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Volume 13 Chapter 4 Part 5

「Since you are able to wield the Orichalcum sword, it was rude of me to worry about you taking it. Please forgive me, Lord Michio. 」

Is he trying to flatter me to make sure that I won’t choose to take any of the Limited ones after all? How much does he not want it to be taken? Gozer seems to be having a hard time. Just to be sure, I also try to pick up the Limited Orichalcum Sword that’s placed aside.

「Hmm… 」

「Well, it certainly doesn’t seem necessary. 」

「Even though you can freely restrict or remove the restriction as many times as you want, it costs a lot, so you can’t actually do it many times. Even in my household, we only have one limited sword. I wish it was easier to use. 」

I can’t tell the difference. Is it really different to begin with? Or maybe there’s some kind of equipment restriction. Though I’ve never heard of it. I was able to use my Durandal from the beginning. I wonder if that’s the case only with Orichalcum Swords. Or maybe they’re not available to people with low STR stat? Or maybe they require you to be at a certain level to wield them properly? Is something like that even possible?

「I see. 」

「So it can’t be used easily unless equipped by the head of the family or the next head of the family. Between you and me, Your Excellency used it for a while after he became head of the family. 」

So basically, it is like a bicycle with training wheels. It’s convenient for beginners, but the cost of attaching and removing the training wheels is high, so you can’t do it freely. For that reason, you only have one, and let the head of the family or the next head of the family use it exclusively. That’s why he said ‘don’t take it’.

That the Duke of Hartz needed to use the assistance of the training wheels to use the weapon properly! How laughable, to be an adult and still require training wheels! But then again, being born into a noble family is advantageous in these respects too.

「Well, I won’t take the Limited one, but I will go ahead and take the regular Orichalcum Sword then. 」

「That would be appreciated. 」

I think even the regular Orichalcum Sword would be something I would not want to have taken away from me, but Gozer seems to care more about the Limited ones, so if I take the regular one instead of the limited one, I will have them think that I am doing them a favor, and that’s a great thing.

They have collected quite a few of them here, so maybe that’s not the case. Be that as it may, it was the Duke of Hartz himself who said that I could feel free to take whatever I want from the armory. Therefore, I am sure that he must have at least anticipated that I might set my sights on the Orichalcum Sword. Or maybe once I leave the castle he will start laughing while saying that I was tricked into taking the Orichalcum Sword that cannot be used by beginners off their hands?

Maybe it is going to turn out that the Limited Orichalcum Swords in this armory were nothing more than bait, and they were using them as a diversion to hide something else that’s much more awesome from me? Knowing the Duke of Hartz, I wouldn’t put a deception like that completely behind him. Okay, give me a minute to consider everything again carefully.

I look around the armory carefully. I was not doing that when we came in here, but with my current knowledge, I have started to look hard at every single thing in the armory to make sure that not even a single mouse or a spec of dust would escape me – but there was nothing else that caught my attention or that looked like it was out of place.

With my current level of vigilance, I scanned the entire armory so hard that I would be able to notice even an ant emerging from the smallest cracks in the room’s bricks, but there really was nothing noteworthy here. As disappointing as it is, it looks like this is it for me. If there is nothing else worthy of my attention here, then there really is nothing more that I can do.

「Well then, I will be taking this. 」

「I understand. Thank you again for your help and understanding. 」

I pick out two Orichalcum Swords and take them. Of course, I made sure to pick the ones that have the most Empty Skill Slots in them from among all of them. With that many Empty Skill Slots, the strength of these Orichalcum Swords should be increased exponentially, and our fighting power will grow with them as well. After that, I went straight back to my home in Quratar.

「Welcome back, master. 」

「Yes. I’m home. 」

「Yes. 」

Roxanne greets me, and everyone else is there with her too.

「Vesta, can you wield this? 」

「A new pair of swords? 」

I handed the Orichalcum Swords over to Vesta. If anyone was going to use it in the current situation, it would be Vesta.

That being said, I could feel that Rutina was looking at me with a cold look in her eyes. She knows where I went, so naturally she would also be aware who was the one who gave me these swords. The Duke of Hartz, the sworn enemy of her parents.

「T-These are gifts that I have received from the Duke of Hartz, but by taking them, I believe I have reduced the Duke’s family’s supply of weapons. 」

「That’s right. This means they now have fewer spare swords to use when some of his knights are going to lose their own swords. 」

It seems that she still hasn’t given up on getting revenge on the Duke for what happened to her father. Please, at least do it when I’m not looking, Rutina!

「I think I should be able to use them without any problems. 」

「Can you do OK with both of them? 」

「… Yes. I think I’ll be fine. 」

Vesta swung the two Orichalcum Swords around with ease. She swung them around wildly, looking like it was something as easy as breathing for her. What was it about them being unusable by beginners? Was that a lie on Gozer’s part?

No. It’s more likely that Vesta can’t be called a beginner anymore. She’s only just started entering the Labyrinths with us, so I guess in terms of raw experience, she is a beginner though. Well, she is Vesta after all. You can’t call someone who is swinging a sword in a boss battle on the forty-something floor of the Labyrinths a beginner. The same can be said about Roxanne, who’s training was unorthodox, but remarkable.

「Have you ever heard that beginners can’t use Orichalcum Swords, or something similar like that, Sherry? 」

「Yes. That seems to be the case with Orichalcum Swords. 」

When I asked Sherry about it, she replied with an affirmative answer.

「Is that so? 」

「They are mainly used by advanced users, and it’s only natural since they are hard, heavy, and large. 」

「Hmm… I see. 」

So that’s how it’s perceived, huh? You know, the other sword that I use is also hard and large as well.

「So Vesta… do you feel like you could use these Orichalcum Swords? 」

「Yes. 」

「To think that you can swing it around so easily… I am impressed. 」 Vesta is a scary girl.

「Are these really Orichalcum Swords? 」

「Uhm, yes. That means two swords have definitely been taken from the Duke of Hartz. 」

Rutina was muttering something to herself, so I tried to de-escalate the situation. It’s not like we owe the Duke of Hartz anything for this. It’s not like he’s really doing us any favors. It’s more like a spoil of war.

「I see. 」

That’s fine.

「Borrow, desu? 」

「Here you go. 」

「Heavy, desu! 」

Miria borrowed an Orichalcum Sword from Vesta. It seems to be too heavy for Miria to handle. That makes sense, since I didn’t bring back something Limited for beginners. After Miria, Roxanne borrowed the Orichalcum Sword as well, and it seems that she can swing it.

「It’s certainly heavy, but not so heavy that I can’t swing it around. However, it would be counterproductive if it slowed down my ability to dodge monster attacks. It doesn’t suit me. 」

Awesome.

「I can swing it. If you’re going to swing it around, it’s better to have a heavy one. But it’s not the kind of weapon best suited for me. 」