NOVEL NEXT Chapter 534
Chapter 534: A Craftsman’s Resolve
“Ugh… hehe… hehehe…!”
With a silver hammer in hand.
“Haah—hahaha!!”
Ainz began to laugh heartily, mouth wide open.
“Hahaha—this is a masterpiece!”
Now wiping the tears that came from laughing too much.
“I feel like my ancestors just slapped me across the face. ‘Stop jabbering and get to work,’ you know?”
He then relaxed his shoulders and looked up at the sky with a sigh.
He had a bright, liberated expression as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
—No, wait.
In his eyes burned a strong light, like a blazing flame.
Something new was—beginning to possess Ainz.
It would melt even the toughest alloys in an instant.
Such immense heat—!
“I got it, Alex.”
Ainz grinned wickedly.
“This is ‘the moment.’”
—It was said that when ‘the moment’ comes, you would understand—
“I’ll reforge your Adamas into a ‘true masterpiece.’”
…Seriously!?
Oh, everyone gasped. “No way!” Orderju said in surprise, but fell silent after that.
“That’s… incredibly generous! Can you really do it!?”
I could tell that Avalon was brimming with enthusiasm as he transformed into a hammer.
But would that truly resolve everything? Could this breakthrough the wall of the ‘greatest masterpiece,’ which had held me back for nearly a decade?
“It’s not about whether I can or can’t! I’m going to do it!! How dare you dampen my resolve when I’ve finally made this big decision, you bastard!!”
Ainz, his face turning bright red, grabbed a nearby bottle of distilled liquor and gulped it down, exhaling a boozy sigh.
…It’s clear he’s starting to get back to his old self!
“…Phew. That said, I understand what you’re saying. It’s no good expecting everything to be solved with just a surge of motivation.”
Exactly!
“…I’ve realized it. My ancestors slapped me upside the head.”
Staring earnestly at the cracked Adamas, Ainz said.
“When I forged Adamas, I didn’t think, ‘I’ll make it the greatest masterpiece.’ I just swung with all my might to forge an incredibly sturdy sword, and it ended up being a masterpiece.”
He took the Adamas in hand and tenderly caressed the blade, like mourning a lost loved one.
“I had misunderstood that. I’ve catered to countless customers’ requests, but deep down, I was always thinking, ‘Next time, I’ll make the greatest masterpiece.’ As a blacksmith, aiming for the best isn’t wrong. It’s important. But—”
Haa~… Ainz exhaled a long sigh.
“—it’s impure. I can’t forge with that mindset. At least for me, it’s impossible. While I’m forging, I need to concentrate entirely on the task.”
Mindlessly, and solely focused.
While he had boasted he would forge an ‘unbreakable sword,’ it was clear Ainz had no room for any other thoughts.
“Ah, why, why have I forgotten such a simple thing for so long?”
Ainz shook with laughter, looking almost like he was crying and laughing at once.
“So—Alex. You needn’t worry anymore. I’ve decided, ‘No matter what, I will reforge Adamas into a true masterpiece!’ But I won’t lie, even if Adamas were perfect, I still can’t see myself beating the Demon Lord with it. I need an exceptional weapon. One that’s extraordinarily sturdy and monstrous, capable of slaying even a Demon Lord! I refuse to watch you lose just because of the weapon’s performance!”
His anger flared as he spoke, and yet again, his face turned bright red.
Ah, it really is nostalgic.
This dude sure gets angry easily.
“The Demon God’s spear? The world’s strongest weapon? A weapon that’s a hundred times sturdier and a hundred times more ferocious than any I know—?”
With a bang, he slammed his fist onto the table, shattering it in the process.
“Bring it on!! [I’ll forge a sword that’s a hundred times sturdier, a hundred times more menacing, and perfect for Alex—!!]”
Veins bulging on his forehead, Ainz shouted.
His voice was so loud it felt like my eardrums might burst. Getting splattered with his spit, I couldn’t help but laugh. Everything felt so familiar—
“…Hey, remember that time, Ainz?”
“Huh? What’re you talking about? I tend to block out inconvenient memories.”
“When you forged Adamas. I said, ‘If the blade chips or bends even a little, I won’t take responsibility,’ and you replied, ‘I’ll forge something sturdier than your head, and if it breaks, I’ll shave my beard and dance naked!’”
“Hah—!?”
Even I, with my faded memory, remembered it, but it seems he had forgotten, as Ainz gaped, alternating his gaze between Adamas and me.
“Y-you idiot! Adamas ended up like this because of how you used it!! There’s no way I could—”
“True, it’s my fault. But look!”
I gently took Adamas from Ainz’s hand, running my fingers along the blade.
“The blade isn’t chipped.”
I lifted it overhead, inspecting from beneath.
“Not bent either.”
I traced the cracks along the sword’s body.
“—Not broken.”
Thanks to my poor handling, it cracked a bit.
It hasn’t chipped, bent, or broken.
“I knew it, you don’t talk nonsense. When you say you’re gonna do it, you do it!”
That’s when Ainz, in a rage, declared boldly.
“Hey, I believe in you, Ainz. With the re-forged Adamas, I’m going to take down the Demon Lord. I trust that it won’t chip, won’t bend, and won’t break! So, listen—”
Thank you.
Those words I swallowed.
No, that’s not something we should say, right?
“—Next time we clash with the Demon Lord, if it cracks even a bit, I’ll hold you responsible!”
As I said that, Ainz stared blankly for a moment, then turned an even darker shade of red.
“Ngahhhh! Bring it on!!”
With a thud, stars burst behind my closed eyelids. I momentarily felt dizzy and kneeled.
“Next time you mess up, I’ll snap your horns off—!!”
Ainz’s angry voice resounded in the distance—
And I laughed.
†††
“I’ll start forging! Right away!!”
“Man, blacksmithing is tough work.”
“You’re doing it too!!”
“Huh?”
And so, I ended up participating in the re-forging of Adamas.
“Don’t hold back your power! Don’t hold back your magic! You’re helping me just like you did with Adamas before!!”
I definitely remember pouring my magic into it back then.
Unlike that time, I’m overflowing with both stamina and magic. Mostly thanks to Liliana. And now that I even have her support—
There’s hardly anything to worry about regarding us getting exhausted.
In the back workshop of Ainz’s mansion, I quickly helped toss fuel into the furnace. Liliana and the others were filling buckets and barrels with water, while Leila and Antende were preparing drinks and food.
“Honestly, how disrespectful to treat a Demon God as a servant!”
Antende grumbled but seemed to be having fun, while Leila watched with a warm smile. Once unable to do anything except iron clothes, Leila has now become quite adept at daily tasks after working under me and spending time in the alliance zone…
“Right, Arthur Hilburn!”
“Yes, yes, what’s up?”
“Sorry, but I’ll be borrowing Avalon for a few days!”
“Of course! I can’t wait to see what kind of sword you create!”
Seeing the true masterpiece come together made Arthur beam. Not just Arthur, even Barbara and the Vampire Hunters had sparkling eyes filled with anticipation. Who could possibly dislike a strong sword, especially a true masterpiece!?
“Will it really take several days?”
Helena asked with wide eyes, a worried expression on her face.
Well… considering the situation, that may be the case.
If it takes several days, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the Demon Lord’s army invaded the city…
“It will take time! There’s nothing we can do about it!”
Puffing air into the furnace, Ainz declared. Orderju offered to assist with wind magic, but Ainz politely declined, saying he’d handle the heat regulation himself.
“First, we have to get Adamas back to a workable state! That’ll take the most time! This isn’t like melting it down; we need to pump Alex’s and my magic into it and wake it up! What we need are patience and time!”
He estimated that this would at least take a whole day.
“And for the true masterpiece, we need a special material!”
As he threw the cracked Adamas into the furnace and heated it up, Ainz proclaimed at a volume that could match the roaring flames.
“What kind of special material?!”
“We have the metals stocked, so that’s no problem! But for the true masterpiece, we need to give it direction, a personality! We need materials from magical beasts!”
“Do we even have those?!”
“I don’t have any! But Alex and the others do!”
We do!?
“Which means—”
Ainz suddenly turned to Liliana.
“You’re the one… that ‘Saint’ Liliana, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me. Though I’ve been disguised as a regular elf this whole time.”
Liliana dispelled her half-hearted transformation spell.
Her skin returned from a tan to a slightly tanned white, her ears elongating back to their original shape.
Whoa, Ainz gasped. Godlike beauty. Liliana’s beauty defies logic; the divinity within her transcends race—except for Night Elves.
“Stunning…!”
But upon closer inspection, Ainz didn’t seem to be mesmerized by Liliana’s looks.
“Awesome! Ideal!!”
His eyes weren’t looking at Liliana as a person but rather as a ‘material.’
“You’re one of the materials!!”
Ainz yelled with bloodshot eyes.
…Yeah, I had a feeling that’s how it would go.
We’re the materials.