Ex-Machina on Dimensional Travel

Right after that, Xiu Er asked her second question.

"Inquiry: So, is this also why you want to obtain the Holy Sword?"

According to her calculations, Takuson probably wanted the Holy Sword for the same reason.

Unfortunately, his next answer once again exceeded her expectations.

"Huh? No, I just think it's cool."

"...Huh?"

The atmosphere instantly fell flat.

Takuson, his face flushed with embarrassment, turned his head away and awkwardly scratched his cheek.

"Because whether I can pull out the Holy Sword and become a Hero doesn't matter to me. As long as I can kill Demons, that's enough."

To prevent any misunderstanding, Takuson still chose to explain himself.

She had thought he had matured quite a bit, but wasn't he just reverting more and more?

Well, this was fine too. Keeping a childlike heart was better than being as grim and burdened as he had been back then.

After traveling through the rather lengthy cave like this,

the two of them finally reached the destination of their journey.

Moonlight streamed through cracks in the stone walls, spilling across the floor at the center and illuminating the "thing" atop the stone in the middle...

An Unexpected Encounter

"So this is the so-called Holy Sword?"

Takuson walked over to the stone pedestal, his face full of suspicion.

Where was the Holy Sword that looked insanely cool? Other than this Rusty Iron Sword, which did not even look as sharp as a fruit knife, there was nothing else.

"Confirmation: This is the Holy Sword."

At that moment, Xiu Er also came before the Rusty Iron Sword. Her glowing eyes—literally glowing—stared at the blade as she gave a definite answer.

"Ehh—"

"Since Teacher says so, I'll take this as the legendary Holy Sword."

Though he said that, Takuson's doubts had not disappeared.

So, unwilling to accept it, he took out the Battle Axe strapped to his backpack.

Bang—

Dust throughout the space was stirred up by the impact, then scattered by a wild gust of wind from who knew where.

"Well?"

"This really is..."

Takuson looked at the iron sword before him, then tremblingly looked down at the two-handed Battle Axe in his hands.

"It clearly looks like an ordinary iron sword! And look, Teacher, it's completely rusted through, isn't it? It looks like it's about to rot away!"

"And yet it blocked my axe. It didn't even scrape off any of the rust."

Pointing at the battered, rust-covered parts of the so-called Holy Sword's blade, Takuson shouted at Xiu Er with a look of utter disbelief.

"Rebuttal: Because it is the Holy Sword."

It was not that Xiu Er truly possessed data on this world's Holy Sword. Rather, her scan results had detected extraordinary energy within the sword.

Its outward appearance was likely caused by some unknown seal. In other words, once it was pulled out, it should return to its original form.

"Proof: You will understand once you try pulling it out yourself."

Hearing her teacher's extremely confident words, Takuson had no choice but to do as she said.

"It's just a sword that's about to fall apart. How hard can it be to pull out..." As he spoke, one hand had already gripped the hilt.

"Huh?"

Takuson blinked several times.

"Ugh—"

Both of his hands were now gripping the hilt, and his feet pushed hard against the ground. Yet no matter how much force he used, he could not budge it in the slightest.

"As expected of the Holy Sword. It's ridiculously hard to pull out."

"..."

"I don't believe it."

Takuson, all muscle, strained with all his might to pull the Holy Sword, letting out cries that sounded like he was severely constipated.

"Hngh, hngh, ahhhhhhh—!"

His voice echoed through the cave, startling every bird in the forest outside into flight.

Two days later...

Sitting in a restaurant, Xiu Er held a menu and glanced at the black-haired youth sitting across from her, his face full of gloom.

"Inquiry: What do you want to eat?"

"..."

This time, Xiu Er received no response.

"Question: The Holy Sword only permits itself to be pulled out when a world-ending disaster appears. If you could not pull it out, that proves this world is not in danger. Is that not a good thing?"

"Supplement: It has already been a day. Have you still not recovered?"

"It's not about that..."

After hearing her teacher's words, Takuson's already somewhat red face turned even redder.

Xiu Er stared directly at his face and suddenly understood what he meant.

"...I understand."

"Correction: Your pants ripped..."

"Waaah! Stop talking!"

That was right. Back then, Takuson had used all his strength, but the Holy Sword had not moved in the slightest, proving that his attempt to pull out the sword had failed.

However, just as he was about to relax and let go, the floor beneath his feet suddenly cracked for some unknown reason.

Even worse,

his footing slipped because of that sudden collapse. The season was already cold, the cave floor was covered in puddles, and by an even greater coincidence, there were quite a few around the Holy Sword...

All that could be heard was a rrrip—

The sound of tearing clothes echoed through the cave.

Thus, that night, Takuson gained an embarrassing black mark in his personal history right in front of his teacher.

However, Takuson's shout immediately drew the attention of the other customers in the restaurant.

Xiu Er did not care about those stares, but Takuson was another matter.

"Sir, could you please not disturb the other guests while they're eating?"

"Sorry, sorry."

Without looking at Takuson as he stood up and apologized to the waiter, Xiu Er returned her gaze to the menu in her hands.

After a less-than-peaceful lunch...

Xiu Er gave Takuson a fairly heavy bag of money and told him to freely arrange the rest of his time. He could wander around the city and decide for himself what he wanted to do or buy.

As for Xiu Er, after sending her disciple away, she strolled through the city streets.

Just like before, she scanned the entirety of the city. By now, the cities and villages recorded by Xiu Er numbered more than a hundred in total.

Using the coordinates in her scan records, she could use One-Way Street at any time to open passages leading to those cities.

And what she was doing now was recording the information and coordinates of this town.

However, this time, she encountered an unexpected situation.

"Big Sister, what are you doing?"

Hm?

Xiu Er heard a little girl's voice from behind her.

It should be mentioned that Xiu Er had known about the girl behind her all along.

Normally, when she was not fighting, Xiu Er maintained the appearance of a human using Fake Demoness.

And being approached for conversation was something she had experienced more than once. She had plenty of experience dealing with such situations.

The best method was—

Ignore them!

That was right, do not respond.

That was Xiu Er's way of handling such situations.

Whenever someone tried to talk to her, all she had to do was ignore them. After a few seconds, they would leave on their own.

"Big Sister, are you an adventurer?"

"..."

"Big Sister, your eyes are so pretty."

"..."

"Big Sister, what do you do?"

"..."

"Big Sister, why aren't you saying anything?"

All right, it seemed that simply ignoring her did not work in this situation.

Sigh—

With a sigh in her heart, Xiu Er finally looked at the little girl beside her, who had a large orange braid.

The girl had casually sat down on the same bench and was looking at Xiu Er with a curious expression.

Xiu Er found children with this kind of personality extremely troublesome, though she had encountered quite a few of them.

She also scanned the child's body and obtained all of her physical data, learning that she was only seven years old.

At that age, she had probably run out by herself. Her parents would likely come looking for her soon.

Therefore, worried that the girl might get lost, Xiu Er ultimately chose to chat with her first.

"Inquiry: What is your name?"

"Big Sister, you talk really strangely."