Chapter 1327

<Chapter 1327> 1327. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into a Viscount Family

Leaving all the miscellaneous matters aside, I decided to first deal with the cracked blade of my Hwaryeon Bidoh. Since post-war cleanup wasn’t my responsibility anyway, I didn’t care about it.

When you’re sick, you go to a doctor. When a machine breaks down, you call an engineer. And when something’s broken, you consult an expert—it’s the best course of action. So I headed to the dwarf slave village in Tevra.

“Welcome, my lord viscount! As per your orders, we’ve been diligently forging weapons and armor every day!”

As soon as I arrived at the village, the dwarves immediately bowed flat on the ground. This was their hard-earned way of dealing with me since I usually caused chaos whenever I showed up. With a serious expression, I surveyed the Frost Hammer Tribe and declared:

“By my command, gather all the dwarves.”

The dwarves spread the word throughout the village with uneasy faces. Within ten minutes, all the dwarves had gathered at the center of the village.

“My lord viscount… Is there a problem with the goods we delivered…?”

Pethus, the chieftain of the Frost Hammer Tribe, trembled in fear as he spoke.

“HIIIIIIEEEK?!”

I abruptly drew my sword, causing the dwarves to scream in terror and collapse onto the ground.

“Spare us, please!”

“We’ll fix any mistakes! Give us a chance!”

“D-did we become useless to you?”

I frowned, annoyed by the dwarves’ panicking. Maybe I should kill one as an example… But then I realized this wasn’t the time for that.

“Look here! There’s a crack in the blade of my Hwaryeon Bidoh!”

“It’s hard to see from here. May we take a closer look?”

“Yes, but be careful. If the crack on the Hwaryeon Bidoh grows larger or if it breaks… all of you will be wiped out.”

“HIIIEEEK! W-we’ll be very careful!”

Pethus approached cautiously. His face turned grave as he examined the cracked part carefully.

“My lord, may I examine it more closely?”

“Yes.”

Pethus extended his hand, asking for the Hwaryeon Bidoh. Although I hesitated to hand over my precious sword to someone else, I had no choice since it needed repair.

“GYYYAAAH!”

As soon as Pethus took the Hwaryeon Bidoh, he jumped in surprise and dropped it on the ground.

“You little—!”

“HIIIEK! I-I’m sorry!”

Pethus quickly put on the gloves attached to his waist and picked up the sword. His face looked troubled—not just because he dropped the sword.

“You guys, come take a look at this blade.”

Pethus called out to the surrounding dwarves. Despite being wary of my reaction, they couldn’t hide their curiosity and slowly approached.

“Hmm… This is almost reaching the state of a cursed blade. Hey, you’re an expert in demon swords, right? Do you know anything about this?”

“Hmm… I’ve deliberately created cursed blades a few times before… but this is on a completely different level. It’s naturally transforming into a cursed blade. Moreover, wasn’t this sword made from red dragon scales and black iron? To artificially turn it into a cursed blade, we’d need to pile up the souls of at least hundreds of thousands of people…”


“Killed hundreds of thousands…?”

“That’s the minimum estimate. Look at the blade. There are traces of refining where the bound spirits were washed away, and it’s still in this state.”

“Can’t we just refine it again?”

“Crazy talk! Didn’t you see the clan leader scream when he touched the hilt? If we attempt to refine it, you won’t even get a few hammer strikes in before dying. The best option is to destroy this blade.”

After speaking, the dwarf seemed to regret it and glanced at me nervously. I glared at him with wide eyes. He mumbled while avoiding my gaze.

“T-this legendary sword must not be destroyed under any circumstances. You agree, right?”

“U-uh, of course!”

“A legendary weapon that will go down in history must not be destroyed.”

They all watched me carefully.

“Stop spouting nonsense and fix the Fire Lotus Blade already.”

The dwarves began muttering amongst themselves. Though irritated, there was nothing I could do—time wasn’t on my side.

The dwarves’ meeting ended. Pethus, holding the Fire Lotus Blade, cautiously approached me.

“My lord… please don’t be angry and hear me out calmly.”

“You won’t make me angry if you stop talking nonsense.”

“Hmph… W-well…”

Pethus hesitated, looking around for help, but the other dwarves only stared at him coldly.

“Fine. I’ll be honest. We cannot repair the Fire Lotus Blade with our current abilities.”

“Are you refusing out of laziness?”

“N-no, absolutely not!”

“I heard what you were saying earlier about it being some sort of cursed blade or something.”

“A demon blade. More specifically, a cursed sword. It refers to weapons corrupted by spirits or curses. They often have special powers, though usually undesirable ones.”

“Just get to the point.”

“…The Fire Lotus Blade is currently undergoing demonification. The problem is that the process stopped due to cracks in the blade. Normally, when this happens, the spirit or curse would dissipate, leaving behind an ordinary piece of iron. But the Fire Lotus Blade isn’t behaving like that.”

“So why can’t you repair it?”

“Because attempting repairs might result in death from the curse and bound spirits. Of course, we’re willing to risk our lives to repair the Fire Lotus Blade for you, My Lord. However, if we die needlessly, neither the blade nor us will benefit.”

“What about removing the spirit or curse?”

“It’s already been refined once. If we try purification now, the Fire Lotus Blade will shatter under the stress.”

“So what do you expect me to do? Just sit here and watch it stay broken?”

“B-beg your pardon! Based on its durability, the Fire Lotus Blade should last at least another hundred years without breaking!”

“You little…”

“EEEEEK!”

I sighed. These incompetent dwarves were one of my major sources of income, someone I could exploit for life. Killing them in a fit of rage would cause irreparable financial damage.

“Fine. I’ll find another way. Get back to work.”

“M-my lord, judging by the state of the Fire Lotus Blade, it seems like you’ve slain an incredible being. Would you mind telling us what it was?”

“Is that something you can determine?”

“Our conclusion is that killing an ordinary creature wouldn’t put the blade in such a state.”

“Hmm. I killed a Red Dragon. Adult form.”

“G-gasp! So that explains its condition…”

Pethus and the other dwarves nodded as if everything made sense now.

I started looking elsewhere. I couldn’t give up on the Fire Lotus Blade so easily. Sure, Pethus said it could last a hundred years, but…

“To someone using the Leisure Life App, a hundred years doesn’t feel very long.”

‘In the Bright Ascension World, a hundred years means nothing. Fundamentally…’


“I’ll just keep it in my inventory for now and go about my daily life…”

First, I met Yuria. After all, she usually handles most issues for me. Conveniently, Sharnel and Priscilla were also by her side. Since Priscilla is an Ancient Dragon, I sought her advice.

Yuria’s eyes widened as she examined the state of the Hwaryeon Bidoh.

“This… this is quite something.”

“Dullibard. The soul fragment within is vividly intact. Normally, that shouldn’t happen… could it be because the blade was forged from a Dragon’s Scale?”

“I-I don’t really understand much when I look at it…”

Yuria shook her head.

“My apologies, Master. This is not something I can handle.”

“Messing with this recklessly might transfer a curse to you. It’s material unsuitable even for magical artifacts. I recommend you discard it.”

I sighed at their reactions.

Both Yuria and Priscilla had given up. In other words, there was no way to repair the Hwaryeon Bidoh in this world.

But it was too early to completely abandon hope.

I still have my Leisure Life App. Someday, I might obtain an item capable of repairing the Hwaryeon Bidoh.

“If not, then I’ll just need to travel to a world where it can be repaired.”

With a melancholy gaze, I stared at the blade of the Hwaryeon Bidoh. The crack was noticeable—barely over a centimeter, yet it irritated me immensely.

“…Would sanding it smooth out the crack?”

For some reason, the Hwaryeon Bidoh seemed to tremble slightly, or maybe it was just my imagination.

As soon as the war ended, Melissa decisively relinquished her position as Duchess Argent, stepping down from her seat of power to return as my maid.

The Argent Duchy declared itself a new kingdom: the Argent Kingdom.

Exhausted from Dullibard’s tyranny and endless wars, the people rallied behind the Argent Duke.

The Continental War had come to an end. The flames of war that once scorched the continent finally subsided.

My marriage to Melissa was postponed until the affairs of the Argent Kingdom were settled.

Leading my army, I set off on the long journey home. Though the distance was vast, the thought of what awaited me upon my return made my steps lighter.

“Surviving troops after the war: 50,000… Isn’t that a lot?”

20,000 slave soldiers. 30,000 elite soldiers.

Considering we originally left the fiefdom with an army of 120,000, more than half had perished. Even so, 50,000 was still a significant number.

“Maybe we recruited too many slave soldiers… They should’ve been culled earlier.”

Once back in the Rafelli Kingdom, the slave soldiers and elite troops would return to their respective homes. Fewer than 10,000 would remain in my territory.

“These are battle-hardened veterans. And having tasted plunder and rape, they’re likely to turn into bandits…”

I didn’t care what chaos they caused in other nations, but Rafelli Kingdom was my territory. I couldn’t afford to ignore troublemakers within my domain.

“They need to be dealt with before they cause problems. Eliminating them all would raise suspicion… Let’s leave around 20,000.”

Now, how to kill 30,000 men?

Executing them outright wasn’t an option. My own troops would rebel, and my reputation would suffer.

“Let’s use demons.”

The plan unfolded seamlessly.

I asked Yuria to help create a large-scale trap. The army was led into it. A magical disaster was unleashed—cracks split the earth, hail fell from the heavens, and through magic, a demonic illusion was shown to the soldiers.

“Demons! Demons have come to kill us! Kill the demons!!”

I shouted with all my might.

All blame for this calamity was pinned on the demon.

When approximately 30,000 allied soldiers had perished, I personally intervened to “slay the demon.”

“Though many sacrifices were made, we have defeated the demon and emerged victorious! Now, let’s return home!”

The soldiers cheered.

Internally, I mocked them. What fools.

And thus, we returned to the Rafelli Kingdom and disbanded the navy.

[Ending Leisure Time.]