The Journey

One month had passed since the battle with the Cordova army.

Ria and her party were heading toward Jaeburg, the city nearest to the Dark Labyrinth.

They had left the village half a month after that battle ended. Fortunately, while there had been injuries among the villagers, no one had died. It could truly be called a complete victory.

The village chief still wore an anxious expression, but they couldn't afford to remain stuck there indefinitely. Besides, the fact that there had been no word for half a month likely meant that the battle had been dealt with internally within Cordova. The person responsible was dead, after all.

The journey could not be called uneventful.

There were bandits in the mountainous regions who attacked them despite the presence of the Hellhound. Certainly, they were a group with enough fighting power to defeat a single Hellhound.

However, they lacked the strength to attack a party with four mages. Ria mercilessly beheaded the bandits as they pleaded for their lives.

Setting aside those killed during combat, Ria took it upon herself to execute the bandits who had surrendered. At the very least, she had no intention of making Serge or Maal do it.

"Ojou, you don't need to dirty your hands like that, you know?"

When Carlos said that to her one time, Ria gave a wry smile.

"I believe dirtying one's own hands is the fate of those born noble."

"But…"

"Besides, Carlos."

This time, Ria spoke with a genuine smile.

"It seems I rather enjoy killing people."

Carlos was struck speechless.

"Don't worry. I won't kill anyone except when I have to, or those who deserve death."

When he realized she was speaking seriously, Carlos felt cold sweat run down his back.

Ria doted on Maal like a beloved cat—literally.

Fearing that her companions would be hurt, Ria fought on the front lines herself.

Enraged at the slave hunters, she tried to rescue the captives even knowing the danger that would follow.

And yet, she said she enjoyed killing people.

This was probably something she should have kept to herself. But unable to accept it no matter what, Carlos ended up consulting Lulu.

Needless to say, Lulu had known Ria the longest of anyone. Because of that, she could be said to be closest to understanding Ria's true nature.

After thinking for a while, Lulu sighed.

"That's just Ria being considerate. Besides, she would absolutely never raise her hand against an innocent person."

"Considerate?"

"You too—even though they're bandits, you don't like cutting down people who've lost the will to resist, do you?"

That was certainly true, and Carlos scratched his head.

Though this had become a rather heartwarming story, in truth, Ria's reason for cutting down those people was much simpler.

She was testing her blades.

"Hmm… the blade chips just from a single diagonal cut… What am I missing?"

What Ria had tested was a blade she had created by visualizing katana from an era even older than Kotetsu.

Even in her previous life, the manufacturing methods of Japanese swords—particularly the tachi forged during the period known as the old sword era—were largely unknown. The iron refining methods they used remained a mystery.

While the manufacturing method differed depending on the era even for Kotetsu, she could properly create swords she had actually wielded until they felt like extensions of her own hands.

"So, do you have any hints?"

When it came to matters like this, Ria consulted neither Carlos nor Lulu, but Serge.

"Well, I mean, I've picked up some knowledge about katana from games and manga and stuff, but…"

He understood he was being seriously consulted, but it was a difficult position to be in.

"In most of those works, weapons are made from orichalcum or mithril."

Both orichalcum and mithril were magical metals. They were materials that Ria's genesis magic could not produce.

"What about adamantite?"

"In this world, that's just an alloy of iron."

"Umm… vermilionite?"

"Even softer than mithril. It's good for imbuing with magic, though."

"Nothing else comes to mind… In our previous lives there were things like titanium and tungsten, but…"

"To begin with, there are Japanese swords made from an iron-titanium alloy."

"Really? I thought they were only made from iron."

Surprisingly, even Serge didn't know this, but that was probably normal. Even among swordsmen, while they might care about a blade's quality, few were particular about its materials.

"Well, you see, Japanese swords are basically made of steel. This steel is carbon steel, which is harder than iron. The hardness changes based on carbon content—"

"Ah, wait! I won't understand technical stuff like that."

Serge's specialty was magic, and even with magic, he could hardly say he had learned it systematically. Using the grimoire he had received from the Labyrinth as reference, asking Lulu and Ria about things he didn't understand, and supplementing the rest with scientific knowledge and imagery from his previous life—that was how he managed.

Certainly, as someone who had loved games, light novels, and anime in his previous life, he understood the appeal of Japanese swords, but he wasn't that deeply invested in them.

"I should be able to make something using iron as a base with carbon, titanium, and chromium…"

Muttering to herself, Ria returned to her katana-making.

The journey continued smoothly.

They were attacked by demons daily, repelling them each time, and their levels rose.

The most significant change was Maal becoming proficient in spirit magic.

She cut enemies apart with wind magic, pierced them with earth magic, burned them with fire magic, and froze them with ice magic.

It was much more flexible than ordinary systematized magic, and easier to use. While it was called spirit magic, it was definitely something different from regular magic—perhaps better termed a spirit technique.

Serge also became proficient in magic.

Originally specializing in space-time magic and fire magic, he learned physical magic and magical theory from Lulu, and raised his skill levels in other systems as well. His Gift of magical aptitude was bearing fruit.

"At this rate, I'll soon have nothing left to teach you."

The same could be said for Lulu—her support magic had become more effective and faster to deploy. Actual combat experience surpassed everything else.

The warriors who formed the front line had their levels rise as well, of course. Carlos in particular, once he became accustomed to the cursed sword, began gazing at his blade with rapture, drawing closer to being Ria's kindred spirit.

The warhammer Gig had been using had started to feel light, so he had Ria create something heavier for him.

"I didn't think much of it when you first got it, but genesis magic sure is convenient."

She had left enough spears at the village where they fought the Cordova army that they wouldn't run short for some time, and during this journey as well, she had created numerous katana.

As long as it wasn't too large, wasn't enchanted, and didn't have complex mechanisms, she could create it.

In more mundane achievements, she had replaced the carriage's axle with a metal one and added springs—these proved tremendously useful. Though it was called weapon creation, apparently it could easily make anything metallic with precision.

Even that was something she hadn't realized until Serge pointed it out.

Incidentally, creating precious metals required a great deal of magical power. It seemed the rarer the metal, the more magical power needed to create it. Non-metallic materials like leather and thread also consumed a lot.

"Still, we don't need to worry about money anymore. Hey, won't this cause a huge commotion if we don't keep it hidden?"

Though Serge said that, Ria didn't consider it that remarkable. She couldn't create magical metals like mithril or orichalcum, which were more valuable than gold.

When she tried making gold coins as an experiment, she easily produced solid gold Casalia coins. Since she didn't need to consider the composition, they were far easier to make than katana.

"With this, couldn't you save up money and have someone forge you a good katana?"

"If money could solve this, I would have done so from the start. There are very few smiths who forge katana to begin with."

Swords in Casalia were fundamentally Western-style straight swords. While curved swords existed too, few could be called true katana.

No matter how much money one had, one couldn't buy what didn't exist. That was the situation.

"In this world, which country uses katana the most?"

Serge didn't know much about that. Ria had looked into it in the past and had been left in despair.

"Mainly the southern regions. They came over from other continents. The current 'katana' there are curved swords, not true katana."

It was said that most had been transmitted to the Krasli Kingdom and the far eastern regions. Of course, given the nature of curved swords as weapons, their techniques had spread throughout the continent to some degree, but the original source was still the southern part of the continent.

However, there was one possibility she could think of nearby.

"Maybe I could ask the dwarves…"

Dwarf settlements existed in the mountainous regions. The mountains near Casalia in particular had high-quality ore deposits, so many dwarves lived there.

Dwarven metallurgical technology was in a league of its own compared to other races. In fact, many of the treasured weapons passed down through Casalia's royal family had come from dwarven hands.

Even Ria's favored cross spear, while not a treasure, was a dwarven-crafted piece she had wheedled out of her royal father.

There was also a dwarven autonomous city nearby, but reaching it would require backtracking. That was a bit troublesome.

"After the Dark Labyrinth, we'll head to the dwarf city. But before that, I should return Maal to her hometown…"

When Ria said that, she looked a little lonely. The end of the journey would mean parting with Maal. At the very least, Ria intended to keep her promise.

"I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer…"

Maal spoke from the driver's seat. Serge was sitting beside her, conversing with Ria.

"I keep my promises. Though I would break a promise to someone I didn't care about."

Though she had been bought as a slave, during these past few months, Maal had never felt like a slave. No matter how much she tried to think of herself as lowly, at most she felt like a younger sister being teased by an older sister, or a retainer serving a willful princess.

"Ah, I can see it."

Serge spoke, cutting into the conversation.

Following the road that wound between the mountain ranges, at the foot of a steep peak and just before the Dark Labyrinth, lay the last city.

Jaeburg. The road's final stop. With a population of approximately twenty thousand, the majority made their living by relying on the labyrinth.

Normally, one would visit this city as part of a caravan. Small groups like Ria's who made the journey all the way here would have to be exceptionally skilled.

"For now, let's find an inn with a bath."

At Ria's characteristic words, the group smiled wryly.