What's more, in that world, I was a delicate girl, and the people who accompanied me were...

“Ullaa ...

The worst was the final trial in the Great Maze.

Because of the powerful magic that can reverse emotions, Shizuku actually has a fondness for the black object, a memory she doesn't want to recall.

However, the biggest problem was that Shizuku hated the boy very much. No, to be frank, Shizuku even thought he was hateful.

That also means...

"No~~! We are friends! Long live friendship~~!!"

She no longer had any swordsmanship to speak of, and her character image might even have been ruined. She swung the black blade desperately, creating a chaotic sound of breaking through the wind, sounding like a rebuke.

Normally, Shizuku would have thought this wasn't right and started over, but she ignored that thought and used her chaotic swordsmanship to forcibly chop down the young man with the hateful smile.

The hateful smile vanished, but just as it was gone, it transformed back into "that smile" from the moment he finally conquered the Great Labyrinth...

"Chester~~!"

The Yaegashi-ryu didn't have that kind of shouting, and even now, Shizuku had never yelled that way. The grandfather and father in her mind rolled their eyes at her, saying, "Shizuku... what are you doing?" But Shizuku was busy practicing sword swings, almost taking her anger out on them, completely ignoring them.

Shizuku's impulsive and reckless appearance was a far cry from her usual dignified image. If her classmates were here, they would surely be stunned with astonishment.

For a period of time after that, Shizuku continued to swing her sword, sometimes sharply, sometimes recklessly, caught between peace and chaos.

She seemed to be waving something away, or denying it, pretending not to notice "that feeling", telling herself that it was all an illusion and could not scare me.

Finally, when the fatigue that surpassed the comfort began to slow Shizuku's thinking, Shizuku's heart finally began to return to its original calm.

As for her inability to calm down, she also attributed it to the unusual environment of the Great Maze, which temporarily twisted her trust in the boy in a strange direction.

Even when she thought of him now, she felt calm and no longer emotionally disturbed. Shizuku was back to normal.

“Huh~~”

Shizuku exhaled slowly, and with a crisp clang, she sheathed her sword. Though Shizuku couldn't see with her eyes closed, her sweaty skin could feel the freshness of the morning even more clearly than it could with her eyes.

With a tuft of hair pressed against her cheek and a fiery breath exhaled, she looked quite gorgeous.

When Shizuku was immersed in the afterglow of her exercise, someone suddenly spoke to her.

"As expected of you."

"!? What!?"

A very memorable voice came from close behind her. Shizuku's heart was beating wildly, and her way of speaking became abnormal, completely different from her usual self.

Shizuku thought, "No way," and turned suddenly towards the sound.

The person standing there was exactly as she had imagined—Hajime. Perhaps to avoid interrupting Shizuku's training, or perhaps just as a prank, he seemed to have erased his presence as he approached her.

"Nan-Nangumo-san, don't scare me. Standing behind me all of a sudden is not a good habit."

Shizuku soothed her pounding heart and looked at Hajime with a reproachful look.

The one who was blamed for this was...

“…What’s that…Pfft!”

「!?」

He suppressed his laughter and repeated Shizuku's cute question.

The accusatory look in Shizuku's eyes deepened, but because her cheeks were slightly flushed, there was no sense of oppression at all.

Perhaps Shizuku was also aware of this, and this time she said with a hint of sarcasm:

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Shizuku asked word by word in a strong tone, and Hajime couldn't help laughing.

Even so, Shizuku might get really angry if the situation continued, so Hajime apologized with a smile and took out a towel from the "treasure vault" and threw it to her.

Shizuku took the towel easily, only now realizing how sweaty she was. She shyly looked away and hurriedly began to wipe away the sweat.

During this time, Hajime answered Shizuku's questions.

"Nothing. I woke up and wanted to practice a bit, and while searching for a suitable place, I sensed Yaegashi's presence, so I came over to check it out... You look like you've been training pretty early. You just cleared the Great Labyrinth yesterday, and you're training so early today! You're quite diligent."

"I, I'm not like this normally, um... I just couldn't sleep..."

"That's right. It's your first time going through the Great Maze, so it's normal to be excited."

"Y-yes."

Shizuku couldn't say that she was excited for some other reason, or even overexcited, so she subtly looked away.

Seeing Shizuku acting suspiciously, Hajime tilted his head and looked at her.

Shizuku couldn't calm down any more. The more Hajime stared at her, the more uncomfortable she became...

"...Yaegashi, you look strange, are there any aftereffects..."

"Eh? Uh~ No, I'm fine. Yeah, I'm healthy. I should say I'm in the best possible condition."

"...No, you look quite tired, and your behavior is suspicious..."

"What do you mean by acting suspiciously? I'm acting as usual. I'm always on guard. Don't stand behind me or I might accidentally cut you!"

"Are you a killer from somewhere... Never mind, I'm glad you're okay."

Although Shizuku was clearly out of her element, since she said she was fine, Hajime simply stopped asking. Then, with an expression as if he had thought of something, he suddenly walked towards Shizuku.

Shizuku looked utterly embarrassed when she saw Hajime suddenly approaching her. She frantically stretched out her hands in front of her as if she was about to open a protective shield.

"W-What? Why are you coming closer? No, wait! I'm sweating! This is territorial infringement, calm down! Oh, you want a towel, right? Here, I'll give it to you... Ah, no, I'll give it back to you after I wash it! So don't move forward!"

"...You're really weird, huh? I just wanted to borrow your black sword."

Whenever Hajime took a few steps forward, Shizuku would take a few steps back. Her attitude was just like that of a perverted girl, and even Hajime couldn't help but show a slightly unhappy expression.

"Black, black sword? Why is that..."

"I'm going to help you strengthen it. Thanks to sublimation magic, I seem to be able to help strengthen the transformation. If you don't want to, I won't force you."

"Is that so? So it's about strengthening. Okay, it would be great if you could help me strengthen it."

Shizuku held the edge of the black knife and handed it to Hajime, seemingly having no intention of getting close to him.

Ever since I came into this world, it has become commonplace to stand next to the opposite sex in sweat.

What was there to worry about at this point? Hajime looked at her with a more suspicious look, but he shrugged, feeling it was none of his business.

Hajime silently took the black knife and stepped on the ground. The alchemy magic circle drawn on the sole of his shoe activated immediately. The ground bulged and a table and chairs appeared.

Hajime sat on a chair and took out various ores from the "treasure box" and placed them on the table along with the black knife.

Shizuku stared at Hajime's homework, but Hajime seemed to find Shizuku standing there to watch annoying. He gestured for her to sit down, and at the same time, a chair rose up on the ground opposite her.

Although Shizuku felt uncomfortable, she still sat down on the chair opposite.

"..."

"..."

The two did not speak to each other. They could only hear the sound of the ore being processed, the chirping of birds, and the rustling of leaves. The tranquility of the morning returned again.

However, Shizuku didn't feel particularly uncomfortable. Although she was a little nervous, she felt that Hajime had accepted the fact that Shizuku was there, and her mood, which had been disturbed by Hajime's sudden appearance, gradually calmed down.

(…Very focused.)

Hajime's eyes never left the black sword for a moment. Shizuku's eyes were watching Hajime vaguely, and even from the side, it could be seen that Hajime was very focused.

Illuminated by the clear, vivid red magic light, Hajime's expression was as serious as if he were in battle, and in his hands, numerous minerals changed shape at will.

Shizuku muttered to herself, "It's really beautiful..."

Hajime, enveloped in a mysterious light, created all sorts of things, just like the "magician" from a fairy tale that Shizuku had in mind.

Shizuku felt as if she were watching the magician's 'magic', and before she knew it, she was staring at Hajime, entranced. She rested one elbow on the table, her cheek in her hand, her eyes gradually blurring.

That was because I was sleepy after a sleepless night.

Or because...

On the way, Hajime suddenly grabbed Shizuku's hand to collect her blood, causing her to panic and fall off the chair. Despite this unexpected incident, the time was generally peaceful.

After a while, Shizuku's eyelids grew heavier, and just as she was half-unconsciously trying to close her eyes comfortably, Hajime spoke to her.

"Alright, it's done, Yaegashi. I tried to modify it with the intention of practicing sublimation magic, but I think it's pretty good."

"..."

"Yaegashi?"

"..."

“…Are you asleep?”

Shizuku rested her head on her arms, lost in thought, her eyes nearly closing. Hajime was dumbfounded, thinking her expression was truly unguarded. He felt a little defeated by her.

Normally, at this time, you should gently wake her up or help her put on a coat, but...

Hajime thought for a moment, then slowly placed the black knife against Shizuku's forehead.

Then... inject magic power.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

The current burst out instantly.

Shizuku jumped up instantly, but because of the electric shock, she couldn't move and let out a strange cry.

The moment she took the black knife away, she collapsed onto the table, white smoke billowing from her body. Hajime ignored Shizuku, gently stroking his chin with one hand and nodding.

He seemed quite satisfied with the results.

“W-What are you doing all of a sudden!!”

Of course, after recovering, Shizuku roared in anger. With a thud, she placed her hands on the table and glared at Hajime, who looked nonchalant.

"No, because you seemed to be dozing off, I thought of using this method to wake you up and do a performance experiment at the same time."

"This guy doesn't think he's done anything wrong!"

Shizuku was about to protest, but Hajime threw the black knife at her as if to stop her, and Shizuku quickly caught it.

"Before I acquired Ascension Magic, I could only bestow one or two abilities upon ores, but thanks to the upgrades to Alchemy Magic and Generation Magic, I can now add multiple effects."

“You ignored my anger and started explaining yourself… well, forget it…”

Hajime calmly began explaining the enhanced black sword, while Shizuku sighed deeply and sat down heavily.

She looked at Hajime coldly, convinced in her heart, "After all, all my feelings towards this man were illusions!"

"Then, I added a few new spells to your black sword. One is gravity magic, which can change the weight of the sword. The other is that the blade can attract and repel objects. Although it only lasts for a moment, it can also cut through gravity."

"That's really impressive..."

After hearing Hajime's explanation, Shizuku's eyes widened unconsciously, looking at the black knife in her hand. However, it seemed too early to be surprised. After hearing Hajime's next explanation, the powerful power of the black knife made Shizuku's cheeks twitch.

According to Hajime, through space magic, the black sword can cause space itself to break.

Through regeneration magic, the black sword will automatically repair itself even if left alone. In addition, as long as it is carried on the body, it will have a healing effect on the user, although only slightly.

Through soul magic, the black knife can penetrate the opponent's body and cause slashing damage to the soul itself.

In addition, the performance of "Thunder Flower" and "Claw Flash" has also been improved, and the black knife has been given new skills such as "Impact Conversion".

"..."

Shizuku was speechless. She felt that the black knife had turned into a vicious weapon, or a magic sword. The hand holding the black knife was trembling slightly.

"Also, I'm trying to add a new control method by applying the authentication method of the status board. As long as the black sword is in the "activated state" at the beginning, there will be no need to chant while it is "activated"."

Simply put, the higher the effect, the longer the chanting required, but now there is no need to chant anymore.

Until now, Shizuku had only activated her abilities by chanting words, but that wasn't nearly as effective as using her full power. From now on, she'll be able to activate her skills simply by thinking, allowing her to maximize her power even with chanting words.

"Yaegashi is a swordsman, and a speed fighter at that. He probably won't be able to chant a long sequence when engaging the enemy."

I used this sentence to summarize the explanation.

Shizuku, sweat dripping from her face, gazed at the black blade in her hand. No matter how she looked at it, it surpassed the Holy Sword, surpassing even the mere power of a cheat, becoming a truly powerful sword. If the world knew of its capabilities, a war would likely rage over its possession. It was undoubtedly the world's strongest sword.

“Is it really okay to let me use this knife…?”

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