CH 63.1

Collen and Jade took me outside of the mansion, and headed towards a large and old temple located at the back end of the mansion.

No one knew which god’s temple it was, and no one was using it now.

‘It’s the place Zion warned me never to go to.’

It was like that when I first came to the mansion. 

Collen often brought bad guys here to deal with them.

“I’ve never been here before…what is this place?” I asked, holding onto Collen’s coat.

Collen smiled.

“Oh, it’s where we keep our valuables. We have a warehouse in the basement where we keep the magic tools of our duchy.”

The entire building was made of stone, so even though I was wearing a coat, I felt chilly.

There was a spiral staircase leading downstairs opposite the entrance, and the door to a large room at the starting point of the staircase was open.

I couldn’t help but stare into the room.

Oh, that’s…

‘Collen’s collection of torture tools…’

What were they called again?

There were iron chairs with thorn-filled crowns attached to them, and helmets that looked like they were designed to make someone unable to move, among other torture tools.

Collen and Jade followed my gaze and fell silent for a moment.

“Jade, please close the door and come.”

Collen cleared his throat, and Jade closed the door.

“It’s just antiques. Don’t worry about it,” he said.

What kind of antiques are torture tools like that? Dad, do you use those torture tools?

I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

I pretended not to know.

“I didn’t know there was a place like this in the mansion.”

“It’s just like a warehouse. Let’s go down,” Collen started to descend the staircase.

The underground area, decorated like a temple, had beautiful blue magical lamps shining throughout. Among the statues of beautiful goddesses, various weapons were lying in glass containers, including slim and beautiful swords, weapons with unknown thorns attached, and long spears.

“All the weapons in here are magical. They are weapons that choose only one user and stay with that user until they die.”

“So, matching means…”

“Since you have magical power in your body, if you are lucky enough to find a weapon that suits you well, you could become its owner.”

But these swords are as big as my body. Can I really use them?

Collen smiled at me.

“Just try it out for now. Reach out your hand.”

I held out both of my hands.

Collen’s sword turned into a snake. As the snake passed by my hand, it glowed.

‘It’s shining.’

The light was like something popping on my hand, like a small star.

“What is this light?”

“I activated the magical power inside your body. Your ancestors included a magician, didn’t they?”

I nodded my head.

“That means there is more magical power hidden inside your body than in other people. And magical weapons take in their owner’s magical power to move.”

“I see.”

“So, if there is a weapon that suits you well, it will absorb your magical power and allow you to use it. It will be okay since you have more magical power than other people.”

“What happens if a regular person without magical power is ‘matched’ with a magical weapon?”

“They die. Their magical power is sucked out of them.”

Hiic, that’s scary. I thought of a story I heard in the back alleys.

‘A ghost knight who turned into a skeleton by having his magical power sucked out by a magical sword.’

I imagined myself drying up and turning into a skeleton.

“What happens if I end up like that?”

“I won’t let that happen. Now, take a look around and see if any of the weapons respond to you if there is a matching one.”

What does respond mean?

Let’s take a look around first.

I took cautious steps. That’s when I felt something under my foot.

“This is…”

Ah.

When I bowed my head, it was an enormous great sword.

“Ah, that’s the sword the Duke used during the White Wizard’s Extermination War. It’s a weapon called the Sword that Pierces the Sky. When the user grips it, the blade turns blue and just brushing past enemies is enough to slaughter them.”

“….Um, isn’t that a legendary national treasure-level magical weapon?”

I feel like I briefly read about that in a history book, which is one of the textbooks in school. Is the thing like that just rolling around under my feet?

“There’s a lot of stuff like that. Don’t worry and look around. You can even kick it,” Jade said affectionately.

Wait, is that the problem, Jade? I didn’t ask because I wanted to kick it with my foot.

I went all the way to the end of the room.

I saw daggers lying in a glass case at the end of the room.

‘If it’s a very small weapon, maybe I can use it too?’

At that moment, I discovered something inside the glass case.

‘Is this a gun?’

It was undoubtedly in the shape of a gun. It was a shiny, smooth silver body with a trigger and a small handle.

‘Are there guns in this world? I’ve never heard of them. But it definitely looks like a gun.’