Chapter 360

Chapter 360
Alistair opened her mouth again as she was working on reinforcing Announcer-san .
“Now, we’ll talk about the mysterious voice . ”
『Oh, finally . 』
(I wonder, how is the result of the analysis? Could it be that we can find out who they are or how to call them out?)
“That being said, there’s not much more we know about this one than what’s left of Cherubim . ”
『Ah, is that so?』
“Yes . However, in a fairly deep part of the sword, I could certainly sense a soul separate from Master, albeit a weakened one . ”
So does that mean it was not part of a discarded divine sword or something like Announcer-san, but it’s instead sealed inside a sword like I was?
“The ability to get skills from the magic stone would have been an ability that this soul originally had . ”
『You mean a being that has the power to absorb skills and magic power from magic stones? How is it that I was also able to use this mysterious soul ability?』
“That’s where it gets complicated . Master’s interior is in a more complicated state and more mysterious than you yourself can imagine, you know?”
(Eh? What is that? Complex and mysterious?)
I’m a little afraid to ask . But it’s too late to retreat anyway . A man has courage, and a sword should face his enemies without hesitation .
『Tell me more . 』
“Before that, I’d like to see Master absorb the magic stone, will that be alright?”
I see… Well, she will certainly find out more about it if I show it to her in person .
“Then here . ”
“What am I supposed to do with this magic stone?”
“You have to cut it like this . ”
“I see, so it’s like that…”
The magic stone that was handed over by Fran, was hit by my blade by Alistair as Fran instructed . Then, the absorption was done as usual . The weak demon stone didn’t fill me up very well, but I’m sure it was properly absorbed .
『What do you think of this?』
“Hmm, it’s an interesting flow of magical power . But I still think my analysis is correct after all . Therefore, I’ll tell you my conclusion now . Even if Master absorbs the magic stone, you’re not getting your power directly from it .
『What? What do you mean?』
“The magic is flowing towards the mysterious soul, not to Master directly . ”
To sum up Alistair’s explanation, here’s how it worked .
When I absorb the magical stone, the mysterious soul sealed inside me receives its power . Apparently, this soul is quite damaged and it’s a mystery how it could still exist . According to her, the fact that it was sealed inside the divine sword might have been to protect its existence instead .
And from this mysterious soul that regained its power after eating the magic stone, the power will be shared with me . Apparently that was how it worked .
“Perhaps, this mysterious soul is the identity of the mysterious voice that Master heard previously . It is quite an extraordinary thing . It’s soul level is, shall I say, at a superior plane that even I can’t analyze . ”
『You don’t know where or who he is?』
“I’m sorry . However, I don’t sense any kind of evil intent from it . I get the impression that it’s more than willing to cooperate with you . ”
Well, if this mysterious soul is the identity of that mysterious voice, it was certainly not an enemy . And if anything, I think he is more of an ally than an enemy .
“To make things even worse, it seemed that the ability to strengthen Master with self-evolution points was handled by something other than this mysterious soul . ”
『’Something else’ huh…… That’s a more vague description than the mysterious soul . 』
“I know that, but I can only say as much . ”
Inside of me, the remnants of Cherubim and the mysterious soul seem to be intricately intertwined . It’s a complicated situation, and apparently a third mystery exists within it . I couldn’t sense any soul or thoughts in this other mysterious thing, and it felt more like a magic program or system built inside a magical tool or device .
“Even though I say it’s a mystery, what I mean is that I don’t know the creator or the method of making it but I still understand some of its functions . Regardless, it’s too advanced for my understanding, and the analysis I conducted earlier could not completely catch up to it . ”
『Even Alistair, a divine blacksmith, can’t analyze it out?』
“Honestly . Whoever created this system is a monster . I don’t know if there’s such a profession, but it’s at a level that’s impossible to build without assuming that there’s a divine grade mage or a divine grade alchemist or something of that caliber . At least as a blacksmith, I know that I can’t build one from scratch . ”
『Is- Is that so』
“Ah . It may be similar to the dungeon core I’ve seen before . It’s exactly the same as that because it was impossible to duplicate or imitate and it makes me feel defeated . ”
Alistair smiled bitterly after saying that . Even Alistair, a divine blacksmith, feels defeated after seeing that? Isn’t that like super messed up? I’m getting excited . What kind of tremendous ability does it have?
『Oh, so what kind of function does this mystery system have?』
“Oh, as for that —-”
The system’s primary purpose, it seems, is to manage the power of the mysterious soul . Earlier, I said that power was flowing from the mysterious soul to me, but it seemed that this system was taking over and intervening each time .
It was this mysterious system that took the power from the mysterious soul who regained his power and changed it into a form that even I can use . Well, I also heard that it’s only because the mysterious soul is cooperating with me that I’m able to extract that power .
The power of the mysterious soul was quite tremendous, and it’s difficult for me to use it on my own if I just let it run loose without control .
The power of the mysterious soul was quite tremendous, and it’s difficult for me to use it on my own if I just let it run loose without control .
The same was true when it came to learning skills . The mysterious soul seemed to have the power to get skills from the magic stone, but it’s usually difficult for me to use it as it was . Even though they’re sealed inside me and had a connection to me, we’re still separate souls to begin with .
However, the truth is that the skills the mysterious soul absorbed from the magic stone was converted and transferred by the mysterious system so that even I can use them . The power of skill sharing between me and Fran is an added benefit thanks to this mysterious system .
In other words, It seemed that the thing that adjusted the mysterious soul power into a form that even I could use was the mysterious system . And apparently the form it used to do so was the rank-up and the self-evolution point system .
“I just don’t know why they’re setting up this thing called magic stone value, I honestly don’t understand . I think we could have built a system to make it easier to strengthen Master without setting it up like that . ”
『In other words, the more magic stones you absorb, no matter what kind, the more you get strengthened on the spot?』
“‘Yeah, exactly like that . Is it necessary to set a hurdle such as a magic stone value?”
『Maybe there are steps needed to be taken as a requirement?』
“Maybe . Well, to be honest, the creator of this mystery system feels like a pretty drunk person to me, or just someone with a lot of mischief . That’s just the impression I got from doing my analysis, though . Or maybe it could simply be a hobby of his, you know?”
Hobby… . . Even though I’m having a lot of trouble thanks to the magic stone value… If it was really a hobby, he must be an awfully twisted guy .
“Oh, one more thing . You said you couldn’t get any magic stone value from even the powerful evil one’s magic stone? This is just an assumption, but maybe the mysterious soul can’t absorb all the evil spirits . ”
In other words, a magic stone with too much evil energy won’t restore the mysterious soul . That’s why the power wasn’t transferred to me and I didn’t accumulate any magic stone value . Maybe, the reason I couldn’t get the evil one’s skill was also because the mysterious soul couldn’t absorb the evil one’s magic .
Apparently, goblins and other evil one are able to absorb power to some extent because they contain not only ordinary magic power, but also some evil power .
『Um, it’s getting really confusing . Let’s get this straightened out a bit . 』
First of all, inside of me there is Announcer-san, the residue of Cherubim, a mysterious soul, and a mysterious system .
Announcer-san was responsible for my ability to process information from the outside world and communicate to me what’s going on inside me . It is the so-called announcing ability, and apparently, the reason why even though I’m a sword and have vision of the outside world was because of Announcer-san . The ability to use telepathic communication is probably the announcer’s ability as well . It’s kind of like a secretary I guess? Announcer-san the Secretary, that sounds great .
The mysterious soul is something sealed inside me . Even Alistair can’t find out more about his background than that . However, he is extremely damaged and seemed to be recovering by absorbing the magic stone . And he transfers the power he’s gained from his recovery to me . Apparently the reason I get pleasure from absorbing the magic stone is because I feel this mysterious soul’s delight in it . In other words, it wasn’t me who ate the magic stone and felt good about it! It was Mr . Mysterious Soul who was the one with the perverted sexuality! So when I ate the magic stone and said, ‘Oho!’ It’s not my fault that I’m saying that!
And then there is the mysterious system that adjusts the power from that mysterious soul so that even I can use it . Without it, the tremendous power emanating from the mysterious soul would, on the contrary, consume me . Self-evolution points and the like seem to be a benefit from this mysterious system . Although we don’t know who its creator was, there are suspicions that he has a bad personality .
“Hmmm, we’ve managed to figure some of the things out, but I feel like now the mystery surrounding the creators of these… ‘things’ just got deeper . ”
“As far as I can analyze, I think at least four or more people are involved in the production of Master . One thing for sure is Elmera, the divine blacksmith who is said to have created Cherubim is involved . ”
“Elmera…”
This is a great piece of information to help me figure out who I am . In the future, if I am able to follow Elmera’s footsteps, I might be able to find out more of myself .
“And then there’s the mysterious soul himself . Perhaps it is not human, but some kind of demon beast, but they would not be able to build such an elaborate system without it agreeing to be incorporated into the system at will . ”
『Are you saying that the demon beast agreed to do this?』
“Some of the beasts are more intelligent than humans . That’s exactly what happens when they reach the divine beast class, as their intelligence then far transcends that of humans . And it wouldn’t be strange if there were some circumstances involved or if they agreed to some kind of agreement . ”
When he showed up in Barbora to make a gesture of apology, I thought he was human because he appeared in human form, but apparently he wasn’t .
It seems strangely human, but when you think about it, Urushi also had some human qualities . Maybe if you become a high-ranking demonic beast, you’re no different from a human inside .
“And then there’s the person who put this mysterious system together . If it was Elmera’s job, I, as a fellow divine grade blacksmith, would know . Hence, it’s definitely a different person . ”
If Alistair said so, then it must be so . It must be one of Elmera’s collaborator then . So there was someone who created a tremendous magic system that even a divine grade blacksmith couldn’t analyze?
『Did I miss something?』
Cherubim, the mysterious soul, and the mysterious system . No, there must be someone who brought me to this side of the world in the first place . And, according to Alistair’s view, it’s not the former three .
『Me?』
“That’s right . It’s Master himself . In the first place, I can’t find anything about the existence that sealed Master to the sword . At least, it’s impossible for Elmera . I think it’s impossible for Elmera to seal such a mysterious soul on a sword . ”
『What about the one who made the system?』
“It is possible . It just that–”
『Just that…?』
“It might be just my intuition as a divine blacksmith, but it feels like the method of work involved for the two is different . ”
『The method of work?』
“Yes . I don’t think the magic circuit of the mystery system and the magic circuit that connects the master to the sword was made by the same creator . ”
I had no choice but to only believe that as it is the word of a divine blacksmith . Just like how, on Earth, craftsmen could spot the subtle differences between two antiques that an amateur wouldn’t be able to detect .
“‘I have no idea how to seal the master and the mysterious soul to the sword . It’s a mystery… . . I’m sorry for only adding to all the mystery and unknowns you face . I couldn’t figure out that you are acting as a subordinate of the God of Chaos, and I also couldn’t keep up despite all the analyses I’ve done . I am a divine blacksmith, and yet this is what I look like . I am pathetic . ”
Alistair ridiculed herself as she said this .