The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

“No problem!” Viner agreed without hesitation. “Let’s each take one.”

"...If you want to do something stupid, do it yourselves, don't drag me into it."

Seeing that she couldn't stop it, Lisette had no choice but to withdraw herself.

Sometimes I really don't know who's really acting like a child.

“Then let’s call it Rikka, the three of us,” Viner suggested enthusiastically.

“Okay!” Felix immediately agreed on behalf of Rikka.

I don't know if it's due to some kind of mystical influence or some other reason.

Following Vina's method, the group proceeded in the direction indicated by the blade. Surprisingly, this absurd route went exceptionally smoothly, and they encountered no dangerous monsters along the way.

At another fork in the road, Felix took the Dark Iron from Viner, preparing to repeat his old trick.

"Wait a moment!"

Vena suddenly stopped Felix and then took out the scabbard from her waist.

Unbeknownst to them, the scabbard of the Yin Iron sword seemed to be drawn by an invisible force and began to vibrate slightly.

This phenomenon is particularly noticeable when the sheath is empty.

Wiener gripped the scabbard in his hand, compared it to several directions, and finally confirmed, "It's this way."

Chapter 240 Wiener: Give Me Some Face

Without bothering to explain further, Viner gripped the scabbard and resolutely broke away from the group's direction of travel.

This left Felix looking puzzled, and he turned to Listy with a puzzled expression, asking, "Has Venus suddenly lost her mind?"

“They might have really discovered something, Rikka. Go after her and make sure Venus is safe,” Ritsuki instructed.

Upon receiving the order, Rikka immediately chased after Wiener in the direction he had left.

Immediately afterwards, Lisette raised her hands slightly, her fingertips shimmering with light, and several ripples, barely visible to the naked eye, slowly spread outwards from her center.

It was a composite spell that detected good and evil, invisibility, and magical artifacts. Lisette was trying to use it to detect any unusual presence in the surroundings.

With Rikka gone, the task of protecting her fell to Felix.

Felix placed his right hand firmly on the hilt of his sword, his eyes sharp as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings to ensure that no threat could get close while Listy was casting her spell.

A few seconds later, Felix saw Lisette stop what she was doing and hurriedly asked, "Did you find anything?"

“I can’t sense any threat, so it shouldn’t be because of the magical beasts.” Lisette shook her head slightly, ruling out her previous guess.

"Isn't it Warcraft?!"

"Perhaps it's guidance from the Hero. Let's hurry and catch up." A glimmer of inspiration flashed in Lisette's eyes.

Felix seemed to understand something, and the two of them began their pursuit of Venus, following the marks left by Rikka.

After circling around several times, the mark left by Rikka finally disappeared in front of an extremely well-hidden cave entrance.

The entrance to the cave was cleverly concealed by vines and weeds; if it weren't for the few fresh, trampled marks that revealed its location, it would be easily overlooked.

The two exchanged a glance and stepped into the cave one after the other.

Since no threat of magical beasts was detected in the surrounding area, Felix began to call out without any restraint inside the cave.

“Vina—!”

The sound echoed inside the cave.

"I'm here."

Werner's response came quickly.

The two quickened their pace in the direction the sound came from and finally saw Vina, who had suddenly left, and Rikka.

It was a cave that suddenly opened up, with a skylight in the ceiling letting in a beam of sunlight.

In the very center of the cave, there is an ancient square base upon which a long sword stands proudly.

"This is it?" Lisette's voice rose involuntarily, as if it were not quite real.

“Yes, this is the keepsake left by Arios.” Vena confirmed her guess, but her tone carried a hint of helplessness. “It’s Murakami again.”

Although the exact serial number was uncertain, Wiener immediately recognized it as the Murakami sword he had forged.

But what stands here is not an ordinary Murakami sword, but a Murakami sword that has followed the hero through countless battles and made great contributions.

"So all we have to do is pull it out?" Felix looked at the Murakami sword that lay dormant on the ancient stone base.

“That should be it.” Viner nodded and was about to step forward to try it.

"Wait! There seems to be something up there." Lisette's voice was urgent and alert.

Perhaps due to the different angle of observation, Lisette vaguely saw an unnatural reflection flash across the bottom of the Murakami sword.

"Rikka."

Just by being called by name, Rikka understood what Lisette meant and took the initiative to walk towards the square base.

But just as it was about three feet away from the base, the air suddenly froze, as if an invisible barrier was blocking Rikka from the outside.

Even though Rikka kept moving forward, she could never get any closer.

Upon seeing this, Lisette felt a chill and quickly mobilized her magic power, attempting to touch the base with her mage's hand.

Just as the mage's hand was about to take shape, an invisible wave instantly dispersed it.

Clearly, the Murakami Yoshitsuki left behind by Arios is resisting Rikka and Risty's attempts to contact him.

“I’ll give it a try!” Felix volunteered, and then rushed straight to the base.

Felix passed through the three-foot-high energy barrier that Rikka had been unable to break through without any hindrance. However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the cold hilt of the sword, the energy barrier suddenly reappeared.

"Ooh—ya—"

No matter how much Felix's face contorted from straining, he could not grip the hilt of the sword.

"What's going on?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lisette's eyes.

“It must be that Arios left such a deep mark on this good sword that it instinctively resists being used by others,” Viner speculated.

Although Rikka possesses a certain level of thinking and independent action, she is essentially still Ristarte's puppet, so it's understandable that she can't get close to Yoshitsugu Mura.

Felix, on whom high hopes were placed, also fell at the last step of touching the Murakami sword, which was somewhat unexpected for Vina.

Even Felix can't get recognition, Arios, aren't your expectations a bit too high?

Wiener shook his head, setting aside these thoughts for the moment, and slowly stepped toward the solitary Murakami sword.

He easily crossed the boundary between Rikka and the air wall, and arrived behind Felix.

Wiener gently placed his hand on Felix's back, giving him a barely perceptible push.

It was this subtle push that allowed Felix's fingertips to cross the final distance while Mura Yoshiki wasn't paying attention.

However, this momentary contact triggered an even more intense rejection reaction.

With a loud "crack," Felix was suddenly thrown back by an invisible force, his body arcing through the air before crashing to the ground.

Wiener: "......"

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't do it on purpose?" Vena apologized to the slightly disheveled Felix.

"Do you think I believe you or not?" Felix leaped to his feet, glaring angrily at Venus. "Try pushing you from behind!"

“Don’t rush, I can do it myself,” Viner stopped her.

He had a bit of ulterior motive in letting Felix try first.

If Felix can be successfully pulled out, Venere can use the fact that Felix has been recognized by the hero to ask the academy and Jessica to bring Felix into the Silver Wolf Class as well.

After all, Felix was the best candidate to succeed the hero in Venus's heart.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and Wiener had to step in himself.

But putting everything else aside, Viner was still somewhat confident in his ability to draw the village sword.

Even if this fine village sword has its own pride and doesn't serve two masters, it should at least give its forger, the blacksmith, some face, right?

as predicted.

The Murakami sword, which could send Felix flying with just a slight touch, was as docile as a lamb in Vener's hands, allowing him to manipulate it at will.

Under Lisette's expectant gaze, Venus took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of the sword tightly with both hands, and prepared to draw the Murako sword in one swift motion.

"ah--!"

Wiener pulled with all his might, but the village sword remained motionless as if it had taken root.

The atmosphere inside the cave became subtle and awkward.

Murakami did give Viner face, but not too much.

Chapter 241 Combined Attack

"Ha, I'm here to help you!"

Lisette may genuinely hope that Venus will pull the Muramasa sword from the stone, but Felix is ​​simply gloating.

In just a few steps, he rushed up behind Vina, wrapping his arms tightly around Vina's waist, as if he wanted to pull Vina and Murakami together from the stone platform.

Surprisingly, with Vena as an intermediary, Felix wasn't directly resisted and knocked away by the power of the Murakami Sword as before.

However, this posture not only caused Vina back pain, but also failed to draw the Murakami sword.

"Pause."

Wiener quickly called for a stop, supporting his back, and after finally catching his breath, he said, "This thing can't be pulled out by brute force."

"Then what do you suggest we do? You're the only one here who can touch this sword," Felix asked.

“We must use magic to defeat magic,” Vena suggested.

Although he was unable to draw the Murakami sword directly, the information from Gundoraf provided Wiener with another idea.

“But we already tried it, and it didn’t work at all,” Lisette said, shaking her head.

She and Rikka were blocked in the same spot and couldn't get close, so they could only watch anxiously from the sidelines.

“Don’t target this sword,” Venere warned with a look in her eyes.

“...I understand.” Lisette instantly grasped the meaning.

Delicate magic flowed from her fingertips, finally transforming into a clay spell that instantly struck the base of the Murakami sword.

Wiener's advice worked once again.

The spell cast by Lisette had no effect on the Mura Yoshiki sword, which was surrounded by mysterious power, but it did affect its base.

As the clay sculpting technique was applied, the base in front of us slowly flowed as if ice and snow were melting.

As the last thread of connection between the sword and its base gently disintegrated under the force of this power, the Murakami Sword finally broke free of its restraints and floated lightly in the air.

Just as Vina stepped forward to take down Murakami, a sudden change occurred.

The stone seat, which was slowly melting under the control of the clay-shaping magic, suddenly broke free from Lisette's control and transformed into a yellowish-brown humanoid clay statue.

Even the village sword was snatched into its hand first, and it held the sword warily against Vina and the others.

"Could this be a test left behind by the hero?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lisette's eyes, and then she immediately made a connection.

“If it were a test left by Arios, it would definitely be on his own face, not like it is now,” Venere affirmed.

In terms of appearance, Arios could only be rated as average by Venus, but in terms of narcissism, few could match him.

The clay figure is not particularly exquisite, but it does bear some resemblance to Felix.

"Hello, the sword you have is very important to us. Could you please give it to us?"

While Vena was still pondering, Felix had already scurried up to the clay statue to ask for the sword.

"No." The clay statue refused Felix's request without hesitation.