Familiar

The sun had not yet fully risen when the sound of swords and other bladed weapons cutting through the air could be heard in front of the chapel in the third residential area of the eastern district.

"Good morning, Lord Cross...you're up early exercising," said Melissa, who had just woken up and heard the sound of someone swinging a sword from afar. It wasn't even time for the nuns to wake up yet.

Upon stepping outside, Melissa saw that it was indeed Cross, but he was wielding a "weighted sword" made of magic instead of a regular long sword. Although it looked just like a regular sword, it was two or three times heavier, making it the perfect choice for practicing.

Cross was currently holding the weighted sword with his left hand and practicing his strikes. From the sweat dripping down his body, it was clear that he had been practicing for a while.

"Why are you using your left hand? Don't normal knights use both hands to wield a sword? And even if you're not following the norm, Lord Cross isn't left-handed, right?" asked Melissa, yawning and sitting on a bench next to Eve.

"Well, not necessarily. The greatest advantage of swords is their flexibility. If you stick too closely to knightly swordsmanship, you'll end up hindering the sword's true potential. So, as a 'warrior,' you have to be able to maintain a position of both offense and defense...not just with your left hand," explained Cross.

He suddenly threw the weighted sword into his right hand and quickly completed several consecutive strikes.

"Not just with your right hand either."

Then, Cross began to use the weighted sword alternately with his left and right hands. Finally, he lowered his center of gravity, gripped the weighted sword with both hands, and quickly made a horizontal strike. Although the strike was made in the air, a deep slash mark appeared on a tree not far away.

"When you're wielding a sword with both hands, it represents a full-force strike," said Cross.

Melissa, who was no longer sleepy, remained silent for a few seconds. She was surprised by what she saw in front of her. It was completely different from what she knew about the knights of the church. Or rather, compared to Cross, the knights he knew didn't use "swordsmanship" at all.

"But this kind of swordsmanship lacks stability compared to standard knightly swordsmanship, and any negligence will expose flaws," added Cross.

However, it was also one of the most versatile swordsmanship techniques. Without this kind of swordsmanship, Cross might not have survived the battle in the Dark Ages.

"Stop being modest, Lord Cross. If you lack stability, just wear more armor..." Melissa, who had no understanding of combat, spoke casually.

"..."

Cross was almost speechless at Melissa's naive statement. Stability did not refer to one's own weight... Wearing too much armor would only decrease one's flexibility.

"Anyway, instead of discussing swordsmanship, why don't you go change your clothes and wash your face?"

At this moment, Melissa, who was conversing with Cross, was not only wearing sleepwear with sparse fabric, exposing most of her body, but her hair was also messy.

Although Cross was not particularly interested in women, Melissa's amazing size in front of her chest, combined with the deep cleavage exposed by this nightdress, still had considerable "destructive power."

He thought Melissa would cover her chest shyly and run back...

"Ah... it's fortunate that Clarissa didn't come, or I would have been scolded again with this appearance."

But Melissa didn't care about Cross's gaze and her exposed body, instead worried about being discovered by Clarissa.

"Go get ready, morning prayer is about to begin."

Come to think of it, maybe there has never been a creature in this church worthy of being called a "man," so Melissa was so unguarded.

"Ah, right, then Lord Cross, see you later!"

After a small jump, the pink-haired girl quickly ran back, looking at the two soft things swaying with the girl's steps, Cross could only shake his head.

...

After finishing morning prayer and having breakfast with everyone, Cross changed out of his Judgment attire. Instead, he put on a priest's robe with a hood covering his hair. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he then left the church with Eve and headed to the city.

The goal today was roughly twofold: one was to replenish magical materials, and the other was to help Eve buy some clothes.

Whether it was clothing or magical materials, such items should be in the South District, where trade was the main focus. There were also horse-drawn carriages and coachmen for transportation all over the city, so there was no need to get lost due to not knowing the way.

Due to the stark contrast between the carriage specially designed for passengers and the makeshift carts used by the caravan before, the two arrived at the entrance of the South District quickly. As they got off the carriage, what caught Cross's attention wasn't the dazzling array of goods in the South District, but the fortress-like gate on the opposite side.

After a brief inquiry with the knight guarding the entrance, they learned that it was the entrance to the Old City. Due to the chaotic and dangerous nature of the people in the Old City, the entrance was often closed.

"Old City?" Harlan's map only showed a blank space for the distribution of the Old City, arousing Cross's strong interest in the place. However, Harlan had not said anything definitive about this place, indicating that there was nothing worth investigating... at least not for now. Besides, the purpose of their trip was not here, and it didn't fit his character to rashly explore an unknown place.

The only choice for now was to temporarily give up. However, Cross didn't want to do that. He looked at Eve and sighed. Since the battle with Harlan in the outer corridor, his magic power had not recovered.

The normal cycle for restoring magic power was about half a month for an ordinary person, but Cross was one of the faster ones, fully restoring his magic power in about seven days. However, he still needed to spend his magic power to maintain Eve's actions, so the recovery cycle was extended accordingly.

In order to better recover his magic power in case of an emergency, Cross usually reduced the amount of magic power given to Eve to fully recover himself, which was also the reason why the artificial human did not need to eat and yet "felt hungry" during their previous conversation.

"Well then." While the two gatekeepers were not paying attention, Cross picked up Eve and walked on the wall to the other side of the wall - the streets of the Old City. The place was full of clutter and blood stains that had dried on the walls, indicating that it was not a friendly place.

"Since I don't plan to explore it myself, let's use my 'familiar' to investigate first."

Cross walks up to the pile of debris and uses magic to manipulate the dust on the ground to construct a ritual circle. Using the debris as material, they create a "puppet". This is a simple magic that Cross is extremely skilled in, and they don't need to hint at their incantation. The pile of debris twists and turns, splitting and recombining to create a humanoid figure. It doesn't take too much magic power to create a puppet of this level.

Cross picks up a piece of cloth from the ground and covers the puppet's body, making it look like an ordinary person wearing a cloak. They then leave the old city area with Eve and leave the exploration of the area to the puppet. If the puppet's control spell is ever undone or destroyed, all the sounds and images it has encountered will appear in Cross's mind as information. It's a very convenient exploration magic.

"Alright, next up." Cross decides to head to the southern area, which is a beautiful and bustling commercial center, filled with all sorts of shops. They need to restock on magic materials, so they look for a weapon shop, as Cross is an alchemist who needs certain materials for their magic.

Without much research on the southern area, Cross randomly walks into a weapon shop. The storefront is not particularly new, but the moment they step inside, they are struck by the cleanliness of the place. The weapons on display and the stands holding them are all spotless, showing that the blacksmith here must be someone who truly cares for their weapons.

Cross isn't here to purchase any weapons, so they aren't interested in the display items. They lead Eve straight to the counter and observe the middle-aged man with short red hair and a strange goatee.

"Hello, is there anything I can do for you?"

The red-haired blacksmith smiled casually when he saw Cross deliberately covering part of his face. From the man's actions upon entering the shop, it was unlikely that he was there to buy weapons.

"Do you sell black iron and mithril here?" Cross got straight to the point, not wanting to waste time.

"Oh? Are you also a blacksmith? But buying materials doesn't require coming to a weapon shop, does it? You can buy them at the Merchant's Guild," the red-haired middle-aged man was a bit surprised. From the young man's appearance, he was only about twenty years old, and such a young blacksmith was rare. Judging from his aura, he wasn't someone who came to run errands.

"It's not completely necessary, and I don't need a lot. I can pay about twice the price of the Merchant's Guild."

"What!"

Before the red-haired blacksmith could react, Cross continued, "It might be a bit of a hassle to go to a guild with a lot of people, and it seems like you don't have that problem here."

Cross looked around the shop, and other than himself, Eve, and the blacksmith, there was no one else in the store. After all, it was a weapon shop, and there were no people browsing here.

"Fine... how much do you need?"

Even if it wasn't for buying weapons, business was still business, so the blacksmith tentatively agreed to Cross's request.

"About two or three hundred kilograms of each would be best."

"What are you kidding? How are you going to take two or three hundred kilograms of each away? And I can't move them out either, although I don't mind if you go into the workshop."

"That will do."

If he could enter the workshop, it would be even more convenient. The Merchant's Guild was a chain building found throughout the continent, so even if Cross hadn't been to this particular guild, he knew the price of those materials. He took out a bag of gold coins from behind and placed it on the table after the blacksmith finished counting.

After that, the blacksmith opened the door behind him, and Cross followed him through his workshop to the warehouse.

"That's the black iron over there, and the mithril is at your feet," said Cross. Compared to the messy blacksmith, the entire warehouse was surprisingly tidy. All the raw materials were neatly cut and stacked on the ground, with each one labeled with its weight so that the necessary materials could be easily identified.

"I'd like to see how you're going to take these... Mr. Nameless Priest," the unkempt blacksmith challenged.

"After all, you're related to the church, and you have possession of these items," Cross calmly lied, using his identity to pretend that he had special tools. It was well-known on this continent that some items had special abilities, and the blacksmith seemed to believe Cross after hearing this. So, Cross walked up to the materials and silently chanted the magic spell.

" (Activate second element, target material - metal, control formula - type 1), transmutation magic - disassemble."

It was the disassembly magic. After all, because of his identity as a mage, using the identity of a judge would also cause a lot of trouble. To save time, Cross chose this ordinary blacksmith shop, where he could easily complete the task by making up some excuses.

The blacksmith watched Cross's back in astonishment, marveling at how convenient the "tools" were. He didn't realize that Cross had used magic. After all, it was very rare to see a "mage."

Quickly gathering the "essence" of the materials onto himself and tidying up the useless parts, Cross didn't bother saying much to the blacksmith. He and Eve left the weapon shop.

The next target - clothing.