“We may have four times their numbers but we’ll still lose if we face them in a head-on battle,” Cecilia said in a loud and imposing voice. She touched the map laid on the table. “So we’ll bring the fight to this hill.”

Despite her young age, as the Lord of Iron, she sat at the head of the table. Alonso was sitting on her left, with Faela on his side. On Cecilia’s right were two men and two women. They were the heads or envoys of the four families who had sworn loyalty to the Vidal family centuries ago.

As the girl’s words echoed around the table, the nobles grew agitated.

“My Lady, there’s no need to do this,” a man in his late forties said. “We can crush without using my territory as a battlefield.”

“You just don’t want to stop the mining operation,” another noble said.

The other two hummed in agreement and the man became more agitated.

“O-of course I don’t want that! With everything that’s happening in the Kingdom, we need money to pay for food and hired swords!”

“But they’re coming through your territory. We can’t let them advance anymore.”

Tetsuko snorted as she saw the vassals’ reaction. They all think the same, but since it’s not in their territory, they don’t care at all.

“I understand your position. I’ll find a way to compensate you after the battle,” Cecilia said, all the eye turned to her. “But we cannot face them. I’m certain you have heard the news about their new powers.”

“T-that’s are just rumors, my lady. We’ve been fighting them for generations. There’s no way they could have found a new power in less than ten years. We can face them in the open fields. There’s no need to use my mine,” the man insisted.

“Are you saying my father died of a simple illness?” Cecilia asked in a cold tone, her eyes matching.

The nobles on the girl’s right became stiff. The man who spoke sweated as he struggled for words.

And they weren’t the only ones.

There’s no need to get angry by that, my wielder, the soul in the sword thought as Alonso’s energy stirred.

Almost as if he had heard her, his energy settled, though he was still clutching his hand beneath the table.

“O-of course not… my lady… Lord Diogo’s death was… tragic… we all agree to that…” the noble said, looking around for support. He found none. “W-we’re all still mourn his death…”

“Thank you for your words. However, because I know of their new strength, I’m certain we can’t face them head-on. Even Lord Alonso agrees.”

“Yes. They’re no longer the simple Worshipers we knew. They have found a dark power,” Alonso said, the flames casting a shadow over his face. “We cannot face them as we have been all these centuries. Even if we do win, it’ll cost too many lives.”

As the nobles grew quiet, Cecilia took control of the conversation.

“That’s why we’ll use the higher ground and prepare traps.”

“What kind of traps do you have in mind, my lady?” Alonso asked, his voice less strained than a moment ago.

Tetsuko smiled as she watched the staged conversation.

With everything, I forgot he was good at acting. He already knows everything but is doing to help the girl.

“Iron spikes set in strategic places. I’ve been reading the reports from the battles. The new worshipers have a tendency to jump and race towards the enemy like animals. If we play this right, we can dwindle their numbers a bit.”

The vassals exchanged looks.

“With all due respect, my lady. It’s not enough,” one of the women said. “If they have a thousand people, it will kill maybe fifty, sixty, at best.”

“That will save the lives of hundreds of soldiers,” Faela said before anyone else could.

“Even so, I don’t think iron spikes will have any effect on them. My lady, I fought by your father’s side. It’s true the worshipers are different. Normal blades can barely scratch their skin unless someone with skill wields it.”

“Yes… I heard a lot about that as well. Based only on that, I wouldn’t propose this. But I also heard something interesting from Lord Alonso.” Cecilia turned to the noble she trusted the most.

“I mentioned about their new power. The truth is that I ran into some worshipers who tried to sneak into the kingdom. They are indeed much stronger than before. But they’re not invincible.” Alonso pulled Tetsuko from his waist and drew her enough to show part of the blade. “Even if the one wielding isn’t that skill, a blade made of this metal should be enough to injure them.”

Everyone stared at the sword with interest as Alonso lay it on the table. Even Faela stared at it with curiosity.

When they realized the truth, the nobles became awestruck.

“It’s a sword with a high concentration of living metal,” one of Cecilia’s vassal said, his mouth hanging open.

Tetsuko couldn’t stop smiling. They can recognize my metal with just one glance at my blade. As expected of people who live from mining and trading this stuff… But even they are wrong.

“It’s not a high concentration of living metal. It’s pure,” Alonso said. Though there was some suppressed pride in his voice, there was also fear.

Everyone looked at him with envy.

“Pure living metal? It’s not an alloy?” the woman voiced everyone’s question.

“Yes.”

One of the men shook his head.

“That’s not possible. It’s simply not possible to make a sword of pure living metal. If it were, we all would have thousands of blades like that.”

“Yes. Living metal is strong, but it’s too sensible to energy flow. Even a skilled master cannot wield it properly because of that.”

“I cannot say otherwise, my lords. But I’ve been using this sword. And I wasn’t the only one,” Alonso glanced at Faela through the corner of his eyes. “I found this sword in a battlefield. It was being wielded by someone else.”

“My lord, it’s hard to believe.”

“I agree. If I had heard that from someone else, I wouldn't believe. But if it’s coming from Alonso…”

“Please, my friend. We know more about this metal than anyone else. It’s not possible. Even if it’s Lord Alonso’s words, it’s too hard to believe.”

“Talking won’t get us anywhere,” one of the women said. “May we check the sword?”

Alonso glanced at Tetsuko.

Do not allow any one of them to touch me, the soul projected her thoughts to her wielder.

She didn’t know if her wielder heard her or not. But in either case, the man showed no reaction to her words and nodded.

As one of Cecilia’s vassals reached out the hand to grab her handle, Tetsuko poured her energy down.

No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t lift the sword. Under everyone’s eyes, he flushed and used both hands. It made no difference. Tetsuko refused to move an inch.

One of the women snorted. “Let me try. I’ve dabbled with a few pure living metal swords before.”

The soul in the sword did the same and the blade remained where it was.

The woman didn’t give up. She poured her energy into the sword. It worked for a moment. She lifted the handle a few inches.

Tetsuko rejected her energy and the noble let it go right away. The weapon fell on the stone table with a dry and loud thump.

Everyone watched the sword in silence.

“It… it seems this sword is just like any other made of pure living metal, my Lord. It’s unstable. A failure,” she said, rubbing her hand.

Alonso glanced at Tetsuko with a hard expression. With the eyes of everyone on him, he reached out to her handle.

The soul in the sword projected her thoughts to her wielder once again.

I want a new scabbard, she demanded.

Alonso pressed his lips and nodded almost imperceptible. Only then Tetsuko stopped forcing her energy down.

To everyone’s surprise, he lifted the sword with ease. With careful gestures, he unsheathed the blade and lay on the table so everyone could see.

“It is made… of pure living metal…”

“Amazing…”

“And it’s not exploding like all others we have tried…”

“But I couldn’t lift it…”

“It rejected me…”

“For how long do you have this sword, my lord?”

“I’ve had it for a few months now,” Alonso answered.

“And you’ve been using it without any trouble?”

“Yes… she… this sword saved me a few times,” he admitted without looking at Tetsuko.

At least you recognize this. Next step is to stop blaming me for Dale’s energy consuming your sanity.

As the nobles who were in charge of mining live metal for centuries stared at the sword, Cecilia turned to the wielder.

“This blade was capable of hurting the worshipers, wasn’t it?” she asked in the same imposing voice.

“Yes… I was hurt… the leader tried to strangle me,” Alonso said, controlling his urge to touch his neck, which still had the finger marks. “Even so, I managed to kill more than one with this sword.”

“We can make blades with living metal edge. Though they’re much better than normal swords, the results haven’t been good against the current worshipers…”

“We cannot make pure living metal weapons. But if we could study this sword, we might make better weapons in time for the fight.”

Alonso glanced down at his sword, his eyes almost begging.

You better make me a new scabbard, Tetsuko projected her thoughts once again.