WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 119: Open It
──────
The moment we defeated Forneus, the gems embedded throughout the boss chamber all began to pour out light.
A gentle glow, as though an aurora had unfurled, filled the area.
“...It’s pretty.”
“Yeah.”
As I stared blankly at the sight, my gaze suddenly fell on Luna, who was sitting on the floor.
The synergy between Purple Flame and Reactive Bombs was undeniable. These bombs would truly shine in Luna’s hands, not Elia’s.
She probably understood Purple Flame better than anyone. Only she would know the optimal timing.
‘Could I make it so Luna can handle bombs too?’
Still.
‘A Level 45 Art.’
Exceeding Level 40 during the first semester of the first year was nearly impossible.
I should have only just passed Level 36 myself. I had no idea how far away Level 45 was.
Yet Luna had come here already past Level 45. What had she even been doing during the semester to reach that level?
Whether Luna was a stalker, a spy, or something else, what mattered right now was that she was on my side.
At times like this, I needed to make sure I held on to her.
I walked over to Luna and held out my hand.
“You did well.”
“...Was I... helpful?”
“More than helpful. You practically took it down yourself.”
As I took her hand and helped her up,
“...Hehe.”
She smiled with an innocent expression.
Ah, that smile. It was exactly like Luna’s bright, cheerful smile from the original game.
Come to think of it, I didn’t think Luna had ever smiled in front of me before.
Menhera treatment: proceeding smoothly.
“My students? Save the touching moment for later. Shouldn’t we start collecting the loot?”
Adeline tapped the treasure chest. But beside it lay an unfamiliar ore.
Fortunately, it seemed I wouldn’t need to search separately for the ore.
“This must be the rock that old man mentioned.”
It was an ore with purple and silver strangely blended together.
[Dronium Ore]
[A rare ore that floats on its own when infused with mana.]
“Yes, this is it.”
I put it in my backpack.
Quest complete.
Now that we had defeated the mid-boss, the demonic energy from the entrance of the abandoned mine to this place was probably clearing away.
The miners of Gravner would finally be able to begin extracting resources in earnest.
‘What now?’
There were two options.
Push on and defeat Asmorg too, or make a clean retreat here.
Clearing the Demon Dungeon at this point was not particularly important.
We had already opened a path up to the midpoint, so there wouldn’t be much problem making equipment right away.
What was more urgent was raiding the cult branches spread throughout the Empire. I had only stopped by here to obtain a weapon while I was at it.
More importantly, I had promised Elia that we would clear the dungeon together.
‘We can come back here during the second semester, or after raiding the branches. Elia will need time to make the drone anyway.’
Every dungeon raid so far had been a forced march. It would be fine to spend the break more leisurely.
I looked back at the two of them and announced my decision.
“You haven’t forgotten that the instructor said she’d buy dinner tonight, right?”
Adeline led the way with a miserable expression.
⁎⁎⁎
By the time we emerged from the dungeon entrance, darkness had fallen outside.
That didn’t mean we couldn’t see ahead.
Dozens, no, easily more than a hundred torches flickered before us.
As many people as there were torches had gathered at the entrance.
“Look! People really came out!”
“Is the man Funeral Sword, and the woman the Empire’s Greatest Sword?”
“I heard the other one is the young lady of the Grace Family!”
Every one of them was a citizen of Gravner.
‘We never told anyone. How did they know and come here?’
“See? What did I tell you!”
“I told you the Empire’s Greatest Sword and Funeral Sword went inside! Our mine is free now!”
Found the culprits.
They were the guards who had opened the door for us.
Ever since they learned I was Funeral Sword, the corners of their mouths had kept twitching.
I had thought they looked loose-lipped. It seemed their overeager announcements had spread the rumor that we were clearing the abandoned mine.
Then, an old miner stepped forward.
“Um... Does that mean we can use the mine again like before?”
When the crystal mine had still been active, Gravner had been one of the Empire’s richest cities, competing for first or second place in economic power excluding the Imperial Capital.
The mine’s benefits had been enormous, and the citizens’ lives had been directly tied to it.
It was, quite literally, the heart of the city that had stopped beating.
With rumors spreading that the heart had begun to beat again, it was only natural for them to go wild.
At the miner’s question, the others nodded with bated breath as well.
‘It’s not like I have no concerns.’
Fortunately, the door leading to the deepest part of the dungeon was sealed far more tightly than the entrance door.
Unless someone was insane, they wouldn’t tear it open and head inside.
There wouldn’t be much of a problem once a Base Camp was built.
I immediately stepped before the crowd.
It would have looked better for Adeline to make an official declaration.
‘But I know the people of this city have a favorable opinion of me.’
Once word of our raid spread, becoming the center of attention was unavoidable.
If I couldn’t avoid it, I might as well use it.
This was a city of craftsmen. Winning over the people here would benefit me for a long time when it came to securing equipment and materials.
“The raid is not yet fully complete, so you cannot enter as far as the deepest part of the mine.”
Disappointment passed over their faces.
But then I took a sharp turn.
“However! We have just cleared the area with the richest veins. You will be able to mine there as much as you wish.”
“Ooh...!”
“We have already contacted Her Highness Princess Alicia, and construction of a Base Camp for safety will begin soon.”
Of course, I hadn’t contacted her yet. Adeline would.
“But you must never go beyond the sealed door. It is still dangerous on the other side.”
“As expected of Funeral Sword! He really thinks things through!”
“We failed to recognize our benefactor!”
When the crowd’s excitement had completely risen, I drove the final point home.
“I promise all of you. Before long, from here to Gravner’s city center, the sound of pickaxes will ring out once more!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
Cheers like thunder shook the night sky.
Leaving the crowd’s excitement behind, I signaled to Adeline and Luna.
‘Let’s bolt.’
⁎⁎⁎
We had deliberately avoided people’s eyes on the way back to Gravner.
Yet word had apparently already leaked from somewhere. Even though it was late at night, I could feel the entire city carrying a strange excitement.
We quietly crossed through the citizens and headed for the Work Workshop.
When we entered the workshop, Enedor greeted us.
Along with a fidgeting Elia.
“...Huh. You came looking like that?”
Enedor looked over the three of us in turn.
The sulfur smell permeating our bodies, and the soot and dirt covering our clothes.
We looked no different from miners clocking out after work.
But I had no regrets.
This was the first surprise quest I had ever received. I had come straight here without washing up to complete it.
“I thought delivering this to you came first.”
When I handed Enedor the Dronium Ore, his expression was unexpectedly calm.
Then again, there was no way the city’s most famous craftsman had not heard about the raid.
Enedor held the Dronium up to the light.
“It really is Dronium. And top quality at that.”
“It dropped after we defeated a monster.”
“Huh... Even with the Empire’s Greatest Sword there, I never thought just three people would solve Gravner’s longstanding problem.”
“There were not three of us.”
I turned to look at Elia.
“There were four.”
“...What do you mean?”
“What finished the monster off was...”
I approached Elia, returned the two unused Reactive Bombs to his hands, and said,
“...these bombs Elia made.”
I immediately told the two of them the story of the raid.
In particular, I emphasized just how decisive Elia’s bombs had been, adding a little exaggeration here and there.
As my explanation continued, their reactions visibly changed.
Elia’s eyes grew wider, while Enedor’s eyes sank deeper.
Finally,
“This is the chest that dropped after we defeated the boss monster.”
I took out the treasure chest we had obtained after defeating the boss.
“Normally, party members divide the loot that comes out of the chest.”
“Why bring it all the way here?”
“To hear the opinion of the absent fourth party member.”
Enedor looked back and forth between Elia and the chest.
“If there is something in here that Elia needs, then naturally, it should be Elia’s share.”
It was not as if Enedor had no intention of clearing Evil God’s Abyss.
If that had been the case, he wouldn’t have crafted weapons for killing monsters in the first place.
He was simply afraid.
Afraid that his one remaining family member would suffer the same fate as his wife.
“I see.”
Enedor closed his eyes, then opened them.
“I told you to prove it to me, and you proved it admirably.”
Then he tossed the Dronium he was holding to Elia.
“F-Father? Why are you giving this to me...?”
“Halibal Velder. That fancy you put in my son’s head. Remote... transport device, was it? Did you come up with it yourself?”
“No.”
It really wasn’t mine, so I had no reason to hesitate.
“It was conceived by the finest craftsman I know.”
‘Level 50 Elia.’
I thought it was quite a satisfying answer, but Enedor unexpectedly replied bluntly.
“A craftsman has a craftsman’s pride. If that craftsman conceived it, tell him to make it himself.”
‘That wasn’t the answer I wanted.’
Or so I thought.
“Elia.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Can you make something even better than the thing Funeral Sword described using that ore?”
Elia’s eyes widened.
I had known it, but this was probably the first time Elia had learned that Dronium was the key material needed to make a drone.
At the same time, it meant Enedor had prepared the ore for him from the start.
It was practically the same as permitting him to enter dungeons and develop new weapons.
“...You mean...?”
Enedor shouted at the dazed Elia.
“You have the finest material in your hands, so why are you standing around like an idiot? Why aren’t you melting it down and making it already?!”
“Th-Thank you...! I’ll get right to it!”
Elia immediately ran into the laboratory.
“Do you know why I gave you permission?”
“Because I proved it to you?”
“No.”
Enedor picked up a hammer as he spoke.
“Because I saw your eyes.”
He placed red-hot iron on the anvil.
“There was certainty in the way you looked at my son. Certainty that you saw him not as baggage, but as a companion.”
Clang! Clang!
The cheerful sound of hammering echoed through the workshop.
“Take him with you. My son says he will end our family line and cut down the Evil God alongside you. As his father, how could I stop him?”
Without ceasing his hammering, he added casually,
“But make sure you bring him back alive. If he returns missing even one limb, I will never make you another sword for the rest of your life.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“That aside... You went along with my unreasonable demand, so I should give you a suitable reward as well.”
Enedor took a small box from his robes.
It looked as though he had prepared it in advance from the moment he heard that I had succeeded in the raid.
The quest reward I had waited so long for.
“Open it. I collected these over my entire life to give to someone I knew. Of course, they have now become someone I can no longer give them to.”
A bitter scent of grass drifted from inside the box.
“Whether you take them yourself or give them to someone else is up to you. They are things I no longer need.”
They were...
[Red Spirit Herb] [Blue Spirit Herb] [Yellow Spirit Herb]
[Green Spirit Herb] [White Spirit Herb] [Black Spirit Herb]
[When consumed, they permanently increase the user’s stats.]
They were a hard-to-obtain set of herbs that permanently increased stats.
Footnotes:
Menhera is Japanese internet slang for someone portrayed as mentally unstable or emotionally obsessive.
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