Chapter 35: Final Check (1)

[Cohen-forged Attribute Sword · Thunder (S-)]

• Forms a physical blade of lightning attribute by consuming the user’s mana or aura at will

• Blade length/weight/shape can be adjusted to some extent by consuming mana

• Absorbs lightning-attribute aura that touches the sword at 98% efficiency and converts it into cutting power 

※ If lightning aura is not continuously supplied, the formed blade may evaporate 

※ No ally-recognition function; the user also suffers minor lightning-attribute damage

A smile naturally spread across my lips as I examined the contents of the box.

Jackpot.

It had only been a guess based on the setting book’s description, but as expected, Regenshauer’s weapon was indeed crafted by Cohen, one of the greatest master artisans of the ancient Magic Empire era.

And this belonged to the extraordinarily powerful “attribute armaments” series among the equipment he made.

The most famous Cohen-forged attribute armament that appeared in the main story was the [Cohen-forged Attribute Whip · Freeze (S)]; a whip whose power skyrocketed by absorbing cold air in snowy fields or icy regions. 

It was also a hard counter to water-attribute specialists—an amazing weapon.

This was the second S-rank item I had obtained since possession.

A continental-level treasure that went beyond mere national treasure status; no further explanation of its value was needed.

There was a rather fatal penalty attached, hence the minus sign, but I had already thought of ways to overcome it, so it was fine.

Soon a message appeared before my eyes.

[MacGuffin No.381 / Sword of Thunder recovered.]

[Achievement points +1,000]

One thousand points!?

I nearly screamed in shock.

I already knew that the lower the MacGuffin number, the more points you earned, but hitting the 300s changed the entire digit.

I bowed to Regenshauer’s foster mother.

“…Thank you for making time for me today, Larisa.”

“Not at all. For the second son of the Grand Duke who rules the principality to visit in person is an honor our family will boast about for years.

More importantly… if you ever meet Lesha again, please send him my regards.”

“Of course.”

I replied with a subtle smile.

After exchanging brief farewells with Larisa, we left the tavern Vilberet.

Claude immediately asked with a flustered expression,

“Young Master Aiden… what on earth was that conversation just now?”

“Exactly what you heard.

The swordsman Regenshauer Krantz, renowned across the continent, was originally an orphan who wandered the pleasure districts of your Levish territory.”

“That is shocking enough on its own… but your acquaintance with the Thousand-Man Slayer and the contents of that box are also weighing on my mind.”

Claude stared at the box in my hand with strange eyes.

I deliberately raised my voice and warned him,

“If you value the safety of your family, you had best keep your mouth shut about the ‘sword without a blade.’

If any rumor about it spreads, I will assume you are the culprit and take immediate revenge on the Levish house.”

“Y-Yes, understood!”

At my declaration that I would presume guilt, Claude swallowed dryly.

But the intimidation lasted only a moment; soon confusion crept into his face.

“Y-Young Master… does that mean everything else besides the contents of the box is fine to talk about?”

Instead of answering, I gave a faint smile.

The reason I had deliberately brought Claude—not just my two companions—into the meeting with Larisa was simple.

If word spread through noble society that I had a connection with Regenshauer, it would be quite helpful for my future actions.

“Claude, depending on how you act from now on, my great-uncle will surely look favorably upon the Levish count family.

You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

“…I will engrave it in my heart.”

Claude’s expression as he answered was utterly serious.

I had warned him of the disaster that would befall him if he crossed the line.

At the same time, I had dangled the carrot of the rewards he would reap if he helped me.

The classic stick-and-carrot strategy.

Right after leaving Vilberet, we boarded the carriage back to Rykrol.

Inside the carriage, Chesa asked me,

“Is it true that you know the Thousand-Man Slayer?”

Belatedly, the weight of the name Regenshauer Krantz is truly immense.

Even a ducal lady who had spent years holed up in the magic tower knew his name as common knowledge.

I shrugged.

“Who knows.”

“‘Who knows’? Stop dodging and answer properly, Aiden.”

When Chesa slightly frowned in dissatisfaction, Linia—who had been quietly listening—hurriedly cut in.

“My lady! Until a year ago, the young master was not particularly close with Lord Ebel, so naturally he never accompanied him anywhere.

Of course he has not yet met the Thousand-Man Slayer.”

“Then you lied to that lady named Larisa? The conversation was so detailed for a lie.”

“Well… it’s complicated. At the present moment he certainly hasn’t met him, but in the future that will definitely change.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s complicated to explain, but our young master…”

Linia told Chesa the cover story that I sometimes had prophetic dreams.

After hearing the entire fabricated setting, Chesa looked at me as if asking if it was true, and I quietly nodded.

“That’s astonishing… Even in the magic tower we studied great figures with precognition abilities, but I never imagined you, Aiden, had become one.”

Chesa looked slightly impressed.

Suddenly she asked,

“Then after you form your clan, does that mean someday you’ll become close with the Thousand-Man Slayer and receive his help?”

“………”

Seeing Chesa’s eyes sparkle—an extremely rare sight—my face involuntarily stiffened.

Regenshauer Krantz… the man who had long since taken another surname was someone I would inevitably have to face as an enemy someday while recovering the MacGuffins of Reca Chronicles.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere from me, Linia changed the subject.

“More importantly, Young Master, there is something that personally bothers me… Is the weapon in that box really the Thousand-Man Slayer’s beloved sword?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, I’m curious too.”

Both of them looked at the box in my hand with eyes full of curiosity.

The box was only large enough to hold a single dagger.

Since the Thousand-Man Slayer was known to have used a longsword like most swordsmen, it was natural to be puzzled.

I took the contents out of the box and showed it to them.

Complex emotions immediately surfaced on both women’s faces—an indescribable mixture of disbelief and curiosity.

And for good reason.

“…Are you sure this isn’t just a decoration and is actually a weapon? No matter how I look, there’s only the hilt and the guard.”

“So the ‘sword without a blade’ wasn’t a metaphor—it was literal?”

[Cohen-forged Attribute Sword · Thunder (S-)], or simply Thunder, truly had no blade, just as its peculiar nickname suggested.

The pommel, grip, and guard were gorgeously and luxuriously crafted.

Yet the most crucial part—the blade—was completely missing, making it look like nothing more than an elaborate toy to anyone who saw it.

The reason Thunder looked like this was simple.

• Forms a physical blade of lightning attribute by consuming the user’s mana or aura at will

It was because of this very function.

Artifacts from the ancient Magic Empire era were fundamentally over-technology, and the Cohen-forged attribute armament series in particular had the ability to turn the bladed portion on and off at will.

If one had to picture it, it was convenient to imagine a lightsaber from a certain SF series.

“There is no doubt it is an extraordinary weapon, so don’t worry.”

I grinned.

They couldn’t know, but its S-rank status on the sheet already proved its overwhelming performance.

Moreover, I was not only looking at Thunder as a weapon; I was also paying attention to its secondary uses.

If everything went according to plan, this item would drastically accelerate my growth.

There was something I had personally been curious about regarding the Tripper System.

Namely, when the next stage after the Bronze Card—Silver or Gold Cards—would appear.

And that question was answered right now.

[You have recovered a MacGuffin numbered 500 or below.

As a reward, “Random Silver Card” has been unlocked!]

“…Huh?”

The moment I called the Tripper System, a very welcome message appeared.

Startled, I immediately manipulated the interface and entered the draw screen.

[Achievement Points: 1,180p]

1. Random Bronze Card: 10p 　Consumable / Trait / Skill
2. Random Silver Card: 100p 　Consumable / Trait / Skill

[Random Silver Card]

C-rank 90%

B-rank 8.5%

A-rank 1.4%

S-rank 0.1%

No D-rank at all, and the chance of pulling a higher B-rank was a full 8.5%.

It was definitely more profitable to skip Bronze altogether from now on.

“With points piled up like this, I should try a draw.

Silver Card, Trait draw…”

I was about to pull a trait like last time but stopped.

The Consumable draw was bothering me.

At first I had guessed elixirs and such would come out, but at some point I began to suspect that system items like the “A-rank Trait/Skill Random Selection Ticket” that had given me Reverse Veins (A) were also included in the consumable pool.

Of course, it was only a hypothesis.

For now.

“Let’s run a little experiment. Silver feels wasteful…

Bronze Card, Consumable draw.”

Pop!

Immediately a translucent roulette wheel appeared in midair and began spinning, then abruptly stopped on a section.

[You have obtained Evial Mountain Spring Water (D+)!]

“Ah.”

The chance of getting D-rank from Bronze was a whopping 95%.

So mathematically this trash result was natural, but experiencing it firsthand still somehow made me angry.

I was about to drink the Evial spring water that came out of the draw to cool my head, but there was nothing around me.

“…What the—where did it go?”

The message clearly said I drew spring water, yet the actual item never appeared.

“…Inventory? Item window?”

I muttered quietly.

But nothing happened.

It was a futile attempt based on the guess that, like in game fantasies, there might be a system-bound subspace where consumables like spring water were stored.

As expected, the Tripper System—perhaps taking after Reca Chronicles’ author NonameC—was an extremely user-unfriendly status window.

It had no intention of kindly providing convenient functions like subspace storage.

…Wait, could this be a system error?

“Young Master, may I come in for a moment?”

Exactly when I was having that doubt, Linia knocked.

When she opened the door and entered, she was holding a water flask.

“This is Evial Mountain spring water.

It is one of the gifts His Highness the Grand Duke recently received from an acquaintance.”

“…So that’s how it works.”

“Pardon?”

“Just talking to myself; don’t mind it.”

I took the flask from Linia and gulped down the contents.

A simple mechanism.

Unlike traits or skills, consumables had physical substance.

And when a real-world object was drawn, instead of materializing with a poof in midair, causality was cleverly twisted so that it naturally ended up in my hands.

But what would happen if I drew spring water in the middle of a desert?

Would it come flying on a sandstorm?

An interesting topic—I’ll have to test it if I get the chance later.

After that, I did three more consumable draws.

[You have obtained Chewy Jerky (D)!]

[You have obtained Wild Strawberries (D)!]

[You have obtained D-rank Trait Random Selection Ticket (C)!]

Just as I was about to stop because points felt wasteful,

A selection ticket came out.

As expected, this was also a type of consumable.

It was only D-rank, yet its displayed grade was one step higher (C).

That meant the A-rank selection ticket I received as the very first MacGuffin reward had actually been S-rank equivalent.

Moreover, this one was limited to traits, not skills.

D-rank was a level of aptitude that roughly one in five random passers-by would possess.

There probably wasn’t anything worth agonizing over at such a low rank—maybe B-rank would be different.

But there is always a way to make use of everything.

“Use D-rank Trait Random Selection Ticket.

Chosen trait: Ruffian · Sword.”

[You have obtained the Ruffian · Sword (D) trait!]

[The trait rank is too low. It will be merged into Swordsmanship Genius (A). The effect of Swordsmanship Genius trait has slightly increased.]