After offering a brief apology to Magnawell, I turned around and called out.
"...Anyway, what are you doing back there?"
"Now, now, it’s not like I’m doing anything suspicious. I was just thinking about updating my gear."
Alice appeared in response to my voice, sliding naturally into the conversation between me and Magnawell. From the look of her, she wasn't actually up to any mischief or playing a prank.
When Alice was joking around, she usually went out of her way to act suspicious or play the fool in an obvious way. If she responded normally like this, I could generally assume there were no hidden antics involved.
Besides, as Iris had pointed out, Alice had a habit of hiding anything truly serious. The fact that she was answering so straightforwardly suggested there weren't any major problems or emergencies afoot.
"Updating your gear? Are you referring to the knife you use?"
"Ah, no, I actually got a new knife recently. This is the one. I'm quite fond of it, actually."
"My... that truly is something. Even with it right before my eyes, I cannot begin to fathom what materials were used to forge it. I can feel a certain intensity radiating from the blade itself. It is a masterpiece of the highest order."
"As expected, Magnawell, you certainly have a good eye. I'd go so far as to say it's the finest blade currently in existence in this world."
...Hmm, she really did seem happy whenever the subject of that dagger came up. Getting complimented by Magnawell seemed to have put her in a noticeably good mood.
"But getting back on track, what I’m actually making is a new outfit. My current clothes were also my own work, and while the performance is quite high... I've been wearing them for a long time. Since I got a new weapon, I figured I might as well start fresh with a new set of clothes, so I've been gathering materials."
"So, you're planning to use Magnawell's Dragon Crystal and Megiddo's horn as materials for that?"
"Yep. I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well make something legendary, so I’ve been getting materials from all of the Six Kings. I'm planning to combine them all into one piece..."
She just said something absolutely insane with a completely straight face. She was harvesting materials from the other Six Kings just like this?
"Hmm, I see. I have no doubt you will handle them with skill... but take care that it does not end up like 'that sword'."
"Hey, that 'toy' only turned out so horribly because Megiddo and Isis got carried away and messed with it for their own amusement. It wasn't my fault!"
"That sword?"
Magnawell nodded in agreement, a conflicted look crossing his face as if he were reliving a bad memory. Alice wore an equally exasperated expression. I tilted my head, confused as to what they were talking about, until Alice gave a wry chuckle and explained.
"A long time ago, we Six Kings built a dungeon—or rather, a facility to test one's skills. It had six layers in total, and on each floor, we placed magical dolls created by Kuro and tuned by us. We basically created 'degraded copies' of ourselves from that era and stationed them there."
"You say that like it's no big deal, but that sounds terrifying..."
"Well, they're only slightly stronger than the peak of the Count-class. It’s hard to maintain that level of performance unless the space is completely enclosed by a specialized barrier, so they can't leave the dungeon. Also, we obviously couldn't reproduce Kuro's actual strength, so we adjusted the difficulty of the final layer by pairing her doll with one of Ein."
Even if they were from a long time ago, degraded copies of the Six Kings—even if they were just mindless golems—were still incredibly formidable.
"...Wait, how does that connect to a sword?"
"Ah, that. Since we went to the trouble of building the place, we opened it up so others could use it for training. We set it up so that if someone died inside, they would be automatically resurrected and returned to the entrance. To this day, no one has managed to clear even the first floor, but it’s become a popular training ground, especially for the War King's subordinates."
"And since we were doing all that, someone suggested we put a 'treasure' in the final layer. So we made the 'Six Kings' Sword.' I forged the blade, and then everyone poured their magic and formulas into it until it reached its breaking point. The result was a sword—a toy, really—that unleashed a random Grand Magic every single time it was swung."
"Wait, a toy?"
Just hearing about it made it sound like a legendary weapon, the kind of ultimate gear you'd find at the end of a secret post-game dungeon.
"It's a toy. 'Random Grand Magic every time you swing' means that a single swing might randomly trigger a spell that wipes out everything, including the user, for several kilometers. It's not just a matter of collateral damage. More importantly..."
"More importantly?"
"Even if they're just degraded copies, anyone strong enough to reach the bottom floor and take that sword is guaranteed to be a Duke-class powerhouse. People like that can already use Grand Magic on their own. A version of Grand Magic suppressed enough to be imbued into a sword wouldn't even add to their firepower. It's just a nuisance to everyone around them."
"...Ah, I see. That makes total sense."
Indeed, for someone capable of clearing a dungeon of such extreme difficulty—especially one where a single death sends you back to the very beginning—such a sword probably was unnecessary.
Materials Collected by Alice:
- Magnawell's Dragon Crystal
- Megiddo's Horn
- Flower of the World Tree
- Great Evil God's Core Infused with the Magic Power of Death
- Kuromueina's Misty Magic Power
- Ein's Magic Power Threads (Note: Perhaps frustrated after being bested by Alice twenty thousand years ago, Ein practiced relentlessly, and her skill with threads is now the best in the Demon Realm.)