CH 50

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For tonight’s dessert, I served crème brûlée and watered-down iced coffee.

Gram seemed to like the brûlée; she happily broke the caramel on the surface and started scooping it. Normally, the baked brûlée would be sprinkled with powdered sugar and baked with a burner, but there are no burners on this island, so I instead asked one of the officers to use her fire magic to bake the caramel.

As expected of Ellen-san, who has a reputation for fine manipulation of magic power. Thanks to her, my crème brûlée was made into an exquisite degree of perfection.

“Mmhh… delishh…” Gram ate the brûlée with a really happy look.

“We have some more, if you’d like?”

“Uh-huh… I’d like that.”

The embarrassedly nodding Gram is cute too… That’s right, this seems to be a good time to ask about the sixth-ranked angel.

“Oh yeah, Gram-sama, I have a little bit of question, if you don’t mind… I’ve heard something about sixth-ranked angel… Do you know what it is?”

Gram answers while still scooping the brûlée. “The Sixth-Ranked Angels… you mean Exocius-sama? Exocius-sama is the guardian angel of the Holy Knights; he bestows blessings on those who oppose evil.”

I see, I see, it seems like it’s a fairly strong entity.

“If we’re talking about strongest light magic spell, many of the people who can use them are the ones who has been blessed by Exocius-sama. One of the strongest among the light magic spells is the Heavenly Disintegrating Ray, which can only be used by high-ranking holy knights and clergy. It’s said that a mere single spell is enough to decimate hundreds of undead all at once.”

I see. Even though he’s only sixth-ranked, he is indeed an angel. [1]

“By any chance, does Exocius-sama have a sword?”

Here, for the first time, Gram stopped eating her brûlée.

“A sword? Certainly, in all of the religious painting, Exocias-sama was always depicted as having a sword of light in his right hand. Oh, that’s right, it is said to be the sword of destruction bestowed by the Archangel Rabayu.”

Uwah. The more I hear about it, the more it seems to be the real deal.

“And how does that sword end up existing in human world…”

“Wow, Shirou, you’re really into details. Legend has it that the sword was later bestowed to Holy Knight Umberto, but at that point it’s merely a fairy tale. No one can really say for sure whether it’s true or not.”

I don’t think it’s just a fairy tale. I think it’s true.

“Hypothetically, supposed that someone found the sword, what would happen?”

“Supposedly? Well it’d create a huge uproar, that’s for sure. It’s said even a swing of the sword would hold enormous holy power… Okami…? What’s wrong?”

“That… Actually…”

No, we’re in the middle of a meal, so I should calm myself now. And since talking about the sword would inevitably end up with me revealing my magic, I can’t talk about this in public.

“…no, it was nothing. That aside, I want to confirm about the compensation for helping with the foundation work, so can I have a moment of your time later?”

So as not to raise suspicion, I said that as nonchalantly as I could, just like usual.

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After dinner, only Gram remained with me at the dining room.

“So, what’s this about confirming the compensation for work?”

“That was only an excuse so I could talk with Gram-sama in private.”

To quickly explain the story, I lift up the battered sword I had propped up against the wall.

“I want to talk about this sword.”

“What’s up with that rusty sword?”

“It’s the Sword of Exocias.”

“………”

Uwah, it’s been awhile since someone gazed at me with such a pitiful eyes; like when someone was talking to a child with an outlandish story.

“I take it that you don’t believe me?”

“Okami, you know that I’d believe in what you say. But to say that this rusty old sword is the Sword of Exocias…” [2]

Gram seemed unable to decide whether she believed me or not that it was the Sword of Exocias. Actually, it’s my fault, really, I should’ve shown her the sword in its repaired state.

“Yesterday, I told you that I can actually use magic, right?”

“Yeah…”

During our moments together, in breaks between rounds, I’ve given her the outline of my abilities as part of our pillow talks, while we were whispering words of sweet nothings. But I never really showed her my magic, that’s why she’s still half in doubt about it.

“If you don’t believe it, why don’t I repair the sword for you?”

“You can do that?”

“I will need 32 hours to do it.”

I’m sure it would be finished just in time for her departure.

“Alright, I believe in you, Okami, please try to repair it. However, why?”

Huh? What does she mean by ‘why’?

Maybe my confusion showed in my expression, since Gram then continued, “Let’s say it really is the Sword of Exocius, why are you telling me about it?”

Oh, so that’s what she meant by ‘why’.

“Because I have no business holding a sword. I’m really terrible at fighting. Certainly, I could just exchange it for gold, but as long as I’m living on this island, I won’t be needing that much money, right? On the other hand, if it’s Gram-sama, I’m sure you’ll be able to make a good use of it.”

“That is certainly true, but still…”

Actually, I can earn as much money as I want using creative magic, and if it’s a weapon, I can also create them by using my Weapon Production Category. I don’t want to make weapons, though.

“Besides, Gram-sama, this sword was put in with the garbage that the soldiers were carrying out. So, technically speaking, I didn’t find it; it never belonged to me.”

When I said that, Gram smiled wryly.

“Okami, you’re being too honest, you know…”

Nope, not that, I just don’t have any interest in swords, alright?

“Well then, shall I start the repair?”

“Yeah.”

As I activated [Repair] on the Sword of Exocius, the battered sword began to shimmer as it crumbled down into motes of light fluttering in the air. Soon, the light particles gathered in one place, becoming a soft golden light, before finally disappear.

“It disappeared!”

Gram stared at me with her mouth hanging open, no doubt surprised by the unexpected display of magic.

“See? I told you I could use magic.”

“Yeah… Even though I said I believe you…”

She did said so, but I don’t think she really believed it until now, which is to be expected really, since men aren’t supposed to be able to use magic.

“So, as I said before, the repair will be completed in 32 hours.”

“Where did the sword go?”

I don’t really know myself. I only know that after the [Repair] process is finished, it can appear later in any location I want, as long as it’s within a 10-meter radius where my line of sight can reach.

“Once it’s repaired, I can make it to appear wherever you like. Ah, but please don’t make me go to the dungeon to make the sword appear there, or make me go to places that I’m not supposed to be in.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll just pretend that I found it, so there’s no problem if you let it appear in my room later. But still, the Sword of Exocias, huh…”

“You still don’t believe me after all, do you?”

Gram looks uncomfortable. “Let’s just say I’ll hold my judgement until I see it repaired.”

Well, fair enough, I guess. After all, we’re talking about a sword which supposedly belonged to an angel, which is quite a ridiculous story.

“Well then… I’ll leave it to you for the repair…”

“Yes, please entrust it to me.”

“Yeah…”

Somehow, we’d run out of things to say, and an awkward silence filled the room.

“Well then… Uh… Good night, I guess…”

Seriously, she’s going back just like that?

“Aaand?”

“And? Uh, was there something else, Okami?”

“And what is your plan for the rest of the night? If you’re planning to come to my room again tonight, I’ll take a bath first and wait for you.”

“Ah…! Y-yeah, I’ll go there!”

Hoorray!!

Tonight, it would be another hot, steamy night with Gram again! I’ll have to wash my body clean. Ah, but will I have enough energy to do my chores in the following morning? I can ask Cheryl to do her recovery magic on me again, but I’ll feel bad of asking her every morning.

“However, let’s not stay up too late tonight, since you’ll also need to do exploration tomorrow, right?”

“Uh, yeah… I’m sorry… Last night, I got too carried away.”

Gram seemed to be doing self-introspection, which made her small body look even smaller, and that made her all the more adorable in my eyes. After confirming that there was no one around us, I give her a small peck on her cheek.

“An aristocrat shouldn’t get carried away like that, right? But I’ll make special exception for you this time, since I was feeling good too.” [3]

“Okami…”

“Gram-sama, didn’t you promise to just call me Shirou when there’s just the two of us?”

“O-oh yeah.”

There are only four days left until Gram returns to the Imperial capital… After that, we might never meet each other again. We’re just lovers within a limited time, but I think the Sword of Exocias will be a perfect farewell present for her.

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1 Seems like the ‘rank’ here means Tier/Class, instead of Position/Order of importance, but I’m not really sure since when Shirou says ‘sixth-ranked’, Gram already inferred it was Exocias.

2 First Shirou told her that he’s from out of the world, and now he’s telling her that the rusty sword is actually a divine artifact… Can’t really fault the girl.

3 Jeez… Shirou just went full Onee-sama Onii-sama mode.