Bear School Astartes

"Come on, tell me. What kind of sword do you want?"

Belengar asked with confidence.

He was a master swordsmith by profession. When Valyrian steel was first successfully replicated, he had already forged a standard Witcher Valerian Steel Sword for Lann.

But now, the young Demon Hunter said his requirements for the sword had changed, so it was better to make a new one.

After all, he was covering the material costs, and in terms of craftsmanship, Belengar was confident enough.

That was the original plan…

"Could you tell me that again?"

The Old Demon Hunter pulled a long face, looking at Lann in front of him as if he were looking at an idiot.

Has this kid been influenced by knight stories?

"A sword that's one and a half palms wide, with a total length guaranteed at 1.8 meters... To maintain structural stability, the thickest part of the spine must be at least a finger joint thick! Do you know how heavy that is?!"

"Even if it's made of Valyrian steel, it would weigh at least several dozen kilograms as a base! Even knight stories don't feature such brainless protagonists carrying around such huge swords for a fight!"

Even though Demon Hunters, as mutants with muscle tissue enhanced by magic potions, have increased endurance, they constantly pursue lighter and more durable armor and equipment.

Who wouldn't want their gear to be lighter?

But Lann's current request... From Belengar's perspective, it seemed to have no practical value other than being a gimmick like a story plot.

The silver-haired young man stood leaning against the wall of the blacksmith shop, playing with that piece of Valyrian Steel Ingot in his hand.

He remained very calm in the face of Belengar's 'Has your brain fried?' expression.

The pursuit of a warrior for equipment always needs to fit the context in which they use it.

In this world, for Demon Hunters and warriors, there was indeed no need for such massive blades.

Most enemies could be dealt with using conventional half-and-half swords, combined with sword oil, alchemy bombs, and magic potions to 'scratch them to death.'

However, Lann's situation was different from the Demon Hunters in this world. He rarely worked in this world.

Thanks to a long-term cooperation with the Lady of the Lake, his battles mainly occurred in another world, where there was no intelligence or data.

After using Old Robert's sword at the Immortal Peak Temple, Lann concluded that when data is lacking and he can't leverage the specialized advantages of a Demon Hunter,

using a powerful heavy weapon to crush and chop down large, resilient enemies in the first wave of contact might be a better combat strategy.

And besides...

Crushing enemies with a giant sword is just so satisfying!

"Just forge it for me, Belengar. You know where I'm going and that I can't deal with those guys with a local perspective. My battle requirements are different."

Lann spread his hands, explaining, and Belengar nodded, accepting the statement.

"Hmph... Indeed. You're the one fighting on site in another dimension, and you're the expert. If this is your considered battle requirement, I'll follow through."

"But I bet only someone like you... a Demon Hunter? could wield this sword."

Now, when referring to Lann as a 'Demon Hunter,' even this old wolf school guy like Belengar hesitated to use a definite sentence.

"Tsk, even if you use all the Valyrian Steel Ingots available, it's not enough for your sword. I'd have to start from forging the steel."

"Is the steel forging process tricky? Don't worry, I'm not in a hurry to use it. Just have it ready before my next trip through the Sphere's Conjunction. A regular-sized sword is all I need in this world. How much money do you need? I'll leave it for you first."

The long-faced Old Demon Hunter scratched his neck in puzzlement.

"The raw materials for Valyrian steel are just normal iron ore, so the cost isn't high. But I estimate you'll still need to give me five hundred Oren Coins. Mainly because I need to buy monster materials imbued with Magic Power. The magic in these materials is what's crucial."

Lann mused, tossing that standard steel ingot weighing five kilograms in his hand as if it were an Oren Coin.

"Materials imbued with Magic Power... So things like Water Ghost Tongues and Water Ghost Brains aren't up to par. It has to be something like Resentful Spirit Dust."

In this world, not every organ of monsters contains Chaos Magic Power.

Water Ghost Tongues and Water Ghost Brains are just ordinary biological tissues.

Resentful Spirit Dust from vanquished specters, and water essence from Swamp Witch bodies... These are the materials imbued with Magic Power.

Thinking of this, Lann gave Belengar a glance, barely noticeable.

The Old Demon Hunter shivered.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I'm not about to use blood to forge a sword! That'd be too savage!"

Incidentally, Witcher's flesh and blood also carry trace amounts of magic, since the magic used to release seals is stored in their bodies.

"Tch~"

Lann tilted his head, sneering with dissatisfaction.

A swordsmith with no ambition, showing not an ounce of the romance of blood-forged blades.

And, being the one doing the work, not even having the awareness to save his employer costs by donating some of his own blood, that's too disappointing!

Belengar found Lann's look infuriating, but had no solution... After all, working for Lann was lucrative.

He got to do his favorite blacksmithing work and earned way more than an average blacksmith.

These days, no one would come to a cat-eyed mutant for smithing, no matter how good the craftsmanship.

"Alright then, once I reach Airetusa, I'll wire you six hundred Oren through Vivaldi Bank. Prepare to collect it. It's the Dwarf Bank in Vizima."

"For a Demon Hunter to get into Vizima now is quite difficult. That guard under Veltrest named Vernon Roche is still vigilantly on the lookout. He's quite skilled."

"Then don't go in. For a six-hundred Oren transfer, it's enough for Vivaldi Bank to send a service staff to meet you outside the city. It won't be a hassle."

Belengar nodded in agreement.

"Then I have no issues. I'll start working immediately. Basically, I can design the form of your sword in these few days... Tch, when these blueprints are done, someone might think I'm drawing illustrations for a storybook."

Lann ignored the other's commentary, "I'll leave it to you."

Waving his hand, he turned and left the workshop of the blacksmith shop, returning to the tavern.

Only Belengar was left, with a slightly eager look on his face, setting out paper and drawing tools, ready to design a gigantic sword form that had never been used in actual combat.

Lann spent the night resting in the room Margaret had booked long-term. The next day, he was back on Bopai, heading towards Gos Velen.

Belengar had taken good care of Bopai over the past few months. Though it hadn't seen Lann in a while, this fine Codwin-bred horse was a bit shy.

Still, it didn't matter, it was inherently quite docile.

In winter, Velen's damp swamps compounded by cold became even more unbearable.

After several days of riding, Lann returned to the city on the western coast of Velen at dusk.