After finishing their meal, the women left the inn and began searching the city for information about Sheira, or at least any clue that could point them toward her.
Wandering aimlessly was far from ideal, but none of them knew where to start. Even after questioning several citizens about Golden Rose activity, they found nothing; most had no clue what the women were talking about, and the rest seemed to think they were insane.
It was almost like Golden Rose never passed through this city, and yet there was no way for Laura to lie after all her memories were read by Aqua.
And so for Azure, it was clear. The leader of Golden Rose had surely lied to his men and, judging by Laura's devotion, perhaps to his lover as well. He and his escort had never come to this city. They had gone elsewhere.
It took them some time to reach the giant statue in the middle of the city, but from there they would be able to navigate the city.
"This might be a bit much, isn't it..." Aqua said with her eyes focusing intently on the statue.
"It's a statue that honors the God King of this kingdom, Lady Aqua. Leaders of the duchy spared no expense in making sure he is glorified." Azure stepped closer to Aqua while speaking.
"They wasted so much bronze just to make a statue," Azure said softly.
"A powerful kingdom like this one can afford to spend excess resources to honor their god," Laura said with a hint of pride in her voice.
Aqua shook her head. The statue itself wasn't the issue. What Aqua was referring to was the amount of divine energy emanating from the statue.
It was like a powerful demigod was standing right in front of her eyes. The sheer power dwarfed even Azure's Blessing. Why would it be necessary for anyone to create a statue so saturated with divinity? The better question was how.
It seemed almost like the statue had a soul, and yet Aqua couldn't recognize even a trace of anything resembling a soul in the construct.
Perhaps a defensive automaton, Aqua crossed her arms as she inspected the statue. If it was indeed a defensive automaton, then it was the most powerful one she had ever seen in her life.
And yet the way it was constructed, it was like it was chiseled from a solid block of bronze.
Joints did not exist, nor could she notice any mechanism that would allow this construct to move, and so it wouldn't be possible for such a massive statue to move by normal means.
While she was curious about how this thing would act as a defender, it wasn't something she could easily examine without drawing attention.
She sighed as she noticed Laura and Azure slowly walking away before running after them and catching up.
***
While finding clues about Sheira's whereabouts was a top priority, Azure wanted to get new equipment in case she needed to fight.
So they closely followed Laura, and they were led toward the eastern commercial district. After passing through the residential area, they reached rows of general shops and artisanal workshops.
Each shop was filled with nonhumans working on selling or creating new products, with their human masters either close by or missing completely.
It wasn't long until they came to a blacksmith workshop. Various bladed weapons were displayed proudly, from mighty greatswords and longswords to daggers and stilettos. Truly a specialized workshop, forging blades no matter the warrior's preference.
Laura turned toward Aqua and Azure before proclaiming, "This is a workshop that supplies many of the weapons for the Golden Rose. I can guarantee their quality, Miss Azure!"
As they pushed the heavy wooden door open, they were greeted by rows upon rows of bladed weapons, each neatly ordered by material and quality rating.
In the middle of the store, a male elf bowed deeply and, with a mechanical tone, greeted the trio, "Greetings... Valued... Customers... Welcome... To... King's Forge... Please... Browse," his lifeless green eyes looking through the trio as if they weren't there at all.
In the corner of the workshop, a bulky lizard-like humanoid stood lifelessly, like all other slaves the trio met, a large great sword at his back. Likely a protection-oriented slave, his grey scales noticeably battered from combat.
A constant clanging of metal against metal could be heard coming from the backroom, intense heat emanating from the room, which two elves figured was a forge.
Azure suppressed her disgusted expression as she saw another member of her kin in this state, instead deciding to look for a weapon she could use to free her friend. Her eyes ignored the enslaved humanoids as she looked over great swords.
Azure took one greatsword after another from the rack, giving each a few testing swings before placing it back.
The craftsmanship was excellent. Every blade was balanced, sharp, and durable enough for real battle.
But none of them would work.
They had no Mana Conductivity.
Without that, Azure could not channel her Life Force enchantments through the blade, which meant her strongest technique would be sealed away. It explained why the Golden Rose relied on different tools despite buying their weapons from this city.
Her old sword had been left behind, one swing away from shattering into countless pieces. She needed a conductive blade, not merely a well-forged one.
Azure sighed deeply as she returned the final weapon to its rack. "These won't do. I can't use my techniques with them."
Aqua placed her hand on Azure's shoulder before speaking, "Azure, just get a good quality weapon. I assume you talk about your life force blade you used against me?"
Azure nodded as she answered, "Yes, if I don't find a conductive sword, I won't be able to use my trump card."
"You do know that technique uses your life force, right? Even you have a limited amount of it." Aqua said with a worried tone.
"I do, but to rescue Sheira, I will have to go all out to even stand a chance." Azure curled her fist as she thought about the misfortune that had befallen her.
"Azure, I want you to trust me. Get a weapon that seems to fit you, and I will make sure you won't need to use your life," Aqua said quietly.
Azure looked at her companion curiously before letting a sigh and picking up one of the great swords. "Aqua, I hope you are right. This weapon is a hope for me and my friend. I must save her, and while I know you are strong, I do not wish you to stand in harm's way once we find her."
Aqua let out a soft giggle as she heard Azure speak, "Azure, let Laura pay for the weapon and then give it to me. I will make sure you have your hope."
Azure smiled warmly at the encouraging words of her companion as she placed the weapon before the elven slave.
Laura looked over curiously as she heard two elves talking, but not wanting to interrupt, she continued to look through the collection of daggers. Her encounter with the duo taught her that she needed close-range weapons, and she did not know a better place to get them.
She saw Azure bringing a weapon to the counter, prompting her to finish her search faster. Laura took multiple daggers, small enough that she could hide them inside her clothes. While these weapons weren't the best, they were slightly better than the mass-produced weaponry that was supplied to Golden Rose.
She brought her weapons to the counter, letting the elven slave charge them.
"Payment... dear... customer" the slave said lifelessly as he put out a hand, awaiting the payment.
Laura noted that the prices had increased since the last time she was here, but fortunately, she still had funds. While she hated to waste Golden Rose's funds to help what were supposed to be her enemies, she had no choice.
If she knew Golden Fang was fine, she would have been more conservative with her crowns. But while these women were her enemies, they were also allies who agreed to help her figure out what was going on with Golden Fang.
The elf took the crowns, and after what she could tell was counting he took the funds to the back, likely to his master's safe.
"Enjoy... your... new... weapons," the elf said while giving a deep bow.
Azure took her great sword while inspecting it. It wasn't what she hoped for, but her companion promised to help.
Laura slowly hid the daggers inside her boots, shirt, and sleeves. Making sure she had plenty of tricks if she was cornered. She hoped Fang didn't betray Golden Rose and that the checkpoint incident was just a coincidence, but she needed to be ready for the worst.
As they left the shop, Azure handed the new sword to Aqua, letting her inspect it.
Aqua focused on the blade, and as her gaze focused on the blade, she could tell many things about it. From the material alone, she could tell how well it had been forged. While she had no real obligation to Azure other than her own will, Aqua still wanted to provide her tools to succeed with her own power.
I will enchant this blade to the best of its ability. Aqua slowly dragged her fingers across the broad side of the sword. The blade glowed orange as if being forged once again, as its nonmagical nature was restructured.
Aqua knew that Azure wanted this sword to be conductive, so that she could channel her life force, but she would do her best to make her not rely on it. Many aether circuits were engraved onto the blade, and intense heat was contained inside.
The blade that once had no magical property was restructured and reforged into a masterful spell blade. Its material's previous nonconductivity was remedied with the usage of Aether Circuits. The blade became a conduit for powerful enchantments. Its Aether Circuits would pull energy from Azure's soul and convert it into mana, allowing her to channel her techniques without wasting her life force.
While the enchanted blade would be a crutch for most people, she knew that Azure was ignorant of Aether's usage, so the enchanted blade would help her. But it was equally important to add offensive enchantments in addition to adding a way to channel her techniques.
Aqua focused her gaze, her fingers moving in precise motion, her power channeled into a stream, flowing like water. As it washed over the blade, enchantments settled in.
The first enchantment was [Godslayer Blade]. By converting mana into black fire, the weapon could cut through divinity in many of its forms.
The second was [Authority of Crimson Fire], a lesser imitation of Aqua's own flames. It allowed the wielder to release waves of crimson fire, burning everything in their path. More importantly, it existed in equilibrium with the black flame, allowing the user to safely handle the power of the cosmic terror.
To Aqua, these enchantments were basic, allowing a mortal to fight back against divine tyranny only up to a point. They would not be enough against an actual deity, or even a Divine Child, if the user was not strong enough. But against someone with a lesser blessing and low divinity, this blade would be able to burn them to ash before they realized what happened.
Aqua let out a satisfied sigh as the blade was able to contain the enchants. In the next moment, she made a final tap on the blade, engraving its name as a way and seal to contain the power.
[Mortal Hope].
With its name engraved, she looked back at Laura and Azure, who were staring at her, then smiled before handing the sword to Azure.
"With this, you shouldn't have issues, Azure," Aqua said as Azure took the blade.
Laura looked at the sword with a panicked expression as it now glowed with a slight crimson glow, immense power radiating from the blade. "Is that even the same sword?"
The glow slowly faded, though the power could still be felt. The sword might attract attention, but Aqua doubted these basic enchants would draw too many eyes.
Aqua gave a small nod. "Yes, it is the same blade. I applied a few enchantments to it. Basic as they might be, they will make sure you won't need to use your life force."
Azure stared at the masterpiece, mouth agape, unable to comprehend the amount of power contained inside. "Thank you, Aqua. I will not forget this!"
Aqua smirked. "I know you won't. Let us continue looking for clues."
It was a moment before the trio heard a raspy voice from behind them.