She stood next to me as she gazed at the knife. Neither of us could believe how easily the orichalcum had cut through steel. Reminds me of when I first arrived in this world and made my first super sharp steel knife... No, no, now isn’t the time to feel nostalgic. I was almost hesitant to finish the orichalcum knife since it was capable of slicing through steel even without a sharp edge. It wasn’t the power that scared me—it was the danger of that power falling into the wrong hands.
“Wait, we need to calm down,” I muttered. “Let’s do a bit more testing.”
Rike nodded shakily. “A-Agreed.”
I picked up the steel knife and gently pressed it against the orichalcum’s edge. That pressure wasn’t enough for the orichalcum to slice through the steel—when I pulled back, the steel remained in one piece. The orichalcum had left a small groove on the steel’s surface, but any tough metal could scratch steel.
“Normal so far,” I said.
“I guess the orichalcum isn’t wicked sharp,” Rike noted.
“Yeah.”
If the orichalcum had been “wicked sharp,” it would’ve cut the steel by now—in fact, my steel knife would’ve been gone the moment I knocked the back of it against the orichalcum.
“It cut right through the first time. What did we do then that we didn’t do just now?” I asked.
“You swung down a lot harder last time. Maybe it’s about the force behind the strike...?” Rike suggested.
“Maybe.”
Rike and I crossed our arms. What changed? The only thing that comes to mind for now is the power behind the swing, but...
“Wait a sec...” I muttered.
I recalled what I’d done earlier, and a hypothesis soon dawned on me. Maybe I’ll test this out. I grabbed the orichalcum again and swung it down at the steel knife. Clunk! I used the exact same swing as I had when I’d cut through the steel, but it felt different this time around. It rang out loudly like a bell—a unique characteristic of the orichalcum—but it felt like it was an octave lower.
I looked down at the steel knife and saw that it was still in one piece. My current test had been to see whether or not I could cut steel if I swung down blindly—that is, without any intention of slicing it in half.
Next, I vaguely envisioned a steel knife cut into pieces. This time, I didn’t put power behind my strike—I slowly and gingerly swung the orichalcum knife down.
Ring! Another clear sound filled the air. This one was a higher pitch than before. Was it because I envisioned slicing the metal? I peered down and saw that the steel knife was cleanly sliced through and shorter than it had been.
“Hmm...” I sighed.
“May I ask what you’re doing?” Rike asked. She gingerly picked up the bit of knife I’d just sliced off.
“It’s just... This result is what I expected,” I answered.
“It is?”
I nodded. “If I blindly swing the orichalcum knife with no intent to actually slice something off, I can’t cut anything.”
I brought the orichalcum knife down again. A small cling filled the room, but both the orichalcum and the steel were fine.
“But if I swing it with the intent to cut...” I said.
I brought the orichalcum knife down again, and this time, a sharper cling rang out. Steel was sliced away.
“In other words, intent will greatly affect the capability of the blade,” I explained.
“I see...” Rike replied.
Then why had my first swing cut the steel? It was because I’d envisioned the orichalcum’s sharpness and assumed that it would cut well. If I rid my mind of those thoughts, it couldn’t cut a thing. In other words, I could accidentally touch the orichalcum, and I’d be just fine since there was no mental intent to cut. I was worried about that bit the most; I didn’t want to accidentally slice off a finger or two, and it was a relief to learn that the orichalcum knife was relatively safe.
“But I still can’t believe it cuts this well without a sharp edge,” Rike said, staring at the fragment of steel in her hand.
It wasn’t a clean cut, but I could hardly believe that the steel had been sliced by a blade without a sharp edge (though “sharp” in this case was certainly a relative term).
“A frightening blade, truly.”
Rike nodded. “Agreed.”
I’d fashioned the orichalcum into only the vague shape of a blade, and even though I hadn’t sharpened or polished it, the edge was sharp enough to slice steel. I feel like I could skip the sharpening, but if there ever comes a time where I need to create a fine edge with orichalcum, I’d like the experience. Sharpening this blade would give me that experience.
“Helen,” I called out.
“Yeah?” She had been taking a break and was able to answer my call immediately. “What’s up?”
“Say you needed this knife to fight against an army,” I said. “How long could you make this weapon last before it breaks?”
I showed her the knife, and she glanced at it before holding out her hand. I nodded and put the handle in her palm (not a full handle yet—just the grip), then had her inspect the blade.
“Hmm...” she muttered.
She could tell that, though the orichalcum was indeed sharp, I hadn’t actually sharpened it. Gently, she traced her fingertip along the edge.
“Since you’re the one who forged it, and it’s made from orichalcum, I know it’ll cut well. It won’t easily chip either.” Helen twirled the knife in the palm of her hand, expertly fiddling with the blade despite it not having a proper handle. “If I’m efficient and clean with my strikes, I could make it last for half a day’s worth of enemies.”
“That long?” I asked.
“Though if I had the option to flee, I’d choose that instead.”
“Yeah—if you’re fighting for that long, there’d be plenty of opportunities to map out an escape route.”
Helen was absurdly strong and skilled—but even in her capable hands, I hadn’t expected that a single knife might last so long without breaking.
“As for a normal steel knife... I would probably break something like that after only about an hour of fighting.”
“Even an hour is enough time for you to do some serious damage,” I replied. My shoulders slumped. Just how many people could she destroy in that hour? “What if Diana were to wield the orichalcum knife instead?”
“Hmmm...” Helen pondered, crossing her arms.
To Helen, beating Diana in combat was like taking candy from a baby. But Helen was an anomaly—Diana, sister of a count and the Rose of the Duel Grounds, could beat the vast majority of soldiers with ease. How would she fare with the orichalcum blade?
“At her skill level—accounting for misstrikes against armor or other things that could damage the blade—she could probably make it last an hour or two,” Helen concluded.
“I see...” I replied.
That was still a rather large threat. Even so, it wasn’t like the blade was totally unstoppable—Helen, the most skilled warrior I knew, would wear down the orichalcum knife within half a day. That was all I needed to know for now.
I gave a firm nod. “If that’s the limit for you two, I guess this blade isn’t too powerful to be circulated in society.”
“Uh... Yeah, I guess,” Helen replied with a hesitant nod of her own.
This was just a final confirmation—if the orichalcum knife was used against us, we’d still be able to stop it. I knew that the wielder of any blade was responsible for their crimes; our forge wasn’t ever to blame. But if I played a part in turning the world into a more dangerous place, I wanted to be able to clean up my messes.
“Boss, I feel like you can call yourself a legend at this point.”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’ve still got a long way to go.”
I still relied heavily on my cheats, and in terms of raw talent, Rike was undoubtedly above me. Until I could somehow find a way to forge without cheats, I felt like I had no right to call myself a legend. Also, as a guest in this world, I didn’t want to stand out too much.
Rike cast a troubled glance at Helen, who shrugged wearily. I gazed at the two ladies as I contemplated my next move.
Ultimately, the day’s work ended after I refined the shape of the knife just a bit more. It sort of looked like it had a sharp edge now, but it just looked that way; I hadn’t actually put it to the whetstone or anything.
“Even unsharpened, it’s a beautiful blade,” Diana marveled, raising the knife into the air.
Just to be safe, I told her to be careful and avoid the edge. The light of the setting sun trickled into the forge, painting the orichalcum the slightest tinge of scarlet, which mixed with its brilliant rainbow sheen. It was beautiful enough that I had half a mind to frame it. Heck, it would probably reflect light even in the middle of the night and look just as mystical and breathtaking.
“It’s nice to know that it makes a beautiful piece of decor,” I said. I hope it will remain just that—and that it’ll stay away from the battlefield. “What do you all think?”
“That you’re right,” Anne replied with a shrug.
The empire had provided this precious piece of orichalcum for the knife. Sure, the empire’s mountainous terrain allowed for ample mining resources, but orichalcum wasn’t something that could be so easily given away. And this knife, created from this priceless material, would be a gift. It would almost certainly be granted to the emperor—that is, to Anne’s father.
More likely than not, the knife wouldn’t be wielded for practical purposes—it would instead serve as a decoration and be enshrined somewhere as a symbol of the friendship between the kingdom and empire. When I asked Anne about what she expected to happen, I learned that my hypothesis wasn’t too far off. Still, the blade could be used if needed. It didn’t hurt to take precautions on the off chance that it might see battle.