Magic Sword
After finishing their meal, Ijok measured my and Belle’s height and arm length, recording the data. Then he asked what kind of swords we wanted.
Both Belle and I already had ready-made one-handed swords, but since this time they were going to be custom-made, we could decide everything — the weight, length, blade shape, even the grip. Ijok showed us a few samples, and after a long session of “no, not that one” and “maybe like this,” we finally made up our minds.
A little while later, a letter arrived from Father.
Incidentally, Father’s messenger was a red phoenix, since he’s of the fire attribute. The phoenix appeared out of nowhere, circling once around where I sat before I held out my palm — it landed soundlessly, without even a breeze, and then poof, it turned into a letter.
“It’s from Father… Looks like Mr. Gandarl’s settled down in General City.”
“Oh, that so? Then maybe I’ll go visit him sometime… Ah, I’ll do my best to finish your swords before you two leave. But the knives will have to wait till later — that alright?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”
“Y-yeah, thank you very much!”
“Alright, I’ll let you know when they’re done.”
＊＊＊＊＊
After that, under Grandmother Lindsay’s supervision, I trained hard, took on guild requests with Belle, cooked with Mac and the others, and spent the days in full satisfaction. Then, the day before our departure, we got word from Ijok that the swords were finished, so we went to his place again.
““Hello~””
“Oh, you two! Been waitin’ for ya. Here they are.”
Following Ijok’s gaze, we saw two swords laid out.
“This one’s for Miss Belle — the short sword.”
Belle’s sword had a blade length of about 40 centimeters, 50 including the sheath — short for a sword. The blade was thick and broad, double-edged, and its tip came to a sharp point — a gladius type, really.
“Wow… it looks so cool. The weight’s perfect too… Ah, th-thank you so much!”
“And this one’s yours, Missy. Gotta say, it gave me some trouble. But y’know, makin’ somethin’ new’s a fun kind of trouble.”
My sword’s blade was about 60 centimeters long, with a slight curve and a pentagonal cross-section. It was single-edged, with a guard made from a Karkinos crab claw, the handle wrapped first in sharkskin, lacquered, then bound tight with black cord. The scabbard was wooden, coated the same way in sharkskin and lacquer, a vivid vermilion shining beautifully. In short, it was a Japanese katana.
In my past life, thanks to my husband’s influence, I’d loved Sengoku-era warlords — so of course I’d wanted a Japanese sword. Truthfully, I wanted a tachi with a blade longer than 70 centimeters, but with my current height, a katana was the best I could manage.
Whoosh, whoosh
“... Yeah, feels exactly like I imagined. Thanks, Ijok.”
“Heh, no problem. Oh right — almost forgot to mention. I added lightening, durability, and rust prevention enchantments. Also made it so you can channel magic through it.”
““What!?””
He explained that — my sword too, though technically a katana — both weapons had lightening applied to the handle, durability enhancement on the blade to keep it from chipping or breaking, and rust prevention to keep monster blood or fluids from corroding them. That’s when I learned Ijok wasn’t just a regular blacksmith — he was also skilled in alchemy, which let him add enchantments directly to weapons.
As for the magic flow, it meant that if you channeled your mana while the blade was drawn, your attribute would manifest on the weapon — like how Grandmother’s rapier burned with fire, or Grandpa’s sword crackled with lightning. However, to do that, the blade had to be set up with a “Bloody Set.”
A “Bloody Set,” as the name suggests, involved taking a drop of blood to register the weapon to its owner. The drawback was that only the registered person could use it — no one else could benefit from the enchantments or channel mana through it.
“That’s amazing… doesn’t that make it a magic sword?”
“Nah, nothin’ that grand.”
“But Belle’s got the fire attribute, so that’s fine — I’m Null, though? Ah, but if I don’t do the Bloody Set, I can’t use the lightening enchantment, right? That’d be a pain.”
“Ah, sorry… didn’t know you were attribute-less.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered by it at all.”
“Y-you’re not?”
Ijok glanced toward Belle, thinking I was just saying that to spare his feelings, but Belle nodded firmly, showing it was true — I really wasn’t upset about it. That made him relax a little.
“So, how do I do this Bloody Set?”
“Ah, right — prick your fingertip with this needle and let a drop fall.”
Following his instructions, I pricked my finger and let two drops fall onto a small glass plate he handed me. He smeared the blood along the blade with his fingertip, and the sword gave off a faint glow.
“... Alright, it’s set. Try holding it.”
When I took it back, it felt lighter than before.
“Whoa, it really is lighter. This’ll make it way easier to use for long stretches.”
“Y-yeah… Mind if I try channeling magic?”
“Oh, do it! I wanna see!”
When Belle channeled her mana, her sword glowed bright red.
“Whoa! It turned red!”
“... Hah… hahh… wow… it’s gonna take me a while to get used to that… feels exhausting…”
It was her first time channeling mana into a sword, and it felt like the weapon was draining it right out of her. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to master the technique unless she trained her magical stamina — and she silently vowed to start doing exactly that.
What do you think about this chapter?
