Chapter 323: The broken magic sword, and the one approaching the Great Demon King

Half a month after Vandalieu enrolled at the Hero Preparatory School, something shocking happened to the 'Blue-flamed Sword' Heinz, the leader of the Five-colored Blades.

"Ah..." he gasped, speechless.

After finishing his training and having a meal, he had taken his sword from its scabbard to perform some maintenance on it before he went to bed. But when he did, the sword - the magic sword that could conjure blue flames, the sword that his Title originated from - had snapped.

Heinz was lost for words. Edgar and Delizah, who were also present, stared with their eyes wide open, unable to say anything.

When Heinz finally broke the silence, more than ten full seconds later, he did not scream or grieve over his beloved sword.

"To think that... it would snap on a peaceful, uneventful night like this," he said.

"Yeah, it didn't even snap during the Trial of Zakkart, or when we fought a rampaging fragment of the Demon King, or even when you cut down the Evil God of Sinful Chains," said Edgar.

"The strain must have accumulated," said Delizah. "But maybe it's because you treated it with such care that it snapped at a time like this rather than during a battle. If it had snapped when you tried to cut down the Evil God of Sinful Chains, Bellwood might still be sealed away to this day."

Heinz nodded. "You're right about that... Now that I think about it, this magic sword has been with me for more than ten years."

He picked up the fragments of the broken magic sword and stared at them, his expression filled with emotion. Due to the divine authority of Alda, the God of Law and Fate, he looked like he was in his early twenties, but he was in fact over thirty years old.

He had acquired this magic sword back when the Five-colored Blades still had the original members that the party began with.

Back then, he had thought that the magic sword was too powerful for him, and he made desperate efforts to master its use. But recently, he had begun to feel that it was not powerful enough.

So then, why had he continued to use this magic sword despite that? Was it because he was stubborn? Or perhaps he had felt like the magic sword was an extension of himself, and he had been under the impression that losing this magic sword would mean losing the skills that he had spent years honing.

Or perhaps this magic sword was simply a symbol of his own youth.

"Well, leaving that aside, what are you going to use as your next weapon?" Edgar asked. "No half-assed sword is going to be able to withstand the power you have now, right? Or are you going to fight with 'Magic Fighting Technique' and magic only?"

"I'd like to avoid both, if possible," said Heinz.

As Edgar said, Heinz was already a superhuman... He was now a hero, the kind that would be spoken of in myths and legends. An ordinary iron sword would be too fragile for him - it would fall to pieces just from him swinging it with all his strength.

And ordinary iron wouldn't be able to inflict a single scratch on the kinds of enemies he and his allies would be facing, which included rampaging fragments of the Demon King and extremely powerful Undead of Rank 13 and above.

If he used 'Magic Fighting Technique' to cover his body with Mana and improve his physical capabilities, and used spells as his main weapons, he was certainly capable of fighting. But that would mean not making use of more than half of the training that he had done so far.

Heinz had first-rate skills as a mage, but he was a swordsman at heart.

But less than a handful of swords existed in the entirety of the Orbaume Kingdom that could withstand the power that Heinz currently possessed. There were magic swords and holy swords that were heirlooms passed down from generation to generation in dukes' houses, but it was possible that even they would crumble under his power.

"If you need a weapon, then there is the holy sword that I wielded as a mortal," said Bellwood's voice, inside Heinz's mind. "When I became a god, it was safeguarded in a certain sanctuary. You may use it."

The sword he mentioned was a holy sword that had withstood the power of a legendary champion who summoned the God of Law and Fate Alda upon his own body, and it had even survived the battle against the Demon King Guduranis. Heinz couldn't ask for a better replacement.

"Thank you. But isn't the holy sword in the custody of the Great Church of Alda in the Amid Empire?" asked Heinz.

The Great Church of Alda had existed since before the Amid Empire's foundation, and it was said to be in possession of Bellwood's holy sword, which it had received from the Church of Bellwood.

"I'm sorry, but I was asleep until you woke me up, so I don't know anything about the world as it is now," said Bellwood. "However, I used multiple holy swords, so... it's possible that they've only enshrined one of the holy swords that I'd already stopped using. Or it might even be one of the swords I passed down to my children... the swords that I forged for them. It's possible that later generations mistook one of those holy swords for the one that I used... Well, if it were up to me, I would destroy my sword right this instant."

It seemed that even Bellwood himself didn't know whose care his holy sword was under now. And regardless of where it was, it was a relic with a dark history to him.

Bellwood hadn't founded an organization like Nineroad and Farmaun, but he had left behind a great number of holy swords, blessed suits of armor, and sacred shields - so that they could be wielded against evil gods that were remnants of the Demon King's army, and against Vida's races.

One of the most well-known of these was the holy sword Nemesis Bell, which had been wielded by the 'Light-speed Sword' Rickert, one of the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords.

Many of them had become broken in fierce battles or lost to time, but it was said that many of Bellwood's legacies were still in existence.

However, now that Bellwood had been made aware of his own sins by the divine authority of the Evil God of Sinful Chains, it didn't seem to be something that he was proud of.

"Well, regardless of your sword's past, we can change its future," Heinz said reassuringly. "And I'll certainly need a weapon that can stand up to remnants of the Demon King's army and rampaging fragments of the Demon King."

Bellwood seemed to recover slightly from his depressed mood. "Well, I'll go and get it, then," he said.

And with that, his presence left Heinz and drifted away.

"A champion's holy sword! That's amazing... And it's the masterpiece that Bellwood himself wielded until the very end! Jennifer's going to be so jealous when we tell her," said Delizah, who rarely got this excited.

"It is amazing, but don't start celebrating yet. It's possible that, unbeknownst to Bellwood himself, the sword is so powerful that it will be difficult for someone who isn't a champion to wield," said Edgar with a frown that wasn't rare for him these days.

"Yeah, I know," said Heinz.

It was an honor to inherit Bellwood's holy sword - a greater honor than any award or decoration in the Orbaume Kingdom.

But it was true that Heinz was worried about whether he would be able to wield the holy sword or not. He was still unable to use his strength to the fullest in battle with Bellwood descended upon him. Now that he thought about it, it was possible that this was the reason his magic sword had been strained, causing it to snap.

However, there was a bigger concern on Heinz's mind. "The fragments of the Demon King... That man named Asagi who is researching the seals on the fragments. Is what he said really true?" he wondered.

He had received a letter from a man known as the 'Mage Masher' Asagi Minami about half a month ago, and had met him and his two companions to have a discussion.

Asagi had told him things that were of great surprise. Heinz had learned that Vandalieu was a reincarnated individual who was not originally from this world, just like the champions who had been summoned from another world. But Asagi and his companions were also reincarnated individuals as well, and there were several other reincarnated individuals who had come to this world as well.

Upon hearing this, Heinz and his party had immediately raised their weapons, but Asagi and his companions had explained that they had no hostile intentions, and continued to deliver more shocking information and warnings.

Vandalieu had become a god in the world they had come from, and he wasn't the only one who could use death-attribute magic now - he had allies who could use it, too. And these new death-attribute mages had almost certainly come to this world.

Heinz and his companions had believed that Vandalieu was the only death-attribute mage who could control Undead; this new information turned everything they knew upside down.

The reason they considered Vandalieu to be dangerous was that he was expanding his influence, commanding a countless number of powerful Undead, and if he were to die, these Undead would become enemies of the living once more.

However, if there was someone who could replace Vandalieu in the unlikely event of his death, then that danger no longer existed.

Of course, of the two death-attribute mages mentioned by Asagi, it seemed that only one of them was able to control Undead.

In addition to that, though this was conjecture on the part of Asagi and the god who had reincarnated him, it was likely that neither of those death-attribute mages possessed a vast quantity of Mana like Vandalieu.

"What those guys said, huh... We should take it with a grain of salt, shouldn't we?" said Edgar. "I already told you this after we met them, but those guys are connected to Vandalieu. And what they said was information passed onto them by familiar spirits of the god who reincarnated Vandalieu in this world, isn't it? It's possible that this god is trying to protect him."

Vandalieu would fiercely object if he were to hear this, but Edgar rejected what Asagi had told them. But to Edgar, the fact that Asagi was a reincarnated individual like Vandalieu was enough reason to distrust him.

Of course, in reality... Guduranis, who lurked within Edgar's soul, was making Edgar skeptical about Asagi because he didn't want a battle between Heinz and Vandalieu to be prevented.

"I know that. I don't intend to believe what Asagi said until we actually see the death-attribute mages for ourselves," said Heinz. "But... we should assume that it might be true. If Asagi and the god who reincarnated him here were clearly lying and trying to deceive us, Alda would have sent us a Divine Message or something."

Heinz had no intention of simply accepting the information offered by Asagi. There were no death-attribute mages other than Vandalieu, and yet two new death-attribute mages had appeared. But their whereabouts were unknown. There was no way that Heinz could simply believe this without question.

"... But with that said, even if we were to ask Vandalieu and his companions about these 'new death-attribute mages,' I doubt they would answer," Heinz added.

The trust between him and Vandalieu wasn't only non-existent; it was in the negative range. Just as Heinz refused to believe that Vandalieu could exist forever, Vandalieu wouldn't trust Heinz and allow him to meet the new death-attribute mages... Especially Mei.

In fact, this was likely to immediately result in a battle to the death, as Vandalieu would assume that Heinz intended to kill Mei and Mari.

"Still... to think that Vandalieu has become a god in another world. We've been getting stronger, but during that time, he's not only become stronger, he's become a god. It's not fair, is it," Delizah sighed.

"You're right about that," Edgar agreed. "He's already stronger than Elder Dragons, Colossi, and evil gods, but he grows stronger as quickly as a person does. That's really troublesome."

Demigods and evil gods normally showed no visible improvements in strength even after a decade or two. Their births and development took place over tens or hundreds of thousands of years, so they spent their time differently from mortals.

But mortals were different, as was expressed in the words left behind by Botin's champion Hillwillow: "If you have not seen a man in three days, look at him closely."

This was an idiom from folklore in the champions' world (Earth), and although its origins had been forgotten, its meaning was: "Those with ambition can develop greatly in three days, so do not let your guard down when you meet them."

"Shouldn't we warn the higher-ups to keep a closer watch over the sealed fragments of the Demon King? We could tell them that we got a Divine Message from Alda or Bellwood," said Edward.

"Even in Divine Messages, it wouldn't be good to repeatedly request the same thing over and over," said Heinz. "It might be fine for the dukes we're acquainted with and Prime Minister Tercatanis from Central, but the other nobles might think we're doubting their ability to keep the fragments safe. And... I'm sure it will be pointless to try and say anything to Duke Alcrem."

Duke Alcrem had made Vandalieu's mother Darcia, who was supposed to be dead, an honorary noble. Heinz and his companions were under the assumption that he was completely on Vandalieu's side, and this assumption was, in fact, correct.

Suddenly, Selen came into the room. "Onii-cha... What happened to your sword?!" she exclaimed, seeing Heinz's broken magic sword.

"Ah, it snapped just a minute ago. I'm sorry to shock you, but it's alright," said Heinz.

"We've got a lead on a new sword, too... Oh yeah. Why don't we have Selen write a letter to Vandalieu?" Edgar suggested.

"A letter from Selen? But I heard that her previous letter didn't do any good," said Delizah, wondering if there was a point to doing this.

"I know, she showed me his reply. But despite its contents, it was written politely. I also compared it to the documents that he partially filled in when he was in the city of Niarki, which were kept by the Adventurers' Guild in the Hartner Duchy, and I think he did write it himself," said Edgar. "With that being the case, it should be more effective than us writing to him ourselves, or having a cardinal or priest write to him."

"Just when did you manage to do all of that..." Delizah sighed in exasperation. "Well, it might be worth writing to him after all. What do you want to do, Selen?" she asked, turning to the Dhampir girl.

"I'll write it!" said Selen.

If it could benefit Heinz and his party, Selen wouldn't hesitate to write a letter. And so, it was decided that Selen would write a second letter to Vandalieu.

Although Edgar was unaware of this, this was the most effective form of mental attack against Vandalieu.

Incidentally, Asagi had warned Heinz and his companions to be wary of Kanako Tsuchiya as well. He had warned them that she was surely plotting something, and that they should be even more wary of her than Vandalieu - to the point that his two companions stopped him because they thought he was overdoing it.

But Heinz and his companions had already heard from Alda through Bellwood that Kanako Tsuchiya was a reincarnated individual from another world and it was possible that she was a Guider, so this behavior had only made them more suspicious of Asagi.

After all, they didn't believe that they needed to be more wary of Kanako than Vandalieu.

Meanwhile, a grand party was being held at the secondary residence of the house of Duke Alcrem, in the high-class nobles' district of Orbaume.

The season for nobles' social gatherings was normally from between the end of fall until the end of the year, and during early spring. However, that didn't mean that nobles didn't host parties at all during late spring and summer.

Parties were held to celebrate people's accomplishments, military victories, and even events like birthdays and tenth wedding anniversaries. Of course, many of these events were modest gatherings like tea parties, attended only by the host's closest friends.

But the party being hosted by the Alcrem house was a grand one that was not at all inferior to the parties that were held during the season for social gatherings.

And as for why such a grand party was being held by Duke Alcrem at this time of the year -

"My name is Mahibiles Ledos," one noble said. "It is an honor to meet you in person."

"Oh my. You must be the one I have heard so much about, from Earl Ledos's house. I have heard that you are a magnificent archer, and that you even shot down a Wyvern!" said Darcia.

The noble gave a modest laugh. "I'm afraid that my renown is far short of yours, Honorary Countess Zakkart."

"Well, well. If it isn't Honorary Countess Darcia Zakkart. My name is Darvelan Shabule," said another noble.

"Oh my. You must be the eldest son of Marquis Shabule. I have seen your wonderful paintings!" said Darcia.

"I am delighted to hear that. If you could forgive me for asking, I would love the opportunity to create a painting with you as my model."

The other nobles had persistently requested to meet Honorary Countess Darcia Zakkart, whom everyone was talking about, and Duke Alcrem had become unable to refuse these requests any longer.

Many nobles were interested in and wary of the actions of Vandalieu and Darcia, but their inability to gain any further information about them had made them impatient. Officially, the house of Honorary Countess Zakkart served the house of Duke Alcrem, and so the nobles had pointed their pitchfork in the direction of the duke's house.

Takkard Alcrem had known that this would happen, ever since he learned of Vandalieu and his companions' plans to stay in Orbaume. Thus, he had planned to gently decline the nobles' requests and have them wait until the season for social gatherings, and use that time to teach Darcia and the others proper upper-class manners so that they could converse without offending anyone.

But the social strategies employed by the nobles had been fiercer than he had anticipated, forcing him to host an out-of-season party.

Vandalieu had suggested, "Why don't we host it at our home (Silkie Zakkart Mansion), then?" This would likely have resulted in almost nine-tenths of the nobles declining the invitation. But Takkard had believed that the nobles might look to cause trouble by sending disposable pawns without caring if they were killed - if they were, it would create a reason to criticize him and cause trouble for him afterwards. Thus, he had erred on the side of caution and rejected this idea.

In preparation for this day, Takkard had chosen the guests to be invited very carefully. He had also flown here from the Alcrem Duchy in a Flying Dragon carriage - a special carriage that, rather than being pulled by a horse, was carried beneath four Flying Dragons. This method of transport required four very well-trained Wyverns and a skilled rider for each Wyvern, so even among wealthy nobles, very few had the privilege of riding such a carriage.

And now, he was currently dealing with the noblemen who had surrounded him, having heard rumors about V Cream.

"I'm begging you! I'm at my limit! You have it, don't you?! The product in the rumors!" one of them shouted.

"C-calm down," Takkard said. "The party is just getting started, so we can discuss this later..."

"Is it money that you need?! Or do you want the paintings and vases passed down to me by my forefathers? If you want a Magic Item, name it and it's yours!"

"As a marquis, my house shall support the reforms being carried out in the Alcrem Duchy! I can write a formal declaration with a seal made from my blood! Just give me this rumored hair-restoring medicine!"

"My wife and daughter are suffering from a terrible skin disease. My father insists that I should divorce her and find a new wife, but I can't do that! I need a miracle to happen, and the rumors say this appointment can do that...!"

Some of the nobles only had their dignity and pride on the line, while others were in situations so grave that Vandalieu would probably go to treat the afflicted personally if he were to hear about them. But all of them were clinging onto Takkard at the same time.

Even with all his plentiful experience in high society, Takkard almost felt dizzy. If Luciliano wasn't next to him, perhaps he really would have felt dizzy and ill.

But even Luciliano, who was writing down the nobles' names and situations like a secretary, was wearing a frown. The demand for V Cream is higher than anticipated. To think that it is being treated as a miraculous ointment... even though we only propagated it as a cream that restores hair and improves the skin. It is true that it treats all kinds of skin ailments, such as burns and insect stings, but we have not told that to anyone. Has someone tested it and spread the news that it is effective for such uses? Now that it has come to this, I shall have to harvest more fat and blood from Master, he thought as he devised a plan to increase the production of V Cream.

These nobles were causing much trouble for Takkard and Luciliano, as well as Vandalieu, the source of V Cream's ingredients. But since they were only asking for V Cream, they were relatively easy to deal with.

There were also some who were not so easily dealt with - the nobles' daughters.

As far as the Orbaume Kingdom's public knew, Vandalieu, the eldest son of Darcia Zakkart, was not yet betrothed to anyone. The noble ladies had been sent by their parents to approach Vandalieu in an attempt to acquire the technology for making transformation equipment and his skills as a tamer.

But Vandalieu was sitting next to Pauvina, peacefully enjoying the food that had been made for the party.

"Van, this dish over here is delicious too," said Pauvina.

"Pauvina, the soup is quite impressive," said Vandalieu.

The dressed up ladies were standing in a circle around Vandalieu at a distance, finding themselves unable to approach... because he was also surrounded by Eleanora, Bellmond, Eisen, and even the Ghoul Zadiris.

"Van-sama, this fish dish is quite grand; it even has powdered pearl sprinkled on top. Would you like to try some too, Pauvina?" said Eleanora.

"Danna-sama, you have some food stuck on your lips. Allow me to wipe it for you," said Bellmond.

"Have some of this jelly that I made with my sap and fruit juuuice," said Eisen.

"I must say, parties hosted by dukes are quite impressive. Incidentally, boy, I wonder why there is nobody sitting near us?" said Zadiris.

Pauvina was a beautiful little girl if one didn't take her size into account, and Eleanora, Bellmond, and Eisen were shining beauties with a glamorous allure to them. On top of that, Zadiris, whose appearance made it seem like she was of similar age to Vandalieu, was sitting nearby and talking to him in a manner that made it clear that they were close.

None of the noble ladies at this party had the courage or power to charge through and penetrate this perfect defensive formation.

Of course, familiars would normally never attend a noble's party. On occasion, nobles hosting garden parties and such might show off the familiars of adventurers with whom they had friendly relations, but they were there for show, not actually attending the event.

Society treated familiars as a special kind of livestock. Thus, for nobles, having familiars attend a party and eat the food provided there would be no different from eating at the same table as cows and horses.

Thus, such behavior would normally be strongly protested against by the host, but... nobody attending this party was doing any such thing. This party was only being attended by those who had previously been notified of and agreed to the attendance of Vandalieu's familiars.

Some of the people gathered here were monster specialists disguised as attendants for nobles who wanted to gather information. Some had their eyes set on nothing but acquiring V Cream. Some didn't care about the familiars as long as they could form some kind of connection with the house of Honorary Countess Zakkart.

"But we must be thankful to Mr. Orlock, must we not?" said Bellmond.

"Let's bring him some grilled skewers the next time we go to see him," said Vandalieu.

Bellmond had also received a document from Orlock, the Guild Master of the Tamers' Guild, certifying that she had been tamed. Orlock's worries were only growing in number.

Although Vandalieu and his companions had assumed that none of the noble ladies would have the courage or strength to approach them, one of them spoke to Vandalieu.

"Excuse me. May I have a word, Vandalieu Zakkart-dono?"

Vandalieu turned to see a little girl who looked to be about six or seven years old. Judging from the tailoring of her dress, he guessed that she was from quite an important family. Perhaps due to her nervousness, she had a stiff expression on her face as she continued speaking.

"My name is Katie Hartner... I was once known as 'Urðr.'"