Chapter 69: The Mithril Sword

“Eh? It’s already finished?”

“Yep. You’ve always been a big help to me, after all. And since this is Sena-chan’s new sword, it’s obviously top priority,” Billy replied with a grin, as if there were no other task in the world more important.

“I-I hope that’s really okay…”

“Ah, no worries. Other jobs can wait. Hahaha!”

…Was it really okay?

I felt a twinge of unease, but from the look on his face, it seemed that the sword I had asked Billy to craft was indeed finished. The very next morning, after returning from the town of Zari, he had gone out of his way to bring it to my house himself.

Shifa was with him. She was there, a little frowning and adorably concerned, reacting to Billy’s bold declaration.

“Here, take a look,” he said.

“This is…”

When I drew the sword from its sheath, a brilliant silver blade gleamed in the morning light, pure and radiant.

Staring at it, I felt a strange, almost hypnotic pull, as if the blade could swallow me whole with its sheer beauty. I had no real way of judging a sword’s quality—but I was certain, deep down, that this was no ordinary weapon. It had to be extraordinary.

“This is, without a doubt, the finest blade I’ve ever forged,” Billy said, pride practically radiating from him.

“Th-Thank you… truly,” I stammered, overwhelmed.

“Eh, it’s mostly thanks to the material, really. I’ve never seen mithril like this before. I still can’t believe it—pure, one-hundred-percent mithril…”

He had shouted so loudly when I handed over the material that I’d been startled in turn.

“Could something like that even exist in nature? And yet… I can’t imagine anyone could smelt it artificially either…”

To avoid any awkward questions, I had told people that I had purchased it from Lilcarlia. After all, I’d dealt with her before and had bought large quantities of mithril without issue.

…Though, admittedly, it did raise some eyebrows about where I had found so much money.

“Onii-chan, what’s wrong?”

“Sena, this… this is your new sword,” I said, presenting it to her.

“My… mine?”

“Yeah. I heard your old one’s edge had dulled.”

“Ehh… I wanted a break more than a new sword, though…”

“Oi, hey,” I scolded, but even Billy couldn’t help but chuckle at my sister’s first reaction to such a masterpiece.

Sorry about that… my little sister really is something else.

At that moment, Anii and Sarassa arrived.

“Ah, Sena’s new sword is finished. Perfect timing,” Anii said.

“…M-M-mmm… muscles… huff… huff…”

Anii was staring at the sword in Sena’s hand. Sarassa, on the other hand, had her cheeks faintly flushed, mumbling something while looking at Billy’s bicep. I couldn’t quite catch her words.

“It’s a very fine sword. And we plan to enchant it soon,” I added.

“Think Sarassa can handle that? …Sarassa?”

“Huff… huff…”

“Hey, Sarassa,” Anii called.

“…Dufu fu…”

“Sarassa! Come back here already!”

With a light smack to her head, Anii finally got Sarassa to realize she was being addressed.

“W-What… is it…?” Sarassa stammered, flustered.

“We want to enchant this sword. Can you do it?”

Sarassa seemed… a bit odd, but her magical skill was said to be top-notch. However, as soon as she got a good look at the sword, she shook her head frantically.

“N-No, impossible! I-I couldn’t possibly enchant such an extraordinary sword…!”

“You mean you just can’t do it?”

“If I’m honest, I could… maybe… but…”

“But?”

“A sword this good… it really should be enchanted by a professional. Magic enchantment is delicate—if you fail, there’s no undoing it…”

“I see,” I said, nodding.

“Y-Yes… I’m not great with fine, precise magical work like enchantments. It makes me nervous… and with a sword this incredible… all the more so…”

So, in the end, we decided to leave the enchantment to a specialist. Of course, enchantment experts are rare, and we weren’t even sure one existed in this city.

“Then for now, the enchantment will wait,” I said.

Even as it was, the sword’s raw form was already more than enough. For now, it would be put to use as it was.

After resuming our adventure from the town of Zari, we finally reached our destination: the village of Moria.

It was a small settlement. A modest moat and earthwork walls enclosed the narrow area, and within it, simple wooden houses were neatly arranged.

We visited the home of the village chief, our client, to hear the details firsthand. He was a man in his fifties.

“Thank you for coming all the way to this remote village. The journey must have been difficult,” he said politely.

We couldn’t exactly say, ‘The journey was comfortable, and we returned home each night,’ so we simply nodded solemnly.

“A wyvern has taken up residence in a nearby mountain, and it has been snatching our livestock almost every day,” the chief explained.

The victims included cows, pigs, and goats—livestock vital to the villagers’ survival. We assumed the wyvern took them back to its nest to feed itself.

Fortunately, no villagers had been harmed… yet. But if the livestock continued to vanish, it wouldn’t be long before humans became targets. We had to act quickly.

“…Almost every day?” Aniiasked, sensing something strange.

“Y-Yes,” the chief replied.

“Wyverns are slender compared to dragons, and even a large one is only about four or five meters. Could it really eat that much? And even if it could handle pigs and goats, could it even lift a full-grown cow?”

“Now that you mention it…”

According to the chief, adult cows weighing over six hundred kilograms had been taken. Witnesses reported seeing wyverns that seemed only around four meters long from a distance.

It seemed nearly impossible for such a creature to carry an adult cow through the air.

“Maybe it’s a higher-tier species,” I suggested.

“Yes. Let’s confirm that first,” Anny said.

With that, we set off for the mountains where the wyverns were said to dwell.