°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Alistair opened her mouth again as she was working on reinforcing Announcer-san.

“Now, we’ll talk about the mysterious voice.”

『Oh, finally.』

(I wonder, how is the result of the analysis? Could it be that we can find out who they are or how to call them out?)

“That being said, there’s not much more we know about this one than what’s left of Cherubim.”

『Ah, is that so?』

“Yes. However, in a fairly deep part of the sword, I could certainly sense a soul separate from Master, albeit a weakened one.”

So does that mean it was not part of a discarded divine sword or something like Announcer-san, but it’s instead sealed inside a sword like I was?

“The ability to get skills from the magic stone would have been an ability that this soul originally had.”

『You mean a being that has the power to absorb skills and magic power from magic stones? How is it that I was also able to use this mysterious soul ability?』

“That’s where it gets complicated. Master’s interior is in a more complicated state and more mysterious than you yourself can imagine, you know?”

(Eh? What is that? Complex and mysterious?)

I’m a little afraid to ask. But it’s too late to retreat anyway. A man has courage, and a sword should face his enemies without hesitation.

『Tell me more.』

“Before that, I’d like to see Master absorb the magic stone, will that be alright?”

I see… Well, she will certainly find out more about it if I show it to her in person.

“Then here.”

“What am I supposed to do with this magic stone?”

“You have to cut it like this.”

“I see, so it’s like that…”

The magic stone that was handed over by Fran, was hit by my blade by Alistair as Fran instructed. Then, the absorption was done as usual.The weak demon stone didn’t fill me up very well, but I’m sure it was properly absorbed.

『What do you think of this?』

“Hmm, it’s an interesting flow of magical power. But I still think my analysis is correct after all. Therefore, I’ll tell you my conclusion now. Even if Master absorbs the magic stone, you’re not getting your power directly from it.

『What? What do you mean?』

“The magic is flowing towards the mysterious soul, not to Master directly.”

To sum up Alistair’s explanation, here’s how it worked.

When I absorb the magical stone, the mysterious soul sealed inside me receives its power. Apparently, this soul is quite damaged and it’s a mystery how it could still exist. According to her, the fact that it was sealed inside the divine sword might have been to protect its existence instead.

And from this mysterious soul that regained its power after eating the magic stone, the power will be shared with me. Apparently that was how it worked.

“Perhaps, this mysterious soul is the identity of the mysterious voice that Master heard previously. It is quite an extraordinary thing. It’s soul level is, shall I say, at a superior plane that even I can’t analyze.”

『You don’t know where or who he is?』

“I’m sorry. However, I don’t sense any kind of evil intent from it. I get the impression that it’s more than willing to cooperate with you.”

Well, if this mysterious soul is the identity of that mysterious voice, it was certainly not an enemy. And if anything, I think he is more of an ally than an enemy.

“To make things even worse, it seemed that the ability to strengthen Master with self-evolution points was handled by something other than this mysterious soul.”

『’Something else’ huh…… That’s a more vague description than the mysterious soul.』

“I know that, but I can only say as much.”

Inside of me, the remnants of Cherubim and the mysterious soul seem to be intricately intertwined. It’s a complicated situation, and apparently a third mystery exists within it. I couldn’t sense any soul or thoughts in this other mysterious thing, and it felt more like a magic program or system built inside a magical tool or device.

“Even though I say it’s a mystery, what I mean is that I don’t know the creator or the method of making it but I still understand some of its functions. Regardless, it’s too advanced for my understanding, and the analysis I conducted earlier could not completely catch up to it.”

『Even Alistair, a divine blacksmith, can’t analyze it out?』

“Honestly. Whoever created this system is a monster. I don’t know if there’s such a profession, but it’s at a level that’s impossible to build without assuming that there’s a divine grade mage or a divine grade alchemist or something of that caliber. At least as a blacksmith, I know that I can’t build one from scratch.”

『Is- Is that so』

“Ah. It may be similar to the dungeon core I’ve seen before. It’s exactly the same as that because it was impossible to duplicate or imitate and it makes me feel defeated.”

Alistair smiled bitterly after saying that. Even Alistair, a divine blacksmith, feels defeated after seeing that? Isn’t that like super messed up? I’m getting excited. What kind of tremendous ability does it have?

『Oh, so what kind of function does this mystery system have?』

“Oh, as for that —-”

The system’s primary purpose, it seems, is to manage the power of the mysterious soul. Earlier, I said that power was flowing from the mysterious soul to me, but it seemed that this system was taking over and intervening each time.

It was this mysterious system that took the power from the mysterious soul who regained his power and changed it into a form that even I can use. Well, I also heard that it’s only because the mysterious soul is cooperating with me that I’m able to extract that power.

The power of the mysterious soul was quite tremendous, and it’s difficult for me to use it on my own if I just let it run loose without control.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•