NOVEL NEXT Chapter 531
Chapter 531. The Artisan’s Anguish
“—Because of this sword! Do you know how much I’ve suffered because of it!!”
For a moment, I was knocked out, but I was soon jolted awake by Ainz shaking me vigorously.
“What the hell is this, you bastard! This was my greatest masterpiece! Do you understand? It’s… it’s too terrible! Can you feel my pain seeing such a miserable Adamas?!”
Ainz’s bloodshot eyes were right in front of my face. I had nearly passed out and was now in a kneeling position. My eye level was matched with Ainz’s—being short had its moments, I guess.
Well, I could understand Ainz’s feelings.
He had once called Adamas his greatest masterpiece.
It was of such quality that it was closing in on being the “main event.”
To have to see such a beloved creation turned into something pitiful… it was only natural for him to be furious. I completely understood that.
…But I still didn’t get what he meant by “how much I’ve suffered because of this sword.” What did he mean by that? So, in conclusion, I said.
“I’m sorry… I probably don’t really understand.”
“What the hell do you mean ‘probably’, you bastard—!”
“Gwagh!”
This time, I received a knuckle to the top of my head. Damn it, how did our eye levels match up?! I didn’t pass out, but it hurt like hell!
“Uh, Alex…”
Liliana’s healing light flew toward me immediately. Thank goodness. Orderju watched us like a warm-hearted bystander, and Helena had a face that seemed to enjoy watching me get beaten (the fact that she didn’t outright laugh was probably due to her upbringing and sense of reason).
As for Leila… she looked drained from running long distances, her expression blank, and the light in her golden eyes had vanished as she just stared at Ainz.
That void in her eyes—
“Doesn’t it kinda look like a dark dragon…?!”
Antendeixis! This isn’t a joke with Leila!
And Leila! It’s my fault! I’m the one to blame for messing up Ainz’s hard work…!! Please calm down… I beg you, calm down…!
While I was sending glances to soothe the dragon’s fury, Ainz, after shouting for a while, took a breath and retreated to a nearby room.
…He dragged a chair over. Carelessly shooting fire magic up to the ceiling, Ainz lit a lamp.
In the dim entrance of the mansion, illuminated by the circular light of the lamp, Ainz plopped down onto a chair, crossed his short legs, and struck a pose filled with worry.
“Alright. For someone like you, whose brain is made of muscles, I’ll explain my anguish, my backstory… in a way you can understand…!!”
He started to narrate…!
“After receiving all your wealth, I poured my heart and soul into forging Adamas. And I finished a masterpiece like never before. It was undeniably the pinnacle of my work. For a while, after completing Adamas, I was genuinely joyful.”
The sense of accomplishment on finishing Adamas was intense…
“But…!”
At that point, Ainz’s expression contorted in pain.
“It also marked the beginning of my nightmare…!”
“What do you mean…?”
“Think about it! It was my best work, surpassing my limits! When I discovered my ‘best,’ it’s only natural for a craftsman to want to reach that peak again!”
Ainz’s eyes bulged wide open.
“Day after day, I continued forging swords to reach Adamas… Most ordinary dwarves focus on axes, hammers, and armor as their main work, treating swords and shields as side projects. Heh, how many dwarves have forged as many swords as I have? Even with supporting the Holy Church…”
With a sarcastic smile, Ainz looked at the wall behind him. For the first time, I noticed that the dim wall of the mansion was lined with sword racks, filled with countless swords. Some were propped against the wall, while others lay scattered on the floor.
“But… despite all this… no matter how much effort I put in…!”
Ainz narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists tightly.
“I could never surpass Adamas…!”
Again, he stared at me with eyes filled with rage, frustration, and a sort of despair.
“I worked my ass off. Thanks to the restrictions of blacksmithing magic, for us dwarves, the rewards can dictate the quality of our work. But if your skill is good enough, you can create masterpieces even for cheap rewards. If you receive rewards beyond that, you should be able to forge something surpassing Adamas—no, you have to! But still!”
He slammed the armrest of the chair.
“Even with treasures that far exceed your entire fortune as payment! Even if I accepted rewards from someone even more desperate than you! I couldn’t forge a piece that would surpass Adamas! This is humiliation, a defeat as a craftsman! True, my skills have been improving little by little! But no matter what, I can’t surpass that level of completion! I can’t even forge something that stands alongside Adamas!!”
Ainz gritted his teeth and cradled his head in despair.
“Could it be… that my masterpiece was simply a fluke? That it was merely a peak, a stroke of luck, and I’d never be able to surpass it again?—Feeling that way scares me… frustrates me! Adamas was the best! I was certain it was extremely close to being the main event! But…!!”
As his drive began to fade, Ainz slumped back into the chair.
“And then… while I was busy forging swords, I somehow became a renowned blacksmith trusted by the human race… I received better treatment and had more customers than ever. But what does that matter? I was just like a dumb horse, running after a carrot dangled in front of me. Stubbornly and desperately… but recently, I’ve grown tired… from only forging swords, I’ve forgotten how to forge axes or hammers… and my wife got fed up and returned to her hometown…”
In this sorry state, I can’t even face my ancestors… he muttered as he sank deeper into the chair.
“That… that greatest masterpiece…!”
The once supreme strike that had blinded Ainz’s eyes.
“You bastard…!”
Rendered a miserable, cracked, and aged blade, devoid of its former glory.
“…I’m sorry. Truly sorry. I messed up, I really did.”
I could only apologize profusely. After completing Adamas, I had moved on to another front, interrupting my connection with Ainz.
But I hadn’t expected that forging Adamas would cause Ainz such suffering.
“Well… um…”
Ainz seemed surprised, as he fiddled with his mustache.
…Ah, I get it. In the past, we’d often get into actual fistfights over harsh words, so my sincere apology caught him off guard.
I was young back then…
Plus, I was much denser than I am now…
“No… I might have gone too far…”
Ainz muttered softly.
“The fact that I can’t surpass Adamas is purely my fault, and that has nothing to do with you. …But yeah, I’m pissed that you broke Adamas, for sure!”
We both looked at each other in disappointment.
…Looking closely, I noticed Ainz’s eyes had more little wrinkles than I remembered from my hazy memories. Hidden by his beard, he looked rather pale for a dwarf.
“Even in the Demon Lord Castle… Adamas was reliable. Everyone else around me was getting their equipment shattered like fragile glass or wet paper, but Adamas remained unbroken, supporting me even against the Demon Lord’s spear…”
As I naturally reflected on the blitz attack on the Demon Lord’s castle, I spoke.
“The Demon Lord’s… spear charged with the strength of a Demon God. I believe that is the strongest weapon in this world.”
“The strongest weapon in the world, you say?”
Ainz twitched at that part, clearly intrigued; he really was a blacksmith at heart.
“There are lots of other things to question, but he only cares about weapons…”
That’s just how he is…
“I understand that saying ‘strongest weapon’ directly to a dwarven blacksmith is pretty insensitive. But it is… truly the strongest weapon, something closer to a phenomenon. Ainz, envision the finest weapon you know. Now picture that, a hundred times sturdier and a hundred times more vicious—that is the Demon Lord’s spear.”
“Huh…?”
“You think I’m joking, right? But that’s really how it is.”
I said, glaring with intensity. For the first time, Ainz seemed taken aback.
“Looking back, the Demon Lord was probably slacking off. Nonetheless, it was a grotesquely monstrous bundle of violence. And despite receiving that force, Adamas did not break. Yet I… ruined a masterpiece. I’m truly sorry. I apologize.”
“……I’m starting to get a bit confused here.”
Ainz scratched his head.
“If Adamas was not destroyed by the Demon Lord, then how did it end up like this?”
“……”
I could feel unpleasant sweat trickling down.
“What in the world could cause this? Did something surpass the world’s strongest weapon?”
“No… um…”
“Hey! I’m the parent of Adamas! I have the right to know the details of its demise!!”
Ainz gripped my shoulder tightly.
I tried to swallow my spit multiple times, but my mouth was too dry to do so.
Dammit… he’s definitely gonna be mad…!
But!
I have to say it!
“…Adamas was… put into hibernation… while sealed, and then it cracked under a ridiculously strong guy’s best shot!!”
Resigned, I spoke plainly.
“……What?”
Ainz froze.
Oh no… his face started to turn bright red—
“What are you talking about…? You bastard…”
“I put Adamas into hibernation—”
“I’ll kill you, you bastard!!”
My vision was filled with the heavy fist of a dwarf.
Once more, stars exploded behind my eyelids.
†††
“I can’t see…”
“Reflect on this!!”
I got the crap beaten out of me. I fully accepted the punches. No doubt I was at fault, and to be honest, I felt even guiltier than I had anticipated…
“Gruuurrll…”
“Leila, it’s understandable. Men have things they can’t yield on…”
As the miracle of healing blossomed, Liliana was soothing Leila. Leila, I appreciate you getting mad for my sake, but this really is all my fault…
“But seriously, what are you even doing?”
After feeling somewhat refreshed from punching me, Ainz sat back down while questioning me now.
“I thought the letter bit was a lie, then you bring up you were at the Demon Lord Castle… and despite being alive, you haven’t said a word until now, and what’s with that elf girl and the strong human girl? What’s this amusing group you’ve got going?!”
He leaned in closer to my seated form and demanded.
“Okay! Let’s hear it! Your backstory, too!!”
“…I guess so.”
Now, it’s really about time, but how much do I even say? How should I put everything…
“By the way, you better tell me everything, okay?”
He cut into my thoughts.
“If you try to hide anything now, I swear I won’t hold back!”
He slammed his palm against his chest.
“…You and I are friends, after all.”
He said it bluntly, looking away.
I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
How many times…
How many times have I gotten into fistfights with Ainz?
Earlier, Ainz referred to me as a friend, but is that really the appropriate term for our relationship?
I would head to the frontlines, returning with a broken sword to complain to Ainz.
Ainz would freak out again and forge another sword.
I would take it back and head to the frontlines again—then come back with a warped sword and complain once more.
And Ainz would freak out, then reforge…
Sometimes we’d get into fistfights, other times we’d drink and celebrate.
Just when I thought things were going well and the sword wouldn’t break, it would fail on me at the critical moment.
Then, I’d complain, and a fight would ensue, resulting in a newly forged sword.
We had been stuck in this endless loop.
Could I call him a friend?
…But, well.
We hadn’t fought side by side on the battlefield.
But we were, without a doubt, comrades.
“…………”
With arms crossed, Ainz gazed intently at me.
“Yeah, that’s true.”
I pulled over a nearby wooden crate and plopped down.
“Alright. I’ll tell you everything. But the price for that will be pretty steep.”
“Heh, considering I’ve already taken all your wealth, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Ainz grinned.
“I’ll give you whatever I can if I’m able.”
“…Don’t regret it, okay?”
I smirked back at him.
“I participated in the Demon Lord Castle blitz operation. I was fortunate enough to reach the Demon Lord, and I fought him. And then—I was completely outmatched and got killed.”
“Huh?”
Ainz blinked in surprise at my calm explanation.
Thanks to Orderju casting that wide sound-proof barrier and concealment magic, I can speak about deadly matters without any concerns.
Without worries—sharing the truth.
I dispersed my magic, blending it into the surrounding space.
And I dispelled the magic of transforming into a human.
“Whoa—!?”
Ainz’s eyes widened, recoiling in shock.
“Then suddenly I realized—I had been reborn as the Demon Lord’s son.”
I smirked with a hint of malice.
“As Demon Lord’s Prince No. 7 Zilbagias.”
As I stroked the horns that sprouted from my head.