It was obvious at a glance that the sword Kagali had crafted with Gaien’s help was incredibly powerful. Salamander’s mana, which had become one with the sword, seemed to have given it the power of spirits. I doubted a human could use it to its full potential considering the tremendous quantities of mana that had been imbued into it.
“This could very well be classified as a national treasure,” I said.
“S-Seriously?!” Tida exclaimed. “Say, how much do you think it’s worth?”
Tida hadn’t seemed even slightly interested in the sword before, but the moment I’d uttered the words “national treasure,” her eyes had started sparkling.
“It would be difficult to put a price tag on such an incredible sword,” I replied. “But if I really had to give an estimate... Well, I imagine a few thousand holy gold coins at the very least.”
“A-A few thousand holy gold coins?!” Tida approached the sword and reached out to touch it, but a flash of light erupted from it, causing her to draw her hand back. The weapon quite literally sparkled.
“This sword has so much mana inside that even yer naked eye can see it,” Gaien said.
Gaien explained the details in Kagali’s stead, since she was still passed out. According to him, there was fire attribute mana within the sword, and it could burn the average monster to ashes with a single blow.
“Ellie Leis, take this sword,” he abruptly said.
I couldn’t simply accept a gift of such value. “What? But—”
“I’ve made up me mind already. If ye won’t take it, ye can throw it away. When we return to the city, I’ll add the hilt and deliver it to ye.”
“Mr. Gaien, I cannot use a fire attribute sword to its full potential,” I argued.
“Then give it to someone who can. Or sell it to the empire.”
I didn’t think Gaien would change his mind.
“All right. I shall accept it, then. Thank you very much.” It certainly wouldn’t be enough to repay him, but I resolved to regularly send him bottles of the good stuff as a sign of my gratitude.
“When we get back, I’ll have a request for ye,” he added.
“What is it?”
“Nothing hard. Though to be honest, I’m not sure I want to share it yet.”
“Okay...”
I was slightly confused, but I nodded nonetheless. Gaien was being evasive on purpose, and it was clear he was doubting himself at the moment.
Under Tida’s care, Kagali regained consciousness in a few hours. In the meantime, we’d cleaned the altar where Kagali and Gaien had worked, gathered our belongings, and prepared for the trip back. We were about to depart when Salamander borrowed Alice’s body one more time.
“You’ve done me a great favor, dwarves,” he said.
“It has been an honor to be of use to you, archspirit,” Kagali replied.
The two dwarves bowed deeply.
“I’m also thankful to my young sister for her help,” Salamander added.
These words gave me pause. “Your ‘young sister’? Are you talking about Alice?”
“Indeed.”
“But why do you call her that?”
“Are you not aware that this child isn’t human? She’s a spirit.”
“What?!”
“To be precise, her essence lies somewhere between that of a human and a spirit. I have existed for a very long time, but I have never seen any other being like her. Her body is almost identical to a human’s, but her soul resembles that of a spirit.”
“Her soul...” I didn’t know much about souls—or astral bodies, as some called them. This topic was almost exclusively studied by necromancers. “Alice is a spirit...”
How was that possible? My first encounter with Alice had been peculiar, to say the least, but she had always looked exactly like a regular human child.
Alice, or rather Salamander, spoke again. “Hmm... I shall give her some of my power to thank her.”
“W-Wait!”
Before I could stop Salamander, light surrounded Alice’s body, then quickly vanished. I couldn’t see anything different about her.
“She will likely sleep for several days while she adapts to my power, but you needn’t worry, human. Now then, I bid you all farewell.”
Alice collapsed, and I caught her as she fell.
I’d always heard that it was impossible for humans to understand spirits, and that had turned out to be true. I’d initially thought that Salamander was a rational being with whom it was possible to converse, but he hadn’t left any room for discussion before doing what he’d wanted.
I had a lot on my mind between the matter of Alice’s true identity and the strange power Salamander had said he’d bestowed upon her, but we couldn’t stay here. I resolved to think about everything later, and we finally departed.
Misha took over carrying the still unconscious Alice while I stayed alert in order to protect our group—especially Tida, who was unable to fight—in case anything happened.
Thankfully, Gaien was strong enough to protect himself, so he helped me fight off the goblins and flame lizards we encountered along the way. We managed to leave the Sacred Mountain without too much trouble.
“The sun will set soon,” Tida said.
“We should camp out for tonight,” I said. “We can return to the city in the morning.”
“There be too many monsters around here,” Gaien warned. “There’s a spot I sometimes use when I need to camp out. It’s just a little farther, if ye follow me.”
Gaien led us to a small cave near a river.
“Most monsters wouldn’t fit in here,” Misha said. Her ears twitched as she scanned the area for potential threats.
“This is a good spot, indeed. Let’s rest here,” I said.
We had a simple dinner with the food I carried in my grimoire before deciding on the order for lookout duty. Once that was done, I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately.