I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated

Chapter 361 - Fenrir ? (I)

Editor Makoto

Alistair regretted that she was unable to complete the analysis.

“Also, I don’t even know why Master was sealed inside a sword.”

『The reason why I was sealed?』

“Yes. Considering the timing, the mysterious soul was first sealed in the remnant of the Discarded Divine Sword Cherubim for the purpose of protecting itself. Then, someone built a mysterious system and arranged for the power of the mysterious soul to be used by the sword’s main personality - or in this case Master.”

『Ah』

“We can only speculate as to why they did so, but I think it was for the sake of the mysterious soul. If the number of magic stones it absorbs increases, the stronger it’ll become, then the person that has equipped the sword will continue to voluntarily absorb more magic stones. In doing so, the mysterious soul will be able to recover faster too.”

I see. So we’re doing exactly what the creators of the sword might have intended us to do. No. Am I on the creator’s side? And if that’s the case, should we say that Fran was the one we’re looking for?

Still, I won’t complain about this because it is useful for Fran’s sake anyway. Rather, I am grateful towards this system. After all, it was because of this system that I was able to meet Fran.

However, the following words from Alistair made me feel like I was doused in cold water.

“But is it really necessary to have Master?”

『Eh?』

“Maybe Master’s soul was locked up in the sword at the same time as the mystery system was built. It should be so because Master’s soul and the system are paired together. But do we really need Master in this system?”

“Master is indispensable!”

Fran, who hadn’t said a word and had been listening intently to us previously, opened her mouth for the first time in a long while. I guess she was just trying to keep quiet so we wouldn’t be disturbed. You have really grown up, Fran, to be able to listen to a difficult story without dozing off even a bit! I’m a little impressed.

However, the moment she heard words that she couldn’t just ignore, she couldn’t help but shout her thoughts out loud.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not saying it in a bad way. It’s just that I am worried. Why did they have to go through all the trouble to seal Master in the sword just to have him act as a mediator of all this power? Couldn’t they just let the person who equipped the sword to directly wield the power of the sword?”

When you put it that way…… The sword had the ability to share skills, and we have Announcer-san. I suppose it’s possible for the wielder of the sword to choose their own skills and draw the power from the sword without me.

Ah… Am I simply a leftover, an unwanted child…?

“We need Master! It’s only because I have Master, and because I could count on him that I could get this far!!”

“Fran…”

“Hmm!”

I’m glad I was Fran’s sword!

“Well, I’m not saying that it’s completely useless either. There’s a certain amount of merit to the fact that the sword itself has its own will. Besides, there’s no way that a high class blacksmith who has created so many swords would imitate sealing a human soul into a sword for no reason. Not to mention, sealing a human soul to a sword isn’t an easy task. Therefore there must have been something, an important reason why he put Master as the main personality of the sword. Well, I wasn’t able to find out anything about that from my analysis though…”

『No, we managed to find out about a lot of things, and all of it was pretty significant for me. Isn’t that right?』

Now, I understood better what my powers were, and I came to know of the name Elmera. It also turns out that I was potentially created from a discarded divine sword. This was a huge discovery.

“I don’t know if it has anything to do with Master’s role, but there’s one place in the sword that’s completely beyond my analysis. Should I say the deepest part? It’s in the deepest part of the sword.”

『Are you sure?』

“Yes. I am sure. No doubt about it. Only, this part is different from the others, and it’s designed to prevent analysis and appraisal.”

『Could you guess what kind of function it has?』

“There is too little information. I have no idea what it does or how it works… I’m sorry, but I really don’t have any ideas.”

She blamed herself again for this, but I think Alistair has done really well. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have gotten this much information. And it’s not like I didn’t know what to expect. I had come up with a possibility after hearing the results of Alistair’s analysis so far.

『I have a little hypothesis - or maybe it’s more of a wild guess - about the identity of the mysterious soul, but I have a bit of an idea.』

“Oh? What is your hypothesis?”

『Well, it’s just a possibility but……』

『I’ve been thinking about the identity of the mysterious soul. And I think It’s Fenrir. Well, I know that I might be overestimating myself by saying this, thinking that the legendary Demon Beast could being sealed inside me.』

The wolf emblem design on my handle. The name of the place with the pedestal I was stuck on was the Plains of Demon Wolves. The legend of Fenrir that was once roaming in the plain. The title of Divine Wolf’s Attendant that Urushi possesses. The fact that the mysterious soul is a demon beast.

We could list any number of possibilities. But with this information that we have gathered so far, that was the only conclusion I could come up with.

“I see… Fenrir huh?”

“I see… Fenrir huh?”

『Yes, what do you think?』

“It’s not out of the realm of possibility. Some divine swords have those kinds of demonic beasts in their swords to borrow their power. There is also a type of magical sword called a ‘magical beast weapon’ that is used to contain magic beast souls.”

『Isn’t that the same as manipulating the soul? Didn’t you said you it was almost impossible to manipulate and seal a soul in a sword?』

“It is very difficult to control the soul. However, it is not impossible to create it with a body that is deeply connected with the soul and seal the soul altogether into the sword.”

“What kind of other divine swords are there?”

『I’m interested in that too…』

“As for the items used to seal demonic beasts, the Demon King’s Sword Diabolos, the Tyrannical Dragon Sword Lindwurm, the Serpent Emperor’s Sword Jormungand, and the Golden Dragon Sword Eldorado were also used in the past, although Eldorado is already broken now.”

Alistair counted on her fingers as she stated the names of the swords. However, Fran looked like she was curious about a different part of the story.

“Even though it was a divine sword it still breaks?”

『I’m curious about that, too. In the list of divine swords I saw before, there were names of swords that were already destroyed…』

In addition to Cherubim, Judgement, and Meltdown, which were said to have been discarded at the behest of the gods, the names Fanatics and Holy Order should have been listed too as destroyed divine swords. And now she mentioned the name Eldorado. Was it also destroyed unexpectedly?

“Ah, it’s simple. Divine swords are rarely destroyed. But there are exceptions. When a god or divine grade blacksmith makes a move themselves. Another way would be when they get destroyed in a battle between divine swords.”

Ah… Of course it was like that. God swords could certainly destroy each other.

“For example, the divine sword Fanatic has quite a dark history behind it. Dionysus, the divine blacksmith who created this sword, was a blacksmith who had a certain… inclination.”

“Inclination? What kind of swords did he create?”

“Instead of turning the user into a warrior, Berserk, the mad divine sword, makes the user run out of control and turns mad instead. It is said that he sacrificed a saint to create it, and it also had the ability to control the demon, Diabolos. Hypocritical Sword Pacifist brainwashes others into becoming puppets. There are many people that get their desires and dirty sides reflected onto the swords they create.”

Indeed, the divine sword Fanatic that was made by such a guy would be no ordinary sword.

“Fanatic is, to put it bluntly, a sword that connects people together in spirit.”

“? What’s so bad with that?”

『Does that mean it has something like telepathic powers?』

People connecting with each other in spirit… Does it mean you won’t have any quarrels with each other because you could understand all of each other’s thoughts? However, Alistair’s explanation was even more appalling than expected.

“I’m sorry. It seems like I didn’t say it well. Fanatic has the ability to force the mind of the person they dominate to integrate into themselves.”

『Integration? Two people become one? And if so, what about the body of the one being

eaten?』

“This one’s a little outrageous.”

Fanatic was able to integrate the spirit of others into themselves, but also maintain a connection to their original bodies. As a result, the body may appear to be a separate organism in motion individually, but the soul inside is in fact the soul of the owner of the divine sword, Fanatic.

I guess you could say that the owner of Fanatic is moving multiple mentally connected bodies at the same time. However, since the original owner of the physical body is integrated into Fanatic, it seems that the external surface can behave as it is.

“The whole spirit takes in others and fuses them together. As a result, you can own all of their memories, experiences and emotions. But do you think those who have taken in the memories of dozens or hundreds of people can keep remaining sane?”

『I don’t think so.』

“Exactly. The spirit of the owner who continued to use that sword grew so large that he could no longer retain his sense of self. In the end, he started turning crazy. The Holy Spirit Sword Holy Order was created by the earliest divine blacksmith Ulmer, who saw the Fanatic as dangerous, to counter it. It was apparently a specialized divine sword acting as an anti-Fanatic. As a result, both sides collided, and both sides were destroyed together.”

So there are a lot of different types of people who are divine blacksmiths, and there’s a lot going on between them.

『I believe Ulmer was the guy who made the first divine sword, wasn’t he? He was supposedly the creator of the Beginning God Sword, Alpha.』

“You know your stuff. That’s right. He’s a legendary man who received a divine revelation and became the first divine grade blacksmith in history.”

『Did Ulmer and that Dionysus live in the same era?』

“They were brothers, you know. Apparently Dionysus was his older brother all along.”

I thought he was Ulmur’s apprentice when he was blacksmithing, and he picked up Ulmur’s divine skills while he was being ordered around in the smithy.

“But Dionysus was fiercely jealous of his brother, who was recognized by the gods and revered as the best blacksmith in the world. As a result, he went through his brother’s work, stole the techniques of a divine grade blacksmith, and became a divine grade blacksmith on his own.”

『Isn’t that amazing?』

“To be honest, he was most likely a genius. In a book left by Ulmer, he wrote, ‘My brother is the true genius. That is why he is dangerous.’ As a result, two divine blacksmiths were born in the same era, and many divine swords were created.”

Now I understand after all this explanation. That’s why this Dionysus guy produced so many weird swords, but I think he was just trying to match his brother. In order to surpass his brother, who made orthodox swords, he must have created many specialized divine swords with unique abilities to surpass his brother.

“We’ve digressed. But anyway, I think in normal circumstances it’s rather impossible to seal off Fenrir completely in a sword.”

『So, it means that the person who helped Mr. Mystery Soul was also the person who wants to help Fenrir, and he is the one that made me, right?』

“That would only apply if the mysterious soul is indeed Fenrir”

At least it meant it’s worth looking into Fenrir’s story in the future. Well, if the mysterious soul wasn’t Fenrir, then it would be a waste of effort……

Never mind… We shall cross that bridge when that time comes I guess.

“So, let’s head back to the Plains of the Demon Wolf once more.”

“Hmm.”