As the characteristic chill of the underground brushed against our skin, we arrived at the third floor of the dungeon.

The staircase descending to the third floor.

When we stepped off the final stair, what lay before us was a narrow, long hallway.

At the end of the hallway was an open exit, through which blue light spilled in.

The typical darkness of an underground dungeon seemed almost soothing under the sacred blue glow.

"The Guardian should be ahead."

"...Will it be dangerous?"

"Don't worry. Raphne and I will take care of it."

I gently patted Emily's head to calm her as she looked uneasy.

If Raphne and I fought at the front lines, most battles would be manageable.

Even so, Emily, our party's healer, remained tense and alert.

It was both cute and reassuring, and I smiled lightly before stepping forward.

━Whooong.

As we approached the exit where the blue light was coming from, a rough wind blew, despite us being underground.

'...Is this wind?'

A faint animal scent wafted in on the breeze.

Feeling the wind against my skin, we cautiously emerged from the exit into a large plaza.

"So that's why the blue light was coming through."

Raphne murmured.

As she said, the interior of the plaza was covered in luminescent blue moss and glowing blue rocks.

And at the far end of the plaza—

There was a shining blue pond, far brighter than anything else there.

[ ━Grrrrr. ]

Naturally, before that pond stood the Guardian of this dungeon.

The boss monster lay sprawled in front of it, glaring at us.

"It's a beast-type monster. Be cautious of unexpected moves! Lize, stay close to Emily!"

Blocking our path to the pond, recognizing us as enemies, it was a white tiger.

Its white fur, reflected in the blue light, appeared bluish as well.

A white tiger.

But not the ordinary kind—there were some distinct differences.

For instance, where a regular tiger would have two eyes, this one had four.

Each normal eye was paired with an additional smaller eye just beneath it.

Its fur pattern was also different from that of a typical tiger.

And above all, the claws on its front paws looked like blades, giving off a menacing appearance.

The moment we emerged from the narrow hallway, the beast slowly rose from where it had been lying, prowling towards the outer wall.

Yet it never took its eyes off us.

"Attack before it makes the first move! Raphne, cover me!"

"Got it!"

A boss-level monster, especially a beast-type, tends to attack with acrobatic maneuvers.

Being hit by a preemptive strike would put us at a disadvantage, so I immediately shouted and rushed forward.

"Mary━!"

I shouted to Mary, who was gathering mana behind me, as I bent low and charged.

"Haaaahp━!!"

━CRRRUNCH!

At my signal, Mary's mana erupted.

The mana instantly transformed into a freezing icy energy, passing me and Raphne as we charged forward, and enveloped the boss monster.

[ Graaaaaah━!! ]

The ice adhered to the ground, immobilizing the white tiger's four legs.

Having lost its prized agility, the beast roared furiously, opening its mouth wide.

"Haaaah!!"

Before it could break free from the ice, I drew my main sword from my pocket and swung it at its neck.

THUD━!

[ Graaaaahng!! ]

The dull sound that followed was hard to believe from a sword strike, as my blade merely grazed its skin, splitting the air without breaking through.

'As expected from a boss!'

Though I hadn’t swung with full force, I barely cut the surface without reaching the flesh.

Its hide was tough.

But—

"Dieeeee━!!"

While I drew its attention, Raphne had circled around to leap onto its head.

With eyes sharper than the white tiger's, she let out a fierce roar, even more beastlike than the monster—

CRAAAASH━!!

The pole of her long spear smashed down on its head without mercy.

KA-BOOM!

The white tiger didn’t even have the chance to groan, its head slamming into the ground, and a deep dent forming at the crown.

[ ……. ]

Its four eyes rolled up into its head, and it lay dead.

"Hah! A monster of this level is no match for me! ...Hehe, did I do well?"

"You did great, you did great."

Raphne, having seen my sword fail to penetrate the beast's hide, immediately switched tactics and shattered its skull.

After lightly landing on the ground, she puffed her chest out proudly and bounced over to me, shaking her head eagerly.

I patted her head in praise before turning to look at the others, who were now making their way over, realizing that the boss had been defeated.

"Wow~! Big brother, you're amazing! The sisters and big brothers are all so strong!"

Lize, who had been trembling beside Emily until moments ago, smiled brightly and came up to me.

It seemed like even a child could understand our level of power after seeing us quickly defeat such a massive boss.

I’m not usually the type to gloat, but being looked at with admiration by a kid like this gave me a bit of an ego boost.

"Now then, behold the long-awaited Tears of the Goddess."

I let go of Raphne, whom I had been patting, and pointed to the pond behind me, smiling brightly at Lize.

The pond we and Lize had been so desperate to find.

It had taken quite a while, but we had finally made it.

After taking care of the white tiger's remains, we headed straight for the reward of the dungeon, the Tears of the Goddess.

‘I can really feel the powerful aura.’

Just by approaching the pond, I could feel the warmth on my skin, confirming that it was no ordinary place.

"So, big brother, what are you here for with the Tears of the Goddess?"

Lize, smiling brightly while looking at the pond with us, suddenly raised her head and asked.

"Ah, well... would you like to watch and see?"

"Huh?"

While Lize filled her bottle with the pond water, I pulled out various tools from my bag.

For a child, it would be a pretty special sight to see, and I felt a little excited myself as I prepared the equipment.

"Raphne, could you light the fire?"

"Sure!"

With Raphne’s help, I began hammering the materials in front of Lize, who watched the furnace with wide eyes full of curiosity.

‘I’ve already read through the manual several times.’

Now, it was just a matter of forging the cursed sword.

If it were a regular sword, the crafting process could take days or even months.

But I was a master craftsman.

I could condense countless hammer strikes into a few, and end numerous heat treatments in a single go.

And there was one reason I had come to this place.

After finishing the forging and heating the blade, I quenched it in the pond—the Tears of the Goddess—to cool its fiery heat.

"Wow..."

Lize looked on in awe.

"Ken's like a child when he’s like this."

"Exactly. He usually looks so composed, but at times like this, he’s adorable."

"W-What do you mean?"

Emily and Mary, who were watching with me, commented with amused smiles.

Not understanding what they meant, I turned my head in confusion, flustered.

"You're showing off your crafting skills to Lize, working extra hard just for that."

"Yeah, your glances toward Lize were obvious."

"Ugh..."

It was obvious.

I couldn’t deny it.

After all, people tend to want to show off their skills when they're good at something.

No matter how composed I tried to be, when I thought about showing the crafting process to girls who liked me and a cute little girl, I couldn’t help but be a bit conscious.

The two of them giggled at my reaction, clearly enjoying my awkwardness.

If I had known this, I would have practiced acting more indifferent.

"...It’s finished."

Even though the atmosphere was slightly embarrassing and I almost made a minor mistake, I managed to craft the sword perfectly, true to my skills as a craftsman.

━VROOOM.

"So, this is it..."

"Wow, it feels so mystical."

"This has to be the most special weapon Ken has crafted so far."

It was the blade, without the hilt attached yet.

But even just the blade radiated a special aura.

A pristine blade that seemed to have an indomitable will to not allow even the slightest impurity.

'Well, it has a bunch of dragon materials in it, after all.'

I had even used a dragon heart—an extraordinary masterpiece of my lifetime.

There were no more materials left to make another, so this was truly a one-of-a-kind cursed sword.

A demon-slaying sword had been born.

"Wow... This is the demon sword that big brother made."

Lize, seeing the blade I had lifted, looked at it in awe, her mouth hanging open.

Feeling my chest swell with pride, I turned to Lize and spoke kindly, showing her the blade.

"Huhu, isn’t it amazing? This is why we came here."

"Yes! It’s incredible! I didn’t think you could actually make it!"

"Well, I am a craftsman, after all. As long as I have the materials and the manual, this much is a piece of cake."

"Right. Though, I didn’t expect you to have all the materials."

"Oh, that’s because…"

"You got them from the Tower of Tarlos, didn’t you?"

"Yeah, that’s right. From the top of the tower…"

As I was explaining the sword to Lize, who was very interested in the cursed sword, I felt something odd.

"Hey, Lize... How did you know that I went to the Tower of Tarlos?"

I asked her about the strange feeling that was nagging me.

She was a girl we had just met today in the city.

She had come here to risk her life to get the Tears of the Goddess for her ailing mother.

When she spoke as if she knew me, I felt something intensely out of place.

"Well…"

With a smile that didn’t belong on a child’s face, Lize answered.

"Ken Feinstein conquering the Tower of Tarlos is quite famous, you know."

A chill ran down my spine as I immediately stood up.

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