Some time later.
France, too, received equipment made by Vulcanus.
And not just any equipment—a Legendary-grade weapon.
It was the ‘Epee’ used by the current number one Hunter in France.
The ‘Epee’ is a type of modified rapier used in fencing, and the nation’s top-ranked Hunter wielded this Epee with exceptional skill.
Thus, the order for the Epee had been placed.
“Formidable! To think it’s truly a Legendary-grade item!”
France’s top Hunter was thoroughly pleased with the weapon.
As the Prime Minister had predicted, the Hunter’s combat power increased dramatically.
Not only had France acquired this top-tier weapon, but thanks to their recent contract with Vulcanus’s Forge, they had also been purchasing mass-produced Vulcanus Equipment.
The overall strength of France’s Hunters had greatly increased.
They had not yet regained their former glory as a powerhouse of Hunters, but at least they could now resolve their own domestic problems without relying on others.
Thanks to this, France could send back all foreign Hunters and stand tall with confidence.
Up to this point, everything was going well.
All was well—but there was one problem.
“Summon every single top blacksmith in France at once.”
“Understood.”
The Prime Minister found this ‘Vulcanus Mark’ restriction to be quite bothersome.
He understood.
He knew that, according to the contract, this clause wasn’t really a problem.
Still, he couldn’t shake off his unease.
What if some unpleasant incident occurred with Korea in the future?
At that point, wouldn’t France be forced to bow its head, if only to avoid angering Vulcanus?
It wasn’t necessary to curry favor with Korea so blatantly right now, but it seemed inevitable that the day would come when France would have to lower its head.
Therefore, the Prime Minister gathered all of France’s most renowned blacksmiths.
“Erase just the ‘Vulcanus Mark’ from the item’s restrictions. Don’t touch anything else.”
He ordered them to remove that irritating equipment restriction.
The blacksmiths immediately nodded and set to work.
Everyone gathered here was known as one of the best blacksmiths in France, so they were confident; above all, they were eager to see the L-rank Equipment crafted by Vulcanus, who was now praised as the world’s greatest blacksmith.
The blacksmiths received the L-rank weapon.
“Ohh!”
“Incredible! It’s really an L-rank Item!”
“How in the world did they make this?”
“To process SS-Class Material to such perfection—it’s truly amazing.”
“But how did they make an L-rank Item from SS-Class Material?”
“Normally, the finished item is only as good as the grade of its materials. Even with a stroke of genius, you might only reach one grade above.”
“It just shows how extraordinary their skill is. They’ve achieved a result two grades higher.”
“Amazing. Truly remarkable.”
They all admired the L-rank Equipment.
They discussed how the tempering was done, how the polishing was handled.
The praise for Vulcanus continued unabated.
The Prime Minister, who had been watching from behind, wore an uncomfortable expression and spoke up, “When will you start the work?”
“Ah, we’ll start immediately.”
“First, we need to fully understand the equipment in order to modify it, don’t you think?”
Only then did the blacksmiths begin to fulfill the task the Prime Minister had given them.
That excuse about needing to understand the equipment was clearly half-hearted.
In truth, the work blacksmiths did for Hunters was very different from what happened in an ordinary Blacksmith’s Forge.
Rather than hammering iron and sharpening blades, they would strike at floating points as guided by the System.
So what mattered was the System, not their observational skills.
As soon as they returned to their places, the blacksmiths began the modifications.
But soon after—
“…I can’t do it.”
“Giving up already?”
“I can’t even use my skills on this. I think my level is just too low.”
The blacksmith with the lowest level among them declared his surrender.
Even though he was the lowest level here, every blacksmith gathered was a master renowned throughout France.
To fail at the very first hurdle of System application—
But that was just the beginning.
“…I can’t do it, either.”
“Same here.”
“Me too…”
System application failed.
None of them could do anything to the L-rank Item.
Even when restricting the area of improvement to the equipment’s usage conditions, it was the same.
Unable to apply their skills through the System, several blacksmiths dropped out immediately.
The Prime Minister, watching this, became more and more anxious.
‘Could they really fail without even getting a chance to try?’
Just when he started to think that—
“I think I can… at least try.”
“As expected of France’s best blacksmith! Good, get started right away!”
The last remaining candidate.
France’s greatest blacksmith nodded.
He succeeded in applying the System, something everyone else had failed to do.
However, this was only possible because he focused solely on modifying the item’s usage restrictions.
Leaving the Prime Minister’s instructions and the envious gazes of the other blacksmiths behind—
France’s greatest blacksmith raised his hammer.
“Clang!”
A point floated above the L-rank Item.
He brought his hammer down on that point.
But something was strange.
Normally, each strike at a point would produce a shower of sparks.
But even when he swung the hammer with all his might, there was no spark.
Not even a tremor went through the point.
“…?”
The blacksmith looked a bit flustered, but he didn’t give up and continued to swing his hammer.
He’d encountered something similar before.
When he first tried to work with S-class Material.
Back then, it seemed impossible to even make a dent in the point.
But after days and nights of persistent hammering, he succeeded in shaping the S-class Material, earning him the title of France’s best blacksmith.
So he did not give up, believing that if he kept hammering, he would win in the end.
“Clang!”
He swung his hammer tirelessly.
“…It’s going to take a while.”
“I see!”
At the blacksmith’s words, the Prime Minister nodded.
After all, improving an L-rank Item would naturally take time.
Satisfied, the Prime Minister returned to his office, but two days later, he received a shocking report and rushed back to the forge.
There, he found France’s top blacksmith collapsed in exhaustion, while the point on the L-rank Item remained perfectly intact.
“This… I don’t think any blacksmith other than Vulcanus can improve it.”
“Wahaha, just how many are like this?”
***
Taiwan and France.
And now Canada, too.
After accepting commissions from all three countries, I now had nine pieces of SS-Class Material in my possession.
Of course, three of those were just leftovers from making items, but even those scraps would be plenty useful.
I couldn’t use them to make L-rank Items, but I could craft small items—or else turn them into arrows, bombs, and such for use in combat.
Even as scraps, being SS-Class Material, their power would surely surpass that of S-class Material.
As I took a break and turned on the TV, as expected—
– Today, following Taiwan and France, even Canada has become a so-called ‘Hunter Independent Nation’, able to solve its own domestic problems through its own efforts.
– Because of this, countries struggling with Gates and a lack of Hunters are now paying close attention to these three nations.
– The decisive factor that allowed these countries to become Hunter Independent Nations was, of course, their acquisition of Vulcanus Equipment.
– L-rank Equipment received through Vulcanus Hunter.
– As a result, the combat power of their Rankers increased significantly, making it possible for them to conquer the highest-level Gates, according to experts.
– Furthermore, the steady acquisition of mass-produced Vulcanus Items has continued to boost their overall Hunter strength.
“Heh heh.”
To think that it’s thanks to me these countries have become Hunter Independent Nations.
It’s an incredibly satisfying feeling.
Soon, I saw Hunters on TV taking down monsters with my equipment.
Most impressive was the Ranker from Taiwan, Peng Yuyan, wearing a camera in first-person view as he dived underwater and hunted Gates with incredible speed.
But the most important thing was—
“I thought no one would accept it if I added that kind of restriction, but surprisingly, they all did.”
All those items had ‘Vulcanus Mark’ as an equipment restriction.
Just as the two Statues had said, with this, I should be able to prevent anyone from going berserk and giving up on life during the apocalypse.
With this restriction, I could freely produce as much equipment as I wanted.
And in the process, I could continue to obtain SS-Class Material.
“At this rate, I could even create a Combat Team entirely outfitted in L-rank Equipment.”
Of the nine SS-Class Materials, three were in poor condition, so I set them aside.
That left six.
On top of that, I had the ‘Green Barbarian Bone Fragment’—an SS-Class Material I’d obtained myself from the tower.
Seven pieces of SS-Class Material in total.
If I used six to make armor and one to make a weapon—
I’d have a Combat Team member fully equipped with L-rank Equipment.
Their power would be immense, without a doubt.
But—
“No, I should upgrade the equipment of the current team members first.”
I quickly shook my head.
Just making good items from good materials doesn’t guarantee a stronger assistant.
What matters is cohesion.
How well the set of items works together to develop their abilities harmoniously is crucial.
For example, if I made seven pieces of L-rank Equipment from my current materials, but all their abilities were unrelated—
Even if I created a Combat Team member decked out in L-rank Equipment, they wouldn’t be able to unleash the full potential of their gear.
It would be better to gradually replace each current Combat Team member’s equipment with L-rank versions, strengthening the team as a whole.
As I pondered which number’s equipment to replace first—The first to come to mind was Combat 1.
“I should start with Combat 1, right?”
The first combat-type assistant ever created in the Combat Team.
Though I’d continually upgraded their gear to raise their level, the equipment itself was still the original model.
As the senior member, Combat 1 often took on command duties, but even after awakening Attack Aura, they still fell short of Combat 3, who wielded an L-rank spear.
It always bothered me when I saw that.
This was my chance to finally give Combat 1 a proper L-rank weapon.
“No, wouldn’t even an L-rank weapon be too little for Combat 1?”
After all, this is Combat 1.
He’s been trained the longest by the statutes and is the most skilled fighter of them all.
As such, I wanted to give him the very best gift.
I wasn’t sure if there was anything higher than L-rank, but I did have a new ability recently.
‘Myth Creation.’
If I made a legendary sword using Myth Creation—
Wouldn’t it be perfect for Combat 1?
Thinking this, I began to ponder.
‘Is there something I can make right now?’
I started searching through myths and legends for swords I could forge with the SS-Class Materials I had.
Gram, the sword of wrath from Norse mythology.
Damro, the famous sword crafted by the master Gu Yazi in Chinese legend.
Marmiadouaz, the sword used by the Greek hero Hercules, and many more.
So many weapons caught my eye.
But I couldn’t make any of those.
The materials I had right now were obtained from Taiwan, France, and Canada.
If possible, I figured it would be better to look for myths from those countries, and so I dug through the relevant information.
“That’s it!”
I finally discovered a weapon perfectly suited to the current situation.