“Ugh… uhh…”

“…”

Burning flames and a desolate land.

Weapons and unmoving human corpses were laying about.

It was a battlefield.

Only those who survived stood, while those who died were on the ground.

Only two remained were standing.

“—Is that it? Aren’t you the hero?”

“Shit, there’s no way…”

The Hero and the Demon King.

Two who were destined to fight were facing each other.

The holy sword held in the Hero’s hand—was already broken.

“I’ve heard about this holy sword. Supposedly, it’s the only blade that could reach me—apparently, that was only a baseless rumor.”

The other broken piece of the holy sword was held by the Demon King.

The Demon King sighed and crushed the remains of the holy sword.

“O Hero, can you still fight?”

“Guh…”

The Hero wield the broken holy sword.

The Demon King was before him.

He was the enemy of the humankind, and it was the Hero’s mission to defeat the Demon King.

Therefore, he couldn’t escape—

—for he was the Hero.

Even if the holy sword broke, he had to fight for the sake of his fallen comrades.

“U, uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

However, that didn’t happen.

The Hero escaped.

Like a bug crawling on the ground, while showing his back without dignity.

He instinctively felt death was approaching and abandoned the fight.

“Such an eye-opener.”

The Demon King looked the pitiful hero with hateful eyes.

The Demon King didn’t chase after the Hero.

After all, that man was no longer the Hero.

The Demon King sighed again.

“I’m bored… how long do I have to endure this boredom?”

He muttered and looked up at the sky.

The cloudless sky further amplified the emptiness he felt.

The Demon King turned around and tried to return to the castle.

Suddenly, a sword caught his eye.

The sword held by a knight of the kingdom, one who fought alongside the Hero.

The Demon King picked up the sword and looked at its blade.

“How surprising. There are people who have holy swords other than the Hero? No, that shouldn’t be the case… it’s different from the Hero’s. Did someone make this sword?”

It should be a normal sword, but its quality and strength were that of a holy sword.

The Demon King’s interest was piqued.

“Which one should I take a peek at?”

It was said that the Demon King had the power to read the memories from what he touched.

Within the sword dwelled the memories of the man, and also the person who made the sword.

What was projected was a girl with her red hair tied behind her. She continued to strike the iron while covered with soot.

“The blacksmith is called Liliana?”

Indeed. Liliana had made that sword.

The Demon King discovered about Liliana through her sword.

“Fufufu, hahahaha! This looks interesting!”

At that moment, the Demon King’s interest shifted to Liliana.

***

“Liliana, thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome. I also enjoyed making it.”

“I’m relieved to hear you say that! It’s a great sword! Although it’s a request, I felt hesitant handing it over… I wanted to make it my heirloom…”

The day after that day.

Doga came to my smithy to thank me for the transparent sword.

“Was the customer satisfied?”

“Totally! I still can’t forget his surprised face as he saw it!”

“That’s good.”

Her effort didn’t go to waste.

By the way, the reason for making that sword seemed to be that it was for the sake of a woman…

“Did the customer give it to the woman?”

“The woman from before?”

“Indeed.”

I was a little worried, and asked him. Doga shrugged.

“Well, who knows?”

“Eh?”

“While I have handed it over, I don’t know what happened afterwards. My job ended after I gave the sword. The rest is private, and I can’t interfere.”

“T, that’s right.”

It was a little disappointed, but what Doga said was true.

Then, Doga returned to his workplace.

It seemed that he had some work left. He must be busy.

I had a lot of weapons and armor for repair requests, and also few days until their deadlines.

“Now, time to continue.”

It wasn’t an amount that can be completed in a day. But, if I didn’t do my best, it’d be difficult from tomorrow onward.

“Please let me know if there’s a place you want to go to again.”

Grave said so that morning. As such, I wanted to finish my work and make some time for him.

Because of that spectacular view from the top of the snowy mountain, my desire to venture outside the city became stronger.

Until a while ago, I thought that the inside of my smithy would suffice, that I didn’t need to go out…

It seemed that I was completely fascinated by the joy of the adventuring.

Kang, kang, kang—

I struck the iron.

Shu, shu, shu—

I sharpened the blade.

As I concentrated, the surrounding noise vanished.

I focused on the blade in front of me.

Then, for the first time, I felt a chilling sensation.

Something… someone was standing behind me.

It wasn’t Grave.

I didn’t think it was someone from that city…

…I looked back, terrified.

What stood there—

“Are you… Liliana?”

Was a terrifying devil, and not a person.

---

***T/N: Liliana, you forgot to tell us whether or not he’s sexah or not!!!

Please also consider donating to my ko-fi! It’ll greatly support me in action, no matter the amount!
https://ko-fi.com/antoinettevanessa

<Previous chapter

Next chapter>