Chapter 23

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Arc 02: Guild and Competition for the cursed sword\nChapter 23: the first fusion magic (proposal and attempt) \n“…Aine-san, you’ve struggled so much, haven’t you?”\n\n

Cecyl was sobbing and looking at Aine while hearing to her story.\n\n

As for Aine herself, she replied in half the daze as usual.\n\n

“It’s nothing much, you know? I just didn’t do anything beside that”\n

“No, that’s the issue here. Someone like me is no match for your managerial strength to be able to administer the whole guild by yourself, or your conversational skills to speak with different people. I believe that Aine-san is plenty qualified to be regarded as a cheat character. However… Ummm”\n\n

Cecyl sighed at the difference between hers Aine’s stature. Taking this opportunity, Cecyl striked her own flat chest and spoke.\n\n

“Aine-san, you participated in the consultations at the guild, didn’t you?\n

“I did, what about it?”\n

“… will you be willing to listen to my worries as well?”\n\n

Cecyl drew Aine by the hand to the corner of the storehouse. The two of them crouched down and talked about something in hushed voices. I couldn’t her them very well.\n\n

“…my chest” “family” “… tiny” “not confident…”\n

“Still, you’re fine…” “Aine is good at babysitting” “I will help you with the nutrition balance” “Look for an opening…”\n\n

I managed to hear some disturbing words.\n\n

“Umm, what the two of you are talking…”\n

“We’ve already come to agreement, so it’s fine, Na-kun”\n\n

Wiping her knees clean, Aine-san stood up.\n\n

“Aine-san is a wonderful person!”\n\n

Cecyl looked at Aine with sparkling eyes. Both her brown skin and red eyes seemed to be a little glossy. It’s as if she was dreaming of a hopeful future.\n\n

“I am… I am all for accepting Aine-san. Rita-san, you should have her listen to your worries too!”\n

“Eh? I should? Oh well…we’ve come a long way, so…” \n\n

*whisper-whisper*\n

Crouching down in the corner of the storehouse, the two slave girls came face to face and talked.\n\n

“…Cute clothes” “seducing” “I want us to be closer” “… to make the mood appropriate”\n

“I am good at sewing” “Prepare to dress up as if by chance” “Lure him behind the closed doors” “the room should be in line with…”\n\n

Energetically, Rita stood up and run to me with extreme vigor.\n\n

“Nagi! You’ve discovered an amazing person! She absolutely has to become our comrade, at any cost!”\n

“Now I am really worried what it was that you talked about!!”\n\n

Please, don’t become excited just amongst you three and leave your master behind.\n\n

“Please call me Cecyl, I will also be calling you Aine-san”\n

“You can call me Rita. I will call you Aine“\n

“Thank you both, Cecyl-san, Rita-san”\n\n

The trio firmly gripped each other’s hands. \n

A fellowship bloomed up before I knew it.\n\n

“Everything for our happy future, and for Nagi-sama— ”\n

““O-oh””\n\n

Oh well, guess it’s a good thing that they are getting along.\n\n

Even if that caused some mysterious chills in me. It’s like a dangerous web was enveloping me…\n\n

“Ah, that’s right, I almost forgot”\n

“What’s wrong, Rita?”\n

“It’s nothing significant in comparison to our talk just now. It looks like the Noble Guild will take the Search Quest for the Cursed Sword upon themselves”\n

“Is that quest still a thing?”\n\n

How should I put it, I already started to forget about the cursed sword entirely.\n\n

“Wasn’t that commission taken in order to improve the working conditions of the member of the Common Guild in the first place?”\n

“According to the townsfolk, the Noble Guild are cooperating with the Iltuna Cult and the former members of the Common Guild. They plan to obtain the sword and present it to the king after their long-awaited preparations are finally done.”\n

“It’s also said that they will be holding a parade to commemorate the hunt for the cursed sword in several days, after which they will dive into the dungeon en masse”\n\n

Halfway through the explanation, Cecyl took over Rita as she clenched onto the hem of my clothes. It’s a particular habit of hers when she’s feeling anxious. She’s also making a complicated expression on her face during such time.\n\n

Cursed Sword Reginablus was summoned by demonkins, so she’s probably thinking about various circumstances.\n\n

“I was also told that the count of the Noble Guild displayed his resolution. It was something about him doing a Contract with the Iturna Cult where he would hold his ground until the sword was obtained”\n

“Now I wonder why is it that he desires this sword so much“\n

“Doesn’t he just want for the king to raise him in peerage once he presents it?”\n

“Rita, do you want a peerage yourself?”\n

“No, I don’t. Those whom I hold dear don’t wish for something like that as well. If I have the time to obtain a peerage, I would much better prefer to spend it hugging Nagi and purring in his arms”\n

“I would agree with you completely if only you excluded me from being a body pillow”\n

“Don’t you know that an unworthy human will be ruined if they dare to forcibly hold the sword? The king already got himself people who would do it for him, so it’s nothing to do with us. I believe it will be better leave them alone”\n

“I suppose you’re right”\n\n

I didn’t have the capacity to be a hero, so I wanted to be excused from being destroyed because of mishandling. I also wanted to have as little to do with that situation as it was possible. I didn’t want to be affected by it…\n\n

“I have something that I would everyone’s help with”\n\n

Still, I didn’t plan to leave the legacy of the demonkins in this town. It would be troubling if one day I came to realization that I should’ve recovered the sword and sealed it. It was related to Cecyl as well, so she would mind it if blood was split because of this cursed sword. In addition to that…\n\n

“I think we should get out of the town after we scare the hell out of the count. Therefore, I want to hear something from Aine and Leticia. What sort of man is the count?”\n\n

“He’s a vain person” — said Aine. “He’s someone who doesn’t allow anyone but himself to be in the center of attention” — said Leticia. “His pride is extremely high, which may come from his boasting that he’s relied upon by the king”\n

“He prides himself to come from the bloodline who established this country alongside that of the king. That’s why he’s merely sham of an adventurer”\n

“He works on impulse, so Aine was always being swayed by him”\n

“He also seems to be under impression that he’s always the target of the townsfolk attention. Even the parade this time may be the result of that imagination”\n

“In the end, the count probably just wants to be a hero”\n\n

So he’s coming along on the quest under the pretense of an adventurer. He demolished the Common Guild because he panicked and judged them to be a hindrance when it seemed like they could obtain the cursed sword.\n\n

This time, he would be going himself, while protected by lots of adventurers, to get it.\n\n

“…for example, should the sword in question mysteriously vanish he would probably be deeply ashamed of it, after holding a parade through the town and diving into the dungeon with multiple adventures by his side”\n\n

It was getting fun to think about it like that. You might call it my hobby… or rather, my selfishness. I wanted to repay this count fellow just a little bit before leaving the town.\n\n

“Are you going to use the Cursed Sword Summon Scroll, Nagi-sama?”\n

“Yeah. We’ve finally managed to defeat the Angel Guardian, so it’s worth to try it”\n\n

I finally managed to use the Transcendental Sense since it took twice the time to defeat this gargoyle.  Taking this much as my reward should be appropriate.\n\n

“If it’s what Nagi-sama says”\n\n

Cecyl took out a scroll from her backpack and presented it to me, which I then displayed to Rita, Aine, and Leticia to make them understand as well.\n\n

“This is the heritage we’ve discovered in the residence of a magician. I can’t say I understand it in full details, but the person who had written this scroll tried to procure the cursed sword Reginablus, the result of which ended up in this research”\n\n

This was what the Angel Guardian was protecting. \n\n

Ultimately speaking, that magician was obsessed with the cursed sword to their bitter end. It took their whole life and all of their energy was invested in it, but the demonkin researcher managed to complete the magic formula for summoning the cursed sword.\n

It was likely that by the time they finished the formula, their body became frail and it became impossible to conduct the summoning by themselves.\n\n

“By using this scroll, we can make the cursed sword Reginablus emerge to the upper levels of the dungeon”\n\n

And then we would seal it.\n\n

We would throw it into the treasure chest in the basement of this residence and leave it as it was. Then we would seal the entrance to the basement with the help of Cecyl, making it impossible for anyone to obtain it.\n\n

“Isn’t the cursed sword Reginablus a Wandering Sword, the one that moves around in search for its master? If that’s the case, then let’s make it come to the upper floors. It’s bothersome to come to the deeper floors for it, after all. The way how to use this scroll and its accurate explanation will be presented by Cecyl”\n

“Yes. Umm, this ‘Cursed Sword Summon Scroll’ opens a ‘Gate’ and calls upon the sword to come in vicinity of the caster. It’s said that a certain researcher of the cursed swords spent his whole life to work out this formula, but the conditions to invoke it are quite serious”\n\n

Holding the scroll with two hands, Cecyl started her explanation with a diligent tone.\n\n

There were three conditions to the summoning of the cursed sword.\n\n

The first condition: the place of summoning should be located as close to where the sword originally is .\n\n

At this moment the sword was on the lower floors of the dungeon. The summoning ritual would be preferable to hold somewhere on the upper floors. \n

In short, it was similar to hanging down a fishing hook and then pulling it up.\n\n

The second condition: the place of summoning should be filled to the brim with magical power.\n\n

Such consideration was likely in order to stabilize the ‘Gate’ used for summoning.\n\n

The last condition: the user of the scroll should sufficient capacity of magical power.\n\n

In other words, the magic in question was likely this grand. Even the games generally treated the summoning to be a high level magic. Since the scroll was written in the ancient language, no one other than Cecyl could use it. That’s why if Cecyl had plenty of magical power, then— \n\n

“— which is why, my own magical power might be just barely not enough…”\n

“It’s okay, I have an idea how to deal with it”\n

“Is that so? It’s a relief! As expected from Nagi-sama!”\n

“Please wait. We cannot relax just yet”\n\n

Leticia raised her hand.\n\n

“First of all, we don’t know the origins of this scroll, so is there any guarantee that it’s a genuine article?”\n

“We’ve verified the spell that’s written in it”\n\n

Cecyl replied in my stead.\n\n

“There is no mistake about its content, the magical formula performs the summoning of the cursed sword. The language it’s written in is a bit peculiar, so you won’t be able to understand it unless you’re an expert magician though…”\n

“Okay, that decides it for this part. Now, about venturing into the dungeon”\n\n

Clearing her throat, Leticia run her hand through her blue hair.\n\n

“Finding a room that’s full of magical power and that’s located above the room with the cursed sword is— ”\n

“There are several locations on the third level of the dungeon with water sources gushing into hot springs which were carrying magical power around”\n\n

Aine followed up on Leticia’s words.\n\n

“Thanks to the detection magic, we expected that there supposed to be a place in the upper floors that was close to where the cursed sword dwelled. The response was coming from south-eastern part of the lower floors of the dungeon after all”\n

“The number of places on the third floor with the fountains of magical power is three… the one closest to the cursed sword was the most south-eastern, right?”\n\n

“You understand well, Honored Master”\n

“I memorized it when I asked to show me the data on it at the Common Guild”\n\n

The data room had even the information on the dungeon.\n\n

I was proficient with mapping. When I was making a game, it was bothersome to open the map of each of the dungeon’s levels, and it was much faster to just drive all the information into my head.\n\n

“So that’s why I believe that we will be able to go in and come back if it’s only the third level”\n

“What about the time limit?”\n

“Are you saying that we should finish everything before the count comes with the Noble Guild and the ‘New Common Guild’ to the dungeon?”\n

“Make it in a day if possible. I would like us to finish everything at the very least in less than two days, should things take more time”\n

“It’s said that the first and the second levels are populated with weak monsters. I can handle them somewhat. Now, I have some countermeasures against the monsters from the lower floors that will be lying ahead”\n

“However, the third floor is occupied by goblin nests. How are we going to clear it?”\n

“We will use Fusion Magic” — I said.\n\n

Leticia… and everyone else squinted.\n\n

Aah… I guess that explanation was insufficient.\n\n

I’d been thinking we should do it when we would be using Cursed Sword Summon Scroll. It was going to be our trump card.\n\n

“If I am to dive in specifics, Cecyl and I will be united while using magic”\n

“Nya-Nagi-shyama?!”\n\n

Oh, she fumbled.\n\n

For some reason, Cecyl’s face became bright red, and she looked at me while trembling. It wasn’t my intention to say something so grandiose.\n\n

I thought this world had stuff like Joint Arts, Combined Mysteries, and Fusion Magic. In this case, the Fusion Magic implied the the connection of magical powers between multiple people.\n\n

“If we’re going to share our magical power and do the fusion, the burden on Cecyl should become much less. I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing when we would use the Cursed Sword Summon Scroll. That’s why, Cecyl and I will be doing the fusion when we use magic in the dungeon”\n

“We’ll be doing it outside?!”\n

“I’ve taken into account that this plan is accompanied with danger. That’s why I am asking everyone to support us when the time comes”\n

“In front of everyone?”\n

“We should be able to speed up our walkthrough of the dungeon if everything goes smoothly. Let’s show the monsters our new forms, supplied with the newly obtained power”\n

“W-w-we will be displaying it?!”\n

“Naturally, I am aware of the limits of my own magical power. That’s why I may ask Aine to do the fusion of magical power together with us if when the situation asks for it. If I am not mistaken, Aine can use magic too, right? With me in the middle, I may be able to supply the magical power flawlessly if we let Cecyl and Aine do the fusion”\n

“Nya-Nagi-sama?!….. Nagi-shyama… Nagi, -shyama…”\n

“Hey! Cecyl-chan, don’t panic, stay with us!!”\n

“This will allow us to use even the Cursed Sword Summon Scroll…”\n

“Nagi! Stop talking! Cecyl-chan is already at her limit!”\n\n

…Hm?\n\n

As I came to myself, I noticed Rita lifting her eyes and her tail becoming swelled and bristled. \n

Meanwhile, Cecyl was sitting down, her already tiny body shrinking even more. Her face was bright red. \n

Leticia was covering her face with both hands, looking embarrassed.\n

Only Aine was nodding to me as usual, but her mysteriously gentle face was saying “Aine will accept everything… “… What the hell?\n\n

“…Hmm? Could it be that… does this world have no concept of Fusion Magic?”\n

“There is none, what of it?”\n

“Rita, aren’t you misunderstanding something here?”\n

“What other meaning is there to understand, Honorable Master? If you only say a sword, I will gladly cooperate with you, but doesn’t Master make the hurdle excessively high by choosing Cecyl-chan? By speaking so dignified in front of everyone present, is Master trying to test both the loyalty and shyness of Cecyl-chan? My dear master, are you into such kind of play? \n

I-I guess I have no other choice… To ease Cecyl-chan’s heart, I-I-I will take h-her place h-here, Master…”\n

“Please calm down and listen to me”\n\n

The fusion magic I had in mind was referencing my game, it was a system where two people shared their magical power. I’d thought upon the possibility of applying it when I was using “Ability Reconstructure”.\n\n

Could it be that it was impossible to do the same thing in this world? Is that what Rita was trying to say?\n\n

“It’s alright. The fusion magic I have in mind is aimed at all ages”\n\n

No matter how lax the regulation were here, 15-year-olds were prohibited.\n\n

It’s so safe that you could even broadcast it during evening tea time.\n\n

I sat down on a chair and relaxed before I began my explanation of the tactic that we would be using to speed up the conquer of the dungeon and how to summon the cursed sword. I also explained everything there was about our trump card, the fusion magic.\n\n