Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 97

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Chapter 97 – Order

“Hello~!”

I called from the empty counter, and Paisar-san slowly appeared from behind as if he had been working there.

“Oh, Loki. Hey, your equipment looks pretty worn out, huh?”

“Haha, I’ve been working hard in the Lulub, so I came today to ask for maintenance.”

Even someone who isn’t a craftsman can easily see the condition of my equipment.

The leather armor that was bitten by small wolves has more and more scratches, and my sword must have killed thousands of them, right?

The last time I used it, I felt some discomfort while decapitating an orc, and the blade has become a bit more noticeable.

In particular, the knife I used for the dismantling was swung around quite a bit in the Lulub, so it’s probably reached its limit.

Anyway, I was told to take off my armor, so I left my sword on the counter and took off my leather armor, and while I was doing that, Paisar-san came over and started talking to me.

“I’ve heard rumors. You’ve been holed up in Lulub without even going back to the city, right?”

“That’s right. The exchange rate is so bad there. I thought I might as well not go back to the city.”

“What a stupid thing to do… Is that why your equipment is in such a state?”

“I was surprised by the number of monsters I encountered when I decided to hunt along the river that no one had entered for a long time! Well, it was more efficient than I expected, so it was a good thing.”

As I said this, I handed the leather armor I had taken off to Paisar-san, who had a tense expression on his face. He looked at the whole thing and muttered to himself.

“I can fix it, but you could just buy a new one…”

“Please fix it!”

I couldn’t help but interrupt Paisar-san.

I don’t feel any lack of power with this equipment right now, and the bestowal that comes with each of them is something I’m grateful for.

I’m sure I’ll have to replace them eventually, but I still want his son to protect me.

“Hmm… if that’s what you want, then that’s fine.”

I ask Paisar-san, who looks somewhat pleased.

“I’m going to take a break from hunting for a while, so I don’t really care about the number of days, but… how long will it take?”

“About one day for the sword and two days for the armor.”

“Understood. Then, when it’s about that time, I’ll come and get it, but I have a question for you, Paisar-san.”

“Hmm?”

“Is Bestowal only one item per equipment?” [T/n: I changed it to Bestowal from now on].

That was something that bothered me personally.

If I can get multiple bestowals, my combat power will increase greatly.

And even though I don’t know how much I have left, with my current situation, where I don’t seem to have to worry about money for the time being, I think I can invest a certain amount of money in bestowal.

Or rather, that’s the only way I can see to spend the money.

The lady at the magic stone shop I just visited knew that attribute magic stones could be bestowed, but that was only because customers came to buy them for the purpose of bestowing them.

She had no idea about the restrictions or rules of bestowal.

So, if it was possible to stack Bestowal, I was thinking of buying some attribute magic stones of good quality from the magic stone shop.

“It depends on the quality of the equipment and the skill level of the bestower.”

I was confused by such an ambiguous answer.

Is it possible with the equipment inherited from his son that I am currently using?

When I looked at him with an expression that said I couldn’t say anything, Paisar-san continued.

“Well, to cut to the chase, I shouldn’t be able to bestow this sword and armor anymore.”

“Eeehhhh…”

“No matter what you say, it’s probably impossible to further Bestowal this sword and armor, regardless of the skill level.”

“Shouldn’t be? You’re not sure?”

“Yes. The mechanics of magic and skills are still a bit of a mystery.”

It seems that bestowal is a skill that is currently being researched, and the mechanism of bestowal that I was taught to the best of my ability was rather complicated, but it also had content that was worth considering.

First of all, equipment is divided into three main categories: weapons, armor, and accessories made by professions other than blacksmiths, and each of these has a rank.

This rank is mainly based on what materials are used and low-ranked hunters.

In other words, the iron materials that my current class uses and the skins that can be obtained from low-level monsters are naturally low-ranked.

And when it comes to materials that can be obtained from rare ores or high-level monsters, the rank of the material increases, and there are also many examples of multiple bestowal.

It seems that this is related to the affinity between the material and the magic power used to bestow it, but it is not known for certain and is only a possibility.

It has also been found that the skill level of the person doing the bestowal is also related, and of course, the higher the skill level, the more successful the examples of multiple bestowals.

In addition, as I briefly explained earlier, there are two types of bestowal: skill bestowal and attribute bestowal. The success rate for different types of bestowals is higher than for bestowals of the same type.

In short, it seems that it is easier to succeed with ‘skill bestowal’ + ‘attribute bestowal’ than with ‘skill bestowal’ + ‘skill bestowal.’

The current best case for bestowal is up to one piece of equipment.

So if you make equipment with high-ranking materials that have a high affinity with magic power, and then you ask a high-ranking bestower to bestow on that equipment, and then you mix in skill bestowal and attribute bestowal, it is possible to bestow three things on it.

And unfortunately, the material rank of my favorite equipment in front of me is low, and although Paisar-san didn’t say the level, it seems that his bestowal level is low, and in the past, he has never succeeded in being asked to do ‘skill bestowal’ + ‘attribute bestowal’ with similar materials, so it seems that the conclusion is that stacking is impossible with my current equipment.

“(Hmm. I kind of understand, but there are some parts that don’t quite fit… Surely you can determine that the material is at this level and that there is only one type of bestowal available, right?)”

Paisar-san says that even iron materials and the skins of low-level monsters are “impossible.”

But if someone who has maxed out their bestow skill tries it, it should be a piece of cake, right? I asked him about it, but–

“Are you stupid? People who reach level 10 are rare. There are only a few rumors about combat skills that can be easily blessed, and you don’t hear about skills that are supposed to be job-related. It might be possible for long-lived species that have lived for hundreds of years, but… there’s no way that people who don’t usually come out in the open would be willing to cooperate with information disclosure, and the premise of trying it at level 10 is ridiculous.”

As you can see, I received a sharp retort as if to say, “Don’t say things you don’t understand.”

The fact that the blessing is easy to receive is probably due to the job bonus I heard about from Maryse-san at the church earlier.

Even with that kind of job bonus, the bar of level 10 is pretty high…

But when I think about it, I realize that it makes sense.

If we use the number of monsters defeated as a measure, it’s about 10 times more to raise the skill level from 4 to 5.

Suddenly, you have to defeat 1000 monsters instead of about 100.

This assumes that the current skill level of the monster is level 1, but even raising it to level 5 requires you to defeat the same number of monsters.

I can’t even begin to imagine how many level 9 and 10 monsters would require.

And when you consider that the natural increase in skill experience points is quite slow, no matter how many related actions you take…

A level that even those who have spent their entire lives pouring their heart and soul into a single skill would never reach.

I guess that would be a level-10 skill.

But…

“I’ve heard that otherworlders have high-level skills, right?”

“I guess so. That’s why they’re called ‘heretics’ and ‘monsters.’ Well, I’ve never heard of otherworlders with a Bestowal.”

“…..”

The same as Guild Master Yagov-san, I guess.

From the way he talks, it seems like he doesn’t have a very good impression of otherworlders.

Then, it would be difficult to reveal my identity in an emergency… let’s change the subject.

“By the way, assuming that there is one bestowal per equipment, does that mean that if you have multiple equipment with bestowals, the effects will overlap?”

From what I’ve heard, that might be a loophole, right?

If there is one bestowal per iron weapon, then I can just get several cheap, small weapons.

If you think of it like a ninja’s shuriken, carrying 10 of them wouldn’t be a problem in terms of weight.

“Well, that’s the way to think about it. Everyone who aims high thinks like that. That’s why the answer has been verified. The answer is ‘there are limitations.'”

“Hmm? What are those limitations?”

“Two kinds of weapons. The number of pieces of armor varies depending on the item, but all of them are counted as two pieces, except for shields, which are treated as a separate type. Two types of accessories. This is the maximum number of pieces of equipment that can be equipped with Bestowal.”

“I see… So, a shield wielder can have up to 7 pieces of equipment with Bestowal, and everyone else can have up to 6. And depending on the materials and the skill level of the bestower, it’s also possible to have multiple bestowals on one piece of equipment, right?”

“That’s right. So for you, it would be best to have a second weapon with a bestowal in addition to this short sword.”

I see, I see. A second weapon, huh?

Then, would it be better to have another knife for dismantling?

I have a feeling that the dismantling knife will wear out and deteriorate quickly, and it also seems a bit strange to use it as a disposable item with Bestowal on it.

“Hmm… how much would it cost to request a secondary weapon Bestowal from Paisar-san? I’d like it to be either Maximum Magic Power Increase or Automatic Magic Recovery Increase.”

“For a skill bestowal, it would probably cost around 1 million beekes for a regular request.”

“I see. That means you wouldn’t normally put it on a knife that can also be used for dismantling, right?”

“Of course. You’d only put Bestowal on equipment that you’re likely to use for a long time. In Bezart, there are far fewer people with equipment that has Bestowal attached to it.”

Hmm…

I pause to think.

The main reason they don’t usually attach it is probably the cost.

I wonder if it would be worth it to spend 1 million beeke on a 50,000 to 100,000 beeke dismantling knife or beginner’s equipment and then put a Bestowal on it.

And as for me, I don’t have a problem with the money side, but I don’t think I’d want to put a Bestowal on a consumable cutter that I don’t have much of an attachment to.

But what if it’s a real secondary weapon that looks like it could be used for a long time?

In the Lulub, due to the sheer number of monsters, I was almost always using two weapons… well, I don’t know if you can call them two weapons since they weren’t swords, but I was slashing with weapons in both hands.

However, it was also true that the knife was too short to be easy to use.

On the other hand, if it’s too big, it’s hard to handle, and when it’s not in use, it gets in the way of hunting…

So what about a weapon like a small sword with a blade length of about 50 to 60 cm?

If possible, I would like to improve my Swordsmanship.

If that’s the case, I think a sword of that length would be acceptable, and if the shape is similar to a short sword but a little shorter, then I don’t think it would take away from my experience with the existing Katana Technique and Dagger Technique.

It wouldn’t be too heavy when it’s not in use, and when it’s in use, it would have a certain amount of killing power.

Yes, this is it.

I take a quick look around the shop, but there aren’t any swords of the size I imagined.

Then.

“I have decided! Make me a sword that’s about 20 centimeters shorter than this short sword―using the best materials possible within the limits of what you can do, Paisar-san! With Bestowal, of course!”

At that moment, Paisar-san grinned as if accepting the challenge.

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