ve made it, I have to put it to good use. What about the magic sparkling stone as a material for making something?”

“It can be used in various ways depending on how it is processed. It is often used to amplify or store large amounts of magic power. Even something as small as the tip of my pinky fingernail can store enough magic power for five people. You can also use it to amplify your magic power, increasing it from one to five or six.”

“Isn’t that amazing?”

“It’s really great. That’s why it’s expensive. And it’s a coveted item for alchemists and mages.”

Isla is staring at me. At the same time, the other alchemists and mages who had come close to me before I knew it was also staring at my face. There are four mages and four alchemists in this room. I’m afraid of being surrounded by eight people… Are there nine?

“I want to polish… the beautiful stone from earlier…”

A male engraver with bloodshot eyes was giving me a passionate look from outside the circle of female mages and alchemists surrounding me. Super scary.

“Wait a minute, calm down, guys. Are you okay? As I said before, I can make magic sparkling stones. I can do it. With three gems and five magic crystals, I can make one the size of the one you just saw. There’s no limit to how much I can make. In other words, as long as I have the materials… Yes, I can lend them to everyone as research materials. That’s right, isn’t it? Isla.”

“…If Kosuke is involved, the budget and material arrangements can be flexible. The magic crystals need to be sent from the rear, but the gems are in stock and can also be purchased. And if there is a suitable place, Kosuke can even mine them. If there are enough magic sparkling stones, I think it is possible to lend them for research.”

After thinking about it for a while, Isla nodded her head in agreement. The light returned to the eyes of everyone surrounding me, and the heavy pressure (half-physical) that had surrounded me dissipated at once. Thank goodness, there was no one in this world who was unhappy with me.

“Okay, let’s all find a way to make effective use of the magic sparkling stone.”

A new material that can be used as both a huge capacity battery and an amplifier… My dreams are expanding!