VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

We took turns swinging down the hammer down onto the iron ingot.

Heat enveloped the workshop and Selene-san was in front me, fully concentrated in her work.

The sound of the hammer reverberated throughout our surroundings.

Looking carefully at the iron and then hitting in the suitable spots.

Obviously, this was very important.

However, the most important thing was what the girl in front of me wished for. I couldn’t miss the places she needed help with.

The only one interacting with the iron was her, I was only giving her a hand.

The gaze within the glasses moved.

The hammer was swung down on that spot and sparks scattered.

No words were exchanged between us, she only wholeheartedly swung down the hammer.

「-ah, *cough*, *cough*!」(Tobi)

For some reason, Tobi started coughing at us because he was looking over here while holding his breath.

However, I can’t get distracted by that.

I removed the things in my field of view from my mind and concentrated on the piece of iron that was starting to take shape.

We repeated those steps and then…

「We made it…!」(Selene)

「Fuh…」(Hind)

Hearing Selene-san’s words, I took a big breath.

Tension left my body and a sense of accomplishment and exhaustion enveloped my body at the same time.

I could tell from one look at her expression that the results were good.

Built from that lump of iron, a greatsword with a massive presence stood in front of us.

「Fueh…」(Tobi)

「No, no, Tobi. That just happened because you strained yourself too much as if you were working with us.」(Hind)

「I just got too engrossed in the atmosphere…」(Tobi)

Strength left Tobi’s body and he lifelessly fell on top of the chair.

Selene-san placed the tools down and held out her hand towards me and I grasped it.

Both of our expressions were bright and we exchanged smiles.

「Good work, Hind-kun! Tobi-kun too, thanks for helping us!」(Selene)

「You did great too, Selene-san.」(Hind)

「Good work! Yup, I get the feeling I just saw something great…it was actually fun!」(Tobi)

Selene-san had already started making the final touches on the greatsword.

All that was left was the small details, it’s the part of the process she said she likes the most.

Me and Tobi started to tidy up the tools we had used.

However, I feel like my body stiffens when I tense up…even though it’s a game.

I moved around while carrying what I could on my shoulders and suddenly, the axe we had finished entered my field of view.

I thought for a second to apply one of the wet compresses I’ve made with Philia-chan to it.

Though I won’t do it because it would be a waste.

After finishing up, I assisted Selene-san with the small details alongside Tobi.

The reason was, this greatsword weighed far more than a normal one and even the simple act of turning it over was a pain.

Tobi and I supported the sword and just when our hands started to feel numb, the work was done.

「Since it took us a while to adjust the heat, we finished up later than usual. Are you both fine on time?」(Selene)

「I’m fine. I stay up late all the time!」(Tobi)

「Don’t act all proud! Get some proper sleep! Geez…In my case Ris-…Riizu might get a bit mad with me. I wonder if she went to sleep already?」(Hind)

Like this, we had finished making the weapons that Albert had requested.

All that was left was to deliver the weapons to them.

I’m curious about what their reactions will be.

The next day, Albert and Philia-chan came to the guild home to receive the weapons.

Since they were going to leave Sala after receiving them, all of us had gathered here to welcome them.

The place was the workshop, on top of the table, two big thick weapons released a dull glow.

「They were made primarily by Hind and me. Tobi-kun assisted us with the job. Please accept them.」(Selene)

「I appreciate it! I was looking forward to this day.」(Albert)

「Thanks…」(Philia)

First off was Philia-chan, who received the great axe with two elemental stones inserted in it from Selene-san and brandished it.

She changed the angle and grasped it in different ways to get a feel of it and then…

「Can I try it out?」(Philia)

「I thought you would say that. We have a training room underground so do it there. Albert-san too, come with us.」(Hind)

Hearing the words I expected from her, I prompted them to come with me.

If it’s there, no matter how wild they go, it won’t be a problem.

With the help of Tobi, I picked up the greatsword and tried to hand it to Albert but…he raised his hand and stopped us.

What’s wrong?

「I’m sorry, could you hold onto the sword until we go underground? I can’t stop my hands from shaking.」(Albert)

「Eh?」(Hind)

「Aniki…?」(Tobi)

Now that I look at it, the hand that he raised to stop us was shaking.

He placed his left hand on top of it to bring it down and I could see his mouth loosening, it was an expression we haven’t seen coming from him.

It was a reaction as if he was a child in front of a present he had always wanted…

Me and Tobi nodded to each other, put on gloves and put strength into our arms to carry the greatsword.

「We are going in first!」(Yumir)

「Yeah, please lead the way! …There we go! Nuoh…I thought about this yesterday but with the strength of a Shinto Priest and a Light Warrior it’s heavy, too heavy…」(Hind)

「C-Cant’ be helped. This is for aniki…he looks quite pleased, so we can only just bear with it…」(Tobi)

「We can’t have the girls carry it after all…kuh…」(Hind)

With Tobi trailing behind me, we whispered so the others couldn’t hear us.

Within Migratory Bird, the ones with the highest strength are: Yumir in first place and Selene-san in second place but…if we made those two carry it without doing anything ourselves, we would feel guilty…

Furthermore, even with the strength correction, real life strength is needed too, so either of us would have trouble carrying it in the end.

That being the case, 「In that case we’ll do it」, it felt like it inevitably fell on that kind of thought.

For the record, Tobi held the grip and I the edge, so I was feeling really nervous.

「Ah, they are already starting!」(Tobi)

「Uwah, it’s burning, it’s burning. Elemental weapons sure are flashy.」(Hind)

Once we entered the training area, flames rose up. A little girl was swinging a great axe of approximately her own stature towards the scarecrow.

She then changed the stance she was holding the axe with and stood still gathering strength.

That stance is the one she showed us in the pyramid…!

Immediately following that, Philia-chan started spinning wildly and activated 『Tornado Swing』.

She transformed into a blazing tornado and fried up the scarecrow as she cut it into pieces.

The displayed damage along with the elemental damage was something else.

The scarecrow is set to have zero defense, but even while taking that into account, there’s a big difference compared to the previous weapon.

Philia-chan stopped in place after swinging the axe, headed towards us while carrying it on her back and gave us a thumbs up while not saying a word.

She was expressionless, however, those movements felt like she was saying 「I’m really satisfied!」 to us.

「Alright, I’ll go next.」(Albert)

Once he said that, Albert finally took the greatsword from our hands and carried it on his shoulder with one arm.

He advanced towards the scarecrow as if he was switching places with Philia-chan and then placed his leg forward while placing his free hand on the handle of the sword.

Clomp! After making a loud sound that would make you think he had made a hole on the floor with that step, he took a swing with the greatsword with speed that left our eyes wide open.

That probably did like ten thousand damage, is what I was thinking but…

I unconsciously asked this question.

「D-Did you guys see that?」(Hind)

All of them started shaking their heads left and right in unison.

Albert looked at his own palm while looking surprised and then closed his hand tightly.

Then he smiled like a predator and released a gust of wind by grasping the sword again.

The display of damage of five digits kept dancing in the air and the scarecrow was mowed down left and right as if it was going to get stuck in the ground.

The only thing we could hear was the violent *dan* *dan* sound of his footsteps and the wind.

Then, there was also this ominous laughter.

「…Fuh, hahahaha! It was this, this! I was waiting for this! Wished for it! Hahahahahaha! More, more! Faster! Even faster!」(Albert)

Watching Albert, who kept cutting the scarecrow in pieces while laughing as if he had gone insane, Yumir started to back down unconsciously.

「So scary! P-Philia, is he ok?」(Yumir)

「Dad…looks like he’s having fun…」(Philia)

「Eh, is that really what he’s feeling at the moment!?」(Riizu)

It was weird to the point that even Riizu interjected with that comment.

「Philia-chan, are you not going to stop him…?」(Hind)

「Impossible. Once he gets like that, you can only leave him alone until he calms down.」(Philia)

「It looks like he’s satisfied with it, but what is this…」(Hind)

「Aniki, you are so cool! Uhyoooooooh!」(Tobi)

Me, Yumir and Riizu looked at Tobi, who could make such a comment when seeing someone go crazy like that, with cold eyes.

Just how much blind faith do you have in him…