I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

It banged its enormous head on the ground twice to show its loyalty: "It is my honor to serve Lord Tiangong!"

"There's really no need for that..."

The Zashiki-warashi stuck out its tongue, then raised a finger and admonished, "Also, don't call me Master Tenko anymore! I still have a long way to go before I become a true master!"

But the Mountain Whale King stared with his large, copper-bell-like eyes and said earnestly, "In my heart, you are in no way inferior to the true master craftsman!"

Well, there's really nothing we can do about it.

The Zashiki-warashi, unsure of what to do, tugged at its hair.

But when she saw Uesugi Tetsu approaching, she perked up, stood on tiptoe, and warmly put her arm around his shoulder.

"Mr. Prajna, it's been such a long time!"

Immediately, Uesugi Tetsu felt the Mountain Whale Dynasty casting an angry gaze at him from not far away.

He clicked his tongue inwardly.

Why do I keep getting the feeling that this Mountain Whale King is a bit like a simp, no, I should say a pig licking his boots...?

And there's the zashiki (a type of traditional Japanese house).

In the past, she would have at most waved weakly and bowed, but she would never have put her arm around his shoulder as soon as they met.

Seemingly sensing that Uesugi Tetsu was a little uncomfortable, the Zashiki-warashi, unable to suppress her joy at seeing an acquaintance, immediately let go and landed to the side.

She leaned forward and examined Uesugi Tetsuya's "face under the mask" closely for a while.

Well……

The Zashiki-warashi stroked its chin, muttering to itself.

This was completely different from the fierce and terrifying image she had previously imagined. It turned out that Mr. Prajna looked so delicate under his mask.

So it turns out that not everything Master said was correct!

Yay! Another life lesson learned today!

Feeling the gazes fixed on him from both sides, Uesugi Tetsu coughed and asked, "Zashiki, is there something you need?"

"It's nothing really." After wiping the sweat from her forehead and armpits with the cloth on her shoulder, Zashiki-warashi grinned. "It's just that I think Mr. Hannya is very handsome."

Uesugi Tetsuya was speechless; how could he possibly respond to that?

He could only look into the temple.

Unsurprisingly, like Imagawa Yoshimoto who followed him, he fell into an incredibly shocked silence.

Because what was laid out before Uesugi Tetsuya at that moment was, in the very literal sense, "a mountain of weapons."

And there's more than one.

There are actually three!

Uesugi Tetsu swallowed hard and slowly looked up, but even with his head held high and staring straight at the sky, he couldn't see the end of Weapon Mountain at all.

These three weapon mountains seem to be bound by some mysterious force, which is why they can keep piling up and remain standing.

This is how the spectacular sight we see today came to be!

The barrage of notifications overwhelmed Uesugi Tetsuya's vision, making him feel dizzy for the first time due to the sheer volume of information.

After using his mind to eliminate all the prompts, Uesugi Tetsuya looked at the gray, weapon-laden mountain on the far left.

A series of gray notifications popped up—

[Discarded furnace slag]

[Deformed Armor]

A katana that failed to be quenched.

【…】

This mountain of weapons seems to be piled up with nothing but abandoned gray weapons that failed to be forged.

The jumbled impurities and blackish-gray "weapon coke" were layered and intertwined, and without the clues, it would be impossible to tell what it was.

Uesugi Tetsu then turned his gaze to the mountain of weapons in the middle.

Then, white, green, and blue colors intertwined, dazzling the eyes like LED headlights in a neon night scene.

The weapons and armor pieces, each with its own unique shape and style, were neatly stacked up, making Uesugi Tetsuya almost drool.

If all these weapons were sold to Sheng Hai... how much soul ash would he get?

At that time, not to mention the Hundred-Eyed Demon, even the higher-quality "Thousand-Eyed Demon" and "Ten-Thousand-Eyed Demon" can be easily retrieved from the pool with a ten-pull!

and many more.

Uesugi Tetsuya suddenly realized what was going on.

Since the first mountain is gray, and the second mountain is white, green, and blue, then wouldn't the last mountain be—

Uesugi Tetsuya rolled his eyes, his vision filled with a sea of ​​purple.

His lips twitched involuntarily.

Light purple, purple, dark purple...

These are all equipment made by Zashiki-warashi?

Countless "epic" and "super epic" titles rained down on him, almost making Uesugi Tetsuya dizzy again.

Who has ever seen anything like this before?!

At this point, Uesugi Tetsuya finally couldn't help but turn around and ask,

"Zashiki, these weapons..."

"Oh, these weapons were forged by me using materials given in the trial, so they will disappear once they are taken out of this temple. I'm sorry."

Zashiki-warashi sighed, somewhat regretfully: "Otherwise, I could have picked out the best one to give to you, Mr. Hannya."

Trial?

Uesugi Tetsuya emerged from the indescribable shock and grasped the key words.

But before he could ask any further questions, the zashiki-warashi leaned down and looked gently at Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was wearing a vermilion scabbard.

"I really miss this sword... This katana that my master forged and told me to give to the adults."

She stretched out her finger and gently tapped the hilt of Kaga Kiyomitsu's sword, sighing with emotion.

"It feels like such a long, long time has passed."

hum~

Kaga Kiyomitsu hummed softly, greeting the zashiki-warashi cheerfully.

—The relationship between Zashiki-warashi and Kaga Kiyomitsu is probably like, "Your older sister held you when you were just a little kid."

As it happens, Kaga Kiyomitsu is a weapon, so even though he didn't develop any spirituality at first, he still has an indelible impression of everyone he comes into contact with.

"Ugh?"

The zashiki-warashi froze in astonishment, blinked, and asked, "Kaga Kiyomitsu, has he developed a spirit?"

Buzz!

Kaga Kiyomitsu responded with a loud and proud clang of his sword, as if he were standing with his hands on his hips, making a humming sound.

The Zashiki-warashi was initially stunned, but then an uncontrollable joy appeared on its little face.

It's like finally finding the weapon you've been dreaming of.

Uesugi Tetsu was still pondering the words "trial" and "for a long, long time" that she had just uttered.

He hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Zashiki, how long have you been here?"

"How long, huh?"

The Zashiki-warashi rubbed his temples with his fingers for a while before answering uncertainly, "At least, it's been in this temple for about a hundred years."

a hundred years?

Even Uesugi Tetsu was speechless at the absurd numbers.

No wonder the Zashiki-warashi said it had been a very, very long time.

—You monsters, do you always talk about decades or hundreds of years?

The zashiki-warashi scoffed somewhat unhappily.

"Because I am in the midst of a trial, my own time flows very slowly, and I haven't grown much taller even after all this time."

Uesugi Tetsu: "Trials? Could you explain them in more detail?"

Instead of answering directly, Zashiki-warashi asked, "This is a long story... Mr. Hannya, do you have the patience to listen?"

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was quietly examining the weapons, and nodded: "I've taken up your time."

"No delay, no delay! On the contrary, it was Mr. Hannya who brought Kaga Kiyomitsu, which gave me a lot of inspiration."

The zashiki-warashi pointed at Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was shaking violently, and winked.

"Can I borrow it to touch it later?"

"Of course that's no problem."

Uesugi Tetsu thought to himself that he would need to have Kaga Kiyomitsu forged later, and then he wouldn't be able to resist touching him however he wanted.

—Given Zashiki-warashi's forging skills, which allow her to create epic-level weapons like the Mountain, it should be no problem for her to enhance the Little Jade with suitable spirit gold.

After hearing this, the Zashiki-warashi patted its chest and slowly said, "Ever since I parted ways with you, sir, in Arakawa Village, I have been traveling alone."

A man was traveling alone when he was ambushed and robbed by hundreds of homeless people. Luckily, he had a gun and shot most of them before they escaped.

A person was traveling alone when he encountered a group of master blacksmiths from a thousand years ago and exchanged technical insights with them.

A man was traveling alone when a pickpocket stole his purse, causing him to faint from hunger on the roadside in Heian-kyo.

Traveling alone...

As if she had finally found someone to confide in, she poured out her heart and soul, recounting all the wonderful things she had seen and heard along her journey through the mortal world, down to the smallest detail.

Even if it's just a brief moment in a long and lonely journey.

"Then the wave came, and I happened to come across a whirlpool, so I thought there must be a very rare and wonderful object inside!"

The Zashiki-warashi held up a finger: "That's what Master said!"

At this point, she showed a speechless expression.

"After I finally made it to the center of the vortex, I found that there was nothing inside, just an empty hole."

But I figured since I'm already here, it would be a waste of all that time and effort if I didn't go in.

Uesugi Tetsu's eyebrows twitched as he listened, recalling the Yuki-onna who had been sucked into the rift and whose whereabouts remained unknown: "You just went in like that?"

"Hmm! I didn't think long before I crawled inside." Zashiki-warashi snorted twice, "and then I was inexplicably sent to the Heavenly Crafts Trial."

They say that once you complete the trials, you can become a full-fledged Celestial Craftsman, just like your master!

"The trial only has three stages—the first stage is to train my will, and the second stage is to make me forge a qualified weapon."

Now that you, Mr. Prajna, have arrived, I've already completed the second stage!

She chuckled smugly and gave Uesugi Tetsuya a thumbs-up.

He plunged headlong into a mysterious hole that appeared in the mortal world, and unexpectedly, he turned misfortune into good fortune, soon becoming a true master craftsman...

Uesugi Tetsu was silent.

This is something only a lucky charm could do and get a good result from.

The Zashiki-warashi pointed again to the temple, the three mountains of weapons, and the ever-present pile of materials not far away.

"The second trial is to keep me in the temple until I can forge a weapon that is similar to my little pistol or has a spirit using the most common materials. That would be the end of the trial."

Spiritual weapons.

Uesugi Tetsu touched Kaga Kiyomitsu at his waist, thinking that Aoyama Yoshikazu and the blacksmith of Sunpu Castle had also said the same thing.

"Over the years, although I have been unable to leave... people and monsters from outside have been able to come in once."

The Zashiki-warashi pointed to the Mountain Whale King, who had his back to them, and drew a circle with both hands: "For example, the little wild boar, I rescued it not long after I arrived, and now it's grown so big."