This day marked the final deadline of the ten-day period agreed upon with Alicia for forging the weapon.
The elf lady arrived at Adventurer Street, dressed in a flowing elegant gown.
"Hmm, number 7-130... Ah, found it!"
Alicia stared at the dilapidated blacksmith shop that didn't even have a signboard, momentarily unsure if she had come to the right place.
After all, by all accounts, Noah should have been that kind of super rookie with boundless potential within the Hephaestus Familia.
If he had the Familia's support, at the very least, the shopfront shouldn't look so run-down.
Take their Loki Familia, for example—they invested heavily in supporting newcomers.
As a senior member of the Familia, she had witnessed their methods countless times.
The Hephaestus Familia's reserves had to be far greater than the Loki Familia's, right?
A single weapon cost tens of millions of valis—the word "rich" couldn't even begin to describe that level of wealth.
If they wanted to, they could probably build another Orario right next to the current Orario.
Coincidentally, Noah had just finished repairing a large shield and was carrying it out.
Seeing that petite figure, Alicia smiled knowingly.
"Noah." She called out to him, successfully catching the boy's attention.
"Miss Alicia, you're here."
"Hehe."
"I actually thought about coming a couple of days earlier, but I was afraid I might accidentally disturb you," Alicia said gently.
"Not at all. In fact, I've been looking forward to when you'd come to see me. I almost went to the Twilight Manor to find you earlier."
After testing the performance of the sword-staff, Noah had been eagerly anticipating the moment he could hand it over to its true owner.
With Alicia's strength and reputation, she was sure to bring him plenty of business!
"Noah, has anyone ever told you you're good at charming girls?"
"You guessed wrong—not even once."
Forget charming anyone—he was far more skilled at irritating Ais.
Perhaps he had some extraordinary talent when it came to annoying Ais?
"Noah, you don't seem very self-aware."
"Wrong again, Miss Alicia. I believe my only redeeming quality is having enough self-awareness."
"Well, no time to waste!"
Noah quickly returned to the workshop and retrieved the cloth-wrapped sword-staff.
As he personally unveiled the outer cloth, the beautiful and elegant sword-staff appeared before the elf lady's eyes, making her gasp in admiration.
"So beautiful..."
The pristine, noble aura exuded by the polished platinum even rivaled equipment forged from unicorn horns—though, of course, only in appearance.
The two materials were worlds apart in terms of grade and rarity.
"It's very beautiful, but isn't this just a staff?"
Alicia clung to her last shred of hope as she confirmed with the boy.
No way.
She remembered clearly asking for a sword—did she misspeak?
Or did Noah misremember?
The boy grinned triumphantly.
This was exactly the reaction he wanted!
He held the sword-staff horizontally, and then, with a series of clicking mechanical sounds, a hilt emerged from the platinum staff, while the head bloomed open to form a guard.
A sword had appeared.
"I-It turned into a sword!" Alicia stared in delight at the white blade before her, unable to hide her affection.
"I haven't named it yet. This final task belongs to its owner—you should be the one to name it."
"Really?" Alicia's eyes sparkled.
But after glancing at the boy, she suggested.
"Hmm, why don't you name it, Noah? Since you said this is the first commission you've received, right? Give it a memorable name!" The elf lady said considerately.
"Uh, then how about... Megatron?"
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
The gentleness vanished from the elf's face.
'Huh?'
'Was that name not imposing enough?'
He had originally wanted to call it Optimus Prime, but considering Alicia was such a beautiful woman, he deliberately chose a different name.
"Frozen Lotus. Let's call it Frozen Lotus."
The elf sighed and ultimately named it herself.
Noah asked curiously, "Didn't you say I should name it? If you don't like Megatron, we can change it to something else. How about Decepticon?"
Alicia covered her face, refusing to look at him.
She never expected the usually composed boy to have such terrible taste in naming weapons.
At first, she thought he was teasing her, but it turned out he was genuinely uncultured.
"Ais has been coming to see you often these days, but you're never here. You're not deliberately avoiding her, are you?"
"Huh?" Noah froze for a moment.
These past few days, he had been staying directly at Tsubaki's workshop, immersed in blacksmithing, so he hadn't paid much attention to the blacksmith shop's business.
Speaking of which, this blacksmith shop wasn't even his to begin with.
The owner had disappeared somewhere, and thanks to the head chef's introduction and a series of coincidences, it had somehow become his long-term base.
Over time, more and more adventurers came to repair their equipment.
He had become familiar with many of them, though most were Level 1s.
Still, there were quite a few Level 2 upper-tier adventurers among them, providing him with plenty of experience points.
While at Tsubaki's workshop, whenever the two of them got hungry, he suddenly discovered that his cooking skills were surprisingly decent.
Even if he combined both his lifetimes, he had held a spatula no more than three times, yet he could handle ordinary dishes with remarkable ease.
This was where the Truth Seeker description became vague.
"Truth Seeker"
Can appraise objects upon contact; the closer the contact, the stronger the effect.
・While repairing equipment, there is a chance to gain insights into the user's experience and grow.
・When crafting items, there is a chance to elevate the finished product by one grade.
If you looked closely, you'd notice that "gaining insights into the user's experience and grow"—what exactly did that "experience" entail? The skill description didn't specify.
As it turned out, it wasn't just combat techniques with weapons—he even acquired experience.
If the status sheet could display domestic skills, his ability would probably be at least Level 3 or even Level 4.
It was all because of one meal that his relationship with Ais had become so strange.
To be blunt, they had only met once, and their conversations were few—they could hardly be considered friends.
Yet she was so insistent on him calling her "onee-sama," even adding "sama" to it.
If he refused, he'd get beaten.
"Tch, I never should have started that. I accidentally let her get a taste of sweetness."