"Aah~Even an imprisoned Ais-sama is so cute!" Lefiya felt her heart melt as she gazed at the blonde hair girl in front of her.
The young girl had long, radiant golden blonde hair that shimmered softly as it fell over her shoulders. Her golden eyes were clear and pure, seemingly filled with courage that feared nothing.
Although she was still young, her innocence and youth only added to her charm. Her delicate features already hinted at a beauty that could rival the goddesses, signaling the inevitable beauty she would grow into. Her aura resembled a mythical spirit, exuding an ethereal coldness and nobility. Despite her expressionless and stoic demeanor, people couldn't help but be drawn to her.
The Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein had joined the Loki Familia at age seven and had broken the record for the fastest level up by leveling up to Lv2 within a year, making history at the age of eight. Recently, she had reached the impressive rank of Lv5 and was Lefiya's idol.
At this moment, however, Ais was squatting in the confinement room of the Twilight Manor, with a large sign around her neck that read, "I'm guilty."
Due to her reckless actions during the previous expedition, Ais was currently serving a well-deserved punishment.
She had left the squad on her own and chased a strengthened black dragon monster deep into the dungeon, jumping into one of the vertical tunnels. Although she successfully killed the dragon, she had angered someone far more terrifying than the monsters—the "Demon King" Riveria.
Now, the poor Sword Princess was imprisoned in the castle by the Demon King.
"I want to challenge that boy to a sword duel-." Carrying that thought in mind she had attempted to escape through the window, only to be caught by Riveria in the nick of time, who then dragged her back by her head.
"A Lv5 challenging a Lv1…What the hell were you thinking?! Do you want to make the entire Loki Familia a laughingstock?!"
Thus, the Demon King imprisoned the princess again, assigning her loyal subordinate (Lefiya) to guard her.
"Lefiya, let me out—" Ais looked at Lefiya with a pitiful, puppy-like expression.
Seeing this unexpected side of Ais only made Lefiya's admiration grow even stronger.
"Aah, Ais-sama is so cute… but no!" Lefiya crossed her arms in front of her chest, doing her best to resist Ais's charm. "Riveria-sama's orders are absolute!"
As vice-captain to subordinate, mentor to student, and royalty to subject, Riveria's commands to Lefiya was one of the few things that took priority over Ais's pleading.
"Ais-sama needs to stay here and reflect. But don't worry, even though you're confined, I'll be cheering you on!" Lefiya encouraged her, "Although Riveria-sama specifically instructed that I can't help Ais-sama with writing your apology letter or copying the Familia rules… but Ais-sama, I'll stay by your side!"
Ais: "Ugh, just kill me…"
...
The next day, at the Hephaestus Familia
Unaware of the Loki Familia's interest, Shirou Emiya resumed his routine of working between the workshop and the tavern the day after his dungeon expedition.
"Shirou, why are you suddenly interested in researching staffs?"
Seeing the boy seriously reading through a Staff Encyclopedia, Tsubaki curiously asked.
Staff-making wasn't Hephaestus Familia's strong suit. For one, most high-quality staffs required materials from magical trees,and two the Hephaestus Familia specialized in metal forging. Also, since there were far fewer mages in the city compared to warriors and staffs require less maintenance, the market was far smaller compared to melee weapons.
Moreover, staffs are replaced less often than melee weapon, since mage's are the protected target of an adventurer's party so their equipments rarely get damaged, due to this, the demand for custom orders was generally met through imports from the magic cities.
"Lefiya, the elf mage from the Loki Familia who I went to the dungeon with before, wanted to repay me after I helped her out in the dungeon." Shirou explained. "And when she found out I was a blacksmith, she asked if she could order some custom equipment from me."
"Oh~ I see." Tsubaki smiled in realization and patted the boy on the shoulder. "You've already scored an order from a top Familia—pretty impressive, Shirou!"
Typically, high-ranking adventurers in Loki Familia had their gear crafted by the Goibniu Familia, a top smithing Familia on par with Hephaestus Familia but much smaller in scale. Goibniu Familia mainly specialized in custom gear for high-level adventurers and also took on construction projects.
Because the Goibniu Familia is a pure manufacturing-type Familia, they don't participate in any adventuring, so there are no high-level adventurers within the Familia.
Receiving an order from a top Familia like the Loki Familia is a great opportunity for Shirou Emiya. It not only promises a considerable profit from the order but also provides a chance to advertise himself to the Loki Familia.
For a rookie blacksmith like Shirou, Lefiya's "thank you gift" shows a lot of sincerity.
"So, Shirou, are you planning to make a magic staff or some other equipment?" Tsubaki asked.
"Personally, I was leaning toward trying to make a staff, but it's proving to be harder than I thought." Shirou replied.
When it comes to equipment making, Shirou is most skilled in forging swords and blades, followed by other weapons, then armor and finally other types of gear. Even when making simple practice swords, the quality is already quite exceptional, not inferior to the work of experienced blacksmiths. However, his ability to make other types of equipment is still at a beginner's level.
After all, from the time Shirou received his Falna (blessing) until now, it's only been a little over two weeks. However, with the magic Unlimited Blade Works in his arsenal, it's destined that Shirou will become one of the best blacksmiths. Neither Tsubaki nor Hephaestus doubt that.
"There's no need to rush," Shirou said as he flipped through the magic staff encyclopedia. "Lefiya didn't set a deadline, nor did she specifically requested for a staff."
Shirou's initial plan was to wait until he reached Level 2 and acquired the Development Ability [Blacksmith] before taking formal equipment orders. As a Level 1 adventurer, his works are not yet worthy of bearing the Hephaestus Familia's mark.
Lefiya will most likely be his first customer, so Shirou wanted to get familiar with magic staff designs in advance.
"When my levels a bit higher and my blacksmithing skills improve, I could always make her some gauntlets or boots first," he thought to himself.
However, from his personal perspective, Shirou would prefer to forge a weapon, ideally a sword.
"Why not just make her a close-range weapon?" Tsubaki suggested. "Just forge her a sword, since that's what you're best at."
"But Lefiya is a mage?" Shirou questioned.
"She's Level 2, isn't she? After leveling up, even a mage's physical strength will surpass that of an average Level 1 adventurer." Tsubaki explained. "And high-level mages often learn some close-combat skills, that's common knowledge, you know."
"In the Loki Familia, Riveria is skilled with staff combat and martial arts. In Freya Familia, Hedin is a master swordsman. Even without using magic, they can easily overpower adventurers below Level 4 with their physical abilities alone."
Shirou nodded, understanding now. "I see."
Leveling up enhances an adventurer's overall abilities, and someone like Riveria, even with minimal strength gains at each level(Rank G, 200-299), becomes extremely formidable at higher levels.
Moreover, mages train in close combat to prepare for situations where using magic isn't feasible, at least to the point where they can defend themselves or stall until their teammates can help.
Lefiya's helplessness when monsters got too close was mainly due to her lack of experience and past trauma.
"Alright, in that case, I know what to do," Shirou said, finalizing his plan. "By the way, how's your magic sword coming along, Tsubaki?"
"It's almost done! I have a good feeling this one is going to be my best creation yet, thanks to your help, Shirou," Tsubaki grinned, her face clearly showing her joy. "I can't believe you came up with that design. You're amazing."
"Ah, well…" Shirou scratched his head.
In truth, he had copied the design from a weapon he had seen before, but he couldn't exactly say that.
When he and Tsubaki had been discussing weapon designs, he hadn't realized it, but he had unknowingly designed the magic sword to resemble Caladbolg, the Spiral Sword.
[Caladbolg], also called the Rainbow Sword, was a Noble Phantasm wielded by Fergus mac Róich in Celtic mythology, it was said to have been forged by faeries and imbued with the power of heavenly thunder.
As a powerful A+ Anti-Army noble phantasm known for its ability to destroy entire landscapes, legend tells that Caladbolg's terrifying power once" cut off the tops of three hills."
The heroic spirit Emiya had once projected Caladbolg and modified it for use as an arrow, so he was well-versed in its structure.
The magic sword he and Tsubaki ended up designing was essentially a re-modified version of the arrow form of the Spiral Sword to be used as a magic sword.
If the weapon Emiya had projected was fake Spiral Sword(Caladbolg ll), then would the magic sword that Tsubaki created be called fake-fake Spiral Sword(Calabold lll).
"By the way, the forging of the magic sword is at its final stage. I hope you can join me in completing it," Tsubaki placed both hands on Shirou's shoulders and said, with a serious expression.
"Why me? I don't have the [Blacksmith] Development Ability," Shirou asked.
Magic swords can only be created by those with the [Blacksmith] Development Ability. As one of the few magic sword blacksmiths in the entire city, Tsubaki, a top-tier blacksmith, was uniquely qualified to forge such weapons. Naturally, Shirou, who was still only Level 1, didn't yet possess the [Blacksmith] ability.
"Your involvement would elevate the quality of this magic sword to a whole new level. I can feel it as a blacksmith," Tsubaki said with firm conviction. "It's also the goddess's prophecy."
Both Tsubaki and Hephaestus believed that this boy, who had a deep connection with swords, could once again perform a miracle.
"If that's the case, Tsubaki, I'll do everything I can to help you," Shirou replied firmly.
"Shirou, you're the best!" Tsubaki exclaimed, embracing Shirou joyfully, her excitement palpable.
—————
(TN:Fun fact:Fergus mac Róich wiki page is completely empty while his Noble Phantasm Caladbolg has six different versions.)
Loli Ais
https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Ais_Wallenstein/Image_Gallery?file=Ais_Wallenstein_Danmemo_27.png#DanMemo
https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Ais_Wallenstein/Image_Gallery?file=Ais_Wallenstein_Danmemo_58.png#DanMemo
Fake Caladbolg
https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Caladbolg?file=Caladbolg+v2.png
Fake-Fake Caladbolg
https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Caladbolg?file=Caladbolg_Class_Card.gif