Zhang Heng returned from the Bakumatsu Kyoto quest three days ago. When he received the result of the item identification, he knew that he had been fooled.
[Name: Common Sword]
(Grade: F]
(Usage: Blade Bone (only one), fruit of the katana shop’s owner in his early days. The maker searched extensively for surplus materials from famed swords, employing tenacious ambition to forge the unparalleled Blade Bone. However, the quality of the materials themselves was poor, and its casting method very ordinary. But as his first completed product, it is pretty good.] The description meant that the person who forged the sword used leftover materials from famous swords and ambitiously combined them. Unfortunately, the final product was of extremely low quality.
Zhang Heng expected this to happen. No matter how the boss vaunted about the sword, its workmanship and materials used were something that couldn’t be changed, and it was never mentioned in the history books. In every way, it was inferior to the two other swords, and when the boss justified the sword with the ‘young men should go and make history’ excuse, Zhang Heng turned a deaf ear.
Yet, he eventually decided to buy it because from his long experience in the games—the boss who would only appear at the end of the quest should be on the same level as Einstein in Apollo Training Camp, and Arthur Conan Doyle in Deductive Reasoning.
The guy was buried rather deep in the questneither Scarlett nor her friends had met him before. Zhang Heng assumed that it had to be the katana shop’s owner because he set off some trigger. Zhang Heng had three swords on him. The battle to obtain the Juzumaru was the fiercest-it spilled from the tea house to the street, and at the end of it, he had to fight Kirino Toshiaki. The battle for the Kiku-ichimonji was more demanding in terms of swordsmanship-defeating Okita Soji, probably the best swordsman of the Bakumatsu period and one determined to wear himself out, was no easy feat either.
But if you thought about it, it was the third sword, its acquisition of which did not seem to require much effort was the most difficult to obtain.
Including the extra time he had due to the bug, it took Zhang Heng nine months to assist the ailing Koyama dojo back to life and become known throughout Kyoto. This would have been an impossible undertaking for the other players who only had thirty days to complete the quest.
Based on previous patterns, most of the game items were directly correlated with difficulty, especially hidden items—the reason why Zhang Heng decided to bet on the sword.
However, it turned out to be a dud.
The bartender lady seemed to be gloating. She was there when Zhang Heng completed the exchange with Scarlet. Generally speaking, game items that allowed access to special quests were quite valuable. Even if Zhang Heng did not use them himself, he could sell them for a good price and earn many points. In every way, it was way more powerful than an F-grade item. This was a massive loss for him.
After all, once upon a time, he had two C-grade items-similar to the Mikazuki Munechika—yet he chose this ‘Ordinary Sword’ over them. All he could do now was accept his losses.
Zhang Heng counted the points he had accumulated so far. After the Deductive Reasoning quest, he had around 1200 points. Later on, because he was involved in the battle between the Arc of Light and the Union, he bought a sniper rifle and a flash bullet that cost him 50 points. Right now, he had around 1100 points left.
When the bartender finished exulting in his misfortune, Zhang Heng asked, “Remember you told me that you knew a blacksmith that forges weapons for the gods?” “Mmhmm. What about it?” The bartender raised an eyebrow at him, looking intrigued. Then she pointed at the ‘Ordinary Sword’ and said, “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of recasting this thing?”
“Now I finally understand what the guy meant when he said-someone great helped him to get out of a tough situation,” sighed Zhang Heng.
After the disappointment subsided, Zhang Heng reconsidered all possibilities. Suppose the owner of the katana shop bore no malice when he recommended the sword. In that case, there could be only one explanation left—the man obviously knew nothing about Zhang Heng. However, he did know that Zhang Heng had the means to recast the sword and activate the Blade Bone feature concealed within.
That also implied that the shop owner and the swordsmith the bartender knew were not the same people.
“You better think this through. No one knows what this so-called Blade Bone’s characteristic actually is. That guy I know charges a hefty price for his service. What’s more, this sword is only a Grade-F item. Why invest so much in ending up with a D or even just an E-grade item? Your losses would be even greater then. Sometimes, nipping your losses at the bud may be the wiser move,” the bartender warned.
“This sword is given to me by a friend, and it contains her emotions. The guy was right; this is my sword,” said Zhang Heng. “Which is why I’ve made the decision. We’ll see how it performs after it has been recast. Also, can you ask him if I could pay using game items?”
Zhang Heng might not have many points on hand, and after the battle between the Arc of Light and the Union, he had collected quite a few game items that weren’t the least practical. On top of that, he received a few more items when he killed the players’ team to save Meinan. Right now, he had so many game items that it was almost excessive.
There was always a limit to the items he was allowed to bring into quests. The remaining items in his possession were hard to be put to fair use, and it would be great if he could use them to pay for the recast. “That guy does have an interest in strange materials,” said the bartender. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask…”
Theits X had stringent blade-control regulations. Zhang Heng was not interested in carrying around an F-grade sword, so he simply deposited it with the bartender.
After that, Zhang Heng gave himself some time off and temporarily stayed away from that strange world, returning to his original position as a college student.
In the following week, he stayed away from the players’ forum, attended lectures on time, and played computer games with his roommate Wei Jiangyang and the others. He never missed his daily training, of course. Above all that, Zhang Heng also downloaded Fate/Grand Order* and made it just in time for Honno-ji’s Rerun. Zhang Heng hit level 648 twice, but even after he took out his Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, there was still no sign of Okita Soji.
Perhaps their encounter at the dungeon had exhausted whatever fate that bounded them.
When Chen Huadong erupted in excited laughter, proclaiming loudly, “Miss Okita is mine!”
Zhang Heng was reminded of the boy with a shy smile in Kiyomizu Temple and the brilliant cherry blossoms that day.
Translator’s note: Fate/Accel Zero Order: an online, free-to-play Japanese mobile game
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