WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 112: Make Something Up Anyway
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Purple Flame was not fundamentally weak.
There was no reason for the developers to spend time creating a tree that was openly just an inferior version.
Assuming an enemy obediently stood there and took the damage over time, its total damage was comparable to Red Flame's, or even higher.
It was just that no boss in the original game was dumb enough to stand still and burn.
But what if the damage over time could be detonated all at once?
Luna stacked Purple Flame on a boss.
A Reactive Bomb was thrown at the boss covered in stacks.
If Elia's bomb reacted to Luna's Purple Flame and exploded.
Kaboom!
Luna's lacking burst damage would be covered.
And that was not all. We could also get all sorts of useful debuffs that the Red Flame tree did not have.
'This is busted.'
With Elia included, we would have a four-person party again, fulfilling the requirements for using 『Climax』.
Of course, Adeline alone could probably clear a dungeon.
But there was no guarantee Bishops would not interfere like they had in the Undead Dungeon.
Since no one but Elia could make Reactive Bombs, wouldn't it be much more advantageous to bring him to the Demon Dungeon, if only as insurance?
The problem was that Enedor was certain to give us a thunderous rebuke.
But why should I care?
I had already gotten a decent weapon from him.
Since he couldn't make my ultimate weapon anyway, I no longer needed to ask him for favors.
I wasn't planning to simply take the sword and keep my mouth shut, but there was no reason to place Enedor's position above increasing the party's strength.
'I should make the offer tomorrow.'
⁎⁎⁎
The next morning.
At seven sharp, I headed for the workshop as promised, passing through streets full of clattering work.
As if.
I turned around and flung open the door to Elia's research room.
Elia was asleep exactly as Adeline had left him, covered with a blanket.
“Wake up!”
“I'm sorry!”
Elia sprang up in a panic at my shout.
Only then did he seem to come to his senses, looking around the room.
“H-Halibal? Morning? What? What time is it?”
He seemed to realize it was morning after seeing the sunlight coming through the window.
I strode up to the bewildered Elia.
Then.
Thud!
“Argh!”
I kicked him in the shin.
Elia clutched his shin with a pained expression, whimpering.
“W-What is this first thing in the morning?!”
“Elia Work.”
“Did I do something wrong yesterday?!”
“Elia Work!”
When I called his name repeatedly with a stern expression, he finally stood properly.
“W-Why...?”
His voice was completely subdued. It was an attitude I had seen countless times at the Academy.
Early that morning, I told Adeline and Luna about the bomb and Purple Flame combination I had thought of last night.
Adeline, a traditional swordswoman, seemed unimpressed. Luna, however, was different.
With an expression even more astonished than mine, she repeatedly asked, “Is... is something like that really possible?”
It seemed she had never considered using it that way either.
Anyway, I succeeded in getting both their permission to include Elia as a party member if we challenged the Demon Dungeon.
That was why I had skipped the workshop and come here.
Of course, I planned to make him an offer.
But that didn't mean I intended to humble myself first.
Everyone had their own disposition.
For example, treating Cecilia like a friend worked well.
Mine needed continual emotional care, the sort of thing people called head pats.
Alicia, unexpectedly, preferred blunt, mischievous jokes.
Then what about Elia?
When he mistook me for Alicia's lackey, he quickly made the Alicia Machine I had requested.
Something that didn't appear in the original game until much later.
The same went for expanding the communications network around Nevil. Borrowing Alicia's name, I told him to do it, so he did.
Thanks to that, people on the Ronwood Plains could now speak with people in Nevil.
That was a feature not unlocked until the final chapter.
Watching that insane level of follow-through, I realized Elia was the type to do whatever he was told.
So I decided to kick him into gear.
Fortunately or unfortunately, after nearly ten years in the military, I was more confident in this than anyone.
All I had to do was imitate the shit my seniors had pulled on me.
“Starting now, make bombs with the functions I tell you to make.”
“You expect me to make them just because you say so? Do you know how much time it takes to make even one new bomb?!”
As I came here, I kept thinking about how I could use Elia if I brought him into a dungeon.
Elia's current stats were just enough for him to barely enter the Undead Dungeon.
But the Demon Dungeon was too much. From here onward, characters specialized for their roles became important.
Elia's floor was high.
His ceiling was low.
If I didn't solve that problem, he would be nothing but a bomb courier or dead weight in a dungeon.
But as I listened to the clattering around me, a loophole that was only possible because this was reality, not a game, came to mind.
If Aren Bright's Art was Ultimate Divine Sword and Cecilia's Art was Ren Sword Style, what was Elia's Art?
It was “XX Bomb Throw.”
The effect changed according to the type of bomb in place of XX.
In other words, each of Elia's bombs was treated as an Art in itself.
In the original game, as he leveled up, he would get inspired, develop new bombs himself one by one, and unlock Arts.
Then instead of waiting for him to level up, wouldn't he be able to use the Arts as long as he knew the bomb designs?
“Healing Bomb. Freezing Bomb. Sticky Bomb. Chain Explosion Bomb...”
Elia's Arts unlocked at Levels 18, 27, 36, and 45, respectively.
That was right. In this world, Elia was the only playable character who could use high-level Arts early without leveling, as long as he could make them.
I told him every kind of explosive Elia learned up to Level 99 in the original game.
“...Wait! Do you think that makes any sense? How am I supposed to reproduce gravity with a bomb?!”
“That is for you to figure out. Want me to contact Her Highness the Princess and ask her if it comes to that?”
“Y-You...!!”
There was one problem, though.
At Level 50, when most characters learned their Secret Arts, Elia's Level 50 Art was not a bomb.
'This is actually the key...'
It was difficult to explain in words.
Unlike bombs, it was something that didn't exist in this world.
“One more thing.”
“...What bomb is it this time?!”
I tried my best to translate the concept in my head into this world's language.
“No. It isn't a bomb. It isn't something you throw in the first place.”
“If you don't throw it, what is it?”
“Some kind of flying craft, I guess. Like a mechanical bird or a mechanical doll moved by mana.”
I gestured wildly through the air.
Explaining the concept of a drone.
Elia's Secret Art was, of all things, Drone Summoning.
Drone Summoning was a legendary Art that had prompted a few players to complain to the developers about drones appearing in a medieval and early-modern fantasy setting, only to receive the response, “Then are Mana Guns possible?”
Because this Art alone felt completely out of place, plenty of players disliked Elia for it.
The drone Elia summoned was a type of familiar that followed enemies, dropped bombs, or supported allies.
Naturally, Elia himself wouldn't be standing around doing nothing, so his firepower simply doubled.
It would also let him throw bombs from much farther away, dramatically expanding our tactical options.
More importantly, considering Raphael's case, there was a chance the drone would also count as a familiar and ignore turn restrictions.
Drone Summoning would become an essential Art for us.
By the time I had somehow managed to say the nonexistent words “Remote-Detonation Mana Bomb Carrier” aloud.
“...Halibal.”
“What?”
“Did you perhaps injure your head before coming to the Academy?”
Elia began treating me like I was insane.
“You can't make something like that.”
But I felt wronged too.
You made it just fine in the original game.
“Make it somehow.”
I added that as Elia shook his head and backed away.
“Elia. Do you know why we came to Gravner?”
“...To get new weapons...”
“Then why didn't I come alone? Why did Instructor Adeline and Luna come with me?”
I picked up the Mana Gun resting on the workbench.
“We're planning to clear the fourth Evil God's Abyss soon.”
“What? W-Wait... the Evil God's Abyss?! You mean the one in the abandoned mine?! That's impossible!”
“You know my record, don't you?”
Then I aimed at the Sky Nail visible beyond the window.
“Don't you think that pillar is ugly?”
Click.
I tried pulling the trigger just in case, but apparently there was some kind of lock, and I couldn't fire it.
Still, it was enough to convey my intention.
Elia gulped.
There was no way he didn't understand what my action had meant.
“E-Even so... isn't it too early? We should challenge it after gathering enough strength...”
“Enough strength?”
I tilted my head.
“The Empire's Greatest Sword, the Grace Family's genius fire mage, and me. What force could be more sufficient than that? And besides...”
Now it was time to offer him a carrot.
I placed the Mana Gun in Elia's hand.
Then I looked directly at him.
“And you, Ruidel's greatest craftsman.”
“...!”
His shoulders twitched.
“The bomb you showed me yesterday was certainly impressive. But I'll correct myself. That bomb probably won't work.”
When I explained demonic-energy barriers to him, his eyes darkened.
Just as he was about to speak, I stopped him.
“On your own, that is.”
“...What?”
“If you can make the bombs I mentioned. And if you can complete that remote... thing.”
“...”
“Then clearing an Evil God Dungeon with us would no longer be just a dream.”
I handed Elia an invitation that would let him fulfill his long-held wish.
Of course, before he could earn that invitation, he had to make the bombs I described.
After remaining silent for a long time, Elia spoke quietly.
“...Give me time to think.”
“As much as you need. But decide within three days.”
Elia's eyes were already fixed on the Mana Gun in his hand.
It was a gaze strikingly similar to the one he had worn just before completing the Alicia Machine. This was enough.
Without waiting for another answer, I left the research room.
Adeline and Luna, who had been waiting for me at the entrance, joined me.
“So, do you think Elia will come?”
“I don't know. It's hard to say right now.”
I looked up at the sky over Gravner.
Elia couldn't clear a dungeon alone.
But he could with us.
“Still, won't he come?”
A son who considered the Evil God his mother's enemy wouldn't throw away an opportunity like this.
“Good.”
Adeline grinned and stretched.
“Then we should do our work, right?”
Luna and I nodded.
In truth, I had been so focused on clearing dungeons that I had forgotten who I was.
My division was the Reconnaissance Corps. The same went for Luna, while Adeline was even an instructor for the Reconnaissance Corps.
Our primary mission was reconnaissance, not dungeon clearing.
“Let's go see what the Evil God's fourth Abyss looks like.”
With that in mind, today we planned to properly scout the area around the Demon Dungeon.
The full-scale assault would begin three days later, once Elia decided whether to join us.
With every step we took, the Sky Nail beyond the horizon drew closer.
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