Uesugi Tetsu's gaze was drawn to the clear blade silently reflecting everything around it, his eyes following the elegant waves of folded grain rising and falling across its surface.
This uchigatana was undoubtedly epic-grade!
Blacksmiths of the Sengoku era could actually forge epic-grade weapons and equipment with their own hands?!
Although this uchigatana was still far inferior to Kaga Kiyomitsu, and showed no sign of self-awareness.
After all, Kaga Kiyomitsu had been personally forged by the old blacksmith of Arakawa Ghost Village, a Heavenly Craftsman who had poured countless efforts into it.
The two naturally could not be mentioned in the same breath.
But this was already enough!
While he had been at the Special Affairs Division, Uesugi Tetsu had specifically asked Aoyama Yoshimitsu whether he could forge an epic-grade weapon—in other words, one of quality similar to Kaga Kiyomitsu.
The answer he had received was that it was impossible.
The highest-quality equipment Aoyama Yoshimitsu could forge was only around rare-grade. Perhaps, with some luck, he might reach rare+, but that was all.
Uesugi Tetsu had never expected that Imagawa Yoshimoto, on a whim, would bring him along to casually purchase a sword, only for him to encounter such a capable blacksmith.
—and if a blacksmith could forge epic-grade equipment, perhaps he could use Qualified Spirit Gold to reforge and upgrade Kaga Kiyomitsu!
At that thought, Uesugi Tetsu remained calm as he stood at the shop entrance and asked Imagawa Yoshimoto beside him,
"If they're expensive, then how many mon would an ordinary finished wakizashi or uchigatana like these cost?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto crossed her arms.
"If I remember correctly... any wakizashi here costs at least sixty or seventy kan."
Seeing that the young apprentice watching the shop had narrowed his eyes and still seemed not to have noticed them, Imagawa