Chapter 713: The Emperor is Excellent in All Things

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Logging in smoothly and teleporting smoothly. It was a flow so beautiful it enabled an exit completely unnoticed by the several players present.

It took some struggling to retrieve Saina, who was happily flexing and asserting dominance over the other Conquista Dolls with a massive smile on her face...... but well, let's leave it at that. It seems the fact that she had successfully installed the "N" Patch and conquered Orchestra positioned her at the absolute top of their hierarchy.

There was the option of just leaving Saina behind as if to say, "My human(oid) life is just too damn fun right now!" but it would be a pain if Saina went around telling other players I was logged in. Even if I headed straight to Rabituza, I'd eventually pop out somewhere else...... Well, it's best not to stand out.

"Hmm.................."

What should I do? There are things I need to get done, but what to do after finishing those is the question...... Hmmm...... Is this stagnation caused by having a lot to do, but nothing that takes absolute top priority?

"I guess I'll start with returning the weapon."

He's probably there. I just defeated Orchestra, after all...... and that's basically how Vash's appearance pattern works.

......

............

..................

The deepest part of the Rabbit Palace.

"Yo, Sunraku...... Judgin' by yer look, seems ya made it through properly, eh?"

Holding out the boxed katana that had restored itself before I even noticed, I presented it to Vash, who, as expected, was right there.

"Yeah, Agatleo-shi really took care of me......"

I don't think "physically getting pushed in the back" is what people usually mean by being pushed forward by cheers, but it's a fact that it was useful. Regardless of its performance, the fact that "Sunraku" couldn't copy it was fantastic. If I were to be greedy, I'd want to keep borrowing it just like this, but if I did that, Bilac would probably turn me into firewood, so that idea is rejected.

"Kakaka, that rebellious wind of his...... Even if it's just a tiny fragment, if ya managed to handle it, that's top tier......"

He made the Raging Storm of the Hegemonic Nation appear in his hand as naturally as if it had always been there instead of in mine, but what exactly is the logic behind that? Can players learn that too? Impossible?

"Now then......... Ah, that's right, Sunraku."

"Yeah?"

"Go pay a visit to Bilac...... Seems like she's got somethin' troublin' her mind......"

Ah, that was totally a flag just now! This thick, cliché flag presentation feels so incredibly game-like!!

That being said, if Bilac—who is practically my exclusive blacksmith—is troubled by something, putting my body on the line is a matter of client pride. As long as it doesn't involve going to human settlements, it'll be a piece of cake!

......

............

"Materials, dammit!!"

"O-Oh?"

"Big sis is raging even harder than usual-desu wa......"

Bilac-shi's mood today—which is usually shifting between either being pissed off or passed out—was in a state of unprecedented frenzy. Seeing her slamming her hammer against an empty anvil with loud clang! clang! sounds made me want to ask, "Did you lose your mind?"

"Listen closely, Sunraku! That scorpion material ya brought in! That stuff is the absolute best!"

"Y-Yeah."

"And because of that!!"

Maybe I should just ask her right now. Did you lose your mind?

With the speed and power of her hammer strikes on the anvil increasing in proportion to her tension, Bilac snapped her hammer toward me with a sharp point and declared.

"I need materials of an even higher quality!!"

"Higher quality? You can't just use something like Amursidian?"

"Ain't gonna work. It might be fine fer a normal Golden Scorpion, but this material is too damn strong. Even the tip of the Hegemonic Spear wouldn't balance it out."

Seriously? Well, it's true that the "Golden Age" was crunching down jewel towers that likely contained Amursidian Quartz like they were snacks. If it could crush even that ultra-hard ore, the power dynamic definitely wouldn't be equal.

"Even so, are we supposed to search from zero for something better than that?"

"I got a lead."

"That's what I was waiting to hear."

Searching from zero to find a one is vastly different from searching from one to find a hundred. Even though the resulting numbers are worlds apart, the former is overwhelmingly more difficult. It's like how reproducing a bug is easier than discovering it in the first place...

"Imron, ya know 'em, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"That Holy Hammer that guy holds... ya know what metal it's constructed from?"

"Like I'd know that—Saina?"

"Searching: ........., ............Wished Weapon. Material unknown, origin unknown. However, it is speculated to be a weapon tied to the 'wishes' of intelligent lifeforms."

"Hey wait, don't just drop bombshell info so casually, what did you just say?"

Wished Weapon? Or rather, do the Conquista Dolls have information on the Hero Weapons?

"It's a proxy fer prayers materialized into a weapon, which is why it's a weapon forged by the world itself... Originally, 'materials' fer it don't even exist... but,"

───Something of the same nature as the Hero Weapons does exist.

Emul and Saina's eyes widened at Bilac's confident declaration. Well, I already knew because Pencilgon had hinted at something like this before. That bastard had said, "You'll probably find it eventually even if I leave you alone, so I'll give you 100 yen if you tell me when you do," but I'm absolutely not telling her.

I strictly adhere to a policy of no RMT—Real Money Trading.

"Ya know about the Dwarves?"

"I've heard stories."

I'm pretty sure the person who forged the Nereid-dwelling sword that Araba has was a Dwarf named... err, I can't remember the name. Anyway, it was definitely a Dwarf. Considering the Elves turned out to be like that, it doesn't seem like they strictly follow standard templates, but their trait of excelling in blacksmithing appears to be by the book.

"Deep inside a holy land kept secret by them lot, there's a spring where golden magma wells up."

"A spring? Isn't it a magma pool?"

"Don't go running yer mouth over the little details. What matters is that ya are gonna go there and scoop up some of that magma!"

For a split second, the word "Trespassing" crossed my mind. Or perhaps "Armed Robbery." Wait, calm down, surely there's an option to just ask them normally to give me some.

"But you said magma, right? That's totally different from water. How am I supposed to collect it?"

"I ain't overlookin' nothin'! I used the Imperial Gold Shell of the 'Golden Age'—which we got a stupid surplus of even after settin' aside what's needed fer the weapons—ta make... the Imperial Gold Pail: Kaiser Bucket. Use this."

Now that's a surprise. The corpse of the Emperor who reigned over the crystal fields has undergone a grand transformation into a bucket!

......Even the "Golden Age" must be weeping from beyond the grave.

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Author's Afterword

The secret of the Hero Weapons is finally revealed.

They are weapons of "wishes," born from the authority of the "prayer seeking the power to oppose threats" held by all living creatures possessing thought.

It is best if nothing happens, but if something does, at the very least, grant us the power to resist.

It doesn't matter if you are a beast or a human. They are weapons of the planet that responded to a primitive, fundamental wish. Therefore, the magma welling up from the bottom of the earth's crust, from the end of the abyss, is the key that leads to the "Armor."

・Imperial Gold Pail (Kaiser Bucket)

The strongest bucket on the surface. Though it is a golden bucket, it is clad in the majestic dignity of a King. A single scoop can capture water, earth, and even scorching heat.

Because it occupies an item slot, it is impossible to equip as a weapon, but since it is sturdier than half-baked weapons, if you shove it over the head of a "person of interest" tied to a chair and strike it repeatedly, they will surely speak honestly through the power of the Bucket Emperor.

By the way, even though priority goes to the "Holy Sword," a percentage of the minerals it ingested is also allocated to its shell, making it terrifyingly hard. A sword blade will chip before the bucket dents.

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Translator's Note

I fucked up big time and got the terminologies all over the place so gotta set it straight: Hero Weapons are the Holy stuff like Pencilgon's and Psyger-100's, Gratefuls are Champion's Weapon (Grateful), Legacy Weapons are Legacy Weapons (i didn't fuck this one up). I went back all the chapters and fix it (i think that's all of them but not sure).

It's the age old yuusha vs eiyuu type shit.