Maevis collapsed to the ground, hands on the floor, while Reina continued to shake Miiru by the collar, and Pauline, lost in thought over the party's finances, had a vacant look in her eyes.
"Miiru, you..."
"Wait! If you let me explain, you'll understand!"
"You don't need to let go to know that I was a fool for trusting you!"
"No, no, it's not that I want you to let go, but... Anyway, let go, and let's talk!!"
Finally, Reina calmed down, and Maevis, though still gloomy, stood up. Pauline, meanwhile, was desperately trying to manage the budget. Miiru explained:
"I'm sorry, I thought I had reinforced it enough with earth magic, but it seems it wasn't enough..."
"..."
Everyone, having been helped by Miiru many times before, wasn't really angry with her as a teammate. However, this unexpected expense at the start of the party was painful.
The previous sword breaking was unavoidable; it had reached its lifespan, and the budget had already accounted for it.
However, the loss of a new sword that had cost a significant portion of their funds was a different matter.
The group's faces were even darker than the day before, except for Miiru.
Then, her bright voice rang out in the gloomy air.
"Then, I'll fix the sword!"
"..."
"No, no, fixing a broken sword isn't as simple as gluing it back together! Even if I join it with earth magic, it will break again at the slightest impact, and that could be fatal. I don't want a sword like that!"
Maevis made a face of disgust as she negated Miiru's words.
"You might not know, but weapons aren't that simple.
A broken sword can only be melted down and reused as material. I've never heard of a broken sword being repaired and used again."
Reina also rejected the idea of repairing the sword.
Pauline nodded in agreement.
However, Miiru remained unperturbed.
"Judge by the results!"
"The results are right there!!"
Indeed, the broken sword was right there on the ground.
"Sorry for the wait. Here is the repaired sword.
It's hard, won't break, won't chip, won't bend, and the edge won't dull. It's easy to maintain. This is a confident work of the Miiru Workshop..."
Saying this, Miiru respectfully offered the sword, now sheathed.
Maevis took it silently.
"Is it really okay...?"
Reina and Pauline looked at it with skeptical eyes.
"Rude! This time it's fine! Last time, I just held back a bit!
If I go all out, I can do this much..."
"Then, you should have gone all out from the beginning!"
"......Yes..."
Regardless, to regain their trust, Miiru was desperate.
Giving them a sword that was too powerful wouldn't be good for the party, for Maevis, or for herself. That's why she initially kept the sword's performance to a minimum.
However, if it broke too easily, Maevis could lose her life, and the entire party could be in danger. Even if they survived, they would need more money, and the party's finances would be in trouble.
So, to make it less likely to break, she imagined various "strong and unbreakable materials" from Earth, such as carbon, titanium, and high-tensile steel, while focusing on creating a "normal sword that is just strong" through her thoughts.
She thought it would be strong enough, but hitting a rock was too much.
However, Miiru was also indignant.
Didn't Earth have swords that could cut through rocks or metal?
With that technology, shouldn't a sword be able to cut through a rock?
And what about her lost credibility?
She couldn't afford to fail again.
If she failed this time, Maevis would never trust a sword modified by Miiru again.
...There was no other choice.
She had to do it.
(This time, no restrictions on using technology or materials from this world or Earth! I'll use every technology and material to create a sword that absolutely won't break. The sharpness should be about fifth best in this world.
It won't chip, will repel blood, and won't need maintenance. But it should look like a cheap, ordinary sword!
The weight and shape should be the same as the original! Let's gooo~!)
She stuck the broken blade into the ground, stepped on it to push it into the earth, and then cast a spell on the hilt.
The sword was now complete.
"Go ahead, cut the rock!"
Maevis hesitated at Miiru's words but knew she couldn't use the sword with peace of mind unless she tested it.
After all, it had broken once before. She couldn't trust it unless she tested it on a rock.
A weapon she couldn't trust wouldn't be useful in battle.
Determined, Maevis raised the sword and brought it down on the rock.
Crack!
Though it didn't completely cut through the rock, the sword shattered the surface and bit into it, causing Maevis, Reina, and Pauline to widen their eyes.
"Look at this..."
Then, with a look of disbelief, Maevis stared at the sword, which showed no signs of chipping. Miiru gently took out a short sword from her storage and offered it to her.
The short sword was not a small knife but was about fifty centimeters long.
"This is!"
"Yes, it's the sword that broke yesterday. I thought it would be a good backup weapon in case the main sword breaks, so I modified the remaining part into a short sword. It should protect you in a pinch..."
Maevis, perhaps happy that the sword from her home had returned as a weapon to protect her, hugged the short sword to her chest.
"...Miiru-chan"
"Yes?"
Then, for some reason, Pauline, who looked a bit unhappy, called out to Miiru.
"Maybe if you had fixed and reinforced the original sword, we wouldn't have needed to buy a new one?"
"Ah..."
The three pairs of eyes focused on Miiru.
"Um? No, a backup weapon is necessary, right?"
"Even if the main sword is absolutely unbreakable?"
"......"
"No, no, all sorts of things can happen, like it being knocked away or dropped! Right, right?"
She looked at Maevis, but Maevis had a subtle expression.
In fact, the short sword was far more "cheated" than the main sword.
Since it wouldn't be used regularly and would only be used in situations where the main sword was lost, it made sense to make it more powerful.
"...So, now that the performance test is over, are you going to use this sword to actually cut something?"
"Ah, yes, but before that, I want to test my weapon..."
"Miiru's weapon?"
"Yes, I said I wanted to test something too, remember?"
As she said this, Miiru took out something strange from her storage.
"What's that?"
"It's called a slingshot. It's used to hunt birds and small animals."
"Hmm..."
Reina gave the small weapon a suspicious look.
It didn't seem like a proper weapon, and it didn't look particularly powerful, so she didn't seem very interested.
Miiru took a small stone from her storage and placed it in the pouch (patch) of the slingshot. The patch had a magnetic force, allowing multiple small iron balls to be loaded and fired like a shotgun, though it wasn't relevant this time.
Miiru stretched the rubber band and aimed at a branch on a nearby tree.
Her way of holding the slingshot was casual. The slingshot was based on an advertisement in a magazine she had read in her previous life, but if the original designer saw it, they might have attacked her in silence.
It completely ignored balance, the design to maintain strength, and the part to hold the wrist for stability, making it just a simple rubber band.
However, for Miiru, it was fine. The slingshot, held with great force, didn't move even with poor balance and no wrist support, and the mysterious material didn't need strength calculations.
The slingshot's body was made of a material far stronger than titanium, and the rubber band was made of carbon nanotubes.
Miiru held the slingshot in a way that would make a slingshot enthusiast yell at her.
She extended her left hand forward and pulled the right hand holding the patch back to shoulder level, not using the correct stance that involved the whole upper body. The length of the stretched carbon nanotube was only about half of what it should be.
Then, Miiru fired the small stone at the targeted branch.
Snap!
The stone hit the branch perfectly and blew it away.
Of course, this was thanks to the nanomachines correcting the trajectory.
"..."
The three were surprised.
"Is this... the same as your wind magic?"
"Yes, the principle is completely different, and I'm not using magic, but it's a similar hunting method in terms of launching a small object.
I don't want to be questioned about the number of animals I hunt or the way they are injured, and with wind magic, I might accidentally use too much force and cause an explosion in a pinch... Especially if the target is a human."
"..."
The three fell silent, looking displeased, as if they were imagining something.
"That's why I want to use this weapon and hide the wind magic. I don't want to deal with people who get interested in that magic..."
"Can I borrow it? If I have this, I can use a wind magic-like technique too!"
Reina, who had latched onto this instead of the wind magic that could blow off fingers (as Miiru had threatened), said.
"I don't mind lending it, but I don't think you can use it..."
"What! With practice, I can hit the target too!"
"No, it's not that kind of problem..."
Despite her subtle expression, Miiru handed the slingshot and the small stones to Reina.
"Gr... I can't... pull it back..."
Reina, trying to pull back the rubber band (carbon nanotubes), turned red in the face.
"That's what I said..."
The power of the slingshot meant it had a lot of kinetic energy, and that energy had to come from somewhere.
In other words, pulling back the rubber band (carbon nanotubes) required tremendous strength.
Miiru's previous shot was not due to a lack of knowledge about the correct technique but was intentional.
That shot had the power of a .22 caliber bullet, which was sufficient for hunting birds and small animals.
If she used the correct stance, which involved pulling back twice as far, the power would exceed that of a hunting rifle. She only intended to use this in situations where such power was absolutely necessary, as a "secret weapon."
In normal cases, a sword or magic would be enough to take down large prey.
After that, Maevis and Miiru went hunting, and they both gained familiarity and trust in their weapons.
Reina, however, was upset that she couldn't use the "perfect weapon for hunting small animals in the forest" and spent her time casting water and ice magic, which she wasn't particularly good at, to wreak havoc on the hunting grounds.
Thus, what was supposed to be a rest day turned into a decent day of earnings.
All was well, all was well...
I ended up posting my previous two works on the novel submission site "Kakuyomu" that opened yesterday.
I wanted to increase the chances of at least a few people reading them, so they wouldn't be buried and forgotten... (^^ゞ