Chapter 57: Dedicated to a Moment, Part 5

What is "True Awakening" (Shinka)? When one becomes an extremely superior Master Craftsman, they do not simply create superior weapons. Nor do they merely strengthen them into superior weapons. It is the technique of reading the experience dwelling within the weapon and transforming it into a more appropriate form... in other words, into its "True Form."

Summarizing Bilac's words, which were spoken in a "fake Hiroshima dialect" mixed with standard language, that seemed to be the gist of it.

"Vorpal... Weapons bearing the title 'Vorpal' remember the challenge to the strong. I'll mix the memories of battles you've fought so far with the fragments of the strong you handed to Dad, and change its form."

"Hmm..."

Every time Vash struck the Vorpal Choppers with his hammer, magic circles appeared along with sparks. They were sucked into the Vorpal Choppers as if drawn by gravity, and then new magic circles were born with more sparks.

"...ark night sk... nace fla..."

"Eh? Wha... Ogufu!?"

"Sunraku-san! Be quie... Kyahiu!?"

Eh? What did he say? My attempt to ask was forcibly interrupted by a very direct method: receiving a low kick to the shin with the leg strength of a rabbit. You... For an NPC to voluntarily deal damage is... You...! I instinctively turned around to see Bilac radiating an intimidating aura that rivaled a black panther, despite being a rabbit—a herbivorous creature of the order Lagomorpha, family Leporidae. With Emul writhing in silent agony clutching her head in the background, Bilac, exuding a predatory pressure, said only one word.

"Kincho."

"No, you..."

"Kincho (Listen respectfully)."

""...Yes.""

As if he hadn't heard the exchange that resembled a comedy routine, Vash continued swinging his hammer. Now that the noise (Emul and I) had quieted down, I realized that what was leaking from Vash's mouth was a song.

"In the dark night sky, the furnace flame.

Sparks are born, licked up by the darkness.

The dancing hammer, the singing iron.

Ton-kara-kan and Kon-kin-kan.

You are the blade, you are the power.

Born from the earth, burning the wood, nurturing the fire, forging the metal, cooling with water.

The world turns, yet stands still.

From gold to iron, from iron to steel, from steel to blade, from blade to sword.

In the dawning night sky, the sword's brilliance.

Reflecting the light, tearing through the darkness.

To the dancing sword, sing, oh world............"

............I see. If the CV wasn't a gravelly voice like a Yakuza boss but a loli voice like a facial-tentacle space lifeform, it might sell for about 300 yen per song. But unfortunately, it's too short and the voice is boss-style... No, wait. Iwamaki-san cleared an Otome game with a Yakuza woman theme last year or so, and her aura was all dramatic graphic novel style for a while. That means there must be a demand for boss-style voices somewhere... In short, I didn't feel as moved as Bilac, who was trembling with such intensity that she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

"So, I'd appreciate an explanation (whisper)."

"That is Father... the Boss's 'Iron Striking Song,' desu wa. Bi-nechan loves that song, desu wa (whisper)."

The terrifying phrase "Need to manage affection ratings for all A-to-Z rabbits" crossed my mind, but I shook my head to dispel it. A gal game where I have to be not just an everybody's friend but a "twenty-six plus one equals twenty-seven-body's friend" is too tough. I have experience with twelve simultaneously, but that... I really don't want to remember that. Scheduling down to the second including RNG manipulation, the asceticism of aiming for exactly one second on a stopwatch repeatedly... Creating detailed charts for when to talk during which timing of the BGM even though it's not an RTA, and if there's a 0.1-second lag, the event fails to trigger, and from there, the heroines' affection ratings drop like dominoes... M-My pulse is becoming unstable.

"Y-You look pale, desu wa? Are you okay, desu wa!?"

"I'm okay... I just remembered getting a Bad End where everyone somehow ended up studying abroad in Italy just because I chose Italian for lunch..."

It made so little sense that I couldn't move for several minutes. What does it mean that the Student Council President, the Disciplinary Committee Chair, the Ace of the Sports Club, and the Delinquent all went to Italy to study pizza making? Just how strong is the connection between the school and Italy? No wonder the official SNS went up in flames. The frame-perfect schedule game "Love Clock," where choosing any option related to pizza instantly sends you to the Pizza Route, forcing you to RNG manipulate against twelve heroines... Ugh, my head.

"Oh, it's done."

"Eh? Ah, it's done!? Okay, okay, that's great!"

Washing away the trauma that stained my brain—a different kind from Fae-Cro—with the information in front of me, I turned back to Vash.

"Right... The Vorpal Choppers have gained a True Name and Form here. Their names are Togetsu [Waxing] (Usagizuki [Jogen]), and Togetsu [Waning] (Usagizuki [Kagen])."

"Ooh...!"

The horror radiating from the gap of using cooking utensils as weapons was gone. What Vash handed me had completely transformed from cooking utensils into weapons. The blade shape suited for cutting ingredients had changed into a form specialized for cutting enemies. Although [Waxing] and [Waning] had almost the same shape, the Waning seemed to be designed for a reverse grip, unlike the Waxing.

"It's been a long time since the form itself changed as a weapon."

"The form itself?"

"These guys, see, are two blades as one. They only make sense when both are together... They're what you call 'Paired Blade Swords' (Taijinken)."

"Paired Blade Swords..."

At least with my current progress, that's a name I haven't heard.

"Sunraku-san said before that he wanted swords that combine, desu wa."

"Seriously, desu wa!?"

"Copycat!!"

What a coincidence, truly serendipitous. Was it that my unconscious thoughts of "I want those combining scissor dual blades, I want them" soaked into the Vorpal Choppers? Anyway, I got the combining dual blades—or rather, Paired Blade Swords—I've always wanted............ Wait a minute. Just now, something from the corner of my memory spoke to me. Didn't I forget something............

• "Sunraku-san is full of curiosity, desu wa. Those can't be handled without considerable Technique (Giryou), desu wa."
• "Seriously? I'll become a Technique Warrior (Dex Build)."
• "Those can't be handled without considerable Technique, desu wa."
• "Can't be handled without Technique, desu wa."

With trembling hands, I put the received Togetsu Waxing and Wanings into my inventory and read the description field.

Togetsu [Waxing]Paired Blade Sword The name of its paired blade is Waning. A sword with a blade like the upper crescent moon floating in the sky. Imbued with the magic of the Vorpal Rabbits, its true form is still hidden in the clouds.

• When fighting an opponent with a higher level than yourself, a successful critical hit will apply a correction to the power of the next attack instead of reducing HP.
• Landing a certain number of critical hits accumulates a Combination Gauge.
• Required Stats: "STR 40" "DEX 50" "TEC 55"

Togetsu [Waning]Paired Blade Sword The name of its paired blade is Waxing. A sword with a blade like the lower crescent moon floating in the sky. Imbued with the magic of the Vorpal Rabbits, its true form is still hidden in the clouds.

• When fighting an opponent with a higher level than yourself, a successful critical hit restores HP.
• Landing a certain number of critical hits accumulates a Combination Gauge.
• Required Stats: "STR 40" "DEX 50" "TEC 55"

C-Calm down... Calm down, it's a simple math problem. It's not like I'm being asked to solve an equation challenging the truths of the universe. Let's see, the total required stats are 145? My current total for those stats is 52? Subtracting that leaves 93? Since I get 5 points per level up, divide by 5 and that's roughly 19 levels worth............ Yep, if I raise my level to exactly 50, I can equip them.

"NOOOOOOO.........!"

"S-Sunraku-saaaan!"

Ambushed by the unexpected stat restriction, I fell to my knees with a groan.

Returning to Thirdrema, which I had struggled so hard to escape, inevitably brought up some complicated feelings. However, since Katzo had only just arrived in Thirdrema, this metropolis became our meeting place in ShanFro. Causing another cryptid panic in Thirdrema would be troublesome, so running the shortest course at top speed, I was now sitting opposite a grinning Pencilgon inside "The Serpent's Apple," an NPC cafe she recommended that was quietly open in a back alley of Thirdrema.

"Now then, Sunraku-kun, who would undoubtedly have the cops called on him in real life. Putting aside that perverted fashion, do you have any last words regarding blowing off our meeting for nearly three hours?"

"The Unique over here mentioned Wethermon."

"Alright, you're forgiven."

Resolved! Actually, I was working on something else for a bit, but explaining it is a hassle, so I'll lump it all under the Unique Scenario explanation.

"Nice, a Unique, nice."

"Yay, you jelly?... Hey, stop with the fork, idiot, the fork!"

What are you doing to someone with single-digit VIT? If you mess up, it's a fatal wound. Though maybe my taunting was a bit immature; next time I'll taunt more gracefully. Retracting the fork that was clearly aiming for my throat, ModoruKatzo, wearing light armor, was eating cake even though the taste must be weak... Hm?

"OiKatzo?"

"Hm? Ah, this is my ShanFro account."

"It's 'Oi Katsuo' (Bonito)?"

Your naming sense is as lame as ever, oi! In the first place, using the characters for 'Fish,' 'Subject,' and 'Kei' (Satoshi) to make 'Katsuo' (Bonito) is already a pun.

"Whenever you ask for my player name and ponder for a few seconds, you're usually thinking 'What a lame pun,' aren't you?"

"Hahaha, don't be silly."

"Yes, yes, that's enough comedy routine. For now, Katzo-kun finish eating that, and Sunraku-kun spill the info."

We skipped the event where OiKatzo munched on cake for a while and I just talked about information.

"...And so, well, it's not likely to be directly useful for the raid, but since he's described as 'Failed-to-Die,' it implies a state where he was alive but is dead-like. Just that he might be an Undead-type monster."

"............I see. Indeed, thinking back, his movements were stiff at the start of the battle. Right, I totally thought he was a cyborg type, but if he's Undead, there are points that make sense..."

I thought it would only be useful for lore speculation, but apparently, for Pencilgon, it was different. Pencilgon started to ponder deeply, but she surfaced from the sea of thought sooner than expected, looked up sharply, and looked at me and OiKatzo alternately.

"I have some business to attend to, so we might be acting separately until tonight."

"Well, I don't mind, but what are we doing today then?"

"For now, I'll give you this. Level up at the 'Iron Ruins of the Age of Gods' until tonight."

What she handed me was a map and... a fishing rod? I instinctively looked at OiKatzo. Even if we wanted to ask, Pencilgon seemed ready to leave the store and was already heading for the exit after standing up.

"You'll understand when you go! See you here tonight!"

"She left."

"Yep."

There was no point in staying here any longer, so OiKatzo and I left the shop and started walking down the back alley. Huh? If we walk on the main street, we'll stand out, right? There are already more players in Thirdrema; I want to avoid trouble here at least. That's why I had OiKatzo join me in sneaking around like we had guilty consciences. Fortunately, the map info of Thirdrema I memorized before was still in my head. I took the wrong turn three times, but I'm safe, safe. Finally leaving Thirdrema, we proceeded along a path apologetically made in the forest, different from the road leading to the Prism Forest Cave.

"What does leveling by fishing mean?"

"I just checked the item description, but this is just a normal fishing rod."

"Fish taste better when the meat is white than red, desu wa. That's what the Boss said, desu wa."

"I hear salmon is a white-fleshed fish."

"Seriously? I'll tell my teammates next ti... Who just spoke?"

"Emul, you can stop the 'pretending to be a fur muffler' party trick now."

"I-It's not a party trick, desu wa! It's an emergency stealth technique handed down to proper Vorpal Bunnies..."

"Whoa, the muffler spoke!?"

OiKatzo shouted at the fluff stuck to my neck that suddenly started talking (......). Ah, come to think of it, this is OiKatzo's first time seeing her.

Author's Notes:

From around here, the protagonist's sloppiness finally comes to light.

Q. Why isn't Emul transformed?

A. She ran out of MP by the time they reached the cafe.

Translator's Remarks:

• OiKatzo: The name breakdown is Fish (魚) + Subject/Retainer (臣) + Kei (慧 - often read as Satoshi or Kei). The reading "Uomi Kei" becomes "Katsuo" (Bonito) + "Modoru" (Return/Oi). It's a complex pun on his real name (Kei Uomi) and the fish Bonito (Katsuo). "Oi" can mean "Hey" or "Chasing".