Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 6 – The Blacksmith Wants Materials
While they were talking, the group arrived at the old workshop tucked away in one corner of the blacksmith district—Werlich’s workshop.
Estelle reached for the soot-covered door, which looked ready to crumble at the slightest touch, and threw it open without hesitation.
Bang!
Soot scattered through the air. Werlich, who was inside, looked toward Estelle without the slightest surprise. Despite its appearance, the door was made of sturdy wood and showed no sign of breaking. Even the scar Ulysses had left on it in his youth was easier to overlook.
“Werlich, I’m here.”
“Boss! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Werlich was both a blacksmith and a magic-ship engineer. Short and broad like a typical dwarf, he scratched his beard as he looked from Estelle to Ren and Licia.
“Huh? Why are those two here?”
“Estelle-sama invited us,” Ren said. “Though we still haven’t been told what we’re doing.”
“Oh, then this will be simple.”
Nothing about the situation seemed simple when they had not even heard the plan, but Ren no longer minded.
“They’re moving rather quickly…” Licia murmured. “Ren…?”
“Don’t worry. We can just go along with it.”
“All right… I’ll do that.”
Licia had not spoken with Werlich many times, but she understood his personality well enough. She answered with an awkward smile rather than questioning the energetic pair any further. Their boisterousness could be exhausting, but it was difficult to dislike.
“All right, you two. Let’s get going,” Estelle said.
“Right! First we’ll head to Elendil, then we’ll take to the sky!” Werlich declared.
“…Why are we going into the sky?” Ren asked.
Werlich answered with renewed enthusiasm.
“To gather materials for Lemuria’s repairs. I asked the Boss to help, and she graciously gave up one of her precious days off.”
The existence of Lemuria was somewhat confidential, but Estelle naturally knew about it. What she had not been told was that materials from Asval were being used in the repairs.
“A hunt will do you good, Ren,” Estelle said.
“The repairs themselves are going well,” Werlich continued. “There are only a few places where we still lack materials. The real problem is what we’ll use for the furnace core…”
“Um… what exactly does that mean?” Licia asked.
She knew a little about Lemuria. It was the magic ship left behind in Elendil’s Hanging Garden, the enormous multipurpose station that towered over the city. Werlich had spent years repairing it, so she could understand that he needed materials.
What she really wanted to know was something else.
“Are we going to hunt in the sky?”
“That’s right,” Estelle replied. “We’ll use a magic ship belonging to House Drake.”
Ren and Licia understood that this was important because it concerned Lemuria’s restoration. They were also curious about what they would be hunting.
After leaving the workshop, Estelle explained as they walked.
“Consider it half work. A flock of Lesser Griffons has recently been sighted. Leomel designates them for extermination. Ren, tell me why.”
“They’re extremely aggressive. Once Lesser Griffons form a flock, they become even more violent, and they’ll prey on monsters of the same rank or even higher.”
“Correct. They resemble purebred Griffons, with a lion’s body and a bird’s head, and each is roughly the size of a wagon bed. They are far weaker than a purebred B-rank Griffon, but Lesser Griffons are still dangerous C-rank monsters.”
Leomel usually dispatched soldiers to eliminate such flocks. The Adventurers’ Guild sometimes handled them, but that was uncommon.
No formal extermination order had been issued yet. Estelle had merely heard about the sightings, and when Werlich learned of them, he decided the monsters would provide materials he needed.
“What are the Lesser Griffon materials used for?” Ren asked.
“For processing materials from purebred Griffons,” Werlich answered. “Their materials can’t be properly worked unless they’re treated with flames produced from Lesser Griffon materials. It’s a matter of magical compatibility.”
Using Lesser Griffon materials in a ship that also incorporated Asval’s materials sounded like a considerable downgrade, but purebred Griffons were exceptional creatures. Ren understood Werlich’s reasoning.
Estelle continued.
“The site is three hours into the mountains by magic ship. The moment we draw near, they will attack. Several people have already been killed, so you may fight without restraint.”
“Is it really all right for me to come?” Licia asked.
“What concerns you? Say it plainly.”
“My abilities, of course.”
“Then there is nothing to worry about. I believe you and Ren could handle them by yourselves. Together, the two of you have even less to fear. Above all, I will be there.”
“Boss! I can fight when necessary too!” Werlich added.
“Indeed. You could defeat a C-rank monster with one hand while yawning.”
Werlich laughed.
“This is the perfect opportunity. Hunt as many as you need without holding back!”
The Drake family’s magic ship was waiting in Elendil.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Just as Estelle had said, the voyage from the Imperial Capital to their destination took three hours.
By the time they arrived, the sky had turned crimson and night was approaching from beyond the horizon.
The mountain range was not as sharp as the Baldor Mountains, but its slopes were steep and jagged. No trees grew there; the peaks resembled enormous masses of bare stone. The Lesser Griffons had established their nest inside a crater at the summit.
The Drake family’s magic ship was slightly smaller than a civilian transport vessel, but its durability was in another league.
The Lesser Griffons heard the approaching ship and took flight. The flock appeared to number fewer than twenty.
Ren stood on deck with the Mithril Magic Sword in hand.
“Do Lesser Griffons often gather into flocks this suddenly?”
“No,” Estelle replied. “Two such incidents in a year would already be considered many in Leomel. This year is the year of the Glacier Crossing, however. That may have influenced them.”
“The Glacier Crossing… Have you heard of it, Ren?” Licia asked.
“No. This is the first time.”
While they spoke, the Lesser Griffons circled above the deck. Several spread their wings and glided upon the wind.
“You hardly need the warning,” Estelle said, “but if you lower your guard, you will be injured.”
Ren and Licia nodded.
Lesser Griffons did more than fly. Their bodies possessed tremendous strength, their wings could generate violent gusts, and they could breathe fire.
One dived toward Ren at high speed, intending to bathe him in flames from the front.
“Are you not interested in me?” Licia asked calmly.
Her voice seemed to echo unnaturally strongly inside the monster’s mind.
“Grrr—!”
The Lesser Griffon suddenly lost control of its flight. Before it understood what had happened, Licia had severed its flight feathers, preventing it from maintaining its balance or properly moving its wings.
It raised a foreleg and tried to tear apart Licia’s beautiful face with its talons, but that too was futile. Its claws were already gone, cut away by the white blade in Licia’s hand—Byakuen.
“Well done.”
Estelle whistled from a short distance away.
The disoriented Lesser Griffon had its throat pierced by Ren.
“You’re doing well, Licia.”
“Thank you. This is my first time fighting monsters like these, but they’re somehow manageable.”
“After what we fought this summer, I suppose they would be.”
They exchanged a quiet laugh, alluding to the Sword Demon, but neither lowered their guard.
Their experience inside the Cage of Time had driven both of them to grow. Before them, the Lesser Griffons could do little but recoil.
Even so, real combat provided invaluable experience.
“Krrr…”
“Graa! Graa!”
The Lesser Griffons had underestimated their opponents, believing humans to be insignificant prey.
The surviving monsters sharpened their gazes and attacked Ren and Licia with even greater ferocity. Their dives accelerated, the gusts produced by their wings intensified, and the flames pouring from their open beaks grew stronger.
Those flames, however, were magic.
“This is where I come in,” Ren said.
“Yes. Today, I’ll leave that to you.”
Advanced practitioners of the Mighty Sword Style could wield Arts. Ren used Mighty Sword Art: Star Slaying to shear through the magic, dispersing the flames in an instant.
The startled monsters lashed out with their legs, but Licia avoided them with the smallest possible movements.
The Mithril Magic Sword, evolved from the Iron Magic Sword, reflected the evening light. Its deep lapis-blue blade retained none of its former iron-black appearance, and Lesser Griffon blood slid from it without staining the metal.
With the Large Increase in Physical Abilities granted by Magic Sword Summoning, Ren fought with even more composure than Licia.
He was not displaying his full strength. Although this should have been the Mithril Magic Sword’s first great stage, the Lesser Griffons were too weak. Instead, the battle had become little more than a modest training ground.
Ren nevertheless continued to swing his sword without carelessness. Someday, a stage worthy of that blade would surely come.
“Ren! Licia!” Estelle called as she watched them fight. “Let me tell you about the Glacier Crossing! It is a phenomenon that occurs once every dozen years in the northern seas between the Elfen and Martell Continents—”
During especially severe winters, an unusual glacier spread across that sea. It formed when the distant Sky Continent passed overhead, blocking the sunlight and causing the ice below to grow thicker and wider.
The battle at dusk had only just begun.