Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Cursed Ama-no-Murakumo Sword 

Ahead of us we found, sticking from a patch of barren ground, something that had definitely just dropped from the sky. A sword. 
From where it was stuck into the ground, a purple encroachment was spreading. 
“A sword?” I said. That’s exactly what it was, a sword with a white blade and something very much like the core embedded in the middle of the handguard. If the monster was like Yamata no Orochi, it would make sense— from the perspective of Japanese mythology, at least—for it to spit up a sword. I might have understood if this was a drop, but it looked like the sword was actually the core. 
“We should dispose of this quickly. It’s already polluting the ground in an attempt to revive itself,” Sadeena recommended. 
“Kwaaa!” 
“Well, that’s why we have Gaelion. He can take care of the core, I’m sure,” I said. It was a dragon-type monster, ostensibly, so if we took care of the core, that should shut it up for good. Then Gaelion placed his mouth on the core-like decoration and was flicked away with a snap. 
“Kwaa!” 
“So what? It’s too corrupted?” Sadeena asked. 
“I knew he wasn’t up to the task,” I said. Truly, when it came to the crunch, Gaelion always seemed to drop the ball. “In any case, we need to pull it out and deal with it—but it looks like just touching that thing is going to curse you.” It certainly looked pretty suspicious. My own body was still suffering from the pollution of a curse, and so just getting close to the core was throbbingly painful. Like my skin was burning, perhaps. I narrowed my eyes and checked it out. 
 

Cursed Ama-no-Murakumo Sword. 
That the appraisal didn’t even work properly proved it was a particularly high-capability weapon. I’d never expected to find this particular weapon, one of the three fabled divine items of Japanese history, here in this other world, although that was just how my shield chose to translate it for me, and so it was surely a different weapon altogether. 
“Feeehhh. W-well, if it’s a sword, how about having the Sword Hero take it and deal with it?” Rishia suggested. Give it to Ren, perhaps? Would it be safe to give him gear that looked so obviously cursed? That said, it also felt like a waste to just leave it stuck in the ground. Not to mention, the Orochi might revive itself again if it was left unchecked. 
I could also place it inside the shield, of course, but I was scared of creating a second Demon Dragon incident. 
“Hey! It looks like you defeated it!” That was when the old guy and his master—Motoyasu II—turned up. 
“First the Spirit Tortoise, now this. You guys sure know how to put on a fight. I was watching from a distance and it was still amazing.” The old guy was giving me a thumbs-up, and I returned the gesture. 
 
“Thanks. I mean, all I really do is defend,” I admitted. 
“Oh no, I don’t think we would have won without your powers, little Naofumi.” Sadeena offered that compliment. She’d been watching me more closely recently. That said, after deploying Air Strike Shield and the other support, it wasn’t as though I was just sitting on my hands. If I had any regrets, it was maybe that I couldn’t contain the movements of the Orochi a little more. 
“So what are you doing out here now?” the old guy asked. 
“Right, well, we chased after the core that flew out of that monster and found that it’s shaped like a sword and looks cursed. So we’re just trying to decide what to do with it.” With that, Motoyasu II took a look at the sword stuck in the ground and checked it over. 
“Wow. That’s quite the weapon. So that’s the body of the beast?” Then, most foolishly, he grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. A cloud of purple miasma rose up and swirled around Motoyasu II. So he’d just gone and gotten himself cursed? Ding-ding, round two. What was he, soft in the head? Even as I cursed him—verbally, this time—in my head, I raised my shield, ready to fight the monster all over again. 
“Shut it. Enough wriggling,” Motoyasu II shouted at the clattering sword, and the miasma around it dispersed. 
“Huh?” 
“Yeah, this baby is cursed. You can’t hope to use it.” 
“Says you, after just snatching it up. Are you okay?” I said. 
 
“What are you jabbering about? I’m a blacksmith! How could I do my job if weapons started cursing me?” Was it really that simple? I looked at the old guy, but he just offered a shrug of his shoulders. 
“Most impressive, Master. Being able to hold that sword,” the old guy admired. 
“Hah. A blacksmith getting cursed means he’s small fry, at best. Holding it in such a way as to not get cursed is easy.” Oh crap. Was I going to have to rethink my impression of him as a skirt-chasing dope? It was starting to look like he really knew his business. 
“Can you at least stop it from going on another rampage?” I asked. 
“Me? Like I care.” The old guy’s master went to—what, put it back in the ground?—as though nothing had happened. 
“Please, can’t you do something? If that monster appears again, it really will be terrible for all of us.” Reading the situation well, Raphtalia begged the old guy’s master, hands clasped in front of her. 

“We’re up, Erhard. We’ve been called on! Let’s reforge this sword so it has no problems!” Motoyasu II announced. 
 
“I’m here with you, Master. Kid, you guys help as well. I think we’re going to need some pretty tough-to-find materials for this one.” 
“Yeah, it does look pretty high spec. It’ll provide you experience for making weapons too, so we’ll help,” I added. 
“Thanks, kid.” In the end, then, the sword that appeared upon defeating Orochi was placed in the care of the old guy and his master. 
“What else, then? Any damage to the town or around there?” I asked. 
“Part of the port was destroyed, but only a handful of people got hurt. That’s also thanks to the Heavenly Emperor, the Shield Hero, and your retinue,” Raluva replied while checking the town. Good, not many people hurt. That laid the foundations for inciting the people to join our cause further down the road. “However—in the vicinity of the burial mound, we’re looking at serious damage and some remaining pollutants, meaning it’ll take quite some time to return that to normal.” 
“Then we’ll have to give up on it,” I said. It wasn’t as though it was an important location. “In any case, there’s no justice in a nation that would unleash a sealed monster on rebel forces. Don’t they have any idea of how much damage the people might have suffered?” Raluva and the others from the town nodded in hearty agreement at my words. 
“We are going to impart these facts immediately, not just to neighboring settlements but the entire country. If we make good use of this, we should be able to rustle up some collaboration from others who take issue with the policies of our nation,” Raluva said. I looked over at Raphtalia. This was it, then. We’d come this far. Now we had to go through with it. 
 
“Please, do so. It seems we’re the only ones who can hope to stop these people.” That was exactly what I might have expected Raphtalia to say, but it also wasn’t quite the push we needed—it was likely to leave some people decidedly unincited. 
“She’s right! There’s no justice in a Heavenly Emperor who’d do something so heinous! He and his cronies couldn’t care less about the happiness of the regular people! You men, you women, are you really okay with that?” I continued to lay it on as thick as I could, and as loud as I could, firing up Raluva and the others. Perhaps hearing this steeled their resolve, because their eyes looked deadly serious and they replied with one voice: “As the Heavenly Emperor commands!” 
Thus, Raluva and the other Q’ten Lo revolutionaries got over their hangovers and swore allegiance to our cause once again. 
“I’m not going to be too harsh on you, but you like this kind of thing, don’t you, Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia commented to me, somewhat exasperated, as she looked over Raluva and the others. 
“When you’re doing something in the name of great justice, a little exaggeration feels good,” I admitted. We were justice, punishing evil. That kind of feeling was great for boosting morale. After all, everyone wanted to be the good guys, not the bad guys. 
“A nation that worships Raphtalia! What a nightmare.” Ata couldn’t resist an opportunity for a smarmy comment. 
“I’m not asking for any of this. For some reason, once I get this miko getup on, people pray to me, that’s all. If my father and mother weren’t involved, I would have run from this, I assure you.” 
 
“Whatever.” There was no convincing Atla. “You did well though, brother!” 
“Y-yeah, I did! Atla! I did my best!” 
“Which also meant I was unable to do much for Master Naofumi. I won’t forgive you for that, brother!” 
“Whaaaaaat! Atla!” She was even on his case when he did well. That was completely unreasonable. Fohl really didn’t have it easy. I almost felt sorry for him. 
“One other thing, Shield Hero,” Raluva ventured. 
“Yeah?” The revolutionaries were looking at Filo, who was currently in her filolial form. She was just coming back from collecting the morning star that she threw at Orochi. 
“Huh?” 
“Something I noticed when you went into battle—” 
“Something about Filo?” I said. 
“A talking filolial—that is, a girl with wings. She’s one of your companions, correct?” 
“Yes! Filo’s name is Filo!” Filo chirped. It looked like Filo and Gaelion had been facing off again. 
“Yeah, she’s a filolial. A race that develops in a unique way when raised by a hero. Why, do you need something from her?” I asked. 
“Actually, yes. A white filolial with a cherry blossom pattern? We may well be able to use this to our greater advantage.” I looked at Filo too. In that moment, though, I had no idea what the Q’ten Lo contingent was talking about.