12. Restoring the Holy Sword is Impossible!
- It’s the POV of the kingdom.
The kingdom that banished Liliana was looking for a new court blacksmith.
Most of the swords used in the royal castle were mass-produced. Although the need for blacksmiths was low, a blacksmith was still necessary to repair Allen’s holy sword along with the other special equipment.
The court blacksmith could be said to be exclusively for the hero.
“I wonder what kind of person the next blacksmith will be~?” Said Sercia.
“Oh? Have you already decided on a new person?” Asked Allen.
“No, I’m still recruiting.”
Princess Sercia spoke quietly to Allen.
Recalling the banished Liliana, she showed a sarcastic smile.
“Hopefully, the next one won’t misunderstand your kindness.”
“Hahaha, I’m sure that person won’t. That girl from before was a special case of buffoon. It’ll be hard to find another one like her.”
Laughing loudly, Allen sat down beside Sercia.
Placing his hand on her shoulder, their faces gradually approached each other.
“Anyone is fine as long as they don’t disturb us.”
“Allen…”
“Sercia…”
While exchanging sweet words, their lips overlapped.
After their lips touched, they began to forget about Liliana as they descended into passion.
***
A few days after Liliana was banished.
A new person was appointed as the court blacksmith.
Even in the royal capital, the shortage of blacksmiths was real and only few gathered during the recruitment.
The salary offered was large, even a civil officer would be green with envy.
On the first day of his inauguration, the new blacksmith was guided to the smithy after having greeted the king.
While walking down the corridor, he was accompanied not only by the king, but also the king’s aide.
“The smithy remains the same as it was when your predecessor was using it. If there’s anything you need, please speak up.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Because of the suddenness of all this, you don’t know how relieving it is that you came. Your predecessor suddenly vanished, after all.”
“No, it’s no big deal…”
The new blacksmith stopped and bowed to the king.
Based off what the king said, Liliana had mysteriously disappeared.
In reality, the king had banished her. However, only a small few knew of the truth, and they all decided to keep quiet to maintain the kingdom’s prestige.
“Don’t be afraid. You’re one of the future bearers of our kingdom. Act with more pride.”
“Yes! I will do my best!”
The three arrived at the smithy.
The smithy given to the new blacksmith was the one formerly used by Liliana.
The moment they opened the door, several swords made by Liliana could be seen lining the wall.
“As I’ve explained earlier, many things were left by your predecessor.”
The aide started explaining.
However, the attention of the new blacksmith was diverted to another place.
He was fascinated by the swords being displayed—the ones made by Liliana.
“If there’s anything you need—what’s wrong?”
“Oh, that, if I may, I’d like to ask if the swords being displayed here were also made by my predecessor…”
“Yes? What’s the problem?”
“…”
The new blacksmith was rendered speechless as he stared at the swords.
The aide and the king were confused. Finally, the king made a suggestion.
“Are they a hindrance? They will be disposed of later.”
“N, no! Don’t dispose them!”
Due to the blacksmith’s sudden outburst, the king trembled.
The blacksmith continued to talk with raging excitement.
“To dispose of such swords… no, to even think of disposing them—that’s just preposterous! I’ve been a blacksmith for thirty years… I’ve kept honing my skill. Hence why, I can tell with a glance, these swords… they are what every blacksmith strives for!”
“Th, they’re that great?”
“Yes… they were made through a sophisticated swing… these swords are already on the same level as the Holy Sword…”
“Then, are these are holy swords?”
The blacksmith quivered and answered the shocked king.
“Indeed. I’m sorry, but this level is just unattainable for me… If I could, I’d like to meet my predecessor, and talk with that person, even if only once…”
“I, I see…”
The king looked flustered. After all, he didn’t expect for that girl to be so talented.
To have disposed of someone with such potential… the king felt like he had done something regrettable.
“Well, that’s okay. It isn’t like I’m telling you to make a holy sword. You just need to mend the Holy Sword.”
“The Holy Sword? Mend…? What…?”
“Huh?”
“It’s impossible for me to restore the Holy Sword!!”
“What?! But that’s exactly why I hired you!”
“Even if you say that, it’s impossible! In the first place, that was never mentioned during the recruitment…”
The king glanced at his aide.
The terrified aide replied. “I, it certainly wasn’t…”
The king clenched his teeth.
“If I had known that was what being a court blacksmith entailed, I wouldn’t have even applied… Everyone would do the same, too. The only blacksmith who can repair the Holy Sword… that is probably my predecessor.”
The blacksmith’s firm words rendered the king and his aide speechless.
After saying that he’d decline the position, the blacksmith left the royal castle.
That was when the king realized how special and unique Liliana’s talent was.
It was only after he had lost her that he realized how beneficial she had been to the kingdom.
***T/N: That’s rather quick… and by rather quick, THERE IS NO SUFFERING. I’M NOT SATISFIED.
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Dear king, that happens when u listen to horny teenagers. Then again, for him, the word of his daughter and the hero have a lot of weight and it makes sense, but a minimal investigation is required FIRST. That he didnt even know what his own court blacksmith made shows he doesnt rly paid attention to his courtiers nor what talents are under him.
Sigh————— this garbage king is going to cause problems again. And I bet Sercia hired those thug rapists from earlier too.
I’m just waiting for the moment when they try to convince/beg Liliana to come back and she’s like “HELL NO!”
thanks for the translations
Muahahaha, I hope this new realisation will bring much agony to the king and this stupid couple ? especially since in previous chapters it was mentioned that this “hero” Allen (I think I will rename him Ällö as it means disgusting in my native language) doesn’t even take good care of the sword ? you will be in trouble soon
Looks Like Liliana is going to make Grave’s (i think that was his name) sword the next Holy Sword seeing as she made several swords that are the same level as the Hero’s Holy Sword.
can’t wait for it to break
No problem. Intellectual Property rights means the employee’s IP belongs to the King who hired her. It’s very similar to proprietary knowledge in the real-life modern world where new inventions and the knowledge to create and maintain them belong to the corporate employer and not the employee. Even some blue collar companies such as a local vending machine repair shop made a friend (who worked there) sign a 3 year no-compete job contract. 3 years is a typical term for no compete contracts. It means the employee cannot go work for a competitor within a 3 year period of leaving the company. This prevents the employee from being poached by competitors who let one company bear the employment costs of training up an employee. But in a Kingdom where such knowledge is of national security, it is fully reasonable to order that Liliana not only cannot leave the country, but she also cannot work for a competitor ever. Such rules have been applied in real-life history even for things as basic as venetian glass (mentioned in a PBS historical documentary about Venice).
I will say just because something happens and is in law doesn’t necessarily make it an okay practice. Yes, from a company stand point forcing your workers to give up their speciality for three years after firing them is great, but what about for the worker?
The king does have the authority to kick Liliana out. He also probably has the authority to ban her from working in his kingdom too. That doesn’t make it okay that he does so. Especially when he kicked her out under such a stupid and baseless premise, stole all the equipment she worked hard to make and buy, and robbed her of all her money before kicking her to the streets.
Honestly you can say the Intellectual Property Rights belong to the company but that in itself is pretty shady especially in this case. She received no help from anyone in the Kingdom, but managed to achieve results unthinkable by any of them. The kingdom for its part not only didn’t support her or understand what she was doing. They didn’t even know the value of her work.
This isn’t about owning methods. Her methods never had anything to do with them. They never cared about it to begin with. They couldn’t reproduce what Liliana can do even if she explains it. This is her own personal skill and labor which they obviously do not value or understand. That’s something you can’t take from her.
Sure the King can ban her in his kingdom, but he’s not the ruler of the world. The fact that they’re fighting the Demon King means there is at least one faction opposing them. If worst came to worst I think the demons would love to welcome the person who keeps repairing the heroes sword to their side.
Depending on where you live, those contracts are not enforceable or binding. That said, this is a monarchy. That said, again, I don’t recall Liliana ever agreeing to anything like that. She was just kicked out, (of the kingdom I believe). She is free to work anywhere else she’d like (probably cause the king underestimated her ability).
What you’re pretty much saying is something along the lines of “Go broke for 3 years”.
No one can stop you from working for any “competitor” for any amount of time if the work you were doing was your main source of income.
Sure, you can’t bring over or mention the contacts, contracts, inner workings, etc. for fear of a corporate espionage lawsuit, but that’s the most that can happen.
If we take a medieval blacksmith for instance.
You can’t just suddenly tell a craftsman to not be that anymore.
You could argue that for a programmer they can’t take code or anything with them but you can’t just tell a craftsman who honed their own body “leave your body to rot and forget the experiences you’ve lived through, then you can go work somewhere else”