*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
With a knock on the door, Marx said, "Mr. Solaris. I am Marx."
"Oh yes, Mr. Francois, please enter." A refined voice sounded from the other side of the door, and the sound of things clinking with each other was heard as well.
Hearing the voice, Marx pressed on the door and opened it, giving way to a large room with a red carpet. The room was completely covered with wood on the inside and had a couple of series of shelves, just like the workshop Wilhelm was assigned, but it was much, much more sophisticated.
Inside the room was a man with a head full of white. His face had some wrinkles, and he looked around 60. He had a very slight hunch in his posture due to spending too much time at his work, which required precision.
But despite it all, he looked completely fine.
Marx walked inside with a smile on his face, which the Crescent reciprocated as well.
Then his eyes fell on Wilhelm, who was beside Marx, and scrutinized him quickly. Seeing his clothing, Wilhelm surely did not lose any points if he did not gain any.
Finally, Marx stopped, and so did Wilhelm, who was following behind him. Then Crescent began.
"What do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Francois?" He asked politely.
"First, I would like you to meet Wilhelm Sylvesterus Diluc Rothchilde." Marx said as if it would answer all of the questions, which it did if the look of realization on Crescent's face was anything to go by.
"Oh, are you supposed to be the person who designed that strange contraption called a train?" Crescent asked, though his face did not betray anything going on in his mind.
"Yes, Mr. Solaris. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Wilhelm replied with a very slight but polite bow.
"Hmm…I assume since Mr. Rothchilde is here, this visit is regarding the reward that the Wizard King promised." His tone wavered as he mentioned Julius with utmost devotion.
"Yes, Mr. Solaris, you are right." Marx replied with a nod, and giving Wilhelm one more look, Crescent said, "Then you may rest assured. I will talk with Mr. Rothchilde regarding what he wants."
'Nice.'
"That is good to hear. Now this is done, I am afraid that I must take my leave. I have to look after several more things and reports." Marx said, at which Crescent gave a small bow while his eyes remained close in tranquility.
"Leave it all to me."
"I would like to thank you, Mr. Francois, for giving me your time and escorting me here." Wilhelm too replied, not wanting to seem ungrateful, at which Marx gave a faint smile, and finally left the room, leaving behind the two people.
Just as he left, Cresent went to business mode, losing all the friendliness that he had when talking with Marx.
'Fair, I guess. As long as he is not outright hostile, I can work with anything.' Wilhelm remarked internally when Crescent said in a bland but stiff tone.
"Then, Mr. Rothchilde, we will get right to it. What do you wish to be made for you?"
At his question, Wilhelm too replied in a professional manner that he had cultivated after dealing with nobility in his time as a merchant.
"Primarily, I would like the previous equipment that I had to be made. Namely, full body armor, kite shield, and Zweihänder."
"That is it? I hoped that I would get something interesting to make, seeing that you created the complex contraption called a train. Not to mention that musket and pistol, whose workings are unknown to all but you." Crescent said, not showing anything on his face at the demand.
'Okay, so this is the craftsman pride that I have heard about.
I do have something in mind, but it is outlandish, and frankly, mostly useless for me, but it is a good and ambitious project nonetheless.' Wilhelm thought, feeling drained at the thought of dealing with it, but still masked his face, just like Crescent did, and spoke.
"There is something that I have in mind. Though I do not know if you can make it without knowing about other things you have created. I have read a bit about enchanting and things related to that, and it is not possible to be made from them."
Hearing this, there was a twitch in his expression.
'Attack the craftsman's pride indirectly, and you can gain their interest. Though depending upon the project, their opinion can go either way.' Wilhelm thought when Crescent said in a solemn tone, "Tell it to me then. I will be the judge of that."
"Very well then. I was inspired when I was reading 'Enchantment: More Practical Applications', and sketched a design for a weapon.
The weapon in its normal state is a Zweihänder with an axe-guard, instead of a regular one.
But when the blade of the sword recedes into the hilt of the sword, leaving a small part of it out, the blade is merged with the blades of the axe and transforms into a pair of chained blades. The chain of the blades can extend a whole lot more, depending on the mana the user supplies.
These blades are capable of channeling the element of fire, and the fuel of this fire is the rage of the user.
When the blade of the sword retreats completely into the hilt and the handle extends, a pair of axes is created.
One of the axes is capable of channeling the power of ice and turns whoever it touches into a solid block of ice. This blade absorbs power from the one it hits, also making them sluggish. It can return to the user when thrown.
The other axe is capable of channeling the power of thunder and lightning, and brings it down wherever the user wishes from the sky. The axe is capable of absorbing all electricity attacks. This blade, too, can return to its user.
When the grip of the sword is lengthened by more than a meter, and the blade of the axe becomes tapered in the direction of the blade, it forms a trident. This trident is able to control the water, and by extension, the sea. It can cause great tides and drown ships, and control animals of the sea. It can also return to its user.
In a similar fashion, when the blade of the trident is melded into the primary blade of the sword, it gives rise to a spear. This spear is capable of multiplying itself, and can be detonated at the user's will. This has wind affinity and can use wind-based attacks. Instead of coming back, it materializes in the user's hand while the previous spear detonates.
When the blades of the axe extend sideways, the grip as well as the blade disappear, forming a bow. It was affinity with light, and can materialize and shoot arrows made from light, that are as hot as the surface of the sun. If it is charged for long enough time and the name of the target is spoken before shooting the arrow, it will find and strike that person from anywhere. It can also rapid-fire arrows at the speed of light.
When the sword itself is used, it is capable of using both Dark and Spatial elements, using which it can rip spaces in thin air to create portals, and even cut the shadows themselves, which can be used to control the body of a person, or harm them directly."
"…"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
As Wilhelm proceeded to speak, the face of Crescent showed changes that it had never shown in his entire life. From bland, to curious, hooked, to finally fully blown away.
At the end of it, Crescent was looking at Wilhelm in a new light.
'Did I just list the weapons of Kratos in God of War, Thor from my world, along with a two weapon that I thought of in the end just now?
Yes, I did.
Did I do it just to give him a project that he can never do?
Of course.'
Then, slowly, Crescent started to speak, coming into realization.
"That is…an ambitious…and impossible endeavor.
I wish that I were able to make this, but I think other than the first Wizard King, no one will be able to create something like this.
While it won't be difficult to create a weapon that is able to transform into other weapons. Making them a minor affinity won't be hard as well, but channeling emotions, controlling clouds, the ocean, or interacting with shadows, is something that has never been done before.
But nonetheless, I would have an unachievable goal to spend my time on and keep me busy." He started to say the last part to himself, even if he said it out loud.
Then he turned to Wilhelm with a slight change in his expression, "I am sorry, I got carried away. I am also glad to see that you have the creativity to think of something as channeling emotions or interacting with shadows via artifacts, and I must apologize too because I will not be able to make something of this magnitude."
"No need to apologize. I knew when I thought of this that it was impossible to make. It was just a fantasy of mine." Wilhelm said with a benign smile.
Crescent nodded at his words and asked, "You talked about something else that you wanted to be made?"
"Yes, I want you to make some more swords. 2 long swords, 1 claymore, 1 estoc, 2 sabers, and several javelins for throwing. I want return and mend enchantments on them all. And the armor you make, I want it to be as light and sturdy as possible.
You can add other enchantments as your experience dictates."
'I need weapons if I form clones. When the integrity of a weapon is reduced, it becomes far too dangerous to use it. I can also use the weapon I got from the dungeon, but I want to see how the work of a master craftsman compares to them.'
Crescent nodded at Wilhelm's request.
"That is something I can actually do, and quite easily in fact. I hope what I make surpasses your expectations."
"That is a bold claim to make since the expectations I have for you touch the sky itself."
Wilhelm used a silver tongue.
It was super effective!
And with this, their brief but fruitful meeting concluded.
...…..
After the talk, Wilhelm walked out of the building and made his way by walking to the entrance of Magic Knight Headquarters. From a distance, he saw that Klaus and the rest, as promised, were standing at the entrance. Klaus was the first one whose eyes found Wilhelm, followed by Mimosa and Yuno, who was…chill as ever.
They too walked from their position and met Wilhelm mid-way.
"Sorry to make you wait." Wilhelm began, at which Klaus was quick to brush it off.
"No worries. We ourselves have only been standing for a few minutes."
"It is good to hear." Wilhelm replied with a good-natured smile.
"Um-ah, Wilhelm, did you get what you came here for?" Mimosa asked, keeping her soft eyes positioned on Wilhelm.
"Yes. I gave the list of items. I will get them later on." Wilhelm replied to her question, at which she beamed and said with hidden excitement, "Then can we go to the market?"
"Sure, lead the way."
And with that, our heroes ventured into the depths of hell.
…
"This one looks good on you, Mr. Klaus."
"Thank you, Mimos-Wilhelm! Why are you laughing?!"
…
"Yuno, that is too small for you."
"I am buying it for my siblings back home."
"I thought you were buying it for Asta."
"It is too big for him."
…
"Wilhelm! Here, try this! I chose it for you. You would look good in it."
"No."
"Why~?"
"It has a cape."
"Bu-"
"No capes."
…
"This…actually looks nice."
"Woaw…"
"You look like a grand wizard."
"Grand Magus, more like it- I am keeping the title Grand Magus."
…
And after all of that, Wilhelm settled for a piece of clothing that was made of dark blue in color, with high brown shoes, along with a golden waistband, that reminded him a bit of Dr. Strange from his home world.
Following this, all of them had lunch at a popular restaurant and a dessert at a popular bakery. Wilhelm packed some for Black Bulls as well.
***
I wanted to show normal chapter where Wilhelm's ability to spout nonsense is shown and not just praised by a side-character.
This to create a healthy balance between action and daily life.
Also, thank you again for support!
And keep showing it by giving me Reviews and Powerstones.
See you tomorrow