――Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clanging sounds of Nazarie-san swinging down her big hammer
echoed in in the workshop.
――Blaze!
Of course, by her side was me, keeping the fire ablaze.
Having discussed the girls' requests with the other dwarfs after
finishing their body measurements, Nazarie-san left the making of
girls' armors to the dwarfs and went on to make my weapon.
I thought for sure that Nazarie-san would be the one making
everything, but apparently her specialty lied in blacksmithing, and the
other dwarves were better at sewing and such.
Hence, excluding the important metal parts, she left the rest to the
other dwarves.
That said, there were nothing but top-notch craftsmen whose skills
far superior than humans here.
The finished products would be first-class, no doubt.
"—Okay, this should do it for now. Ah, don't put out the fire, okay?
This guy's still in the middle of concentrating its life force."
"G-got it." Nodding, I continued to wrap Hihiirokane which was still in
the middle of processing in fire as told.
"Phew~…" Nazarie then asked while fanning herself with her hand,
seemingly feeling hot, "By the way, about that 'Magic Blade Sword'
you used before, it was something you asked a blacksmith in some
town to make, right?"
"Yes. The blacksmith is called Leia-san and she's from the martial
arts city Leolinea."
"I see. It had some restrictions, but for it to be able to convert your
power into all sorts of armaments, it wasn't something simple, I
reckon. She must be a really excellent blacksmith. Umu, admirable,
indeed."
"Haha, I'll convey your words to her the next time I see her. I'm sure
she'll be overjoyed when she hears that she's praised by the
Matchless Genius dwarf."
"Yeah, you do that. It'd be great if that motivates her to strive
bettering her skill." Nazarie-san smiled widely.
I also broke into a smile and asked, "So, what will this weapon be
like?"
"Fufufu, it won't be interesting if I tell you now, will it? But well, I'll
give you a hint—'it will be weapon that walks with you'."
"A weapon that walks with me…?"
What does that mean… as I was tilting my head—at that time.
『—Oi! You can hear me aight, you saintess bitches! If you don't get
your assess out here right now, we're gonna bury you along with this
entire village!』
""—!?""
The shout of a man suddenly echoed throughout the village.
◇ ◇
Naturally, Arcadia and the others hurried out of the village in place of
Exa who was currently occupied and couldn't leave, and what came
into their sight was the figures of a man with sanpaku eyes smiling
fearlessly and a muscular giant man standing composedly next to
him.
Although both have human faces, the former had limbs of a beast,
whereas the latter had two thick horns sticking out of his forehead; it
was apparent that they were demi-humans.
"Oh, you finally came out. Kukuku, looks like things ain't gonna be
boring." The man with sanpaku eyes grinned and laughed happily.
"Saints, huh…" Arcadia murmured and asked the man while
readying the Holy Spear, "What is your objective!? Why are you guys
attacking the innocents despite being saints!?"
"Ha, who cares 'bout somethin' like that. I'm just doin' it to kill time
'cuz I'm fuckin' bored."
"You guys attacked the village for such a reason…!?" Arcadia
radiated anger.
The man with sanpaku eyes then said in annoyed manner, "I told
you, who cares 'bout somethin' like that? That was the decision
made by our great leader. I personally haven't the slightest interest in
the dwarves."
"In other words, you people aren't monolithic?" asked Magmell.
The giant man opened his mouth this time, "Aye. So you can rest
assured, Saintesses. Our purpose is not the dwarves. Today we
have come to check out your abilities. A visit out of personal interest,
you may say."
Zana nodded slightly, "I see. But you couldn't be thinking that we'd
believe your words just like that, could you?"
"To believe or not to believe, it's up to you. We will be fighting, either
way." The giant man said solemnly.
Ophir then pointed the Holy Axe at him and said, "Ha, aight. Then I'll
be yer opponent."
"Wait, Ophir-san!?" Magmell furrowed her brows, her expression
seemed to ask what Ophir was thinking.
Gesturing with her hand so as to stop Magmell, Ophir continued, "Of
course ya ain't gonna complain, yeah? —Mr. 'Axe' Saint."
At Ophir's words, the giant man grabbed the sinister battle axe he
was carrying on his back and said, "Naturally, 'Axe' Saintess. My
name is Boreios. I am from the demi-human race of minotaur and
am, as you say, the 'Axe' Saint."
――Boom!
"""""—!?"""""
Just his act of drawing out his axe caused a tremendous wind
pressure that hit everyone around.
But without hesitation, Ophir leaked a fearless smile instead and
said, "'s that so! I'm Ophir! The strongest saintess who was raised by
the goddess of wind Turbo!"
BANG! Ophir kicked off the ground and leapt towards Boreios.
Thus, the battle between the two sides began.