Chapter 124
As soon as Golyn laid eyes on orichalcum, known as the 'metal of the gods', his eyes nearly popped out in surprise.
When Sieg dismissed the Hersion, Golyn panicked and acted out.
"O-orichalcum! Give me the orichalcum!"
Sieg responded to the frenzied Golyn with a firm voice.
"Do you wish to handle orichalcum?"
"Of course! Besides, I must be the only craftsman in this world who can handle the metal of the gods!"
Though arrogant, his words weren't entirely false.
Even Gelion, the Blacksmith of Soul, hesitated to work with the orichalcum-made Hersion.
Yet, Golyn's eyes turned red with desire as soon as he saw the Hersion, and he rushed forward.
Sieg addressed Golyn.
"If you agree to my terms, I will entrust you with the repair of this Hersion."
Rather than simply asking for repairs, Sieg proposed an unheard-of condition: he would entrust the repair if Golyn agreed to his terms.
Surprisingly, Sieg's words seemed to calm Golyn noticeably.
"Um... very well. Come on in first."
Golyn led Sieg into his forge.
Inside, it looked like an ordinary forge, aside from a pile of failed works stacked like a mountain in one corner.
'Now I see why he is Gelion's master.'
Gelion also had the habit of piling up his failed projects on one side like a mountain.
Golyn poured a large mug of beer and offered it to Sieg.
"This is Golyn's special homemade beer. So good, two could drink it and not notice if one died of it."
Taking the offered beer, Sieg took a sip.
As Golyn claimed, it was indeed a beer with an excellent aroma.
"It's a delicious beer."
Golyn laughed in satisfaction at Sieg's remark.
Golyn gulped down his own beer in one go and fetched an entire barrel.
As dwarves were inseparable from beer, it seemed Golyn couldn't resist brewing his own even in the barbarian territory.
Having finished his beer, Sieg noticed a magical aura emanating from the mug in his hand.
'What is this?'
Remarkably, the rough-looking mug was enchanted with a temperature-control spell.
Upon noticing the enchantment on the mug, Golyn chuckled.
"It's a thing that keeps the flavor of the beer perfect. You've got a good eye for noticing."
Golyn downed more beer as he continued speaking.
"By the way, a whole orichalcum Hersion! Are you a knight from the Empire? You must have some rank to have something like this. I've never imagined such a thing could exist."
Sieg shook his head.
"No, I'm Sieg Draker."
Upon hearing this, Golyn spewed out the beer he was drinking.
"D-Draker?"
Finally recognizing the pureblood awakener glove on Sieg's hand, Golyn examined Sieg from top to bottom.
"A pureblood awakener from Draker having an orichalcum Hersion."
The Hersion manufacturing technology of the Rom Empire was treated as top secret.
Even the Holy Kingdom produced Hersions, but they couldn't match those of the Rom Empire.
However, an exception was the platinum armor given by the Holy Kingdom to Kali Draker.
That armor, too, was a type of Hersion, made entirely of mithril, and therefore superior to ordinary Hersions.
A single suit of platinum armor reportedly cost as much as a year's operating budget of a large city.
Sieg, sensing Golyn's doubtfulness, spoke,
"I discovered it in an ancient ruin."
"You found such a divine artifact in a ruin?"
He nodded naturally while lying seamlessly.
A Hersion of this caliber could hardly have been excavated quietly. If it were possible, it wouldn't be with a mere Draker knight but rather with the family head himself.
However, Golyn paid no heed to Sieg's explanation.
"Well, be that as it may. Do you intend to have this Hersion repaired?"
"Yes. It's such an ancient artifact that the magic array on it isn't properly activated."
"Magic array, huh? For something that impressive, you could probably engrave about five or six 3rd-circle spells."
Sieg shook his head at Golyn's assumption.
"There are twenty-eight grand magic arrays. Only three are currently active."
Golyn once again sprayed out the beer he was drinking at Sieg's revelation.
"How-how many?"
"I said twenty-eight."
"T-twenty-eight grand magic arrays?"
Golyn clutched his head in disbelief.
"That's... that's impossible... No, wait, maybe it's possible with orichalcum, the metal of the gods, by overlapping and intricately crafting circuits..."
Realizing that Golyn was lost in his own thoughts, Sieg clapped his hands.
"Gosh! Right, could you show me that Hersion?"
With a stern expression, Sieg responded,
"Please write a confirmation letter for the Guild Alliance first. Only then will I entrust the job."
Impatient to get his hands on the divine artifact, Golyn hurriedly penned down a confirmation letter.
〈I am alive. Don't bother looking for me. ― Golyn Jobern〉
Golyn securely stamped it with his seal.
Sieg carefully stored the confirmation letter in his inventory.
Meanwhile, with expectant eyes, Golyn awaited eagerly as Sieg prepared to reveal the Hersion.
Sieg retrieved the piece of armor and handed it to Golyn.
"Oooooh!"
Golyn cautiously accepted the armor and brought it to his workstation.
Putting on a magnifying lens, he began to examine the armor all over.
Simultaneously, he uttered a flood of exclamations.
"This! Unreal... that this is possible! Huh... This is madness. Absolute madness."
After spending an entire hour expressing admiration and awe while examining the armor, Golyn removed his magnifying lens and said to Sieg,
"Is it possible for you to activate this?"
Sieg commanded the system to activate the Hersion.
Chwararararak!
The Hersion transformed from a piece of armor into the full form of a plate armor.
Once again impressed, Golyn inspected the Hersion carefully.
Watching Golyn, Sieg began to feel a tad bored.
'This might take a few more hours.'
During the time Golyn was occupied with the Hersion, Sieg decided to check the random boxes he received as rewards and sort out his points.
Leaving the forge, Sieg opened his inventory and the three random boxes obtained by defeating Hydra.
Thud!
Three items appeared in front of Sieg.
'What's this?'
A worn mace, a cloak, and an old book emerged.
Sieg looked at their information.
―Mace Information―
Description: A holy mace imbued with the power of light, forged during the Rubern Dynasty
Unique Ability: Light's Retribution (Effective only upon striking)
Special Note: Inflicts triple damage when used against undead and demonic races.
―Cloak Information―
Description: A cloak that alters the wearer's image.
Unique Ability: Perception Transformation
Special Note: It doesn't change one's actual appearance but alters the perception others have of it.
―Book Information―
Description: A magic book containing light magic passed down before the time of the Rubern Dynasty; Sequel.
Unique Ability: Magic Inheritance
Special Note: Automatically transfers knowledge to descendants of the Rubern lineage who have mastered light magic.
Sieg became pensive after examining the mace and the magic book.
"Light magic? Magic that only a descendent of the Rubern lineage can learn. Interesting."
The crown of the Rubern dynasty that he had seized from Richmond also possessed unique abilities like the Mace of Light and the Shield of Light.
Although Sieg couldn't use magic himself, he could acquire it as a skill and freely wield it thanks to the system.
However, considering that there was no mention of a descendant's lineage with the crown, it seemed that using it like the crown would not be possible this time.
"Hmm, another Rubern item following the Meteoric Iron series. I wonder what's hidden within the Rubern dynasty."
As Sieg recalled, the Rubern Dynasty was the predecessor to the Holy Empire.
Armed with strong faith as their foundation, they expanded their territories through their divine knights.
What began as a small, insignificant country eventually grew into a great empire, forming the foundation of the Holy Empire.
The Rubern king became the Holy Empire's first emperor, but two generations later, royal power was eclipsed by papal authority, leading the Rubern line to either exile or execution.
The seat of the emperor was changed to be occupied by one of the prince-elector families through a vote in the Senate.
'The frequent emergence of Rubern dynasty items suggests there's more to uncover.'
Sieg opened the Book of Light bound in hard cover.
As he did, a message appeared.
―Main Quest Mission―
『Return the missing latter half of the magic book to one among the Rubern lineage who inherited the light magic. (No time limit)』
『Quest Mission Reward: Title 'Knight of Light', skill 'Holy Flame'』
'A main quest?'
It had been a while since the main quest surfaced. Despite his inability to utilize it, fulfilling the quest seemed to offer rewards.
Sieg pondered over the mission details.
"A relative of the Rubern lineage? How am I supposed to find royal blood that vanished hundreds of years ago?"
He stored the holy book and the mace in his inventory for now.
He planned to use the Syndicate's information network to track it down and abandon the endeavor if it proved fruitless.
While holding the remaining item, Sieg murmured.
"A cloak that changes perception."
Sieg donned the cloak.
A message immediately surfaced.
『Envision the form you wish to transform into.』
'Who should I transform into?'
After a brief contemplation, Sieg envisioned Kaiser.
Wooong!
For a moment, the cloak shimmered, enveloping him in light.
Sieg inspected his reflection.
"I don't notice any changes..."
At that instant, the forge doors burst open as Golyn emerged.
"This is! An incredible! No, such words aren't enough to describe this...! Huh? Where did that Draker lad go, and why is there this lousy-faced elf instead?"
Golyn failed to recognize Sieg at a glance. Intrigued by this reaction, Sieg inquired,
"What color are my eyes now?"
Golyn scrunched his face and curtly replied,
"Don't shove that awful mug of yours here! Get lost!"
Sieg deactivated the perception cloak.
He reverted to his original form.
Golyn, having witnessed the transformation in real-time, was astounded.
"What was that! Magic?"
Sieg nodded.
"Something similar. What color were my eyes when I transformed earlier?"
Golyn clicked his tongue and replied,
"Droopy sky blue. Ugh, don't transform into that again."
Sieg confirmed that he had successfully transformed into the envisioned form of Kaiser.
With a satisfied mind, he followed Golyn back inside the forge.
Golyn, still examining the Hersion, commented,
"Do you know what this is?"
"No, honestly, I do not."
Golyn smirked.
"This is a divine artifact imbued with the power of a Constellation."
"Constellation power? Like those of the Empire's 13 Constellations?"
Sieg recalled the Hersion worn by Morgan Bupon, who was a knight of Ophiucus.
The Hersion infused with the power of Ophiucus's constellation existed on a different level from ordinary Hersions.
Golyn nodded.
"Given your knowledge, you'll understand it quickly. This surpasses the divine artifacts of the Thirteen Zodiac Constellations."
"A constellation beyond those 13 Constellations... Could it be?"
Golyn grinned wider.
"Indeed, it holds the power of the Moon Goddess Theia."
The Goddess revered by the Thirteen Zodiac Constellations.
The Moon Goddess Theia.
Sieg was taken aback upon learning that the Hersion in his possession bore the power of Theia.
"The power of Theia... Does it mean it possesses the authority of the Moon Goddess?"
Golyn affirmed with a nod.
"While the grand magic array is indeed marvelous, compared to the Moon Goddess's authority, it's merely a flicker of a firefly before the moon."
The Moon Goddess, holding authority comparable to the Sun God, was the ruler of the shadow realm.
While the Sun God commanded the primordial light, the Moon Goddess wielded the primordial shadows.
The Thirteen Zodiac Constellations barely scratched the surface of her power.
Momentarily overwhelmed by the unexpected revelation, Sieg's mind went blank until Golyn spoke again.
"And... there's good news and bad news."
"What's the bad news?"
Golyn clicked his tongue with a sigh.
"Isn't it usual to want the good news first?"
"Not for me."
"Just hear it out. The good news is that repairing it is possible."
"And the bad news?"
Scratching his head, Golyn replied,
"There are two issues."
He went behind the forge and retrieved something.
Attached to a small rock was a silver ore.
"What's this?"
"It's Meteoric Iron. Metal extracted from fallen meteorites, making it quite rare."
Noting its rarity, Sieg was reminded of the Meteoric Iron armor series.
'Was Meteoric Iron that precious?'
Due to its frequent appearance upon opening random boxes, its rarity never struck him.
Golyn sighed deeply.
"To repair that, an enormous amount of Meteoric Iron is needed."
"Enormous? How much would that be?"
Golyn clicked his tongue once more.
"Well, about ten ingots' worth?"
Hearing this, Sieg considered momentarily, then turned back, pretending to search his bag and retrieved the Meteoric Iron armor set from his inventory.
Clatter, clatter.
The full set of Meteoric Iron armor clattered to the ground before Golyn.
"Will this be enough?"
Witnessing Sieg nonchalantly produce the Meteoric Iron armor, Golyn's jaw dropped.