“I didn’t want to ask this while the two of them were around, but do you have the ability to make this weapon they want?”
“I’ve forged many swords before. Haven’t you used some of my equipment?”
“If I recall, it was all destroyed…”
“That’s not my fault! Who said you could use it so roughly!” Garnet cried out.
“It’s fine. I understood from the moment you made it that the items were just disposable for someone like me.”
“I know what you mean, but the way you say it still hurts,” she pouted.
“This isn’t steel though. This is Master Blacksmith level work.”
She nodded. “You’re right, I might not have the ability to do it. I think I should have Master here. Do you think the bandits will let me invite him?”
“I doubt it.” I shrugged. “Besides, he had his chance.”
“Chance?” She blinked.
I hadn’t told her my thoughts on the matter. She was there to break a thousand cycle round of failure. Now, there is no saying that having him present wouldn’t increase the chances of success, but that’s only if he let her take the lead. I had a feeling he wouldn’t allow his apprentice to craft with the most important metal. However, if he took the lead, I already knew the outcome. I think that the Bandit Hero, or more likely Calypso, also had thoughts about this.
“Who will be using the weapon once I make it?” Garnet asked.
“I’m sure the Bandit Hero is planning on you crafting the weapon for himself,” I said. “However, I will be the one to use it.”
“So, you will be going after the Demon Lord and destroying this dungeon anyway.” She seemed to feel slightly sad.
“Don’t you see? The Dungeon is trying to destroy itself.” I explained. “Why do you think it’s trying so hard to craft that weapon? No one here has the strength to defeat Aberon without it. This world has to come to an end eventually.”
“You said yourself, it’s no longer attached to the world. That means, it’s no longer corrupting the world.”
“It also means it has no source of mana to corrupt. It’ll slowly fall apart. It already has been falling apart for years. It’s like a dying star.”
“It’s my home!” she cried out, causing me to grow startled as I looked to see tears in her eyes. “I’ve never had a home before, but this place has accepted me for who I am,”
As a Deep Dwarf, she had left her home a long time ago. Perhaps, the low-level miasma of this place made it feel more like a home than anywhere else, not to mention the welcoming and friendly people from that village.
“I’m sorry…” I didn’t know what else to say.
She looked off distantly for a minute, but then her eyes locked on me. “I will set three conditions toward making this sword.”
“The first condition, you will complete the lore, not destroy it.”
“You’ve saved every other dungeon you’ve been in…”
“The blessings, they’re the lore. They are the core of the dungeon, its story. When you accept it, you preserve that lore for all time. If you complete this lore, then this world… the people in it… they will be in you. You become their legacy!”
“Promise!” She demanded angrily.
“I-I promise!” I straightened up.
“Condition two, only you will be able to wield the sword! It will go to no other!”
“I agree with that, but if they take it…”
“When I create the sword, I will have you work as my helper. I will bind the sword to you. Only you, and those linked to you, will be able to wield the sword. The Bandit Hero will have to depend on you because the sword won’t work for him!”
“Okay, I agree then.”
“Finally, I don’t have the strength, the stamina, or the skill to be able to make the sword.”
“However, I’ve been drinking with your women before. I know what you are!”
“You’re a Slave Master!”
“I need those stat boosts, so condition three, I must become your slave!”