Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage
Chapter 277: Upgrade (2)

Henry returned to Monsieur alone, leaving Herarion and Viram behind in Shahatra as they still had some work to finish. He had handed them teleportation scrolls and told them to come to Monsieur later.

The sun in Monsieur shone brightly. It was still mid-afternoon as Henry had managed to take care of the issues in Shahatra rather quickly. As soon as he set foot in Monsieur, Henry immediately headed for Vulcanus’ forge at the city hall.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

As he approached the entrance, Henry could hear the rhythmic sound of Vulcanus hammering away at something.

“Sir Vulcanus?” Henry called out.

Vulcanus was deeply engrossed in his work. He then gestured to Henry to wait as he was finishing up the quenching. After a few moments, he straightened his back and wiped the sweat off his face with a towel.

Having wrapped the towel around his neck, Vulcanus finally asked, “So what brings you here?”

Vulcanus had a relaxed expression, which reassured Henry.

“So how did it go?”

“You’re talking about the equipment you asked for, right? We called everyone else and made sure to receive their orders, in addition to those who first visited me.”

“I see. I’m grateful for your hard work. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I was actually planning to contact you in regards to that, but luckily you came just in time. I did take all the orders, but there are a few things I can’t handle on my own.”

Vulcanus had adjusted to Henry’s request, which he had made on short notice, and handled it to the best of his abilities. Henry was grateful for that as he would have one less thing to worry about. He proceeded to listen to all the problems Vulcanus had faced.

“That’s all the issues I have for now,” concluded Vulcanus.

“I see. If those are the issues, I will discuss them thoroughly with the people involved and get them resolved as soon as possible.”

“I’ll be counting on you. Oh, by the way, you said that we have about fifteen days, right?”

“Correct.”

“Having to make equipment for several people in fifteen days… I’m well aware of the situation, but I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t tight.”

“I understand, and I’m sorry for throwing this on you on such short notice.”

“No, there's nothing to be sorry about. This isn’t just getting new equipment, but saving the entire continent. So even if it takes all I have, I’ll make sure to finish the job in time. Oh, I almost forgot.”

“Yes?”

“Well, it’s not related to the topic at hand, but… Do you reckon you can spare some time for me? I would like to make you a proposal.”

“Of course. Shall we talk about it somewhere else?”

“That won’t be necessary. I can talk about this here. I've been thinking about this while you were away... We’re going through very rough times, and I feel bad burdening all of you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“What I’m trying to say is that we, the craftsmen of Monsieur, would like to take on some of the hardship as well. Of course, I’m aware that our forces would only hinder you, so I’ve been thinking of taking this opportunity to reveal my masterpieces.”

“Oh? Your masterpieces?”

“Yeah, and that includes the poison gold over which we made that contract back then.”

Every four years, a festival was held in Monsieur where all the artisans would compete with their best inventions, their masterpieces. The winner, the one with the most innovative and outstanding creation, would become the ruler of Monsieur. Vulcanus had been consecutively winning each competition for the past twenty years.

In other words, every single creation he had presented at those festivals were considered unrivaled masterpieces.

But, of course, even though all of his masterpieces had a title attached to them, not all of them saw the light of day. They were marvelous creations to the world, but some were also extremely dangerous, capable of causing significant harm. Consequently, Vulcanus had been keeping certain masterpieces in the dark, making sure they never emerged to the surface.

Among those masterpieces was the poison gold, a metal made from Henry’s poisonous blood, renowned as the most potent poison in the world.

“I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time now. We can't confront the Chimeras with our current strength, but if we used my masterpieces as weapons, don’t you think that ordinary people like us would stand a chance against those monsters?”

This was what Vulcanus had in mind. He knew that him and the artisans would only be dragging Henry down if they didn’t at least use his masterpieces as weapons.

Vulcanus’ idea left Henry speechless. It was a remarkable and difficult decision for a craftsman of Vulcanus’ caliber to unveil the works he had kept hidden due to personal beliefs. Henry was frozen, his mouth slightly open.

Seeing his reaction, Vulcanus smiled and said, “It seems like you’re not exactly on board with my idea.”

“Oh, no… I’m just surprised.”

“Heh, I completely understand. Well, apart from this, what do you want to do now? I have six masterpieces in my possession. I don’t know about the other five, but I do think I need your permission to reveal the poison gold.”

“I…”

Deep in thought, Henry acknowledged that dealing with the Chimeras, the apostles, and even Arthus would be challenging with just the swordsmen and wizards, even if he himself was a part of the army. That made Vulcanus’ proposal undeniably enticing.

Vulcanus kept staring at Henry in anticipation, both of them silent. After a few more moments of contemplation, Henry responded, “I’m sorry, Sir Vulcanus, but I will have to decline your offer. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for your proposal.”

“Oh, I didn’t expect this answer. Can I ask why?” asked Vulcan while shrugging.

“I’m well aware that the Chimeras, along with Arthus, might be too much for us to handle by ourselves, but I don’t think it’s impossible. It will just be extremely difficult.”

“So… You don’t want to put more people at risk because you think you stand a chance against the Chimeras as it is?”

“Yes, exactly.”

After careful consideration, Henry decided not to go with Vulcanus’ suggestion. Even though it would certainly be advantageous to have an army equipped with Vulcanus’ masterpieces, Henry wasn’t sure that would make much of a difference against Arthus’ monstrosities, given that even the most experienced and powerful swordsmen struggled against them.

‘It would be devastating if the apostles got their hands on Vulcanus’ masterpieces.’

For all those reasons, Henry ultimately decided to refuse his offer. He had to think about the potential risks and consequences of implementing Vulcanus’ plan. He knew how deceitful humans were, how they would cling to power and strength once they received them. If those artisans became drunk on power and refused to return Vulcanus’ masterpieces, Henry and his allies would have to take them back by force, possibly having to spill blood.

So Henry had to think carefully about whether bringing those masterpieces to see the light of day would be better or worse for everyone.

Vulcanus pursed his lips, disappointed that Henry rejected his proposal. Of course, Henry understood where he was coming from. He knew that Vulcanus had lost the opportunity to showcase his masterpieces that had been concealed because of Arthus.

In any case, despite his disappointment, Vulcanus decided to fully respect Henry’s decision.

“Vulcanus, since we’re on the topic of masterpieces,” Henry continued, “I wanted to say… Instead of supplying it to everyone, how about using some of your masterpieces just for the weapons you’ll be making this time?”

“Hmm, so using just a portion of them… Alright. If that’s the way to help you, of course.”

“Thank you.”

“No, I should be thanking you. It’s thanks to you that I get the chance to use my babies once again.”

Although Henry had rejected his offer, the two were grateful that they found somewhat of a middle ground, making the interaction less awkward. With that, they shook hands and wrapped up their conversation.

With that, Henry decided to leave the forge to meet with the people expecting new equipment from Vulcanus. The first person Henry was seeking out was Allen.

Henry asked around for Allen’s whereabouts, and he eventually wound up at the training center set up in Monsieur. He saw Allen engaged in training, wielding a practice sword much heavier than the Vasilipo.

“Huff…”

Henry quietly observed Allen’s training, not revealing his presence. Henry went up to him when he took a break after training for quite a long time.

“Sir Allen.”

“Oh?”

Allen greeted Henry with a light smile.

“I guess not just anyone can become the Mercenary King.”

“Haha, I’m flattered. May I ask what brings you all the way to the training center?”

“I came to see you because of the Vasilipo.”

“Vasilipo?”

Vasilipo was a magic sword and the main weapon Mercenary King Allen used. Allen had lost in his battle against Zion, one of Arthus’ apostles. Besides the humiliation of having his enemy carve a message into his flesh, his beloved sword had also been destroyed.

Allen’s expression darkened the second Henry mentioned Vasilipo.

“Sir Vulcanus asked me for help in regards to that. He told me that you asked him to repair your magic sword, but he said that he couldn’t accomplish it on his own.”

“Oh… I see.”

Just as Henry had said, Allen had asked Vulcanus to repair his shattered magic sword, but that task turned out to be beyond his capabilities. Hence, Vulcan had asked Henry for help.

Hearing that the blacksmith couldn’t fix the Vasilipo, Allen’s expression grew even darker. He was almost in disbelief, so he asked, “Is there… really no way?”

“Of course there’s a way.”

“Oh? Is that really true?”

“Yes, but it will be someone else who’ll repair your sword. However, before I get into the details, Sir Allen, I need to ask you this. Do you truly want to bring the Vasilipo back to life?”

“Of course! I consider Vasilipo to be part of me! It made me who I am!”

“So are you willing to pay any price to revive your sword? No matter how high?” Henry asked bluntly.

After a moment of contemplation, Allen nodded.

“Very well. Then I shall take you to the one who can fix the Vasilipo. But beware, you must comply with all of his conditions.”

“Of course!”

The Vasilipo was imbued with great magic power, hence why it was considered a magic sword. Any similar weapons or objects that possessed such formidable power were otherwise known as artifacts.

Of course, Henry had the skills necessary for crafting and repairing artifacts, but it had been several decades since he had last done anything related to artifacts. Therefore, he believed that someone who had been constantly studying and researching artifacts, magic swords included, would be better suited for this task.

That someone was Maker Swarth, the head of the alchemy school at the Snow Spire. He was undeniably the leading figure when it came to alchemy.

‘I’m sure he can do it.’

Repairing an artifact was nothing like repairing a sword at the forge, which was why Henry had asked Allen if the Vasilipo was so important to him that he would need it fixed at all costs. Allen had assured Henry that no price would be too high for this.

Having reached a conclusion, Henry knew what needed to be done next. He tried to teleport to the Snow Spire in Salgaera with Allen. However, just before they could do that, the guards from the castle walls of Monsieur ran up to the training grounds, all out of breath.

“Sir! Huff… Sir!”

“Huh? What is it?”

The guards were still catching their breath, so Henry asked again, “What’s going on?”

“Huff… Huff… Sir! Kington Foram has just appeared in front of the castle gates!”

“Did you just say Kington?!”

"Yes! He’s currently making a fuss in front of the castle gate, demanding to meet you at once!”

Kington Foram.

Henry had completely forgotten about him, and he couldn’t guess why he had appeared out of the blue in Monsieur, asking to meet him.

Henry furrowed his brows, thinking that this wasn’t good news.