Chapter 33: Challenge from the Coffin

Summer was over, and the heat and humidity had passed, but I couldn’t sleep that day.

Lutz was just staring blankly at the ceiling. Even if you don’t have a light source like this, you’ll get used to it if you keep your eyes open in the dark.

“What’s troubling you?”

I tried not to move too much so as not to wake up Claudia, who was sleeping next to me with her naked body pressed against me, but before I knew it, she had opened her eyes as if she had sensed my presence.

Her eyes, full of tenderness, shining in the darkness, are so beautiful that they make me shudder.

“… I was thinking about the sword Borvis-san struck.”

“Lutz-kun is the guy who finished it.”

“Yes, that’s right. When I saw the sharpened sword, I was fascinated.”

I couldn’t even say that it was beautiful. However, Lutz’s heart was stolen for a moment by the functionality that cornered its slashing.

It was also one of the answers to the question of what a sword should be.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I honestly didn’t think Borvis-san would go that far. There’s no way I can lose when it comes to making swords.”

“If Borvis-san hit one great sword, that doesn’t mean that Lutz-kun lost, does it?”

Claudia pouted her lips, wondering if she didn’t like the fact that the man she fell in love with was belittling himself. For her, Lutz is the best swordsmith on the continent. She wouldn’t be satisfied without it.

I also saw the Borvis sword, and it was indeed a magnificent piece of workmanship. But I didn’t think it was as good as the Camellia or the Demon Wailing Sword struck by Lutz.

“Yes, that’s right. How can I say it, Borvis-san wasn’t a swordsmith by profession. Even so, he created something of that level. Now that it’s like this, I think it’s unfair if I don’t make a first-class sword.”

In exchange for teaching him how to make a katana, Borvis showed me how to make a sword. Now I can even think that it was a challenge as a craftsman.

He showed me that he could compete in my ring, and I could do it too.

“So now you want to make a sword.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll just do things that don’t make money.”

“Fine. It’s always been the most important path for us to see it through, even in a roundabout way. Isn’t that right?”

Claudia draped her naked body over Lutz, smiling and covering his lips.

From the next day, Lutz was busy collecting iron sand for a while. He had run out of iron sand as he kept getting one job after another.

They did not have charcoal and iron brought to them by the vendors, as the members of the same trade association in the city did. They had to procure everything themselves.

He had to buy charcoal from the charcoal burners in the neighborhood, but he had to do the iron sand collection himself. It was not a bad job for Lutz, who likes to think while he works.

“Well, what kind of sword should I make…”

With katana, various shapes come to mind, but when it comes to swords, I have no idea. It is like groping in the dark.

I couldn’t say I couldn’t do it. Borvis had done an excellent job of making something that was outside of his field of expertise. If so, there was no reason why he couldn’t do it, and if he couldn’t do it, he would have lost.

“Is this the price of technology? No, if anything, I should listen to the old man’s words.”

Even while complaining, Lutz’s mouth was smiling. It was a fresh experience for Lutz, who had completed the world by himself, such as his burning rivalry with someone.

It was also fun to play with the jealousy, rivalry, and impatience within himself.

Katanas are basically single-edged and double-handed. Western swords are double-edged and are held in various ways depending on their purpose. How to pull a sword out of its scabbard is also different.

It was unlikely that a good product could be made without a clear image of what the sword would be wielded for, rather than just making something by accident.

The sun had not yet set, but there was a limit to how much could be carried on the back of a donkey. Lutz gave up collecting iron sand and headed back home.

The sword making this time seems to take a little longer.

As soon as I returned to the workshop, Claudia prepared dinner for us. Black bread, vegetable soup, and beer.

However, this was enough for me, since I could only get rotten meat with spices if I tried to buy it in the city. The only thing that mattered was that we were eating together.

“Claud, is there anyone you’d like to slash?”

Lutz said as he sipped his soup, and Claudia tilted her head.

“… What, suddenly during a meal”

“I need a purpose for the sword. I need an image that feels good, whether I actually use it or not. For example, yes, let’s say you had a kill permit in your hand. Who would you want to use it on?”

Claudia was also bold when it came to this, and didn’t refuse to talk just because she was eating.

“If that happens, maybe it’s just the knight scavengers.”

Without changing a single expression on her face, she said it as if it were a matter of course. It seems that the bitterness of being falsely accused has not faded even a little.

“Assuming that you are going to enter the station by yourself, since it is an indoor battle, it would be better to have a shorter one. It should be one-handed and be able to both thrust and strike. The blade should be thick so that you don’t lose in a fight…..”

Lutz stabbed the bad knights’ throats in his brain and slashed off their arms. He repeated the process of getting himself killed over and over again, then changing the shape of his weapon and getting back in.

After about a dozen of my own corpses had piled up, I finally saw the right sword to annihilate them all.

“…Yeah, I see. Thank you Claudia, I think I can make an interesting sword with this. It’s important to get new stimulation by interacting with other craftsmen.”

“Lutz-kun, just for the record, you really shouldn’t attack.”

“Oi oi, What are you talking about? Isn’t it obvious?”

“The eyes were a little scary. According to the laws of this country, it doesn’t work to say that you killed someone because they were an idiot.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.”

Swords and blades are tools for killing people, and if you put too much into them, your mind might be dragged away and you might really want to cut someone. Lutz decided to accept Claudia’s advice.

That being said, he was also looking forward to making a new sword, and he was a helpless race of swordsmiths.

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