In Altoria’s memory, Ecter indeed was not a person easy to speak with.
He despised all fairies and hated everyone in the Fairy Country, associating with no one, merely guarding his corner of the sea, staying within his own forging grounds, having barely ever left this place.
As the village closest to this place, Tintagel had always had very few fairies willing to come near, and the rumors about Ecter that Altoria heard while in the village were mostly bad because this Forging Master treated every fairy terribly; no one liked him.
Besides, Ecter also had a problem with his hearing, making it difficult to hear others’ words, giving off an air of arrogance, often ignoring others.
Such a man now not only planned to give away one of his greatest masterpieces to someone else but also seemed to no longer have hearing issues?
This was preferential treatment, wasn’t it?
Could it be that Ecter, who hated fairies, actually had a soft spot for humans?
That might be the case, as from Ecter’s "inner thoughts," it seemed like he didn’t hate humans, but he didn’t seem particularly fond of them either.
What on earth was going on?
Altoria was perplexed once again.
Not just Altoria, Reiger also was quite surprised.
"Really, for me?" Reiger, holding the small black blade in his hand, said, "This thing is obviously valuable, isn’t it? I thought even if you were willing to give it to me, you’d ask for something in return."
"...Anyways, it’s useless to me, just take it if you want it." Ecter fell silent for a while before responding quite displeasedly, "Alright, hurry up and tell me, who forged the blade you’ve got there?"
"This question is really hard to answer." Reiger saw that Ecter didn’t seem to be joking, so he just shrugged and said, "Originally, this blade didn’t look like it does now, but since I infused it with some oddities, it turned into what it is now. So, when you ask me who forged this blade, I think the answer is going to be very nuanced."
The initial forger of the Fool undoubtedly was the strongest Forging Master of Orolai, the leader of the Hephaestos Clan with the title of [Cyclopean Master] — Chun Kobrand.
But at that time, the Fool was just an ordinary indestructible weapon, and although it belonged to the second-tier category of special armaments, due to its indestructible nature, its power was slightly less potent than other weapons of the second tier.
As an indestructible short sword in terms of quality and value at that time, it might not have even been as valuable as this small black blade Reiger was holding at the moment; it was not a Divine Weapon worthy of such attention from Ecter.
It wasn’t until in the Demon Slayer World that Reiger used magic to purify a large amount of Orangecrimson Iron and Orangecrimson Ore, infusing the essence of these materials into the Fool and reconstituting it, that the Fool changed into its current form.
In such a situation, to say who had crafted the Fool would indeed be hard to answer.
"I can only say it was a collaborative piece between myself and another highly skilled Forging Master," Reiger said, causing Ecter to frown.
A moment later, as though he had lost interest, Ecter turned his head away.
"Since it’s a blade made through a partnership between two, and also involves chance, then I’ve lost interest," he said.
With that, Ecter seemed to be getting ready to return to his forge and continue his smithing.
"Wait a minute, Ecter!"
Finally, Altoria couldn’t stand it anymore and called out loudly.
"I’m here too! I’m also here! Can’t you pay some attention to me...!?"
Upon hearing this, Ecter cleared his ears.
"I can hear you, no need to yell so loudly." Ecter cast a look of disdain at Altoria and said, "Why are you still here?"
"I..." Altoria’s presence quickly diminished as she hung her head, saying meekly, "I just came to see if you were okay..."
"Am I okay?" Ecter snorted deeply and said, "I’m fine, especially since I wasn’t slaughtered by you the night before last."
At that moment, Altoria fell silent.
Seeing Altoria’s demeanor, Ecter became even more irritated.
"Since you’ve already escaped from the dungeon, what are you doing back here?" Ecter said with an unfriendly expression, "You’ve barely managed to escape; instead of taking the opportunity to run away, you actually have the leisure to wander around this place. Do you want to die that badly?"
"Of course not!" Altoria retorted, "I just came to have a look; I’ll leave after that and won’t waste too much time!"
"In that case, why haven’t you hurried up and left?" Ecter said impatiently, "This place might be remote, but it’s not far from the village. Those fools will find their way here soon enough. If you don’t leave now, I’m afraid you’ll really be torn into pieces by those fools."
"...I know." Altoria said sullenly, "I’ll leave once I have retrieved the chosen Magic Wand."
Hearing Altoria’s words, Ecter merely went silently into the back of the workshop, bringing out something from inside.
It was a Magic Wand that stood slightly taller than Altoria herself.
The Wand seemed to be made from some mysterious tree root, with a plant-like texture on its surface and tree root-like branches extending from the top, with the outermost tips embedding either crystals or gems, presenting an overall natural and harmonious atmosphere. The Wand looked as if it hadn’t been crafted by human hands but rather had emerged from nature itself.