Chapter 72 – The Treasure Vault

I’ve been inside the imperial palace’s treasure vault before.

Although it was 400 years ago, my comrades and I visited it countless times.

It was inevitable because we, who were on the forefront of the human forces, used our weapons more than twice as often as others.

So, in order to find even stronger and sharper weapons, we had no choice but to rummage around in the treasure vault.

It was called a treasure vault, but it was practically a warehouse. The useful weapons were all broken, damaged, and taken, leaving behind the odds and ends that hadn’t been chosen.

So, I thought it wouldn’t be any different this time, but…

“Wow…”

The difference was huge, enough to make me gasp.

I could immediately see some familiar weapons.

Not the ones we used directly, but the weapons used by the heroes who fought one step behind us.

I thought they’d have all been lost after the war, but I guess not.

And to think, they’d collected this many weapons again?

And they even brought back the weapons of heroes who had been confirmed dead.

Did they even make a deal with the demons?

Normal humans, people below the 6th tier, aren’t even able to enter the frontlines of Gevihenum.

The dense mana that makes it hard to even breathe is just the beginning, and then there are the curses, spells, and all kinds of things that continuously torment the minds of humans.

But still, they managed to recover all of these weapons.

The sheer number of them makes me think they had to have been working with the demons.

As if sensing my doubts, or maybe she just wanted to talk, the man, who seemed to be the Emperor’s closest aide, who was standing right behind the Emperor, spoke.

“The weapons in the treasure vault were personally recovered by the Flame Empress, one of the Six Pillars of the Empire. Unlike the other Pillars, she has established her residence in Gevihenum, and is searching for these weapons, relics of the previous hero parties, and sending them back to the Empire.”

I knew that the Flame Empress lived in Gevihenum from reading about it, but I didn’t know that she was recovering weapons and uncovering history from 400 years ago.

Now that I think about it, I did hear something in the classroom before.

That the Flame Empress was the one who discovered the traces of the battle of the previous hero party, the remnants we left behind.

But I didn’t pay much attention to it.

I didn’t need to care about people who couldn’t even grasp our levels, whether it was the Six Pillars of the Empire, or an archmage, or whoever.

And yet…

“Wow… she’s incredible.”

To have done such a great thing.

If I hadn’t come to the treasure vault, I wouldn’t have known about her, but right now, I’m grateful to her.

Because I know that, someday, I might use all of those weapons. Well, not me, but Yurasia will.

“Haha. That’s right. Not only the Flame Empress, but the other Six Pillars are all incredible people.”

I nodded vaguely and turned my eyes to look at my father. He was smiling proudly, nodding in agreement.

“The observer from the Eustetia side is the Nameless Commander.”

Then he spoke to the Emperor.

The Emperor nodded and introduced the observer from the imperial family.

“Balamir Blacos, standing over there, is the Imperial Family’s observer.”

That was the man who just explained everything to us.

“He’s the captain of the Royal Guard.”

That was an unexpected title.

My eyes widened as I looked at Balamir, the captain of the Royal Guard.

He was a very kind and gentle-looking man.

A man with a monocle who looked like he should be doing paperwork in the corner of an office, with his long hair tied back in a ponytail.

Balamir bowed.

“Greetings. I am Balamir Blacos, appointed as your observer. I look forward to working with you, although it might be short.”

I thought he was just a clerk, but I guess not.

And he was even polite to us, who are so much younger than him.

“Yes, hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

After greeting him with Yurasia, who was as pale as a ghost, I shifted my gaze.

The Nameless Commander, who was our observer.

She took a step towards Balamir and simply nodded without saying a word.

“It’s been a while.”

But Balamir, who seemed accustomed to the Commander’s impolite greeting, bowed in response.

…Was that acceptable?

We were in front of the Emperor.

As I blinked in shock, the Nameless Commander gently patted my back.

Looking up, I saw that she was tilting her head towards the inside of the Treasure Vault.

“…You want us to go in?”

Nod.

With that cynical nod, the Nameless Commander moved, leaving behind everyone else.

Taken aback, I looked at my father, who just smiled bitterly. Kerian, who was beside him, was doing the same.

Leona too, and this person as well.

…Even Arisa.

Martial artists all seem to have their own pace.

Well, they are less than animals who rejected the conveniences of civilization. There’s no way they would understand etiquette.

Amid the strange, awkward atmosphere, the Emperor calmly spoke.

“The only ones who will enter the Treasure Vault are Eliaernes Eustetia, Yurasia Espilot, and their observers, Balamir Blacos and the Nameless Commander. No one else may enter.”

He reiterated what a member of the Imperial family had explained earlier.

Four of us would be entering the Treasure Vault.

There was no time limit on choosing the weapons.

There was also no limit to the amount of items we could take.

But we could only pick up and examine each weapon once, and testing them inside the Treasure Vault was prohibited.

“Understood.”

“Ah, understood!”

After listening to the explanation, Yurasia and I bowed following the rules of etiquette, and entered the Treasure Vault.

Even though I wasn’t planning on using any weapons, my heart started to pound with excitement.

***

Before entering the Treasure Vault, my father advised me to choose weapons, armor, or artifacts that I could use for the rest of my life.

He also said that, more than the performance of the weapons, it was better to choose ones that we would be confident with using, and above all, to choose weapons that resonated with our hearts.

Kerian agreed, and the Nameless Commander gave her cynical nod of approval as well.

I also agreed with that.

Having used all kinds of weapons from the palace’s treasure vault, I knew the quality of the weapons.

They are far better than anything you’d find on the market.

There were even weapons that could summon lightning, unleash storms, or make flames erupt when wielded.

However, choosing based on such performance is not the right choice.

Of course, it would be great if we could control those powers and wield them well, but for those who aren’t fully developed, they would be controlled by the weapons instead.

And, at the end of the day, weapons are consumables.

If the weapons broke or became unusable and we were forced to use another weapon, then our combat effectiveness could drop significantly.

So for someone like Yurasia, who is only in the 5th tier, she should choose weapons that might be a bit ordinary, but that she could wield well.

As for a weapon that resonates with me… well.

I don’t think I can just leave this up to Yurasia.

“My Lady! How about this one?”

“Not interested.”

“Uhm… my lady, this one comes in a pair, when you throw the white throwing knives, the black one automatically follows!”

“Not interested.”

“Ugh… my lady! Then, what about this dagger? It can teleport over short distances!”

“I don’t need those effects on my weapon.”

Yurasia was completely lost in the allure of the weapons.

I could understand that. On the surface, all those weapons were very sleek and sexy. But it wouldn’t do.

I couldn’t let my pure Yurasia fall for weapons like those.

“Ugh… then how am I supposed to choose one?”

“Durability.”

The most important thing is, of course, durability.

Ideally, it would be best if it had self-repairing magic on it. And if the magic was permanent, then that would be the best, no doubt. It absolutely had to be that.

When you’re on the battlefield, even the time you spend maintaining your weapons is a luxury. Not being able to sleep for a day or two would be the norm, and sometimes you’d be awake for up to two weeks straight.

In those moments, you wouldn’t need me to tell you how helpful a self-repairing magic would be.

And on top of that, it would repair any chips, wouldn’t rust, or become dull or bend.

It would be great if a weapon could breathe fire, create lightning, cause storms, flip the earth, or deflect an attack.

It might even help you turn the tide of battle, or create an unpredictable advantage.

But, if that’s the case, then why would we bother being swordsmen? We should just become magic users.

Swordsmen wield swords.

Swords exist to cut.

Therefore, for a sword to be good, it should be able to cut well and cut a lot.

…But there’s nothing that’s caught my eye yet.

“Uhm…”

It’s said that a lesser evil is better than the worst.

But that’s not the case with weapons.

Weapons are a backup life.

You can even say that they’re a lifeline. When choosing such a weapon, choosing the lesser of two evils and avoiding the worst isn’t an option.

So, I’ve been carefully examining every corner.

Even after examining half of them, there’s nothing that I like.

They are much better than the junk that was in Arant’s pawnshop, but it’s not enough for Yurasia.

It’s not like there were no swords with self-repairing magic, but they were all in terrible condition. Their weight was awkward, their length was wrong, and they had an awful balance.

Still, thankfully, Yurasia’s eyes were still shining brightly, even after this much time had passed.

Paulo, Luna, Kaloso, and Arisa. Those guys would have made a huge fuss while I was choosing a weapon, but Yurasia is very calm.

Of course, only Yurasia is calm.

The observers who came with us, Balamir and the Nameless Commander, had long since looked bored.

Well, what can we do?

If I can’t find a weapon that I like, then they’ll have to endure it. They decided to be observers, after all.

After spending four hours walking around the vault, ignoring their stares,

“…Ha.”

I found it.

I didn’t even need to pick it up.

I didn’t need to look at the history written on the bottom, nor did I need to check its weight or balance.

I knew this sword.

The sword that belonged to Aunt Diana, who took in Paulo and me, fed us, sheltered us, taught us how to wield swords, and how to kill demons.

And in the end, the sword of the woman who saved us, only to be murdered by demons.