Conquering The Novel

After a few moments, Lia finally finished the design of the shurikens she mentioned earlier.

"Here! What are your thoughts on this?" She asked as she handed me the piece of paper on which she drew the outline of a shuriken.

And after taking the paper from her, I continued to study the design for a short while before a broad smile broke out on my face as It was exactly what I expected.

"Wait! Let me look into that as well" Silvia said as she stood beside me, peering at the design.

!?

"...Why is channeling a spell is required just to make a simple shuriken?" Silvia inquired, as she was perplexed when she noticed a spell mentioned in the design.

"That's a binding spell, so the weapon will be bound to him, and even if he loses or misplaces it, he'll be able to find it easily," Lia explained.

"...."

Silvia was speechless when she heard her.

"Can you tell me if you're just going to use them as normal throwing shurikens or if you have any other plans for them?

...I know it's not a relevant question, but the stone you're using is far too valuable to be used as a throw-away weapon," Lia asked, her eyes fixed on me.

"You are correct, I am not going to throw away the weapon that cost me 21 million," I replied, smiling.

!?

"...So? Do you have any ability to control it?" Lia inquired curiously.

"Yes, I will be controlling them with my psychokinesis," I stated instantly, while Silvia and Irethiel were taken aback by how casually I told her about my ability.

As it is uncommon to reveal one's abilities to anyone, especially a stranger whom we have just met.

"Psychokinesis, you say? That explains why you were so drawn to this stone.

But, while this stone will be useful for using psychokinesis,... I presume you have a vast mana pool to even deem using psychokinesis, as it takes up a lot of mana to control the objects for an extended period of time," Lia remarked.

I simply smiled instead of responding to her.

"...We need to go to the magic tower and look for the spell caster if we want to channel spells on the weapons.

And because there are so few of them, it will also be very expensive. In addition, we must schedule an appointment with the caster in advance, and because they have a ton of work on their hands, it is unclear how long it will take to complete the channeling.

Agh! That's too much of a hassle," Silvia complained.

"...."

"...Y-Yes, what you said is indeed true. But although I don't look like it, ...I am both a spell caster and a weapon maker, so I can help you with that.

And, I'll do my best to create the ideal weapon of your choice if you trust me with it," Lia hurriedly and resolutely exclaimed.

"...."

"...."

After she had finished speaking, there was a moment of silence.

"So...you're saying that in addition to channeling spells, you can also craft weapons?" Silvia questioned with a skeptical gaze.

"...Yes, That's right!" Lia gave a firm reply.

"However, I've never heard of a famous person named Lia. You ought to be fairly well known if what you said is true, don't you think?" Silvia stared at her and questioned.

"It's because...I've never crafted a weapon for anyone before," Lia explained, averting her gaze.

"...."

"...So you're just a novice crafter, then?" Silvia inquired.

"B-But I've made accessories before! I've been making a lot of them since I was a kid!" Lia stated hurriedly.

"...I believe you should depart now, Miss Lia; let us not waste both of our time, shall we? Because I don't want a novice crafter to ruin the weapon that my Ares so desperately desired," Silvia said as she motioned her toward the door.

!?

Lia was about to say something, but she paused and decided not to continue.

"A-Alright, I apologize for wasting your time," Lia said dejectedly as she moved slowly toward the door.

Meanwhile, I had been looking forward to this time for a while. simply because I wanted to fabricate a situation where the cliche "you were the only person who believed in me when no one else did" would apply.

I grinned internally as I thought to myself.

"Miss Lia, hold on a second!" After coming out of my thoughts, I called her out.

Lia came to a halt as soon as she heard my voice.

"Y-Yes?" She asked, puzzled, as she turned to face me.

"The thing is, I really liked the design that you just made," I said as I stood up from the sofa, holding a piece of paper on which she had designed.

"W-wait, what? Lia inquired, still perplexed.

"Yeah, and I also believe that the person who can skillfully design this weapon from just hearing my description can also perfectly craft it," I said with a smile.

"B-But, as Miss Silvia mentioned, I've never made a weapon before! Are you sure you want to entrust me with creating that weapon with that precious stone?" Lia inquired, puzzled.

"Of course, I am certain, because everyone has to begin somewhere, don't they? And I believe you are more than capable of crafting the weapon I want," I replied with a bright smile.

"...."

Lia was stunned when she heard me and was rendered speechless for a moment before tears welled up in her eyes.

"I-I will do everything in my power to live up to your trust in me and create an ideal weapon for you to the best of my abilities so that I do not disappoint you," Lia said as she wiped away her tears.

"...."

"...How come it seems like I've seen this before?" Irethiel said telepathically after witnessing the scene unfold in front of her.

"We saw something similar happen with your junior slave Meira!" Silvia said quietly after hearing Irethiel's telepathic remark.

"...I guess I remember now, though the approach was different this time, but his manipulation technique was the same," Irethiel replied.

"...."

***

And, after further discussion with Lia about the design, I signed a work contract with her.

Instead of paying her, Lia requested that if she could keep whatever was left of the stone after she made three shurikens for me.

Though I doubt there will be much stone left after that, I gladly agreed to that deal.

"Okay, Ares, I'm leaving now! I'll send you the weapon after I finish crafting it in a few days," Lia exclaimed enthusiastically after we exchanged contact information.

"Sure, I'll wait for your response," I said, smiling.

And when Lia saw my smile, her face turned red, and she hurriedly left.

"...."

As Silvia observed Lia's expression just before she left, her face twisted.

"...I knew he was up to something when I saw that smile of his," Irethiel muttered.

"Here, this is for you, Ares," Silvia said, coming over to me right away and handing me a tiny box that appeared to be a jewelry box.

!?

"What is this?" I asked as I took the tiny box from her.

"Why don't you see it for yourself?" Silvia suggested, smiling.

I opened that tiny box as soon as I heard her and found a blue gemstone pendant inside.

"...A pendant?" I mumbled.

"Yeah, but that's not your average pendant! It can disguise a person's appearance," Silvia clarified.

"...oh, I see," I muttered, my gaze fixed on the blue pendant.

"Why don't you try it on?" Silvia exclaimed excitedly.

"Should I?" I said in a stilted manner because I really dislike wearing pendants.

!?

"Y-You didn't fancy that pendant? It's an artifact that I actually bought for you at a hefty price," Silvia expressed her sadness as she noticed my unwilling expression.

"...."

"...All right, then, let me put it on," I said, quickly donning the necklace.

And as soon as I put it on, I checked my appearance on my phone camera.

When I saw my own appearance, I was left speechless.

"...."

My hair had turned white, my eyes had turned blue, and my features had changed, taking on an innocent, slender childlike appearance that appears to be frequently bullied.

"Emm? Could you please explain why I resemble an innocent child who appears to be the target of bullying?" I asked, but even my voice seemed different, and when I heard myself, a vein bulged in annoyance on my forehead.

"W-What? But I don't see anything wrong with this appearance.

Because with this appearance, no other girls will approach you while you're alone on any warp station because they'll mistake you for a girl!" Silvia stated with a straight face.

"So she bought you this camouflage pendant because she noticed how the girls in that station were staring at you?" Irethiel remarked and burst out laughing.

"...."

"...You know, if I put on this appearance, I won't necessarily get approached by girls, but I will most definitely get approached by some pervert boys," I stated with a distorted expression.

"Ahh! You are correct! What should we do now that I've already set that appearance, we won't be able to change it?" Silvia sighed.

"...."

"Well, that's not a problem because you can keep this pendant for yourself; maybe it'll come in handy for you someday," I said as I quickly removed the pendant from around my neck and placed it back in the box.

"...B-but I bought it for you as a gift for our engagement anniversary," Silvia stated abruptly.

'What the fuck is this engagement anniversary thing again?' I reflected inwardly.

***