Chapter 659: Near-Legendary

The knights gathered around us after resting from the mock battles. As they watched Lionel think, I could almost hear them whispering among themselves.

“Lord Julius, I’m sure you already know this, but I must say it regardless. Normally, when fighting a monster as powerful as a wraith, we surround it and destroy it with concentrated magical bombardment. I doubt anyone expects to defeat one with physical attacks.”

“I see. That’s true.”

Even silver swords had not seemed particularly effective. To defeat one physically, perhaps we would need weapons of the same class as holy swords.

That would be inconvenient, though. I could not imagine there were many weapons of that class.

If there were, Sister-in-law Daniela would not have looked so dejected merely because the Spencer Kingdom’s holy sword could not be used. Her expression had clearly shown that there was no substitute for it.

“Even so, it would be better to have these than not, wouldn’t it? Gathering enough mages would be difficult, and subjugation would take time. The damage would continue during that period.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Then there’s no problem. Obviously, we should minimise the damage. Besides, we may encounter enemies against which magic doesn’t work.”

When I stated that firmly, Lionel reluctantly agreed.

What was wrong with him? He usually cooperated enthusiastically. Could he be worried about Father’s instructions to keep watch and make sure I did not go too far?

Oh, Lionel. It was not as though I always went too far. I was growing too. Anticipating this very situation, I had made several potions with effects divided into multiple levels.

At Lionel’s command, swords were prepared. Since we could not go and find ghost-type monsters to kill this time, we would limit the test to observation with Appraisal.

That should still tell us roughly what we needed to know, and it might also help improve Lady Fabienne’s Appraisal skill.

“These are the magic potions I’ve prepared.”

“Hmm. There are five. Their colours differ slightly. Do they have different effects?”

“Exactly. I created five levels of potency. We can select whichever one seems best.”

Lionel nodded repeatedly in understanding. His eyes held a gentle light, as though he were relieved. Somehow, his face seemed to say, “If only you had always done things this way.”

I should probably reconsider my belief that the more powerful an effect was, the better.

“Lady Fabienne also helped you make these, I presume?”

“Of course. I assisted Lord Julius.”

“As I thought. Splendid work, Lady Fabienne.”

Lionel smiled as though he had found a comrade. Argh, that was frustrating. Admittedly, if I had worked alone, I might have made only the version with the strongest effect.

I proceeded with the work to conceal my discomfort.

“Let’s begin the test. First, I’ll pour the improved Holy Droplets over this sword.”

I opened the bottle containing the weakest of the improved Holy Droplets and washed both sides of the blade with the liquid inside. Perhaps because we had used Mira’s fur, it seemed to sparkle more brilliantly than the original version.

The sword also appeared to have turned a faint yellow.

“Hmm, this is…”

“Is something wrong? Oh, has its colour changed slightly?”

“It looks that way to you too?”

Lionel and the other knights examined the sword. A change of colour alone would not matter, but we had a problem if the blade had lost durability. What should we do?

Steel Sword: Near-Legendary. Durability: Maximum. Evil-Repelling Effect: Major. Effect Duration: One Hundred Years.

This was bad. Very bad. And this was what the weakest potion did? Just how incredible was Mira’s fur? And what did Near-Legendary even mean? Had we created a legendary weapon?

Without a word, Lady Fabienne tugged insistently at my sleeve. All colour had drained from her face. It seemed she had seen the result too.

How much could she read?

“Lord Julius, won’t this cause a problem? Near-Legendary…”

“Hmm. You saw the same thing, Lady Fabienne. As expected of you. Your skill is improving.”

“Please stop trying to escape reality and face the situation properly.”

I had hastily turned away from Lady Fabienne, but she seized my face and turned it back towards hers.

What should I do? If she could see it too, I could not conceal the result. The sword’s colour had probably changed because it had advanced by one class.

“We have no choice but to tell everyone the truth.”

“The truth…”

“Yes, the truth. Then we’ll seal everyone’s lips.”

Lady Fabienne’s eyes became as flat and unimpressed as a Tibetan sand fox’s. Apparently, she had realised what I intended.

Yes. I intended to make everyone our accomplice.