[Eheheheheh~]

Yohn was seeing giggled to himself on the sides, as Rud was in the middle of doing something toward a stone while Vram, not that far from them both, was in the middle of carving something in his sword.

[Stop that, it’s creepy.] Rud’s pricking as he was being disgusted at Yohn expression

[Hey, can’t we just live here, like, forever?]

[Don’t even get there…!] [I mean, did you forget what had happened to me about months ago?]

[But all the girls here were so cute and kind, ya know~?] [They all even let me took a bath with them, playing with them, and… ehehehehe~]

[SO THAT’S YOUR INTENTION, BASTARD!?] [We can’t really play around here, Yohn!?]

[And mind telling me what are you doing right now?]

[I don’t know….]

[Hey, mister black knight over there.] [Isn’t it kinda too much for him to learn how to use magic now?] Yohn was trying to call Vram, but even if Vram was still focused on his own weapon, he’s still responding to Yohn just fine.

[I do realize it’s asking too much.] [But since removing the thing that’s happening on your body is practically impossible, you just need to control it yourself.]

[Wait, what do you mean impossible!?] [Your master said that I could be healed!!]

[It’s just her opinion.] [Lady Hilda does agree with her plan also, but she never said that she could saw the success either.] [In fact, it’s because of the fact that there’s almost no hope for you, that she pushed herself harder than usual this time, like learning from morning until evening, doing another experiment over and over again.] [Even Lady Hilda started to slacked off from her works to help Master.]

[Wait….] [By any chance… are we being a bother to you, mister Vram?]

[You just realized that now, mouse?] Suddenly a crack was shown on a sword Vram had been making this whole time, as it crumbles apart. [Ugh, another failure….]

Rud, whom have been listening and training on the side, was putting out a guilty face as he tilted his head downward.

[But… there’s no one else I could ask help to….]

[Then at the very least, try to protect yourself by controlling your newfound ability.] [The chance is small, but having you dying in front of my master would be terrible enough.] [And at least, you could help Master Josephine in some way or another.]

Rud was just nodding after hearing Vram’s confirmation.

[But then, what about you yourself, mister Vram?] [I mean, sure, you’re doing this for your master, but were you not expecting us to do something for you?]

[Not really.] [And even if you could, what would you offer me to?]

[A knowledge.] [For someone like you, mister Vram, knowledge could be a tool of trade for many things, right?]

[That’s true, but….] Vram seeing Rud over and over again, observing him while Rud was trying to train his magic by imagining something to the stone. [I don’t think he had that much knowledge regarding something I need.]

[Ah, he’s useless.] [You can’t expect him to do anything other than something for himself.] [But I’m different.] [I may not look like it, but I was once a great scientist on the outer continent.]

[Hoo….] [And, do you really have something to tell me regarding something that I need?]

[Mister Vram.] [Were you, by any chance, knew a thing regarding Blackhemist?]

[Black… what?]

***

[A magic chemistry and smithery?] Josephine tilted her head left and right after hearing an unfamiliar technique.

[Yes, it is quite a rage in outer continent to be able to pull of such a feat.] [A weapon that could emit ability a monster had.] [Like, let’s say that we have a part of salamander’s scale, that could breathe fire.] [And with the parts coming off from the monster and the Blackhemist technique, you could easily create a sword that could emit fire all by itself.]

[Such a thing exists in outer world?!?] Josephine’s eyes blinked hearing Yohn’s explanation. [Vram?!] [Why you never told me about something this amusing!?!]

[I’m sorry master, it’s also the first time I’ve heard of such feat.] [I’ve learn the way of smithery back when I was still young, but never once I have came across a document mentioning such things.]

[I’m also surprised to hear that you never knew such things existed.] [It’s been founded about two decades though.] [Anyway, though you may really need to cure Rud now, it’s not like we’re in a rush, you know?]

[Wait, Yohn?!] [What are you thinking?!?] [I want to be healed as fast as possible!!!]

[Weren’t Vram already you that it’s impossible?] [No matter how much Lady Josephine tried to learn, it would still put a long time for her to finish.] [Besides, what if we endanger her health so much that she messed up when she’s finally able to heal you?]

[Guh…!] Rud’s can’t argue much about how he’s been treating Josephine all this time. He’s been rushing things that ended up putting Josephine in a predicament, but never says anything. That’s also the reason why Vram despised Rud so much.

[I know you’re ignorant to other people, but at least try to think a bit about people helping you, brother!]

[… I never knew you’re the type to care about other, Yohn.] Vram was suddenly letting out a weird comment out of his respect toward Yohn.

[Well at first I was indifferent….] [But if I could take a bath with those girls every day, well~….] [ehehehehehehe~]

[You sick bastard.]

[We… well, it’s not like I was really strained to help you both…!]

[Anyway, back to the point.] [Lady Josephine, you once told me that you want to find a way to improve Vram’s ability to its fullest, weren’t you?]

[Yes… that’s right….]

[If you could utilize the Blackhemist to its fullest, you can see that this already monstrous black knight could even more monstrous than ever, you know?] [There are many monsters out there that have quite outstanding abilities, like walking in the air, split the ground, controlling water, and many more.] [Imagine if Vram were able to do all of the abilities above, he’ll be more than a monster!] [Even a Phenomenon Breaker Class creature would kneel in front of him!]

[E… Phenomenon? Class? Breaker??] Josephine was confused at many foreign words Yohn had blabbering.

[Hmm….] [That’s certainly interesting idea though, to wield a shield that could protect me from all direction….]

[But I never once make a sword, Vram….] [Let alone learning smithery….]

[And there’s no way that I could learn magic and alchemy altogether.]

[And that’s why!] [Both of you should make it together!!]

[[Huh?]] Vram and Josephine both could only blurted such words hearing Yohn’s talk.

[I never said that this process could only be done by 1 person!] [Mister Vram, you were quite skillful with your smithing ability, and Lady Josephine’s chemistry ability was a class on their own, and I don’t have to mention your magical ability more, right?]

[Wait, such a thing is possible?!?] [I never heard of a witch worked together to create a magic item together?!?]

[That’s….] [Maybe because as a witch yourself, your mana were already self-sufficient for all kind of grand-scale magic, so the thought of gain help from another Magic-Caster was not even goes through your mind.]

[But still… can we even do it, Master?] [For this kind of magic experiment, weren’t there any risk in doing so?]

[Well as far as I remember, it has the same risk as how people would doing a chemistry and smithery altogether.]

[Which mean, if one of us weren’t focused, hell would arise, eh?]

[But that’s sounds fun!] [Let’s try it, Vram!!]

[Ugh… really, Master?]

[What is the purpose of knowledge if you wouldn’t use it!?] Josephine goes excited hearing a new kind of magic exist beyond her reach.

[Well… I do agree with you….]

[Then we should do it right away~!!]

[Wait!] [To do that, you need many kinds of thing, and the most important thing is, that you need a part of a monster needed!]

[About that, you don’t have to worry, Yohn~❤]

***

[Uh… Just when you said you’re putting off that human experiment for a bit to have fun, now you’re trying something weird….] [Are you really sure you both can do this, Junior? Vram?]

Yohana was there, escorting Vram, Josephine, and Yohn toward a pedestal on the deeper parts of the village. After Josephine, Vram, and Yohn finished preparing the things that they need, they went and asked one of her senior, Yohana, to give her a right to use the pedestal which usually used to summon a familiar, for her own experiment.

[There’s always a first time for everything, Senior~❤]

[Well, that’s true….] [And what about you, Vram?] [Aren’t you worried something would happen to your master?]

[Well, it was different than when doing that experiment which almost had no result at all, this is worth trying.] [And to think I was able to help my master in another way, honestly, I’m actually looking forward to it.]

[Oh Vram~❤!] Hearing her own familiar response, Josephine started to get near Vram and hugged his arm.

[You two really are inseparable, eh?] [Guess I couldn’t take a bath with her anymore….]

[Still, would you go as far as to tell us, Witches, about the magic in an outer continent, Yohn?] [I mean, sure, it’s helpful to us, but would it be like betraying those humans?]

[Maybe it was, if you were as hostile as we’ve thought before.] [But seeing you girls after months, I realized you weren’t as bad as what our people told.] [And you did trying to help that hopeless man of his predicament, for at least giving him some hope.] [That’s why I need to repay you at least this much.]

[Hmm….] [Oh, where’s that red haired man, by the way?]

[Ah, he was taken by Hilda.] [She’s kinda angry since he hasn’t had much progress since the beginning.]

[Ahahaha… I see….]

***

[Well then, let’s get started, Vram.]

[Yes, Master.]

Hearing her familiar’s response, Josephine starts to chant out some magical words as the magic pedestal reacting to her chant. The magical circle starts to assemble on the ceiling and the wall of light covering both the pedestal and the person inside. After that, Josephine still controlled the magic and the pedestal while Vram letting out the things that was prepared for the experiment.

[Now, put the mixed liquid into the center of the pedestal, Vram.] Yohn was on the sidelines, instructing how the experiment should go on.

[Right.]

Vram slowly and carefully pouring some of the liquid into the pedestals cup enough so that it won’t overflow.

[Next, Josephine should create a liquid ball that concentrates its substance on the center of it.]

[Okay~!]

As she swings her arms, the liquid start to flow out of the cup and concentrating itself on the sky, right in the middle of between the magic circle on the ceiling and the pedestal, creating a mass of liquid ball.

[Now Vram just need to hold the sword inside the ball, and then try to mix all of the ingredients inside the ball.]

Vram then took out one of his best-made short sword and plunged the blade slowly into the liquid ball. Then he took out the other translucent liquids to mix with the liquid ball, and finally he took out the most important material, the monster parts. They were using what they’ve been holding this whole time, the Mana Cocoon from the Vasp. As Vram put the Mana Cocoon inside the liquid with his bare hand, the Cocoon melted and started to become a layer of fiber material. Then Vram uses his bare-hand to try to cover his sword with those fiber layers evenly on the blade.

[I see, it’s just like coating the sword with magic powder to give it a temporary magic attack.]

[Yup.] [Guess you both already get the hang of it.] [Now we just need to wait until the weapon mixes itself completely.]

[Ah.]

Vram realized that a little bit of the fragment layer were being peeled off from the sword, as he quickly turned his hand to cover the opened parts.

[Ah, I read that that happens quite a lot.] [Usually some people swirl the peeled part back to its place with magic.] [But that won’t completely restore the part that was peeled though.]

[Hmm?] [Why won’t they use their own hands?] [I mean, it’s not like it’s impossible to maintain the mana being transferred while moving your hand to do some simple movement like that, right?]

[Uh… well….] Yohn looked hesitated to answer Josephine.

[Because the liquid itself were poisonous, Master.] [I’m fine somehow, but if this liquid were to touch you or other people, either you’ll be melted right away, or something bad happened to your body.]

[WAIT, YOU MOUSE!!] [WHY YOU HAVEN’T TOLD ME ABOUT IT!?!?] Yohana was enraged and start gripping Yohn hard.

[I… I already told Vram…!!]

[And I’ve tested it that I’m fine.] [You don’t have to worry that much, Lady Yohana.]

[Urgh….] [Then, for how long are they going to keep doing this.]

[I don’t know….]

[Huh??]

[I did read the maximum time limit of making such an item was about a week, so….]

[SO YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THEY’LL STAY LIKE THAT FOR ANOTHER WEEK!?!]

[It’s fine, senior~!] Josephine was smiling while she was still focused on concentrating her magic on the pedestal. [It’s not like there’s nothing to gain out of this.]

[But there’s no chance that it’ll succeed!] [Vram! You usually against something like this!!]

[I apologize, Lady Yohana.] [But I do realize that I still weak in comparison to the monsters existing around these areas.] [That’s why I needed this, and Master also complies, though I do feel bad for using her.] [And, also, it’s not like it doesn’t had a chance of succeeding unlike what she’s previously doing.]

[Really…?]

[And the strain of having to manage the weapon itself falls upon me, while Master just need to maintain the mana transferred onto the pedestal.] [I’m sure she could do it while sleeping also.]

[Ehehe~] [You knew me so well~]

[Uhm… that’s right.] [I already explained that most of the strain of creating these weapon lies in the maintenance process, of having to make sure the fiber weren’t peeled off while it absorbs the liquid.] [But I forgot to tell the duration.]

[*sigh… you two are really….] Yohana just express her disbelief of her junior and its familiar, to strain themselves this far. [Well I guess I just have to make sure that you both went undisturbed.] After saying that, Yohana started to went out of the room.

[Thanks a lot, Senior~!] Josephine expresses her gratitude to Yohana while still focused on maintaining the magic.

***

[She hadn’t finished yet?]

[Guess it’ll take about a week or so.]

[What in the world…?!] [I’m kinda happy that she decided to let things about restoring this ‘trash’ go for a bit, but did it went around for the extreme way again!?] As she dragged the red haired man who were somehow looked so ragged that most people barely recognizes him, Rud.

[… What did you do to him, Hilda?]

[What?] [Just a little bit of mana control training.]

[I never heard a magic training that makes people looked like a used rag like that.]

[Because I kicked him everytime he made a mistake.]

[I guess he’s been messing up over and over again?]

[After one success, we finally had enough time to rest.]

Hilda was already finished with training Rud, as she dragged her into the place where Josephine and the rest were. Along the way, Rud had already fainted from intense training by Hilda, thus, reason why Hilda dragged her all the way.

[Then… how long they’ve been at it…?]

[They’ve been at it for about… I don’t know, 3 days?]

[That’s… quite long, eh….]

[You’re not angry?!?] [That she pushed herself that far?!?]

[I’ll get angry if she does it for other people she doesn’t even knew whether to trust them or not.] [But if she does it for herself, who am I to complain?]

[Urgh….] [You… really know how to deal with your junior, eh?]

[Well me being an instructor wasn’t just for show, you know~❤]

Suddenly a sounds of footsteps can be heard from inside.

[Eh?]

From inside, two figures can be seen walking sluggishly outside. It was Vram and Josephine, with Yohn on Josephine’s shoulder. After enclosed herself for three days straight, the elegant smiles she usually wore was no more, as if she was being weighed by something.

[Wha… what happened?] [You looked worse than usual, did something happens?] Hilda, being worried, disgusted, and wondered, asks Josephine of her current situation.

[Uuu… It’s failed….]

[EH?!] [After three days of shutting yourself inside and it was a failure?!?!]

[Uu… Yohn said… that when it’s completed, the liquid will turn light blue.] [But I forgot about the finishing process, and just quickly terminated the process.]

[No, it’s also my mistake, since I was sleeping so soundly.] As Yohn can also be seen sulking in despair after their failure.

[And… where’s the sword in question itself?]

As Hilda somehow interested in the results itself, she tried to ask Josephine about it. Josephine hesitantly pointing toward Vram, whom has been twirl and poked the blade of the sword. Though it looked like a sword, it’s already broken. Or to be exact, it’s already rusted enough that it couldn’t be used anymore.

[Wuah….] [It’s a total mess.] Somehow Hilda just showed an expression of awe seeing the results itself in front of her.

[This is weird, though.]

[Why?]

[I’ve been holding sword since I was a kid, thus I was able to discern the weight of a rusted sword and a normal sword.] [Yet this sword’s weight, it does change, but it doesn’t feel so fragile that it’ll break with just a tap of the sword.]

[Hmm….] [Then why don’t you just tap it?] [If your hand doesn’t works, try something heavier?]

[I’ll try to hammer it, then.]

As he tried to listen to Hilda’s suggestion, Vram pulled his smith hammer from the “storage” and readied himself to hammer it.

[WAIT!] [If you want to destroy it, then let me do it!] [It was mainly my fault that it failed.] Josephine was seen with her face tearing up from blaming herself.

[Uh, I wasn’t planning on destroying it though….] [But if you’d like to, Master, go on.]

Vram then gives the hammer to Josephine. With the sound of her gulping her own saliva, Josephine steeled herself to hammer the broken sword right in front of her eyes.

[Here we go….] [HIYAH!!!]

*PRAAAANG!

It was halted. No, Josephine did hit the sword with her hammer. But somehow the hammer was stopped by the sword itself, as the place the hammer dropped was cracked. But below the hammer itself, a shimmering light was shone brightly that it blinded Josephine.

[As expected, this is…!!] [Master, let me handle it!] Vram, whom have been surprised by the results itself, asked Josephine to return the hammer.

[Eh? Eh?? Fue??]

Without a clue and still in a daze, Josephine just willingly returned the hammer. Then Vram hastily yet gently tapped the sword with his hammer. Though he did it gently, it still had some strength that it totally broke the outer shell of the sword, showing another sword that is hidden this whole time.

[Th… This is…?!?!?]

The sword, after being pulled from its shell, just like a butterfly that’s just born from its cocoon, was shining more brightly than any kind of magic spell that came out from Josephine’s spell. The blade had totally changed shape. Though it was smaller and lighter than the previous sword, the hardness of the sword itself was quite tough. The center of the blade was empty, yet it was filled with some kind of fiber material that as strong as the blade itself.

[Such a thing…!] Josephine was in awe that she couldn’t speak anything.

[To think that it could also be born that way….] Yohn was unable to hide his surprised expression.

[I guess I knew it would turn out like that.] As Hilda commented on the sideline while getting closer toward Vram. [I heard that you use a Mana Cocoon to create this, right?] [Though it was classified as a monster, it’s actually a monster with a fragile shell on the outside.] [That’s why, when the sword was created, it completely replicated the characteristic of the sword.] [Isn’t that how the experiment works, Yohn~❤?]

[Eh!?] [Uh… uhm… yeah…!] Suddenly Yohn felt a chill runs toward his back after being shot with Hilda’s preying eyes.

[But this sword….] [It couldn’t cut anything….]

[[[[Eh????]]]]