Chapter 399: My Sword Disagrees
To be fair, just based on what Nian had explained so far, Steven really was interested.
He was going to Yan anyway. And if he could poke around and "accidentally" bump into other Fragments of God along the way? That sounded fun enough on its own.
And right now, time was the one thing he had in absolute abundance. Taking on Nian's request wasn't going to cost him anything.
"I'm not asking you to go pick a fight with them," Nian said quickly, waving her hand. "If possible, you just need to tell them where I am—or tell me where they are. Conflict isn't required."
She looked genuinely exasperated at Steven's earlier assumption. Her brothers and sisters were definitely not the type to be messed with… but the boy in front of her didn't look like someone who was easy to provoke either.
This wasn't an assassination contract. She just wanted to check up on her siblings. That was all.
"So overall—I just want to ask you to help me find them."
Tapping her folded fan lightly against her palm, Nian finally revealed the true content of her request.
"Find them, huh? And after I do?"
Steven met her violet eyes. She had said them. Plural. Which meant there were multiple Fragments of God scattered around.
Finding them one by one definitely wasn't a trivial task.
"After you find them, just tell them I miss them very much, that I'd like a chance to meet again, and that I'm on Rhodes Island. That's all."
even though she herself found it difficult to track down her siblings… she had a strange, unwavering intuition that said If this boy wanted to do something, there was almost nothing he couldn't pull off.
As a being born from the fall of Sui, Nian trusted her instincts deeply. Just as she instinctively felt an intense, inexplicable wariness toward Steven. It was too sharp, too real, to be an illusion.
Otherwise, she would never have invited someone she'd just met—someone she only knew by name—into her private domain… much less entrusted him with something this important.
"That's it? I thought it'd be something actually difficult. At the very least, I expected you to ask me to drag them back here by force or something. And it turns out all you want is for me to deliver a message?"
Steven stroked his chin.
Nian's request was far simpler than he expected—almost laughably so. For him, it was nothing more than a flick of the wrist.
"I won't ask why you want to do this," Steven said, shifting his gaze away from Nian's delicate face. He glanced at the cup of utterly tasteless tea in his hand—tea so bland it might as well have been warm water—then asked the most important question of the moment.
"I just want to know… if I take this request, what do I get out of it?"
He could help her. He didn't mind. But help always came with a price. Getting paid for work was only natural, wasn't it?
"Ah, the reward. Now that's a tricky thing," Nian murmured, tapping her fan lightly against her cheek. "I'd love to tell you that you'll earn my friendship, or embark on a grand legendary adventure worthy of song… but that all sounds a little too shallow and pretentious, doesn't it?"
She thought for another moment, then snapped her fingers lightly.
"How about this? You don't seem to have a proper weapon on you. Why don't I forge one for you—whatever kind you want? Consider it a down payment for completing the request."
But the moment the offer left her lips, her entire body stiffened.
A sharp, indescribable aura erupted from the boy in front of her, slicing through the air like an invisible blade aimed straight for her throat. Instinctively, Nian twisted her body aside to evade it. The killing intent was so real it made her reflexively dodge.
"Hm? I never said I didn't have a proper weapon," Steven said with a cough, as if nothing had happened. "I just rarely take it out. And besides, I'm something of a blacksmith myself. Tools aren't exactly something I'm short on."
A crisp clang echoed through the volcanic air—the unmistakable sound of a blade returning to its sheath.
Only then did Nian notice the long, elegant katana at the little boy's waist, though she had no idea when it appeared. She watched him press the blade firmly back into the scabbard.
And in that brief instant—just one glance—her instincts as a Fragment of Sui with Authority over the Forge screamed at her:
That blade was sharper than anything she had ever seen in her entire existence.
Even now, traces of a space-rending aura lingered in the air.
Her violet eyes lit up, glowing with open curiosity.
"This blade… you forged it?"
Unable to help herself, Nian leaned in dangerously close—so close that her sudden movement made her neckline dip and reveal an expanse of pale skin. She didn't even notice. All her attention was locked on the Yamato in Steven's hand.
"Yeah. I only drew it because the moment you said you'd forge me a new weapon, it felt like it might get replaced. Looks like it got a little jealous."
Steven scratched his head, describing the blade like one might describe a sulky girl. Fortunately, once it heard Steven's refusal, Yamato quieted down and returned to looking like an ordinary katana again.
"You mean… it already has self-awareness?"
The curiosity burning in Nian's eyes intensified.
A weapon with a soul—an actual artifact spirit—was a thing of legends. Even with her divine forging authority, she had yet successfully created such a thing.
"Probably," Steven said casually. "It also feels a bit yandere, honestly. A yandere katana—if I said that out loud, who would ever believe me?"
He laughed, clearly more amused than troubled.
"But anyway, let's put that aside. As for the reward… I think you should come up with something else that actually appeals to me."
He paused. Then, with a perfectly straight face:
"I'm not picky. If you really can't think of anything, payment in flesh is also acceptable."
Nian: "…Huh?"
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