Chapter 160: The Door of Possibility

Although summer had passed and the coolness of autumn had settled outside, the forge was filled with its distinctive heat.

It had been several days since the delivery of the sword. Ricardo, who looked severely worn out, rolled into Lutz’s workshop, where Lutz was still busy sharpening axes.

“What, you’re alive?” 

“Seems like it, though barely.”

Lutz invited Ricardo into the forge without much fuss, and Ricardo, not expecting any special treatment, found an empty wooden box to sit on.

“As for Sakura’s abilities, it seems you can activate and deactivate them at will.”

Ricardo spoke to Lutz’s back as he continued sharpening, and Lutz, not taking his eyes off the whetstone and blade, responded.

“It’s great you’re not asking me to prepare a third one for everyday use, huh? So, how many times did you hurl before you got the hang of it?”

From Ricardo’s haggard appearance and the faint lingering smell of bile, Lutz deduced that understanding the nature of Sakura had been quite a challenge.

“Well…”

Touching a nerve, Ricardo replied with a tired voice.

“Puking too much makes your throat hurt, you know. There were times when I swung Sakura, puked, and then repeated it until I passed out on top of my own vomit.”

Lutz stopped grinding the axe and furrowed his brows, giving Ricardo a sharp look.

“That’s pretty disgusting. Did you at least clean yourself?”

“I wiped myself all over before coming here.”

Ricardo answered proudly, but Lutz’s gaze, as if scrutinizing something filthy, remained the same.

“Take a bath, seriously.”

“Bathing is said to be a breeding ground for illness according to the Church…”

“I take baths regularly, and even Clau nearly takes a dip every day. we don’t get sick.”

While speaking, Lutz glanced toward the corner of the room, where there was a bucket-style bath for quick washing.

In this era, bathing wasn’t highly regarded. Public baths were considered dens of prostitution by the Church. Even nobles who could afford perfumes bathed only once a month or so. It wasn’t unusual to hear someone say they bathed only once a year.

Within this context, Claudia’s frequent baths were due not only to her cleanliness but also to her husband’s strange penchant for checking her scent. If he scrunched up his nose and said, “Phew!” or something similar, her pride would shatter to pieces.

“Since there’s a bathhouse in Craftsman’s District, stop by there on your way back.”

“Oh, they haven’t been shut down yet?”

“Craftsmen sweat a lot, so the existence of a bathhouse is a matter of life and death. If they closed it down, there’d be a riot. So, the Church won’t do anything beyond complaining.”

“But adventurers sweat and get covered in blood too, and there’s no bathhouse in Adventurer’s Quarter.”

“Jumping into a river and washing your whole body is faster anyway.”

In the not-so-distant past, when he accompanied Ricardo on a labyrinth exploration, Lutz washed his body in a river during their journey. He didn’t want to bring the peculiar stench of his sweat into the city.

Lutz realized they’d gotten off-topic.

“Sorry, we were talking about Sakura.”

“The basic fighting style would be using Sakura as an extremely easy-to-handle sword, and when facing formidable enemies, briefly entering a super-concentration state.”

“Then, if you’re surrounded by enemies, switch to Tsubaki, right? You’ve become even more of a monster with such a wide range of fighting styles.”

“A wide range of fighting styles, huh…”

Ricardo glanced briefly at the sword at his waist. Tsubaki on the right, Sakura on the left.

“For example, what if…? What if, right? I hold Tsubaki in my right hand and grip Sakura in my left hand for dual wielding. What would happen if I simultaneously activated the effects of both?”

“Hmm…?”

The two of them furrowed their brows, lost in thought. After all, there weren’t many people who had the opportunity to wield cursed swords, let alone possessing two of them and attempting to use them simultaneously. There couldn’t have been any precedents.

Would they interfere with each other? Or would there be some synergistic curse effect? What would the effects be in that case? They had no idea.

“The only thing I can say is, it’s better not to do it.”

“Why?”

Seeming as if his curiosity had been dampened, Ricardo pouted and asked. Lutz gave him a look of exasperation.

“You’ll die.”

“Huh!?”

That was quite the sudden declaration of death.

“Come on, Lutz-sensei, what kind of nonsense are you spewing…”

Ricardo tried to laugh it off lightly, but Lutz’s expression was deadly serious, leaving him at a loss for words.

“…Seriously?”

“You could get caught up in a curse too powerful and die.”

“That can’t be…”

Can he say that for sure?

For the past few days, Ricardo had been mentally exhausted from using Sakura extensively. If he kept the super-concentration state active for too long, there was a real risk of burning out his brain and dying. What would happen if that combined with the other cursed sword? There was no guarantee that the owner would come out of it unharmed.

“Well, dying squeezed between two beautiful women might be a kind of romantic way for a man to go,”

 Lutz said nonchalantly, as if it were someone else’s problem.

“I’d definitely prefer to live and enjoy while I’m at it.”

“True. By the way, if you do kick the bucket, starting with Tsubaki and Sakura, all the items held in trust by the Count’s family will be divided among the relevant parties, so rest assured.”

“There’s not a single reassuring element in that. Dammit, I’ll definitely live. I’ll live to be a hundred.”

“An adventurer aiming for a long life is quite the rare breed.”

With a huff, Ricardo stood up.

“I appreciate the advice. But someday, I want to try it. Dual-wielding, and simultaneous activation of the effects. First, I need to master my lady swords.”

With that declaration, Ricardo fluttered his hands and left. It seemed he didn’t have any specific reason for coming; he just wanted to chat.

He came uninvited, chatted, and left on his own. It was his usual routine.

Lutz didn’t find his words particularly surprising. He had a feeling Ricardo would say something like that. Ricardo was a bundle of curiosity and a spirit for challenges. Otherwise, he would have probably let go of Tsubaki once he found out about its effect.

…Maybe he could actually master it.

After gazing at the door Ricardo left through for a while, Lutz stepped on the pedal of the rotating whetstone and resumed sharpening the axe.

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