I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part6

Long delay is long. And annoying. Also, switched the name from Devil to Demon. I’ll be switching the nomenclature in the full version as well. Yay! I’m almost done!

Following the raid on the Dungeon, we headed back to the city.

Both bone-weary exhaustion and blissful joy dominated the faces of the adventurers.

Though the adventurers suffered about ten casualties, this was apparently good news for a demonic beast disaster of this size.

The adventurers were thankful to us for finis.h.i.+ng the raid so quickly and eradicating all the demonic beasts.

At least some of that grat.i.tude may have stemmed from the fact that we didn’t monopolize on the Demon’s corpse.

No, that was probably most of the reason why.

They said the loot from the Demon was worth more than the loot from demonic beasts of the same rank as him. Because Demons only show up in those Dungeons.

We were even told that Demons not only provide more experience, but that they are one of the strongest Threat Level B demonic beasts.

It seemed like Demons were valuable targets. Though we were the ones who had to be wary of them.

And Dunadrond scolded Fran for going off on her own. He lectured us for a good hour.

Fran would have started sulking if I laughed so I held in my laughter, but the scene of a barbarian king looking man lecture a little beastkin girl, rather than looking like a crime, was comedic.

The lecture would likely have lasted longer if not for the intervention of the boy who argued with Fran before the raid.

The mercenaries who argued with Fran were dead, but he defended Fran by saying that she saved him from suffering the same fate as those mercenaries.

『That kid… He’s a good one.』

‘You won’t be able to talk your way out of this.’

『So you figured out what I was doing?』

‘Master didn’t get scolded. Unfair.’

『Calm down.』

‘I was the only one who was scolded.’

『I said I’m sorry.』

‘Then make me meat.’

『Okay.』

‘With seasoning.’

『Got it.』

‘And steak and skewers also.’

『Okay.』

This may have been because I kept making food from Earth for Fran, but Fran was beginning to act like a “big eater” character.

Well, if it’ll make her feel better, then I’ll make as much as she wants.

And to commemorate the fact that she defeated the Demon, an opponent so much stronger than herself, I should let her eat her fill.

Oh wait, maybe I should check out the results of our labor before we arrive in the city.

This was my Status before defeating the Demon.

Attack: 392 MP: 1650/1650 Durability: 1450/1450

Self-Evolution

And then my Status became this:

Name: Master

Wielder: Fran

Race: Intelligence Weapon

Attack: 434 MP: 2050/2050 Durability: 1850/1850

Mana Conversion Rate A

Self-Evolution

Skills: Appraisal 7, High Speed Self-recovery, Telekinesis, Telekinesis Boost [weak], Telepathy, Attack Boost [small], Wielder Stat Boost , Wielder Recovery Boost [small], Mana Boost [small], Memory Increase , Appraisal Block, Demonic Beast Knowledge, Skill Sharing, Magician

My Skills’ levels also went up a lot. This was because the Hobgoblins and Army Beetles also had high leveled Skills. Because I could absorb their Skill levels as well, my own levels continued to increase. The level 1 Wind Magic I gained just a few hours ago was now level 7. In just a single day, it increased by 6 levels.

Sword Techniques went from 7 to 8, Sword Wielding became 9, Status Condition Resistance became 3, Earth Magic became 5. A bunch of Skills besides those also leveled up.

There were also a lot of new skills I gained in the Dungeon. In particular, Darkness Magic 1, Mana Barrier 1, Shadow Magic 2, Sense Traps 1, Enhanced Darkness, Immunity to Darkness, Automatic Mana Regeneration, and Immunity to Control all seemed useful. Most of all, I could restore my mana simply by Setting Automatic Mana Regeneration. The effect was minimal, but I was extremely thankful to be able to restore my mana without any risk.

In addition, I got the Extra Skill, Skill Taker 1.

I also got 40 Self-Evolution Points, but because there were so many Skills I wanted to use those Points on, that amount was actually too little.

I should increase the levels of Sword Techniques and Sword Wielding, then focus on magic. And because I got Enhanced Darkness, should I level up Darkness Magic? I also might level up Summon Bloodkin if that Skill ends up being useful. And the Skills I originally gave up on, Instant Regeneration and Status Condition Resistance. Plus, the Skill I just got, Skill Taker, is a candidate for leveling up as well. Add in the fact that I had to factor in the Superior Skills I could obtain, and my worries were far from over.

In addition, Fran reached level 25.

Her level went up by 8 just from fighting against the Demon.

The experience that would have been shared among a Party was instead focused all on Fran.

Name: Fran Age: 12 years old

Race: Beastkin. Black Cat

Job: Spellsword

Status: Contracted

Lv: 25

HP: 193 MP: 127 Strength: 140 Agility: 146

Skills: Goblin Killer, Mental Stability, Skinning, Cool Judgement, Sense Directions, Night Vision

Insect Killer, Demon Killer

t.i.tles: Veteran of Insurmountable Odds, Dismantling Master, Recovery Arts User, Goblin Killer, Patron of Slaughter, Flame Arts User, Cooking Master

Insect Killer, Mighty Hunter, Dungeon Invader, Demon Killer

Insect Killer: A t.i.tle bestowed to those who slayed three hundred insect type Demonic Beasts in a single battle. Insect Killer Skill gained.

Mighty Hunter: A t.i.tle bestowed to those who defeated a much stronger opponent alone. HP increased by 20, all Stats increased by 5, growth rate increased slightly.

Dungeon Invader: A t.i.tle bestowed to those who defeated a Dungeon Master or destroyed a Dungeon Core. HP and MP recovery speeds increased when in a Dungeon.

Demon Killer: A t.i.tle bestowed to those who have slain a Demon. Demon Killer Skill gained.

Mighty Hunter? Looks like another cheat t.i.tle popped up. It was a powerful t.i.tle just like Veteran of Insurmountable Odds. Thanks to it, Fran’s Status changed abnormally.

Now she could fight head-to-head against Dunadrond. Fran! What a scary kid!

No, this was all my fault.

Fran is overflowing with ambition, so she probably won’t become arrogant. And it’s highly likely she’ll want to go into dangerous places. So I need to stay vigilant and support Fran!

And to do that, I needed to level up my Skills.

『Hey, Fran, which Skills do you want to level up?』

‘Sword Techniques and Sword Wielding.’

『Makes sense.』

I noticed this earlier, but magic doesn’t have a big effect against opponents who are better at magic than us. But with a sword, it was possible to beat someone even in a disadvantageous situation. Because she had a sword like me with a high mana conversion rate and mana.

『So I’ll level up Sword Techniques and Sword Wielding?』

“Un.”

『Great, I’ll do that.』

Yes, and I did.

I used 6 Self-Evolution Points to get Sword Techniques 10 and Sword Wielding 10.

I know what Expert Sword Techniques and Expert Sword Wielding mean, but what is Sword Attribute?

It seemed like it meant I could make a sword have a certain magical attribute for a set amount of time.

I won’t be able to know until I use it.

Then what should I do about the rest?

The thing that caught my attention the most was Skill Taker.

Skill Taker 1: Has a 50% chance of stealing a target’s Skill given that the Skill is both Rarity 1 or lower and is level 1. Only able to use once on the same target. Must wait one day to use Skill again Range is Skill level x 1 meter.

So the Rarity of a Skill matters. Though I haven’t been able to see the Rarity of any Skills, maybe because my Appraisal’s level is too low.

With this, collecting Skills should become a lot easier.

And if we can use this Skill to seal off an opponent’s Skill, then it’ll make combat a lot easier as well. Most of all, this meant we could take Skills from those without magic crystals—in other words, we could take Skills from humans.

The problem was that this Skill can only be used once on a single target. And if it fails, then it’ll be impossible to take any Skills from that same target ever again.

A 50% chance…that figure was too low for comfort. Plus the success rate was too low to rely on.

What should I do? No, this Skill already had me in its hooks.

I wonder what Fran will think.

『Fran, about Skill Taker——.』

I explained what I was thinking to Fran.

‘That sounds good.’

『You think so?』

‘It’s an Extra Skill so it’ll definitely be powerful.’

『Great, then I’ll level it up.』

And I did as I said.

First, I leveled it up to 2.

Skill Taker 2: Has a 60% chance of stealing a target’s Skill given that the Skill is both Rarity 2 or lower and is level 2 or lower. Only able to use once on the same target. Must wait two days to use Skill again. Range is Skill level x 1 meter.

No way, at level 2 it went up to 60%? Th-That’s awesome! I should keep leveling it up!

It took 3 points to level an Extra Skill up once. I ended up using 16 Self-Evolution Points, but I didn’t regret it at all.

Skill Taker 10: Has a 100% chance of stealing a target’s Skill given that the Skill is both Rarity 10 or lower and is level 10 or lower. Only able to use once on the same target. Must wait eighteen days to use Skill again. Range is Skill level x 1 meter.

So I can only use this Skill once every eighteen days. I’ll need to pick when I use it carefully. Well, since both Fran and I can use it, that means we’ll have two chances. We have a lot more luxury than others.

And I’ll need to keep an eye out for what Skills are Rarity 10.

Should I increase my Appraisal level? If that let us take Extra Skills or Unique Skills, then this Skill is absurdly powerful. It really is a cheat ability.

I wanted to use it right away.

But the only ones around us were our allies. Aren’t there any bandits or someone?

Though that was doubtful considering how many adventurers there were here.

In the end, we arrived uneventfully at the guild.

The guild was in an uproar.

Everyone was cheerful because of our victory and the payment that the guild would give.

“Little lady, please come this way.”

“Un.”

Fran followed Dunadrond into the Guild Master’s room.

But none of the adventurers around us were surprised.

Because they all considered Fran the greatest a.s.set in the raid.

Even the adventurers who were skeptical of the rumors about Fran now knew the truth because of today’s activities.

“Lucky girl, I bet she’s going to get a bonus.”

“She really did a lot so there’s no helping it.”

“She saved me as well.”

“How does someone so young become so strong?”

“She’s a monster. A freaking monster.”

“I wonder if she’ll join our Party.”

“Haa, haa, Fran’s so adorable.”

50% liked her, 40% were jealous of her, and 10% hated her.

But that last guy was a little scary!

“Ahh, Fran-san. I apologize for the wait.”

“Un.”

“First I must give you my thanks. Thanks to you, we ended the raid with few casualties. To think that a Demon would be in a Dungeon like that…if they had kept going, then there would have been many more casualties.”

Though he started speaking to us with lighthearted thanks, his eyes were not smiling at all.

I won’t be able to distract him like Dunadrond. He still had his doubts about us.

“The truth is, going off on your own did impose a ha.s.sle on the group, but because you were able to provide so much help by doing so, I will disregard your disobeying orders.”

After weighing the pros and cons of what we did, he decided not to reprimand us.

“I saw the corpse of the Demon you defeated.”

Dunadrond likely showed him it.

“In truth, it is a Threat Level B individual. Did you defeat it by yourself?”

“Un.”

“If that is true, then that means you have the ability of an A rank adventurer.”

It was nice to have our ability a.s.sessed, but suddenly being elevated to rank A would mean we’d be a.s.signed dangerous requests, and that sounded like a pain.

“I was lucky.”

“Hoo? What do you mean?”

So we decided to tell the truth about this part.

“I see. So you defeated the Demon by using a sneak attack while he was concerned with the Dungeon Master…”

“The Dungeon Master was an idiot.”

“Even so, it is strange that you did not die right away. And in regard to the Demon’s corpse…”

“?”

“The fatal injury to his heart. How many people do you believe are capable of piercing through a Demon’s barrier with magic?”

“How many?”

“Hmm…well, that doesn’t matter. This is the main point.”

So he’s definitely going to ask about that.

“What happened to the Demon’s magic crystal?”

“I destroyed it.”

“…It is a tiny object. That magic crystal is incredibly useful. The entire nation would desire such an object.”

“Un.”

“Is it really gone?”

“It already doesn’t exist in this world.”

Because I absorbed it, of course.

“Hoo. Understood. I will believe you.”

Did he decide to move on because Fran didn’t lie?

And this happened when I relaxed.

“Wait! Are you seriously going to just leave it like that?!”

Someone violently opened the door and barged in.

The man who barged in was clad in armor but his large rolls of fat gave him an air of unhealthiness.

Who is that? I’ve never seen him before.

And I couldn’t sense him at all… Ah, was it because of his equipment?

Name: August Alsand Age: 29 years old

Race: Human

Job: Warrior

Status: Normal

Lv: 30

HP: 108 MP: 99 Strength: 52 Agility: 45

Skills: Acting 1, Singing 1, Horse Riding 1, Deception 1, Writing to Royalty 4, Sword Wielding 1, Arithmetic 1, Social 2, Poison Resistance 1, Poison Knowledge 2, Herbology 2

Unique Skill: Logical Falsehood 5

t.i.tles: Baron, Vice-Captain of the Alessa Knight’s Order

Equipment: Mythril Longsword, Silver Iron Full Body Armor, Official’s Cloak, Ring of Silent Footsteps

Something didn’t quite fit.

He was level 30, but his stats were low. I guess he was at the level of an E rank adventurer.

And his Skills were incredibly shoddy.

He probably had the Social skill because he was a n.o.bleman.

But wasn’t Sword Wielding 1 way too low for a knight? And to top it all off, he was a vice-captain.

“What could you possibly mean by simply moving on? Sir August.”

“Exactly what I said. We’re talking about a Demon’s magic crystal. There’s no way a little girl can be allowed to keep such a valuable item!”

“To think that I was wondering what you were thinking. In this raid, partic.i.p.ants were allowed to keep whatever loot they took from demonic beasts they defeated. Thus, this young lady who defeated the Demon has the right to the magic crystal. Rather, she left the loot for the guild to collect, so there is no reason to reprimand her.”

“Quit splitting hairs. To an extent, taking Hobgoblin loot is no problem. But a low-rank adventurer can’t be allowed to keep something so high-rank as a Demon’s loot.”

So he’s thinking that it’d be a waste to allow us to keep the loot now when there were such amazing ones, is that it?

“Meaning that that little girl acted on her own. She’s guilty of disobeying orders! Are you saying that someone like her still deserves her payment?”

“Sigh. If all those who disobeyed orders are guilty of committing a crime, then that would apply to the majority of the adventurers there. There are very few instances in which an adventurer, in the same position as her, would not disobey orders. Rather, I would like to meet an adventurer who has never disobeyed orders or broken rules.”

“So you really are a lousy bunch.”

“Well, this is because, unlike the prim and proper knight’s order, we have quite the unruly a.s.sortment of people here.”

The Guild Master’s eyes weren’t smiling at all. I could feel how threatening his eyes were.

I was actually in awe of the n.o.bleman who had yet to notice that fact. Did his obliviousness stem from the thick folds of his face?

“Hmph. I’ll tell you something. That girl is lying.”

Flinch.

Did he know that because of his Unique Skill?

Logical Falsehood: Able to see through a target’s lies. Makes it more difficult for others to see through the user’s lies. Makes user’s lies more believable to others.

It was the perfect Skill for swindlers, dictators, and religious leaders.

But he’s the vice-captain of the knight’s order despite having a Skill like this? Is he supposed to be the hated character from fantasy novels? There are too few characters to tell!

The Skill seems like it could create a whole lot of trouble depending on how it’s used…

But no matter how amazing a Skill it is, it still needed a proper user.

Though we being intensely interrogated.

However, the next thing he said was beyond my expectations.

“She said she destroyed the magic crystal, but that was a lie. She must have it hidden somewhere.”

Huh? No, but that wasn’t a lie? It really was destroyed.

“…Even if that is the case, the young lady still possesses owners.h.i.+p of it.”

“No, I cannot forgive one who would give a false report in a case like this. She may be hiding other things as well.”

“I did destroy it.”

“So you’re telling more lies.”

What the heck is he saying?

Even though he must know she wasn’t lying because of Logical Falsehood.

No, I get it. It must be well known that he has the Skill Logical Falsehood.

And anyone that he calls a liar will be treated as such.

Using that, he was trapping Fran.

“Un?”

『Fran, don’t talk for a while.』

‘Okay.’

What should I do?