"Oh, best friends indeed."
Noah looked at the elven girl before him—a perfect embodiment of contrast cuteness with her shy expression—and lowered his head to hide his current expression.
Because seeing it truly pained his heart!
The more precious this emotion was, the more agonizing its loss would be.
He was probably reminded of the girl that Ryuu cared about.
Alise Lovell.
The captain of the Astrea Familia.
A bright and gentle girl whom no one could possibly dislike.
Yet, in the future incident where the Familia was wiped out, all members except Ryuu perished and of course, that included Alise.
Rather, as the captain, that girl would be the most...
"The Crimson Order that Alise wields is a symbolic weapon, but it's by no means a divine artifact. This time, it broke during battle, nearly causing her serious injury."
"I've discussed with the other members of the Familia, and we've unanimously decided to use the rewards from this mission to prepare a first-class weapon for her!"
"Although Alise is only a Lv. 4, her strength is no less than that of a first-tier adventurer. If she wields it, it will surely do justice to the blacksmith's reputation."
Do divine artifacts become famous by sitting idly in shrines?
Can one achieve eternal fame by carving a few bamboo sticks in the mountains?
Of course not.
The value of a weapon must be proven by its wielder.
The weapon accomplishes great feats for the user, and the user forges the legend of the weapon.
That's how Noah saw it.
Until now, apart from Alicia, he had never encountered a second person worthy of him custom-making a weapon.
Unexpectedly, this time, a big fish had come along.
The captain of the Astrea Familia, Alise Lovell.
The guardian of the city.
"If it's about forging a weapon for the Scarlet Harnel herself, I would be more than willing."
Noah interlaced his fingers, resting his chin on them, and looked at the elf before him.
"However, Miss Ryuu, you trust my words just like that? What if I were merely boasting about having some skill..."
"No, you are not lying."
"..."
"Though not as adept as the gods, I have never been wrong in discerning whether someone is lying."
Seeing the elf radiate the same confidence he had in himself, Noah's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Then, the deal is settled. The final payment is waived, and the entire deposit will be used as the commission for forging the equipment. The deadline is ten days."
A first-class weapon usable by an Lv. 4 adventurer.
Frankly, he felt a bit excited!
This time, he would use the best materials he could acquire!
...
As he pondered how to design this weapon, Noah's gaze fell upon the Amphisbaena dragon liver beside him.
'The best materials... huh.'
Having stayed up all night, Noah tore up the 40th draft of the design in his room.
Alise weapon of choice was a rapier.
She was not only a frontliner but also possessed powerful fire-attribute magic.
In battle, she used enchantment magic to wreathe her limbs and sword in flames, significantly boosting her speed and close-combat abilities.
Since her primary offensive capability relied on enchantment magic, the weapon itself needed to be exceptionally durable.
Otherwise, it wouldn't just lack killing power—it would shatter under the strain of the enchantment.
Come to think of it, Alise and Ais were almost the same type.
Both used rapiers and could employ enchantment magic to enhance themselves, though one was wind-attribute and the other fire-attribute.
So, should he use Orichalcum, like Ais weapon 'Despair'...?
Renowned as the hardest material on earth, it was notoriously difficult to work with but could produce arms with an "Indestructible" property.
As the name implied, it would never break.
Perhaps because of this, weapons made with Orichalcum often struggled to balance performance.
Among all the equipment Noah knew, weapons with the Indestructible property never surpassed second-tier armaments.
Even if they were said to rival first-tier arms, it was only in overall capability.
Their offensive power could never reach the maximum.
Ais's Sword 'Despair' was a prime example.
At the same time, one could say that 'Despair' was a product of the blacksmith compromising for Ais.
Precisely because the weapons they forged couldn't withstand the adventurer's power, they had to alter the weapon's characteristics to avoid its weaknesses.
Of course, Noah was aware of the underlying secrets.
First, ordinary enchantment magic naturally couldn't match the power of that "Sword Princess," Ais Wallenstein.
Ais had the blood of a spirit flowing within her; her mother was the great wind spirit, "Aria."
That was why her magic was unreasonably strong.
As a human, even if Alise used the more offensive fire-attribute enchantment magic, its power would likely pale in comparison to Ais's wind.
The idea that ordinary materials might suffice to withstand it never crossed Noah's mind for even a second.
With that mindset, all he would forge would be trash.
'Top-tier offensive power, top-tier mana conductivity, top-tier resilience...'
'Wait.'
'Blood...'
The blood of spirits possessed miraculous power.
Leaving Ais aside, the famous magic sword family, the Crozzo, had their magic swords born because the first Crozzo was saved by a spirit and fed its blood, granting the bloodline a mysterious ability.
Before the Crozzo magic swords appeared, magic swords were inferior substitutes for magic.
Because the power of magic swords fell far short of actual magic.
But the Crozzo magic swords were different—they rivaled or even surpassed magic in power.
Legends say Crozzo magic swords could evaporate oceans, a tale that persists to this day.
Others might not know, but he was well aware: the craftsmanship of so-called Crozzo magic swords wasn't vastly different from ordinary magic swords.
The biggest difference lay in the blood.
Crozzo magic swords required spirit blood.
As long as Crozzo blood was added during forging, anyone could create a Crozzo magic sword!
If he used the Spell-Weaver to cram mana and elements into blood, could he produce something similar in effect to Crozzo's blood?
Noah placed his hand on the Amphisbaena dragon liver and used the Truth Seeker to perform a deep analysis.
Sure enough, he detected a dense fire-attribute essence within.
And this wasn't ordinary flame—it was a fuel.
The Amphisbaena's signature killing technique, "Blue Flames," was generated from this fuel.
Its power was sufficient to melt a shield forged from white steel stone in the blink of an eye!
.....
Crimson Order (クリムゾン・オーダー): A one-handed sword made from mithril and Obia Flare petals by the Goibniu Familia
Its power is top-class and of the highest level among all second class weapons, especially among one-handed swords.
It has the ability to increase the power of only fire element magic.
It was the beloved sword of the justice girl related to the crimson order.
It is worth 45,000,000 valis.