Although there was an extremely tragic incident regarding wyverns, Hapti-san’s lessons went on without any other problems, and as she is now teaching how to clean up the encampment…… like how to put out fires and such, it seems like the lessons end after she finished discussing this.
As expected, when the cleanup was over, Hapti-san announced that she had finished teaching and suggested that we finish things up here.
However, there was something I had personally been curious about, so I decided to ask her about it at this time.
[Hapti-san, can I ask a question?]
[Unnn? What is it?][No, it’s not that big of a deal. It was just, Aoi-chan and Hina-chan were fighting all day, so I was wondering what kind of fighting style Hapti-san uses……]
Hapti-san was described as an All-around Thief in the Story of the First Hero’s Journey, and was said to be able to use a variety of weapons depending on the situation.
The only thing is that I expect that the peculiar circular pouch that Hapti-san wears on her waist is probably holding a weapon because of its special shape. Thus, I was wondering if that is Hapti-san’s main weapon.
Unnn, let me correct that. To be honest, as to what kind of weapon would be in a pouch of that shape…… I can actually imagine what it is to some extent. However, exactly because I could imagine what it is that I wanted to see it.
[I’m good at hit-and-run…… throwing weapons. My main weapon is this.]
[……A “chakram” huh.]
Hapti-san took out from her pouch a ring with sharp edges…… yes, a chakram. Honestly, I feel like that’s a weapon that’s hard to handle, but I personally like them…… and I think it’s kind of cool to fight with chakrams.[That seems difficult to handle.]
[Well, you need to get used to using them.]
When Aoi-chan, who must have felt the same way as I did, asked, Hapti-san smiled and held up her index finger…… Arehh? Where’s the chakram she was holding earlier?
At the same time that these questions were popping into my head, Hapti-san pointed to a tree some distance away, and when I turned my gaze towards that direction…… with the sound of blowing wind, a chakram lopped a branch off a tree, and five more chakram tore the branch into pieces before it fell to the ground.
The chakrams then flew in a wide arc before all six chakrams returned and ended up in Hapti-san’s hands.
[……Well, once you get used to using them, you can do something as detailed as this.]
[Amazing……]
It’s just amazing. No, of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alice could do that technique itself, but this time, she probably suppressed the speed of her chakrams on purpose.
Even though she is acting as Hapti-san now, there’s no way that I could see the movements of the magic-imbued chakrams thrown by one of the most powerful people in the world.
The fact that I could see the trajectory should be considered as an indication that it was adjusted to a speed at which I could see it. And because of that, I was able to see her artistic godly techniques.
[It’s amazing, but would those be able to hurt strong monsters?]
[That is indeed a very good question, Hina. In conclusion, since I’m throwing it filled with my magic power, these chakrams could even cut orichalcon in half. However, I can understand why you would ask such a question. Let’s see, since you two are excellent and finished the lessons early…… As an extra, I’ll teach you a little something about weapons.]
As she said this, Hapti-san took out two swords from her magic box.
[Now then, here’s a question. If I were to swing this iron sword and this orichalcon sword with the same strength, which one do you think will be sharper?]
[……Isn’t it the orichalcon one?]
[That’s what you’d think. However, that isn’t really always the answer. The answer for this time’s question, is that since both of them have been strengthened by magic power, it would have the “same sharpness”. If I want, I could also give a tree branch the same sharpness as these swords.]
When I heard those words, I remembered the incident where Alice had cut Aoi-chan’s golem in half with a roll of paper.
[Then, you might be thinking that “Why not just use a tree branch to fight then?”, but that’s not entirely the case. Even if they have the same sharpness, there is still a difference in durability between weapons. To be more precise, there is a difference in the limit of magic power that they could withstand…… If you put magic power into a tree branch and swing it,, you can certainly make it as sharp as an orichalcon sword, but you can only swing it once at most. Most of them may even shatter as soon as you imbue magic power into them.]
[……I see.]
[However, that only goes when it comes to me. For example, if Aoi or Hina were to use that technique, you don’t have the amount of magic power nor the skill that only orichalcon weapons would be able to withstand your ability. I’m sure you would be able to swing a magic-imbued iron sword without breaking it…… Thus, even if you buy an orichalcon weapon, it’s just too expensive and a waste of treasure, so you need to choose a weapon that matches your strength.]
Pausing for the moment, Hapti-san put away her swords before continuing her explanation.
[Well, when it comes to armor, it would always be better to buy the best one. In addition, there’s one more thing I’d like to add. With my explanation so far, you three should be able to understand why most of the world’s most powerful beings don’t carry weapons.]
[……It’s because the weapons couldn’t withstand their magic power.]
[That’s right. If that’s the case, it’s better if they just turn their own magic power to weapons, even if it consumes more magic power, because it’s more stable. However, there are still some exceptions…… They are rather scarce since there’s only a few of them, but the weapons created by the Legendary Master Craftsman Krafty makes use of a special manufacturing method, and among them, the swords that are called masterpieces, crowned with titles like “Holy Sword” or “Demonic Sword” could withstand even the magic power of peak Count-ranks, so there are High-ranking Demons that do use weapons.]
Holy sword…… I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before…… Ahh, if I remember correctly, the sword that Alice gave to Lilia-san as memorabilia for the Six Kings Festival was the Holy Sword Excalibur.
[……And then, there’s the one exception among the Six Kings, the Phantasmal King-sama, who also wields weapons. I don’t know what kind of material was used in Phantasmal King-sama’s dagger…… but I, at least, think that it is the strongest weapon that exists in this world by far. After all, it can withstand the magic power of one of the Six Kings.]
When I heard those words, I suddenly felt like there’s something slightly out of place. No, rather than that…… I felt that it was a little unusual.
After all, it’s a little unusual for Hapti-san…… for Alice to declare her weapon to be the “strongest”, as if she was somehow a little proud of it.
Perhaps, Alice may have had a special attachment to her dagger.
<Afterword>
~ ~ Extra : Alice’s daggers ~ ~
1 : “Trick Jester”
A pair of black and white daggers, the same daggers used by Alice in “The Visitor’s Beginnings”. It was the Heart Tool of Alice’s father, and has the ability of Force Teleportation.
Furthermore, due to the nature of a Heart Tool, its durability is infinite unless Alice’s heart is broken…… However, if she uses her Heart Tool to defend herself, she will take mental damage and easily get fatigued, so she only uses it when she needs to use its ability.
2 : “The Dagger of the Stars”
This is a dagger that Alice keeps in a sheathe strapped on her hip.
It’s a dagger made from the core of the Seven Star Beasts, monsters that were said to have been created by the stars themselves, and it has seven abilities corresponding to each Star Beast.
She loved using it before because it was easy to handle and had tremendous strength…… but it was now finding it hard to withstand Alice’s magic power that grew after the battle in the God Realm.
3 : “The Dagger of the Machine God”
The dagger that Alice is currently using, and although Alice requested only the materials to make it, Makina created this dagger instead and gave it to Alice as a gift, saying that “doing either of them takes the same effort”.
Because it was a dagger made by Makina for her beloved Alice…… to put it bluntly, it’s one heck of a cheat.
“Possesses all the abilities the wielder could imagine for a weapon”
It can do anything that Alice can think of as a weapon’s ability, it can change into any shape at will, and its durability is such that only those who are omniscient and omnipotent can damage it. However, it’s kind of a yandere, as it’s a weapon that doesn’t want other weapons to be used by Alice.
Well, Alice also likes the dagger because it was given to her by her best friend, and that’s why she was declaring this as “the strongest weapon” in this chapter.
