The next day…
*Boom!*
A strong shockwave was produced by Liu Ying's fist after she punched the air. The shockwave shook the trees nearby, and even the walls of the house trembled slightly.
"How is it?" Bloed asked.
Liu Ying looked at the glove on her hand and could not hide her surprise. She could feel that the strength of her last punch was at least twice as strong as before.
Moreover, that was not the only effect of the glove.
"This is… I can't believe it."
Bloed put on a smile of pride. He looked at the glove on Liu Ying's hand and nodded in satisfaction.
The glove was made of mithril and a bit of orichalcum. Bloed designed it as a red fingerless glove mixed with amber in some parts. Yes, just like Liu Ying's hair and eyes.
But the beautiful design was just a part of its charm. The best part of this glove was its functions.
Bloed used magic runes related to [Power], [Penetration], and [Impact] on it. The three kinds of magic runes were fused to give the glove the ability to increase exponentially the strength and penetration of the wielder's attacks.
Liu Ying only needed to supply it with a bit of mana to see its effects.
To be honest, even an A-Grade practitioner would be jealous after seeing a glove like this.
"Come, return it to me." Bloed said.
Liu Ying put on a reluctant look. She looked at Bloed like a child begging to keep her candy.
Bloed could not help but twitch his lips seeing that.
"Come on, you know I have not finished it yet. I still need to do some adjustments and finish the other."
Liu Ying pouted, but in the end, she returned the glove to Bloed.
Bloed did not know whether to laugh or to cry when he saw her eyes filled with longing and reluctance.
"It looks like you liked it."
Liu Ying nodded in embarrassment. "It's great. I can't believe you managed to make it in just a few days."
"Well, I'm amazing."
Liu Ying scoffed, but her face had a smile.
"Then, did you find anything wrong or strange with it?" Bloed asked Liu Ying while observing the glove.
Liu Ying hesitated slightly before speaking. "… I think the flow of mana was a bit messy in the fingers, but I'm not sure. However, that is something normal. Most magic weapons have that problem."
"Is it so?" Bloed fell deep into thoughts.
"B-But it's still great!" Liu Ying quickly continued speaking. "To be honest, even my family didn't have many artifacts as good as it! I think no weapon below demigod artifacts can compare."
"But they are still flawed." Bloed simply said.
Liu Ying did not know what to say.
To be honest, the glove was more than perfect if she had to give an opinion. That tiny flaw was nothing in comparison.
In fact, most magic weapons had bigger flaws.
Great consumption of mana, being hard to wield, harming both the user and the enemy, etc. Stuff like that was common with magic weapons.
But as an engineer, Bloed could not tolerate even that tiny flaw.
The basis of mechanics was perfection. Many times, a tiny flaw in the design was enough to cause a lethal malfunction.
Plus, Bloed's pride as an engineer did not allow him to make a flawed weapon.
So, after asking Liu Ying some other questions about the design, he returned to the laboratory.
In the courtyard, a girl was looking at that scene with her hands on her cheek.
"Nn-nn, as expected, my hero is incredible…" Gina smiled brilliantly.
"… Your hero?" A sharp voice came from behind her.
"R-R-Regina!? H-How long have you been here?"
"That is not important, miss Gina. Explain, what is that about your hero."
Gina panicked. She looked right and left to find a way to get herself out of this situation.
At that moment, she saw Bloed coming out of the laboratory again.
"R-Right, I had to tell him something important!"
Then, she ran towards Bloed like a frightening rabbit.
Regina frowned. "As expected, this little girl's intentions are not pure."
Gina quickly reached in front of Bloed. When Bloed saw her expression, he tilted his head.
"What is it?"
"… This... You want to know why the city lord is doing this, right?"
"Oh, that. I already know."
Gina was stunned. "… You already know?"
"Yeah, I discovered the reason during the fight yesterday. By the way, how do you know about this?" Bloed looked at Gina suspiciously.
Gina was startled. She then smiled sheepishly and laughed Bloed's question off.
Bloed's narrowed his eyes. But when he was about to interrogate her, Liu Ying interrupted him.
"Huh? Do you already know the reason? What is it?" Liu Ying asked curiously.
Bloed shrugged and took out his saber. He then showed it to Liu Ying.
"What do you think about my saber?"
"A good weapon." Regina replied without hesitation. "Its ability to cut through anything is truly frightening. If not that only you can use it, it could be easily considered a demigod-level weapon."
Bloed smiled. "Now you understand."
Liu Ying was startled. But in the next second, her eyes opened wide.
"So that is the reason…"
Bloed smiled wryly. "It was my mistake. To me, this saber is just a medium to use my ability, but in the eyes of people below demigod rank, it's a blade able to cut through anything. I fear the city lord discovered the unusualness of the saber when I saved his daughter and got greedy for it."
Liu Ying did not know whether to laugh or to cry. To think that all this issue was due to a misunderstanding.
"What are you going to do, then, Bloed?" Liu Ying asked.
Bloed shrugged. "What can I do? I will finish making your gloves and leave the city. As for the city lord, I don't want to kill him to avoid problems, but if he goes too far, I don't mind killing him... Sigh, how troublesome. I will have to be more careful about this next time."
Liu Ying nodded. She agreed completely with Bloed.
But when she remembered that the time to separate from Bloed and Regina was approaching, her expression turned complicated.
In the end, she could only sigh.
At that moment, a timid voice interrupted.
"… Hey Bloed, is it alright for me to hear this conversation?"
Bloed was startled. He then remembered that Gina was here too.
A frown instantly appeared on Bloed's face. 'Strange… What happened?'
It was strange. Bloed normally did not make such a novice mistake.
Furthermore, despite knowing that Gina had heard such a dangerous conversation and that she had ties to the city lord, Bloed could not bring himself to feel wariness towards her.
'How strange…'
For an instant, Bloed could not help but look at this bubbly girl with a curious look.