"His Majesty has granted me some authority. If you are interested, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni, I can take you to the armory and let you choose an Imperial Armament that suits you."
Honest picked up a rice ball from the table before him and swallowed it whole.
Although he usually ate only meat, with an honored guest present, he naturally had to make some adjustments.
"Imperial Armaments?"
Yorii Tsugikuni was slightly surprised by Honest's words.
Ever since arriving in the Imperial Capital, he had heard the term "Imperial Armament" more than once.
As far as he knew, this was the only way for humans here to obtain supernatural power. Yorii Tsugikuni had never deliberately pursued strength.
But after allowing the Demon King to escape, he realized that he had weaknesses of his own.
If not for those weaknesses, the Demon King would never have had the chance to escape.
Honest's words planted a thought in Yorii Tsugikuni's mind.
He needed to become stronger.
Judging by how the Demon King had avoided him for decades, if Yorii Tsugikuni ever returned to his homeland—
Then undoubtedly, the Demon King would still choose to hide.
He would choose to slowly exhaust Yorii Tsugikuni's lifespan once again.
Therefore, if Yorii Tsugikuni wanted to kill the Demon King after returning home, he needed to be able to find him—and keep him from escaping.
In this unfamiliar place, he had seen Imperial Armaments of all kinds.
Although he did not care much for the power of those Imperial Armaments, some of their special functions might prove useful to him.
With that thought, Yorii Tsugikuni nodded.
"Come to think of it, I'm rather looking forward to seeing what you will be like after obtaining an Imperial Armament, Yorii."
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni nod, Honest smiled.
He recalled Esdeath from back then.
Esdeath had been powerful from the beginning, but her strength had been limited. After acquiring an Imperial Armament, however, she experienced a qualitative leap.
Even now, she had yet to find a worthy opponent.
It had to be said that Honest worked efficiently.
After eating a little food, he did not waste any more words and directly brought Yorii Tsugikuni to the Empire's armory.
"You can try any of these Imperial Armaments, Yorii."
"If one suits you, you may take it with you after registering it."
Honest pointed at the various Imperial Armaments displayed on a shelf.
About a thousand years ago, the founding emperor of the Empire had gathered the world's finest craftsmen with unimaginable wealth and power in order to maintain lasting rule.
Using legendary Super Dangerous Beasts as materials, along with rare metals such as Orichalcum and countless lost secret techniques, they developed forty-eight weapons that could not be replicated, calling them "Imperial Armaments."
Those Imperial Armaments were scattered among different factions, and the Empire possessed the greatest number of them.
Yorii Tsugikuni had also learned some things about Imperial Armaments from Sayo.
Hearing Honest's words, Yorii Tsugikuni nodded. He began reading the labels in front of the various Imperial Armaments to understand their functions.
As he examined them, he gradually gained some understanding of the uses of the Imperial Armaments before him.
Of course, there were also Imperial Armaments whose functions remained unclear. Due to missing records in the Empire's inheritance, as well as the fact that no one had ever been compatible with some of them—
The purposes of certain Imperial Armaments had become a mystery.
Surprise, an Unexpected Change
Naturally, Yorii Tsugikuni was not merely browsing casually.
On the way to the armory, he had already decided roughly what type of Imperial Armament he wanted.
Against Muzan Kibutsuji, he needed something with tracking capabilities.
After all, back in his homeland, he had spent decades searching for the Demon King without any results.
If he could obtain something that could track Muzan Kibutsuji's whereabouts, that would be ideal.
With that goal in mind, Yorii Tsugikuni eliminated one Imperial Armament after another.
In the end, however, he found that he had ruled out every Imperial Armament with a label.
Only two unlabeled ones remained.
With no other choice, he could only choose between those two.
"May I try these two?"
Having made his decision, Yorii Tsugikuni turned his gaze toward Honest beside him.
"Of course. But there is something I should remind you of, Yorii."
"One person can only possess one Imperial Armament. Otherwise, the body will collapse from being unable to bear the burden."
Honest smiled and nodded at Yorii Tsugikuni. Although Yorii Tsugikuni's choices surprised him—
In Honest's view, it was perfectly normal for a master like Yorii Tsugikuni to have some unusual preferences.
One of the Imperial Armaments before Yorii Tsugikuni looked like a toy rabbit.
The other was a mechanical little man.
Yorii Tsugikuni looked first at the mechanical little man, since it appeared somewhat more normal.
Following the commonly used activation methods Honest had explained to him—
Yorii Tsugikuni picked up the mechanical little man.
Click, click, click...
The instant Yorii Tsugikuni grasped it, before he could make any further movement—
The mechanical little man, which had shown no signs of life before, began to turn. It opened its mechanical eyes.
Then it began examining Yorii Tsugikuni.
"Does this mean I succeeded?"
Looking at the mechanical little man that had come to life in his hand—
Yorii Tsugikuni turned back in confusion toward Honest.
"I... I suppose you did."
"Yorii, don't you feel any discomfort?"
Honest had originally thought Yorii Tsugikuni would need to spend some time activating the Imperial Armament.
But he had never expected Yorii Tsugikuni to succeed merely by gripping it once.
It reminded him of the splitting headache he had endured when activating his own Imperial Armament.
He could not help finding it hard to believe.
"I don't seem to feel anything unusual."
Yorii Tsugikuni looked at the mechanical little man in front of him, somewhat puzzled.
There seemed to be some knowledge in his mind regarding the little man's functions.
It was probably related to combat.
But that was somewhat different from his original goal.
"May I try that one as well?"
After thinking for a moment, Yorii Tsugikuni looked again at the rabbit Imperial Armament.
Honest had already told him about the usage restrictions of Imperial Armaments. Ordinary people could not use two or more Imperial Armaments, but after activating the mechanical little man—
He had not felt any mental burden at all.
So he wanted to try. Of course, Yorii Tsugikuni did not hold much hope for it.
"That is extremely dangerous. As far as I know, in the past thousand years, there has never been anyone who possessed two Imperial Armaments at once."
Though Honest found Yorii Tsugikuni's extraordinary talent unbelievable—
He was somewhat unwilling to let Yorii Tsugikuni take such a risk.
But since Yorii Tsugikuni had raised the request, Honest could not very well stop him.
Once Yorii Tsugikuni failed, he would naturally give up. Thus, Honest nodded without changing his expression.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."
After seeing Honest nod, Yorii Tsugikuni thought for a moment before picking up the toy rabbit-like Imperial Armament.
"...?!"
Watching the previously motionless rabbit activate once again—
Honest looked at Yorii Tsugikuni's face, which still showed no change in expression, and found himself speechless.
For one brief moment, he even thought what he was seeing was an illusion.
After all, the ironclad rule regarding the use of Imperial Armaments had existed for a thousand years. No one had ever broken it.
But while Honest was still confused, the two Imperial Armaments Yorii Tsugikuni had activated began to change.
The toy rabbit-like Imperial Armament rapidly shrank until it became a tiny ornament, then embedded itself into the mechanical little man.
"So they were originally one Imperial Armament."
Because using an Imperial Armament required one's wavelength to match that of the Imperial Armament, and every person's wavelength was different—
That was why each person could only possess one Imperial Armament.
Watching the miraculous scene before him, Honest could not help feeling astonished.
A combined Imperial Armament like this was also one of a kind among Imperial Armaments.
After selecting his Imperial Armament and completing the registration, Yorii Tsugikuni took the carriage Honest had arranged and returned to the residence.
The Imperial Armament, only as tall as his knees, followed behind him the entire way.
It was a mechanical little man with a square head.
It looked somewhat silly and dull-witted.
Yet its ability to imitate was extremely strong. At the very least, the way it walked now already closely resembled Yorii Tsugikuni.
And in order to resemble Yorii Tsugikuni even more, the mechanical little man had somehow found a small wooden stick to use as its Nichirin Blade.
Imperial Armaments truly are rather incredible.
After getting out of the carriage, Yorii Tsugikuni looked at the mechanical little man behind him and silently sighed.
Although he had not yet fully figured out the exact functions of the Imperial Armament he had chosen today, he already understood some of its general uses.
The mechanical little man was actually a growth-type Imperial Armament. It would continue growing as it learned more things.
Its greatest ability was imitation.
As for the rabbit ornament hanging at its waist, it could split into many small rabbits.
Yorii Tsugikuni had not yet discovered their exact purpose.
But one thing pleased him greatly: the mechanical little man and the rabbits could sense each other.
That was also because their wavelengths were identical.
"Master is back."
"What is that?"
Sayo, Tatsumi, and Ieyasu were playing with lanterns in the courtyard.
When she saw Yorii Tsugikuni enter, Sayo greeted him while holding a lantern.
Seeing the mechanical little man following beside Yorii Tsugikuni, she looked curious.
Before you continue