The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 68

The mages of Arcamen stood with their mouths agape, unable to contain their shock.

“Ether Steel…”

Even I, who was a complete novice in this field, knew well about ether steel.

‘The legendary metal that repels mana.’

Ether steel is a dream metal that has never been artificially forged in history, except for the extremely small amounts of crystals that occur naturally.

Perhaps that’s why. There had never been any weapons made from ether steel that remained to this day.

Even among superstition-loving mercenaries, it was often dismissed as nothing more than legend.

“Artificial forging of ether steel… To think that technology, known to have been lost in ancient times, was sleeping in our domain.”

Iline muttered.

“This is a historical discovery.”

Watching the metal that I had only considered legend bubbling vigorously before my eyes, I fell into thought.

‘Did the Archmage King destroy Arcamen because of this?’

Ether steel is like a natural enemy to mages.

This is because it has the property of forcibly disrupting the concentration of magical power.

In my previous life, the Archmage King had destroyed Arcamen first during the early stages of the war. I thought it was simply to target the treasure vault, but now I could see the reason was clear.

‘He… must have eliminated his army’s natural enemy in advance.’

If this ether steel had been commercialized, the black mages’ forces would certainly have been much more constrained.

Then how on earth did the Archmage King know about something that even Arcamen’s head of family didn’t know?

Though I couldn’t know the details, Damian Carius belonged to the Imperial Magic Association.

Even if it was just a clue, he could have accessed top-secret information that wasn’t leaked to the outside.

Other possibilities couldn’t be ruled out, but for now, this was the most plausible speculation.

Just as I was organizing my thoughts, Iline placed her hand on my shoulder.

“I suppose I should say thank you. On behalf of all of Arcamen.”

Before I knew it, everyone in the workshop was looking at me. There was considerable reverence in their eyes.

“I should give you a reward. Is there anything you want? If you wish, I’ll open Arcamen’s treasure vault for you, so you can choose and take anything.”

It was an exceptional reward, but no one objected.

“Don’t be modest. The ‘Mechanism’ is Arcamen’s root. Just the merit of restoring it qualifies you to enter the treasure vault.”

I pondered for a moment, then shook my head.

“No. The treasure vault is fine.”

“Huh?”

Iline’s eyes widened. She seemed to have never dreamed that I would refuse.

Of course, I too was curious about Arcamen’s treasury, which was said to surpass even the royal court.

However.

“Whatever is in the treasure vault, it probably wouldn’t be of much use to me right now.”

I have Benheim’s treasured sword. I also have Eclat, Iridia’s treasure, and the barrier stone bracelet that Renia made for me.

Most importantly, what I need right now isn’t a ready-made product.

I looked at Iline and continued speaking.

“Instead, could I make just two requests?”

“Requests? What requests?”

“First, I’d like to receive that medicine I took yesterday.”

Iline glanced at Renia behind her and lowered her voice.

“You mean Chronos? As you know, the side effects are severe. It would be dangerous if you took it directly, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes. That’s why I plan to use it only when absolutely necessary. So please give me just one vial.”

Hearing my words, Iline placed her hand on her chin. Eventually, after thinking it over, she reluctantly nodded.

“Hmm… Well. Since it’s a prototype that failed mass production anyway, giving it to you shouldn’t be a big problem. But you can’t distribute it to the market. And any side effects from this medicine are entirely your responsibility.”

“Of course.”

Renia’s gaze on me was piercing, but it couldn’t be helped.

A drug with the effect of mental acceleration doesn’t exist on this continent, at least as far as I know. It would certainly be useful in various ways.

For example, if I took Chronos in a life-or-death crisis, I could somehow defuse the situation.

“So, you said there were two requests? What’s the next request?”

“Could you put all of Arcamen’s power into making me a sword?”

“A sword? Why suddenly a sword? Reagan, do you use swords too?”

Instead of answering, I slightly showed Benheim’s treasured sword at my waist. Then wrinkles formed on Iline’s forehead.

“You already have a sword, but you need another one? Why exactly?”

“I want to have a somewhat special sword.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

Instead of answering, I glanced at the ‘Mechanism’.

Iline realized the intention of my gaze and her eyes widened.

“You, don’t tell me…”

“Yes. I want a sword made from ether steel.”

* * *

There was a reason why I requested a sword from Arcamen.

The enemies I’ll mainly have to face from now on are mages, specifically black mages. And black magic is notorious for being bizarre and difficult to deal with.

No matter how much I have the special constitution to see through the core of magic with the naked eye, it’s overwhelming to deflect all the ever-changing black magic with just one aura-wrapped sword.

‘I haven’t reached Sword Master level like in my previous life yet.’

Then shouldn’t I fill that gap by borrowing the power of equipment?

The natural enemy of mages. A weapon befitting my epithet from my previous life, a sword made from ether steel.

It was something I needed more than any other reward I could get from Arcamen.

“Asking me to make a sword, Reagan, you’re exceeding my expectations again this time.”

Iline couldn’t refuse the request of her benefactor.

Rather, Arcamen’s mages were even more delighted.

“Making a sword from ether steel! We’ll be the first in Arcamen’s hundreds of years of history!”

Though they had already spent over ten nights working on repairing the mechanism, the craftsmen didn’t even think of resting.

Rather, intoxicated by the thrill of handling the legendary metal, they squeezed out all their remaining strength to make the sword.

“Here, this is the very sword you requested.”

Thus, five days later, I was able to receive the finished product from Iline.

A sword in the form of translucent glass, placed on the table.

Honestly speaking, it looked more like an ornamental piece.

“I’ll tell you in advance, this sword has no killing power.”

“What does that mean?”

Iline picked up the sword as if to show me and slashed at her own forearm.

No, to be precise, she tried to slash it.

“Look.”

The translucent blade merely swept across Iline’s arm like cutting through water.

Where the sword had passed, there wasn’t even a scratch, let alone a wound.

“This sword cannot cut living beings. Naturally, it doesn’t accept mana either.”

At those words, I took the ether sword and tried to imbue it with aura.

It was completely unresponsive. There was no reaction at all.

“Indeed.”

As Iline said, this sword couldn’t cut people and couldn’t contain aura either. This was due to its property of repelling and scattering mana.

That didn’t mean this sword was completely useless though.

“Renia, could you try using defensive magic?”

“Huh? Like this?”

Though Renia was puzzled, she extended her hand and deployed defensive magic.

I lightly touched it with the ether sword.

Then the mana forming Renia’s barrier scattered, and the defensive barrier was deeply gouged.

“Huh, what? Why is this happening?”

Renia was startled.

I grinned.

“Good.”

I can see the cores of magic with my eyes.

However, being able to see them doesn’t mean I can destroy all magic.

Defensive magic and barriers have their magical cores inside the barrier itself, making them difficult to penetrate with ordinary magic or aura.

But this sword is different. It disperses mana concentrations the moment it touches them. It would be like the grim reaper when facing Black Mages who primarily use barrier techniques.

‘With this, I should be able to cut through even 7th-tier magic somehow.’

This sword had scattered even Renia’s mana concentration, despite her having mana sensitivity at the level of an Archmage. Then it should be able to handle the Archmage King’s magic as well.

Of course, 7th-tier and higher magic comes in countless forms, so I shouldn’t be overconfident, but at least I now have a means to break through.

As I swung the ether sword through the air a few times, Iline asked.

“By the way, have you decided on a name for the sword?”

“Well, wouldn’t it be fine to just call it an ether sword?”

“Aw, that’s not stylish at all. I’ll name it for you. Let me see…”

Iline snapped her fingers as if she had a good idea.

“How about ‘Barisada’?”

“Barisada?”

“It’s the name of a famous sword from ancient texts. It was said to pierce armor and cut only people. Though this one cuts magic instead of people, it’s roughly similar, right?”

I looked at the ether sword and chuckled.

“Well, then let’s go with Barisada.”

I tucked Barisada at my waist.

I didn’t need a sheath.

There was no worry of getting cut anyway.

* * *

​

Five days later, we prepared to leave Arcamen.

The Arcamen Elders, who hadn’t welcomed us when we first arrived, now saw us off warmly as if sending away family.

“Victor, are you staying?”

“Yes. Lady Iline made me an exceptional offer. She’s giving me an entire corner of the workshop.”

Victor Otto would remain at Arcamen.

It seemed they planned to set up a separate workshop for Victor’s golem studies in the furnace area.

“I’ll provide unlimited support for materials you need. Don’t worry about money. Arcamen is wealthy. Just make sure to show clear results.”

Iline laughed heartily and patted Victor’s back.

In the process of repairing the ‘Mechanism’, Victor had proven his abilities without reservation, and this had caught Iline’s eye.

“Really… I don’t know how to express my gratitude to Lord Reagan.”

Victor’s eyes grew teary.

He must feel like he’s being compensated for all the years of hardship.

“Why are you being so disgusting?”

Whether due to our past life’s bad relationship or not, his tearful expression was still uncomfortable.

I waved my hand dismissively and patted Victor’s shoulder.

“Enough, just work hard. I’ll come check on you again later.”

“Yes!”

Eventually, we received a warm send-off from Arcamen and returned to Karak City.

However, we couldn’t help but frown at the unsettled atmosphere at Karak’s train station.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems the tracks have been damaged. Train operations are completely suspended until repair work is completed.”

Sheril, who had gone to assess the situation, explained.

“The tracks are broken?”

“Yes. According to officials, it’s quite rare. They’re investigating the cause, but it seems repairs will take about three weeks.”

“That’s… quite troublesome.”

I frowned.

Our journey had already been unexpectedly extended due to creating Barisada.

Since we had originally planned for a two-month journey, any further delays would put us in an awkward position with Steren.

“We can’t wait three more weeks. Let’s go by carriage.”

“Yes. I’ll arrange for a carriage.”

Fortunately, it was summer now.

Even though this northern region where the Archmage’s Domain was located was a land of blizzards, since it was summer, the roads weren’t frozen and were quite passable for carriages.

The next day, we took the carriage Sheril had procured and descended along the mountain path.

The road was well-maintained, so it wasn’t too arduous.

Night fell, and we stopped the carriage to camp, setting up in a suitable basin.

“Wow…”

Renia, seemingly experiencing camping for the first time, sat happily by the campfire gazing at the aurora in the sky.

It was a sight occasionally seen in the north.

“You know, Reagan. Northern people call the aurora the angel’s curtain. Isn’t that really romantic?”

“I suppose.”

“Wow, Reagan, you have no romance.”

Renia pouted her lips.

I chuckled as I threw firewood into the campfire.

It was a scene I had seen countless times in my previous life, so it wasn’t particularly impressive, but being with Renia now gave it a new feeling.

“So when you were living with that noble lady you liked, was it like this too?”

“First, let me clarify… I didn’t like her, she liked me.”

Renia chuckled at that.

“Sure, whatever.”

“Don’t believe me then.”

Just as we were both being stubborn about our pride.

“…”

Sheril, who had been quietly checking the carriage wheels, suddenly raised her head.

“Sheril, what’s wrong?”

Renia asked, but Sheril brought her index finger to her lips.

I hardened my expression and stood up.

A Covert Mage’s senses shouldn’t be ignored.

Moreover, I had just detected presences approaching from the surroundings myself.

“Someone’s approaching.”

“Yes. The feeling isn’t good.”

“Tell me about it.”

I sighed and stood up, glaring into the forest.

“Tch.”

The tracks were cut for unknown reasons, stopping the train.

As a result, we had to take a carriage through a deserted mountain path.

In this situation, there’s someone approaching us from the forest in the middle of the night.

Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?

‘Was this all planned?’

Therefore, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that everything that had happened was someone’s quite intentional scheme.

“This has become troublesome.”

I sighed and placed my right hand on Benheim’s sword.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————