Only a black strapless chest wrap covered her impressively ample bust, leaving large swaths of bronze skin exposed. Beads of sweat trickled down her smooth skin, highlighting the bold and uninhibited aura of the master craftswoman.
"...That little girl actually got it right."
Lefiya lowered her head to glance at her own chest, then at the other woman's, and instantly became dejected.
She actually wasn't small at all. Considering her age, she could even be called outstanding. But differences only become obvious through comparison, and comparison brings pain.
"Hm?"
The bronze-skinned beauty with long black hair tied into a ponytail and features typical of the Far East tilted her head, still unable to understand what exactly the girl was so bothered about.
"I want to ask you something. Do you know where that super rookie of your familia is right now?"
She casually draped an arm around Lefiya's shoulders and asked curiously.
In terms of height, she was nearly a whole head taller than Lefiya, leaving the elf girl completely unable to break free.
"What are you planning to do, Miss Tsubaki?"
Lefiya's gaze instantly sharpened.
"Aiya, don't be so wary of me. I just couldn't find him in his tent, that's all. It's not like I'm going to eat him."
The woman called Tsubaki laughed heartily while patting Lefiya on the back, speaking with complete nonchalance.
"Or what? You don't want me to find him? Are you jealous?"
Understandable, understandable.
With that brat's looks, he probably collected countless girls' hearts every single day.
There were definitely quite a few beautiful girls in the Loki Familia secretly crushing on him too. Not wanting to see other women get close to him was perfectly normal.
"That's not it at all!"
"Whoa, what an overwhelming denial!"
Tsubaki was startled.
She sized Lefiya up and down, her expression gradually turning odd.
Denying it that forcefully only made her seem more suspicious.
"Haha, relax, relax. I'm not looking for him because I want to sleep with him, I just have something else to discuss!"
Still, Tsubaki had no intention of teasing a little girl too much and smiled as she reassured her.
"Sleep with…! Miss Tsubaki, please don't say such indecent things in front of an elf!"
Lefiya's cheeks turned bright red as she couldn't help shouting.
For a pure elf maiden, that level of stimulation was still far too much.
"That already counts as dirty talk?"
Tsubaki muttered to herself.
Elves really were boring creatures.
So proud and pure to the point of stubborn obsession, completely incompatible with a half-dwarf like her.
Dwarves were famously bold and easygoing, the total opposite of elves.
If a party had both an elf and a dwarf in it, they'd definitely argue every day. Riveria and Gareth were the perfect example.
"That person should be practicing swordsmanship with Ais-san right now. If you go somewhere secluded, you should find them."
Lefiya turned her head away, temporarily unwilling to deal with this woman anymore.
"Got it!"
Having obtained the information she wanted, Tsubaki briskly left.
…
The rocky platform had a diameter of several hundred meters, with even a small grove growing atop it.
Inside the grove.
Ais was continuously practicing empty swings, her beloved sword flashing with silvery-white brilliance, leaving streaks of sword light in the air.
"I can't do it..."
The girl frowned, dissatisfaction spilling across her face.
Her golden hair drooped along with her lowered head, making her look rather downcast.
"If you could learn it that easily, my position would be pretty awkward."
Ryoji rolled his eyes.
"Didn't I already say it? A sword technique of this level is still too early for you. Even I only just barely mastered it myself, so how could you possibly learn it all at once?"
"...Is it really impossible no matter what?"
Ais cast him a pleading gaze.
"This sword technique is very strong. I really want to learn it."
"Then spend time on it. A few decades, maybe."
Ryoji's expression remained completely unchanged.
"...I don't have that much time."
Ais lowered her head, a trace of urgency appearing on her face.
"But some things in this world can only be obtained through honest, steady refinement. If you want to grind an iron pestle into a needle, there's no shortcut besides investing time."
Ryoji remained completely unmoved.
He knew Ais had a wish she wanted to fulfill, that was precisely the reason she had worked so hard for years, but he absolutely would not compromise on this matter.
It wasn't as though there were no unconventional methods.
As long as he modified Ais a little and made the speed of electrical signal transmission between her muscles faster than his own, she could instantly experience the realm of the Twin Wings Sword.
But sudden evolution would throw the body into chaos, causing one's strength to decline instead of improve. Even Ryoji himself wasn't exempt from this, much less Ais.
Could it be that he should let Ais go through a life-threatening crisis like he did in order to grasp the Twin Wings Sword?
Impossible.
The reason Ryoji was able to learn it after only one brush with death was because he had already been very close to that realm to begin with.
But Ais was different.
She was still far behind even the level Ryoji had been at before, so how could she possibly master the Twin Wings Sword after just one life-or-death experience?
The likely result of doing that would be dying for nothing.
Learning the Twin Wings Sword was absolutely not something that could be rushed.
Ais remained silent.
The disappointment on her face was impossible to hide.
She could tell that the sword technique Ryoji used was incredibly powerful, worlds apart from ordinary sword techniques. Once mastered, one's strength would undoubtedly increase severalfold.
What was astonishing was that when she asked to learn it, he had readily agreed to teach her this sword technique, displaying a level of generosity beyond imagination.
Yet she simply couldn't grasp it.
The method to becoming stronger was right in front of her, but no matter what she did, she couldn't reach it. That left her feeling extremely irritated.
Still, she understood that this was her own problem, so she could only suppress that frustration deep inside.
"Oh, found you, found you!"
Just as the two were sitting in silence, a delighted voice suddenly cut between them.
Following the sound, they saw Miss Tsubaki walking over from afar.
"Yo, super rookie, can we discuss something?"
Miss Tsubaki approached the two with a rather eye-catching, swaying figure and flashed Ryoji a bright smile.
"That sword of yours, can you lend it to me so I can study it a bit? We can negotiate the reward!"
"Study it?"
"Yeah. You know I'm a blacksmith, right? Of course I'd want to study an amazing weapon if I saw one!"
Tsubaki bared a row of white teeth in a grin.
Tsubaki Collbrande, captain of the Hephaestus Familia, a Level 5 expert adventurer with the alias One-Eyed Giant Master.
Incidentally, she was a mixed-race half-dwarf born to a human of the Far Eastern island nation and a dwarf. Not only was she a First-Class Adventurer, but also the strongest blacksmith in Orario.
Of course, from Ryoji's point of view, she really wasn't short at all.
In every sense of the word.
"Let me ask first, how exactly are you planning to study it?"
Ryoji narrowed his eyes, showing a wary expression.
"Well, things like reheating and tempering, obviously. I'm a blacksmith!"
Miss Tsubaki scratched her head and answered honestly.
"Not a chance!"
Ryoji immediately rejected her without hesitation.
"That firm? Come on, no need for that, right? The reward is negotiable!"
Miss Tsubaki puffed out her cheeks, staring intently at Ryoji.
"Do you want money? Equipment? Or if you're okay with it, sleeping with me works too!"
(End of Chapter)
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