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My sisters and brothers still lived there. The director who took care of us well was already old. When I still lived there, the coldness of the winter was already hard for us. Would the orphans die from the cold? I couldn’t let that happen.

“I’m sorry, I changed my mind. I will accept your request.”
“Really!?”

No matter what, I couldn’t abandon someone acting as my parent and my siblings. I wasn’t that cruel.

“Yes. But I have some requirements.”
“Requirements?”
“Yes. I heard that there aren’t many blacksmiths who can forge mana swords. I believe forging a sword this time could lead to various troubles… And I have no backing. I have no measures to protect myself from trouble.”
“Then, do you want a backing?”
“No, it’s the contrary. I still have things I want to do. I don’t want to have a backing for that reason carelessly… It’ll trouble me if they take advantage of me and lock me in. I need to be free.”
“So you’re saying that you don’t want anyone to find out that you’re the one who forged the sword?”
“Yes. I want to make sure that information won’t leak out so that I don’t get into trouble.”
“I see… I understand. Then I will swear by ‘my name’ that I will guarantee your safety. I shall arrange for security around you and make sure no information will leak. So please forge the mana sword for me.”

… He’s swearing by his royal name, huh.

However, I had to pretend that I didn’t know Vector was a royal family. What should I do? For now, should I make a suspicious face as the reaction?

“Miss, since he said that he’s swearing by his name, you don’t have to worry about anything else. I can guarantee he will keep his promise.”

Oh? Master could guarantee it? …Ah. In other words, Master knew Vector’s origin.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Master. I said that it’s ungrateful to start a business using your kindness, but I accepted his request… Do you mind if I use the smithy?”
“Hmm? Sure. As I said earlier, don’t worry about it. The Master of Winter is a serious matter. It’s a sword needed to fight that monster, so use the smithy to your heart’s content.”

I should be polite by at least asking for his permission first. That being said, Master was unusually very generous as always.

“Thank you. Then, um… Beck?”
“…? Ah, sorry! Did I introduce myself with that name before? Can you call me Vector from now on?”
“Beck? What the heck is that? You’re Vector, aren’t you?”
“Yeah… After the subjugation three years ago, everyone around me became noisy, and I changed my base. At that time, I used a false name.”
“Did you get annoyed because your surroundings turned noisy?”
“Kind of…”

So that was the reason. But then, that was the price for his fame. He should endure it. Ah, it would be a problem if people found out about him being a royal family member, huh? Maybe he also considered that.

“Err, Vector? What kind of sword do you want?”
“Huh? …What level of skill can you grant?”
“Please leave that for the time being. Can you tell me the perfect sword you want?”

Yeah, I would use that as a reference and adjusted adequately. But I also planned to forge it while taking care of myself not to overdo it.

“That’s… yes, I understand. For the time being, I want a minimum of [Fire Attribute] level 3-4.”

Hmm, it’s good that he understood me and read the air. How understanding. Besides, looking at his response up until now, he was more honest than I thought. I’m sorry for labeling you as a shady man… No, I still feel like he was somewhat shady.

“To be honest, I’m confident that I can defeat the Master of Winter using this sword if we won’t fight in the winter’s snowy mountains. But since I will fight it in the place that strengthens its attributes, I want the sword to have at least that many levels. If possible, level 5, 6, or more is the ideal. But it won’t be easy to obtain a sword with that level of bestowal even in the dungeon.”

“Other than that?”

“Other than that, huh… As I said before, the material I will bring is Adamantite. I want the sword to be a b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ sword. I used a one-handed sword three years ago because I lacked strength, but I’ve improved my strength. Presently, my main weapon is a b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ sword. I guess it’ll be better to use the weapon I’m used to. I can use both one-handed and two-handed swords.”

“Then you won’t be frequently using the mana sword?”
“I’ll use it depending on the situation. But I tend to use the b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ sword more.”
“Are you using a shield?”
“I’m using a buckler so I can turn around easily.”

Hmmm…?

“Then, should I make you a shield too?”
“Is it okay!?”
“…If there’s enough material.”
“I’ll do something about that, so I’d appreciate your help!”
“How do you want me to make the shield?”
“The shield… I want it to be versatile, so go with no attribute? It’ll be hard to use attribute shields…”

Okay, okay. His armor is… too troublesome to make, so I’ll leave it like that.

“By the way, what kind of monster is the Master of Winter?”
“Oh, I didn’t say that yet, huh? He’s a frost salamander.”

This was a rare demon beast.

Frost salamander was a salamander subspecies and was a massive lizard-like monster with ice attribute, not fire. Although it looked like a giant lizard, it was a powerful demon beast belonging to the sub-dragon species, a lower-rank dragon species.

There were other dragon species, such as Wyvern. Sub-dragon species and dragon species had differences, but the largest difference was their intelligence. Dragon species clearly understood human language and used powerful magic. They also used breath. Some of the sub-dragon species didn’t use breath. The power of their magic would depend on the race.

By the way, there was a fire spirit called salamander as well, so people often confused both of them together.

“Sub-dragon species, huh… How do you plan to defeat it?”
“Even if it’s from the sub-dragon species, a dragon is still a dragon. I’m planning to go with the basic plan on how to exterminate a dragon.”
“You mean, you’re going to aim for its belly?”

Dragons’ scales were hard, so attacking them head-on wouldn’t hurt them. The common practice was to attack their stomach, which was covered with a relatively soft membrane instead of their hard scale. But for flying dragons, people usually tried to cut down their wings first.

“Fortunately, the battleground is the snowy mountain. I will go under the snow and approach it. That’s why I’m preparing various equipment for that.”

Since he had prepared that much, meddling it too much would be unnecessary… Then I’ll make his sword and shield.

“Also… we have to decide on the payment. I’m going to pay you 5,000 coins, is that enough?”

Ohh… a great price! But he asked me to forge using his material, so paying me 5,000 coins was… I don’t know the market price! What should I do!?

“Oh, about that… Vector, if you have excess Adamantite, can you give her that instead? I think Miss will prefer it rather than money. Since it’s you, you should be able to prepare it without fail, right?”
“Well, I can try…”
“Then let’s go with that. Miss, you’re also fine with that, right?”
“Yes.”

As expected from Master. He understood me well. And as expected from a royal family member, Vector could easily collect rare materials like Adamantite!

“Then I’ll pay with Adamantite. But since you’re going to make me a shield as well… I could only give you the amount enough to make two one-handed swords… Are you okay with that?”
“No problem.”
“That’s great… I’ll also pay you 5,000 gold coins.”
“No need…”
“I want you to receive it. After all, you also made a shield for me.”

Ahh… he’s right. Then I’ll accept it.

“I understand. Then let’s go with that.”
“Okay. I’ll bring the materials in the afternoon, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Hiiih, the royalty is bowing to me!? No, I don’t know that! I have to pretend I don’t know that!

“Yes.”

After that, our discussion ended. Vector and Neil left. Neil looked at me enviously, but I don’t care.

After finishing my lunch, which was a little late, Vector came again with the materials. He also showed me the sword he was using now. I also checked how he used it, just in case.

When I finished the sword, I only had to tell Master, and he would come to pick it up.

Well, that’s how I decided to make a mana sword… No, let’s go with a magic sword! Do I have to watch myself? I will! But I can’t afford to make mistakes here! The lives of everyone in the orphanage are at stake here!

But, haa… Things were getting troublesome… When it comes to the worst case, let’s just run away.