According to legend, a hero has access to an unlimited number of tools and can draw on them as if pulling them from thin air.
The source of this story is a magical tool which is called ‘The Hero’s Toolbox’. Although it might look like a treasure chest at first glance, opening the lid would reveal that its many times larger than the outside would suggest, the inside being a magical space where the owner can use a magic tool to retrieve items from the box no matter how far away they are.
This is the basis of the alchemy Shirley uses in battle. It is the essential storehouse for the original articles, and since it’s easily accessible from anywhere, it has incredible synergy with the imagination alchemy.
“Alright, there.”
Naturally, she keeps things other than weapons in the toolbox.
Aside from the various tools she sometimes uses whilst adventuring, there are also the gemstones she excavated the other day at Jewelsaad Mine. A sapphire for Sophie, and a ruby for Tio, matching the colour of their eyes.
And, inside that spacious treasure chest, a desk, a chair, and a lamp had been set up, along with a diary that just had another page written in it… A growth record of her daughters, Shirley’s modest hobby.
“The result of the other day’s test… Sophie, 100 points. Tio, 68 points? …You really worked hard, huh?”
As she recalled the results of the test her daughters took when she was questing, Shirley could feel the corners of her mouth loosening by themselves.
Putting aside Sophie who consistently gets high grades, it might seem strange that a parent is so happy about her daughter barely achieving a passing mark, but Shirley knows just how much effort that grade represents for her daughter who struggles with studying.
Of course, her grades had never been high. If she got better at her studies, obviously it would make her happy.
But, it isn’t just for the sake of studying. The most important thing is that they have a lot of choice in their futures. And learn to strive for the things they want in life.
She doesn’t know what paths her daughters will walk in their lives, but she sincerely hopes that these youthful days will help open up many doors for them.
“…It’s about time to go.”
Putting her pocket watch that she had left open on the desk away, she put the growth record back on the shelf and headed up the ladder that she had propped up against the wall of the magical space.
Lightly pushing a nondescript piece of the ceiling aside, it opened up and light began to shine into the dimly lit space below.
As she climbed up the ladder, she emerged in her familiar rented room. Shirley’s arranged furniture was organized around the room in the Deficit House.
After climbing out of the magic tool known as “The Hero’s Toolbox”, Shirley covered it up with the cloth once more and changed out of her work clothes into a pretty one-piece dress.
“Are you two both ready?”
“Yep!”
“We’re ready to go.”
In contrast to Shirley’s dress where the hem reached all the way down to her ankles, Sophie and Tio emerged from their shared bedroom wearing knee-length skirts that gave their legs more breathing room.
Even if Shirley is fiercely opposed to her daughters wearing anything that exposes them above the knee, she can’t deny that the current fashion in town is geared towards risqué clothing.
It has been ten years since she arrived in this town. As a noblewoman who never wore exposing clothes, it was hard for her to believe what she was seeing when she arrived. Many female adventurers valued mobility over modesty, and wore armour that exposed the thighs and abdomen, she even saw one woman wearing ‘bikini armour’ that was little more than plated underwear.
Even if it’s unthinkable to let them expose their skin like that… She doesn’t want people to make fun of her beloved daughters for looking unfashionable either…
“Mama, what’s wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
My daughters look good no matter what they wear!
In her internal struggle between the ideals of a chaste noblewoman and fashionable young girls, Shirley comes to a conclusion that only a doting mother could.
“Anyways, are you sure you want to come along with me?”
“Mm. It’s for homework.”
“An assignment about a family member’s job… Well, certainly I’m the only one that qualifies, but since adventurers are pretty free it’s not really going to seem like real work.”
Shirley plans to go around the city to prepare for her next adventure, and Sophie and Tio want to accompany her, notebooks and pens in hand.
They seem to have been given an assignment as homework. It seems like the perfect assignment to test student’s ability to watch and learn, as well as expressing what they saw through writing, but of course, for Shirley’s job, such an assignment could have been a problem.
“…Well, it should be fine. I’m not planning on going out of town today.”
A quick round of errands to the blacksmith and the tool shop, then dropping by the Adventurer’s Guild. The only point of danger is the blacksmith because there are plenty of blades about, but so long as she watches over the two of them carefully they should be fine even if they swung one around.
“Then, let’s go. This is for work, so make sure you don’t bother the other adults, okay?”
“Ye~s!”
“Mm.”
Her daughters nodded cheerfully. And, in that way, the mother and her two daughters began their family day out.
An ordinary man wouldn’t have even seen the sword move.
After the log on the stump fell apart into six equal parts after being sliced by the flamberge, Sophie and Tio, both wearing gloves, worked together to bring a new log from the woodshed to also make into firewood.
Because of recent developments in magical technology, the revolution of automation has even reached this remote town. Even in the Deficit House; bathing, toilet, and kitchen appliances had greatly enhanced the day to day lives of the adventurers who stayed there.
Meanwhile, the craftsmanship of the dwarves is still focused on traditional manual labour. Their technical skill isn’t limited by the capabilities of machines, and skills they’ve acquired such as knowing the perfect temperatures of the kiln and just how much force to apply to hammer blows is something that could never be imitated by automated magic tools.
“Dimros-san, we’re finished with the woodcutting.”
“A’ight.”
The master of the forge responded bluntly.
A distinctly familiar face had come to talk about the sword she had purchased some days ago, but when the aging dwarf saw the two young girls she had brought with her, he was somewhat confused until the circumstances were explained to him, so he proposed using the sword to chop firewood to kill two birds with one stone.
To be honest, it was hard for him to get a good impression of the sword’s strength simply from chopping wood, but it seemed like the daughters were delighted watching their mother’s skills.
“Mama, that was amazing! Like, you were just holding the sword, then suddenly the log went paka~n!”
“Mm…! How did you do it? I don’t know?”
Even though Sophie and Tio were excited, they soon left to explore the shop so that they didn’t interrupt the adult’s conversation, looking at all the weapons and even trying to play with them.
Never letting those two out of her sight, and conversing with Dimros close enough to them that she could react before anything could possibly happen, she turned one eye towards the flamberge and muttered
“This isn’t suitable for slashing things at all. Didn’t you say that this weapon specialized in gouging flesh?”
“You woulda hardly guessed that by the way you were slicing up them logs, but it’s true. What I meant is that is strength lies in ta’ causing untreatable wounds, you’re not going to see that in effect against a lump o’ wood.”
This exceptional weapon isn’t suitable for tearing through armour or a creature’s hard exterior, nor can it showcase its ability to ’cause untreatable wounds’ against the undead.
In other words, it would be deadly effective against monsters that don’t fulfill those conditions. Especially if you consider the fact that prolonged battles against large monsters could take place over a span of days, and many of those monsters employ healing magic.
The value of being able to inflict an unhealable wound on such a monster can’t be understated. An untreated wound will be left to fester if unhealed, and eventually, a monster could succumb to necrosis or tetanus.
She understood well enough. Planning on using it in battle next time, the flamberge in Shirley’s hand disappears as she uses the imagination alchemy, causing Dimros to glare and angrily sigh.
“Gah! Stop playin’ aroun’ with magic and use the damn thing! The sword I put so much effort in ‘ta is gonna cry, ya know!?”
“It costs too much money to do maintenance on weapons after every battle. I need that money to take care of my daughters.”
Before, Dimros sometimes had his doubts about selling to Shirley even though she was a master swordswoman, and this was exactly the reason.
Is there a single blacksmith in the world who would be happy knowing that a piece of craftsmanship he was proud of lay discarded somewhere, whilst some fake copy was the one getting all the use?
“Ya know, you should buy one or two magic swords, my shop may not look it but I could definitely getcha some. If you’re worried about them becoming dull, don’t be, they won’t lose sharpness no matter how many nasties ya cut through.”
“I don’t care about buying expensive weapons, even if it means I’m sacrificing quality, I’d rather have different kinds of swords available for every possible situation instead.”
Known as magic ore, weapons crafted from this rare metal carry magical properties and can be enchanted further to add lasting effects… Magical weapons are essential for any self-respecting veteran adventurer.
A spear that can freeze an opponent in place, or a blade that will burn through flesh as it runs a monster through. Even axes that cause storms and hammers that conduct lightning, whilst there are many popular magical weapons out there by far the most sought after are blades which do not lose their sharpness, a weapon with an enchantment that prevents blunting.
Although most magical weapons are hideously expensive due to the costs in labour and materials, a sword that only has an enchantment on it to keep it sharp is relatively inexpensive.
With the magic tool “The Hero’s Toolbox” at her disposal, it wouldn’t be hard to carry around and utilize various kinds of magic weapons either.
But.
“It’s impossible to have a similar variety of magical weapons to replace what I’ve got now, and what’s more even if you say it doesn’t lose sharpness in battle, a magical weapon still requires some maintenance, right? Like removing the hilt to clean.”
“Goes without sayin’.”
“That’s why I’d rather use imagination alchemy. Even if it isn’t quite as good as a magical sword, so long as I have enough magical power I can produce as many as I need without worrying about them going dull, and what’s more, I can throw them without worrying.”
Shirley keeps going on.
“Since I’m using disposable swords created from magic, I can spend less time cleaning and more time with my daughters.”
Dimros sighed even louder than last time. Even if he’s a proud and somewhat obstinate craftsman, he can’t measure up to the stubborn woman in front of him.
“Oooh… Cool…”
“Wait, Tio!? Why are you shaking it around like that!?”
Even if her mother is like that, at least one of those daughters are interested in a magical weapon.
As Sophie ran away from Tio, whose eyes were lit up as she played with a double handed sword that ran with electricity, Shirley instantly confiscated it and returned it to its sheath.
“Stop that at once. If you use a heavy weapon that doesn’t match your body type, you’re going to injure yourself. If you really want to swing something around, use a lighter weapon.”
“”Yeeeees.””
Even so, she had been drawn to such a strong magical weapon… Especially going straight for a heavyweight weapon like a two-handed sword, he was rather charmed as a craftsman.
And with that child having a parent like that, Dimros felt a strange sense of security.
“Well, getting back on topic… Even if I don’t plan on getting a magical weapon, I’m not strictly against using one. Including that ‘love sword’, you still have all those magical weapons I entrusted to you, right?”
“Obviously. How could I leave such lovely weapons in the hands of an amateur?”
Having found all sorts of magical weapons during explorations of ruins and dungeons, she has handled swords that she hasn’t used for her alchemy.
However, it’s rare to see her using a sword with a magical enhancement. An adventurer who took down an ancient dragon that would typically take an S-ranked party to defeat using nothing but unenchanted weapons, she isn’t going to show her cards so readily.
The intelligent beast does not use their full power to hunt mere rabbits. Adventurers as a whole are always concerned with the manufacture and secrecy of their trump cards.
“So at the very least, can you use the swords I maintain for ‘ya!? Or am I gonna have to ban ‘ya from coming ‘ere at all!?”
“Mu… That’s a problem.”
Dimros prides himself as a craftsman over being a merchant. It’s natural that he wants the swords he pours his heart and soul into to be used by a skilled warrior instead of collecting dust.
“If you really want me to do so, please smith a magic sword that I can use frequently as a compromise. Then I’ll buy it, and also bring it here to be taken care of.”
“It’s a deal. I’ll hammer out a sword ya can’t help but use.”
The blacksmith’s passion is on fire. After having said this much, he can’t back down now. He will hammer out a sword even the Demonic White Blade can’t help but use, no matter how many attempts it takes.
“Oh… It’s on fire.”
“Uwaaaah!? The sword is on fire!? Tio, stop iiiit!”
“Goodness, these children.”
That being said, he might also have to make a special testing area for magical weapons.
Dimros inscribed both of these tasks in his mind as urgent priorities.
I don’t know if I’m just tired, but this chapter was a tough one to translate. I hope I don’t have to revisit it to fix something or other.
Next->