Ch#54
* * *
Inside the Armory.
Veil said to Ollek with a deeply furrowed brow.
“So. According to Valentis Lumenen's testimony.”
“…….”
“In the subspace, you face your greatest fear or mental weakness, right?”
“That's right.”
Veil's brow furrowed even deeper.
The other members were just as troubled inside.
“This is bad. I wonder if Astie can escape……”
At Nordics' mutter, Basto—who had been pacing in place—stopped short.
Then, as if he couldn't hold back any longer, he slammed down on a nearby display stand.
“If Krazar's core was such a dangerous item, shouldn't you have warned us beforehand?”
The blacksmiths flinched and timidly looked up at him.
“Then our captain wouldn't have touched it! She wouldn't have gotten sucked into that subspace or whatever!”
Ollek let out a sigh instead of answering.
He too would have prepared in advance if he'd known Krazar's core would crack.
What he'd intended was to chase Agavert out of the Armory, not to harm their captain.
‘But I didn't know either.’
That Krazar's core would crack so easily.
More precisely, it was only now that he realized such a possibility even existed.
Because Krazar's core was absolutely not something that could break that easily.
‘This ominous thing must be destroyed!’
35 years ago.
Besides Krazar's form, young Ollek also remembered the argument in front of the furnace over the core right after the magic stone was sieged.
‘No matter how many devices we can make by utilizing the core, still! What are we supposed to use the essence of a beast that devoured 200 people for?’
‘What can we do? The higher-ups want it! Even the Archbishop personally sent a letter curious about what armament Krazar's core would become!’
‘Even if the Cardinal asks, I won't. No matter how powerful a monster's essence is, shouldn't we use it judiciously depending on the situation? What creepy thing are we supposed to make with a guy like Krazar……!’
At the time, Berugon clashed fiercely with the elder blacksmiths over one issue.
Whether to rebirth the donated Krazar's core into an armament or not.
The stance of the elder blacksmiths at the time was unanimous.
‘Just pretend we can't resist and go along. You think we don't find that essence creepy? We're doing it hoping to gain something for our district by currying favor with the higher-ups…….’
‘For something like this?!’
And that day, the entire Weapon District erupted in chaos.
Because Berugon, who had a fiery temper even back then, threw Krazar's core into the boiling central furnace zone without giving anyone a chance to stop him.
Thinking back made Ollek's head throb, so he shook his head.
‘It was total chaos back then.’
The Imperial Family sent urgent letters demanding explanations, the Church sent bishops to interrogate…….
But what could they do about the core that had already vanished into the boiling molten metal?
The Church's plan to rebirth Krazar's core into an armament seemed to come to nothing.
Until the day they drained the furnace to repair a broken outlet.
‘Molten metal drained! Inspecting the outlet!’
‘Wait. What's that?’
‘E-Elder. You need to see this!’
All the blacksmiths were stunned upon seeing something lodged in what they thought was just a broken outlet.
There was the core Berugon had thrown in years earlier, perfectly intact.
Without a single scratch, boasting its shiny red surface.
‘So.’
A sigh mixed with lament escaped Ollek's lips.
“I didn't know Krazar's core would crack like that either.”
He looked at Basto with troubled eyes.
“That thing, no matter what we did to it, never had a single scratch, I'm telling you!”
Ollek was truly frustrated.
“The essence of a monster that devoured 200 living people—creepy, right? Our current factory chief threw it straight into the furnace himself. I was an apprentice blacksmith back then, so the memory is vivid.”
Raoul and Enzo, who had been gloomily staring at the ground, lifted their heads.
Ollek continued.
“And yet that core didn't melt away even after years in boiling molten metal? When we discovered it later, the entire Weapon District flipped out!”
As if remembering, the other blacksmiths nodded.
“Back then, the factory chief grabbed a hammer and smashed at the essence.”
Calling it ominous and horrific.
But Krazar's core didn't budge an inch.
Not from hammering, not from molten metal.
Even after three days and nights grinding in a specially processed crusher, it was fine.
Finally, Berugon—who had just become factory chief—made a decision about the perfectly gleaming core.
‘Damn magic stone. I'll make that armament myself.’
Determined to create something from Krazar's core that refused to be destroyed no matter what.
The Church and Imperial Family were instantly overjoyed upon hearing Berugon's decision.
And they seemed to count the days until Krazar's core would be reborn in his hands, but
‘Since it's a creepy item, even if completed, I won't hand it over anywhere. I'll just display it in the Armory.’
Berugon declared he would manage the completed ‘Krazar's Heart’ in the Armory.
Of course, the Church and Imperial Family didn't take kindly to Berugon's decision.
But knowing his temperament well, they eventually agreed to it.
As if afraid he might smash the hard-won armor.
“……That's how Krazar's Heart ended up stuck in the Armory all this time.”
Ollek looked at Basto again.
“But what's really absurd is, do you think that armament just sat there quietly in that spot all these years?”
The Armory was a place where dozens of visitors and blacksmiths came and went daily when busy.
On days when newly forged weapons were displayed, massive carts came and went dozens of times.
“Krazar's Heart has tilted and toppled over dozens of times in the meantime! And yet! It never shattered like that even once!”
Ollek pointed to the armor debris still scattered on the floor.
The debris that fell apart the moment the Sovereign King bumped it, as if waiting.
“I still can't believe it. Did the Sovereign King perhaps activate a destruction spell in that brief moment? Is that why Krazar's Heart broke?!”
Ollek was on the verge of dying from frustration.
“Even conceding a hundred times that the metal parts broke, fine! But why on earth did the core—which was fine even after years submerged in the furnace—crack!”
The stone that split with a crack right as it touched the Sovereign King's hand, as if waiting.
The mist billowing from within—he couldn't believe any of it.
“Aigoo, what a headache……”
Ollek stretched out his weakened legs, sat down, and clutched his head with both hands.
“And it's not just you lot in deep trouble right now. Our elder—no, our factory chief got sucked into the subspace too!”
As Ollek said, the one who vanished into the subspace wasn't just Astie.
“The Sovereign King is a grand wizard, isn't she! One of the strongest among the new powerhouses! Who knows? She might overcome the delirium like Valentis Lumenen and escape the subspace! But, but……!”
Ollek shot a resentful glare at Basto.
“What about our factory chief? Our elder might as well be a corpse now!”
