EPISODE 229: From Piercer (Tsuranuki) to Slasher (Zangeki)
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A tragedy a.s.saulted him. In those chaotic times, some thieves were able to steal his creations, and with the very weapons of war he made by his own bare hands, he was deprived of his family.
No matter how insignificant a person is, even if he or she is a lowly thief, if he or she were to wield such a weapon, calamity would be easy to bring.
Cruzer’s parents who didn’t expect such a thing happening were murdered, and by his a.s.sa.s.sin dagger, his wife was also……
What was left apart from him was his young child, the only blessing from him and his wife’s love. He despaired. To the weapons he produced with pure love, to take away his beloved.
Even that, the country still pressed him to make even stronger weapons. If he were to leave this situation as it is, not only him, but his young child will face danger. He who thought so left him* in his wife’s younger sister, and finally decided to part himself from him. In order to protect his child until he grows up he made one spear on this occasion.
(TL Note: The child’s gender is ambiguously stated. It is still not sure if it’s a he, she or a threat to my s.h.i.+p at this point)
Then he went around the world and collected the weapons he had made whenever he saw them. However, the pursuers multiplied even more, and after a long wild goose chase, he finally settled down in this Shanjumon Cave.
She has heard this story from him before, but everyone on her back felt the grief he’s shouldering and fell silent.
“Cruzer-dono, right? Like we’ve mentioned before, there is this one boy who took all our interest”
“Eh? ……Ah, that reminds me, you have said something like that before, Silva-san”
To the dark atmosphere, Silva moved his mouth with a smile.
Yes, who is very surprisingly, milady here have fallen in love with”
“Fufufufufallen you say!? Wha-wawawawawawhat are you talking about you pervert!”
In the speech which made her astonished, she denied with all her might.
“I-Im not with that moron! Something like falling in love! Wh-why must I hold feelings to an insensitive blockhead like Hiiro?!”
“Ooh? But I didn’t say it was Hiiro-sama”
As Silva’s face broke into a vulgar grin, blood goes up the head of Lilyn in an instant.
“Eei! Take it back! Listen Silva. That guy is my subordinate, no more, no less. Get it!?”
She grasped him by the neck and strangled him grandly, but it seems he doesn’t mind, or more than that, he looks happy.
“Nofofofofofo! Looks like milady who is always not honest with her true feelings is quite honest right now~ Nfofofofofo!”
“Eeei shut it you misunderstanding perverted butler!”
“Nofofofofofofo!”
Cruzer, taken aback at the sudden situation, Shamoe going “Fueeeee!” of as usual, and Mikadzuchi in her human form before everyone is aware, tilting her head unable to grasp what’s happening.
Silva who doesn’t change his att.i.tude no matter how you persuade, though he’s given a glare while running out of breath, his expression didn’t collapse at all.
“It’s frightening, milady”
“Hmph! Why is this pervert using your vision to someone’s mind at times like this……?”
“But milady…”
“I’ll teach you a lesson later……Huh?”
Being interrupted at the middle, she blurted out.
“What if it happens?”
“Huh? What are you……?”
“What if, Hiiro-sama is with a woman right now, walking affectionately with them as it is?”
“Fuu, what are you saying? A woman who walks alongside Hiiro affectionately does not exist!”
She stuck her flat chest in pride with quite an impact, you can imagine the explosion from behind her.
“I’m afraid not, milady. In fact, the other day I caught sight of Hiiro-sama sandwiched in between Eveam-dono and Shublarz-dono and seems to be enjoying them……”
“What!? Dong such thing! So its b.r.e.a.s.t.s, huh! That guy cannot oppose b.r.e.a.s.t.s after all!”
As she caught the neck of Silva and strangled him again,
“Nofofofofofo! Oh yeah, Aquinas-dono and Marione-dono also came too”
“……………”
(TL Note: WHAT? COULD YOU REPEAT THAT AGAIN, OFFICER?
Yes Captain! We have spotted newly arrived s.h.i.+ps entering the battle!… It’s SS Aquinas and SS Marione! And as if they’re spectating, SS Ornorth is also here! And we’re continuously being bombarded by SS Eveam and SS Shublarz! They’re approaching with a pincer attack!!!
Men, prepare for counterstrike! We have won and claimed this Hiiro Seas once, and it will be another stormy battle on the next, but we will stand firm! Hold the Line! SINK THEM TO DAVY JONES’ LOCKER! PREPARE THE TRAPEDOES!)
Silence approached the scene.
“Die!”
“Buhaaa!?”
Silva was blown away with an uppercut.
“Haaaa haaaah…… Good grief, how idiotic can you be! Eei! Die, die!”
The master kicking the butler who made fun of her hard. Cruzer could only stare wide-eyed the scenery.
“I-it’s quite surprising, really. Lilyn-san, you sure are quite nasty……”
“Huh? What? You punk want a piece of this too?”
With twitching cheeks and piercing glare, she waved her fist at Cruzer.
“N-no thanks. However……You seem to be quite happy, Silva-san”
“Of course, this pain is already pleasure for someone like me”
For him to say it readily even with a bleeding eye and nose, Lilyn dropped her shoulders in amazement.
“Really, How much will it take to kill this dunce……”
Whatever she did, he revives immediately. This man is truly an incantation of immortality.
“Well, because of that, this gag has become a part-time for me”
“A gag part-time job? What are you talking about you m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic birdbrain? In the end, even the head…… wait, isn’t his head strange in the first place?
“Nofofofofofo! That is quite savage, milady! But a savage milady is also what I yearn for~!”
“Eeei, don’t come near me! Disgusting!”
She kicked Silva struggling to cling to her more.
“Fufufu…… as expected of Silva-sama”
“Mu? Did you say something, Shamoe?”
“Nno, it’s nothing! I-I-I-I didn’t say anything!”
The place which was a floating dark cloud until now became bright completely. This was Silva’s aim after all. Also, though this is not certain, Lilyn somehow noticed it and partic.i.p.ated. Due to being acquainted with them for a long time, she understood. No, she must have understood him in the first place.
After the hectic exchange which lasted for a while, as they spent their tea time together,
“Uhmm…… so what story are we talking about again?”
It is natural for Cruzer to ask. The talk was derailed too much.
“Ehem! Well, it’s a story of a boy named Hiiro”
“Ahh, that’s right”
He nodded in a.s.sent as he recalled. Because his beast ears twitched slightly, Lilyn thought of it to be pretty cute.
“A boy named Hiiro. You talked only a little about him when you went here previously, right?”
Yes. As soon as Lilyn came to the Demon Country Xaos, she went to Cruzer’s whereabouts immediately. Before, Hiiro told him he doesn’t want to go because it’s troublesome so she had no choice but to leave him for a week.
“Was there something about that boy?”
“To tell you the truth, it’s what in his hand”
“What do you mean?”
It is……one of Cruzer’s creations”
“…………”
The smile on Silva’s face vanished, and was replaced with a serious expression.
“Frankly speaking, though it has changed a little from its original due to circ.u.mstances, it was surely the Piercing Blade・Tsuranuki”
(TL Note: Again, I have changed the wordings for this one. The original is 《刺刀・ツラヌキ》which was translated as Thorn Sword・Piercer by Anri-sama, but to retain the name which is in Katakana, I decided to rename it that way, same as the previous Rending Blade・Zangeki)
“Oh……so it’s that child……”
He closed his eyes to recall, and opened it again and stared at Silva.
“That child is one of those prototypes that I’ve created in order to produce certain swords. Even though I call it a prototype, it’s an excellent child, so I say. So, what about that child?”
“Right now, it has been renamed to Rending Blade・Zangeki”
“…..Eh?”
He stared wide-eyed in surprise, unable to comprehend.
“W-wait a minute. From Tsuranuki (Piercer) to Zangeki (Slasher)? The name changed? Impossible. As far as I know, they are separate ent.i.ties, and I have entrusted Slasher to a certain person. What on Edea happened?”
With a slight delay, Silva spoke.
“Well, we looked around the Demon country for half a hear”
“Yes, I heard about that. Honestly, I was surprised that you moved out of your castle……”
“Right? That reminds me, it was in that castle that milady and Cruzer met for the first time”
“Hmph, to even refuse my invitation at that time…”
Pouting in dissatisfaction, Cruzer could only give her a bitter smile. Well, they not pursuing further why he is hiding yet inviting him to live there will surely make him insecure.
“Getting back to the main topic, we met a certain person during this mid-year”
“A certain person?”
“Yes. Zaft-dono, a master blacksmith”
“Zzaft-Zaft, you say!?”
He repeated himself to clarify, but Silva himself agreed.
“Yes. I heard from him that he was your disciple”
Cruzer narrowed his eyes and looked down.
“Disciple……disciple, is it? It’s true that I gave preliminary lessons to him, but it’s just the basics”
Such story is heard.
When Cruzer was touring around the world, he set foot on the Demon Country. There, he met a young’un named Zaft. He was aiming to be a master blacksmith, too, but did a big failure and got depressed, or so he said.
For Cruzer whose pa.s.sion was lost as a master blacksmith, being dazed by the pa.s.sion of this person, he taught him the basics of blacksmithing in kindness on impulse.
He’s like a dry sponge, and only within approximately one week, he is now on the levels of one of the best.
“He said the basics you taught were very easy to understand, and it contributed greatly to what he is now, or so he said”
“………is that so”
He’s like a child shyly scratching his cheeks in embarra.s.sment. Even though he’s not formally his pupil, he doesn’t feel bad.
“It was Zaft-dono who transformed it into Zangeki”
“I see. I had handed it to him when we parted ways. It’s the reward for trying his best for that one week. I thought that if it’s him, he won’t treat that child as if it’s nothing. But if I’m not mistaken, Slasher is supposed to have ended its role and can’t be used anymore”
Like he said, Rending Blade・Zangeki was broken at the middle, so it cannot be used as a sword anymore.
“When I found that child, it was already in such state. I wanted to carry and bury it in a secure place, but Zaft wanted that child”
Therefore he gave it as a reward, to not hurt that person.
“It’s just what Cruzer-dono said. But because of that, Zaft-dono wanted it to be revived”
“Eh?”
“I want to catch up to my teacher and make him recognize me. So by these hands, I’ll bring back this sword that died back to life again”
“……Zaft said such things? No, that would be difficult. That child is the completed form of a prototype as I said a while ago. No matter how good his arms are, it is impossible for him to bring it to life again without it. Using the materials to make a common sword even……ah”
As he saw the face of Silva, he noticed. Silva nods again to answer that.
“Hiiro-sama has also come with us. And in his arms is the prototype Tsuranuki you made”
“…………was it really combined?”
He arrived at that answer, not hiding is surprise.
Yes. They happened to pa.s.s the neighborhood by chance, and Zaft who saw the Piercing Blade・Tsuranuki entreated Hiiro to rebuild the Rending Blade・Zangeki by all means.
However, Hiiro didn’t like to leave the sword to someone whom he doesn’t know well and declined from the beginning. After begging over and over again, Hiiro stated a condition of showing his arms first.
Then Zaft brought Hiiro to his atelier, where the view of various swords mixed in there should impress him. Various kinds of katana were displayed there.
Though Hiiro had seen a lot of swords already, he haven’t seen those of katana designs that much, and in contrast to Lilyn doesn’t care too much about them, Hiiro is especially charmed by the characteristic of the katana and thus, he was nodding in satisfaction to the articles displayed.
All the swords are surely well-made. Still, they didn’t pa.s.s on the category of what Hiiro is looking for. However, that’s until Zaft brought the Rending Blade・Zangeki over.
Hiiro who saw it was fascinated even though it is broken. This only shows that he clearly liked it.
He liked to see the sword being revived by all means. When he told that the katana will be repaired if he were to offer the sword, Hiiro accepted it readily.
Considerable time is needed to make the katana. But the two swords synthesized magnificently, and thus, the Rending Blade・Zangeki was reborn.
Silva asked whether it is really okay for him to part with the katana, but he just gave one condition upon handing the sword. Besides, he was already satisfied of being able to make such a sword.
And the only condition is: If they were to meet Cruzer again, he wants him to show the katana to him.
And this is why we’re here, Cruzer-dono. Thank you very much, he said”
“…………He became such a splendid master blacksmith, eh”
Was he deeply moved? Cruzer stared his eyes in a distance. However, that deep emotion was frozen in his following words.
“Thanks to that katana, Hiiro-sama has brought victory to the duel with the Gabranth”
“Zangeki ………… was used for war?”
It changed completely and now, he glared at Silva with a harsh look.