“Were you two okay?”

Kyle approached Lieze and Urza, calling out to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But, I didn’t think a demon would be this strong..” Lieze rubbed her arms, as she responded.

“A demon, huh..The elder in my village told me about demons before, and he seemed terrified of it. I thought it was just him bragging about some random achievements..but seeing it in person is completely different.” Urza said with a complicated expression.

Since both Lieze and Urza are experienced in battle, they could clearly estimate the other person’s strength.

“So, I bet you probably heard it already, but we’ll have a rematch after three days..”

“It’s fine! I’ll knock her out for good next time!”

“She seemed to be looking down on us after all. With the right preparations, we’ll definitely win.”

Before Kyle could even ask if they could win, the two girls immediately answered that question beforehand. Lieze formed a fist, and Urza was already thinking of ways to defeat the female demon.

“I see..But, don’t let down your guards, okay?” Kyle said with a reassured tone, but still feeling defeated somewhere deep inside of him.

“So it didn’t break them..”

Kyle moved away from the two girls who were already in the middle of a strategy meeting, and muttered these words. There are times when you run into a strong enemy, visibly unbeatable from your standpoint, which then makes you want to give up fighting entirely. Especially in his previous life, he had experienced this many times when it came to battles against demons. In a way, Kyle hoped that the same thing would happen to those two after they fought an actual demon.

If they developed even the smallest amount of fear towards demons, Kyle could have them go back to their homeplaces, and knew they would be safe, away from the battle. But rather than their hearts being broken, it only fueled their motivation and will to fight. So naturally, Kyle felt relief and happiness that they could stay together, but at the same time he realized that they would still be in danger’s eye.

“What would you have done after those three days then?” Seran asked Kyle, presumably having figured out what he was thinking.

“Then you would have had to fight, of course. There’s no way demons keep their promises, after all. But, since they’re more than willing to fight, I’ll let them.”

“Hmmm..So wait, I don’t get to play any part in this? No way..” Seran spoke with disappointment in his voice.

It was clear that Seran was raring to test out his new sword.

“No, I want you to stick with those two. If it gets too dangerous, I want you to finish things.”

“So I get to play the nasty role..”

“But you’re good at that, right?”

Unable to deny that, Seran simply grinned.

“Also, I’m a bit curious about those demons..Seran, what do you think?”

“Hmmm..Well, they’re definitely strong, alright. Clearly, higher-ranking demons..I guess you’d be feeling the same way when fighting a mythical beast like a dragon?”

Of course, Seran had no experience fighting against a dragon, but he guessed that it would be something along those lines.

“Yeah..they’re strong. You definitely can’t let down your guard around them..” Kyle muttered, as if to remind himself.

Kyle was used to fighting demons because of the experience in his past life, but fighting that male demon now, he felt something like a discomfort.

“What’s wrong?”

“..No, it’s nothing.” Kyle shook his head, brushing away that thought.

Kyle’s group went back to the collapsed Mayor Bucks, as well as the exhausted Gazas.

“He wasn’t this weak before..” Gazas looked down at Mayor Bucks, commenting. “This guy really cared for Callan. Sandwiched by two large countries, with the veins running low..His means were clearly wrong, but as I’m born and raised in Callan, I understand his feelings at least.”

“Seems like you knew about what the mayor was doing, but since when?” Kyle guessed that from Gazas’ words, and asked him.

“..Around one month ago, I found out by pure coincidence. I told him to stop over and over, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I went to his home yesterday because of this case as well, but that’s when I got captured.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to silence you.”

“I know it’s weird coming from me, but I am the number one blacksmith here in Callan. He simply cared for the glory and prosperity of Callan, so I’m an individual he could not afford to lose..He’s been looking after me because of that for ages.” He showed a self-deprecating smile. “He urged me to join him, work together with him, and if I didn’t listen, then not only me..but Gou and..her life would be in danger..so I couldn’t go against him..”

“I see, that’s why you started to avoid Miranda, yes?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want her to get wrapped up in..Wait, why do you know about that!?” Gazas started panicking.

“Well, Gou told us.”

“That brat doing something unnecessary again..” Gazas held his head in disbelief.

“Rest assured, I don’t plan on meddling with your business.”

“R-Right..Ahh, by the way..about the Holy Sword Rand..” Gazas looked at the sword at Seran’s hip, who had been treating it like his possession this entire time. “Now that the Mayor ended up like that, it’ll turn to Callan’s possession, so of course..”

“No, I found it, so it’s mine now.” Seran emphasized, but Gazas clearly didn’t like the sound of that.

“It belongs to Callan! It’s like a national treasure!”

Seeing how persistent he was, Kyle took over for Seran, and had him step aside.

“Cough..About that. First, we basically saved your life, yes?”

“Y-Yeah, I naturally am thankful about that..”

“Adding to that, your house was attacked yesterday. This mayor was aiming for Gou. Probably as a hostage against you, or even as a sacrifice.”

“W-What did you say!? What about Gou!? Is he safe!?”

Seemingly, Gazas hasn’t heard about this, so Kyle explained everything.

“Yeah, we happened to be present, and saved him. However, your house ended up half destroyed.” Seran added, to which Gazas’ body relaxed at once.

“I don’t care about my home, as long as he’s safe..” Gazas showed a relieved expression.

Even if they aren’t related by blood, he still had the face of a father.

“..At around the same time, a demon attacked the Empire’s embassy, and killed about half of the employees. Since she’s the ambassador of Zilgus, Miranda was called to the official dinner.

“S-She!? Is she fine!?”

Hearing Miranda’s name pop up, Gazas showed approximately the same reaction he had with Gou.

“I happened to be with her at the time, so I managed to chase away the demon.” Kyle spoke indifferently, to which Gazas sighed in relief once again.

“C-Can you stop saying stuff that is bad for my heart!?”

“Basically, including yourself, we saved three people important to you..So disregarding that, is there a reason why you are so obsessed with that sword?”

Gazas lost his words for a moment, but reluctantly answered Kyle’s question.

“That sword was created here, and is treated as the symbol of Callan! And, it’s a goal. As someone who creates swords, reaching a sword on the level of the Holy Sword Rand. I have yet to reach that level..but one day, I will make a sword that can rival it! That’s why I can’t have you remove it from Callan just like that!” Gazas screamed, gasping for air.

“I see..And for that, you would need high-quality mithril. That’s why you kept quiet despite knowing about the mayor’s actions.”

“Wha!?” Gazas went silent in shock.

“I was planning that as a leading question, but I guess I wasn’t too far off? Thinking about it, you would surely ask Miranda for advice in regards to that.”

“Y-You’re wrong! I really was threatened!” Gazas tried to deny it to the best of his ability, but his facial color got worse and worse, possibly realizing that it was backed into a corner.

“Rest assured, it was just a random guess. I definitely don’t think that your desire of wanting to smith a perfect sword made you fall into temptation.”

Gazas tried to argue, but Kyle brought out something before that.

“A bit of a jump in topic, but look at this.” He showed off a lump of metal shining with a silver light.

With the [Apport Bag], he brought a certain object from the Sangurd Mountain Range’s labyrinth to their current position in Callan.

“T-This is..!? Wait, do you actually..?” Gazas’ eyes opened wide in shock.

“That’s right, mithril. Not to mention that it’s a pure lump of mithril..something you can’t create in today’s time. We happened to find ruins that existed since the Ancient Kingdom Zaales’ time, and stumbled upon this..in great amount.”

“Ruins of..Zaales..This is the first time I ever saw something with such high purity..” Albeit surprised, Gazas’ eyes were still glued to the shine it gave off.

“I surely don’t need to tell you how valuable this is, but at this rate, it’s just another lump of an ore. Our goal of coming to Callan was to find a blacksmith who can make good use of this.” Kyle placed the mineral in Gazas’ hands, to which he audibly gulped his saliva. “In fact, it’s pretty clear that you’re the greatest blacksmith this continent has to offer, so surely you’ll make a sword that surpasses the Holy Sword. For that, you need high-quality mithril. So, why don’t we supply you with that?”

Slowly but steadily, Gazas started to breathe heavily.

“Imagine. You can use as much of this high-quality mithril as you want, creating the kind of sword you have wished for..” Kyle gently whispered into Gazas’ ear.

“A-Ahhhh..”

“Now then, this is where my condition comes into place. If the Holy Sword Rand were to end up going missing, there wouldn’t be any problem, right?”

“Yup yup, that’ll make you the victim of this situation, and we won’t be forced to tell Gou or Miranda about what exactly happened here.” Seran followed after Kyle.

“Urk..”

Gazas was clearly ridden with conflict, but the lump of mithril in his hands left him no choice but to slowly nod along.

“Thank you, now all of us can be happy.” Kyle showed a bright smile, as he smacked his hand on Gazas’ back.

“Yep, especially me!” Seran added an unnecessary comment.

“The demons are one thing, but those two aren’t exactly the best kind of people around here.”

“Starting with a simple guilt trip to slowly move into a coercion, followed by sweet promises of the devil..No way you can say no to that.”

Lieze and Urza were whispering to each other, but Kyle decided to ignore them.

“Cough..Anyway, there’s something I’d like you to make.” Kyle said, whispering into Gazas’ ear. “Can you make that? Naturally, I’ll provide you with all the material.”

“I can make it, alright..but it’ll take me five days at least.”

“Make it two.”

The moment Gazas heard those words, his eyes opened wide in shock, and he screamed.

“Two!? Don’t be ridiculous!”

“You heard us, right? We’ll have a rematch in three days. I’ll need it before then.”

“But, two days is just..Damn it, making me feel guilty for saving my life, asking for something so absurd..” Gazas cursed while scratching his head.

“It may be absurd, but it’s not impossible, right? Adding to that, we’re trying to save Callan here, so think of this as a way of protecting yourself and the ones you love.”

“Damn it! Why’d I have to be saved by such a troublesome fellow..” Gazas held his head in despair. “God damn it! I’ll have to shut myself in at my forge!”

“Oh, a special underground forge, huh? Yeah, without that, you wouldn’t be able to process the mithril.” Shildonia clapped her hands together.

“H-How do you know about that?! That’s one of the most utmost secrets of Callan! Only a limited number of people know..” Gazas screamed in disbelief, but Shildonia delivered an explanation not minding that.

“Together with mithril’s high value, it’s famous for being hard to process. On top of the ores that were brought to the surface and created the mountain, they interacted with the veins of the earth to allow mithril processing.”

“H-Hey..who’s this brat? Gou mentioned that she’s no average child..”

“Don’t worry about it, she can be a bit weird at times. But, we might be able to use this..” Kyle started thinking. “Oh yeah, before you start working, go meet Gou and Miranda at the Zilgus Embassy, they must be worried about you.” Kyle said, and started walking above ground.

***

Realizing that Miranda was in her office at the embassy all alone, Kyle pushed the reluctant Gazas inside, listening from the outside.

‘Gazas! I’m so glad you’re safe! If something happened to you, I would have..!’

‘M-Moron! Get away from me!’

“..Seems like she was worried, huh.”

“Let’s not, alright.”

Seran and Kyle had a brief conversation as they put their ears to the door.

“They were actually dating..Not to mention that Miranda-san started it..”

“I wonder if a relationship between a human and dwarf could work out..”

“What, it’s not that big of a deal in terms of races. What really is being tested here is their compatibility.”

Lieze and Urza..even Shildonia listened to what was going on inside with great interest.

After that, Gazas immediately locked himself up in the forge, whereas Kyle and his group reported their encounter with the demons to Miranda. The reason they didn’t tell her about the upcoming rematch was that she couldn’t provide any fighting power. Rather, she’d probably pull them down instead. After handing over Mayor Bucks, Kyle’s group started preparing for the rematch.