Clang.
The sound of metal is rough.
The golem, who looked like a ferocious monster just a moment ago, made a hollow sound as it was cut.
I stood with my shoulders slumped.
……I won.
Only after realizing that did I hear my heartbeat.
"Huff...huff..."
My hands trembled. The mana depletion was severe.
Even though I extended it by 2 seconds, it took longer than I thought. Or maybe I unconsciously used more mana.
Gram had already turned into black smoke and dissipated.
The sound of glass clinking against each other. The shattered necklace gathered itself back together, restoring to its original form.
The necklace given by Quinie was imbued with restoration magic.
Meaning, from now on, if I wanted to use the Obsidian, I would have to break this necklace, and once the necklace returned to its form through the restoration magic, I could store the Obsidian in it.
Quinie really gave me something valuable.
I named the necklace 'Black Lotus.'
"…Now, then."
I forced my barely moving face to lift.
The remaining purple haze from the golem was still there.
Hephaestus.
One of the twelve gods of Olympus. The god of blacksmiths and fire.
With his eyes, accustomed to tempering metal and crafting weapons, was my 'weaving' that displeasing to him?
[You deserve to die.]
I could hear Hephaestus's seething voice.
So his mouth was still alive.
[Don't be mistaken that you've won. You haven't even scratched me.]
So what. I never intended to scratch you in the first place. Why does a god keep meddling in human affairs?
[Next time, it won't end like this,]
When Hephaestus got that far.
It felt as if I had locked eyes with him.
The form of the purple haze was faint.
"…Ugh?"
Suddenly, I saw a certain scene.
A limping man was standing there. He was handing something to a woman.
Is that, a bow and arrow? My eyes captured those two images in the 'workshop.'
But who is that woman?
The limping man is undoubtedly Hephaestus. But the fact that he's handing over a bow he made to a woman means,
That woman, could it be-
[You!!]
The scene vanished, leaving Hephaestus's rebuke.
[What did you see! You dare, to freely delve into a god's past, what are you doing-!]
Hephaestus was visibly flustered.
I let out a hollow laugh. It seems I wasn’t as ineffective as I thought.
[How much more do you need to insult the gods to be satisfied──]
Despite Hephaestus's outraged tone, his voice gradually faded away.
Well, he had nowhere to put his divine power, so he couldn't continue to exist.
"…Disappear."
My voice was dry.
It felt like I was pouring out tiredness with my voice.
After Hephaestus's voice completely vanished.
I was standing in the sound of a tranquil wind.
"…Frondier."
I turned my head. Ellen was standing next to me.
She was holding her side, but she seemed to have recovered significantly.
"What are you going to do about Edwin?"
Ellen's voice was as languid as ever, making me feel even sleepier.
Edwin had simply collapsed where he had originally been standing.
There seemed no need to worry about him now that Hephaestus's interference had vanished.
"…Edwin, are you okay?"
"…Yeah."
Ellen nodded quietly.
She seemed to understand my intentions as well.
///
To Ellen, that scene would probably be one of the moments she could never forget even if she died.
A sword was born in the hands of a boy at one moment. With that sword, he sliced through the golem.
Right up until the moment of slicing, the scene was almost like a piece of magic.
And after the fight ended, the boy just stood there still.
His hands were twitching, and his whole body shivered slightly with every movement.
His eyes, looking somewhere, still shone with a forlorn light even after the fight had ended.
His face was soaked with fatigue and a sense of powerlessness, but his eyes seemed to be looking somewhere.
Ellen stood up and walked.
His figure, drenched in moonlight, was incomparably beautiful. To confirm if it was reality, Ellen walked.
"…Frondier."
She called his name.
Frondier looked at Ellen.
-What about Edwin?
-Edwin is okay.
Despite such conversations, Ellen still felt like she was talking to a fantasy.
Even though she was looking at Frondier,
Even though Frondier was looking at her.
Thus, Ellen resolved the biggest question she had.
"…Why did you save me?"
You don't know me.
Even if you did, it wouldn't be a reason worth risking your life for.
The moment he protected her.
The voice shouted by Edwin.
A fight like none she had ever seen before.
All of it came to her like a dream.
Frondier.
Who are you?
"…You are someone who shouldn't die."
With those words,
Frondier's body tilted.
"…!"
Ellen caught his falling body.
Finally, Frondier became real from a fantasy, held in Ellen's embrace.
His breath was even.
His peaceful face met her gaze without any barriers.
"…"
Ellen poked his sleeping face for no reason.
A definite sensation.
Ellen blinked several times and then exhaled a breath that was almost a sigh.
Her drowsy eyes captured the moonlight.
Ellen smiled.
"Sleeping people are heavy."
It was a slightly ill-fitting comment for her.
* * *
…When I regained consciousness, I was in the infirmary.
I quietly opened my eyes.
Next to me sat a teacher in a white coat.
She had an elegant face. Her brown hair fell lightly in waves, and her calm gaze touched the tips of her long eyelashes.
I knew who she was.
Malia De Roach. The health teacher at Constel.
The information far more critical to me, however, is that she is Frondier's mother.
'...What should I do?'
Naturally, I've never had a conversation with Malia.
Malia isn't at the Roach mansion.
Her position as a health teacher is for show to the students, and her main work is in magical research.
Her lab is fully equipped with sleeping facilities, so Malia spends most of her time there.
She was quietly reading a book.
...Should I surprise her?
Wouldn't it help to break the ice and move the conversation smoothly?
Just as I was about to open my mouth.
While looking at the book, Malia opened her mouth.
"Did you sleep well? Frondier."
"...How did you know?"
"A mother knows everything."
...She's joking, right?
It's scary because it feels real.
"Your girlfriend brought you here. Say thanks to her later."
...Girlfriend?
Ah, she must be talking about Ellen.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"I'm happy. Our son is handsome enough that it's rather late, isn't it?"
Are you listening?
"Um, mom. Did any other male students come here besides the girl?"
"Ah, yes."
Malia nodded her head.
Her indifferent and calm expression certainly resembled the sleepy Frondier.
"He confessed."
"...Excuse me?"
"He stole the golem and committed violence against the students. He confessed everything. You can see it on the news right now. Want to watch?"
"Ah, no."
There's no tension in Malia's voice.
"Um, did anyone... die?"
"No. Fortunately. There's evidence that the students deliberately gathered to torment him, so the punishment won't be too severe."
Upon hearing that, I buried my head in the pillow in relief.
I see. Edwin was still Edwin.
Without Hephaestus's interference, he was still the Edwin I knew.
'...Hephaestus.'
The scene Hephaestus showed me, no, the scene I intrusively peeked at.
The bow and arrow.
─Presumably, it is undoubtedly 'Artemis's bow'.
A set of bow and arrow is stored in my 'workshop'. To weave it, I would need an amount of mana equal to or greater than Gram.
And one more thing.
'...I need to quickly learn how to weave 'two' weapons 'simultaneously'.'
I can only weave one item at a time.
So when I fought with the golem, I could only throw the dagger once, which was a struggle.
I eventually won, but the mana was on the edge, and I fainted because of it.
And most importantly,
If I could weave Artemis's bow and arrow.
I would have to hold each in my hands.
