“Are you okay? Gasp!”

“....!?”

Pelot and Antrino were stunned as they rushed to support Grid. They realized that Grid’s equipment had changed from head to toe. They were too slow to notice before they were flustered.

“These are...”

They were the evil existences in Pandemonium—the blacksmiths’ failures, their shame that they didn’t want to reveal. The red-faced Pelot reflexively shifted his gaze while the warrior Antrino had a different attitude. He closely examined Grid’s equipment and stared into Grid’s eyes as he asked, “What is 9 x 9?”

“Eh? What?”

“It is as expected. Your body and mind are lost.”

There was no time for Grid to say anything. Talima’s Shame, not Grid, cried out to Antrino who was raising his axe.

-How ridiculous is this damn dwarf fucker looking down on me! If I had dominated this man’s mind, then I would’ve been able to do the multiplication!

“I also know the answer. I just didn’t say it.” Grid was just flustered by the sudden question.

Antrino stared pitifully at Grid who was explaining the situation. The offended Grid frowned and he could hear the laugh of Talima’s Shame. The laugh cost it a lot. Grid took off Talima’s Shame to reveal a sweat-soaked face and threw the helmet to the ground. Then he shook his hair. Sweat poured down like rain over Talima’s Shame.

Talima's Shame was in a daze for a while before shaking its horns menacingly.

-This daring fellow!

The reason why Talima's Shame was held by Grid was because it was completely controlled. However, it was convinced that it would be freed sooner or later. What human in the world would wear a helmet all day long? As expected, the opportunity came quickly. Talima’s Shame was convinced it had been freed because Grid removed it and rose in a triumphant manner.

-Stupid human who doesn’t even know the answer to 9 x 9! You freed me without using any means to restrain me! Kuhat! Kuhahat! You are truly a fool! You will receive the death penalty! I will make you pay the price for throwing me, a god who is the pinnacle of all battle gear, to the dirt!

‘A myth rated ego item is truly different.’

The arrogance smashed that of ordinary named NPCs. Talima's Shame was a growth-type item that had accumulated nutrients for hundreds of years and reached the highest level. Grid was very fond of this fellow who ruled Pandemonium. It had a higher artificial intelligence than Iyarugt, who had the best intelligence among the ego items he knew, and it was good because it had the best performance. Grid had no doubt that Talima's Shame would fill the vacancy of the empress.

-Die for me!!

“You still don’t understand who I am.”

A player had the concept of ‘ownership.’ Talima's Shame had become Grid’s property the moment it was placed on Grid’s head. This meant that Talima's Shame couldn’t escape Grid unless Grid gave up ownership on his own or he died and the probability of the system was activated to make him drop it.

“Go in.”

It had been 10 years since he started handling the God Hands. Naturally, Grid was the best at handling ego items.

-...!?

Talima's Shame was sucked into Grid’s inventory as it was about to poke Grid with its horns. Grid handled the noisy fellow without touching it and thought it over.

‘It seems it needs some education.’

It was more violent than Iyarugt used to be. Tempering, melting, disassembling , assembling...

It was necessary to correct the item’s personality by having a physical conversation.

‘I have to change its name before that.’

What was Talima’s Shame? Talima's Shame...

The name was really hard. It would be convenient to call it Talsha [1] for short.

King Charles approached as Grid was making a plan for the future. Talima's Shame was the disgrace of the royal family. King Charles had the duty to bury Talima's Shame forever. It was his responsibility to keep Talima's Shame from the world. However, at this moment, King Charles didn’t care about Talima's Shame. His concern for his mother’s safety made him turn away from his duty.

“My mother... what happened to the empress?”

“She ascended.”

“Really... I see...”

King Charles was deeply moved. His eyes became warmer when he thought of his mother’s happy appearance as she was liberated from the pain. He asked, “How was her face?”

“She was pretty. She looked to be in her teens.”

“...? No, I’m talking about her expression.”

“Ah... Her expression was good.”

“Did she leave any words behind?”

Grid replied, “She regretted that she couldn’t touch Braham’s face.”

“……”

King Charles’ head was blank for a moment. He hadn’t expected her to ask about her child’s safety, but he didn’t know the reason for the irrelevant name. Then he soon noticed that Braham was ‘that Braham’ and touched his forehead.

“She is still the same.”

Was her personality unchanged even after suffering a terrible end due to Pagma’s appearance? Originally, the dwarves were known for their aesthetics, but his mother’s aesthetics were beyond the norm. As a child, King Charles had resented his mother. He hated Pagma, who blinded his mother and tried to poison her. Now, it was different. Perhaps his mother was the most like a dwarf. He had such a thought.

‘I can’t respect her.’

King Charles smiled bitterly and arranged things. He stared straight at Grid and said, “I misunderstood you.”

King Charles’ hostility toward Grid was a very normal reaction. It was the successor of Pagma who bound his mother’s soul to a mineral. It was natural to be vigilant, suspicious, and disgusted. To be honest, King Charles believed that Grid had other motives. He thought that Grid was using the empress’ soul as an attempt to plunder Pandemonium. He believed that the successor of the evil Pagma would do such a thing.

Nevertheless, King Charles allowed Grid to enter Pandemonium because he thought there was no possibility that Grid would survive. Yet Grid came back alive. Additionally, he freed the empress’ soul as promised. He was honest and competent.

“Overgeared King Grid.”

It didn’t matter how his robes swept over the ground.

“I’m sorry, and thank you.” King Charles knew that all the people of Talima were watching. Despite this, King Charles bowed deeply to Grid. “Please forgive me for my disrespect.”

He fulfilled his promise.

Grid wanted to say something, but then he shut his mouth. He stared at King Charles for a moment, and then nodded with a sigh. “I will accept your apology. Let’s get along well in the future.”

***

The existence of the empress, whose soul was bound, was a deep regret for the dwarves. Today, her soul was liberated and King Charles designated it as an anniversary. The dwarves celebrated with joy. In the future, Grid’s name would resonate in Talima every year on this day.

“I’ll show you how to interact with items as promised.”

The lion-maned Pelot invited Grid to his smithy. The interesting thing was that King Charles and Antrino also accompanied him.

[The class quest ‘Different Path from Pagma’ has been cleared.]

[Advanced Ego Item Making skill has been acquired as the quest clear reward.]

[★This is a blacksmithing technique that Pagma has never acquired ★]

[You are walking on a different path from Pagma and the Granting an Ego has been shaken by the consequences.]

[In the future, the contents of the skill might change if you use the Granting an Ego skill.]

[Your blacksmithing skills have surpassed the legendary blacksmith Pagma.]

The reason why it emphasized the legendary blacksmith Pagma was probably because he wasn’t as good as Baal’s Contractor Pagma yet?

‘I’m curious.’

It was the Pagma who fought fiercely with the transcendent Chreshler, before contracting with Baal. It was unknown how strong Pagma became once he gained Baal’s strength and boosted all his stats.

‘Is it more than Muller?’

He must’ve been one level higher than Braham and Madra. Braham admitted that he was worse than Pagma, and Madra had died before his talent had blossomed.

“Hmm...”

Grid shook off his thoughts and confirmed the information of the new skill.

[Advanced Ego Item Making Lv. 1]

[Type: Passive.

When making an item, there is a certain probability to awaken the soul of the item when interacting with them.]

It seemed different from Panmir’s ego technique. The reason Panmir could give a weak ego to a crafted item was because he had learned the skill from a dwarf blacksmith. In other words, his blacksmithing technique had changed to that of a dwarf’s and the ego state was naturally learned.

On the other hand, Grid was able to give an ego while maintaining his own blacksmithing skill. From a general point of view, it was difficult to judge which was better. Of course, from Grid’s position, the latter was good. His skills were beyond that of the dwarves. There was no need to say it since he was acknowledged by the blacksmithing god Hexetia.

“The evil spirits from Pandemonium.”

Grid’s hands were itchy. He wanted to quickly see the performance of the new skill. He was thinking about renting a smithy when King Charles told him, “You like it, so please take it.”

The reason the evil spirits were sealed was because he was concerned about the chaos that would occur once they were released into the world. Grid showed full control over them so there was nothing wrong.

“I will gladly give it to you as a token of apology and a symbol of the exchange between Talima and the Overgeared Kingdom.”

Of course, Grid was thinking about taking it even if King Charles hadn’t said this. He was worried that King Charles would ask him to return it. Fortunately, it worked out.

Grid hesitated for a moment. “This one looks pretty special. Is it okay?”

He was talking about Talima's Shame.

“I’m grateful to you for taking it.”

Grid had complete control over Talima's Shame. If Grid used Talima's Shame, then one day, Talima's Shame could turn into Talima’s Pride. King Charles told him this and Grid felt more relaxed.

Then a world message rose.

[The Overgeared Kingdom and Talima have signed an alliance.]

“I hope you will teach my blacksmiths who come to Talima in the future.”

“We will also help teach you.”

It was an alliance he originally thought would be easy to form. There were many unexpected things, but he was glad. Grid said goodbye to King Charles and Antrino before borrowing Pelot’s smithy. First of all, he was going to make new God Hands.

‘As much as possible.’

He didn’t necessarily need to have only four God Hands.

[1] Combining the first few characters of Talima and Shame